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mostlysignssomeportents · 27 days ago

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AI turns Amazon coders into Amazon warehouse workers

HEY SEATTLE! I'm appearing at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival NEXT SATURDAY (May 31) with the folks from NPR's On The Media!

On a recent This Machine Kills episode, guest Hagen Blix described the ultimate form of "AI therapy" with a "human in the loop":

https://soundcloud.com/thismachinekillspod/405-ai-is-the-demon-god-of-capital-ft-hagen-blix

One actual therapist is just having ten chat GPT windows open where they just like have five seconds to interrupt the chatGPT. They have to scan them all and see if it says something really inappropriate. That's your job, to stop it.

Blix admits that's not where therapy is at…yet, but he references Laura Preston's 2023 N Plus One essay, "HUMAN_FALLBACK," which describes her as a backstop to a real-estate "virtual assistant," that masqueraded as a human handling the queries that confused it, in a bid to keep the customers from figuring out that they were engaging with a chatbot:

https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-44/essays/human_fallback/

This is what makes investors and bosses slobber so hard for AI – a "productivity" boost that arises from taking away the bargaining power of workers so that they can be made to labor under worse conditions for less money. The efficiency gains of automation aren't just about using fewer workers to achieve the same output – it's about the fact that the workers you fire in this process can be used as a threat against the remaining workers: "Do your job and shut up or I'll fire you and give your job to one of your former colleagues who's now on the breadline."

This has been at the heart of labor fights over automation since the Industrial Revolution, when skilled textile workers took up the Luddite cause because their bosses wanted to fire them and replace them with child workers snatched from Napoleonic War orphanages:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/26/enochs-hammer/#thats-fronkonsteen

Textile automation wasn't just about producing more cloth – it was about producing cheaper, worse cloth. The new machines were so easy a child could use them, because that's who was using them – kidnapped war orphans. The adult textile workers the machines displaced weren't afraid of technology. Far from it! Weavers used the most advanced machinery of the day, and apprenticed for seven years to learn how to operate it. Luddites had the equivalent of a Masters in Engineering from MIT.

Weavers' guilds presented two problems for their bosses: first, they had enormous power, thanks to the extensive training required to operate their looms; and second, they used that power to regulate the quality of the goods they made. Even before the Industrial Revolution, weavers could have produced more cloth at lower prices by skimping on quality, but they refused, out of principle, because their work mattered to them.

Now, of course weavers also appreciated the value of their products, and understood that innovations that would allow them to increase their productivity and make more fabric at lower prices would be good for the world. They weren't snobs who thought that only the wealthy should go clothed. Weavers had continuously adopted numerous innovations, each of which increased the productivity and the quality of their wares.

Long before the Luddite uprising, weavers had petitioned factory owners and Parliament under the laws that guaranteed the guilds the right to oversee textile automation to ensure that it didn't come at the price of worker power or the quality of the textiles the machines produced. But the factory owners and their investors had captured Parliament, which ignored its own laws and did nothing as the "dark, Satanic mills" proliferated. Luddites only turned to property destruction after the system failed them.

Now, it's true that eventually, the machines improved and the fabric they turned out matched and exceeded the quality of the fabric that preceded the Industrial Revolution. But there's nothing about the way the Industrial Revolution unfolded – increasing the power of capital to pay workers less and treat them worse while flooding the market with inferior products – that was necessary or beneficial to that progress. Every other innovation in textile production up until that time had been undertaken with the cooperation of the guilds, who'd ensured that "progress" meant better lives for workers, better products for consumers, and lower prices. If the Luddites' demands for co-determination in the Industrial Revolution had been met, we might have gotten to the same world of superior products at lower costs, but without the immiseration of generations of workers, mass killings to suppress worker uprisings, and decades of defective products being foisted on the public.

So there are two stories about automation and labor: in the dominant narrative, workers are afraid of the automation that delivers benefits to all of us, stand in the way of progress, and get steamrollered for their own good, as well as ours. In the other narrative, workers are glad to have boring and dangerous parts of their work automated away and happy to produce more high-quality goods and services, and stand ready to assess and plan the rollout of new tools, and when workers object to automation, it's because they see automation being used to crush them and worsen the outputs they care about, at the expense of the customers they care for.

In modern automation/labor theory, this debate is framed in terms of "centaurs" (humans who are assisted by technology) and "reverse-centaurs" (humans who are conscripted to assist technology):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

There are plenty of workers who are excited at the thought of using AI tools to relieve them of some drudgework. To the extent that these workers have power over their bosses and their working conditions, that excitement might well be justified. I hear a lot from programmers who work on their own projects about how nice it is to have a kind of hypertrophied macro system that can generate and tweak little automated tools on the fly so the humans can focus on the real, chewy challenges. Those workers are the centaurs, and it's no wonder that they're excited about improved tooling.

But the reverse-centaur version is a lot darker. The reverse-centaur coder is an assistant to the AI, charged with being a "human in the loop" who reviews the material that the AI produces. This is a pretty terrible job to have.

For starters, the kinds of mistakes that AI coders make are the hardest mistakes for human reviewers to catch. That's because LLMs are statistical prediction machines, spicy autocomplete that works by ingesting and analyzing a vast corpus of written materials and then producing outputs that represent a series of plausible guesses about which words should follow one another. To the extent that the reality the AI is participating in is statistically smooth and predictable, AI can often make eerily good guesses at words that turn into sentences or code that slot well into that reality.

But where reality is lumpy and irregular, AI stumbles. AI is intrinsically conservative. As a statistically informed guessing program, it wants the future to be like the past:

https://reallifemag.com/the-apophenic-machine/

This means that AI coders stumble wherever the world contains rough patches and snags. Take "slopsquatting." For the most part, software libraries follow regular naming conventions. For example, there might be a series of text-handling libraries with names like "text.parsing.docx," "text.parsing.xml," and "text.parsing.markdown." But for some reason – maybe two different projects were merged, or maybe someone was just inattentive – there's also a library called "text.txt.parsing" (instead of "text.parsing.txt").

AI coders are doing inference based on statistical analysis, and anyone inferring what the .txt parsing library is called would guess, based on the other libraries, that it was "text.parsing.txt." And that's what the AI guesses, and so it tries to import that library to its software projects.

This creates a new security vulnerability, "slopsquatting," in which a malicious actor creates a library with the expected name, which replicates the functionality of the real library, but also contains malicious code:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/12/ai_code_suggestions_sabotage_supply_chain/

Note that slopsquatting errors are extremely hard to spot. As is typical with AI coding errors, these are errors that are based on continuing a historical pattern, which is the sort of thing our own brains do all the time (think of trying to go up a step that isn't there after climbing to the top of a staircase). Notably, these are very different from the errors that a beginning programmer whose work is being reviewed by a more senior coder might make. These are the very hardest errors for humans to spot, and these are the errors that AIs make the most, and they do so at machine speed:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs

To be a human in the loop for an AI coder, a programmer must engage in sustained, careful, line-by-line and command-by-command scrutiny of the code. This is the hardest kind of code to review, and maintaining robotic vigilance over long periods at high speeds is something humans are very bad at. Indeed, it's the kind of task we try very hard to automate, since machines are much better at being machineline than humans are. This is the essence of reverse-centaurism: when a human is expected to act like a machine in order to help the machine do something it can't do.

