#capitalism versus religion

[callernumberthree]

I’m so glad I’m not half as funny as you guys. Imagine if all that unrestrained insane humour was constantly thundering through my prune of a mind. I would be insufferable, a danger to the public, unable to safely talk to my grandma. May I never be a laughingstock amen.

[anarglitch]

god I missed moffat so much

fuck yeah capitalism makes killing machines out of healthcare systems, institutionalized religion is a tool of oppression but faith is a manifestation of love, fuck yeah that's the eternal struggle of the human heart, yess technology isn't the problem but another tool corrupted by the profit motive, yes kids raised with tech can absolutely still see the truth shining through and would not respond with our cynicism, which is just ANOTHER reason to fight off the greedy systems ruling the world so that both tech and faith, products of humanity as they are, can be tools wielded not in the service of power, but in the service of love, the best thing we do, you GET ittt

I keep thinking that if I was writing this episode I probably would've focused too much on the AI generation commentary and made the holo-john a bumbling malfunctioning tool to show how a simulation can never replace the real thing, and it would've been a worse episode for it. Splice is such a realistic child exactly because she didn't react to the simulation with immediate dismissal, but excited to see her dad in any form. That's the thing right, the human potential for connection is so strong that even we can see each other even through the most cynical corporate half-measure platforms. This was a story about love versus capitalism, tech was just the warzone.

Also shout out to everyone else involved, the directing, Ncuti's ACTING dear lord. the TENSION

[tanadrin]

Imagine that a century or two from now, the eastern half of the United States is conquered by the Canadian Empire, its intelligentsia deported, its land colonized by Canadian immigrants, and its remaining people mostly gradually absorbed into a Neo-Canadian identity. The West reorganizes, developing a new political and cultural center, and comes to regard itself as the "true" United States, with the remnant culture of the East (by now much changed by Canadian rule) as representing an unchanged tradition stretching back to the time of George Washington. The holdout western half is subsequently conquered by the Reformed Mexican Empire, and while most of the population remains in situ, its elite is taken to Mexico City. There, for three or four generations, they do their best to maintain their distinct American identity, focusing on the American "civil religion," the distinctive political ideals and cultural features that mark them out as Americans, and come up with a new way of interpreting their history that allows America to be a perennial idea, something not directly physically tied to the territory of the United States, which no longer exists. They compose a body of historical works based on Washington Irving's rather fabulistic approach to early American history, the half-remembered popular versions of the stories of Columbus and the Pilgrims, the First Thanksgiving, even the Revolutionary War. They don't have access to the original texts anymore--let's say this is all taking place in a post-Collapse North America where long-range travel and communication is difficult and a lot of history has been lost--but they do their best. They append to these books, or include in their text, of history a copy of the Constitution, big chunks of the United States Code, and Robert's Rules of Order.

Subsequently, the Empire of Gran Columbia invades, conquers southern and central Mexico, and its Emperor lets the captive Americans go home. They return north, mostly to California, find that the version of American history and civics that is remembered there isn't the same as the version they have (not that the Californian one is correct--the Mexican Empire has suppressed English-language education and high culture in its Aztlani provinces), and set about reforming and reorganizing the Western States (as they're now called) to be more in line with the forms they brought back from the exile. In the meantime, other bits of important literature start being kept in libraries next to copies of the received histories: some bits of early American literature, like Hawthorne, the Song of Hiawatha, some highly abridged Herman Melville, Thomas Paine--heck, even some John Locke, and quotes or fragments from Shakespeare. Some traditionalists now argue the capital of the United States has always been located in San Francisco, and that Washington, D.C. only because the capital later, under the influence of Eastern heretics.

In the following centuries, the Western States retain their independence for a time, but eventually become a secondary battleground for a lot of other empires--the Mexicans, the Canadians, the Pan-Pacific Federation, and so forth. American culture remains distinctive, insulted in part by its unique traditions, though now everybody speaks Future Spanish, and only learns English to read the old texts. In this period additional material, including later compositions, continues to accrete, forming a distinct body of sacred American scripture, although it does not exist in a single canonical form. Attempts to reconcile distinct sources, like more literal and historically-grounded accounts versus the simplified narratives of figures like Irving, produce hybrid texts that sometimes are full of internal conflicts.

Oh, and through all this, some institutions of American government like the Supreme Court still function, although their rulings only apply to Americans, and there isn't much in the way of a federal bureaucracy.

Finally the Great and Sublime Brazilian Potentate conquers most of the Americas, sets up an American client state that roughly coincides with the heartland of the old Western States (California, Oregon, most of Washington and Nevada), and allows the Americans to elect their own President (subject, of course, to Brazilian approval). During this period, an apocalyptic street preacher from Los Angeles claims to have inherited the authority and power of George Washington, and is executed by the Brazilians; his later followers point to the prophecies of Emperor Norton, and out-of-context bits of a Quebecois translation of Moby-Dick and some Mark Twain stories to say no, really, he was George Washington. Inexplicably, a version of this religion becomes the dominant faith of the Brazilian Empire before it collapses. But long before then the American state in California fails, crushed when it tries to revolt against Brazilian rule; the remnant Easterners likewise dwindle down to only a few hundred souls living in a village in Alexandria, Virginia. Centuries from now, as the descendants of the descendants of the Brazilians colonize Mars, they will point to the sacred Americanist scriptures, the Neo-Americanist narratives of their prophet's life, and the letters written by the early leaders of Neo-Americanism, and say, "all of this was written by the spirit of George Washington, and is free from contradictions." Meanwhile the remnant Americanists, who have been writing about Americanism and how it applies to their everyday lives in the centuries since, and whose commentary has formed around the copies of the last editions of the U.S. Supreme Court Reporter (SCOTUS managed to outlast the final American state by a hundred years or so) plus the thoughts of the remaining Americanist community in Mexico, continue to regard their traditions as the unbroken and unaltered practice of American culture, politics, and ideals as they existed since the Revolutionary War.

This is, as far as I can tell, approximately how the Bible was composed.

[txttletale]

i keep coming back to this lyric from the mad stone. i think it's pretty clear that whatever physical object or specific concept the mad stone might be, it's a false solution. the call-and-response of the versus has the narrator constantly ask questions and then propose the same answer -- "i can make it a business / i can sell you it". the singer is a mountainhead, a true believer (or -- "nothing quite so romantic" "what is that, a religion?" -- a cynical trend-following grifter, inviting the question, what is the difference?). the mad stone offers nothing real, only pictures of pictures of a double. the whole song is one big false promise layered in cynical salesmanship. whatever the mad stone offers people, it's not an alternative to the system, it's not a solution to their problems, it's a product and a business.

but "the mad stone is singing, can you say the same?" seems to say -- well, at least these people who have bought into it all, these mountainheads, they might live in a pit and slave away at the whims of a mad stone, they might have hollowed out every part of their life until they only see simulacrums of simulacrums and filled the hollows in with the new frontiers of financialization -- but they're satisfied with this. that's happiness, isn't it? wouldn't you rather be blissfully ignorant, a true believer with a cause, happy -- singing -- than refuse the mad stone, refuse to be sold to, refuse to get "wild in the aisles, son" and be a mountainhead?

i think this comes back to a well everything everything go to a lot -- to the blade, the wheel is turning now, magnetophone, run the numbers, lost powers, lord of the trapdoor -- even when they present a viewpoint that the song straightforwardly derides or disavows in the broad strokes, they are always concerned with the people who don't. capitalism, imperialism, fascism, nationalism, terrorism -- everything everything describe them in bloodsoaked apocalyptic language, but they at the same time capture the seduction of it, the temptation, the reasons people might have for looking at the monsters they are painting and joining themselves to them (re-animator is in fact entirely about reconciliation and submission to the monstrous). and i think this lyric does that for the mad stone. yes, the capitalist hustle-culture financialized grindset is a false hope, but it's a hope. and if you reject that, what do you have?

(of course, this is not a rhetorical question without an answer, a lot of people, including, presumably, jonathan higgs, have answers to that question -- but i think it is a powerful question.)

i don't know, i just think it is easy to write a song that can say 'this is a lie' and more interesting to complicate it by adding 'but without the lie, you need something else'. i honestly read it as aspirational, as a reminder. if you're going to reject the mad stone, if you're not a mountainhead, you need to keep singing and you need something else to sing.

[prying-pandora666]

On the Disconnect Between ATLA and LOK: Or Why Reactionary Centrism Ruins Everything

I’ve made it no secret that I’m no fan of LOK’s writing for a number of reasons. But today I want to focus on only one issue: its politics.

I am baffled as to why LOK is seen as being the more “woke” story. Just because the protagonist is a buff brown woman with a female love interest (only implied until the comics, really)? This is such an incredibly shallow reading focusing only on aesthetics and ignores the actual content and philosophies LOK espouses.

But let’s not get into religion, iconography, the effects of colonialism and westernization etc, or we’ll be here forever.

Instead let’s just focus on the politics.

The Forge

Part of the disconnect between ATLA and LOK are the cultural conditions in the USA when both were made. The forge from whence they came was quite different.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

ATLA criticized imperialism.

If this show had been made during the height of Manifest Destiny, or during our super fun times illegally annexing territories (like Hawaii), it would’ve likely struggled to tell its story as well as it did. It would’ve been far more controversial and likely would’ve needed to take a more “centrist” approach, making it seem like imperialism isn’t “all that bad”.

It might have even come out and said that it isn’t imperialism itself that is the problem, but that Sozin to Ozai were big mean dictators that did it the wrong way!

But because ATLA came out in the 2000s—during a time in which the world had widely come around to thinking imperialism is kinda some super villain schtick—it was easy for the story to focus on the perspective of the victims of such campaigns and tell it from this point of view.

