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centrally-unplanned · 7 months

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One of my decently hot takes is that public housing projects in western countries actually did fine - they became maligned because of a combination of the crime + social changes of the 1970's and the politics of urban blight, and the way public housing made poverty legible but, of course, unresolvable. Public housing had 'bad conditions' because poverty has bad conditions - they 'concentrated poverty' and had 'negative externalities' because poverty always concentrates itself and has negative externalities. But the fact that all those concentrated negative externalities were occurring on public, highly scrutinized government budget lines made the projects seem like failures. But they only were by the standards of expecting them to fix poverty, a thing they could never do. They did their actual job of alleviating poverty a good deal.

Not saying they didn't have issues of course, just that I think its within the "policy competence space" of many polities to do more direct public housing than they currently do - and particularly in the US's case, the replacement for public housing of things like rent control, "affordable housing quotas", etc, have all been worse than the government than just directly building apartments they rent for cheap.

All of this is to say, while its not my ideal solution, I don't think the idea of system just building shit-tons of public housing such that it drives down rent below market equilibriums as a form of social welfare is such a bad plan. A country that did would have its own problems but a ton of strengths too, I think you could learn from it.

It just isn't the Soviet Union! They did not do that! It does not, in any way, describe what the Soviet Union was capable of doing or prioritized doing. The Soviet Union was way too busy spending ~20% of its GDP on its military during peacetime as a poor country and flipping the finger to global supply chains and just being a bonkers economy generally to do that. It never, even at its peak in the Kruschev 60's boom, allocated more investment to housing stock than the western countries did. It was constitutionally incapable of doing so due to the inherent structure of its political economy.

Again there are some specific policy stuff you can learn from, that is totally fine to study. But it "solved" no problem in this space.

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historicity-was-already-taken · 8 months

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The lesson here, is not "Wow even The Jews are doing war crimes thus absolving all of us from having to give a shit about the Holocaust and be nice to Jewish ppl who talk about it."

It's "Despite Israel's use of Holocaust memory in its national mythology,* the government and military of that State has shown itself more than willing to violate the human and civil rights of those outside the State's definition of citizenship. This demonstrates that all acting under the banner of the nation-state (as a category of polity) are capable of perpetrating crimes against humanity, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or gender."

*or "Ideological State Apparatus" for us hardcore bitches who fuck with Benedict Anderson

#me and my impotent crusade against the nation state #the logical endpoint of the nation state is ethnic cleansing and/or genocide #this applies to all nation states #no matter how benign or cuddly

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specialagentartemis · 17 days

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Murderbot September Day 4: Holism/University of Mihira and New Tideland

The AI project that gave rise to ART, Holism, and half a dozen other super-intelligent AI ships were made under a fairly secretive government contract from the Mihiran and New Tideland governments. They wanted to encourage the University scientists to push the envelope of AI, to determine what AI could do - partially exploring the boundaries of ethical automated alternatives to human labor or construct use, partially to have some cutting-edge self-defense monitoring in case the corporate polities they share a system with tries to push them around.

(The government still hasn't really come around on "bots are people." That's something the AI lab scientists and ship crews all end up realizing themselves. The ships meanwhile are the property of the university. It's... complicated.)

Only a few AIs were approved for moving onto the final stage, deployment on ships and stations. (They had to be deployed somewhere like a ship or a station to push their full potential - ART and Holism have massive processors that need to be housed somewhere.) Upon being moved to a ship, the AI is allowed to name it. The name gets sent to the University administration for approval, of course. (They don't tell admin that the ship itself chose it. Let's not get into that.) There's no particular name theme for the ships, it's a reflection of whatever the AI loaded into them likes. Perihelion and Holism had a project designation number, a hard feed address, and various nicknames over the years, but when they were installed on the new ships, that's when they chose their ships' - and their - current names.

(Holism thinks Perihelion is a tunnel-visioned nerd for its choice; Perihelion thinks Holism is insufferably self-important for its.)

