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this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
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TechTakes
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.
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nasb, fedi is for losers
been feeling this for a while too and wondering how to put it into words. especially in light of all the techfash, pressing climate and general market problems, etc
one of the things I've been holding onto (hoping in?) is my estimation/belief that I don't think the current state of all the deeply-fucked systems is inherently stable, or viable. as I've said here before, that very instability is part of why so many of them are engaged in trying to set things up to protect those self-same systems, as they know the swingback is coming and they want to make it as hard as possible to claw things back from them
but how long until it breaks, and with how much splash damage, are things I haven't really been able to estimate
My computer crashed as I was writing a response. In short:
I think fedi existing and having the userbase it has is “victory” enough. Capitalism and fascism push us to think “winning” and “success” are the greatest thing to aspire to. To “win” over capitalism and fascism will require an unlearning and disavowal of those aspirations.
oh yeah, I agree quite strongly with that sentiment too (and that's why I didn't re-use the words of the post I linked)
the fedi has some pretty dire threats (shit like threads etc) that I do think it needs to deal with by way of more teeth (consider it self-protective boundary setting), but in general I think a lot of the current state of it satisfying people just for being happy to be themselves is perfectly fine and good
side note: part of my problem is that my thinking on matters is a bit waterlogged due to shortage of knowledge/references, and backfilling that is ... well, hard to find the right resources for reading, and perpetual spoon shortage. I've been working my way through some Graeber and some other stuff, but very slowly and need more things. also doesn't help that ZA is, functionally, a desert island
I feel this. A constant, nagging feeling of "I should read theory," but man, I hate reading theory.
This is absolutely an important idea, but in the context of anti-capitalism I think there's a kind of catch-22 at play. The alternative systems that operate under a capitalist paradigm have serious externalities that come back to bite us whether we engage or not with them. My wife and I have spent some late nights over the last week trying to help family and friends in North Carolina keep track of which roads are usable, who is or isn't confirmed to be alive yet, etc. Maybe I'm a little extra feisty about climate change today, but it seems like while the alternative doesn't have to "win" in the same way that capitalists want to we do still need them to lose. Existing independently in parallel isn't a sustainable end goal, though I do agree that parallel structures are an important part of the solution.
Oh also what does nasb mean
"not a sneer, but"
I can't recall who proposed it (the original phrase)
You know that famous Keynes quote, right. To paraphrase: "the tech sector can remain irrational for longer than the planet can remain habitable".
Im reminded of the "Rationalism is systematized winning". Post for some reason. This post and the recent musk chess post just makes me wonder about "what does winning" even mean. But in the spirit of wargames, i have not thought about it much more than that.
musk.. chess.. post.. ?
actually, forget I asked. I've had an eventful enough week of bullshit, and am going to close my friday off with some careless daydrinking and relaxation
(e: I would add: good god "musk chess post" must be one of the craziest strings of words I've seen in a while)
The only one I'm aware of is the ages old "chess is too simple" and I feel like that one was stupidity distilled in such a high concentration I don't ever need to hear any of his other opinions on chess, or games in general to be honest.
Between that and his Elden Ring build I think games were one of the earliest identified fields where Elon is actively dumb. Later extended to automotive design and literally everything.
This article (regrettably substack) really explores all the nooks and crannies of cringe hiding in the musk chess post: https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/what-elon-musks-favorite-game-tells