Humans routinely fail at spotting these errors, unsurprisingly. If the purpose of automation is to make superior goods at lower prices, then this would be a real concern, since a reverse-centaur coding arrangement is bound to produce code with lurking, pernicious, especially hard-to-spot bugs that present serious risks to users. But if the purpose of automation is to discipline labor – to force coders to accept worse conditions and pay – irrespective of the impact on quality, then AI is the perfect tool for the job. The point of the human isn't to catch the AI's errors so much as it is to catch the blame for the AI's errors – to be what Madeleine Clare Elish calls a "moral crumple zone":

https://estsjournal.org/index.php/ests/article/view/260

As has been the case since the Industrial Revolution, the project of automation isn't just about increasing productivity, it's about weakening labor power as a prelude to lowering quality. Take what's happened to the news industry, where mass layoffs are being offset by AI tools. At Hearst's King Features Syndicates, a single writer was charged with producing over 30 summer guides, the entire package:

https://www.404media.co/viral-ai-generated-summer-guide-printed-by-chicago-sun-times-was-made-by-magazine-giant-hearst/

That is an impossible task, which is why the writer turned to AI to do his homework, and then, infamously, published a "summer reading guide" that was full of nonexistent books that were hallucinated by a chatbot:

https://www.404media.co/chicago-sun-times-prints-ai-generated-summer-reading-list-with-books-that-dont-exist/

Most people reacted to this story as a consumer issue: they were outraged that the world was having a defective product foisted upon it. But the consumer issue here is downstream from the labor issue: when the writers at King Features Syndicate are turned into reverse-centaurs, they will inevitably produce defective outputs. The point of the worker – the "human in the loop" – isn't to supervise the AI, it's to take the blame for the AI. That's just what happened, as this poor schmuck absorbed an internet-sized rasher of shit flung his way by outraged social media users. After all, it was his byline on the story, not the chatbot's. He's the moral crumple-zone.

The implication of this is that consumers and workers are class allies in the automation wars. The point of using automation to weaken labor isn't just cheaper products – it's cheaper, defective products, inflicted on the unsuspecting and defenseless public who are no longer protected by workers' professionalism and pride in their jobs.

That's what's going on at Duolingo, where CEO Luis von Ahn created a firestorm by announcing mass firings of human language instructors, who would be replaced by AI. The "AI first" announcement pissed off Duolingo's workers, of course, but what caught von Ahn off-guard was how much this pissed off Duolingo's users:

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/25/0347239/duolingo-faces-massive-social-media-backlash-after-ai-first-comments

But of course, this makes perfect sense. After all, language-learners are literally incapable of spotting errors in the AI instruction they receive. If you spoke the language well enough to spot the AI's mistakes, you wouldn't need Duolingo! I don't doubt that there are countless ways in which AIs could benefit both language learners and the Duolingo workers who develop instructional materials, but for that to happen, workers' and learners' needs will have to be the focus of AI integration. Centaurs could produce great language learning materials with AI – but reverse-centaurs can only produce slop.

Unsurprisingly, many of the most successful AI products are "bossware" tools that let employers monitor and discipline workers who've been reverse-centaurized. Both blue-collar and white-collar workplaces have filled up with "electronic whips" that monitor and evaluate performance:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/#virtual-whips

AI can give bosses "dashboards" that tell them which Amazon delivery drivers operate their vehicles with their mouths open (Amazon doesn't let its drivers sing on the job). Meanwhile, a German company called Celonis will sell your boss a kind of AI phrenology tool that assesses your "emotional quality" by spying on you while you work:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/processmining-algomanage

Tech firms were among the first and most aggressive adopters of AI-based electronic whips. But these whips weren't used on coders – they were reserved for tech's vast blue-collar and contractor workforce: clickworkers, gig workers, warehouse workers, AI data-labelers and delivery drivers.

Tech bosses tormented these workers but pampered their coders. That wasn't out of any sentimental attachment to tech workers. Rather, tech bosses were afraid of tech workers, because tech workers possess a rare set of skills that can be harnessed by tech firms to produce gigantic returns. Tech workers have historically been princes of labor, able to command high salaries and deferential treatment from their bosses (think of the amazing tech "campus" perks), because their scarcity gave them power.

It's easy to predict how tech bosses would treat tech workers if they could get away with it – just look how they treat workers they aren't afraid of. Just like the textile mill owners of the Industrial Revolution, the thing that excites tech bosses about AI is the possibility of cutting off a group of powerful workers at the knees. After all, it took more than a century for strong labor unions to match the power that the pre-Industrial Revolution guilds had. If AI can crush the power of tech workers, it might buy tech bosses a century of free rein to shift value from their workforce to their investors, while also doing away with pesky Tron-pilled workers who believe they have a moral obligation to "fight for the user."

William Gibson famously wrote, "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." The workers that tech bosses don't fear are living in the future of the workers that tech bosses can't easily replace.

This week, the New York Times's veteran Amazon labor report Noam Scheiber published a deeply reported piece about the experience of coders at Amazon in the age of AI:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/business/amazon-ai-coders.html

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is palpably horny for AI coders, evidenced by investor memos boasting of AI's returns in "productivity and cost avoidance" and pronouncements about AI saving "the equivalent of 4,500 developer-years":

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andy-jassy-8b1615_one-of-the-most-tedious-but-critical-tasks-activity-7232374162185461760-AdSz/

Amazon is among the most notorious abusers of blue-collar labor, the workplace where everyone who doesn't have a bullshit laptop job is expected to piss in a bottle and spend an unpaid hour before and after work going through a bag- and body-search. Amazon's blue-collar workers are under continuous, totalizing, judging AI scrutiny that scores them based on whether their eyeballs are correctly oriented, whether they take too long to pick up an object, whether they pee too often. Amazon warehouse workers are injured at three times national average. Amazon AIs scan social media for disgruntled workers talking about unions, and Amazon has another AI tool that predicts which shops and departments are most likely to want to unionize.

Scheiber's piece describes what it's like to be an Amazon tech worker who's getting the reverse-centaur treatment that has heretofore been reserved for warehouse workers and drivers. They describe "speedups" in which they are moved from writing code to reviewing AI code, their jobs transformed from solving chewy intellectual puzzles to racing to spot hard-to-find AI coding errors as a clock ticks down. Amazon bosses haven't ordered their tech workers to use AI, just raised their quotas to a level that can't be attained without getting an AI to do most of the work – just like the Chicago Sun-Times writer who was expected to write all 30 articles in the summer guide package on his own. No one made him use AI, but he wasn't going to produce 30 articles on deadline without a chatbot.

