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Political Expectations
Cyberspace is a black hole. It absorbs energy and personality. And then represents it as an emotional spectacle. It is done by businesses that commodify human interaction and emotion. And we are getting lost in the spectacle.
— anonymous internet user
Reggie James • Political Expectations
We shifted from cyberpunk manifestos, to corporate networks and the commoditization of the user for economic extraction.
Cyberspace is a black hole. It absorbs energy and personality. And then represents it as an emotional spectacle. It is done by businesses that commodify human interaction and emotion. And we are getting lost in the spectacle.... See more
— an
Reggie James • Political Expectations
They believed, that instead of trying to change the world outside. The new radicalism should try to change what was inside people’s heads. And the way to do this, was through self-expression. Not collective action.
— Hypernormalisation
This idea clearly spread and maintained to the present day. Where putting a graphic on a hat or shirt is “impacting... See more
Reggie James • Political Expectations
It doesn’t matter what side you are on. There has to be an orientation towards substantiality. That is the language, and thus expectation, we need to reinforce.
Reggie James • Political Expectations
It is not a critical approach towards values, policy, nor the subsequent consequences of these artifacts. We experience our political landscape through the veneer of our “ discourse interfaces” (that’s a Reggie phrase) .
Political Expectations
The second reason I gave extra focus to the left in this essay is because of the relationship with the artistic class, which was the more important group I wanted to focus on. As a New Yorker and creative, I’ve seen how these folks articulate how they judge impact on the world and what it means for their personal production. This has to change. Thi... See more
Reggie James • Political Expectations
There’s a joke around “the best minds of my generation were tasked with getting people to click on ads”. At least you can attribute those ads to powering free global communications, information networks, and technical research.
I’d argue that the most creative minds of my generation were told to believe that creating yet another self-satisfying pro... See more
I’d argue that the most creative minds of my generation were told to believe that creating yet another self-satisfying pro... See more
Reggie James • Political Expectations
“The fast shall inherit the earth.” This was previously printed in the Facebook internal book they’d give new employees. Now we can read it as “the fast will catch Elon’s attention, which will influence an army of fans to mimetically adopt the message.” Unfortunately that’s not as catchy.
Reggie James • Political Expectations
Let’s start with the reality that this idea of satiating the internal of an individual is also deeply embedded in the philosophy of internet technologies. That Ayn Rand was, and maintains to be, a philosophical hero that helped to invent the mythos of the self-made Silicon Valley hero that many founders strive to be.
Reggie James • Political Expectations
I wrote recently in a tweet that there’s a rarity from technologist to say whether a thing is good or not. Instead they repeat that it is inevitable, and their actions show that they believe they should financially benefit from and “steer” that inevitability. That is a politically bankrupt position.