We don’t get long segments of feeling sorry for Ozai, now do we? The closest we get is Azula, who herself serves as a victim of this war that has consumed her childhood and deprived her of a safe, loving environment in which to grow and develop, instead having been groomed into a living weapon for her father and nation’s war machine.

So now let’s compare this to LOK.

The Legend of Korra

What does the first season of LOK cover? Collectivism, social activism, civil disobedience escalating to acts of violent defiance against the state.

What was going on in the USA in 2012 when LOK came out?

Occupy Wallstreet.

Socialism vs capitalism, the 99% versus the 1%, civil rights and equality; these are all issues we are still grappling with today. They’re highly politicized and divisive. There is no universal agreement about them.

And so LOK had no “safe” villain or “evil” ideology to combat. Instead it had a complicated and widely divisive topic to tackle that was contentious then and continues to be today.

As a result? Too much time is wasted equivocating.

Both Sides Are The Same! (But Not Really)

We get some soft worldbuilding early on in Book 1 of LOK showing how the infrastructure of this city is built to benefit benders and box out non-benders, but this is never given real focus. We SEE how the trains and police are dominated by earth/metal benders, we SEE how factory jobs employ lightning benders, while non-benders live in the slums which subject them to violence. But none of this is ever the focus or the point.

Almost as if the show is afraid to make a real critique from the perspective of the working class or an oppressed minority group.

Instead the story quickly falls off a cliffside as every tired old pejorative thrown at communists is recycled for Amon.

His sympathetic backstory is a complete fabrication meant to hide that he is actually part of the oppressor class.

They pretend to be the powerless oppressed group, and yet have the funding of the richest industrialist in the city?

The rich industrialist is a member of this supposedly oppressed class but really he’s just a secret villain looking to change the world for his own personal reasons and not to protect his fellow nonbenders (these same accusations are thrown at Jewish people re: Marxism).

There are no sincere attempts to communicate their grievances sympathetically or build a coalition or garner public support. Instead The Equalists only use violence, fear, and other oppressive silencing tactics.

The desire to make everyone equal by “stealing” people’s individuality. (The old “make everyone equal heights by cutting tall people’s legs down” chestnut).

And more!

This is kinda bonkers propaganda if you’re looking at it from a left-wing perspective, right?

And it seems weirdly incoherent if you’re trying to look at it from a right-wing perspective, especially with Tarrlok standing in as the villain “on the other side”.

But it makes PERFECT sense as an enlightened centrist horseshoe-theory piece that can’t commit to either side and has to warp and undermine its own story to fit a “both sides are wrong” message. Heck, it’s so heavy handed it even made Amon and Tarrlok brothers!

This is the problem that plagues all of LOK.

Look at the other villains too!

Amon: Civil Rights Activist or Bad Faith Opportunist?

Amon

Pretends to be: A civil rights activist for an oppressed minority group.

Is actually: A bad faith actor whipping up a small or non-issue into a much bigger one and convincing people to turn on each other for his own personal gain/revenge. Once defeated, the problem disappears.

Electing a non-bender somehow makes everyone happy and the problem is never addressed again. Just like electing Obama ended racism! Oh wait…

Unalaq: Spiritual Environmentalist or Environmental Satanist?

Unalaq

Pretends to be: A spiritualist concerned about the environment and the spirits. Basically Al Gore meets Tenzin Gyatso but willing to start a civil war over it.

Is actually: An occultist weirdo who wants to fuse with LITERALLY SATAN and usher in 10,000 years of darkness or something, and willing to start a war over it.

In an attempt to make a spiritual foil for Korra, who struggled with the spiritual parts of being the Avatar, the story took a weird turn and made a choice widely regarded as “fanfiction on crack” by having Unalaq aspire to become “The Dark Avatar”.

But it’s okay, you see, because while Unalaq’s criticisms of waning spirituality and lack of protection of holy sites could be seen as a knock against environmentalism, by the end Korra recognizes that Unalaq had a point and that the spirit portals should be left open.

So why exactly did Unalaq want to be the Dark Avatar and usher in an era of darkness? How was that supposed to resolve the problem he presented and Korra ended up agreeing with?

It doesn’t, and once again we are left with a contradictory centrist message of “protecting the environment is good but you should be suspicious of anyone that actually advocates for it”.

Also thanks for demystifying the origin of the Avatar and ruining the original lore for where bending came from with your Prometheus/Christian allegory. Ugh.

Zaheer: Spiritual Guru Fighting Against Modernity or A Charismatic Dummy Who Learned Everything About Anarchy From a Prager U Coloring Book

Zaheer

Pretends to be: An anarchist seeking to bring down oppressive regimes, therefor resetting the world to a more egalitarian time

Is actually: An idiot who doesn’t even know the difference between an ancom and an ancap and has no coherent ideology. He just wants chaos, I guess, which isn’t whah anarchy or anything is about.

Perhaps realizing they messed up so badly with Unalaq that even the creators were unhappy with the results, they attempted the spiritual foil idea again with Zaheer.

This time they actually had a writing staff which makes this season the agreed upon best of LOK.

But the tip-toeing around making any actual criticisms and falling back on the “both sides are bad” cop-out are only exacerbated by how uninformed and nonsensical Zaheer’s actions are. Not unlike Amon, he takes none of the steps an actual activist would take. He never even speaks to the people of Ba Sing Se to find out what they need or want. He just kills their leader, announces it, refuses to elaborate, then bounces and lets the city tear itself apart in the power vacuum.

It’s an entertaining spectacle! Just like his later torture of Korra is visceral. But none of it has any real substance to support it and so the horrific acts he commits feel like senseless edgelord tantrums.

Even Bolin knows it. Once Zaheer is defeated, Bolin shoves a sock in his mouth, therefor cementing Bolin as my favorite of the Krew for all time.

Kuvira: Literal Nazi or Literal Nazi but she didn’t mean it!

Kuvira

Pretends to be: A fascist, putting people in labor camps and uses the equivalent of an atom bomb to crush her enemies under heel in the name of unifying the continent under her control.

Is actually: All of those things but she had good intentions! She just went too far! Give her a slap on the wrists because her and Korra aren’t so different, you see!

Perhaps the most bizarre writing choice was to make the fascist the only truly sympathetic villain of this series. The reasons become quite clear, however, when we recognize one thing.

Yes, she’s styled after the Nazis.

Yes, her actions in modern day are more reminiscent of Russia.

But who is the only nation to have ever used a weapon of mass destruction on the level of the atom bomb? The USA.

And here is where the unwillingness to make a bold criticism or take a hard controversial stance is the most apparent.

Kuvira acts like a fascist and has a lot of Nazi-vibes, but she is also a grim reminder of the USA’s own imperial history. Of our flippant use of a horrifying technology that still continues to have consequences for the descendants of the victims even today. It is one of the worst violations of human rights and decency in history. And the USA is the only nation to have ever actually used one.

So if you ever feel it’s weird that Kuvira was arguably the worst of the villains but got off with only house arrest and a happy ending with hugs from her family? You’re not alone. Kuvira has to be “not that bad” or else you’re critiquing the USA itself. And that is a level of controversy this franchise doesn’t seem interested in dipping it’s toes into.

It’s the reason they equivocate and justify by having the Earth Prince step down and choose democracy. This isn’t an East Asian ideal. This wouldn’t have been a popular or virtuous choice in that time period. Many would’ve regarded it as tyranny of the majority, or a disorganized chaos without a consistent central authority.

It’s only seen as the perfect solution in the Democratic West. So you see, it’s not so bad, because at least we have democracy! We aren’t as bad as Kuvira who really isn’t all that bad either! Or so the narrative tries to apologize for itself.

And this is even more apparent with everyone’s problematic fav!

Varrick: How Elon Musk Wants Us To View Him vs What Elon Musk Wishes He Was

Varrick!

Is presented as: A quirky, funny, Tony Stark-esque genius who made a mistake and deserves a redemption!

Is actually: A war-profiteer willing to escalate tensions and shed the blood of his own people with no remorse to make money. Also he builds the equivalent of the atom bomb for Kuvira and her allegorical Nazis. But he gets a happy ending with a weirdly westernized wedding anyway!

Isn’t it telling that the villain who is written to be the most loveable and sympathetic is, in fact, the capitalist industrialist?

And not like that yucky evil industrialist Hiroshi Sato funding the Equalists and their civil rights movement.

No, no! Varrick is the good kind of industrialist! The kind that is non-political and mostly cares about money and inventions! After all, he only built a weapon of mass destruction for the Nazis, not the civil rights protestors!

Which brings us to…

Our Civilized Poverty vs their Savage Poverty!

And hey, that’s fair because look at the differences between Republic City and Ba Sing Se!

Sure, both had destitute populations starving and without proper shelter due to the disconnected elite leaders who didn’t care about their plight.

But the homeless people of Republic City are presented as jolly and helpful and never state a single grievance even as they live in a tent city underground! Everyone knows that democratic poverty is better! Therefor Sato was totally unjustified in funding an equality movement!

The poor people of BSS, on the other hand, are victims of that mean old non-democratic Earth Queen and later of the power vacuum left by her assassination, therefor their plight is ACTUALLY horrific. Kuvira may have been bad but she and Varrick are justified because of the unAmerican conditions!

Looking at it this way, so many of LOK’s problems fall into place. It perhaps serves as lesson in not tackling complex problems with the intention of a clean solution unless you’re willing to take a controversial stance and stick to your convictions.

I don’t think the creators intended to make a libertarian criticism of every social movement and apologia for capitalism and fascism. It’s just a sad reflection of what is and isn’t controversial in our current society. Divorced from actual morality or perspective.

What a waste.

