#CyberCommunity

[hakaiika]

New Project!

So the other day I was playing a videogame called "Half-Earth Socialism" (Don't worry I'll read the book eventually) and well... I kinda suck at the game. See, I can reduce emissions quickly which is good but people become unhappy (maybe cause there is a state system enforcing central planning). Now I could put time and effort into playing more and honing my abilities... but I'm a nerd so instead I'ma take something that should only take a few hours and extend it to a very long time. Aka, I'm going to make a cybernetic planning system for the game in Google Sheets based on Project Cybersyn, OGAS, and a book I'm reading called "Towards a New Socialism" by Paul Cockshott.

I've planned out how I'm going to make it over the last few days and work begins tomorrow! I hope to share my progress in posts and videos. (I will go much more in-depth in a written form on my substack!)

[terrantechnocrat]

The Taynifi of Iiser are a race of spiny-backed, fat-bellied mammals that emerged from savage animality on the fertile plains of Iiser, a far-orbiting satellite of a gas giant. Taynifi worlds are among the most proactive Sympolity members in interstellar exploration and economic and cultural exchange, driven by their quiet, passionate precursor veneration, the blocks of whose immense cyclopean ruins—difficult for early taynifi to explore—always loomed large on their continent's coasts, sinking into the bogs and the sea. Wanderers of the plain first and foremost, nearly every taynifi retains a rich oral and osseous musical tradition, informing a notably symphonic mode of intellection and abstraction.

In the eons since the Seeding, the taynifi laid roads, erected small towns of turf and stone, or dug out from the hillsides and reinforced them with bone. Gradually, a simple yet comprehensive medieval civilization coalesced using only the wind that constantly blew through their treeless world to generate mechanical power. It spread out over the rocky hills and grassy plains of the supercontinent that emerged from Iiser's ocean, but, at the coasts, it stopped. They began to burn peat to smelt iron into tools, and brickwork replaced the turf of their communal buildings and temples. Beyond that, the continental period's patchwork of social structures, customs, and kin relations would have more closely resembled the intricacies of aboriginal Australia, with innumerable, complex spiritual traditions and the ritualization of most warfare.

Contact with the worlds of the early Sympolity brought tree plantations and shipbuilding, and coastal clans quickly explored and settled their world's two heavily forested subcontinents and peripheral islands, where only animals and the much-mystified Ancients had walked before. Taynifi mariners seized the opportunity to harvest their oceans' bounty for the benefit of the Yikarans and other off-world carnivorous races in return for machinery and, later, curvature-drive schematics. Taynifi cannot ingest fish without significant bloating, having evolved from grazing herbivores, but found that Iiser's previously invisible bounty gave them power. The new maritime economy nearly wrought social chaos upon Iiser, but Sympolity intervention helped mediate the forces that resulted from the new surplus.

From the coasts, the new mariner clans forged ties with the inlanders, gathering iron in exchange for refined materials and new technology. From exchanges organically emerged a continental confederacy with improvisational systems of arbitration; the ancient world was meeting the new, transforming both. Inevitable economic schisms that resulted from these modes of relations were met with Sympolity pressure to rationalize, computerize, and network the entire tribal system of patronage and distribution under a world council of representatives chosen from the various taynifi clan-communes.

In modern times, taynifi—neither natural foresters nor mariners yet passionate about both as a learned foundation for prosperity—maintain autonomous colonies across a score of worlds and several fleets of freighters, seeker scouts, and other fast, lightly armored craft. On their native Iiser, the spread of non-native plantation forests across the supercontinent proved to be a significant ecological disruption for the pattern of grazers and surviving predators and were thus deliberately reduced in area by taynifi stewards; shifting the cultivation and felling of trees to the offshore and outlying lands, where indigenous forest ecologies still flourish. Taynifi builders now primarily source lumber from other planets, and their sprawling cities of brick and bio-composites rise from the rolling hills of Iiser. Their walls and narrow streets are specially fortified, not against invaders, but against the battering winds, with some equatorial storms sustaining wind speeds as high as 200 kph.