#The Murderbot Diaries #Murderbot September #MBS24

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iasguidance · 6 months

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Fact Check Unit

Context: Government of India has recently notified Fact Check Unit (FCU) under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) as the fact check unit of the Central Government. Background: In 2023, MEiTY promulgated the 2023 rules amending IT rules 2021, allowing the government to constitute a Fact Checking Unit (FCU) under IT (Intermediary Guidelines…

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#Constitution & Polity of India #Governance #GS Paper 2

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polish-art-tournament · 2 months

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photography round 1 poll 11

Russian army tents at the Castle Square in Warsaw, 1861:

submitted description: a 19th century sepia photo. view of the castle square and the opening of krakowskie przedmieście street in warsaw. the wall of the royal castle on the left, sigismund's column on the right. in front of the castle there are rows of white military tents.

propaganda: despite the scary and violent reality of what the photo depicts (it was taken after the russians imposed martial law in october 1861), the photo to me is quite beautiful? the light is absolutely stunning. and the white tents look very innocent in contrast to what they mean for the people living in warsaw at that time

Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw during the Corpus Christi procession, 1861:

submitted description: 19th century sepia photo. krakowskie przedmieście street in warsaw. a huge crowd of people clothed mostly in dark colors walking away from the camera in the direction of the royal castle. some of them carry umbrellas.

propaganda: honestly everyone should read up on the year 1861 in poland, it was bonkers. (wikipedia for beginners and the book "przed nocą styczniową" by barbara petrozolin-skowrońska for the advanced). or the whole 1859-62 period. there's failed politial assassinations! solidarity between different religions! more and less competent plotting! russian generals duelling stupidly! people doing really heroic things and people doing extremely stupid things, and people clowining on the oppressive government, and everything. and besides, the photos of this corpus christi procession/ political demonstration remind me of all the impressive big protests we had in poland since like 2016. i love it when people organize and mobilize against the pricks in power, and it's such a universal thing across centuries

about the artist: Karol Beyer was the very first professional photographer in warsaw. he is the author of many photos of famous people and famous events from that time. besides warsaw he also took photos of other cities in all parts of the partitioned country. during the january uprising he was arrested and deported to russia because of his role as the photographer of the 1860s protests and his links to the people who organized them.

#karol beyer #polish history #warsaw #polska #polls #br4r1 #photos

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elucubrare · 4 months

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yale politics professor says that aristotle "praises the practice of ostracism, that is banishing those individuals deemed to be preeminent in any particular virtue or quality," because it brings the polity as a whole closer to an average for the purposes of governing. the professor defines it thus because aristotle does:

This is why democratically governed states institute the system of ostracism, because of a reason of this nature; for these are the states considered to pursue equality most of all things so that they used to ostracize men thought to be outstandingly powerful on account of wealth or popularity... (Aristot. Pol. 3.1284a, trans. H. Rackham, 1944)

but of course as someone who knows about the era of the peloponnesian war, these high-minded reasons for ostracism don't really track - recorded reasons range from "i don't like his face*" to "he lost a battle"

but then i remembered that aristotle is essentially a secondary source on ostracism and not a primary one - he's born 33 years after the last recorded ostracism. especially in a political thesis, his thoughts on ostracism as a leveler can be read as opinion or sarcasm or speculation - anything, i think, but clear fact.

now, do I think the professor should go into that in a intro polisci course? i'm of two minds. on the one hand, mentioning that aristotle is putting his own political spin on a historical practice that he never experienced would muddy the narrative about the politics that the professor is telling - but on the other hand, shouldn't you talk about bias and spin, even or especially in the greatest philosophers?

__ *hyperbole but i'm thinking of the (ok, probably apocryphal) guy who voted to ostracize Aristides because he thought it was annoying that everyone called him "the Just"

#that's just the kind of person yale hires tho

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mckitterick · 6 months

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OpenAI previews voice generator that produces natural-sounding speech based on a 15-second voice sample

The company has yet to decide how to deploy the technology, and it acknowledges election risks, but is going ahead with developing and testing with "limited partners" anyway.

Not only is such a technology a risk during election time (see the fake robocalls this year when an AI-generated, fake Joe Biden voice told people not to vote in the primary), but imagine how faked voices of important people - combined with AI-generated fake news plus AI-generated fake photos and videos - could con people out of money, literally destroy political careers and parties, and even collapse entire governments or nations themselves.