Amazon insists that it is treating AI as an assistant for its coders, but the actual working conditions make it clear that this is a reverse-centaur transformation. Scheiber discusses a dissident internal group at Amazon called Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, who link the company's use of AI to its carbon footprint. Beyond those climate concerns, these workers are treating AI as a labor issue.

Amazon's coders have been making tentative gestures of solidarity towards its blue-collar workforce since the pandemic broke out, walking out in support of striking warehouse workers (and getting fired for doing so):

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/14/abolish-silicon-valley/#hang-together-hang-separately

But those firings haven't deterred Amazon's tech workers from making common cause with their comrades on the shop floor:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/19/deastroturfing/#real-power

When techies describe their experience of AI, it sometimes sounds like they're describing two completely different realities – and that's because they are. For workers with power and control, automation turns them into centaurs, who get to use AI tools to improve their work-lives. For workers whose power is waning, AI is a tool for reverse-centaurism, an electronic whip that pushes them to work at superhuman speeds. And when they fail, these workers become "moral crumple zones," absorbing the blame for the defective products their bosses pushed out in order to goose profits.

As ever, what a technology does pales in comparison to who it does it for and who it does it to.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/27/rancid-vibe-coding/#class-war

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

#pluralistic

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bonefall · 2 months ago

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[ID: Ask from @storiesandsquirrels, transcribed in alt text]

also: link to Cow Lore

There's one major misconception here I've gotta correct before answering earnestly; Holsteins do need Super Duper Food. This is one of their major problems as a breed, you need to give them high quality feed for high quantity, low quality milk.

But! That said! These are valid questions that deserve real responses. In spite of the quick correction, I actually want to answer them as you phrased them because I think it would be more illuminating. I'm going to try and summarize them as I go along;

Question 1: "Why wouldn't we want to use The Most Efficient Cow?"

The simplest answer is disease. My ""prediction"" came true, and bird flu has mutated to spread extremely easily through the infected udders of Holsteins. No one has died of bovine-contracted HPAI yet, but with Brainworm Bobby and his love of raw milk in charge of the CDC...

well. my last prediction was prophetic. let's hope this one's not.

Minmaxing a breed for one specific purpose always means intensive inbreeding. Like I mentioned, 9 million Holsteins are genetically equivalent to 60 individuals. A more genetically diverse population is one that will be better at preventing disease outbreaks, and reducing their severity when they do.

And what even is the Most Efficient Milk Cow? If you're only selecting for pure milk production to drive down its cost, you get a breed of cattle that lacks every other important trait that would make it good livestock;

They get sick more often, due to inbreeding depression and lack of physical fitness, requiring more antibiotics and veterinary care.

They are bad parents who will need more human intervention to birth and raise calves

They won't be good grazers, meaning they need a specific food grown for them, increasing how much "functional" land is actually dedicated to cattle husbandry.

Their carcass won't yield as much meat, so more cattle have to be raised and slaughtered to meet demand.

Their bodies will burn out much quicker than a healthier animal, meaning you need to replace your livestock more often.

When it comes to living beings, "efficiency" is "fragility." It's not a stable system to begin with.

Even with the pure logic aside, just, step back here and look at the situation with a heart. We'd be making unhealthy, short-lived animals lacking critical instincts to lead good social lives. AND we probably haven't even fixed the "less land" problem, just shifted the land off-site.

For what? For more milk? We have SO MUCH milk we don't even know what to do with it!

Question 2: "Isn't an overabundance of cheap milk a good thing?"

no.

Under the infinite genius of Capitalism, thousands of gallons of milk just gets poured into the sewer daily because there's too much of it. Transporting it to a processor would cost more than it's worth, sometimes the processors turn milk away because they don't want to overproduce products, and even the US government can't subsidize every last drop; it still has 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in various caves and warehouses across the country.

The price of milk cannot get any lower because it's already being sold below the cost it takes to produce it, and yet, we're still here literally pouring it down the drain.

[photo from bill ulrich who photographed a farmer dumping milk back during the pandemic. this isn't even a recent photo. this happens every time there's a milk surplus. im using this photo because i like the farmer's cunty little pose. look at him. "just ain't right"core.]

And milk being dumped into the sewer is more than just wasteful. It's a biohazard.

Milk doesn't stop rotting when it's dumped. If you live downstream of a milkhouse, improper milk disposal reeks.

It's full of nutrients, too, which causes diatoms, cyanobacteria, and other types of algae to go into overdrive-- causing a Harmful Algal Bloom event in the water, or HAB.

HABs are horrific. There's HUNDREDS of different types. They can suck up oxygen and create "dead zones" which kills all aquatic life, they can poison the water supply for an entire town, and some can even cause toxic fumes that make it hard to breathe on land.

Now, listen, I don't want to scare you into never dumping out rotten milk or anything! It's that on an industrial scale, it's REALLY REALLY bad if a farm overproduces milk-- especially crummy milk that can't be made into decent cheese or other dairy products.

In fact, if we did produce milk on a smaller scale, it would be better for everyone! Unless you're a Milk Guzzling Fiend like I am, you probably wouldn't need to buy a whole gallon at a time. In countries like Italy, it's sold fresh and in smaller containers, and you're just expected to pick it up as you need it.

This is why milkmen used to exist, and still do in places that are cool; they'd deliver your supply fresh from the creamery. Less waste, less stress! The "subscription model" is actually sooooooooooo much better for milk production, since it helps to stagger out those "surges and drops" of demand that leads to milk dumps.

Question 3: "If the cow eats less, doesn't that mean less land for pasture, which is a good thing?"

There's a lot to unpack within this sentiment. It's actually based on a couple of common assumptions on a few levels, which are incorrect in fascinating ways. Challenging this means opening up your worldview on how complex keeping livestock actually is!

I'll start with the simpler part;

You could cut fresh pasture out of the equation entirely and shove a cow into a concrete pen with a food box-- but are you counting the land growing the fodder?

When you grow corn the way that we do on industrial farms in the US, it's unbelievably destructive. Unending oceans of monoculture. Fogged with pesticide, pumped full of fertilizer which causes HABs like dumped milk does, sprayed with thousands of gallons of wasted water.

When you look at this image, I need you to understand you are looking at a dead zone. Like a suburban lawn, just because it's green doesn't mean it's good. Nothing grows here but corn and pests of corn, which gets poisoned and dies without returning any of that energy to the ecosystem.

This is usually what is being given to "grain-fed cattle," either when they're sent to a feedlot to hit their slaughter weight, or when they're lactating so they need the extra nutrition. It's also so nasty it's inedible to human beings.