[mesetacadre]

hacking while I read, cybercommunism

[discussionswithgyetti]

Blog Post #2

Q # 1: In what ways are intersectional groups of women and other cultures overlooked when analyzing the cybercommunities of women online? (Daniels, 2009)

Daniels (2009) states in her article that gender is often separated from investigating online media use, while other marginalizing factors, such as race, socio-economic status, etc., are usually not thought of. One of the most prominent examples she provides is when looking at an Asian participant within a previous study, who looked at pro-ana content online and how “real life” social isolation, disconnect, and the body embodiment and community they sought online. 

Q # 2: Have the people who benefit from cyberfeminist communities changed over time?

Online cyberfeminist communities are cited as areas of information, exploration, civil engagement, and collectivity for individuals of varying gender identities and experiences. Whether it is through online representation and exploring outside of their physical bodies to find identity, or it is connecting with one's bodies in a way that is nonnormalized in society, women and gender minority individuals can use these spaces to explore and connect in a way that may not be socially available to them (Daniels 2009). However, are they the only ones benefitting from these online spaces? If we think about today's technology, we do not often have separate websites for activism like we did in 2009. Instead, we use pre-established social media applications (X, Discord, Facebook) to create these spaces. Is it possible that these cyberfeminist communities are now not only in benefit women and gender minority individuals, but also in benefit of these companies? 

Q #3: In what ways are marginalized and minoritized groups disproportionately affected by the automation of government and political processes? 

Minoritized and marginalized groups are often categorized in ways that are stereotype-fulfilling, usually harming individuals who are marginalized based on race or socioeconomic status. Eubanks (2018) discusses this in their article: automated eligibility resources often monitor and overclassify individuals of low economic status in positions of “fraud,” such as her husband being put after having to switch insurances because they switched jobs. Not only do the systems themselves cause this issue, but the verification and ratification of these issues also disproportionately affect individuals of low income, as the extensive time that it takes to rectify these wrongs often involves a strenuous, long process for the wronged. Individuals who are low income, working, etc. They may not have the social support or the financial freedom to take the time to rectify these issues, causing them to be affected much worse than others with those resources. 

Q #4: Why does there seem to be little push for reform for these automated technological issues?

As Brown (2020) alludes to in her video, the assumption and prioritization of “fairness and safety” tend to override the blatant harm many of these automated systems have on marginalized members of society. However, Brown also points out that the United States spends more on healthcare than any developed country, yet it still has the worst outcomes of any developed nation. It may be possible that the lack of reform for these automated technological issues stems from the fact that automation saves money for hospitals on labor and that although these issues occur, they often happen to populations who are a lot less likely to actively fight against the system, because of factors listed in the above question. 

Work Cited

Brown, N. (2020). Race and Technology. YouTube.

Daniels, J. (2009). Rethinking cyberfeminism(s): Race, gender, and embodiment. WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, 37(1–2), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1353/wsq.0.0158 

Eubanks, V. (2018). Red Flags. In Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor (pp. 9–28). Tantor Media.

[maimeandkill]

about me :p

I am an OSDD system and I experience structural dissociation in a manner that causes the functions of my mind and body to be incoherantly detached and noncommunicative to eachother. I have always been pathologically obsessd with identity, but I do not think I experience "alters" as much as I experience "states", "parts" and "personas"- this causes me to have a difficult time with consistent rhetoric and language around my selfhood, because I will ascribe identity where there is not a distictive person or self to hold the identity, and in fluctuating ways wherein words names etc change meaning consistently. The changes between all of these parts is fluid and does not cause memory blackouts, although I do experience types of memory loss. As a result, I do not think of myself as multiple people in one body. I think of myself as one thing that is in constant movement and is composed of indistinguishable liquid- as I think all minds are ever moving and changing, I think mine is just sped up in that way.

I frequently use political communication, film/media theory, movement, water, space, identity, cybercommunications, violence etc (I will be forgetting other things) as motifs but I think I am using them in different ways each time, so it is hard to describe.

Sometimes I will use the term "alter" or make types of communication that lean towards DID as a framework, sometimes I will refer more to schizophrenia as a framework, sometimes I will be rejective of either.

