Science as Enchantment: “…the new enchantment had its advantages, but it also has had tremendous costs, and the bills are still coming due.” The Crisis of 2025: “… it’s factually indisputable that Americans are a demoralized populace. You can see it in polls and the way people talk about their own country.” The Meta-Crises and…
w̷e̷e̷k̷e̷n̷d̷ ̷l̷i̷n̷k̷s̷: home invasions of the mind plus deadzones of Anthropocenic destruction and classical rivers of the dead
Light in the Darkness: “The sun is low on the horizon all day long now, and darkness creeps in like a home invasion of your mind. Demons descend through a red and black sky and no help is on the way. Our country is so mentally hog-tied trying to unravel the twisted events of just…
w e e k e n d LINKS: Deathless Fame/Something Eerie at the Edge of Vision, Crisis
Ancient Pain: “[Anthony] Hecht’s influence on the lyrics of Steely Dan may be his most widely appreciated legacy today, given how few Americans read poetry anymore. The influence is obvious. Hecht was a formalist with a wry sense of humor. His poems are disciplined, articulate, and clever, always anchored to a moment, a place, and…
ШԐЄҠԐИD LЇЙԞS: Waiting for the Barbarians, Strange Gods, Death Masks
COUNTER-CURRENTS: “[Robert E. Lee]’s bronze head was ripped from his body, his face was peeled from his head in the form of a death mask, and then it was super-heated to the point where it glowed…” HOW TO MAKE ART in NORTH KOREA: “[Laibach] are very, very unashamedly flirting with totalitarian aesthetics and the philosopher…
weekend links: the bone orchard, war as divination, punishing wickedness
Don’t Waste a Good Crisis: “If you want to know what might come next, read the memoir of ‘White’ Russian general Pyotr Wrangel, Always with Honor, about the Russian Civil War. I’m not joking.” Godzilla: “A highlight of Heisei period Godzilla movies is Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. It’s mostly a highlight for being completely bonkers Japanese nationalism. The…
W҈҉҈҉e҈҉҈҉e҈҉҈҉k҈҉҈҉e҈҉҈҉n҈҉҈҉d҈҉҈҉ ҈҉҈҉L҈҉҈҉i҈҉҈҉n҈҉҈҉k҈҉҈҉s҈҉҈҉: Storming the Heavens, Unfreedom, Alienation
A New Cosmist Moment: “Paradigm breakthroughs always begin with calls to great, even fantastical endeavors—to ‘storm the heavens,’ as Fyodorov once implored his followers to do. Even if Cosmism’s attempts at articulating a human project were kooky in certain respects, a great deal of tangible scientific progress emerged from its admirers. New, totalizing theories of…
𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨: guerrilla information wars, liminal places, Helen of Troy
Israel’s Monsters: “What is at work here is the same matrix of nihilism now at work everywhere, and underneath everything, from blasé celebrations of war crimes, to crazed calls for genocide, to preening statements of affected indifference and delusional arrogance and empty rhetoric and hollow gestures. But perhaps what we are also witnessing is the…