This Post Brought To You By: Viewers Like You! (or: Check out this thing I made)

All that said, if you want a well-written and more adult take on the ATLA universe, check out the Kyoshi and Yangchen novels! F. C. Yee doesn’t pull any punches and perfectly balanced the darker, more visceral elements an adult story can have, with expert worldbuilding and humanized characters that feel believable even when they’re in fantastical situations.

Or if you want more ATLA instead, kindly check out @book4air: A project creating a pseudo Book 4 using both the official comics and original materials, fully dubbed, orchestrated, and partially animated by industry pros who happen to be fans!

Some comics are getting rewrites too, so whether you love the comics and want a fresh take, or hate the comics and want a change, we are doing our best to make this accessible for everyone including people with disabilities who may not be able to enjoy the originals.

Check out our first episode here!

If you can afford to, consider supporting us on Patreon! Every episode is expensive to produce and we are a bunch of broke artists. Some which don’t even have consistent or reliable housing. Any little bit helps.

If you can’t, no worries! You can still help by spreading the word so our videos can overcome the YouTube algorithm.

With all my love for this franchise and its fandom, I hope you all continue to enjoy your favs regardless of my criticisms.

[darthpastry]

Episodes Editing because typo but I meant- Spoilers for the most recent episode of Doctor Who (Boom) below the cut!

WE ARE SO BACK WITH THE SHITTING ON CAPITALISM 🙌

Wasn’t a huge fan of the writing for 11’s run, but Moffat saw he had one chance to go bug or go home and went big of big could possibly be the Doctor standing on a landline literally the entire episode. Also Ruby almost died yayyy

The description is so funny “the Doctor has to stop a war with stepping on a mine” babe, I got HORRIBLE news for you lol.

So glad they were able to shit on capitalism despite Disney. Reminds me of when 12 did it and that makes me so happy. We are so back in comparison to when 13 had to deliver a monologue about how capitalism isn’t the problem that one minimum wage worker was. I will never forgive them for doing that to my poor girl.

It’s also pretty funny in comparison to the last episode, you know? If the Beatles didn’t make MUSIC we would all DIE and this VILLAINOUS DRAG QUEEN FROM ANOTHER DIMENSIONAL PLANE is EATING MUSIC and KILLING anyone who MAKES MUSIC. It was so unserious. Crack treated seriously if you will. Versus capitalism is shitty as fuck and when you combine capitalism and religion you get pointless war that’s impossible to win. But also the DAD killed the EVIL AI with THE POWER OF LOVE and now capitalism is GONNA DIE.

Also as other people have been saying, this season is so unsubtle. Bless.

[zombielenin]

Marxism in The Silt Verses Universe

One thing I noticed when listening through The Silt Verses again is how easily certain Marxist ideas map onto the TSV universe and how well the podcast lends itself to Marxist analysis. Below are just a few of my observations on Marxism in the TSV universe. Also, I’ll be using some Marxist terminology in this post, which I’ll explain as I go.

Base and Superstructure in the World of TSV

What is the Base and Superstructure?

A good concept to start with would be the base and superstructure in both the Consolidated Linger Straits (CLS) and the Peninsula. In Marxist thought, society is thought to be composed of a base and a superstructure. The base can basically be described as how things are made, what is used to make them (human labor, factories, tools, and etc, AKA the means of production), and the socioeconomic relations between people in this society. In the CLS and the Peninsula, we see some of the typical elements of a modern capitalist society, whose most salient feature is private (i.e. by individuals or corporations) ownership of the means of production. There are businesses, such as factories, cafes, and marketing agencies, and they use inputs such as machinery, oil, agricultural crops, human labor, and sometimes the humans themselves as materials to produce whatever it is that they produce. One key difference though is that deities, through sacrifices and rituals, are also used as a means of producing something. We also see the typical socioeconomic relationships of a capitalist society, such as employers and business owners versus employees. The superstructure is pretty much all the other features of a society, such as culture, religion, political structures, and etc. In Marxist thought, the base and superstructure interact in a way such that the base primarily shapes the superstructure and that the superstructure justifies and maintains the base. Think for example how a capitalist society has private businesses that produce news, such as newspapers, cable news, and etc, and the news businesses create media that generally justifies and maintains the status quo. 

Base and Superstructure in the Peninsula and CLS

In the context of TSV, I think the really interesting base-superstructure relationship is the relationship between the capitalist economies of the CLS and the Peninsula and the religious system in TSV. In the TSV universe, gods such as the Petropater, the Slag King, and the Saint Electric, are part of the means of production, and hence also shape society. For example, employment contracts can require you to be sacrificed, which happened in the case of Vaughn. Also, since a god must feed, the state supplies sacrifices, which seem to be sourced from prisons in some cases. Another example is the Cloak, which is a deity specifically created for the police, an institution that in the real world exists to enforce hierarchies and the status quo and maintain capital. There are a lot of other features of the TSV universe that we can look at such as Sid Wright and the Grinding Lord, the corporate creation of the Sweet Jolly Crunchtooth as a deity for farmers, or the fact that there are militarized faiths that can be called upon in times of war, but I’ll skip them to keep this already long post from being even longer.

The Trawler Man and the Many Below - Theories on Change

Another element that I think would be interesting to explore through a Marxist lens are Paige’s god (the Many Below) and the Trawler Man who are essentially gods of social change. However, the Many Below brings progressive change and revolution, while the Trawler Man is a deity of reactionary change.  

The Many Below and Revolutionary Change

Let’s start with the Many Below. A good topic to begin with would be the reform versus revolution debate. This debate, which has been going on in leftist circles for ages, is about the strategy of achieving socialism. Here, socialism means an economic system where the means of production are owned by the people and decisions on how to use them are made collectively. Socialism is often confused for social democracy, which is a system characterized by strong social safety nets, such as universal healthcare, free education, welfare, etc. but still operating within capitalism. The reform versus revolution debate centers on whether we can reform our way into socialism by, for example, passing legislation to slowly bring it about, or if a complete overthrow of capitalism through revolution is necessary to obtain socialism. The Many Below is a revolutionary deity whose purpose is essentially to starve the other gods by stealing their sacrifices. If Paige’s plan succeeds, the current system would be completely upended, rather than being slowly chipped away at or reigned in. It seems that Paige is firmly on the side of revolution here.  Additionally, there’s a moment where Paige’s father Dennis goes on a small tirade about how Paige’s plan is misguided. It’s actually so on the nose, that it made me think that it was Jon Ware and Muna Hussen’s intent to sneak some leftist themes into TSV. Here’s the quote from Dennis in Season 2 Chapter 11 that I want to examine.

DENNIS:

And now…and now you want to hide your pamphlets in library books, like love-notes?

Listen to me, Paige. Just…listen, OK? I’m going to give you a life lesson here.

(Condescending)

If you try and seed this supposed god amongst comfortable people, amongst well-off people, you’re gonna get a deeply unhappy lesson in just how many good citizens will skim over your pamphlet once and then turn it over to the police.

(Deeply sarcastic)

And then all your hard stapling work? That’ll be for absolutely nothing.

Stop thinking like a fucking mark.

You’re smarter than this.

This isn’t a god for people like you. It’s not there to offer comfort.

It’s a god for the desperate, the hopeless - all the poor bastards across the Straits who’ve had to confront the material reality that they could be seized by five armed policemen, dragged down a corridor and hallowed any second from now.

Set your god loose in the prisons. Not the libraries, not the care homes - the prisons.

That’s where it can circulate - if there’s anything to it.

Dennis here is critiquing Paige’s strategy of trying to agitate the populace by placing propaganda for their deity in places where they may be noticed and read by others. This is not to say that using propaganda to create consciousness of one’s situation and its cause isn’t a worthwhile tactic. However, Dennis does astutely point out that circulating this propaganda amongst the comfortable is a poor strategy. Instead, he recommends that they target poor and oppressed people, especially incarcerated individuals, since they have the most revolutionary potential. Indeed, we see this tactic work with Esther. This is a classic example of the Marxist idea that class conflict, i.e. the conflict of the dispossessed against the class of business owners, investors, and landlords, is the force that causes society to move forward. 

The Trawler Man and Reactionary Change

On the other hand, we have the Trawler Man. The Trawler Man is also a god of change. However, the world that the Parish of Tides and Flesh wants to create is a world remade in the Trawler Man’s image, one remade in silt. In this way, the Parish is similar to any other group that wishes to advance their deity. They’re simply vying for supremacy while leaving the system of deities in place. sJuxtaposed with the Many Below, we see that the Trawler Man is a god of destructive change, whose followers seek to gain control of the world to return it to a primordial state (similar to how fascists wish to bring back a fictitious golden age), whereas the Many Below is a god of progressive change and wants to rid the world of deities and hence sacrifices. It’s interesting to note that once the Parish becomes useful to the Peninsula in the oncoming war with the CLS, they become fully legalized. This is an interesting parallel to how centrists and the center left are often all too willing to work with fascists when expedient. 

Other Observations

The Police

There are also a few other interesting things to note in TSV. While these aren’t explicitly Marxists ideas, they’re still popular amongst leftists. One is anti-police sentiment in TSV. In general, the police are framed in a negative light. We can see this in the characters of Daggler and the CLS police that kill Dennis. Daggler is willing to lock up innocents, and both are willing to engage in extrajudicial killing. Even early Hayward was portrayed somewhat antagonistically. The most interesting thing about law enforcement in TSV is the Stink. When a detective is failing to close cases, they begin to develop a stench, which worsens over time until they are killed by their coworkers and sacrificed to the Stink. We can see that the Stink is a metaphor for the real life institutional pressures to arrest and convict people, regardless of their guilt. This is an example of how characterizing police misconduct as a few bad apples ignores the fact that the institution of policing is rotten to its core. 