Now, a lot of cattle farmers will just supplement their cow's diet, doing a mix of pasture feeding (much cheaper) and grain feeding (quicker gains). But the facts on this are clear; pasture-kept cattle result in LESS emissions and need LESS total space than cows in confinement.

In fact, there were a LOT of benefits!

Overall gas emissions from the cows dropped by 8%

Ammonia pollution was down by 30%

Not needing to run farm equipment for fodder planting and harvest reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 10%

Rotated crop fields didn't sequester carbon; but the newly converted perennial grasslands store as much as 3,400 pounds per acre.

The outside cows did produce less milk volume, but the milk they did produce was higher quality. So, looking at all the benefits here, it's clear that pasture is actually something that should be embraced for ecological reasons, not rejected.

In FACT, it should be EMPHASIZED. Because, this is the mind-blowing part,

Pasture can ALSO be an ecosystem.

In fact, I'm a Warrior Cats guy who once did a deep dive on moorlands just so I could write WindClan better. There are entire biomes that only exist because of grazing, and British lowland heath is one of them!

Keeping cattle in a sustainable, ecologically sound way is going to look different depending on where in the world you're doing it. So many earnest, good-willed people have bought into the lie that humans are a problem, and that everything "associated" with us becomes a barren wasteland as if we are tainted. YOU are not the problem! The problem is, and always has been, exploitation. Unsustainable relationships with the land we're part of.

Indigenous people in Europe, Asia, and Africa have been keeping cattle for thousands of years. In North America, cattle can be used to maintain ecosystems that have been badly affected by the colonial eradication of the American Bison. In South America, Brazil specifically has been making incredible advances with highly efficient integrated crop-livestock-forestry farming.

Generally, pastures here in the US are not as intensely managed as an equivalent crop field. Some people fertilize them, or water them mid-summer, but absolutely not to the same extent as industrial corn farms. Cattle are typically rotated between pastures, allowing each to re-grow before they come back to graze again.

Obviously, yes, overgrazing can be an issue. Not every open space should be converted into a pasture, and the destruction of other environments to turn into cow land is a problem. But that is an issue of bad land stewardship, not the mere practice of keeping livestock.

Bottom line, though? Cattle who can graze and survive outside are better for the environment than cattle that can't.

...but hey, you know what Holsteins happen to be really bad at?

EVERYTHING. GRAZING.

They are notoriously terrible grazers. They can't do megan THEEEEE thing that cows are known for. Fragile frames, a lack of fat to keep them warm outside, increased demand for food, distaste for any rough forage, horrible mothering instincts, the list goes on. Holsteins are a NIGHTMARE to try and keep outside all year round compared to other breeds.

(especially heritage breeds, like the Milking Devon, Florida Cracker, or Texas Longhorn. Between these three, you'd be totally covered in 80% of American climates.)

I've already explained why it's not actually very good or important that we minmax milk volume, but even if that was actually something we should value, there are so many downsides that they would absolutely not be the dominant cow breed in a truly "efficient" system.

"Less cows means less cow food and cow land" is sound logic, but Holsteins are not the right cow for that job.

Question 4: "How could this be done in a way that doesn't increase cost of living?"

I'm not sure how to answer this question, simply because I'm not Bonestar, Leader of AmericaClan. Wish I was. I would rule tyrannically.

It's worth noting that Brazil is the second largest producer of beef in the entire world, AND the number one largest exporter of it, AND only puts 30% of its land to total agricultural use. The USA dedicates over 50%. And also Brazil is net reducing its amount of agricultural land while increasing output.

It seems clear to me that the USA actually has a massive food waste and resource distribution problem, to the point where the price we pay for stuff is actually wildly disconnected from the actual value of the goods and labor.

I think the way that us Americans tend to frame our conversations on these topics as "growth" vs "cuts" instead of asking how to minimize waste by making existing systems more efficient prevents us from solving problems. We're also just... really culturally resistant to the idea of anything being more "expensive," even if it ends up costing us a lot more money in waste or mismanagement later.

Penny wise and dollar foolish ass country.

Question 5: "What can we personally do about this?"

I mean, I wasn't making a call to action in Cow Lore, I was just explaining to one of my regulars why I don't like Holsteins LMAO. Since you're asking though...

I don't think we can change the wider trend in the dairy industry without actual government intervention and regulation, though, and that's very unlikely in the current political environment. they just sent random dudes to Ausalvador-Birkenau and when the Supreme Court said "bring this specific person back" they said "nuh uh." fellas I don't think we're getting better dairy regulations in the foreseeable future.

So I think the most productive thing to do is focusing on supporting small farms and heritage breeds. Get involved in your community garden or heritage society if you have one.

Not only is that generally a very rewarding thing, but it will be helpful to you in case The Situation Gets Worse. Knowing your neighbors and having real human connection is your best defense against economic recession.

Supporting the locals is always a great thing to do, which can be as simple as going to farmer's markets. You don't need to buy fancy food every day to make an impact on your community-- it can be a treat sometimes!

You could also subscribe to the Livestock Conservancy's free newsletter, where they talk about the work they're doing and upcoming events. If you're a knitter, crocheter, or any other kind of fiber artist, you could even join in on a challenge they're running where you make items out of rare wool for prizes!

Should you end up liking the work they do, you can become a member for 4$ a month, or go to one of their educational events.

Even just talking about the problem can do a lot! Did you know the Highland Cow was actually critically endangered in the USA within the past 10 years? It was the work of the Livestock Conservancy, plus a surge in their popularity, that helped to bring their numbers up. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.

All that said, remember, you can't solve every problem. It's a big world and there's a lot of them. Being made aware of an issue doesn't mean you have to drop what you were previously doing-- just care a lot about something that you want to improve, and let that guide you.

#Funfact: My great-something-grammy boinked the milkman #and that's how my great-something-grandparent happened lmaoo #Straightup parody level family drama #queen behavior tho ngl #Perhaps I simply respect my Milkmancestor's game too much #got milk in my blood #bone babble #cows #i like. tried not to say it TOO much besides the powerpuff girls meme. but.#capitalism is the core problem under everything here #it doesn't actually encourage efficiency on a large scale; it *encourages* overproduction and *incentivizes* artificial scarcity #under a capitalist system it is a good thing to crush your small farm competition by literally flooding the market with cheap milk #because it's more profitable to dump sour milk onto the nearest poor community than lose sales to Meemaw Moomoo And Her Heritage Herd #and yeah the cows are sick and dying from genetic issues and infections. but it's cheaper to feed them antibiotics #because it's not like the dairy industry is the one who pays for the medical care of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that jump to humans!#the questions were genuine tho so I was trying to answer them without a Degrowth Rant lmaooooooooooo #will say as an aside though that when Cost of Living comes up as a concern there's a red part of me that is like #''comrade. ANY cost to live is too high.''