w҇e҇e҇k҇e҇n҇d҇ ҇l҇i҇n҇k҇s҇: the violence of heaven, history’s new surprises, the chthonic swamp
Jupiter Rising: “It is not that the public is in some deep slumber or guided hypnosis, but that they are so deeply humiliated and abused that they don’t even know who they are anymore. Many Americans don’t even know their own fathers, let alone contemplate or internalize the triumphs of their ancestors.” The Cionci Thesis:…
w̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞k̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞d̳̿͟͞ ̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞k̳̿͟͞s̳̿͟͞: psychologism, stigma, price inflation
Brand the Enemy: “Anonymous accusations of sexual impropriety work as a powerful smear tactic for multiple reasons. People are naturally sympathetic to women, and naturally jealous of promiscuous men. Through selective presentation of details and deliberately emotional language, it is possible to present almost any relationship as abusive, exploitative, or controlling. There are no clearly…
weekend links: chaotic potential, the violent death of men, Psalm 91
From City to Civium: “The fourth industrial revolution really is at hand — but the WEF is completely wrong. They are correct in recognizing that a massive technical wave is sweeping across our economic landscape, but they make the mistake of thinking that the city (and its nature) is an invariant. As a result, they have…
ẅ̶̩̺̻̦̗͙̰͔̬̜̱̬̮͈̝̰̩̤́͋̎̈́̓͋͆̅̄̀̐̓̀̑͊͊̓̌̌́̃̓̀͊̈̇͑͛̑̈́̕̕͝͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅë̶̡̧̢̼̰̙̫̦͚͈̩̟̙͙͎͚̯̗͚͉̦͔̘̘̯͖̬̲̰͇̭͇̩͉̠͈͍̳̯̗͖̻͍́̆̊́̈́̿̂̅͜ͅȩ̴̳̼̲̱̤̰̯̰̞̗͉̮̘̼̣̫̩͎̲̗̦̤͎̱̭̣̼̳̯̙̲̲̒͗͌͜͜ͅk̴̨̢̻͓̯̼̺̺̰̹͔̣̞̖̬̳͉̗͉̝̝͇̻̖̖̜̪̣̖͓̮̥̬̣̻͈͓̳̤͔̯̟̯͙̰͙̉̇̅̋e̵̢̡̺̻̲̯̻̰̼̘̲͉̯̓̐̓͂̆̀͛̉̆̑̐̇̌͆̊͜ņ̵͖̥͓̞̳̩̯̩̙̝̬̘͚̺̗̪͉̙̱̟̥̜̼̪͓̞̼̰͛̉͐̽͛̃̔̂̔̒͗́̐̏̔̉͊̚̕͘͠͝ͅḑ̸̨̧̦͖̱̥̦̫͖̝͙̗̘̫̞͓̩̠̝̤̟̪̜̟̠̤͓̰͓͕͇̮͙̜̙̤͍̖̱̻̥͓̊̐̌̌̓̒̌̍̓͑́̏̑̽̈̓̇͑̾̃̉͒̒͋̀̄̿͗̆̽͌͘̕̕̚͜͠ͅͅ ̷̨̡̢̛̰̝̠̠̻̩̩͉͍̺̲̞͔̤͔̪͓̮̙͉̲͚͎̟͉̖̹͓̬̭͉́̓̽̑̑͛̐̉̃̈́̆̀̌̏̀̄͗̇̈̆̐͐̂͑̏̆̄̄̔̄̂͐̏̾͋̀̊͘̚̚̕͘͜͝ͅͅͅl̵̡̢̥̩̖̖̗͓͓̦̜̙̰̩̜̮̘̠̈͗́͛̀́̉̾̇̈́̽̈͂̔̋̂͑́͒̿̒̄́̓̀͌̍̈́͒̃̌̋́͂̓̈̈̀͐̏̇̚̕͜͝͝ì̷̢̡̞̮̫̯̣͕͎̹̯̤̥̩͎̤̪̠̰̝̪̰͕̻̥̰̮̪͕͊̿̑̎̂̈́͌͒̊͒͒̏̋̊͌̆͋͌̄̽̾̌͂͑̉̉̈̐̈́̉̎͂̈̈́͐͘̕͠͝͠ͅn̶̡̧̧̨̧̛̘̬̤̦̩̼̣̭͍͎̯̼̹̞̤̣͖̼̣̩̮͈͚̺̫̯̟͈͓̺͓̠̝͖͙̖̤̯͎̘̗̻̳̺̿̔̉̆̌͊́̓̃͋̄̈́͌͐̈́͆̑̍͆̒͗̅͊̍̎͐͗͆̄͋͐͐̇͆̚̕̕͘̚͝k̵͓̯̹̘̦̞͔̟̫̺̦̘͓͈͕͚̦͈̪̥̓s̵̛͍̞͉̱̱̺̟̋͗͒͒͊̐͐́̇̀͋͗̐͋̈́̿̑̃̕͝: Arctic War, Murder, Ancient Realities
An Arctic War is Coming: “Beneath the ice, the Arctic possesses untold riches. The region is estimated to contain a fifth of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves and rare earth elements such as gold, nickel and zinc. While most of these are present within the largely undisputed land borders of the Arctic…
ЩԐЭҜЭЙD LЇИҠS
America’s Mugshot: “…the American dream has been stolen from us, and it is now on trial.” A Theory of the Game: “…a system that has been hollowed out by a string of cascading failures runs into one more crisis than it can tolerate, and implodes under the weight of its own absurdities. We are much…