I do not care enough about my actualised identity to identify as transgender or nonbinary, I have always been called "he" and so I will continue to be as I always have been. I find it difficult to identify in ways that are not contradictory, because my sexual and romantic urges are structurally dissociated (as the rest of me is), and range dramatically and simultaniously.

I do not have any triggers in particular, and I am aware that the way I am is responsive to both a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and personality disorders and to childhood torture. I do not use warnings for my posts.

[retinatrashcentral]

a common bioleader of the cybercommune | retinatrash #89 | two step digital process

19/DEC/21

[probablyasocialecologist]

Markets are described as defective automatons. They over-complexify the social metabolism by generating parallelisms and opacity, giving rise to information that is sometimes redundant and sometimes directly useless. This translates into overexertion and waste of resources in periods of growth, and underutilization of productive capacities in periods of crisis. Consider that hundreds of companies are launched every day to produce different variants of the same good in quantities that citizens can neither afford nor consume.

Cibcom, Can Cybersocialist Planning Become a Reality?

[socialist-art]

[sseghrou]

[kaiasky]

If i ever succumb to the temptation to make a 90 minute video essay it'll be a long rambling analysis/criticism of alan walker music videos and the aesthetic of performative anonymity, and will heavily misuse Walter Benjamin TWoAitAoMR. two months after i publish it an alanwalker-led heavily aestheticized general strike will sweep the world, ushering in post-brutalism cybercommunism and i'll look like such a fuckin fool

[marcopolorules]

“La cibercomunidad naciente encuentra refugio en la realidad virtual, mientras las ciudades tienden a convertirse en inmensos desiertos llenos de gente, donde cada cual vela por su santo y está cada cual metido en su propia burbuja.”⠀ ⠀ "The nascent cybercommunity finds refuge in virtual reality, while cities tend to become immense deserts full of people, where each one watches over his saint and is each stuck in his own bubble."⠀ ⠀ Eduardo Galeano⠀ & Petter Bulling @petterbullling (artist)⠀ ⠀ ⠀ #surrealportrait #surreal #surrealart #surrealism #surrealist #surrealismartcommunity #popsurrealism #popsurreal #popsurrealist #lowbrow #lowbrowart #weird #weirdart #faceless #newcontemporary #surrealisme #surrealismo #photoshop_art #photomanipulation #manipulationteam #digitalmanipulation #photoshopmanipulation #imagemanipulation #surrealphotography #surrealphoto #enter_imagination #vagabondwho #marcopolorules #jesuislesurrealisme #petterbulling https://www.instagram.com/p/CIjHTp8HtPe/?igshid=1um6modii9ife

[hakaiika]

Just a reminder for y'all!

"Towards a New Socialism" Review Pt.1

Hey folks! I just published the first of 17 parts of my review of "Towards a New Socialism" by Paul Cockshott. Check it out!

[professorchaos]

a few people have expressed interest in this, so under the cut is a list of academic resources focused on critical analysis of south park and/or relating it to a wider context in either animation, television, philosophy or social studies.

books

The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on Television’s Shocking Cartoon Series, edited by Leslie Stratyner and James R. Keller, 2009

this title is available on a 14-day loan from archive.org’s online library, found here. i would recommend downloading it as a PDF for easy reading. my personal favourite essay from this book- that i have read so far- is the very last one: “Among School Children: Lacan and the South Park Felt Board Lesson Set” by james r. keller, though i think there’s something in here for everyone depending on personal areas of interest. i’d recommend reading the introduction to get an idea of which essays you’re interested in. one warning is that this book is much heavier than most of the sources recommended here, both in use of language and in content (at least, the way the content is dealt with and examined in depth). a lot of it is pure critical & literary analysis, so if you didn’t enjoy english class in school, you might want to give this one a miss. (if you did, however, absolutely go for it. it’s a great book).

