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John Carter's avatar

They live their entire lives inside a hologram. Symbol manipulators whose only skill is manipulating symbols. They've been there so long it's become a hall of mirrors, the signifier endlessly reflecting the signifier with signified nowhere to be found. They need only declare it, and it is so.

And they wonder why we no longer respect them.

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Chris Bray's avatar

So this is my struggle, reconciling the degree to which these people are FUCKING CLOWNS with the degree to which they're successfully reshaping our world in obviously malevolent ways. Clown activists, clowns in media, clowns in government. It's a FUCKING CIRCUS full of FUCKING CLOWNS, but somehow they're actually managing to harm us. They tumble out of their little car, in their clown shoes and shock wigs, and actually succeed at inflicting damage on the world.

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John Carter's avatar

Their absurdity eats at me. If they're that ridiculous, and that weak, and we still can't get rid of them ... what does that say about us?

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Tim Rohde's avatar

Last time I checked the list of hyper-connected billionaires, centimillionaires, and political operatives with access to influencer networks, TV stations, and msm print media you weren’t on it.

Entrenched generational wealth and power is the defacto standard of history. It works. People with power tend to keep it even when they’re drooling, in-bred hunchbacks.

The only reason we’re having this conversation is because European elites took their eye off the ball during one of their constant fights. While we’re able to have this conversation there is still hope.

Liberty is a miracle.

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Kratoklastes's avatar

>>> what does that say about us

It says that anyone within σ (and possibly 1.5σ) of the cognitive median, is HIGHLY susceptible to bullshit.

That's borne out by PIAAC studies, which show that you don't reliably get "Level IV" literacy until well above the 90th percentile.

Level IV is where people are able to integrate a multi-page complex-source text, and discern the meaning of its content, taking into account subtle rhetorical (i.e., persuasive, not 'factual') content.

I'm on an iThing at the moment, so I don't have access to my normal 'cut&paste' of the PIAAC definitions - suffice it to say that the median adult in the OECD does not achieve Level III, which is the minimum competency required to deal with the everyday challenges of life in a modern technology-rich society. This should not surprise anyone - given that 66% of full-time employees earn less than average full-time earnings (since wage income is distributed almost log-normally).

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Jun 1, 2022
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John Carter's avatar

Oh, we've got plenty of venues. Despite everything they can't shut us up.

What they can do very effectively is stick their fingers in their ears and isolate themselves within a self-referential bubble of mutual congratulations that allows them to pretend they aren't a laughing stock.

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Tim Rohde's avatar

The Dodo bird could be a dodo bird because of a lack of predation. They will continue to perpetrate until they are consumed or out competed.

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kitten seeking answers's avatar

End-Days-navel-gazing is tedious work... practicality must be ignored at all costs.

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Abe Abdelhadi's avatar

We're run by D-minus brains of dubious ethics. the bright side is I'll be dead soon.

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MKnight's avatar

Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Chris Bray's avatar

Substack doesn't seem to like the timestamped video of Marico Siroc explaining the symbolic role of local government, so this link should take you to the right place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOROA-GAOc&t=443s

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WiseUpAmerica's avatar

Like Bonhoeffer said, "We are defenseless against stupidity".

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Chris Bray's avatar

I'm putting that on t-shirts.

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WiseUpAmerica's avatar

Then you'll love this: https://wiseup.today/img/tshirt.jpg

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Anon38901932047's avatar

I'd never wear such a t-shirt. that would be like advertising my weakness. and that's stupid.

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S. Bridges's avatar

They have not been trained in solving problems only in eliciting emotions.

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Sam Sorbo's avatar

That's modern schooling for ya! Why I advocate home education. It's the only path to freedom.

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CK's avatar

Climate change, rebranded from global warming, is a total hoax. It’s the sun, stupid.

Maybe the BTS bots can convince Biden that his administration should no longer support discrimination against Asians in school admissions.

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Chris Bray's avatar

It may have been a hoax at one point, but now that a piece of cake has been thrown at a painting....

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Heidi Kulcheski's avatar

Substack needs a laugh emoji

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alwayscurious's avatar

by talking and using the "right" words they are "doing something" and "they care"

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Vigilant Amalek Snow Leopard's avatar

Pretty sure the Korean boy band is way above Brandon's mental and emotional level, Bray.

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Edward Teach's avatar

It's funny that just the other day I was thinking about cargo cultism in connection with mask wearing.

There are so many people who are under the delusion that some meaningless gesture will somehow make things better.

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Bandit's avatar

See, this is why I hate people in general. They're stupid and evil.

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Verve's avatar

Common sense and basic intellect are in such short supply it’s absolutely crushing. I feel like we’re living Atlas Shrugged.

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Johnny Dollar's avatar

What angers me about the Mona Lisa is that countless people have painstakingly preserved it over the centuries. Seeing it desecrated by the mentally ill is sad.

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Surviving the Billionaire Wars's avatar

Lisa is ok. She is behind a pane of glass. A little windex & a wipe was all that was needed to restore her.

Smashing the Pieta was what got to me. 😟

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Johnny Dollar's avatar

That is true. Nonetheless.

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Tarn - mutual eye-rolling's avatar

An inverse curse.

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Abe Abdelhadi's avatar

Some of this stuff is so stupid I still have a hard time believing it exists.

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Tardigrade's avatar

It's all optics any more. Reality is irrelevant.

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nymusicdaily's avatar

marico sayoc: "I always just welcome any opportunity to introduce myself." you can't make this shit up.

this is not a clown car. it's a clown tank

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Sharon Garvin's avatar

There is no measure for my disgust that she was applauded for that gibberish. WTF.

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