#and i think this works??? its like. the european union but WEIRD. if that makes any fucking sense. the dragonpean union. is this anything

[spearxwind]

you mentioned the council with kelan-- what are dragon politics like?

I havent really thought super hard about it lksdfsdlkfjsdf i am not super interested in politics so I won't be developing them further than surface level stuff.

The Khevirian Choir is a group of about 20 or so dragons, each of which represent a family, clan, or group of population in the sector.

These dragons are usually older, experienced, and wise. Traditionally, they would be the best warriors from each family/group. They are chosen by their respective groups to represent them. Since the Choir is a war council that is what they specialize in.

Among them would be the Monarch, which is chosen by the Choir to represent them and their decisions, and take the lead. Kairos, Kelan's father, was this monarch for many years before he passed away, and gained the respect of the rest of the dragons in there. With his passing though, it left a notable vacancy in the decision-making, so now the Choir is left arguing about who among them will be the next Monarch, with some saying that it should be one of them (and no one can agree on who), and some holding out hope that Kelan will take up his father's mantle.

Meanwhile Kelan has zero interest in all of that, and would much rather fly and play than deal with all of that, which very clearly drives the rest of the Choir up the wall. Imagine having a teenager thats like "🖕 fuck you mom im not going to school [runs away to go hang out on the train tracks with the rest of the punk kids]" but the mom in question is 20 grizzled war veterans having to play nanny for their dead sergeants idiot son.

[margareth-lv]

👑 The Royal Family 👑

Caution: the contents of this post should not be seen by those who are hypersensitive to 🧛🏻‍♂️.

Ladies, beware!

☣️☣️☣️

My post below is kind of… weird,  I know, but still, I want to share my thoughts with you.

The whole story was actually quite bizarre, thus my analysis couldn't be anything but, well, strange. And as I went AWOL for almost a year I’m coming today with some outdated news, let’s say to celebrate the king’s coronation last Saturday.

(All I want to say is that you read it at your own risk)

One more warning: I’ve posted below a photo of 🧛🏻‍♂️. Please, be warned.

I’ve also posted a „photo” of Baby Augustus, but his “image” was so heavily (and badly) photoshopped, that I don’t feel bad about sharing it on my blog.

So, as you can guess I want to discuss with you damage control post-funeral photo published, supposedly, in Irish Daily Mirror one day after the funeral, but made public five months after, in January 2023.

You know, from the legal point of view, if it was a REAL funeral photo with a REAL baby image published without the consent of the family, it wolud have been removed from internet months ago. It’s not such a big deal even for an aspiring lawyer. Baby’s image (apart from rules of sharing images with or without consent of baby’s parents) is considered as a personal data. So, as Ireland is a member state of the European Union, the GDPR (data protection rules) applies there. It means that a short request to cease the infringements would end the case.

But the photo, despite of everything, saw the light of day five months after it was taken.

You don’t have to be a genius to come to the conclusion that it was meant to go public.

What a creepy family, indeed, The Balfes.

By the way, poor quality of work in Photoshop on Baby Augustus photo reminds me the story of,  if you'll excuse me, failed “Potato Jesus” (aka “Monkey Christ”) restoration, a certain amateur restoration job that gone terribly wrong. 

Making long story short, the painting of Jesus wearing a crown was given a fresh lick of paint by an elderly local resident of a small village in Spain and in the end the face appeared to have been strangely smeared (just like Baby Augustus 😉). The result of the botched restoration spawned a photoshop meme:

(Anyway, the depth of the image of “Potato Jesus” is comparable to Baby Augustus “photo”, best proof of lack of skills in Photoshop. Caitríona’s PR department never bothered to pick a guy with any talent, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN).

And now…

☀️

Here Comes the Sun.

The Royal Family in all its unflinching glory:

⬇️⬇️⬇️

No, this wasn’t my idea.

Someone wrote on Tumblr that Baby Augustus was strikingly similar to prince William.

Yup, he really was. As if he was William’s twin brother.

… or younger brother who wears old clothes of his big bro.

And why on earth the whole family looks like a cost-reduced version of the royal family?

You know, I can’t help thinking that there's more than just a coincidental similarity in these photos.

Another conspiracy theory.

I'm tired.

💁🏻‍♀️

[May 8, 2023]

[arbitrarygreay]

It makes sense that the show pulled back on the international world-building pretty quickly. The primary aesthetic of the show is all rooted in that Salem origin, so they don't want to stray too far from it. But it's still really fun to think about. We have to go to the beginning, don't we? And then wonder about before that. There's a sense that the Salem Accords were unprecedented. The implications of this is that the formality of which the US Military Forces being comprised of witches, but yet the culture being still somewhat segregated, was not the case in other nations before that point. Which is really weird, honestly, the idea that the existence of witches did not have any affect whatsoever on the rise and fall of the likes of Rome, Egypt, or the Islamic empires? So, then, we have to narrow the context to the relevant parties in the region during the American Revolution. Sarah Alder looked at all of the potential factions around her at the time (Britain, France, Spain, Native), and somehow decided that the British colonists who wanted to break away were her best bet. Alder is a Scottish origin surname (while Lyne is from Belgium). Despite her modern differentiation between human and witch, it's more than likely that she worked through racial and nationalist prejudices over the centuries. So, then, let's assume that the state of how Natives, France, and Spain treated witches was not a factor for Sarah's consideration at the time. This means that Britain's culture was not witch-friendly, so they wouldn't have a witch force in their military, except under DADT plausible deniability cases. It also means that Britain nonetheless achieved their colonial power with this mindset. This implies that nowhere else in the world was open usage of witch powers sufficient to outweigh conventional military power. Despite the Cession not splitting between witch and civilian leadership, evidently having a more witch-friendly culture was not sufficient for the Americas not to get colonized by European powers that were Camarilla-friendly.

Meanwhile, the show also implies that witch-vs.-witch combat was not a norm before the Spree. Other nations imitating the Salem Accords did not result in each nations' witches battling each other. This implies that America achieved global hegemony with Alder's military way faster than in our world, such that Alder was able to control the formation of the UN-equivalent international Witch Council at the Hague to reinforce that status. (She had enough power that apparently no one else in the world has created immortality/avatar workings like hers? Highly doubt that other researchers couldn't figure it out, so she had to have banned it beyond herself and the Marshal.) The Hague meeting in S1E3 is chock full of intriguing details. The Russian general's uniform does have a red star on the lapel, which implies that there was still a Communist Revolution in that region. However, the general also refers to his nation as Russia, and not the Soviet Union. The political tensions over the Tarim showed that Russia does not share a closer relationship to China than it does to the US (whereas India has more sympathies). And, obviously, the fact that China is not a part of the Hague council at all. But, the US president is still named as the the "leader of the free nations", so if China had a different relationship to its witches than the rest of the world following the US model, it was not enough to result in China as a meaningful global hegemon rival. Perhaps China is still isolationist in this world, which might indicate that there was not Communist Revolution there and they're still on the Dynastic model. However, China being aggressive about the Tarim doesn't seem isolationist. But I wonder if the international geopolitics would have been where the show went next. Assuming that they only ran the First Song storyline in S3 because they got cancelled, then it makes a lot of sense that the first portion of the show was the US having to clean its own house. Once that is done, though, they can only look back outwards. And that "China is not here" thread seems way too juicy not to explore. The Last Ship was covering those sorts of dynamics, so that kind of plotting is viable for cable TV. For one thing, all of the holiday touchstones the show uses are carry-overs from Europe. I do wonder why exactly the Marshal celebrated Yule, except maybe as a courtesy to his charges. Maybe the crack about the log getting heavier every year was a joke. Or maybe the Marshal is of mixed heritage. Anyways, there's no way that the Middle East and South Asia and East Asia and Africa are also still using those holidays. Which then brings up the question of immigrants. China's absence from the Hague obviously didn't prevent the noticeable presence of many high ranking Asian-American members in the military. Is Tally's ignorance of High-Atlantic holidays because she actually has more knowledge of East Asian practices in California? We see skepticism by the High Atlantics towards Raelle's "Christo-pagan" chants, but where does Islam even fit into this world-building?

(And yes, I do have rather mixed feelings about them suddenly elevating the Mycelium from the product of one moment of human grief to suddenly All According To Keikaku From The Beginning Of Time. They even acknowledged that fungus wouldn't be a relevant power in certain parts of the world due to climate.)

[doublydaring]

Hello! I read your article a few days ago on twitter and talked myself out of sending you a message. But I saw it again here today and that you were open to feedback. As someone who lived through the scene - I had a few thoughts but I don't want to overstep as I'm a white person - so grain of salt.

But my main concern is that you have a whole section on erasing people of color from their own art but then kind of toss Gabe in there as just an example of someone who walked away from hardcore ideals.

My suggestion is to at least please name Gabe's identities - he's always been vocal about and proud of being from Uruguay/Latino and Jewish.

But he's talked often about feeling like an outsider and using the music scene to combat that. The whole point of Cobra was "rooting for underdogs, taking control of your destiny, taking shots at the establishment, not taking any shit, and not taking yourself too seriously." (taken from his words in the Cobra Starship farewell statement).

Gabe worked really hard to uphold his ideals - Rob Hitt talked in a recent podcast about Gabe making him sing on at least one track during Midtown so he could join a singers union and access health care bc it was only available to vocalists. Gabe did a few podcasts in 2021/2022 leading up to the Midtown reunion that are worth listening to - especially One Life One Chance with Toby Morse (he touches on being an immigrant, growing up feeling different, his views/values from the scene and his roots and the importance of the scene for somewhere to belong) and Punk Rock MBA (for DIY values and reflections on fame and mental health). He really could have his own section bc he was constantly written off as the fun party one when actually was super intentional, intelligent, and living his DIY values trying to bring everyone he can up with him but I'll stop here.

Thanks for sharing the article and writing it. It's really weird to have people analyzing your youth and your experiences but I do want the scene to move forward and get better at being inclusive and respectful so thank you for bringing up the conversation.

-Nik

First of all, thank you for reading and an even bigger thank you for replying with this awesome message!

I am actually a huge Gabe Saporta fan, and I definitely don't want to give off the impression that I'm writing him off as a party boy or Cobra Starship as a substance-less band. Cobra Starship is one of my favorite bands of all time, and I've been getting more into Midtown lately.

There are two big reasons I didn't write more about Gabe, the first is that when I first wrote this I scrapped a whole section on Latin influence on Emo that he was a big part of because I didn't have nearly enough space for it (I had a 2500 word limit that I was well over).