South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today, edited by Robert Arp, 2006

this one is... weird. you can read some of it on google books here, but the rest will have to be purchased- if it captures your interest then i’d recommend just buying a secondhand paperback copy, since they go on amazon for as low as like, 20 cents. the weird thing about this book is mostly the attitude of the editor; the book’s tone is very laid-back, not professional or academic outside of the essays themselves (and even then, not always). there’s even a totally made up ‘interview’ with matt and trey at the end of the book.

that said, it’s a good read, and there’s a lot of content. if you’re interested in religion, politics and ethics you’ll most likely enjoy this quite a bit. i think that “Is It Okay to Laugh at South Park?” by catherine yu might be particularly relevant to fandom, and it’s one of the chapters that can be read online for free!

Prime Time Animation: Television animation and American culture, edited by Carol A. Stabile and Mark Harrison, 2003

only two chapters of this book put focus on south park (7 and 12) but it’s still worth worth giving a read if you’re interested in television and/or animation. i found “Back to the drawing board: The family in animated television comedy” by michael v. tueth especially interesting, as it provides a wider context to the ways in which family is presented on the show, from early sitcom television to the rising popularity of the simpsons through the late 90s. on the other hand, “’Oh my god, they digitized Kenny!’: Travels in the South Park Cybercommunity V4.0″ by brian l. ott will be of interest to anyone fascinated by the old web, focusing on examining and analysing online south park communities from 1998 to 2002. though hugely outdated, it’s a very endearing piece and a relic to a time gone by.

journals

“Won't somebody please think of the children? Or, South Park fanfic and the political realm” by Judith Fathallah in Journal of Youth Studies, 2015

“Something in My Pocket: Bakhtin, Freud, and South Park” by Ian Ganassi in The Critical Flame, 2016

“Motherhood, Stereotypes and South Park” by Victoria Nagy in Women’s Studies, 2010. As far as I can find, this is not accessible without a university library, but contacting Nagy directly to ask for a copy might work. (I also might be able to provide a PDF over email, but only for personal reading).

note that these are just a few that i’ve read- there’s definitely more out there, and if i find anything else which i enjoy, i’ll add it to the list! feel free to send in any resources you would like to recommend as well. happy reading!

[justbureau]

Analog leadertask

Suspend your skepticism for a moment when we say that the answers may be found among the exploding space stations, grotesque monsters, and spiky-armored warriors of games such as Eve Online, EverQuest, and World of Warcraft. What on earth will leadership look like in such a world-a world whose features have already begun to transform business? Collaboration within these geographically diverse groups will, by necessity, occur mainly through digital rather than face-to-face interaction. A lot of work will be done by global teams-partly composed of people from outside the institution, over whom a leader has no formal authority-that are assembled for a single project and then disbanded. At many companies, important decision making will be distributed throughout the organization to enable people to respond rapidly to change. Tomorrow’s business landscape could well be alien territory for today’s business leaders. Two, hypertransparency of information about, for example, team members’ capabilities and teams’ real-time performance makes it simpler to match people with tasks and to empower individuals to manage themselves. They point out two aspects of game environments that companies might consider adopting: One, nonmonetary incentives built into a game economy strongly motivate individuals to accomplish group aims. The most important finding, say the authors, is that getting the leadership environment right can be as important as choosing the right leader. The authors identified three distinctive characteristics of leadership in online games that, as workplaces and the overall business climate become more dynamic and gamelike, will be essential for tomorrow’s leaders: speed, risk taking, and acceptance of leadership roles as temporary. They also sought the insights of gamers who have led real-world business teams at IBM. As part of an analysis conducted by Seriosity, a company that develops game-inspired enterprise software, the authors studied people who headed up teams in online games. Those are the principal findings by Reeves, of Stanford University Malone, of MIT’s Sloan School and O’Driscoll, of North Carolina State. Games also provide an environment that makes being an effective leader easier and that today’s businesses might try to replicate selectively in their own organizations. Players who lead teams in these online worlds hone the skills that they will need as business leaders in the future. Multiplayer online role-playing games are sprawling cybercommunities that offer a sneak preview of tomorrow’s business environment.

[hyper-c]

i was born here on earth to evolve the earth consciousness through esoteric anime theories estabilish posthuman cybercommunism and to have funnnn