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astrocafecoffee · 9 months ago

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Solar return obs. Part 2

✨ For entertainment purposes only, enjoy my lovely peoples ✨

🍁 SOLAR RETURN INDICATORS

🍁 SOLAR RETURN OBS. PART 1

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❣️ sun sextile Venus in solar return chart - this year can be a good period for persuing artistic or aesthetic interests. In general, this year you will socialize more , will encounter romantic connections. But I know many of you will ask me "but my sun is in 8th house🙂, it's contrasting".. let me tell you, this means you will maintain a healthy balance between your private and social life. That's it. I mean socialising more won't burnt you out.

❣️ sun conjunct boda could mean meeting with your fs or a very serious romantic partner.

❣️ Mars opposite venus could mean that there will be a challenge in your relationships with others ( family members, friends, romantic partner ). There will be a push -pull dynamics in how you persue your goals or relationships. Try to solve conflicts with patience.

❣️ Groom / briede in 7th house or conjunct sun could mean meeting with your fs.

❣️ Groom/ Briede conjunct mercury - if you meet your fs this yr , then this could mean you will talk with them alot. Check the house/ signs to know more. For example if it's in 8th house/ in Scorpio/ in 8° you will talk about deeper meanings of our life. You could talk about spirituality, astrology too 😁.

❣️ ascendant at 4°/ 16°/ 28° - this year could be a year of strengthening family bonds and dealing with home related matters.This could mean shifting to a new home/ making changes to your living situation. And, also People seeing you as a comforting figure.

❣️ ascendant at 5°/ 17°/ 29° - you may find yourself spotlight more often. You might experience a boost of confidence. You will shine in your social settings. This year could encourage you to take on leadership roles. Moreover, you will be happy. And yeah romantic encounters can occur or in general people admiring you more.

❣️ ascendant at 8°/ 20° - this year might bring significant personal growth , as you confront and transform aspects of yourself and your life , that no longer serve you. You might prefer to keep certain aspects of your life private and more selective about what you reveal to others .

❣️ moon in Aries / at 1°, 13°, 25° in SRC can signify your emotional responses maybe immediate and intense. You might find yourself reacting quickly to any situations , with a tendency to act on your feelings rather than ponder them. This year you will learn how to manage your impulsive tendencies and how to communicate thoroughly.

❣️ moon in Virgo / at 6° , 18° could mean you will be more productive or improving your efficiency in your daily tasks. Also this could mean people asking for your help more than usual for certain activities or you offering practical help or contributing to the well being of those around you.

❣️ Sun opposite Jupiter could mean increased social activity or engagement with influential people . Networking or forming new connection might be prominent themes this year. Also there may be risk of overconfidence or taking on more than you can handle. You may need to be cautious about over extending yourself or making promises that are difficult to keep.

❣️ Venus trine / sextile Jupiter could mean you might find opportunities for making money through enjoyable activities or investments , I mean overall your financial situation may improve. Also you might find yourself indulging in pleasurable activities , enjoying good times with friends and family or engaging in pursuits that bring you happiness.

❣️ juno trine/ sextile groom - significant year of meeting your fs. If you are in a relationship , then this could be a time for deepening your connection and solidifying your commitment.

❣️ juno trine / sextile Saturn - can indicate meeting with your fs or deepening your connection with your fs. In general, you will approach relationships with greater maturity and responsibility. If you had any relationship issues then this year can provide an opportunity to address and resolve this issues.

❣️ Europa/Fama conjunct rising - you will gain some kind of popularity this year, like , people noticing your work and appreciating. It could be for your looks also.

❣️Chiron in 3rd house - you could often stop socialising this year or less communicating With your family and friends.

❣️ Juno Square sun - if you have this in your SRC, then this means this year you will find a clarity about your needs in Your relationships. What quality you actually want in your partner, how relationship actually works, and what to do to maintain a healthy relationship.

❣️ Sun conjunct mars could mean you will likely be more focused on your personal ambitions and goals. The sun is you here. You may find yourself more assertive and proactive , willing to take bold actions to achieve your objectives. But don't take impulsive actions or decisions. Be mindful of acting without fully considering the consequences.

❣️3rd house ruler in 12th house - this could mean you might be drawn to foreign travel , especially for spiritual or educational purposes. You might work in or be connected to institutions related to hospitals or charitable organisations , where your communication skills play a role. Also ,You will talk more with foreign peoples.

❣️1st house ruler in 10th house - this year may bring opportunities for career advancement or a new professional role that aligns closely with your personal goals and values. You may find yourself in situations where you need to assert your authority or guide others. You might also experience increased visibility or be in the public eye more than usual.

❣️1st ruler in 5th house - you may find yourself more engaged in artistic or creative projects. Your relationship with childrens could be prominent and new romantic connection can occur also. your individuality might be more visible through how you choose to spend your time and what you are passionate about.

❣️ 1st ruler in 11th house - engaging with like minded individuals or contributing to collective goals could be important to you this year. This could include joining clubs , associations or social groups where you can contribute and connect with others. This could also mean you focusing on your long term goals and aspirations.

❣️4th ruler in 8th house - issues related to property or your living situation might come up. You could be involved in managing, buying, selling or renovating property or managing family assets. This could also mean moving to a new home or you moving away from your family.

❣️4th ruler in 6th house- you could involve in helping your family members with their health or being more involved in service related activities. You may work from home . You may need to pay attention to how your work routine and daily life affect your well being.

❣️ Neptune at 3°,15° or 27° - you might feel drawn to explore new ideas , philosophies or spiritual practices. Also it's a good time to engage in creative projects or hobbies. But you need to balance idealism with practicality. Stay grounded.

❣️ 9th house ruler in 11th house - if your interests include travel , you might engage with social networks or groups related to your travel goals or experiences . This could involve connecting with people from different cultures or pursuing international collaborations.

❣️10th ruler in 11th house - this year being active in social or professional networks could lead to new opportunities or recognition/ working with others is significant. Also you could adopt new technologies or explore unconventional Career paths. Charitable work or activism is important too.

❣️ Chiron conjunct moon - this year you might find yourself revisiting past traumas or emotional wounds , particularly related to family, childhood, personal security. Journaling and meditation can help you gain insights and process your feelings. Prioritise self care.

❣️Venus conjunct Pluto could mean you might go through a period of self discovery where you redefine what you value and how you want to approach your financial and personal life.

❣️ mercury conjunct part of fortune - your problem solving abilities could be particularly strong. You may discover innovative solution to your challenges. Also focus on building and strengthening connections that can support your personal and professional goals.

Thanks for reading ✨

- PIKO ❤️

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scentedanchorcollective · 3 months ago

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enterprises to increase R&D investment, encourage them to achieve independent control in key core technologies, and lay a solid foundation for new quality productivity. In addition, it is necessary to promote the digital transformation of private enterprises, realize the integration of digital economy and real economy, optimize production processes, improve management efficiency, and promote the digital upgrade of industrial chain and supply chain through technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, so as to expand the space of new quality productivity.

