Morning Comrades!
I’ve just sat down after another 9hr shift making food, that I enjoy, no griping here, and will share a little story with you today - with larger ramifications I believe even though the mere fact that I feel like spelling this out has the potential for me getting a little more wine later and making memes for some hysterical laughs.
“Everything” is pretty bad right now, I am sure every person reading this in one way or another can relate to this - job’s are shaky AF, money is worth less and less by the day, whatever little belief anyone has had about living in “just” democracies has surely by this time been eroded and I am not even planning on getting into the looming planetary eco-crash knocking at, both, the front and back door.
This had me thinking and subsequently talking avidly about two connecting stories today. On the one hand there is the “boiling frog” theory and on the other is the “nothing we demand is even remotely radical my brother in christ” - yes, as I was saying, hysterical memes are inbound.
The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly. Essentially, it is cautioning people to be aware of even gradual harmful change lest they suffer eventual undesirable consequences and it is invoked in support of a slippery slope argument as a caution against creeping normality. It thereby encapsulates the barely noticeable impact of slow environmental degradation that has been described by Daniel Pauly as shifting baselines. Fun nerd fact: In philosophy the boiling frog story has been used as a way of explaining the sorites paradox. It describes a hypothetical heap of sand from which individual grains are removed one at a time, and asks if there is a specific point when it can no longer be defined as a heap. You get what I mean and I am obviously alluding to us and let’s say the last 25 years or - no need to get into boomer stories about “how everything” was better form our parents - it may have been for a few privileged white folks but generally speaking, nah. Fact is though, even just in my working lifetime “everything” has consistently gotten “worse” - from pay, security, privacy, alienation to discrimination- you know it - ever so gradual with occasional tectonic shifts ( such as 9/11 for example ) to a point now where I am genuinely asking how much hotter this cauldron called life can get?
Yes, purely speaking from the extremely privileged position of a white, working class man- absolutely, and yes, that is only a few steps away from being the in the most privileged positions on this planet, fully aware of that. Whilst I have chosen a lifetime of precarity, at free will and yes, that is something 99% of people on this planet do not have the luxury of doing, I have always “managed” to get “through”, mostly by luck, help of friends, a little talent and some work. If, however, things are looking bleak even for me, I dare imagine how this current and fast approaching boiling point is feeling for everyone. Granted, I do know, mostly due to curiosity and “mixing with the wrong crowd” as the better-off do say, but hell, let’s say it, shit is looking bleak for everyone right now.
This brings me to my second point - all of the ills, we as the global working class are experiencing and have experienced for centuries can be easily tackled, yet they are deemed “too radical” by the powers that be - and of course they are, but let’s be real, real clear here: None of the below demands are anything but radical!
Free and Guaranteed Housing For All
Free and Guaranteed HealthCare For All
The Right To Food
Freedom From Prosecution, Discrimination and Punishment based on Sex, Race and Religion ( or the lack thereof ).
As a matter of fact, all of the above are guaranteed Human Rights as set forth for by the U.N., i.e. the collective political body of the god damn Earth- something we have talked about at length here previously. Of course, this would mean that the powers that be, our capitalist overlords ( by our will ) will potentially earn less and ideally, mean an entirely different approach to our economic relations with one another and our planet - there’s a few little red books about that if anyone is curious. It is nigh on time, nay, extremely overdue to demand, at the very least the above as the bare minimum before we bring back height shortening French instruments to our “masters” homes - they all do have names and addresses mind you.
I am genuinely serious that as far as the collective narrative is concerned that the above demands, at the very least, should be “normalized” as talking points, as the base line, as the bare-fucking-minimum for any future negotiations with our politicians and their masters.
Yes, yes, “how can we pay for this”, “it’s never going to happen” yadda yadda - fact is, they can most definitely afford this - I don’t need to mention the absurdity and offensive U.S. Military budget, let alone the affront to humanity that is “war”. Even if we never as a species move past the extremely repressive concept of money and property and will continue to assume that it holds any worth, the damn U.S. Military budget alone would cover the damn costs, globally. For the record, I don’t think that is a good idea as the continuous accumulation of “everything” to “afford” said budget would mean the continuation of capitalism that predetermines an army, but you get the point.
How can this happen under our current realities? By collectively withholding our labour from “them”. That’s it - yes, of course that entire idea again pre-determines heaps and heaps of other activities but at the core, that’s it. If everyone stops working, everything stops and the bastards have to come to the table. Ironically, not getting to this point and actually providing the above four points would guarantee a so much more profitable reality for the capitalists as what is easier to “lead” than a happy working class, but their greed has blinded them to any and all reason. So we are left with one choice, because, quite frankly, for how much longer can we do “this”? I know I am done here. It’s time for a chat and a lot more action. In any case, if the bastards want “radical”, here is a little starting point for everyone.
Not a section returning twice in a week! Nothing to worry though, I am notoriously inconsistent when it comes to establishing routines here but for the time being, here we are. A few stories from the last few days that I found interesting and you may too.
You may have heard about the above story and I am not linking to the above twitter thread, far from it but wanted to draw your attention to the musings of Zohar Atkins, a person on here whose work and thought I genuinely cherish, as it sits balanced between the study of Philosophy and the Torah. He holds a DPhil in Theology from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America - and anyone interested in the question IF AI can / is sentient and then what, should give this a good solid read:
Irrespective of your opinions of her work, this was a good day for investigative journalism and this article sums up a few years of intense work.
This story is still developing and whilst I am looking at a different angle here - to be precise, I am interested in the harm done by these con-artists to the individual, mostly working class white men - and we all know, especially in the U.S. the potential of extreme radicalization in these instances, this here is a semi-positive side effect.
That is it from me today, tomorrow the kind and supportive paying patreons to this project will be getting their special musings and free art and I’ll be back on Friday for everyone else with more.
As always, thank you for your attention, time and support. Yours, without compromise,
V.