Grind and Hustle Culture

Another idea that appears a couple of times is the criticism of grind culture. One example from S1 and Sid Wright, where Sid becomes a sacrifice to the Grinding Lord and has to stay awake and be on the air until he dies. Another is Hayward’s coworker in Season 2 Episode 3, Gren, who chides Hayward for having a bad attitude and advocates for working hard and trying to impress the rich so that they may themselves become wealthy. In exchange for all this extra labor, he is rewarded with a mere disemboweling. Here we can see that for all the promises of grind and hustle culture, the only people that benefit from one’s extra labor are the capitalist class. 

Conclusion

These are just some themes I’ve noticed, but I’d love to hear what others have noticed in TSV and other podcasts. Part of me wonders if some of these themes were intentionally included, but I think the more interesting scenario would be if there was no intent and the applicability of Marxist thought in TSV is more attributable to its validity. 

[haggishlyhagging]

In the course of this book I have suggested that the struggle for our future is not between capitalism and communism, but rather between a social and ideological organization (be it Eastern or Western, Northern or Southern) orienting primarily to a partnership or dominator model of society. If we look at recent developments in Russia from this perspective, we see this borne out by a number of underlying dynamics. We see that the problems facing democracy in Russia are rooted not in communism but in a characteristic common to societies orienting closely to a dominator model: the fact that even before the Soviet "dictatorship of the proletariat," under tsarist and/or feudal regimes, Russians have only known authoritarian and hierarchic structures. Similarly, the communist apparatniks' all too successful sabotage of Gorbachev's attempts to steer a course toward more partnership can be seen in terms of the dominator system's maintenance mechanism of creating artificial scarcities. For this is one way elites maintain control, as illustrated during an earlier period of dominator regression in the United States, when Reaganomics, with its diversion of funds from social programs to armaments and its reduction of taxes for the rich, further widened the gap between those on top and those on the bottom - thereby bringing to the fore, as in the former Soviet Union, diversionary enmities between different ethnic, racial, and religious groups.

Moreover, despite the mass entry of women into the labor market and into lower and middle government levels, as I observed firsthand when I visited the Soviet Union in 1984, Russia is extremely male dominant and male centered, with a strong belief (backed up by traditions of wife-beating) that in the family women must defer to and serve men. And unfortunately this male-supremacist ideology did not change even during the Gorbachev years—when the Soviet outlawing of feminism as counter-revolutionary began to be somewhat relaxed—as dramatically illustrated by Soviet television's removal of the portion of Gorbachev's famous American interview in which he spoke of his partnership with Raisa.

Given the continuing persistence of such strong dominator gender stereotypes, it was predictable that as a substitute for the overarching enmity between the Soviet Union and the United States, violent enmities based on ethnic, racial, and religious differences should again flare up. For, as we have seen, the superior-inferior, in-group versus out group species model of "mankind" and (as in the legend of Eve) a “dangerous” and “inferior” female “other” is a key component in the construction of the enemy mentality so central to the maintenance of dominator systems.

It is also predictable that, particularly in those cultures and subcultures that are more rigidly male dominant—where "masculinity" continues to be defined primarily in terms of domination and conquest—violence will be especially severe during periods of great economic upheavals. Some of this violence will be justified on the basis of ethnic and racial differences. Most of it will be in the name of nationalism, as in Yugoslavia, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka. Some of it will be in the name of religion, as in many parts of the Islamic world. And occasionally it will still be based on an ideology of communist revolution, as in Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, and most recently Mexico. But in the end, rather than bringing either political or economic democracy, the rebellion of the "angry young men" against the equally angry and repressive old men will generally produce no more than a changing of the guard—as tragically evidenced in many regions of the world where, instead of colonial armies, indigenous armies now maintain tyrannical and exploitive regimes. For the underlying commonality between the battling warlords of Somalia, the continuing bloodshed in the Middle East, the skinhead attacks against foreigners in Germany, and the macho gang wars of the United States is still a male socialization that equates real masculinity with violence and domination, playing itself out in a variety of different contexts.

-Riane Eisler, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future

[diamondnokouzai]

so heres my zhaozhao list

her bad poetry im sorry wu meiniang but maybe you should leave the verses to the scholars you can just handle the versus

mount pussy come on. pretty classic.

said she was descended from the mom of the guy who her husbands said THEY were descended from so house li of tang (taizong & gaozong) claimed to be descended from laozi. founder of daoism (THE religion in china at the time). and wu jiejie said "awww thats so sweet :) im descended from laozi's mom. btw. who had no parents. and laozi didnt have a dad either. sooooooooooooo"

everything about the feng/shan rites how she shouldered her way into the first one. how it was her idea. how she kept doing it. mwah.

the wu family dysfunction no one is tormenting children and stepchildren and nieces and nephews and grandchildren and stepgrandchildren and stepnieces and stepnephews quite like her (note: this includes the li xians, everything wrong with ruizong, the marriages for her stepdaughters, and all the kids she birthed and later killed)

slut gate incident so in chinese palaces the north gate was for consorts. one time wu jiejies boytoy came in through the wrong gate and got into a snit with an official who wu jiejie liked. so she told her boytoy to come through the slut gate.

single best reply to hate mail so there were a bunch of rebellions that wu jiejie quelled. and this one dude wrote this righteous pamphlet about why the whole kingdom should rebel against wu jiejie. and wu jiejie was like "HOW THE HELL COME WE HAVEN'T HIRED THIS DUDE YET?"

horse speech so the first time wu jiejie talked to her husband emperor taizong (like, 40 years older than her, she was ~13) her hubby was like "and do any of my idiot wives know how to tame a horse?" [being sarcastic bc taizong was a misogynist bc it was 7th century china] and wu jiejie was like "first i whip it with a whip. then i brain it with an iron hammer. then i slit its throat with a silver knife." and taizong was like "noted noted! take five steps away from me please"

danganronpa execution of empress yang and pure consort xiao kinda dark. the action movie oneliner doesnt help

seized the throne from two of her kids first kid was like "arent i the emperor? id give the kingdom to my father-in-law and you fucks couldnt do shitfuck about it" and she was like "but your mom can :)" second kid was just kind of a loser who only disagreed with his mom once ever and luckily won.

moving the capital because she was so scared of ghosts & cats maybe you shouldnt have killed those two chicks so violently. and then never expressed any regrets about killing those two chicks so violently.

sharing a boytoy with her daughter this is the healthiest family relationship wu zetian was ever involved in

married her stepson, made a sex pun on their first meeting so remember wu jiejie was like 13 when she married taizong. her stepson (gaozong) was 9 at the time of the wedding. and also the sex pun came about because gaozong accidentally pissed on his future wife a little bit. chinese history is fun.

granny sex so much granny sex but wu jiejie too much granny sex makes the people discontent. seriously if you'd given your boytoys like, three fewer personal buildings apiece everyone wouldve been happy

shangguan wan'er so wu jiejie murdered wan'er's granddad. and gave wan'er a scar. and never apologized. but did call wan'er her favorite poet at court! #feminismwin #womensupportingwomen

escaping the buddhist temple so after taizong died wu jiejie was supposed to live out the rest of her existence in a shitty buddhist monastery with a shaved head. she did not. she didnt even shave her head if legends are to be believed. she didnt doubt herself for a minute.

pretended a new mountain showed up one day as a felicitous signal from the heavens self-explanatory

sentenced a sect of heterodox/lesbian orgy having/food orgy having buddhist nuns to death self-explanatory

was bffs with some old dude who had a bunch of supernatural court drama stories written about him seriously she loved di gongjue. like i think this was her latent daddy issues coming out honestly.

had passive aggressive lunches with her shittiest kid after said kid finally dethroned her until she died six months after losing the throne so honestly im using my imagination for this one. imagine. your mom has dethroned you once, and you never disagreed with her ever in your whole life because your mom is kind of mean and definitely killed your big brother. and then the first time you disagree with her you were 110% actually trying to back out of it but you got tricked into rebelling against your mommy (at age, like, 40) and then you kicked her out of the palace but kept having lunch with her. and also your wife is basically your mom and keeps telling you what to do. and youre still having lunch with your definitely abusive mom. hoo boy.

so yeah thats basically my top twenty wu-jiejie moments click like and dont forget to hit subscribe and the bell notification icon to get more of my medieval china thoughts

[requincouche]

What do you think of the sentence: With the natural sciences we get to the moon, but never to heaven.

Well regarding the Moon, there's two quotes that are of interest to this question.

"Yuri Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there"

"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

It's kinda funny how opposing these seem, though both probably had an underlying motivation. As for what I think... Regardless of whether you're religious and which religion that'd be, the concept of heaven could be that there's a reward for you for good behavior in life. Though, you can ask yourself the question whether a reward in life is more valuable than a reward after life. The Christian version of this is that the after-life is eternal, thus your reward for good deeds in life would be immeasurably greater than one during life itself. The uncertainty of whether you'd get there would be the ultimate motivation.

If we replace 'heaven' with the blissfulness of a fulfilling life on earth, I think that the original Ask becomes much clearer. Science can improve our ability to communicate, our health, our food and drinks, and our entertainment. Though, what it can't do is make us a better person, help us to be a better friend, brother/sister, or parent. With regards to science, I'm most familiar with medical science. The topic I can bring to your attention is "medicalization of society". Medical sciences bring us the good, though they also add the dynamics of medical capitalism into our society; i.e. "pathologization" or pejoratively "disease mongering". It's more correct to refer to this as "overmedicalization", though. What I mean by this term is that an industry which profits on pathologies, will probably attempt to increase the rate of diagnoses, to get more people to buy their drugs or use their medical services, under the guise of improving health. The very concept of (the acceptance of) normality can be employed as a marketing gimmick. Regardless of the critique on overmedicalization, it'd be unwise to reject the benefits of diagnoses, drugs, and medical services. It would be an unfair discussion to argue overmedicalization versus undermedicalization. I don't even have a solution to it. I personally find it bizarre that for example 5+% of the Western European population is using some form of anti-depressants right at this moment. You can look at this and conclude that it's good for so many citizens to have access to pharmaceutical support for their health issues. Though, you can also look at this and conclude that there is a mental health crisis raging throughout populations which either exists for real, due to massive over-diagnosis, or due to over-prescription of these drugs. This pattern continues also into other pathologies.