Going out to sea, from product output to ecological co-construction, private enterprises have entered a new stage of international competition. Under the guidance of the "Belt and Road" initiative, more and more private enterprises have gone abroad. Among the "new three" with strong exports, private enterprises contribute more than half. Among the world's top 500 companies, the number of private enterprises has increased from 28 in 2018 to 34. Whether it is the overseas layout of the manufacturing industry,

Whether it is the cross-border expansion of the service industry, private enterprises have demonstrated strong competitiveness. By participating in international competition, private enterprises can not only improve their own technical level and management capabilities, but also contribute to the development of national economic globalization. However, going overseas also faces many challenges. From cultural differences to policy barriers, from market risks to legal disputes, private enterprises need to continue to learn and adapt on the road to internationalization. In this regard, the government should strengthen relevant policy guidance and support to help private enterprises better cope with the uncertainties in international competition.

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perfectsweetssoul · 3 months ago

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famousgardenpoetry · 3 months ago

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magnificenthottubtriumph · 3 months ago

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n1pp · 5 months ago

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A Guide to Disconnecting With a Digital Detox Challenge

In our hyper-connected world, smartphones and other devices have become extensions of ourselves. Although convenient, there are times when it’s beneficial to disconnect and go on a digital detox challenge

While the internet has revolutionized the way we live, work, and play, it has also led to an increase in digital dependency, distracting us from paying attention, disrupting our sleep patterns, and affecting our mental health. A digital detox challenge offers a structured way to break free from digital dependency, re-evaluate our relationship with technology, and rediscover the joy of living in the present.

The Pitfalls of Hyper-Connectivity

In the age of digital abundance, hyper-connectivity and the incessant consumption of digital content have become pervasive, shaping behaviors and influencing mental health in profound ways. Although there are many benefits of being connected online, it’s also important to understand the issues and recognize the need for a balanced digital diet.

Hyper-connectivity refers to the state of being constantly connected to devices and the internet, making it virtually impossible to disconnect. While it offers unparalleled access to information and socialization, it also causes many challenges:

Information Overload: Constant exposure to a stream of information can overwhelm the brain, making it difficult to process information effectively and leading to decision fatigue.

Decreased Productivity: The myth of multitasking on digital platforms can actually hamper productivity, as the brain switches between tasks, reducing efficiency and increasing mistakes.

Emotional Exhaustion: The need to be always available and responsive on various communication platforms can lead to burnout and emotional exhaustion.

Overconsumption of Content

The digital world offers an infinite stream of content, from news and entertainment to social media updates. Overconsumption of this content can have several negative impacts

Attention Span: Continuous scrolling and content consumption can reduce the ability to focus on a single task for extended periods, affecting learning and comprehension.

Echo Chambers: Algorithms designed to show users content that aligns with their views can create echo chambers, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives and contributing to social polarization.

Addictive Behaviors: The design of many platforms, aimed at maximizing user engagement, can lead to addictive patterns of behavior, making it difficult for individuals to limit usage.

Influence of Social Media

While social media has transformed the way we connect and share with others, its overuse has been linked to several negative outcomes

Mental Health: Excessive social media use has been associated with increased rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness, particularly among adolescents and young adults.

Distorted Reality: Social media platforms often portray idealized versions of life, leading to unhealthy comparisons and feelings of inadequacy or jealousy.

Sleep Disruption: The use of social media before bedtime can interfere with sleep quality, due to both the stimulating effects of screen light and the emotional engagement with content.

The Benefits of a Digital Detox

A digital detox involves a period during which a person refrains from using tech devices such as smartphones, computers, and social media platforms. The goal is to reduce stress, focus on social interactions in the physical world, and engage more deeply with the immediate environment.

Mental Health: Constant notifications and the pressure to be always "on" can lead to anxiety and stress. Disconnecting helps in reducing these symptoms, enhancing overall emotional well-being.

Enhanced Focus: Without the constant distractions of digital devices, you can focus better on tasks, leading to improved productivity and efficiency in both personal and professional endeavors.

Better Sleep: Screen time, especially before bed, can interfere with sleep quality. A digital detox can help normalize sleep patterns, leading to more restful and restorative sleep.

Improved Relations: Spending less time on devices allows more time for face-to-face interactions, strengthening relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Increased Creativity: Stepping away from digital screens provides the mental space to think more deeply and creatively, fostering new ideas and solutions to problems.

Enhanced Wellness: Reducing screen time can encourage self-care and inspire a more healthy lifestyle, especially decreasing the risks associated with sedentary living.

More Gratitude: Disconnecting from the digital world helps in cultivating a greater appreciation for the little things in life, enhancing mindfulness and gratitude for the present moment.

Higher Self-Esteem: Social media can often lead to comparisons that affect self-esteem negatively. A detox can help in breaking this cycle, improving confidence and happiness.

Reduced Dependency: Taking regular breaks from digital devices helps in reducing dependency, making it easier to enjoy downtime without feeling the need to check in online.

Enhanced Privacy: Stepping back from online spaces can also protect personal privacy by reducing the amount of personal information shared on the internet, decreasing exposure to potential data breaches and privacy invasions.

Plan Your Digital Detox Challenge

SET CLEAR GOALS

Begin by defining what you want to achieve with your digital detox. Is it to reduce stress, improve sleep, or spend more time with loved ones? Having clear goals will help guide your process.

START SMALL

If the idea of completely disconnecting feels overwhelming, start small. Designate certain times of the day as tech-free, such as during meals or an hour before bed.

INFORM YOUR CIRCLE

Let your friends, family, and colleagues know about your digital detox challenge. This helps set expectations and reduces the anxiety of missing out.

REMOVE TEMPTATIONS

Uninstall social media apps or use tools to limit your screen time. The less accessible your devices are, the easier it will be to resist the temptation.

PLAN ALTERNATIVES

Identify activities to fill the time you would typically spend on devices. Whether it's reading a book or hosting a dinner party, find something that enriches you.

During the Digital Detox Challenge

EMBRACE BOREDOM

Boredom sparks creativity and self-reflection. Allow yourself to feel bored without reaching for your phone as an easy escape.

ENGAGE IN MINDFULNESS

Use this time to engage in activities that require your full attention and presence, such as meditation, cooking, or gardening.

CONNECT WITH NATURE

Spending time in nature can have a profound effect on your mental and physical well-being. Take walks, go for hikes, or simply spend time in a local park.

REFLECT AND JOURNAL

Use this period to reflect on your relationship with technology. Consider keeping a journal to document your experiences, thoughts, and feelings.

After the Digital Detox Challenge

EVALUATE YOUR EXPERIENCE

After completing your digital detox, take time to evaluate the experience. What did you learn? What habits do you want to change moving forward?

SET NEW BOUNDARIES

Based on your detox experience, set new boundaries for your digital device use. This might include designated tech-free times or days, limiting social media use, or turning off notifications.

