Sure, we’ve all seen this in practice and people have developed catchy terms for it, like echo chamber, but the polarization effect of social media has been demonstrated scientifically. In fact, some of us were warning about it a long time ago. And while I can no longer find my original documentation on the subject, I can tell you precisely how it works. Continue reading “Social Media Is A Polarization Machine”
The Desperation of Anti-White Racism
Anti-white racism is the order of the day in officialdom. The anti-whiteness that long infected “educated” and elite classes has breached its previous limits and has been shoved into a billion faces at once. G**gle, as you may know, is portraying George Washington, Albert Einstein and many others in blackface. At the same time, the largest entertainment corporations are portraying Viking warriors as black women and so on. Most recently, a gaggle of court intellectuals have taken center stage, decrying the threat to democracy (hallowed be its name) posed by “white rural rage.”
After a moment of disbelief and revulsion upon seeing this, my first instinct was to defend white people, just as I defended black people back when they were targets of racism. White culture, after all (actually Christian culture), has blessed the world like no other. But there’s more to see than just that: There’s a desperation involved in this sick episode, and I think we should examine it. Continue reading “The Desperation of Anti-White Racism”
Would You Like An Advantage In Business?
I spent a a good deal of my young adulthood searching for business advantages. Ultimately I found mine by reading: While the other guys were talking about nonsense and chugging back brews, I was reading the literature of my business… and it worked.
Things are a bit different nowadays, but I still respect the drive to get ahead, and today I have something for all who are interested: a big advantage, ready for the taking. Most people will turn away from it, but if you’re serious about getting ahead, this is for you. Continue reading “Would You Like An Advantage In Business?”
Lèse-Majesté And The Necessity of Idolatry
Lèse-Majesté, an offense against the dignity of a ruler, is a little-used but very important concept. And it is the central crime that cannot be tolerated by the ruler.
Lèse-Majesté stands against the concept of free speech, of course, but when push comes to shove, necessities stand above the law, and lèse-Majesté is a necessity to rulers.
As we examine in this podcast, lèse-Majesté is crucial for the legitimacy of the ruler (without legitimacy the whole structure of rulership would fail), and is crucial to what I call “applied idolatry” in our world.
Be The Outsider
Years ago I engaged in a long usenet discussion with another gentleman on immigration, life in the third world, etc. After some back-and-forths, the gentleman proposed a scenario:
What would happen if the two of us were dropped, naked and with absolutely no way of calling for help, into the poorest and most desperate spot in India? Continue reading “Be The Outsider”
The World Is Wrong
Here is something that was thrown in my face at a relatively early age, as I began to think seriously and independently: So, the world is wrong and you’re right!?
But as it happened, I was more or less right. And very definitely the world was wrong.
The hierarchies of the world are trying to freeze everything and everyone in place. That means they will always be wrong. Even when they say the right things – like “murder is bad” – they’ll always be doing it for twisted reasons, with twisting effects…
Farber’s First Essay
This podcast (published originally in an appendix to A Lodging of Wayfaring Men) was composed twenty years ago, while working in a difficult and even dangerous cypherpunk project. It expresses the things that were on our minds as we stepped away from the status quo and dared to build afresh outside of it.
Men Are Idolaters
“Men,” wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “are idolaters, and want something to look at and kiss and hug, or throw themselves down before; they always did, they always will; and if you don’t make it of wood, you must make it of words.”
“Men,” wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “are idolaters, and want something to look at and kiss and hug, or throw themselves down before; they always did, they always will; and if you don’t make it of wood, you must make it of words.”
Idolatry is a frame of mind. We’ve all experienced it, though we haven’t been clear on what it was. But once you do recognize it, you’ll be at least half immunized against it, and probably for life.
Fear, Shame And Intimidation Are Chemical Weapons
Imagine that some combination of circumstances end with you walking into a so-so bar, then accidentally causing some gigantic brute to spill his drink. Imagine also that this brute just learned that his girlfriend moved out, taking his bank account with her.
I rather hate to do this, but these first two paragraphs seem the best way to make this very important point. Apologies.
Imagine that some combination of circumstances end with you walking into a so-so bar, then accidentally causing some gigantic brute to spill his drink. Imagine also that this brute just learned that his girlfriend moved out, taking his bank account with her. Continue reading “Fear, Shame And Intimidation Are Chemical Weapons”
Without Apology
It’s up to us to improve the world. If obediently waiting for someone or something else could work, the dominating structures of the world would have improved long, long ago. But they haven’t, leaving the job to us.
To do this, however, we must first change the way we look at ourselves and experience ourselves.