By faking a news story using accurate (but faked) video clips of (real) respected and elected officials supporting the fake story - then creating a billion SEO-optimized fake news and research websites full of fake evidence to back up their lies - a bad actor or cyberwarfare agent could take down an enemy government, create a revolution, turn nations against one another, even cause world war.

This kind of apocalyptic scenario has always felt like a science-fiction idea that could only exist in a possible dystopian future, not something we'd actually see coming true in our time, now.

How in the world are we ever again going to trust what we read, hear, or watch? If LLM-barf clogs the internet, and lies pollute the news, and people with bad intentions can provide all the evidence they need to fool anyone into believing anything, and there's no way to guarantee the veracity of anything anymore, what's left?

Whatever comes next, I guarantee it'll be weirder than we imagine.

Here's hoping it's not also worse than the typical cyberpunk tale.

PS: NEVER ANSWER CALLS FROM UNKNOWN NUMBERS EVER AGAIN

...or at least don't speak to the caller. From now on, assume it's a con-bot or politi-bot or some other bot seeking to cause you and others harm. If they hear your voice, they can fake it saying anything they want. If it sounds like someone you know, it's probably not if it's not their number saved in your contacts. If it's about something important, hang up and call the official or saved number for the supposed caller.

#cyberpunk dystopia #artificial intelligence #robocalls #capitalism ruins everything #where's the utopian future we dreamed of?#I vote for that instead

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whencyclopedia · 2 months

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Shishunaga Dynasty

The Shishunaga Dynasty (also Sishunaga/Shaishunaga Dynasty) ruled the Magadha Kingdom in ancient India from c. 413 BCE to c. 345 BCE (in some sources from 421 BCE). It is said to be the third imperial dynasty of Magadha after the Brihadratha and the Haryanka, though the Brihadratha Dynasty is considered as mythical now. The first ruler of the dynasty was Shishunaga himself after whom it has been named, who came to power when the people revolted against the earlier Haryanka Dynasty in the 5th century BCE. The Shishunaga Dynasty had a very short reign before it was succeeded by the Nandas and then the Mauryas, but it too contributed to the solid foundation of the Magadhan Empire which was to dominate the Indian subcontinent for the upcoming centuries.

India Before the Shishunagas

After the Vedic civilization took its roots in the Indian subcontinent from around 1500 BCE, various political units rose in northern and northwestern India. This changed from the 6th century BCE onwards when some kingdoms rose to the east in the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains. During this time, the Indian subcontinent formed mainly into two political units – the Janapadas (which roughly means foothold of the common people) and the Mahajanapadas (the greater foothold of the people). There were 16 Mahajanapadas, and in the 6th century BCE, four out of them became very powerful – Kosala, Avanti, Vatsa, and finally Magadha. The ancient kingdom of Kosala falls roughly to some parts of the present-day Uttar Pradesh state in India. Avanti was Central India and now the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and Vatsa was also another part of modern Uttar Pradesh state.

The most powerful of them was Magadha, which would go on to dominate the entire subcontinent during the time of the Mauryas. All the polities close to Magadha except Avanti were defeated in battle and gradually annexed by the warrior king of Ajatashatru (r. c. 493/492 BCE - c. 462/460 BCE) of the Haryanka Dynasty. He also defeated the powerful confederation of the Vrijjis to the immediate north with their capital at Vaishali after 16 years of ancient Indian warfare from c. 484 BCE to c. 468 BCE. By the time Shishunaga ascended to the throne, Magadha, roughly corresponding to the present-day provinces of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and the countries of Bangladesh and Nepal, had a very effective system of administration and government, a powerful army and a flourishing trade network.

#History #Ajatashatru #AncientIndianWarfare #Avanti #WHE #[#]

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lillified · 7 months

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On Twt you had mentioned dead colonies, could you talk a bit about it? I'm curious to learn more 👀

I absolutely can!