The second reason is a lot more serious and potentially controversial. South and Central America have really complex racial politics that I don't claim to fully understand, and don't translate exactly to modern American interpretations of who is and who isn't white. I don't know Gabe Saporta personally but from what I learned from Wikipedia, both his parents are European Jews who's families fled to Uruguay. This means that (AS FAR AS I KNOW WHICH ISN'T VERY FAR AT ALL) racially, Gabe is an ethnic Jew (both Sephardi and Ashkenazi I think). Jews dip in and out of whiteness in America but as an ethnic Jew myself I don't think its appropriate to group his experiences in the scene with those of people of color.

Gabe's Uruguayan heritage is super important, super influential and super interesting, I do not want it to seem like I'm erasing that. It is something worth talking about and something I will probably write more on. I saw his interview with Punk Rock MBA (fascinating stuff) and I have a whole piece on him and Cobra in the very early stages.

Again thank you so much for your message! Gabe means a ton to me as a Jew in the scene and I promise I don't mean to dismiss him. I will go back and look at my wording in that section to make sure Gabe gets the credit he deserves <3

[geeneelee]

#I'm very curious how the RCM works on donations. like. who's donating to them?#does Revachol not have taxes?#the financial different between our world cops (overfunded) and the RCM (underfunded. i dont think they have a union) is very interesting#i wish the fandom brought it up more

With all my love, a lot of the fandom has a loose understanding of real life police bureaucracy (myself included)-the inner financial workings of a city in a political situation totally unfamiliar to most players is a total mystery.

And this is all that Revachol has, per Acele:

"Then you really haven't seen much of this *strange world*, because we literally haven't got any income taxes. Just a 20% value-added tax and that's, like... *it*."

From the EU's taxes website:

The Value Added Tax, or VAT, in the European Union is a general, broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. It applies more or less to all goods and services that are bought and sold for use or consumption in the European Union. Thus, goods which are sold for export or services which are sold to customers abroad are normally not subject to VAT. Conversely imports are taxed to keep the system fair for EU producers so that they can compete on equal terms on the European market with suppliers situated outside the Union.

Given that the Coalition is the in-universe equivalent of the EU, I'm guessing that these taxes are going towards the Coalition instead of a local government. In fact, I'm not sure that Revachol has ANY local government? And a citizen's militia isn't a government-run institution anyway, it's a non-profit.

The RCM is a self-organized group (that may or may not have ties to communist organizations?) that formed in response to rising crime* and violence in the wake of the Moralintern deposing the Revacholian government, half-razing the city and then leaving, leading to organized crime organizations flourishing.

*Crime here is excluding white-collar crime for the sake of simplicity.

One of the things that Martin Luiga, who was one of the players of the original campaign and the creator of Chester McLaine, said about the original campaign and the themes was that the RCM are also a gang, just like the Hardies are a gang and the Puta Madre is a gang.

The difference is that the RCM derives its authority very vaguely from the Moralintern, and their power from donations, presumably from the local wealthy - the people who have both the means and the motivation to fund police, and those people derive their money from larger businesses presumably. As several characters say, RCM officers are lackeys of capital. They're not really motivated to overfund the RCM though, because a lot of the people who are presumably doing the donations live on the east side of Revachol where crime is less common, so they're not motivated to overfund the RCM, just enough to keep what happens in west Revachol contained within west Revachol.

The RCM is in a dogshit situation on purpose. Not that I think cops are helpful as an institution, but the Moralintern is invested in making sure that Revachol is just a dogshit place (see the moralist questline) and maintaining a police force that is in a legal and financial limbo as the only institution that is run by locals is a great way to kneecap local power.

There's a lot of ambiguity around the founding and motivations around the RCM on purpose but yeah no it's much more weird and fucked up than the real world. On the other hand it means that they don't have as much access to military grade-weapons as American cops do?

Good work Harry

[arthoure]

I guess with twitter falling apart, the logical step is to move back to tumblr, but I struggle with what to even post! 

Twitter is kind of the LinkedIn of game dev, for casual networking and commiserating about the seven hells of the industry, so it made sense for me to be there to make my little jokes and yell about unions. It’s also more mobile-friendly, so I could post cat pics and be on my way without a fuss. And I always used Tumblr more for fandom meta stuff, which isn’t something I really do anymore because being a narrative designer kind of changes how you engage with fandom and meta -- it starts to feel like your day job instead of your fun hobby, at least in some senses, or it uses the same type of brain energy and at the end of work you’re depleted. And it’s weird to be able to see the seams of games, and have a sense of where their budgeting and schedules and tech restraints were, in a way that completely changes your idea of what “good” is or what something “accomplished” and doesn’t always line up with the ideas of other players. It’s not a good or a bad thing, just different. I read books differently now than I used to, too. (Part of this is also about growing older and developing new neural pathways. Weird shit.) It’s interesting to think about how fandom got me into game dev (literally; the first writing sample that got me hired was fe13 fanfic with the names changed -- but also very directly through the support of the friends who read my writing for years ((often making it better with our discussions)) and encouraged me to apply and etc.) and yet game dev is kind of what keeps me from being in fandom (at least deeply). 

So I kind of had two different networks -- the twitter one of friends plus game dev peers, and the tumblr one of friends plus fandom peers, the latter of whom followed me basically for meta/fanfic/the stuff I reblogged. But friends also keep in touch on discord or other messengers, so I often wonder, what do I even post for, and why? All I really want to post about is my life, but that’s not even really a safe thing to do, and also, why do I want to, besides being a little human who likes to leave her little proofs that she was here? Like, would it be interesting to anyone here to know that I work in AAA now and the fam and I are moving to Germany soon? That’s cool news for me, but I can’t say much of anything about my work (and even the things I am allowed to say are dangerous, lmao. Telling the internet who you work for and on what game title always makes you a target. Target is doubled for every underrepresented identity that you have. But that was a LITTLE different for me in my curated twitter bubble because again, it’s more like LinkedIn on the gamedev side, and I have a small audience so my info doesn’t leave my bubble; my bubble is also small on Tumblr but feels more unfamiliar after I’ve been inactive for so long.). AAA can carry a lot more weight in the industry but it really shouldn’t (what some other VOW writers said is true: God works hard, AAA devs work harder, but mobile romance devs work hardest of all) and tbh I don’t give a shit about commercial game size--I chose this company’s offer because its team was really special (severely anti-crunch, pro-labor rights, inclusive, brilliantly skilled in storytelling and technical design and other things I want to learn from them, kind and warm). But some of you might be happy to know that I’ll finally get real health insurance and sick days and vacation time and I can’t just be randomly laid off at any time (something European game devs enjoy that US devs often do not), and it’s a huge weight off my shoulders, because you might remember how I had to struggle with that for several years. Always so much to say but so much fear around saying it. Rare to find the points where you can view your life as Back Then and Right Now in such concrete terms. Is that worth documenting?

TL;DR I want to use social media for personal things and chatting with friends but The Internet at large makes it difficult to do that. I am of course far from the only one who feels this way. That’s just the update on me while I ponder what else to contribute to this blog! I do owe you some cat pics at least.

[itwoodbeprefect]

i’m doing it!! i’m watching the ben stiller owen wilson starsky & hutch movie!!

this post is live watch: part 1, because i still have around fifty minutes of movie to go as of posting this, but for now:

“that’s me in the leather jacket and tight jeans.” yeah dude. perfect starsky so far.

HONESTLY ben stiller has the starsky run down. the scenery is perfect so far. the music hits just right. the ridiculous jumps stiller!starsky makes are exaggerated to just the right level to be comical in a not too overstated parody way. this is SOLID.

but then we get to hutch and ?

it’s FASCINATING to me that they made starsky the dedicated by the books being-a-cop-is-the-best-thing-there-is cop and hutch the corrupt jaded basically-openly-a-criminal cop. i mean. i guess? i don’t know if this would’ve been better the other way around. i think the hutch role here would’ve been weird for either of them. genuinely wild choice.

STARSKY’S MOM WAS A COP? okay, this, again, i like. this is good. (it’s probably going to come back to haunt me when she shows up and awful jokes abound, but for now, this is amazing.)

he’s had twelve partners. holy shit. i knew this was an origin movie (which to be honest, feels like an odd choice to start with, but whatever) but i kind of... assumed that meant we were starting at the academy. we are not.

fjdk oh wait starsky’s mom is dead. rip.

hnnnnnng. starsky and hutch meet (they know each other, but they’re on screen together for the first time) and they talk to each other in a way that Does Not Fit anything i could see spinning off from the show (i get that’s the point, they’re working towards that in this movie, but still, they sound weird) and then! we get the captain (dobey? idek) yelling “hey! why! are! you! touching him!” and see, there, that fits them. there’s a little bit of them there.

TERRY CREWS. HELLO TERRY CREWS.

huggy is not only snoop dogg in this movie, he’s also the godfather. sitting in front of a tank of fish granting people that kiss his golden hand protection. damn.

slacker hutch: “you’ve never stopped and bought yourself a cup of coffee?” nerd starsky: [long outraged stare] “i bring a thermos.” fjdkfd okay so. these characters are not starsky and hutch, but that was a funny exchange. it’s just. this dynamic the movie’s got going on between them, i get why they’re going for that (it’s an origin story! you need friction to go from enemies to lovers buddies if that’s for some reason what you’re aiming at!) but it... is not in any way something that would fit as a backstory for show!starsky-and-hutch. which is fine, i guess, it just means they slapped a known property name and aesthetics onto a very generic buddy cop enemies to buddies movie with two entirely different characters, and that leaves the whole thing feeling a little hollow. very few people watch the show for the background music and the dirty street exterior - they’re there for the characters.

anyway i’m only ten minutes in. i have to like, actually watch this movie, maybe.

tangent, but i watched serpico yesterday (the 1973 pacino movie) and so far starsky walking into huggy’s with his new police partner and finding out hutch is striking backroom deals with criminals feels like an extremely weird fever dream 2000s parody version of that. when does stiller get a sheepdog and a mouse, that’s what i want to know.

i like huggy’s muscle’s luxembourgh comparison for its out of nowhereness but they go “technically it’s a part of europe, but in reality, they govern themselves” and maybe i don’t know enough about luxembourgh but look, like, yeah. assuming europe means the european union that’s just. kinda how it works my dudes.

starsky shoots an iguana’s tail off??? bad starsky!!!

hutch owes a kid in his neighborhood money because that’s funny but oh my god. oh my god who is this guy.

hutch’s weird beige dented ford is replaced by a “camper slash pickup truck” and this is the first hutch update where i’m like yeah!! yeah!!!

sorry i know i keep saying this but. starsky as the uptight one is just such a choice. such a goddamn choice.

the way these cheerleaders are written hurts my soul.

huggy about his car which is a model that won’t be out until next year: “i know some people that know some people that rob some people.” djfkd. this huggy? he’s okay. he can stay.

the locker room scene made me have to put my head in my hands but starsky and hutch wearing hand towels when there were also big towels available, that part tracks.