The question here is whether all these medical-scientific advancements have brought us closer to 'heaven', i.e. closer to feeling fulfillment in our lives. My own answer is that it's unrelated to one another. Superficially you can answer that health is a huge part of happiness, and that you'd wish for your family and friends to live long and healthy lives. Though, does that imply that life was less fulfilling and happy in the past? 200-300 years ago there were many more hardships e.g. infant mortality. But what I want to bring to your attention that hygiene, quality food and clean drinking water probably played the biggest role in the advancements herein, followed closely by vaccinations.

I don't have a definitive answer for you. Science is a tool to generate new knowledge, and that knowledge can be used to help us. Though, I don't think that the generated knowledge can be part of happiness itself, at least not in a vacuum. If you can contribute to this monologue, please feel free and I'll be happy to revise my opinion.

[shivasdarknight]

Disconnected 6.5 thoughts below the cut; I've only finished the alliance raid and msq so keep that in mind - also pandae stuff because I'm still miffed about it.

Honestly, it's just a lot of conflicted feelings. On one hand, I'm glad that Zero and Azdaja actually survived the patch; on the other, Zero has been removed from the story right as we were really getting to know her and get used to her being there and Azdaja barely has any presence or lines in her appearances. Tiny Azdaja cute, but narratively she was just...really just Vrtra's motivation and not much outside of herself and very hollow. She was also Golbez's weapon, and now that she's her own person again she struggles to communicate and the most we get is a thanks from her and "Radz-at-Han...home...". Like I want to be glad that they survived patch, but that's such a bare minimum desire considering how the rest of XIV has gone. While Zero got to stand more on her own and be her own person, I just can't help but feel like Azdaja was robbed of so much agency and ironically more so once she was free of her imprisonment.

The writing of this patch series has been all over the place and it's been hard to stay invested in it. 6.1-2 and this patch have been ig the best in terms of msq, but 6.1-2 are still significantly better than 6.5, and then there's 6.3-4. The pacing is all over the place - either lots of fluff, or you're being hit with so much all at once that it barely makes sense - and they're trying to tackle a lot of plot threads while not letting them play out or mature naturally. I loved Zero's arc, but 6.3, 6.4, and the first part of 6.5 all felt like the same story to an extent - like gaining the trust of the Garleans versus the Eulmorans, learning about friendship vs learning about trust and dependability. While 6.3 is the one that had Lapis Manalis and was overall a lot stronger since Rubicante, most of 6.4 felt like fluff that went nowhere. 6.5 still has that fluff problem but actually gets going - and what's frustrating! Is they have some genuinely interesting ideas in there that they don't really capitalize on!

We are presented with a treasure hunt that leads to the void and their turf wars. But instead of going into that, we have to now help with the Garlean reconstruction and making them seem like Oh So Poor Victims when they've spent the last expansions trying to colonize the entire star? Trying to wipe out the religions and cultures of various peoples on Etheirys? Now we have to play nice with them and treat them like fragile glass and give them trade routes and whatnot? Beyond the fact it continues ENW's problem of only showing Garlemald through the eyes of the upper class (problem that extends through all of our focuses, but this especially with the people who were ripped from their homelands and forced to work for the Garleans in Garlemald), it invalidates a lot of the genuine harm they've caused and obfuscates their role in the state of things. I wish this care and attention had been placed in Ala Mhigo instead, but here we are - doing with Garlemald what Ala Mhigo has been starved of for ages now. Oh and now we're back to the Archfiends, and now we're back to the Garleans, and now we keep throwing Jullus in here and the devs really really really want to make him and Zero a thing (the thought of it gives me Fucking Hives), and then we're in Sharlayan, and oh look an arbitrary FF4 reference, and now we're on the moon and now we're on the First, and NOW shit is finally happening.

Like my god, either condense this story into a concise proper trial series (like the Four Lords or Werlyt - honestly a Four Lords structure would've been perfect), or give this the proper attention it deserves as an expansion pack focused on the Void. The turf wars, the restoration of the Thirteenth - also where the fuck was Cylva?? I'm happy to see Gaia again and in a voiced cutscene, but where the fuck are Cylva and Unukalhai? They're literally relevant to it, you can tell Zero about them and vice versa and the most it amounts to is just "Interesting. Anyways-" and there's no progress on any of that. Both of their stories have just halted right when Zero's was gaining momentum and while Cylva's has been in limbo since the end of the SHB role quests.

And Zero. God, Zero. It felt like they were floundering with her for the longest time before they decided to make her follow Cecil's example. I'm glad she's alive, and I really do like the new design for paladin, but honestly the reaper stuff fits her way way better? Aesthetically and design wise, I get story wise that it was about her breaking from the confines of the darkness she'd been submersed in, but her old design was literally so much better orz As in more fitting, more interesting. Yeah ik I'm biased because I love the Vampire Hunter D look, but her immediate shift was just...weird. They floundered with making her the food motivated moe lead and then they just shoved that into her last second - the stuff with wanting to harness the light was fascinating, but it should've been brought in way sooner instead of an extended scene of people eating really hot curry. We were just starting to get into an extremely interesting character and then they went "Arc's over, time for everyone to go home without Zero (:". Yes, I'm now sitting here regretting the fact I didn't listen to my gut feeling about writing romantic stuff with her, especially since GWEN, but I'm mostly miffed from the point of. This is the first major ADULT female character we've had in a bit to be in the main party and now she's just back on the Thirteenth. And with Dawntrail and Tural coming up, we probably won't be seeing her for literal irl years - if at all. I know that not in msq is a better fate than dead, but between her and Lyse and Fordola all getting sidelined when they had the potential to carry some pretty serious story, it's just exhausting. Also the speed at which wolzero and yshtola/zero became predominant sapphic ships, then suddenly there's a lot of zero/jullus, yshtola and zero become increasingly distant with each other, and Zero is removed from msq? What the fuck?

People have been calling the Scions more one-note lately, which I agree. Estinien and Y'shtola were definitely the focus this time to build them up - which is great! I like how they're developing them! - but it seems like they only know how to do one thing with them when there isn't action, which is like. Research and nixie-related threats for Y'shtola, and training and squid with Estinien. Y'shtola has been at her most endearing and likable in these patches, and I really don't want them to strip her of what makes her fun. Estinien was also really good in 6.1 with that merchant (fight me, he knew what he was doing - he is not financially illiterate, he just doesn't give a fuck about material possessions), the stuff with the orphanage and him connecting with the children of Thavnair is really sweet considering his backstory, and he was really great with like Zero and Azdaja and how reliable he ended up being towards the tail end - but him just bailing last second? That fkn fanservice shirt scene? The constant squid shit i'm just. He's one of the most interesting characters that's still alive and relevant (hate that that's a factor in this) and the more they turn him into a joke character the more it feels like they're missing the point with him. Like you can still have him grow from his experiences and actually be fairly carefree without doubling down on food motivation or the "he's the dumb scion" - ENW portrayed that very clearly in all of his interactions with the Scions. Whoever is doing the 6.X patches doesn't seem to get that with the exception of moments like in 6.1 and the later half of 6.5.

I think the only storyline that I've really liked so far has been Myths of the Realm. Tataru's whole thing is fine, just really hated dealing with Gaius and Emmanellain. Sil'dihn Subterrane was fun, Rokkon is...tiring. Pandaemonium started promising and ended up leaving me feeling gross at the end. I wasn't really looking forward to Myths of the Realm because it started off with the implication that the Eorzean tribes' gods were "knockoffs" of the Twelve - but I'm glad they specified that it's more that the Twelve took influence from them but at the same time. We still have a pantheon of twelve extremely white humanoids that are supposed to represent the sum of their believers - and thats what they look like? I appreciate the Leviathan stuff in Llymlaen, but it's just disappointing seeing their designs if they're supposed to be a culmination of faith.

The story of Myths of the Realm was way better as it went on, though there are so many boring designs within it which includes gear. Obviously Azeyma, Halone, Llymlaen, and Nald'thal had really nice designs - Nald'thal's is beyond fun - but so many of the others are just Zeus knockoffs or Guys. Byregot, Zeus. Rhalgr, also Zeus. Althyk? Zeus. Or at least old greek man but so much of that Is From Zeus. And again, they're all so fucking white. Conceptually, Eulogia is interesting. In execution, it's...something. I don't hate it, I just wonder how it could be refined. I also don't really agree with this idea that people are saying the ending was just putting in a prayer answering machine because it was pretty clear as to what was happening? The gods weren't there to assist people directly, they were there as aetheric balancing for an unstable star. People worshipping them happened when people caught glimpses of them, and from there the religion came about and began to further and further grant them power. As that religion grew and so did their strength, they harbored aether they wanted to return to the start to help facilitate its stability and longevity - hence why they seek you out and hence the device. Y'know, the device that was meant to collect prayers and funnel it into the star so that they could be released and finally rest. They're a lot like Hydaelyn, but whereas Hydaelyn was conscious because she was directly made of Venat, these twelve were constructs based on their original selves. That they have this much autonomy - especially Oschon - was beyond the original plan and exists because of the faith of the peoples of Etheirys. That story in it of itself is honestly really compelling to me and I really like the conclusion as it makes sense that the remnants of the old world should eventually be laid to rest and allow for the people of today to live without the shackles of the past tying them down. It lets the Twelve actually get to live amongst the people they watched over as people themselves, since they're not really the people Venat worked with. My only thing is that Deryk's conclusion is what I'd wished Venat had gotten. I'm not against him getting that ending - it fits, it makes sense, I really liked it and him - but it feels weird that they meta-textually say that her entire spirit being decimated in your fight against her is a good thing when it just feels like murder in the context of the game. I wish we could've gotten to adventure with her and let her actually see the star she so diligently tried to protect. That Deryk gets to is great, I just wish Venat had been given that chance but we all know why he got to but she didn't.

