Faentoller [none/use name]
And not even post a link to the clip? Everyone needs to hear the man himself: https://soundcloud.com/distantdreamz/were-in-fuckin-1320-motherfucker
Kill Your Lawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz9I2YwmV8M
I need to second this. Not necessarily with reddit, but the sensation that relating genuinely to other people has been replaced with articles or posts. My friends are techies, so conversations inevitably start with “hey did you see…?” followed by a link to an article from a website or blog that my friend knows we both read, and that I definitely have already read. And since that article has a comment thread, our conversation has been presaged for us. Everything has already been said, and when this pattern repeats many times, eventually we skip the conversation and just go right to “weird” or “crazy” or “lol” or “i know, rite?”. Make sure to keep an eye out for the most controversial comment (even amount of upvotes and downvotes), that is sure to be the most interesting take. The more comments the article has, the better.
I like my friends, but I feel that there are aspects of the internet (and I guess the dark cloud of capitalism, as pointed out in other comments here) that make interacting with people feel less special.
I like the red/black flag. The red part says “unite, join us” and the black part says “don’t mess with us, we are not afraid to defend ourselves”. I think that gets the message across.
“We have a stunted pop culture malaise that hasn’t changed much for decades of recycled nostalgia that keeps coming back again and again”
This is called Lost Future, where capitalism keeps selling us things we remember from the past, because all of the creative energy has burned out and been taken over by venture capital. Mark Fisher had a great essay on the topic (although he was more concerned about the UK music scene, his analysis applies to pop culture in general).
Here’s a great video about Hauntology and Lost Futures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSvUqhZcbVg
I found listening to Matt on Twitch and YouTube really helped. He had a bit of a “Satori Moment” that helped him piece together a bunch of things, and he’s sharing it now on his livestreams. He’s basically invented a kind of Transcendental Marxism, really cool stuff that puts the current moment into perspective. It has helped with the closing-in feeling that you are watching things break down even while the people in charge (who we elected to fix these problems!) are merely twiddling their thumbs because this is the best Western democracy has come up with.
The thing about alcohol that scares me is that it works. I feel better, I smile more, I sleep more soundly, I get along with others better, and there are so many delicious and interesting drinks to sample. The local liquor store was considered an essential business, and a bylaw was passed to exclude it from the (otherwise aggressive and restrictive) lockdown measures implemented here. I have not had alcohol in the house since Christmas, and while I am clear-headed and calm now, I have had many panicky and dark moments in the last few months where a soothing scotch would have made me feel much better.
The feeling of losing your mind, of powerlessness, is a side effect of the aggressive, exploitative remorseless machine called capitalism. In a society of communities, we related to other people, shared our fears and concerns with them, and could work together to build a better world. But alone in our apartments, as sentient input-output devices (or sensory response units) we are becoming absorbed into this computer-like monster.
I venture outside every four days to get food, but otherwise I am inside. I am lucky enough to be able to work from home, but also basically chained to my computer. It is my only source of human relation, entertainment, education, income and wish fulfillment. That is no way to live. The worst part is knowing that there is a better way. Humans do not have to be in competition with one another. Humans do not have to exploit one another to get the resources needed to live a meaningful life. We are cursed with the knowledge of that world, and of the knowledge that things are likely to get much worse before they get better. Even typing at a computer in a city that has not yet succumbed to climate change is a privilege.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that we probably need to widen our perspective more than we are comfortable. We will be attacked. We will be left behind. But as long as we are sentient, and can send out sparks in the darkness, future generations will have a chance. “Society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit.” That in itself is depressing, but it is depressing because we won’t get to enjoy it. Hanging on to “enjoyment” as our goal will have us exhausted on the hedonic treadmill. The solution is having a grander vision, and being content with the existence of a few other people who still believe great things are possible.
Convert me. I got into anarchism because I wanted a critique of power structures that was more broad than something that only focused on work and government. Principles I learned from reading anarchist literature taught me to be suspect of all power structures, authorities and hierarchies, even those that may be beneficial like you might find in communism. But with that said, left unity, etc. I’d still be proud to call you a comrade.