STARSKY gets the cowboy hat for their undercover moment? excuse me? show hutch is crying in a corner right now. why would you do this to him.

starsky: “i house sit for my sister all the time.” starsky has a sister here so ??? i can only assume that means nick came out and goes by nicky now. i’m filling in movie starsky’s family backstory and it’s good. we’re doing great together, movie.

okay yeah you know what, RIGHT after he says he has a sister he’s like “just be who you are. THAT’s what’s really cool!” so yeah. nicky is a trans woman and her brother dave house sits for her all the time. so glad that she got her life together and seems to somehow own a house now.

big earl is an awkward queercoded character because of course he is. sure. that’s what this script needed.

starsky in this sweater with a “kiss the cop” apron on the other hand? now THAT’S what a script needs, for real.

starsky to hutch: “i’ve always had a thing for blondes.” ... that was intentional, right? pretty sure that was intentional.

and then hutch serenades starsky with a guitar while ignoring the two cheerleaders. is it wrong to say that this is finally a hutch that feels like show hutch? would that be too fandom goggles of me? would i truly be wrong if i said that?

anyway here’s another starsky in that sweater screenshot because it’s good, and the cup he’s using (to drink coffee accidentally laced with cocaine, but whatever) also deserves the screen time:

okay okay ignore the rest of what’s happening but THIS JACKET. it’s great but i feel like movie starsky stole half of show hutch’s clothes:

okay, i’m at 46 minutes and 35 seconds (out of 100 minutes), i think they’re about to have a dance-off (that’s a thing that happens, right?) and it’s also very deep into the night irl, so i’m going to take a break here.

general judgment so far: i like it! it’s fun! you can tell that they tried! it’s also really hecking weird and not always quite in the right way. stiller’s starsky is very close to perfect even if the character’s a little off (who thought starsky was low key uncool??? i just want to talk), but ben stiller has the body language down, and that just does so much heavy lifting. meanwhile owen wilson’s hutch is... really dubious. which isn’t entirely owen wilson’s fault because he’d probably have been better off if he’d actually been able to play, uh. hutch. instead of whoever this is. rip hutch. i hope you’re out there somewhere living your cowboy dreams while this guy runs around bay city using your name.

[fishmongeringstudies]

six: wandering the city while waiting for a train that'll never come, you stop to wave at a dog on the street only to realize you have mistaken a crumpled bag of mcdonald's for a chihuahua

i almost slipped and died in the shower today. luckily i didn't, because i read somewhere that slipping and dying in the shower makes it a little hard for you to finish writing a manuscript for a novel fictionalizing the events of your freshman spring semester that's definitely going to become a new york times bestseller in about four years' time, but i came pretty close. for a moment i had my hand on the wall and my legs splayed like a barbie doll stuck to a stripper pole and the matchbox world behind the shower curtain was slipping steadily south and heading lower still. and then i caught myself.

several minutes later i heard scuffling beyond the pale, soapy shower curtain and thought there might be someone creeping on me. if someone was creeping on me i had an idea of who it might be, which made the prospect all the more likely and infinitely more convincing inside the grapefruit-sized thing i called my brain. then i heard the clap of god's hands in an ashen sky, and i knew. this was no man made disaster-in-waiting. it had begun to rain.

it didn't rain for long. five minutes at best, two if my grasp on the spatial-temporal continuum is worse than i'd imagined (this is very likely; the stars pass me by faster than i can count them these days), but long enough that anyone who happened to be outside when that first teardrop fell from the sky got a little wet. a little fucked up, if you will, which, hey. good for him. he deserves to get a little fucked up.

but i get carried away. please excuse my personal grievances. this is not a lament, it is a swimming pool. full of tiny colorful fish which flit around at its bottom, chasing strands of sunlight like children on a playground.

the weather forecast says it'll rain again tomorrow, and maybe the day after, too, if the world stays sad enough to let it happen. it makes me nostalgic. when i left in february monsoon season was in full swing, tearing trees from their roots with big meaty hands and making every fleeting boring moment into the kind of gray sunday afternoon on which i imagine the directors of romantic dramas like to shoot break-ups. rain in singapore looks different. it's not a bucket full of water, it's a room. a blue room against a silver sky. your socks stuck to your ankles with the kind of grim determination that makes you almost a little sad to peel them off, to toss them in the washing machine behind the kitchen. there's a little balcony behind the kitchen in the house you left in february, with a washing machine and a ledge for sitting on and a dryer that doesn't work. you used to go there when you wanted to check on the restaurant across the street. from here you can make out the round, blue-rimmed tables that attract students, biking enthusiasts, three am brawls between red-faced european men and their red-faced european friends. if there's noise on this side of the street, it's probably coming from there.

summer. summer reminds me of home. so far i've been telling people that the association is a bad one, and it certainly isn't a lie, but it's not a whole truth either, if one believes in the matter of whole truths to begin with. i'm starting to think maybe there are only skim-milk truths, clotted cream truths, 0% fat yogurt truths. truths that change shape when you aren't looking. we aren't looking most of the time, after all. we're very busy people. all of us. we're trying to change the world.

and for what? who are we trying to save? do you want to live forever? that's the goal, isn't it. i mean it's definitely mine. i won't blame you if the concept of death sits on your shoulder like a fourth generation ipod touch with a broken home button, whispering really fucked up shit into your ear when you're alone. i mean it definitely does for me.

puzzle-girl is in new york now, last i checked. good for her. i hear new york is full of lights and electricity and car exhaust. maybe one day she will learn that friendship isn't an emergency help-line. probably not. my friend thinks she will, thinks we'll come back around in our junior year and everyone will see us stuck to each other again like two grotesque modern art pieces drilled back-to-back into a museum exhibit wall only with a firm mutual understanding of what boundaries are, but i have my doubts.

once someone told me with the kind of half-fake half-genuine smile that makes you wonder if AI technology has advanced far enough to mimic the complexities of stupid hormonal teenagers with really bad interpersonal issues after all that i was blooming. coincidentally all the flowers on campus had suddenly decided to poke their heads out of the dirt like babies busting their way out of refrigerators, guns blazing, hearts shot to pieces, so it's not like he was completely bullshitting me. he was only ninety-eight percent bullshitting me. the two percent is why he comes up in my writing as often as he does, all this time later. like i think he was ninety-eight percent clown but two percent circus, two percent red-nosed reindeer trying to unionize behind a striped curtain, two percent something real. or at least i like to think that way. i'm a writer. we have to pretend there's something to write about. or else what will we write about?

so yeah. one time someone told me i was blooming. at the time i was embarrassed. and then after the story put an abrupt end to itself i was madly obsessed with the idea of flowers jutting out of cracks in the earth, gold pouring forth from blood-wounds, poinsettia eyes, whatever, whatever, and then the flowers started wilting. standing on the path outside my dorm i was like what the fuck? why the hell is everything dying? it's been like three days, god, what are you guys made of, tissue paper?

i was talking to the flowers. which died in spite of my indignation, so that's one for nature, zero for me. good for them. see you next spring, when things will, hopefully, be different. i don't have a plan as much as i have a dream i'd like to see walk into reality on three legs and a pitchfork. but it's a good dream. i promise.

the sky's clear as glass now. it's so bright i could probably stick my hand up there and stir vigorously and then an angel would emerge from the ether, rubbing her eye sleepily with the back of her hand. that's the kind of clarity i'm talking about. making metaphors about christianity-clarity. i am lonely and my dreams are full of beautiful people-clarity.

that's a lie-clarity. loneliness is, as mentioned in a previous installment of the meandering car accident i call this blog, a choice, and i'm too lazy and full of my own slew of interpersonal issues to commit to something like that. but summer is new, and it's like i'm getting used to the body in my basement all over again. how do i step around it, how do i make sure i don't look at its face? and its eyes, oh, those eyes. how terrible. how full of absence.

there will be exactly two hundred students on campus when summer move-ins are finished next week. this school has a population of nearly sixteen hundred. what are we doing?

research. academia. learning a new language. road trips. plane trips. horse riding lessons. research. academia. learning a new language. relationships. spaceships. building a ladder to the moon.

it feels like the sun never sets sometimes. the hours slide into one another like tectonic plates beneath the surface of the world and yet the sky remains just as it looked this afternoon, milk-white and pale as death. a hot summer wind blows and sends the clouds careening sideways into each other, and yet from this distance nothing changes. drop a body in a bathtub and nothing changes. beat someone up and nothing changes. survive thirteen weeks of bad mistakes and then worse ones, midnight mistakes, thursday evening mistakes, the kind of mistake you don't think you'll ever be able to write about, and still nothing changes.

they say there's always a silver lining but what if i want fur instead? let's say i want a fur-lined sky with fur-lined clouds and a little heart-shaped toy that makes a sound when you step on it. let's say i want to be fifteen again. the sky doesn't care. it still looks like a damn sky. the sky doesn't do things out of sentimentality.

it's just kind of there. today i'm just kind of here. today we're all alive. good for you. good for me. good thing my hand was on the wall when i slipped in the shower, so i could get out and dry my hair and then sit down in this shitty weird-smelling lounge with my laptop with the cracked touchpad and my cool elmo slippers, and tell you about this solitary life on mars.

05.26.2021

[joezworld]

What is the status of vehicle rights in places like China or Russia, with rather patchy (at best) human rights records? What was it like in the USSR, Nazi Germany, or the Empire of Japan? And did Mussolini ever get his locomotives to run completely on time?

Strangely enough, it was a lot better in those countries for at least a while. 

To start, check out this post that goes into a little detail.

So, this post is going to not mention the United States or Canada - I’ve done posts on them before. 

Interestingly, three of the greatest proponents of locomotive rights in Europe came from people with some of the worst human rights records in modern history: Hitler, Stalin, and King Leopold II.

Belgium has a long history of locomotive rights, stretching back to within 20 years of the introduction of the railway in the country. During the first days of the reign of Leopold II, the king declared that locomotives and other railway equipment were to be considered “on the same level as any Belgian citizen”. Official government histories say that this was because of the king’s desire not allow slavery to happen on Belgian soil, but the existence of the very inappropriately named Congo Free State puts this answer in a very bad light. The generally accepted unofficial answer is much, much funnier - Leopold II was born after the first railways were laid in the country, and as the future king, he was kept well appraised of any new technologies in the country. He also had many, many, many, mistresses. In case you can’t tell where this is going, it is entirely likely that several of his more private extramarital affairs were with locomotives owned by the Belgian state rail company. Locomotives were at the time viewed as little more than beasts of burden, and while Leopold was more than willing to commit heinous atrocities upon the Africans, he was not about to stand here in his own country and get called an enjoyer of bestiality - so he made locomotives people in order to get ahead of his critics should an affair be made public. This had the interesting side effect of making Belgium one of the more progressive countries in Europe as far as locomotive rights went, and Belgian locomotives were very dedicated citizens often serving in civil and military leadership positions around the country. During the first world war, Belgian locomotives actively resisted the Germans for the entirety of the invasion, and a not-insignificant percentage of German locomotives brought in to manage the chaos were brought over to the Belgian side by promises of citizenship. 