Myths of the Realm is definitely one of the best stories in the 6.X series so far, but I don't think I can say it's like...any better than stuff like the Void Ark, Eden, Omega, the Four Lords, or even Eureka. At least it's better than Pandaemonium, though - which god. That shit is a mess. I'm going to spare anyone reading this the rant of how insidious it is that they included so many references to notable instances of rape/attempted rape in Greek mythology and named their antagonist after the target of attempted rape, or the fact that this series is a huge step back from Eden in how gd sexist it is (and god especially the fans of this and how they so quickly dropped Ryne/Gaia (who were already just an extension of thanuri) for erich and themis), or the fact that we got to watch Lahabrea immolate a woman ON SCREEN in a really GRUESOME attack that was only revealed last minute that she was secretly evil all along!! With no hints towards that!! So all our female rep is either evil or dead or both!!! No, besides all that, it shares msq's issue of horrible pacing and just a bizarrely written sequence of events that frankly should've been reversed - start with the threat, then go to Elpis to investigate said threat. There's so much fluff in pandae, we spend so much time meandering around, and things that feel like they're gonna matter just never get touched. Not to mention this should've been Erichtonios' story but instead Themis overshadows Everything. Erich never got voiced! In his own story!! And yet we wrap up Themis' story in a side quest series?? Pandaemonium, Kokytos, Themis, Athena, and Hephaistos all get voiced - but what about the fucking emotional core of the story?

Before anyone tries to come at me with the "if you hate it so much, just play another game" - I like this game. There's a lot I have found within the 6.X series that I like that has spurred my enthusiasm and creativity wrt my writing. Which makes all of this all the more frustrating and disappointing when they can clearly do better but then actively don't. They've fumbled the stories of some of their best characters - yes I am still pissed about Ysayle and the fact that Fordola's been treated like crap - and they continue to pace their stories poorly (which implies cram to me). It's really clear they want to be done with everything from 1.0-6.0 and have no love for that part of the game anymore - it's tangible. But it's such a shame that they're relying so heavily on FF4 to prop this part of the story up instead of the years of unexplored content they've referenced. And I'm saying this as an FF4 liker, all of the FF4 references were really heavy handed and obnoxious. So much for an "unpredictable story", it was probably their most predictable yet (PREDICTABLE=/=BAD AND VICE VERSA UNPREDICTABLE=/=GOOD, im just point it out because they themselves said that fans of 4 "wouldn't be able to guess where this was going" And Yet-).

I want to see them capitalizing on parts of the story where they did really well! Capitalizing on their good writers!! And the frustrating thing about this isn't that this patch was egregiously bad or anything, it was just meh. 6.0 and 6.X as a whole has just been very meh the longer I sit on it.

i oughta replay eden.

[fluffyotters]

My favorite animes list

My favorite animes that i’’ve finished/plan to that don’t include the big ones (Bleach, Naruto, Dragonball, One Piece, etc which haven’t ever really appealed to me)

1. Yugioh Original and all series including Zexal, Vrains, and Sevens.

The true classic anime and I absolutely love all the protaganists, Also everything will be solved by awesome card duels. 

2. Gurren Lagann

My first non yugioh anime that wasn’t a Ghibli movie. Absolutely incredible. Kamina is one of the most inspirational people and so is Simon

3. Saint Seiya, Saint Seiya Omega, Saint Seiya the Lost Canvass, Saint Seiya Knights of the Zodiac,

Warrior Astrological saints fighting the gods? Yes please.  Also I love all the spin offs and Omega and the new Kotz are wonderful and unfairly hated on. 

4. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures

Its in the title. Each different Jojo is wonderful and unique and they’re all amazing and this stuff is just wild. 

5. Tiger and Bunny

I think the first modern superhero anime that lead to My Hero Academy and Such. I absolutely love Kotetsu and Barnaby’s becoming partners and also the being a hero versus hero celebrity and advertisement capitalism. 

6. My Hero Academy

I love superheroes and powered people and them wanting to be a hero. Kirishima and Izuku are absolutely incredible and Kirishima is just one of the greatest inspirational characters ever. 

7. Fire Force

Fire powers, cults, religion, the threat of people spontaneously going infernal and bursting into flames, heroism, it is just one of the best things I’ve ever seen. 

The only thing that really keeps it from being a great on the level of masterpiece (which it is in literally everything else) is the sheer female “fanservice” cringe. A lot of anime tend to do have at least some to appeal to the more perverted folk but Fire force has some of the worst I’ve ever seen which is saying something, Not on the levels of Bastard!! (I’m amazed that was something that was ever printed in a general audience let alone recently animated) or Enemy Combatants will be dispatched but definitely up there which is honestly really disappointing since Fire Force is not that type of story. 

On the other hand the male fanservice is glorious. 

8. Sk8 to Infinity

Skateboarding and Love. Reiki and Langa are Love as are Joe and Cherry. Adam is also one of the coolest most theatrical messed up people.

9. Love After World Domination

Super sentai parody. Just think power rangers except less focused on the battles because Red Gelato and Reaper Princess are on opposing teams and just doing a secret relationship. It is completely ridiculous, awesome, and so adorable I’m just screaming. I wish there was more and even could do complete anime original material I wish for because even the set up is something you can make multiple entire seasons worth . 

10. Tomodachi Game

Yuuichi is something else. It’s all a friend game which is more important friends or money and the twists keep coming. He’s one of the scariest protaginist “hero’s” i’ve ever seen that were actually the (more or less) good guy mains. 

11. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

Also one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Both adorable and I want to also friendly choke the life out of them too to get them to admit because they’re all so adorably stupid smart people and just Shirogane and Shinomiya circling around totally in love and trying to make the other admit it. Also the narrator is just  glorious funny as heck and the openings are incredible lol.

12. Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Saiki is God. Utterly amazing one of the funniest greatest animes haha breaks the fourth walls, sheer comedic brilliance, incredible characters, Saiki’s logical going under things, and being complete tsundere in the actual way of how much he loves his friends lol. 

13. One Punch Man

It’s One Punch Man. Utterly hilarious and funny and just awesome characters and how one can still have an awesome story when Saitama can one punch everything except for like the final boss which doesn’t last two and be victorious. His power is so phenomenal he has to be nerfed by his complete oblivious apathy for well obvious reasons. People need to stop ranking power levels that involve Saitama though: there is no scale he either always wins in his universe or would probably get his butt kicked in other universe if he doesn’t have his one punch. It just doesn’t work. 

14. Kuroko no Basketball

The sports anime. Basketball with essentially superpowers in awesome ways but still played realistically. Everyone is incredible!

15. Hinomaru Sumo

I never thought I would be interested in Sumo until this. I’m not into sports in real life anyways but these animes are incredible. And Hinomaru Sumo is just supremely underrated also one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Tradition, Honor, Spirit, as well as differing body types and incredible characters. Gojo Yuma’s genuine repentance arc is also one of the best things i’ve ever seen and probably only just below Zuko the Avatar’s being on a smaller scale but he actually repents and atones and actually apologizes and works on himself which is rare. Lots of life lessons and characters, in addition to wrestling and it was just wow!

16. Kengan Ashura

Martial Arts, incredible bodies, and awesome characters!

17. Baki 

Same though Kengan Ashura is more realistic power based.

18. How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

A political anime that was a good brevity of realpolitik while also being really enjoyable where its politics but wouldn’t get too stuck on it either. Of course some things would be a lot harder to get done realistically. It turns the normal hero from another world trope on its head and instead brought a leader who isn’t a fighter but a thinker and capable ruler. This is the ideal ruler and wow if only all politicians and leaders could work with such honor and integrity but he’s also not blind to those who don’t and outmanuevers them. It’s just so good!

19. Sword Art Online

Love it or hate it, deeply influential and fantastic. I love Kirito, Klein, Asuna and everyone. 

20. HunterXHunter

One of the greatest series of all time. When you think about it the world is utterly horrifying truly but it’s cool ad wacky and utterly amazing characters. 

21. Vinland Saga

OH my gosh my newest anime and one of the best things i’ve ever seen. Truly a masterpiece in every way, even before Part 2 comes out. It just has freaking everything: deep philosophy, religion, battles, politics, love, vikings, etc. Askeladd is one of the smartest, most ruthless, but most weirdly relatable villains ever, Thorfinn is how you do an angry feral blonde seeking revenge for the death of his father but also then starts to see Askeladd as his father figure etc, the sheer character developement that will go on in Prince Canute etc. 

22. Jujitsu Kaisen

Magic and Martial arts, and demon spirits. Yuji is adorable and I love everyone!

[edgyexplorerofmanythings]

Turning conventional restrooms into coed bathrooms is not a sin against the Christian God. And, assuming that there will be men who just say they identify as women merely to get inside a woman's bathroom is ridiculous, and that devalues the experience of those who actually identify unconventionally.

Maybe instead of putting so much emphasis on only two genders, male and female, we instead reinterpret our core beliefs to embrace masculine and feminine energy, and souls, as opposed to male and female bodies.