ENHANCE YOUR ROUTINE

Make digital detoxing a part of your daily routine. Regularly unplugging, even if just for a few hours, can help maintain the benefits of your detox.

The challenges posed by hyper-connectivity, overconsumption of content, and excessive social media use highlight the importance of digital detoxes and mindful engagement with technology. By recognizing these issues and taking proactive steps to manage our digital consumption, we can mitigate the negative impacts on our mental health, productivity, and personal relationships.

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reasonsforhope · 10 months ago

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"Businesses like to talk about the concept of a closed loop or circular economy, but often they’re trying to close small loops. Releaf Paper takes dead leaves from city trees and turns them into paper for bags, office supplies, and more—which is to say they are striving to close one heck of a big loop.

How big? Six billion trees are cut down every year for paper products according to the WWF, producing everything from toilet paper to Amazon boxes to the latest best-selling novels. Meanwhile, the average city produces 8,000 metric tons of leaves every year which clog gutters and sewers, and have to be collected, composted, burned, or dumped in landfills.

In other words, huge supply and huge demand, but Releaf Paper is making cracking progress. They already produce 3 million paper carrier bags per year from 5,000 metric tons of leaves from their headquarters in Paris.

Joining forces with landscapers in sites across Europe, thousands of tonnes of leaves arrive at their facility where a low-water, zero-sulfur/chlorine production process sees the company create paper with much smaller water and carbon footprints...

“In a city, it’s a green waste that should be collected. Really, it’s a good solution because we are keeping the balance—we get fiber for making paper and return lignin as a semi-fertilizer for the cities to fertilize the gardens or the trees. So it’s like a win-win model,” [Valentyn] Frechka, co-founder and CTO of Releaf Paper, told Euronews.

Releaf is already selling products to LVMH, BNP Paribas, Logitech, Samsung, and various other big companies. In the coming years, Frechka and Sobolenka also plan to further increase their production capacity by opening more plants in other countries. If the process is cost-efficient, there’s no reason there shouldn’t be a paper mill of this kind in every city.

“We want to expand this idea all around the world. At the end, our vision is that the technology of making paper from fallen leaves should be accessible on all continents,” Sobolenka notes, according to ZME Science."

-via Good News Network, August 15, 2024

#trees #plants #paper #paper products #sustainability #deforestation #green waste #green waste removal #ukraine #france #paris #good news #hope

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a-d-nox · 10 months ago

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pac/pap: what is changing in your life this season?

take what resonates leave what doesn't - nothing is 100% for you because these aren't personalized so please no angry comments or dms about what i am saying not being a good fit for you or that you "don't claim" just keep scrolling if that is the case. be kind, self reflect, and have fun.

last pac/pap: how can i present myself in the best way possible?

return to the masterlist of pap/pac posts

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you might be meeting someone new who brings a fresh perspective or emotional depth into your life; it could be a friend, partner, and/or mentor. this is also a great time to start a new artistic endeavor; painting, writing, or crafting, which will allow you to express yourself in unexpected ways. personal growth can occur through these activities as well as they aid with introspection or therapy, leading to a better understanding of your own feelings and needs. engaging in and/or receiving unexpected acts of kindness that uplift your spirits and encourage you to connect more deeply with others will greatly benefit you this season. receiving and/or giving thoughtful and heartfelt gestures in a romantic relationship will deepen emotional bonds. that being said addressing and healing past emotional wounds is critical, this will lead to a renewed sense of peace and emotional clarity.

there might be a new opportunity for growth in your career/investments. prioritize your self-care and personal well-being this season; perhaps through adopting healthier habits and/or finding more balance in your life. don't shy away from practical advice that will help you manage everyday responsibilities more effectively. you could experience increased productivity in your work and/or personal life; which could be supported by your increased organization and focus this season.

you are likely to find yourself making quick decisions and/or decisively acting to pursue your goals, even if it means facing challenges head-on. make sure you are engaging in stimulating conversations or debates, where sharp thinking and clear communication are crucial. this will help you make the correct decision for you long term. also make sure you are using your logic and analytical skills to cut through confusion and to help you solve problems efficiently. it is time to address conflicts or misunderstandings directly.

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you may experience unexpected expenses, find it hard to save money, and/or face a temporary loss of income. make budgeting and financial planning your focus starting now. as there could be delays or obstacles in your career, such as a promotion being postponed, a job offer falling through, or feeling unmotivated/uninspired at work. minor health issues or feeling physically drained could arise; you need to pay more attention to your well-being, diet, and/or exercise routines. you may find it difficult to concentrate on tasks which leads to unfinished work and/or feeling scattered. your investments (financial or otherwise) may not yield the expected returns, causing you to rethink where you’re putting your resources (and time) in to. you could be questioning what’s truly important to you, leading to a shift in how you view success, happiness, and/or stability.

you may feel trapped in a situation (relationship and/or job) without a clear way out. which could lead to frustration or a sense of helplessness because you’re unsure how to move forward. is it the universe or you? it might just be you who is resisting necessary changes; holding onto the familiar out of fear of the unknown (even if it’s not in your best interest). otherwise, instead of taking the time to think things through, you might make hasty decisions that lead to you feeling as sense of regret. you could find yourself holding onto past hurts, grudges, and/or regrets, which prevent you from moving forward with a clear and open mind.

you might feel like you’re not making progress, even though you’ve put in a lot of effort. there’s a sense of being stuck or not being able to move on to the next phase of your life. i feel like it is unresolved issues or "loose ends" that need your attention before you can truly move forward. this could involve past relationships, projects, and/or personal matters that require closure. it may be a struggle to find closure in certain situations, whether it’s ending a relationship, leaving a job, and/or moving on from a past experience. this lack of closure can prevent you from fully embracing new opportunities. there is a sense of disconnection from others and/or from your sense of purpose. there could be a feeling of isolation / lack of harmony in your relationships or within yourself. the time is now to wrap things up or learn better coping mechanisms.

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you may find yourself managing multiple priorities or projects - prepare yourself mentally for taking more on. life may throw some curveballs your way; you will be required to adapt quickly. go with the flow and handle changes with grace - this will be essential. budgeting and/or managing money might be a key focus for you this season as well. you need to organize your time better to accommodate all of your commitments, both personal and professional.

projects and/or plans that you hoped would move forward might encounter unexpected setbacks. which could lead to frustration and/or a feeling that things are not progressing as you thought they would. you might struggle to see the bigger picture, causing you to hyper-focus on immediate problems and not the long-term. which could pigeon hole you or decrease your opportunities upcoming. now is a good time to re-evaluate your current goals and/or strategies. rethink which direction you want to head to ensure it aligns with your true desires and capabilities. also this season there may be issues with teamwork and/or "your cooperation". misunderstandings and/or a lack of support from others is likely.

otherwise, there is something worth celebration happening for you this season; whether it’s a party, a reunion, or any event that brings your people together. enjoy the company of friends and loved ones - celebrate your achievements and/or special occasions this season. your social circle and friendships are going to be more important than ever this season. you might find yourself relying on your friends for support or just enjoying each others company. reminder: you don’t have to go through things alone; there are people who care about you and are willing to help.