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This did not go unnoticed by other, much worse European leaders such as Adolf Hitler, who understood the value of a functioning rail network as far as war logistics went, and made significant strides in offering French/Dutch/Polish/Russian/Norwegian/Italian/Etc. engines Nazi citizenship if they served the Reich. Unfortunately for Hitler, Nazis are terrible people who lead out fear, and many of the locomotives who did sign up for this did so because they wanted to Not Die, not because they supported the cause. As a result, large portions of the Reichsbahn rolling stock fleet just ran away or defected as soon as the Allies started getting near, causing serious supply issues that hastened the downfall of the German war effort. 

Also, because I know someone is going to ask about it, yes, those trains still ran. Please don’t ask me to elaborate beyond what’s here. 

Because locomotives would see what was going on and objected, the Reichsbahn very quickly began staffing those trains with engines that were True Believers, or (even worse) Jewish engines. (Those usually made one way trips, and it’s just as bad as you might think.)

Following the war, many locomotives who had been cleared of any collaboration charges still possessed their Nazi-Era citizenship, and tried to get them turned into citizenship of their home countries. Most places said no (except Belgium) and were promptly glared at by the American service-engines who were rebuilding their countries from the ground up, and then agreed. 

The impact on European Locomotive Rights by the Americans cannot be understated. Most European governments were totally prepared to resume the status quo if it wasn’t for the Americans rolling around with their US Citizen status on full display. This is also another reason why England is such a laggard in Locomotive Rights - the country was not as heavily destroyed as continental Europe, and was able to rebuild itself without US "interference".

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Stalin also was a firm believer in Locomotive Rights, for many of the same reasons as Hitler was - locomotives have the ability to bring your country to a halt, so you’d better have them on your side. He’d made attempts to make locomotives citizens before the war, but the Soviet efforts really came into their own during the 1950s - Stalin’s purges had removed a lot of humans from existence, and most locomotives at that point had been built by the USSR in the USSR, and therefore had no concept of ‘Disloyalty to The State", so they were natural fits for many roles within the Soviet government. At one point in 1982, the USSR’s Ministry of Transport was staffed only by vehicles, with no humans present whatsoever. The total integration of vehicles into the USSR reached its zenith in the late 70s, when new buildings were required to have elevators capable of lifting locomotives and other extremely heavy vehicles to at least the third floor - this requirement has remained even to this day, and most eastern European residential structures have the structural strength of a nuclear bomb shelter as a result. 

It should be pointed out that while the USSR might have treated locomotives well, it was still an authoritarian dystopia, and nothing here is an endorsement for the country or its actions/politics. 

Following the dissolution of the USSR, the hypercapitalist state of the former Eastern Bloc meant that anything and everything was up for sale, including people and machines. One enterprising locomotive used his newfound wealth to create a formidable trade union/gang that covers most of the former USSR to this day. This organization is the primary driver of locomotive rights laws in the former Soviet Bloc, but it should be noted that a lot of the pushback against locomotive rights comes from politicians trying to shut them down specifically. 

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Japan is... weird. Locomotives have been fully adopted into their society for generations, and there was no loss or gain of rights during the Second World War, as they were already in place. Let me explain why:

Due to Japan's Shinto influence, locomotives were considered to be basically human from their inception on the island - the first law specifically related to locomotives in the world was an edict issued by the Emperor in regards to the three locomotives imported by English and European engineers for use on the upcoming Shimbashi-Yokohama railway - they were to be given the same rights as those locomotives built domestically. Since then, most Japanese laws have included locomotives by default, often making no mention of them unless specifically including them because of physical differences. [For example, locomotives are not required to partake in mandatory military service, as their service to the railways is often more valuable, especially during peacetime.] However, while locomotives in the West were free to work as they pleased, even off of the rail network, Japanese trains do so in remarkably smaller numbers, with over 98% of locomotives remaining in railway service until their retirement. Those that do not do so typically enter railway-related fields like locomotive construction, upper management in railway companies, or working in the Japanese Ministry of Transport.

In this sense, locomotives in Japan can be considered to be less free than their western colleagues, as the nation culture of "work until you die" meant that no attempt was made to allow trains to enter human society, forcing them to essentially be segregated from humans when not directly pulling trains, as land is too scarce to use for western-style 'locomotive cities' except in extremely rural areas and Nagasaki*.

*Following the atomic bombing of the city in 1945, Nagasaki was rebuilt by the American occupying forces - many of whom were USRA locomotives. The city’s bombed-out industrial areas were already layered with train tracks, making it easy to create a locomotive sized living area. Hiroshima, which suffered damage to its human-oriented urban core, was not rebuilt with trains in mind.

  As such, locomotives are considered full Japanese citizens, but most Japanese humans have never interacted with them. Exceptions do exist, mostly in rural towns and villages, where a locomotive is usually considered to be the town's 'honored elder', as most locomotives on small branches have lived in the area for many decades, making them the oldest member of the town in many cases. This has lead to many culture clashes in larger cities, where residents may be apathetic to the desires their locomotive neighbors, much to the dismay and shock of a 'country bumpkin' who lives nearby.

Of particular issue to locomotive freedoms are multiple units. Since the 1960s, Japanese railways have put more focus into EMUs/DMUs rather than standard locomotive hauled trains. This has caused even more segregation amongst Japan's rail population, as permanently coupled multiple units cannot access the few existing locomotive/human developments, as they were designed for standalone locomotives. Urban sprawl and high land prices have made enlarging these developments is impossible. To date, the only MU focused 'loco-city' (other than one-track sheds in rural farming communities) is in the Fukushima Daiichi exclusion area. However, as the line accessing it is in the traditional Japanese 3'6" gauge, the community remains inaccessible to the 4'8.5" gauge Shinkansen trains, many of whom are almost totally isolated from anyone else - despite living in Japan's largest cities - as a result of their loading gauge restrictions.  

Similar social isolation occurs to ships and aircraft, but as they are able to receive emotional support from friends and relatives across the planet, they do not suffer from this isolation nearly as much. 

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At no point in Italian history has anyone been able to make the right decision in regards to locomotive rights. This is not to say that Locomotive rights (and vehicular rights in general) don’t exist in Italy - they do, rather thoroughly - but rather, the Italians have never once done so intentionally, instead implementing locomotive rights by having multiple laws, written on multiple occasions over multiple decades, that are so badly written that a train could and likely was driven through the loopholes that exist in them! 

[theradioghost]

Do you have any podcast recs that are super easy for those of us with audio processing problems? For me specifically that means one voice (or maybe two if they’re very distinct) and minimal complexity in the soundscaping, though if you have recs that don’t fit those that you think might apply to other people w/ different audio processing issues you can talk about those too! :)

I can certainly try! I feel as though I should put it out there that I often have a difficult time gauging where a podcast sits re: audio processing/HOH listeners; the literal entirety of my day job is being good at telling what people are saying in audio, and my own audio processing problems mostly just result in my near-inability to keep up with actual plays, so if any of these are misjudgements on those terms I apologize in advance.

* means that I know there are also transcripts available for the podcast in question!

SAYER: scifi dark comedy/horror. In a morally questionable tech corporation’s moonbase facilities, advanced artificial intelligence SAYER directs employees about their daily routines; this then turns over time into possibly the best story about AI I’ve ever heard. Especially in the first three seasons, virtually all speaking is done by one voice. (Caveat that a few other characters come in later, and they’re actually all voiced by one guy with different filters, but the filters are pretty distinct and characters tend to identify themselves by default at the beginning of every conversation.)

*The Cryptonaturalist: comforting supernatural folksiness. The titular expert on all things strange and wonderful reads poetry, admires nature, and talks about wonderful creatures like foxes that live within library shelves, stick insects that camouflage themselves as whole trees, salamanders that swim in parking lot asphalt, and Owls.

*The Hidden Almanac: comforting supernatural weirdness. Hagiographer, avid gardener, and Mysterious Dude In Plague Doctor Getup known as Reverend Mord gives tidbits of the history of his strange and fantastical world, along with gardening advice. Sometimes his tequila-swigging accidental necromancer best friend coworker Pastor Drom shows up. Written by fantasy author Ursula Vernon and mostly voiced by her husband Kevin. Extremely relaxing to listen to; the show ended last year but they put out five-minute episodes three times a week for eight years so there’s plenty of it. The first year or so actually doesn’t appear on most podcatchers so maybe check out the website.

Everything Is Alive: poignant, heartfelt interviews with inanimate objects. While there’s a different object featured each episode, it’s mostly just them and the interviewer, plus occasional phone calls with an expert on some subject brought up during the interview. Hits so much harder than you could possibly imagine given the summary. You WILL be upset about a can of off-brand cola.

*Quid Pro Euro: bizarre comedy mockumentary. A satire of the European Union in the style of a set of instructional tapes for EU employees made in the ‘90s, predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. Their predictions are somewhat off. Only one voice and delightfully it is Felix Trench. I don’t know anything about the EU but I still think it’s hilarious.

*Glasgow Ghost Stories: spooky supernatural. A resident of Glasgow is unexpectedly able to see the many ghosts that reside in the city -- but the ghosts have started to notice her too, and not all of them are friendly. A beautiful and atmospheric single-voice show; plus the feed also contains the very good miniseries Tracks.

*Palimpsest: poetic and haunting. An anthology series about young women experiencing supernatural happenings, each 10-episode season tells a different story in monologue (I think there are literally two episodes with other voices in them). Poignant, gorgeous, and sometimes heartbreakingly sad in the best way. In season one Anneliese wonders about the strange neighbors at her new apartment. In season two, Ellen takes a new job as companion to a supposed fairy princess imprisoned in a strange showroom in turn of the century America. In season three, former codebreaker Josie begins to see the spirits of the dead on the streets of London during the Blitz.

*Within the Wires: alternate history scifi found footage. From a world where a calamitous global war resulted in the installation of a new Society where nations and family ties are banned, an anthology of voices telling their stories. Each season is a single voice. Season one, a set of relaxation tapes deliver unexpected instructions to a government prisoner in a strange medical facility. In sSeason two, a series of museum exhibit guides spin out the mystery of two artists and their work. In season three, a government employee dictates notes to his secretary and begins to suspect a plot. In season four, the traveling leader of a secretive cultlike commune leaves sermons for her followers, and instructions for her daughter.