Dead Colonies

At the tail end of the Quintesson reign and well into the Zeta era, the Cybertronian project began to expand into space, looking to establish itself as a galactic empire (similar to the Quintessons they were following). The new regime's optimism made promising projections about the affair, anticipating the colonies they established would become vital trade hubs, resource hotspots, societies, and even tourist destinations (though some of Cybertron's ultra-wealthy indulged, space travel was far too expensive for this to ever become viable). Although the industry boom following the socio-economic institution of the Caste system gave this ambitious promise legitimacy, it was, in hindsight, completely doomed from the start.

In their heyday, however, it was easy to ignore the warning signs. These colonies stretched from nearby satellites to planets in neighboring solar systems, and they were established to varying degrees of complexity. Some stations were only ever meant to be extraction ports for valuable natural resources. The most famous of these colonies, however, were the settled territories, where groups of Cybertronians were planted and expected to live indefinitely.

Once established, these territories developed independently of Cybertron's culture and society, similar to how the flying polity of Vos maintained its own social identity. In many ways, they were like miniature civilizations of their own, only sponsored and supplied by the Cybertronian government. One example of where their societies differed from the start was in the practice of mooring Titans.

Titans are a subclass of life on Cybertron. They are theorized to be the missing link between Cybertronians and the Primus Superorganism, though that theory is highly controversial. Many Titans are dormant now, existing in a state of extended stasis, but many Polities on Cybertron were established around or even on these Titans, although the full extent of their symbiotic link has been lost to time. Unlike Cybertronians, Titans exist throughout the observed galaxy, likely supplanted by space debris. Though it served no immediate practical purpose, several of these colonies sought out these space Titans to cohabitate with. The most infamous colony to adhere to this practice was Caminus.

Caminus was an extremely ambitious project. It was the farthest of the Cybertronian colonies, whose "bridge" (a series of space stations facilitating navigation to the planet, without which many outgoing ships were lost) was considered a revolutionary innovation in space travel. For a long time it was a shining example of what interstellar expansion should be. A lush natural ecosystem native to the planet, constant technological innovation, a rich independent culture, and a general appearance of abundance made it exotic and attractive to the citizens back on Cybertron.

The colonies existed in excess for a while. Soon, though, the explosion of prosperity and industry from Zeta's widespread mechanization started to trail off, and the Energon crisis was almost inevitable on the horizon. The long-term goal that underscored the effort of space expansion was to eventually find another source of Energon, but that goal was never achieved; by consequence, the endeavor of supporting these colonies became expensive and unwieldly. There was no real end benefit besides maintaining an illusion of abundance.

One by one, the central Cybertronian government slowed down, and eventually cut off, support to these Colonies, markedly including the shipment of Energon. Some of these stations were evacuated with the hopes of reintegrating their residents on Cybertron, but many others, especially the manned trade outposts and extraction points, were simply abandoned. Rescuing everyone was just too expensive.

Of the residential colonies, only one escaped evacuation, though the story is still shrouded in mystery. Before the total cutoff, Energon shipments became increasingly more expensive, dwindling for decades. Caminus felt this bleeding and diplomatic tensions between itself and Cybertron became strained. During one shipment, with no forewarning, an outgoing cargo ship discovered that the final point of the Caminus bridge had completely disappeared, defying reason. All other communications with the colony were also completely shut off. With no way to reach them, and no way to guarantee a safe travel, the ship returned to Cybertron, and the colony essentially disappeared. The story of Caminus would become a longstanding source of mystery and intrigue back on Cybertron, though any tragedy is more a result of bureaucratic negligence than horror.

The rest of the colonies died out much less spectacularly. Now, throughout the galaxy, only old abandoned outposts remain, the skeletons of lives lived there. Like the Quintessons before them, Cybertronian expansion was destined to fail. In the end it only marked another nail in the coffin for the energy crisis, and the inevitability of domestic tensions coming to a fiery head.