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jozor-johai · 11 months ago

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Sometimes I think it's underrated how much of Westeros we see during wartime. Amidst all of the discourse back and forth over whether the brutality of ASOIAF has a "realistic" basis in real-life feudal history, I think the fact that we're seeing Westeros in a very atypical and specific circumstance should not go overlooked, and I think in that regard there are parts that are "realistic" to modern history, let alone feudal.

For instance, in regards to the complaints about how many women are sex workers in ASOIAF—I think that has more to say about the nature of the wartime economy.

War breaks out; as a result, the regular economy halts. This is the result of various blockades, as well as from the workforce being redirected away from production and towards standing armies—fewer farms are being maintained, and fewer still are making it across wartime boundaries. Another side effect, then, is the trouble when this economic situation interacts with the practical existence of a standing army: massive amounts of young men, either single or separated from their families, drawing disproportionately on the limited resources of the farmland around them (which is being worked at a less-efficient rate than usual to begin with).

The army—comprised of young men—creates a demand for sex that interacts with the overflowing supply of young women without stable income (since this is an incredibly patriarchal society and the men in their lives have been taken away from work for military service). Without better jobs available, and with the market right there, these women turn to sex work, which syrockets. But of course they would, and of course it seems like every smallfolk woman we meet in ASOIAF is doing it: because people have to eat and feed their families, and the fields to plow have been burned by war, and the people who would work them have either been taken for military service or killed by war. It's exceedingly likely that sex work wasn't as widespread before the war so the increase in the need for sex workers represents the failing economy—consider the overabundance of sex workers in ACOK King's Landing, which was under a trade blockade from almost all fronts.

Then, the pendulum swings back the other direction: this is an unsustainable economy and an unsustainable way to live, so there is a reactionary religious response demanding a return to the way things were before (pre-war, in effect, but never separating this from the "social ills" that war results in). The women are blamed for their behavior, despite being demanded by the men around them and made necessary by the economy, and so this reactionary response leads to a religious condemnation of the "wanton" behavior of women.

The religious response in particular gains traction because organized religion offers several very meaningful things that otherwise solve these problems. We see from Septon Meribald toting his goods that the Faith offers charity to the starving. We see with the Sparrows, and personally with Lancel how the Faith offers a sense of meaning to those disenchanted by this strife. We see from the Sparrows and the rise of the High Sparrow how the organized religion of the Faith also offers a means of returning power to the disenfranchised.

So GRRM is achieving something unnervingly realistic here, showing what happens to local economies under wartime and the lingering horror that is left behind—a scenario that is still true of modern war, even if Americans don't have to see it personally. GRRM lived through Vietnam, and the influence is obvious in how the invading American military practiced rape and forced dubiously-consensual sex work onto the local economy.

It's also realistic how organized religion gains traction in scenarios where disenfranchised peoples need sources of hope and methods of organizing to regain what little power is available to them, and how organized religion can leverage a desire for better times into moral condemnation that fuels its rise to increasing levels of de jure power. It will be interesting to see in TWOW and beyond where the trajectory of the High Sparrow leads these people (and what that says about GRRM's observations and interpretations about modern historical parallels).

#jozor thoughts #asoiaf meta #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #high sparrow

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fivveweeks · 15 days ago

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twitter holds me back from writing essays but here are my list of Dante HCs and their reasonings:

1) I vaguely portray Dante with top/bottom surgery scars alongside their neck scars. Not because they're trans (trans Dante hcs are great btw) but it's more so to imply that either Limbus Company or their past self deliberately did the surgery to their body in order to keep their post-clock identity a secret. A second layer to the dehumanisation and loneliness Dante feels with regards to their current self. I'm keeping it vague on who made the decision for them because it adds to the mystery:

If Limbus Company management did this to them, it adds to the horror of capitalism and loss of bodily autonomy.

If pre-clock Dante chose to do this to themselves, it's intriguing as it implies that their past self does not care about such minor things such as gender as they pursue their goals. The end ultimately justifies the means.

I feel Dante is comfortable in their current skin however! The scars itches sometimes but it doesn't bother them much, though they do wonder where they come from.

2) Dante with androgynous, black skin as a side effect of the Golden Bough, or even the head replacement surgery. It is to also add to the dehumanisation and separation they feel after taking the bough into themselves. It doesn't hugely bothers them, but they sometimes subconsciously compare their appearance to the sinner's regular human appearances

3) Relating to the above, Dante prefers covering themselves up tightly with almost zero to no skin showing. I also like to think clothes are one of the ways they use to feel a sense of control over their identity, since they can style and experiment however they like.

4) Has severe chronic pain and incredible pain tolerance, due to the rewinds. They're pretty much used to it at this point and the level of which they can tolerate amounts to them not reacting when getting a hole punched out through their guts.

They wear gloves because they're very touch sensitive due to the chronic pain.

I also considered that they get seizures occasionally. Turns out the constant feeling of phantom pain stemming from fatal incidents WILL still fuck up your nervous system and brain.

5) Relating to Verdante - funny thing is that I don't actually see them having sex often. Not with Dante's chronic pain and workaholic tendencies vs Vergilius' undiagnosed depression, passive suicidal thoughts and his incredible guilt. They're both often than not exhausted and I like to think of them just napping together in bed.

6) I ping pong between Dante having intake holes on their clock so they can take in liquid via straws, or they go the more serious route of having a feeding port via enteral nutrition.

7) Workaholic, workaholic, workaholic. I very much enjoy portraying Dante giving their all into being the manager of Limbus Company Bus. Part of it is because it's the only identity they ever know post memory lost so they subconsciously cling to it, another part is that they just get dopamine from being productive. They can and WILL give you a 3 hours essay for every Mirror Dungeon team and strategy they cooked up

8) It's not concrete but I like portraying Dante as mostly greysexual (sex and romance isn't a priority or need to them, but they're not disgusted by the idea. It fascinates them somewhat) and sort of demisexual (they like people who respects their humanity and not just a mute object...)

They have a Competency Kink. They enjoy seeing people being confident and good at what they do.

Totally was not ogling at Vergilius when he wiped out the monsters in canto 6 like nothing. Heh.

9) Learning Sign language in their downtime to increase efficiency in communication, but they're still a beginner. Vergilius is way better in this over them but he indulges in their sloppy attempts with nothing but an amused sigh.

10) They wear their sleep cap as they can't turn off their fire, so at least it blocks out the light. Also wears socks to bed like to a loser. They have a collection of socks that they accidentally collected over the course of the cantos.

#chatter #dante lcb #dante i love you muah

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