*Alice Isn’t Dead: lesbian americana roadtrip weird horror. Keisha’s wife Alice was missing, presumed dead. Now Keisha is a trucker, traveling the vast American emptiness to seek her out; but she’s about to become embroiled in the same vast secret war that may have drawn away her wife, and she’s not alone on the roads. Starts with one voice, adds a new one each season for a total of three. Also is finished.

*Station Blue: psychological horror. Matthew takes a job as the lone caretaker of an Antarctic research station for several months. This goes about as well as you’d predict. Very much a slow burn, strange, brooding horror of isolation. Heavy themes of mental illness based on the creator’s experiences of bipolar disorder. 

*Mabel: dark, poetic faerietale horror. Live-in caretaker Anna attempts to contact the absent granddaughter of her elderly employer, the lone resident of a strange and ancient house in Ireland. A love story, a haunted house story, a fairy tale with teeth. This one might be hit or miss; it sometimes tends to the abstract a bit, and there’s more soundscaping and some other occasional voices besides the main two protagonists. Definitely worth trying out, though, this is absolutely an underappreciated gem.

*Janus Descending: tragic scifi horror. Two researchers, Peter and Chell, travel alone to a distant planet to survey the ruins of its extinct civilization. Unfortunately, they discover exactly how that civilization died out. Excellent if you like movies like Alien, and also being extremely sad. Only two voices. Really unique story structure: it’s told via the two protagonists’ logs of the events, but you hear Chell’s logs in order, and Peter’s logs in reverse, with their perspectives alternating. The result is a tragedy where technically you know the ending from the start, but it’s told so cleverly that just what happened and how remains a tantalizing, tense, heartbreaking mystery right until the end.

*I Am In Eskew: poetic, surreal horror. Only two voices and few sound effects. David is a man trapped in the twisting, malevolent city of Eskew, where the rain always falls, streets seem to lead the same way twice, and nothing can be trusted. Riyo is an investigator, making her way through rumors and questions in search of a man long missing and a place that seems not to exist. Maybe my favorite horror media ever? Deeply disturbing and yet even the most awful things are somehow beautiful. Like if Lynch, Escher and Mieville had a terrible, wonderful baby.

*Tides: contemplative hard scifi. When biologist Dr. Eurus is wrecked alone on a distant alien world shaped by deadly tidal forces, her struggle to survive also becomes a meditative exploration of the ecosystem around her, and a recognition that here, she is the alien. Mostly it’s Dr. Eurus; sometimes you hear from her coworkers. It’s got Julia Schifini, what’s not to love?

*Midnight Radio: ghost story/romance. A 1950s radio host who broadcasts a late-night show to her small hometown begins to receive letters from a listener and respond to them on air. I wrote this! It has a total of three voice actors and virtually no soundscaping. I promise it’s good.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#24)

#24: Mor ve Ötesi - Deli (Turkey 2008)

“Beni büyütün, ağlatmayın, Sahte düşlerle oyalamayın,”

“Raise me, don't make me cry, Don't waste my time with fake dreams.”

This song plays some importance for me personally—I wrote a research chapter between Turkey and its struggle to get into the European Union, which was part of a larger paper (see page 45 of the document for my writing) on Turkish-U.S. relations. The overall paper discusses about how the latter's working relationship deteriorated over the past decade due to differing policy goals and Turkey's rising authoritarianism; the EU was a small part because it could give a hint to what Turkey's immediate Western neighbors were doing to help the situation.

Since this hinted at this tension, I had to listen to it. And it’s an awesome song, filled with power and thought.

I particularly like how dark the soundscape was, especially with the verses and Harun musing about whether he belongs in a specific place. Based on the whole atmosphere, if I didn't read the comments, I would assume it took place in an abusive relationship--not necessarily a physically violent one, but an emotional one. One partner was making promises on how they would be better and grant the other everything, but the other knows their habits and doesn't want to buy into their nonsense anymore. He also showcases this with his performance style--teasing the audience, acting sarcastic through his body gestures and his face, and the intensity in his voice. He's mocking the audience--did they think they got into his mind?

That said, the bridge was also fantastic--here, Harun confronts the entire situation, noting how everyone around him was "sane", while he himself was "insane". If the people who suggest the EU-Turkey relationship is right, it's very apparent here. Despite Turkey's best attempts (and their non-attempts sometimes, haha), they're considered "not European" enough to join their clique (interesting considering how much the Ottoman Empire impacted European history). The tension really rauches up towards the final chorus--I'd imagine I would just scream out just after the final "I am insane...". It's just cathartic after realizing your lack of worth in society.

Arguably, this and We Could Be the Same (#26) deal with the same themes of belonging, wanting to be one, and dealing with others. Whereas the former was more optimistic, and is pretty explicit about romance, Deli is darker, yet more cerebral. You're in a tenser situation, in which everything is at stake, and it's weird because it was released two years earlier!

Plus, I grew to love Mor ve ötesi's discography as well: I listen to Uyan the most, but I also enjoy Cambaz, Anlatamıyorum, and their covers of 1945 and Sultan-ı Yegâh. Definitely one of Turkey's best rock bands, and for good reason.

Personal ranking: 2nd/43 Actual ranking: 7th/25 GF in Belgrade

[phroyd]

When I ask my European friends to describe us — Americans, Brits, who I’ll call Anglo-Americans in this essay — they shake their heads gently. And over and over, three themes emerge. They say we’re a little thoughtless. They say we’re selfish and arrogant. And they say that we’re cruel and brutal.

I can’t help but think there’s more than a grain of truth. That they’re being kind. Anglo-American society is now the world’s preeminent example of willful self-destruction. It’s jaw-dropping folly and stupidity is breathtaking to the rest of the world.

The hard truth is this. America and Britain aren’t just collapsing by the day…they aren’t even just choosing to collapse by the day. They’re entering a death spiral, from which there’s probably no return. Yes, really. Simple economics dictate that, just like they did for the Soviet Union — and I’ll come to them.

And yet what’s even weirder and more grotesque than that is that…wel…nobody much seems to have noticed. There’s a deafening silence from pundits and elites and columnists and politicians on the joint self-destruction of the Anglo-American world. Nobody seems to have noticed: the only two rich societies in the world with falling life expectancies, incomes, savings, happiness, trust — every single social indicator you can imagine — are America and Britain. It’s not one of history’s most improbable coincidences that America and Britain are collapsing in eerily similar ways, at precisely the same time. It’s a relationship. What connects the dots?

Let me pause to note that my European friends’ first criticism — that we’re thoughtless — is therefore accurate. We’re not even capable of noticing — much less understanding — our twin collapse. Our entire thinking and leadership class seems not to have even noticed, like idiots grinning and dancing, setting their own house on fire. They are simply going on pretending it isn’t happening — that the English speaking world isn’t fast becoming something very much like the new Soviet Union.

So what caused this joint collapse? How did the English speaking world end up like the new Soviet Union? To understand that point, consider the fact that you yourself probably think that’s an overstatement. But it’s an empirical reality. The Soviet Union stagnated for thirty years. America’s stagnated for fifty, and Britain for twenty. The Soviet Union couldn’t provide basics for its citizens — hence the famous breadlines. In America, people beg each other for money to pay for insulin and antibiotics, decent food is unavailable in vast swathes of the country, and retirement and paying off one’s debt are impossibilities: just like in the Soviet Union, basics are becoming both unavailable and unaffordable. What happens? People…die.

(The same is true in Britain. In both societies, upwards of 20% of children live in poverty, the middle class has imploded, and upward mobility has all but vanished. These are Soviet statistics — lethally real ones.)

Politics, too, has become a sclerotic Soviet affair. Anglo-American societies aren’t really democracies in any sensible meaning of the word anymore. They’re run by and for a class of elites, who could care less, literally, whether the average person lives or dies. In America, that class is a bizarre coterie of Ivy Leaguers pretending to be aw-shucks-good-ole-boys on the one side, like Ted Cruz, and Ivy Leaguers pretending to be do-gooders on the other, like Zuck and Silicon Valley. In Britain, it’s the notorious public school boys, the Etonians and Oxbridge set.

That brings me to arrogance. What’s astonishing about our elites is how…arrogant they are…and how ignorant they are…at precisely the same time. Finland just elected a 34 year old woman as a Prime Minister from the Social Democrats. Finland is a society that outperforms ours in every way — every way — imaginable. Finnish happiness is way, way higher — and so is life expectancy, mobility, savings, real incomes, trust, among others. And yet instead of learning a thing from a miracle like that, our elites profess to know a better way…while they’ve run our societies into the ground. What the? Hubris would be an understatement. I don’t think the English language has a word for this weird, fatal combination of arrogance amidst ignorance. Maybe cocksure stupidity comes close.

And yet our elites have succeeded in one vital task — what an Emile Durkheim might have called “social reproduction.” They’ve managed to reproduce society in their image. What does the average Anglo-American aspire to be, do, have? To be rich, powerful, careless, selfish, and dumb, now, mostly. We don’t, as societies or cultures, value learning or knowledge or magnanimity or great and noble things, anymore. We shower millions on reality TV stars and billions on “investment bankers.” The average person has become a tiny microcosm of the aspirations and norms of elites — they’re not curious, empathetic, decent, humane, noble, kind, in pursuit of wisdom, truth, beauty, meaning, purpose. We’ve become cruel, indecent, obscene, comically shallow, and astonishingly foolish people.

That’s not some kind of jeremiad. It’s an objective, easily observed truth. Who else in a rich society denies their neighbours healthcare and retirement? Nobody. Who else denies their own kids education? Nobody. Who else denies themselves childcare and elderly care? Nobody. Who else doesn’t want safety nets, opportunities, mobility, protection, savings, higher incomes? Nobody. Literally nobody on planet earth wants worse lives excepts us. We’re the only people on earth who thwart our own social progress, over and over again — and cheer about it.

How did we become these people? How did we become tiny microcosms of our arrogant, ignorant, breathtakingly stupid elites? Because we are perpetually battling for self-preservation. Life has become a kind of brutal combat to the death. For jobs, for healthcare, for money, for the tiniest shreds of resources necessary to live. We wake up and fight one another for these things, over and over again. That is what our lives amount to now — gladiatorial combat. Meanwhile, elites and billionaires sit back and enjoy not just the spectacle — but the winnings.

People who are battling for self-preservation can’t take care of anyone else. If I ask the average Brit or American to consider paying for their society’s healthcare, education, elderly care, childcare, increasingly, the answer is: LOL. In America, it always has been. Why is that? The reason couldn’t be simpler. People can’t even take care of themselves and their own. How can they take care of anyone else — let alone everyone else?

The average person is living right at the edge. Not at the edge of the middle class dream and an even better one. But at the edge of poverty and destitution. They struggle to pay basic bills and never make ends meet. They can’t afford to educate their children, and retire, or retire and have healthcare, and so on. Let me say it again: the average person can’t take care of themselves and their own — so how can they take care of anyone else, let alone everyone else?

A more technical, formal way to say that is: our societies have now become too poor to afford public goods and social systems. But public goods and social systems are what make a modern, rich society. What’s a society without decent healthcare, schools, universities, libraries, education, parks, transport, media — available to all, without life-crippling “debt”? It’s not a modern society at all. But more and more, it’s not America or Britain, either.

What makes European societies — which are far, far more successful than ours — successful is that people are not battling for self-preservation, and so they are able to cooperate to better one another instead. At least not nearly so much and so lethally as we are. They are assured of survival. They therefore have resources to share with others. They don’t have to battle for the very things we take away from each other — because they simply give them to one another. That has kept them richer than us, too. The average American now lives in effective poverty — unable to afford healthcare, housing, and basic bills. They must choose. The European doesn’t have to, precisely because they invested in one another — and those investment made them richer than us.

We are caught in a death spiral now. A vicious cycle from which there is probably no escape. The average person is too poor to fund the very things — the only things — which can offer him a better life: healthcare, education, childcare, healthcare, and so on. The average person is too poor to fund public goods and social systems. The average person is too poor now to able to give anything to anyone else, to invest anything in anyone else. He lives and dies in debt to begin with — so what does he have left over to give back, put back, invest?

A more technical, formal way to put all that is this. Europeans distributed their social surplus more fairly than we did. They didn’t give all the winnings to idiot billionaires like Zucks and con men like Trump. They kept middle and working classes better off than us. As a result, those middle and working classes were able to invest in expansive public goods and social systems. Those things — good healthcare, education, transport, media — kept life improving for everyone. That virtuous circle of investing a fairly distributed social surplus created a true economic miracle over just one human lifetime: Europe rose from the ashes of war to enjoy history’s highest living standards, ever, period.

That’s changing in Europe, to be sure. But that is because Europe is becoming Americanized, Anglicized. It has a generation of leaders foolish enough to follow our lead — now remember the greatest lesson of European history, which is one of the greatest lessons of history, full stop. That lesson goes like this.

People who are made to live right at the edge must battle each other for self-preservation. But such people have nothing left to give one another. And that way, a society enters a death spiral of poverty — like ours have.

People who can’t make ends meet can’t even invest in themselves — let alone anyone else. Such a society has to eat through whatever public goods and social systems it has, just to survive. It never develops or expands new ones.

The result is that a whole society grows poorer and poorer. Unable to invest in themselves or one another, people’s only real way out is to fight each other for self-preservation, by taking away their neighbor’s rights, privileges, and opportunities — instead of being able to give any new ones to anyone. Why give everyone healthcare and education when you can’t even afford your own? How are you supposed to?

Society melts down into a spiral of extremism and fascism, as ever increasing poverty brings hate, violence, fear, and rage with it. Trust erodes, democracy corrodes, social bonds are torn apart, and the only norms left are Darwinian-fascist ones: the strong survive, and the weak must perish.

(Let me spend a second or two on that last point. As they become poorer, people begin to distrust each other — and then hate each other. Why wouldn’t they? After all, the grim reality is that they actually are fighting each other for existence, for the basic resources of life, like medicine, money, and food.

As distrust becomes hate, people who have nothing to give anyways end up having no reason to even hope to give anything back to anyone else. Why give anything to those people you are fighting, every single day, for the most meagre resources necessary to live? Why give the very people who denied you healthcare and education anything? Isn’t the only real point of life to show that you beat them by having a bigger house, faster car, prettier wife or husband?)

That is how a society dies. That is the death spiral of a rich society. In technical terms, it goes like this. A social surplus isn’t distributed equitably. That leaves the average person too poor to invest anything back in society. He’s just battling for self-preservation, and the stakes are life or death. But that battle itself only breeds even more poverty. Because without investment, nurturance, nourishment — nothing can grow. Having become poor, the average person only grows poorer — because he will never have decent public goods or social systems, let alone the rights and privileges and jobs and careers and trajectories they become and lead to.

A society of people so poor they have nothing left over to invest in one another is dying. It goes from prosperity to poverty, from optimism to pessimism, from cohesion to distrust and hate, from peace to violence — at light speed, in the space of a generation. That’s America and Britain’s story today, just as it was the Soviet Union’s, yesterday, and Weimar Germany’s, before that.

You can see how a society dies — with horrific, brutal clarity — in the self-destruction of America and Britain. The hate-filled vitriol of Trumpism, the barely-hidden hate of Brexit. Why wouldn’t people who have grown suddenly poor hate everyone else? Why wouldn’t they blame anyone and everyone they can — from Mexicans to Muslims to Europeans — for their own decline? The truth, as always, is harder. America and Britain’s collapse is nobody’s fault — nobody’s — but their own.

They are in a death spiral now, but no opponent or adversary brought them there. It was their own fault, and yet they still go on choosing it. They don’t know any other way now. Their elites succeeded at making the average person truly, fervently believe that battling perpetually for self-preservation was the only way a society could exist.

And though it’s too late to escape for them, let us hope that the rest of the world, from Europe to Asia to Africa, learns the lesson of the sad, gruesome, stupid, astonishing tragedy of self-inflicted collapse.

Umair December 2019

Phroyd

[hatari-translations]

Matthías on the new Icelandic constitution - translation

I was asked on Facebook to translate this article, an opinion piece by Matthías concerning the new Icelandic constitution. I wasn’t really going to until requested, since he’s commenting on very specific details of Icelandic politics and honestly I doubt what he’s saying would mean all that much to non-Icelanders; don’t expect to get all that much out of this. But we do at least start off with a fun Hatari reference and learn how he likes his coffee.

Of course the nation voted for freshly-ground coffee

Before it ever crossed my mind to dress up in a leather thong with my cousin and screech something about collapse and death into Europeans' TV cameras, I took part in a pretty remarkable election. My mind was full of optimism. No hatred or the destruction of humanity. It was 2012, and I'd just gained the right to vote and had even used it in a historic moment.

I was one of 115,890 people who put an X in some well-chosen boxes, and the results told those in power something like this:

"Hey, of course, man! I want all votes to be equal, for the people who live here to own the natural resources and be responsible for them and just, Christ, for us to have a modern constitution! This shouldn't even be a question!"

My sister will lose her braces first

That's what eighteen-year-old me thought. As did the majority of everyone else who showed up. That it wasn't even a question, even though of course it was important that we were asked. But it would become a question that would take eight years and three governments to answer. I have a younger sister who'd barely started primary school when we voted on it, and next week she's getting her braces removed. At some point in between, Britain was squeezed out of the European Union by the power of a non-binding referendum. Kind of like the referendum that I voted in when I was eighteen years old was non-binding. Its results aren't being squeezed through, but instead watered down in parliament.

Like syrup-based coffee in a plastic cup with nonperishable milk

For instance, I want an article on natural resources in the constitution the way I want my coffee. Black and no sugar. That's how it is in the new constitution: natural resources are defined, the nation's ownership of them is clear and inalienable, and it's clearly delineated that the right to use those resources is to be given out for only a short, modest period at a time. The article on natural resources currently open for comment is kind of like two-day-old syrup-based coffee in a plastic cup with nonperishable milk. If you remove the edge from the phrasing, the taste is gone and you might as well skip it. Of course what the nation voted for was freshly-ground coffee.

Please read the new article on natural resources when you've got the chance, just as a reminder. And the entire [original] document when you have time. It's not only clear but beautiful. If it had a scent, it'd be the scent of freshly-ground coffee.

Thanks, fact saviours!

Now various people claim to be watchdogs for facts, and mean to collect them to reduce confusion on a new website. That's a cool effort. One gets the feeling that when thousands of people make natural but loud demands for democracy, the dedicated website of the society for nonperishable milk will be pretty weak as a defensive maneuver. That's not a fact, just a feeling. When I look at the facts, I don't think of hatred or the destruction of humanity, but optimism.

I don't know the facts better than the fact saviours on the internet but I can only thank them. Thanks, dear fact saviours! Now more than ever we can feel the demand for a new constitution is working, it's being heard, it's clear and beautiful. It shouldn't be a question, but a fact.

Translation notes

Obviously there’s a lot of context here that he’s commenting on. I’m going to go over what the hell he’s talking about briefly.

In 2011, in the wake of the financial collapse, we crowdsourced the writing of a new constitution - there was a meeting open to the public where people could get their voices heard, then 25 ordinary individuals were elected to get together and write a new constitution. (There was a weird fiasco where technically maybe in theory somebody could have seen somebody else’s vote the way things were set up, and somebody sued about it and as a result the election was officially struck down, but then parliament just put together a committee to write the constitution consisting of those same 25 individuals instead.)

In 2012, there was a national referendum on the draft of the new constitution written by the committee. Although turnout was disappointing, 2/3 of voters wanted to adopt a new constitution based on this draft. However, instead of actually doing so, parliament just kind of quietly stuck the new constitution in a drawer and nothing changed. (To actually make constitutional changes, parliament needs to vote on it twice, with an election in between; they just never voted on it at all.)

Recently there’s been a new surge of interest in the new constitution and a lot more people demanding that they finally vote on the new draft. Instead, parliament has submitted its own versions of some of the changes in the constitution for public review, watered down. The natural resources thing Matthías is talking about was a big point of contention with the new constitution, since the way the original draft is phrased requires an overhaul of the fishing quota system, which would be bad for the big fishing companies which are coincidentally very close and in bed with Iceland’s biggest political party, the Independence Party. The watered-down version basically just changes it to maintain the status quo, conveniently for the fishing companies.

The bit about “fact saviours” at the end, as best I can tell, is referencing a recent article by the head of the Independence Party’s youth movement, headlined “#Where are the facts?”, where she helpfully explains that the constitution can only be changed if it’s confirmed by parliament twice with an election in between (we all knew that, thanks), and that the referendum doesn’t count because only less than half of the nation voted so really only 1/3 of the nation wants the new constitution (if this were how referendums worked, then the referendum where Iceland voted for independence from Denmark would also not have counted).

[pepsi-writes]

it’s underrated organization time

UN: United Nations (The entire world except Palestine and Vatican City) EU: European Union (I'm not naming them all) NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Still not naming them all) EFTA: European Free Trade Association (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein) V4: Visegrad Group (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) COE: Council of Europe (All of Europe) AU: African Union (Basically all of Africa except Morocco) they are all non-binary, they just prefer specific pronouns.

"D-dad?" V4 whimpered. "There's a monster under my bed. It's smelly and scary and huge and scary!"

He heard something shift under him. His heartbeat increased and he started to sweat, the liquid dripping down his face. "D-dad! I-i think I h-heard it m-move! H-HELP ME!"  he desperately screeched.

In the bottom of the bunk bed, EFTA sighed and covered her face with a mountain of blankets.

"Why do you hate me, brother?"

-----------------------------------

EFTA studied a grinning V4 with a quizzical expression on her face. "You look overly happy." she said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Did something good happen, or-"

"Can't I smile whenever I feel like it?" V4 replied, still smiling. NATO walked by with a disconcerted look on his face. He leaned towards EFTA and pulled her away from V4. Slowly but softly, he whispered, "EU tripped in the parking lot."

--------

Of course, EFTA's phone just had to die at the best times; now she couldn't even look at the time. Writing a hundred-page treaty by hand proved to be quite a challenge for her, but at least she used to have her phone to entertain her. It was like when EFTA had some music playing in the background, it seemed like she got the most work done, twice as fast as she normally would. Now time seemed to fly fast wherever she even set her pen to paper.

She looked up from the kitchen table to see a squinting EU, dressed in nothing but a flimsy robe and slippers.

He narrowed his eyes even more than he had before. "Why are you awake?" he rasped. EFTA ignored his question; it was probably best that she didn't answer. "What time is it?"

EU, now wide awake, shrugged. "I dunno, hand me the trombone."

"Aight." Weird request, but okay. EFTA leaned back into her chair, searching for a certain cabinet. Once she found it, she gripped the handle and pulled it so a trombone came tumbling out. Skillfully (this was second nature to her), she caught the trombone by its bell, and threw it at EU, who caught it without looking.

He held the mouth piece to his mouth, inhaling deeply. The trombone bellowed, almost making the ground shake. Through all this, EFTA heard a rustling from upstairs. V4 stormed downstairs, fire in his eyes. "WHO"S PLAYING THE FUCKING TROMBONE AT TWO AM?"

EU, nodding, turned to EFTA. "It's two AM."

------

"Fun fact," NATO announced. "When you try to eat pineapple it tries to eat you." EU gasped yet again. He was already at a loss of words from V4 almost dying, and now this? "Whahahahhahwhwhaha?" "Fun fact: M&M stands for Mars and Murrie." NATO continued. He barreled out the facts, one by one, like a cannon blasting out cannonballs. "Fun fact: The first ever oranges weren't orange. They were green." "Fun Fact: Scotland has 421 words for snow." "😀," EU said, holding his hand up to shield himself from NATO.

-------

A younger country, must have been about Weimar's age, burst into the room, screaming his lungs out. A name tag adorned his chest, 'America' printed sloppily on it. He took AU by the shoulders, shaking him vigorously. "Your classmate is repeating everything you say!" Someone snickered from the back.

A nonchalant America continued. "ME! ME! ME! He's eATING ME!"

EFTA had to cover her mouth with her hands to muffle her laughs. All the while, AU was laughing hysterically, even though it kind of hurt to be shaken as hard as this. In the back of the class, EU leaned over the desks to reach COE and whispered, "Is he ok? Is he-" "Probably." "Oh, my bad."

------

EU raised his hand. "Yes?" UN asked. Their eye ever so slightly twitched. He pointed to the whiteboard. "If the mom has red hair and the dad has brown hair, then why does the kid have blond hair?" NATO immediately replied without missing a beat. "I don't know, the mailman." EU looked at NATO with confusion written across his face. Then he gasped. "Wait, wha-"

------

EU raised his hand once again. "I have a question." "Yes?" "What would happen if you ate a snail?" "W-what?" "What would happen if you eat a snail?" he repeated. "What would happen if I ate a snail- what?" UN paused. "I'm at a loss of words. How is this relevant to what we're talking about?" They chuckled to themselves.

------

EFTA sighed, observing the debate that was unfolding in front of her. "I should have never brought up the metal tacos."

"They just hurt the teeth," V4 argued. "That's the downside."

"Thanks. Visegrad." NATO said, almost sarcastically.

V4 ignored this and continued to discuss the metal tacos. "Yet wooden ones give splinters. Which hurts more."

"We would have splinters all over." AU pondered.

"Iron efficiency," EU cracked a small smile, chuckling at his own joke, and placed his hand on his head to make a point.

EFTA looked over at UN, who, as always, had that large grin stretched across their face. However, their left eye was beginning to twitch ever so slightly, more than had ever before.

"Um, guys-"

------

AU stared blankly at the clock, bored. Like, extremely bored. "5 minutes," she said, right when EU was about to speak. "No, my job," the other whispered, ice lacing his tone. "5 minutes :)," EU then announced to the room, a smug smile framing his face. AU groaned. "Well, I took your job." "No, my job is my job." ">: )," AU smiled. EU's face morphed into one of worsening distress. ":(," he replied.

[evilelitest2]

How did China become the way it is now? They went from dynasties to a communist dictatorship that targets Uighurs?

Well i will say, the Qing Dynasty (last dynasty of China) also did a lot of genocides against Nomadic non Han peoples on the frontier provinces (Despite being a non Han steppe dynasty themselves) , like China has a long history of that sort of thing.  But to answer your main question, this is really complicated but i’ll try to reduce it down to a few steps

Step one: The Qing Dynasty, last Imperial Dynasty of China, is chilling out being the Imperial power when the British Empire, in their endless addiction TEA basically gets a ton of the nation addicted to opium to force China to Trade with them, cementing their role as history more aggressive drug dealer.  When china is like “hey we don’t want to do discount heroin” Britain launches a series of “Opium wars” where they destroy the Qing army and force them to basically a accept these unequal treaties where Britain and the other European powers could basically run sections of most of the Chinese coastal cities, were immune to Chinese law, take Hong Kong for themselves (different story) and force China to enter unequal trade treaties. 

Step 2: In part to response to this, an unorthodox Christian sect starts a massive Revolution/Civil war called the Taiping Rebellion, which has the “FUN” distinction of being one of the most bloody war in human history...ever.  up to 30 million people die.  Remember this is happening at the same time as the American Civil War, whose highest death count only gets up to 1 million.   This does massive damage to Qing China, even though they win the war, and makes them super hostile to Christianity and western adaptations.  

Step 3:Japan, who is going through their own period of Modernization, decides the best way to reject Western Imperialism is to Imperalize Korea.  This leads to the First Sino Japanese War in 1895, who defeat China and start to take over chinese territory.  They take even more when they win the Russo Japanese War in 1905.  

Step 4:  The Qing rejection most attempts to reform the state (such as the Hundred Days reform) and instead attempt to fight all the Colonial powers...at once in the utterly disastrous 1908 Boxer Rebellion.  The Qing are semi colonized as a result and financially ruined and have lost the respect of the people. 

Step 5: Sun Yat Sen, the most prominent Republican (as in democracy) founds his resistance group to China based on the notions of China accepting westernization, modernization, a secular anti traditionalist goverment, nationalism, anti imperialism, and democracy.  The idea that for China to have a good future is to embrace a western style of nation state building.

STep 6: In 1911, a carelessly discarded cigerrete leads to an explosion which leads to a popular rebellion against the Qing.  Before anybody, including the rebel leaders themselves are ready, suddenly the Qing dynasty is gone leaving behind a massive Power Vacumm.  

Step 7: Sun, taking control of the state, founds the Chinese Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang or KMT.  They attempt to create a modern Republican Chinese Nation State but erm...

Step 8: A previous Qing General named Yuan Shikai attempts to overthrow the Republic and create a new Imperial Dynasty.  He fails and dies, but the civil war between him and the KMT leaves the KMT in control of only a few Chinese cities, and the rest of China breaks into a bunch of local petty fiefdoms with local military leaders just declaring themselves warlord and running China.  

Step 9: Sun is like “ok the democracy thing isn’t working out” and enlists the general Chiang Kai-Shek to help the KMT unify china.  Chiang starts to fight the other warlords, and when Sun dies in 1925,  Chiang turns the KMT into a military positivist dictatorship with the long term goal of unifying/modernizing China and then maybe becoming a democracy.  

Everybody Pauses for World War I

Step 10: Some Chinese intellectuals think that the new party should be founded on more left wing principles, and they found the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  They ally with the KMT because they also want to modernize/unify China, and accept from the Soviet Union as well as other anti colonal forces

Step 11: Chiang (with the help of the CCP) does a pretty good job at defeating the Warlords and unifying China.  BUt Chiang then betrays the CCP and massacres most of them as well as left wing KMT members, and starts to adopt an anti Communist profile.  

Step 12: The CCP, now much more radical, sets up their commune and fights against both the KMT and the warlords.  But they lose and are forced to flee across the rural China as part of the “Long March”.  Most of the communists die but those who survive to arrive to the last communist hold out in safety, is the new communist leader and totally not a psychopathic murderer, Mao Zedong.  

Step 13: Chiang has mostly unified China, defeating or subduing most of the Warlords, and is slowly but surely destroying the last remnants of the Communist party, who have retreated to a few hold outs in the rural north.  The new KMT state is relatively stable but still a military dictatorship surrounded by enemies. Meanwhile Japan is going through its fascist phase and is gobbling up bits and pieces of Manchuria, but Chiang doesn’t think he has the strength to fight Japan until he has finished fighting the Communists.  

Step 14: Japans military on the Ground goes rogue and just sort of...invades Manchuria on their own.  Meanwhile Chiang is literally kidnapped and forced at gun point to declare war on Japan in 1937.  The KMT and the CCP make an alliance to fight against Japan jointly.  The Second Sino Japanese War has begun 

Step 15: Between 1937-1945, The KMT is almost entirely driven back to rural Western China by the Japanese, who spend their time committing horrific atrocities which the goverment still hasn’t apologized today (which is why the rest of East Asia hates Japan), including the absolute horrific Rape of Nanking (look it up).   meanwhile the CCP fights a few token battles but then hides in the north and slowly trains up their forces and lets the KMT and Japan fight it out 

Step 16: The US gets Japan to surrender and the CCP and KMT immediately go back to fighting each other.  However the economically ruined KMT isn’t able to defeat the far more disciplined CCP and is defeated in 1949.  The CCP declares itself a new country, the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  Meanwhile the KMT under Chiang flees to the Island of Formosa (Taiwan) and says that they still are the Republic of China.  The two Chinas then spend the the next 70 years pretending the other doesn’t exist

Step 17: Mao, now dictator of China, attempts to modernize the economy and centralize the state.  The good news is that the economy does recover.  The bad news is massive human rights violations and the massacre of a few million people.  The PRC while an ally of the Soviet Union, really is an independent communist state that actually can hold its own.  Mao gets involved in the Korea War against the US and while the PRC doesn’t win, they also don’t lose which establishes them as a world power.  

Step 18: However Mao very quickly goes off the Deep End and launches the “Great Leap Forward” possibly the worse economic policy in human history which leads to the death of up to 40 million people....whoops

Step 18: The PRC leadership puts Mao in a corner so he can think about what he did and try to restore order, but then Mao is able to launch a revolution against his own government with the students called “The Cultural Revolution” which is...the weirdest revolution ever?  Its like if a dictator lead a revolution against his own goverment...long story for another time.  The Cultural Revolution destroys mountains of traditional chinese art and culture, kills, arrests and harrassings thousands to millions of people, and just breaks the state, finally ending with Mao’s death in 1976. 

Step 19: With Mao’s death, the more moderate faction of the PRC takes over, purges the more radical members of the Party, ends the Cultural revolution and starts to semi liberalize the economy, leading to the weird communist/capitalist/mercantilism/Imperial hybrid China operates under today, including of course massive corruption.  The dictatorship because less intense and relaly less communist and they start to drift away from the Soviet Union.  Then in 1989 as the Soviet Union is collapsing, and their is a massive student protest against corruption and in favor of China becoming a more liberal democratic and socialist state.  The goverment after a few months of dithering, opens fire on the protesters and you still aren’t allowed to talk about it in China today.  Death toll varies but most non Government accounts put it at around 10,000.  

Step 20: China becomes a global super power, only behind the US and EU in power and turns their government into a major economic hub, though they keep pissing off their western allies with unfair business practices.  Recently however, the country has gone from an oligarchic autocracy to an...autocracy autocracy with the rise of their new leader, Xi Jinping, who has centralized authority and made the country a lot more oppressive and autocratic, while pushing aback against corrupt and dissident.

Step 21: Which finally brings us to the Uyghurs. Imperial China did this too, but the PRC really has a problem with the various non Han minority groups, doubly so for those who are Muslim and have separatist leanings. So the extermination of the Uyghurs really could be read as a continuation of how the PRC has treated the Tibetans, the Mongolians, and even Hong Kong over the last few decades.  This is part of their vision of China as being a centralized, modernize, secular, unified Nation State, which doesn’t really leave room for regional ethnic religions minorities, doubly so against those with a non Chinese language.  

That is the super simple version, Chinese history is super complicated.

[terrebus-fc]

how do all y'all recommend getting into football for a newcomer? just pick a team and start watching them? or like watch previous tournaments or something?

first of all, welcome to football :3

there’s some similarities to the terror so i think you might find it quite familiar:

get ready for some rambling below the cut!

i think it’s easiest to start by watching a bigger international tournament while it’s happening. the world cup, obviously, is the biggest event in football, but other tournaments like the european championships or the copa américa (or whatever is going on where you’re from) also work well and are happening sooner (in 2020). follow the country you’re from if they qualified or pick any other country you like, really, and… just watch.

the advantage of those tournaments are that you’ll usually get to see a good mix of teams that are actually playing to win, that it all happens within the span of a month and that there will be extensive media coverage of the matches, part of it tailored to new viewers. don’t worry too much about the details of all the rules, you’ll get into the important ones quite quickly after watching some matches. part of being a football fan also is angrily disagreeing with the rules so not much knowledge is required. the emotions are the important thing. when the tournament is over you can follow the players you got to know during it back to their clubs and slip nicely into watching club football and selling your soul to the beautiful game.

of course you can also start with club football and randomly see what sticks. football is all about irrational attachments so… whatever works. (if you’re looking for club matches, this is a good site to find a stream!)

we agreed on our discord to each recommend a past match and an upcoming one to watch. i’ve thought about it for a bit and always kept coming back to the same match that’s a classic one and though it’s cliché i’m biased enough not to care. so. world cup 2014 semifinal between germany and brazil. i promise you the pay-off is very good (unless you support brazil).

for an upcoming match there’s a women’s football match between england and germany happening on 9th november. i know we’re all here for guys being lads but if you feel like it, check out the women playing, too.

- frauke

past match: my past match recommendation is Germany vs England, World Cup 2010, Round of 16. I think it’s a beautiful example of football at its best (Germany’s incredibly fluid style of play, feat. one of my favorite goals of all time) and worst (a referee completely failing to call a goal: a farcically monstrous error on the world stage). I love this game because despite everyone’s tactics, despite everyone’s efforts, the entire game arguably hinges on one incredibly stupid, incredibly human mistake, and what comes after. In a way it is a little bit like the Franklin expedition! And even nine years later the thought of what could have been evokes hilarity in some (three fifths of this mod team) and despair in others (one fifth of this mod team). That’s football babey! [WATCH IT HERE]

upcoming match: I’m gonna recommend a club match for this one! I’m a fan of German football and the Berlin derby (Union Berlin vs Hertha Berlin) is coming up this Saturday (Nov 2) at 5:30PM GMT! This is the first time these teams will be playing each other in the top league of German football, and it’s likely to be a good example of what rivalries in club football can be like. Union Berlin has a great underdog story–this is their first year ever in the Bundesliga–and it should be a lot of fun all around! Also, one week later, on Nov 9 at 4:30PM GMT, Borussia Dortmund take on perennial juggernauts Bayern Munich. Over the last decade or so Dortmund’s fast-paced, attacking football has been the only real challenge to Bayern’s throne, and with Bayern (my team, for better or worse) not playing nearly as well as they should this season, this could shape up to be an exciting match!

-ireny

past match: so i heard you like this very english show about these very english boys? you also like to suffer? FANTASTIC! croatia vs. england, the world cup 2018 semifinals, is the only match that matters on the planet and you should watch it immediately. underdog narratives on both sides! nobody expected either team to make it as far as they did – england because they’ve got a long history of disappointing in national tournaments, croatia because they’re considered a small country in football terms and because they hadn’t gotten past the group stages since 1998. england scored early, croatia equalized in the second half to drag them to extra time – their third game in a row that went to 120+ minutes – and despite how ragged and exhausted the team was, my #1 player of all time ever mario mandžukić scored the winning goal that got croatia through to their first ever world cup final. it was a truly transcendent moment. no matter whose side you’re on (i mean, there is only one right side, but who am i to judge) it’s a thrilling, scrappy game to watch. i want you to watch it so badly, i have a link for you.

upcoming match: outside of frothing at the mouth about my national team, i watch the italian league religiously. if you’d like to try out club football, this weekend has a couple high profile games in italy. on saturday (nov. 2) at 7:00 AM PT, you can watch roma vs. napoli, which are two teams that are considered hipster to like despite the fact that they’re actually massive. napoli are, regrettably, usually very good, but have had a poor start to their season, so they’ll be looking to dominate on-fire roma. it should be a shitshow, i can’t wait! meanwhile, at 12:45 PM PT you can watch the derby della mole, torino vs. juventus. juve is the most successful team in serie a, and torino are their cross-town rivals who are EXTREMELY lovable but also Not Very Good At Football. watch it and root for torino and have your heart broken (and then come talk to me about either team/any players you like because i can prime you equally on both!) (not ronaldo.)

- caitlin

past match: W O W do the attacks against england just keep coming and coming huh just like Tuunbaq huh!!!! Aside from that, the perennial sense of crisis, setback after setback, English people suffering, madness and disappointment, and betrayal of everything you hold dear are also some of the ways in which England resembles The Terror and therefore why you should also watch us. 

In the spirit of England, I’m going to recommend a match in which we lose: England 1-1 West Germany, 4-3 on penalties, at the 1990 World Cup. We lose to Germany a lot. (Pls hold: 1966, babey.) But 1990 was the first time that we reached the semi-finals since ‘66, and it was crazily emotionally charged; our coach Bobby Robson was leaving amidst a scandal, there’d been fights between the police and fans, and of course there was a palpable sense of christ, we could actually do it. (I say ‘we’ as in the way football fans say ‘we’, since in 1990 I was -5 years old.) The game is rip-roaring, furious, dramatic - look for Gazza’s Tears - and also introduces you to the concept of extra time, aka sitting in your seats for a full half-hour more than you expected, and penalties, aka something we are so famously bad at that when we finally won a penalty shootout last year we celebrated as if we had won the cup itself.

upcoming match: The Engl attacks made me defend myself and I couldn’t recommend a club game, which I would otherwise have (United 2-1 Arsenal ‘99, for those interested) because my club’s current football is SO DIRE I would not recommend it to anyone unless I wanted to turn them off of football forever. You might want to tune in next week for Liverpool Vs Man City (4:30 PM GMT, 10 Nov), a giant clash with probably entertaining football for everyone except United fans, who will desperately be cheering on Team Sinkhole.

- rach

I have something to add, which is that football has a weird and wild history, and I recommend looking up something like ‘the 10 most inexplicable moments in football’, or ‘five of the most unhinged things the most unhinged managers have ever said’ to get a taste. The sport is about enjoying the actual movement of the ball across the grass, but it’s also about basking in the massive array of bizarre personalities.

past match: a lot of good bases have already been covered re: Germany so I won’t pile on by recommending our 4-0 battering of Argentina in 2010 :3c I present to you instead the FA Cup final from 2014, Arsenal-Hull City. (Have a link!) Arsenal hadn’t won a trophy in nine years. The fan discontent with iconic manager Arsene Wenger was getting nasty. Hull City was the decided underdog. An underdog who promptly scored twice in the first ten minutes. Through a mix of lovely skill and scrappy luck the match ended happily for Arsenal, and even knowing that the Wenger story wasn’t entirely on the up and up after breaking that long drought, seeing the sheer joy and relief on everyone’ faces still makes me feel a whole lot of things.

upcoming match: that aside, Arsenal are currently playing as though they’ve got lost in a damp paper bag and have yet to soggily wander their way out. Despite that I’m going to recommend Leicester-Arsenal next weekend (9 Nov, 18.30 CET). Leicester have been absolutely swanning about (they annihilated Southampton last week 0-9 in the joint-largest prem league scoreline ever) and Arsenal at the moment, with their negative confidence and cotton wool defence are precisely in position to be smashed. But we’ve also done historically quite well against Leicester, and it could be the sort of match where Arsenal get their heads up and deliver the kind of easy-passing, smooth-running performance they’re supposed to be known for. It has great potential to be either a misery or a cheer-up charm for me, and regardless it’ll be a good time for you.

- Sabina