#transformers #ask #text post #text #lore #sci fi #maccadam

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radiofreederry · 7 months

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The galaxy by the end of 9 ABY in me and @gabajoofs' timeline. After the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire splintered into several factions led by various charismatic warlords, which fought amongst themselves as the central Imperial government continued to war against the newly-proclaimed New Republic. This "Warlord Period" ended in 7 ABY with both the defeat of Warlord Zsinj and the Liberation of Coruscant. The majority of Imperials remaining have defected to Ardus Kaine's Pentastar Alignment, and the Empire is effectively dead as a polity, with only some dead-enders in the Deep Core keeping the name alive. As the Republic continues to hunt for Imperial war criminals, the galactic status quo has settled into a cold war between them and the Pentastar Alignment, with neither side willing to fire the first shot despite hostile relations. While the Republic governs much of the galaxy, other players also hold territory and influence as well, including the Mandalorians, the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, the New Confederacy of Independent Systems, organized crime groups, and a dark power rising in the shadowy corners of the galaxy...

The New Republic: After the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion restructured itself into the New Republic, initially based on Chandrila. Over the next several years, the Republic waged a campaign against the fracturing Empire, securing the Galactic South and the Core before finally liberating Coruscant in 7 ABY. A series of escalating scandals brought down the leadership of Mon Mothma the following year, and she was succeeded in her role by Leia Organa, who pushed through governmental reforms and currently serves as the Republic's Chief of State, with Cal Omas as her Prime Minister. The Republic now sits at a crossroads, with several political factions vying to influence its destiny - including a right-wing political coalition led by Mon Mothma's daughter Leida.

The Neimoidian Socialist Confederation: After the election of socialist Thog Rutak as Trade Monarch, Neimoidian society was thrown into a civil war in which the socialists emerged victorious, and set about reforming Neimoidian society and nationalizing the Trade Federation. The confederation has grown to include much of the former Corporate Sector after its own socialist revolution, and is aligned with the Republic as an independent affiliated observer state.

The Pentastar Alignment: The largest and most successful of the post-Endor Imperial splinter states, the Pentastar Alignment, known in Republic space increasingly as simply the Imperial Remnant, controls most of the galaxy from Ord Mantell northwards. It has been so successful largely by avoiding conflict with the Republic and the Mandalorians, instead targeting smaller Imperial warlords including Warlord Zsinj. Pentastar has absorbed much of the remaining Imperial fleet and many of its greatest remaining military minds, including Grand Admirals Martio Batch and Gilad Pellaeon, the latter of whom acts as supreme commander of the Pentastar fleet. Governed from Bastion, the Pentastar Alignment is led by Ardus Kaine, former Grand Moff of Oversector Outer. Though he has taken the title of Legate in reference to military leaders of Bastion's ancient history, in all but name he is Emperor, and inspires great loyalty in his men.

The Bright Jewel Free Trade Zone: For a year beginning in 8 ABY, The Republic and the Pentastar Alignment fought an undeclared war over control of the important trade hub Ord Mantell. To prevent the conflict's escalation into a wider war, the belligerents covertly agreed to withdraw their forces and establish a free trade zone in the Bright Jewel Sector. Nominally independent, the zone is home to the Great Game, a covert competition between the Pentastar Intelligence Agency and the New Republic Intelligence Service to establish influence over Ord Mantell.

The Hapes Consortium: The small, independent enclave of the matriarchal Hapans has gone unmolested since Endor. Chief of State Organa is planning a diplomatic mission in the hopes of bringing them into the Republic.

The Chiss Ascendancy: In the Unknown Regions, the Chiss control their territory and watch for threats known only to them. They have not established relations with the Republic.

The New Confederacy of Independent Systems: After Endor, rather than joining the New Republic, a group of former Separatist worlds, led by Magisterial Porro Linn of Balan-Quod and mainly from the Tion Cluster, formed a revival of the CIS. They have received little support, and have not normalized relations with the Republic.

Black Sun, the Iron Triad, the Exchange, et al.: In the wake of Endor and the decimation of the Hutts, organized crime has grown in power. Several worlds in the Galactic south and former Hutt Space are now openly run by crime organizations, in particular the Iron Triad, founded by former Imperial officer Ubrik Adelhard, which is based on Klatooine. After the death of Prince Xizor, the leadership of Black Sun remains unclear.

The Central Committee of Grand Moffs: A small group of Grand Moffs working in concert with Supreme Slavelord Trioculus of Kessel - who claims to be the Emperor's son - has monopolized the spice trade with a small fleet of Imperial ships, conquering the Pyke Syndicate and incorporating it into their own operations. They are considered of least concern to the Republic.

