wisecrack the COVID19 safety illusion accelerationism and dwight shrute necrocapitalism and snowpiercer bill gates and perils of philanthropy late night comedy and political power of satire
Death and Immortality: The good place v Bojack Horseman Death - Todd May Immortals - Borges :unread:
the internet was a mistake
Thesis: the internet is not necessarily the win for freedom and democracy that we thought it was.
- arab spring and iran revolution may have been ignited by the internet, but in both cases the real revolution part didn’t start until after the internet was turned off (egypt) and after the media went dark (iran).
- broadcasing freedom into communist east germany actually increased domesticity because it was seen as an escape from harsh realities. It didn’t enflame desires for freedom like it was thought to. Why participate when you can retweet?
- ALS ice bucket challenge raised money, but is being an engaged citizen as easy as entering credit card numbers?
- Polls claim that internet makes people feel more informed.
- 1996 MIT Cyber Balkans warning of insular realities for its users. Echo chambers theorized 20 years prior to 2016 election!
- Soren Kierkagard “as we produce more knowledge, what we gain in breadth we :unread: lose in depth”
- “The (1) daily press and (2) anonymity make our age even more instane” were 1800s problems that are now on steroids.
- Too cynical? Throw out individual successes and think about the system as a whole. We expect increasing knowledge as the output. Are we really getting what we intended? Scale, not quality or integrity.
How does this reconcile with books/Bowling_Alone_-_Robert_Putnam?
philosophy of the incredibles
Thesis: Ayn Rand objectivism or the moral responsibilty of power
randian objectivism
- objective reality is knowable with reason
- moral aim of human life is personal happiness
- man’s being is heroic in nature
- free market deregulated capitalism is the socioeconomic system best for it
AKA titans of industry make society better.
These films do not flatter objectivisms, but challenge it.
- insurance guy has financial power and is an ass, not a hero
- buddy wants power, and almost kills
- power is only moral when wielded selflessly
“while a revolutionary age is an age of action; the present age is an age of advertisement and publicity: nothing happens, but there is instantly publicity about it” - soren kierkegard
we’re getting to be really similar to the “the internet was a mistake” video
Media distorts our relationship with power.
Aristotle: “justice is completed virtue”
:wisecrack: