Bonus: Substack roundup
Important pieces you may have missed.
What they did to us was diabolical. Even here in the US, officials moved in lock-step with the World Health Organization and characterized the rightful exercise of free speech as an “infodemic”, while massively expanding the powers of the already appalling post-PATRIOT Act surveillance state. These actions cost innocent lives.
Elon's companies have received billions in government subsidies over the last two decades. Money that was later spent on the purchase of Twitter. Where he immediately began the process of turning it into an everything app with its own banking system. Or rather, the ruling class cabal that pulls his strings is turning Twitter into an everything app with its own banking system. And that should be alarming. But he says there are only two genders, and families are good, and people love a hero.
Here are some ideas to help getting out of this noxious morass:
learn to keep our autonomy of decision when we feel an emotion (when we are "triggered"), and get away from knee-jerk reactions when it is not necessary (meaning, almost all the time)
stop consuming media that play the divide game, which means first of all not reacting to their publications but simply ignoring them, which is what they fear the most
re-learning how to communicate without trying to be right at all costs and join one camp or another to fight some imaginary enemy
create our own media where appeasement and discussion are a priority, and help those who are already doing so (this includes stopping all forms of clickbait) - and I am not talking exclusively about online projects
discuss our frustrations constructively and try to work out projects for society
I must have signed a waiver at some point stating that, as an artist, I will accept my starving wages and never ever learn about how money works, let alone what it actually is. Turns out, most people, artists or not, have signed a similar waiver because I’ve been asking friends about money and answers are scarce. I don’t claim to know how this technology works; not all the ins and outs of how others have made it work, anyway. But I do understand that at its absolute base, money simply is an agreed upon abstract value for which we exchange our energy
Recap
Cyberwar primers
A Non-Combattant's Guide to Cyberwar
We live in interesting times. In addition to the many boots-on-the-ground conflicts going on, cyberspace is a theatre of war with hardly any distinction between military and civilian targets. Nothing…
Escalating Cyberwar: Warlord Technology
You have been found guilty. No trial was necessary, your device has testified against you. When one navigates corporate controlled cyberspace, the message couldn’t be more clear. Governments and tech g…
The human element
Out-thinking the Culture Wars with Gary Sharpe
I really appreciate Gary Sharpe ‘s perspective on the emotional side of what people face. He has a wealth of excellent advice and I was pleased to have the opportunity to do this Q&A. Q & A
Digital Autonomy and the Arts
Watch now (69 min) | This conversation is a follow-up to a piece written last year Art is the expression of the human soul, with it’s value being largely in the eye of the beholder. Corporations and governments can imita…
Escalating Cyberwar
https://www.wired.com/story/odni-commercially-available-information-report/
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/take-action-protect-end-to-end-encryption
https://element.io/blog/end-to-end-encryption-the-will-of-the-british-people/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/uk-government-very-close-eroding-encryption-worldwide
Information Control
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