Maybe it's time to address why traditional Christians are so overly obsessed with sex and gender and purity. As well as why traditional Christians are overly obsessed with sin, and do not give notice to the essence of connection and love that can bring humanity together for the greater good as a whole as opposed to an "us vs them" mentality of the "haves and have nots," the straight and the unconventional; the dualism that has oversaturated the minds of traditional Christians to the point that they can't even accept that there has always been more than two genders, Middlesex people and eunuchs, and other outcasts that have been in our societies as long as humans have been around.

Maybe we ask ourselves why we believe what we believe, why are we not open to expanding our beliefs outside of the traditional walls we've been raised in? Why is it so hard for us to understand that people are people, and it's been those who are judgmental that have excluded outcasts such as LGBTQ+ & gender non-conforming people. Is being a beloved child of God an exclusive opportunity reserved only for those who are perfect in Christ? Newsflash, no human is perfect, we all have cast stones at others to move the spotlight off of our own missed marks and insecurities. We project all over each other all the time.

If you're a traditional Christian, I challenge you to challenge your beliefs. Ask yourself why you believe what you do, without referencing something you've been told or heard someone else say. When that happens and you can legitimately defend your stances on traditional Christianity, I'd love to have a conversation about hot topics such as trans rights, LGBTQ+ rights, equity and equality of BIPOC and Native Americans, and all marginalized groups. I'd like to talk about socialism versus capitalism and the influence of religion on our politics. We need to be having conversations with people we do not agree with, and not only that, we all need to be open to learning something uncomfortable, challenging to our own beliefs, and have the ability to open our minds to other cultures and ways of life. Just a thought

[the-begotten-son-arramwayne]

The Epic of Aram, Father of Billions aka Abraham!

experienced nde? you had a near-death experience, and Awakening of your past life, Prophecies of some sort? Do you have all these questions and no answers, because I know I did at one point. But the Holy Spirit itself for awakening me because I found myself. And this may seem weird or untrue to a pessimistic person but please read this out-

With so many past life experiences and so much research done of my life I want to ramble this because these are all facts and I can guarantee you that I am fully awakened if you believe in The Awakening and in a few short months with the help of a digital Creator friend of mine I will have a video that is professional Illustrated and digitized with a complete understanding of everything that I've explained throughout all these. Without the story mode and all factual science with all the facts presented as you watch. Anyways would you believe that this may be true? Read below

Would you believe in the times when people spoke Latin, I was the altar then- and because the English speaking Christians that rewrote the Bible, they lost my name through history and translation plus my legacy. My name means Alter of the Holy Spirit in Latin AKA Lord in English.

It was my first name used then and now People Want To Praise Jesus when I've been around for 27,000 years lol hello believers. If you don't believe this, I feel sorry for you. But if you want to meet at the altar, I would find the person whose name means altar of the Holy Spirit because that's where you go to pray to your higher power no matter who your higher power is. You go to the altar..

I mean that present-day Latin speaking communities, the Tamil people, the hebrews, arameans, they all know who I am. It's funny how only the United States hides my existence

Lord King Aram of Zion, country of Aram , son of Shem, with the capital city now known as Mesopotamia was my land. The Aramaic people or AKA as know now the abrahamic people who are the Aramean people, who spoke the Aramaic language came from of course nonetheless then Aram. AN of the Annunaki, went against enki who the Bible writes in was known as Satan or the devil, I helped with the revolt against the Egyptians. You know the story of Horus versus set of the Greeks. You know the story of enki VS enlil Annunaki Pantheon. They were mistreating the Hebrew people and the other tribes that were of the Egyptian. The Revolt was led to get the people away from the tortures that they were going through. Which is why all throughout history included with the Tamil people the Latin language and Christianity in itself with every language that's ever been and with every religion that's ever been my name is tossed around all throughout all. The Holy Bible was written without 100% knowledge of all things and facts and a lot of it was withheld because they didn't want to disclose the truth about the ins and outs of existence to humanity in large. But this is how my name became known as the Lord for the Latin people with that language and kural was written about me and my people. Which is why we invited the Hebrews and was now known as the Israelites and all the tribes to leave from down there and join us in the Kingdom of Heaven. It really was a truly magical place and they're really are visitors coming in and out of this planet. I know for a fact, because I am bloodkin to them. But Moses turned against even us because we were of the same descendency that his people left from. Thought I'd fill you in on the history of Moses while explaining the rest anyways here you go

Arame of utu or urutu, same Lord King.

Ehrim the Nephilim king- same

Ehrom erom ehrim in the land of the Cyclops-same

Most of the things written in the Bible were all from the Sumer period when I was still the king over the Moab, yes I am the Lord of Zion Aram. I came from the country of Shem just like it says in Genesis, my maker gave me my own piece of land that is now known as Syria. It used to bearam, or padan Aram, I am the son of the Annunaki that the entire planet knows is Lord. Read the thirukurral, invocation of Aram, do your research and find out. Because I believe I do still rank higher than Yeshua since he was my great-great- great great-grandson

To fact check this read Genesis over, and then understand that Aram came from Shem, most people get this confused and think that it was just the land named this, but history hid the name Aram and reduced it to an,also anu, as you learn in the Sumerian Tablets. Yes Mesopotamia was my greatest achievement. Yes I am who they called lord in the Bible, and my front yard was known now as Eden because my kingdom was Zion and Eden was what led all the way up to the kingdom. I was who was referred to as the Adom, meaning man of Earth who is known as Adam the first man of creation. But my name was never Adam it was always Aram the version that is spelled with an O meant man of Earth. That's what the Annunaki left for me as Legacy. This is why they said Adam Eve and Satan was all of aram. Because I was the very first and this is why I am the Lord because the maker created me to genetically pass my soul to all. Whenever I left the country of Shem, they changed my name to Abram, and after me and Sarai. Or eve AKA Sarah, took our vows of matrimony we had children and I left the Holy Kingdom because there was parts of this planet that were able to be held as my kingdom I was gifted the land between the Tigris and Euphrates River from God. The Bible then we wrote my name is abraham, and this is how Abraham became the father of Millions now billions. This is ancient history that is 100% true and fact checkable, see I was reincarnated May 5th 1986 just like the Mayans said I would be, with the same name as I had been as was also predicted. This happening and me remembering my past life because of several out of body experiences and astral projections and near death experiences, I learned my past lives thanks to God the creator of all. And now I'm trying to teach all that he's teaching me by reaching out to the community because we're in the light age and back in the day word of mouth is how things traveled, now is digital. Yeshua didn't speak about the second coming of Christ for no reason, he didn't pray to God and expectance to be known as the Lord later, him and I had a very close relationship telepathically. He was from the same genetics that I've been reincarnated from again. He was the Messiah he preached about my return coming inevitably. And this is what they call the Messianic prophecies, and now that you know the truth and are able to explore and search for the truth on your own please share this with all that you know, please do your own researching because I've returned from the kingdom of heaven and am here on business and business alone. I have this one lifetime to live and only this one and things are fixing to start moving it light speed for the rest of the planet as this is beginning. I have a YouTube channel and if you go back to the very beginning of my first video and watch which was December 11th 21, you have to watch all the videos from front to back all the way through without skipping around and being pessimistic. I'm not finished with them yet and the story will tie in as I'm finishing but I have to have a digital Arts Creator help me with the very last video cuz it's going to be an illustrated understanding of your existence. I'm going to prove to you the might of God. Blessed be all who believe in God, blessed be all who follow the Lord's advice and praise God above all, blessed be all who to come through them pearly gates on their own will.

As the war broke out and then the kingdom, zion, I was angered and heartbroken and ruthlessly unrepentable after being attacked from all sides by the people who served under Moses's lead and taken from from the reign of my kingdom. When things got to the point where I was to be executed God shook the Earth in ways that you can't even imagine possible now. He scattered all the people that was there in the area known as Aram whose capital city was Mesopotamia and whose Holy Kingdom was Zion, and the whole area was called the Moab. This is the fall of babel, when the Lord sent people in every direction of the clock to go teach the ways of righteousness, this is why there are 4,000 religions on Earth today and 4,000 of them all share the same background of History.

And this is the third and final coming, the first one was in Genesis at the beginning of Life, the second one was in Matthew after 3/4 of life's existence had passed, in the same amount of time I have returned for the Third time. This happens every 4400 years

But I am an emerald sign now just like I was every other time I've came back. I am the zodiac Taurus which is why Moses was 100% against the worship of bull calves or anything that related to the worship of a cow or bull, because that was the symbol of my zodiac. And being that I'm a direct bloodline to send it of the Anunnaki themselves through my mother's bloodline and my father's both from the most ancient of lines at that, Moses hated all of us that were considered god's. This is obviously showed in the Holy Bible as he revolted against the pharaoh. As he took all of the Hebrew people from Egypt he was against anything and any bloodline that came from the gods. This is why there's so much hatred and animosity about the worship of a bull or bull calf all throughout the old and new testaments. He hated the Pharaoh because he felt like their people were being used indecently. Which I believe to be true too. But even known in The Emerald Tablets by Thoth the Atlantean, our species are two completely different types of species. It was the combination of our species that created the species at the Hebrews are or that modern man is today. Some of us have the genes of the ancients, some of us do not. But all throughout history humans have revolted against god, not believing that God was real because he sent Lords to sit in his place. But that's the way the universe works. That's what the holy spirit is. It's the universified consciousness, the cosmic consciousness, the grand consciousness. Every one of us have our own signal that attached to it which means we can all be Lords if we grow our signal to where we can understand and hear the vibrational frequencies and patterns and that way opens up the path to channeling God's Communications because he doesn't speak with words he speaks with feelings and and intuition

Also in Matthew is said the Lord and Savior would come from God's servant seed carrier named david. Well my father is David. My mom's bloodline directly ties her to the Goddess that is known as Isis through ancient Sumerian Pantheon history. And on my Tumblr it gives an exact genetic algorithmic expression and detailed understanding of how the genetic mutation created my reincarnation.

