General Discussion

Funny anecdote - I was looking for a post by DUer CrispyQ with a cool graphic from Indivisible and instead I got directed to Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” and some rubbish about the virtues of selfishness .

Shills for the “virtues of selfishness” (those tech bros and shills for the Californian Ideology) were good at perverting real cooperation and solidarity while claiming that the failure of completely bogus versions of those things is the failure of the real thing.
God they are stupid. Why would bible banging or Maha “community” work for some random left-liberal feminist you kidnap and shove into some awful thing? Just as a hypothetical. Not that anyone precisely does that. I just mean that the failure of coexistence with unrelatable humans is not a repudiation of real cooperation or a defense of selfishness. All hypotheticals.

Prisoner’s Dilemma is such garbage framing.
It starts off on the assumption that the persons involved are felons/hucksters/scammers. How is that not extortionate from the get go? God those people are morons. Why would a normal person see themself as a criminal whose survival must depend on game-theory based on some felonious type? It’s such trash. That’s also the same worldview as the religious who see one as a sinner from birth.

It’s also a CS worldview that assumes that entire classes of personality (e.g.: real grass roots activists like the little old ladies, public school teachers etc who worked for many of the rights we all enjoy without ever playing some damn game, don’t even exist). And there’s a time and a place for games. Even I play a puzzle game. But not all of reality, (e.g.: serious activism) and the gazillion things that make up reality so implicitly that you never even thought about them can be replaced by some sort of foul game or rubbishy VR. It’s such broken thinking.

If…if such a “game” were even possible (ActivismGame!!!!) it would be immediately defunded by the national security state and media corporations. How is that not obvious? If it worked (except completely performatively) it would not merely be shut down, all the players would be charged by our beloved oligarchs and their politicians. You gotta have some awareness of the reality you exist in instead of scamming people. All hypotheticals..

I was just trying to infer the thought processes of some completely inane people.
Reality is in itself far more interesting. If it isn’t, it’s not because you aren’t playing a foul game. It isn’t interesting in any fun way mostly, but it’s certainly not dull.

I can see why this fucked up nexus between two types of creeps-1) libertarians (who think everyone but parasitic, overhyped & mediocre tech billionaires is a useless eater) and 2) the religious (who believe in original sin) works.

Tech creeps are basically just tech versions of Cato/AEI. They swopped out suits and fossil fuels for hoodies and data-as-oil. It’s the same damn creeps ffs. Robber Barons. Just different aesthetics.

Same whine in a new bottle. Nobody needs their garbage tech.
Low tech with decent humans and a healthy human brain can beat junk tech and awful creeps any day.

But individually as well as the populations as a whole have to get over these shocks first.

I owe DUers CrispyQ and BigmanPigman for these two posts:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220595286

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220794222

My ex mother-in-law, whom I am very fond of and was close to, is a public schoolteacher. She was familiar with activism of this kind.

Unlike left working class mobilisation or other grassroots activism like this, white collar workers of my generation or professional type have no real concept of how to go about that. But we will have to learn, adjusted for new realities that won’t involve (in my case) any books or products just law changes that help rebuild a livable, functional society wherever one is. Not more drivel like the tumorigenic and parasitic “growth” tech billionaires shill which I viciously attack when I can.

These are really horrible people and they are making life hard for so many people. How many people are potentially worried about homelessness, lack of healthcare or just chronically stressed because of some genuinely selfish, callous and sleazy billionaires? We have to organize and stand up for everyone when we have some resources left.
I am myself allergic to power, histrionics and attention (that too for all the wrong reasons or unconnected to a specific piece of pushback). That’s why this is a good time to fight.

I read earlier this year that the Bernie/Aoc voting types do best when out of power. There is some truth to that. The point is not that winning is bad. But that some personality types(that do not fit this completely moronic Prisoner’s Dilemma model) only can get jerked out of social awkwardness etc when things are bad enough that you get over self consciousness and decide to fight back. The spiteful shit aimed at federal workers throughout this year by creeps like Vought and those twerps of DOGE-the cruelty is the point. At least some of those people would be like I was. It’s not being old and lame and not having maps etc as those pathetic tech creeps put it. We are not familiar with a world with no real rules or HR where you are supposed to rebuild fake versions of the rights women or workers fought for with a lame Facebook or Google product tacked on. This hateful shit was not unprecedented in my experience and it is not kayfabe etc. These people really are that shallow, awful, that stupid and they do destroy lives.

Speaking for myself, I was never cut out for politics or media, but necessary activism without any product or theatre is different.

Yikes long post. My head is very full these days and it keeps spilling out..