The Imperial Royalist Confederation: After Ysanne Isard launched a coup in late 4 ABY, Sate Pestage and Mas Amedda fled Coruscant for the fortified Deep Core, where they set up their own government on the Emperor's throneworld of Byss. There Amedda rules as Imperial Regent, surrounded by sycophants, and the Republic is content to let him stew.

Mando’ade Aliite be Te Anila Grat’ua Mand’alor (United Clans of Mandalore): After Endor, Death Watch veteran Vasili of clan Bev’miir, who had spent several years uniting the disparate Mandalorian clans, launched an assault on the Empire's holdings in Mandalorian space. After securing Mandalore, Bev'miir, now known as Mandalore the Uniter, waged war to expand Mandalorian space to historical heights, helping to crush the Warlord Zsinj and destroy the power base of the Hutts. Since securing the borders of Mandalorian space, Bev'miir has been content to rule his worlds in relative peace, reforming Mandalorian society and restoring the supremacy of the clans. He recently signed a treaty alongside Chief of State Organa in which the Republic recognized him as the legitimate representative of the Mandalorian people and his government's sovereignty over the worlds it controls.

The True Mandalorians: Supporters of Bo-Katan Kryze's claim to lead the Mandalorians, including her own Nite Owls and several smaller clans, united as the True Mandalorians and attempted to gain their own foothold to unite the Mandalorians. While the Republic recognized Kryze as the true leader of the Mandalorians and offered support, ultimately Kryze's forces were only able to secure Onderon's moon Dxun, losing the planet Jabiim to Bev'miir's faction. Now, languishing on the jungle moon, they have lost even Republic recognition, and their future is uncertain.

The Hutt Empire: Campaigns by the Mandalorians and Iron Triad, and a revolt of the Evocii on what was once Nal Hutta, have destroyed most of the Hutts' power in the galaxy. Individual crimelords such as Dertykop of Taris or Teemo of Tatooine still exert power, but the Ruling Council retreated to Varl and the Bootana Hutta, there to rule what remained of Hutt Space. The Council was overthrown in 8 ABY by the warlord Muuka, who has proclaimed himself the new Emperor of the Hutts, declaring that the Hutts must return to their ancient ways of warfare and conquest to survive and reconquer their rightful territory.

The Proto-Sith: A number of dark side factions, including the Knights of Ren, the Prophets of the Dark Side, the Lost Tribe, elements of the Reborn and the Inquisition, and the Sorcerers of Tund have gathered in what was once Sith Space and the Centrality. The Rule of Two died with Palpatine and Vader at Endor, and it is time once again for the Sith to cheat death…

There are also several factions which hold little to no territory, but which have a great deal of galactic influence regardless:

Moff Royen's Imperial Remnant: A small fleet of ships which remains independent of the other major Imperial remnants, mainly patrolling the Red Hand Cluster.

The New Jedi Order: After a quest of several years to uncover secrets of the Force and find Force-sensitive recruits, Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, has reformed the Jedi Order, heading the new Jedi Council. He has established a temple on Tython to headquarter his Order, which numbers around 100 Jedi, both survivors of the old Order and new recruits. The Order is independent of the Republic, but a treaty of friendship between them saw the Republic establish a fleet to defend Tython and the Order from threats.

The Children of Ghorman: The Republic Commision for the Prosecution of War Crimes and Crimes against Civilization was established in 6 ABY for the prosecution of Imperial war criminals. Valarr Ulgo, an Alderaanian former ISB officer and member of Republic Intelligence, formed the Children of Ghorman in order to secure these criminals, a group of Rebel veterans who were all impacted personally by Imperial atrocities with the sole objective of capturing those Imperials who were beyond the Republic's reach and bringing them to justice.

The Mining Guild: The fall of the Empire was a boon for the Mining Guild, which regained its independence. Under the leadership of Athor Skarhill, the Guild has moved in a left-wing direction, and affiliated itself with Garm Bel Iblis' People's Union Party.

#star wars #worldbuilding #lore #my writing #map

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