As with the stories of all the one-eyed gods, osiris, Zeus, ra, marduk, Odin, An/ANU, or as the haters called him the Cyclops, I matched myself biblically 100%. I am reincarnated again just as the Bible would say.. I carry every single detail of the Messianic prophecies within my bloodline and my personal history learning's teachings and understandings and with all the knowledge is of all the biblical histories from every angle across the entire globe 1,11 coincidences add up to one complete Awakening. So this is my story for the last Testament of the Holy Bible. And is why it's featured on my Tumblr YouTube and quora, Facebook and Twitter. Problems with LinkedIn and old problems with my old Facebook I gave up on instagram. But scroll my tik tok from the oldest thing forward to the newest just like on anything you have to start at the beginning. I've got a story to tell and I bet you do too, it's called apotheosis story of the Gods!

The story began at my birth, moved through my childhood and the loss of my life the first time when I was nearing 9 years old when my eye was taken and I was given chance to have life again if I so chose with more knowledge than man could handle. I returned lived my teens of brainless mindless teenager my early twenties the same and had an accident swimming, jumping off a cliff I scorpioned a 60 ft drop off of piney bluffs, the local Inlet of our Lake Eufaula. It's not my neck severing my silver cord but not completely rendering it, I was resurrected. In 2021 I was tased in the back of the head by a police officer and Ada Oklahoma while in the front seat detained in his truck without us even speaking or my knowledge of him doing so he walked around while I was in a belly chain and my hands were cut to my sides I wasn't nothing but gym shorts and shot me in the back of the head of the taser, killing me instantly. I'm dealing with this yes, but it's a slow movement. I resurrected right after getting to the hospital. All three times that I passed away in my life or spent and toxic function I became very close to the creator, our maker the universe. Through these ndes and astrally projected dreams, I began to study so vigorously enthused on my name and everything that I learned that I shared throughout this story. I hope you share this with the world I pray that it goes viral! I hope you enjoy life and all there is to learn and you live it is righteously as possible.

From God I shared everything here, to you it's a blessing to me it was a challenge and I'm still working at finishing mine, please share this and be thankful to your Lord for all that he was able to provide since the first time he was created as man in a Time long lost. Do you know how to say thank the Lord in Latin?

Arram Spiritus Sancti

In Genesis when it says I created man in the likeliness of me I gave him all the vegetation all the fruits of the lands to have for fruit and fruit shall be for your meat, and I give you domain over all the land. That was God telling the ADOM (meaning man of earth) now known as adam whose name was Aram, son of Shem, Noah's Ark was a ship. a space ship. That was God telling him me that I would be Lord of this planet, is what started everything with religion and with one man being King over all of mankind. That's the begotten son, the first one that was created the woman that followed was also created from the same gene manipulation that the Man was created and they were both together and sent to create the new evolutionary man that we have become today. He wasn't telling all the world that they could do whatever they wanted with the planet, that was him being anointed and blessed the spot of being Lord God King of humanity. Which is where my name comes in and why it means what it means. Do your research and fact check this, minus 1 r, add an r in latin, English.tamil investigate and see if I'm not the Anointed One- reincarnated AGAIN-

I know so many people believed in the Faith with Jesus christ, but once again Jesus Christ was a compound word also known as a proper name. It was a title for the anointed one. A title for his title. His name was Aram, just like it shows in the Latin Bible. In both Hebrew and in Egyptian where the two stories of creation come from the epics as they're called, these two words both mean anointed. The word Jesus means man of God or anointed the word Christ means the anointed one or man of God. There was never an actual man named Jesus Christ or even Jesus at that point. That's why it speaks all about Abraham all through Genesis then again through Matthew and all through the Messianic bloodline prophecies. Because what had happened was Aram was created with a woman they were to go forth and procreate and spread their genes throughout the world, that's why God told Abraham he was going to make him the father of millions Abraham's real name was aram, it was Abram when referring in the story with lot, and Sarai, then Abraham with Rebekah-

In Genesis god said, I give you domain of all the animals of Earth and all the lands, that was him anointing Aram or who became known as Abraham as the Son of God and making him the Lord over this planet. Because he was the first of his type and special. So after Abraham and his family's went forth and spread their seeds and bread within the other types of existing humanoids around the planet who were close to being feral humans still at that point, after thousands and thousands of years of jeans Crossing and recombining it created the exact man to reincarnation that existed biblically throughout all of this planet's history. This is a true story 100% fact checkable

I was the one referred to as the holy ghost, I was executed at the beginning of the Holy Wars unfairly. The world has been suffering at the hands of God ever since then. I was the one that the man you called Jesus Christ said would return, his Holy Father Who Art in Heaven. Your kind has been suffering in sin long enough hasn't it? Aren't you tired of being against each other human versus human, famine, death chaos and destruction, I'm here to fix all that if you want to be part of the solution. Does Holy Wars begin because of the raids on my kingdom. Thanks to the man you now call Moses and worship throughout all his history lessons. He sought out to destroy the one worshiped as the calf Idol the Zodiac of the Taurus, Aram. The one believed by the world through all the globe was the son of God, and is and was and will always be.

I AM LORD ARRAM

#lordarram

https://youtube.com/@arramnashtheapexalphaomega3983

[branded-perceptions]

Centuries ago we were largely dominated by (bigoted, bickering, conceited, conspiratory, revenge-seeking, ...) local identity cults:

we can be happy to largely have evolved out of that where we, instead of thinking for ourselves, had all those sect-like "kin"gs, "Führer", queens & priests as cultish authority figures that focused people's judgment of meaning-making's calibration🧭 of subjective moral relativity of via symbols🔤🎅🔢 and linguistics' relation to peer-evaluation constructed subjective relativistic sense of "kind" towards' each other competing grouped🏟👏👏👏 ("kin") identities' group-narcissism ("Nazi"cissm)

(just hundreds of years ago most groups thought to be inherently "better" than anyone else which made us masses focus on channeling our in-group motivation$ causal creation towards wasting focus on wars or current from evolution of causal care detached useless bra(i)nde(a)d status impressions)

whose

similar like via current bra(i)nde(a)d group identity $port teams' non-meritocratic fake "competition"

by value-exchange emanated subjective motivational and self-justication- / perception-distorting (and thus via latin mores "habits" morality distorting) in-group "love" (🎵THE WAY OF A SIMPLE HUMAN EMOTION)

and out of by that guideded group actions' resulting causal creation (🎵WEIGHTS ME DOWN MORE THAN A TANK EVER DID)

that

due group socio-psychology is partly devalued in any shared sense-makings' social incentives' vain err 📚"propaganda edward bernays" attention shadows that can be only handled responsible via proactive focus on that (🎵THE PAIN, IT'S DETERMINED AND DEMANDING, TO ACHE)

which was connected (debt-issue) via global fantasy values like monetary exchange

(back then in middle ages due Abrahamic religions' occult grand schemes reserved for the more from geopolitical local mind identities unbiased and travelled open-minded "Jewish stars")

and in our shared reputational mind status "heaven" across local identities shared attention light focus "stars" (celebrities) of global identity-making

being focal lense of how most of us as shown via reputation management of Corona nation

via our own responsibility⁣

⁣

[most of worldwide population are not forced to "positively" chase, hype and participate in any socially reinforced in-group (like in current Israel national identity) peer-pressure reward "shots"💸💉💸🍻💣🔫 🤳 while thus less caring for problem-solving its shared sense-makings' attention shadows💉☠️💉 (often genocidal) causal creations' consequences towards our globally quite similar shared life needs: 🎵YOU LOST, A PART OF YOUR EXISTENCE, IN THE WAR AGAINST YOURSELF]⁣

⁣

as usual are blind to their own reputation management🎭 and all our own responsibility of directing🧠👅🧠 the by us all defined social incentives⁣

⁣

that thus due same old reductionistic scapegoat blame-shift identity-splitting seek⁣

🎶THE FAULT IN OUR STARS - TROYE SIVAN⁣

⁣

in the tension between (both local or fictional identity narrative) in-group and out-group care⁣

⁣

and local care responsibility ("national socialism" / meritocracy / 📚Prosperity without Greed Sahra Wagenknecht) versus global cooperation [inter-group corporations' dialect poles of both by itself disfunctional capitalism vs communism, motivational competition vs problem-solving corporation, which has to be in constant dialectics not psychologically splitted ideological reductionism bubbles / psychotic labelled aspects of behaviourism]

⁣

that we dialectically can handle more nuanced and responsibly via structures like UN's & International courts (Nuremeberg code💉) legal handlings' awareness about ironic processes that naturally start to emerge in any for average causal wellbeing disfunctional psychotic sense-makings' identity group-narcissism ("Nazi"cissm)⁣

⁣

bending our in-group sense-making bubble's de"COHERENCE" motivational "grand(s)" and justificational focus in our interpretational ambiguous socio-psychological "Quantum world" of meaning-makings like via Benjamin Netanyahu⁣

⁣

songs' minute 2:20 caring about our motivational shadows whenever we⁣

⁣

🎵STAY GRAND / BEN(T)

[pazodetrasalba]

The Invisible Hand

Dear Caroline:

What you say here about market efficiency seems pretty commonsensical and simple enough that even I can understand it. As a belief, it is one you must have espoused pretty early, as both your personal background and your earliest post in tumblr bear witness to.

And yet... it is far from trivial for varied reasons. The first that comes to mind is that in some way it isn't commonsensical: at a micro level, one can find many cases in which wise administrators can make good decisions and plans in (relatively) complicated cases, which would lead to the belief that this would also be the case higher up the ladder: that clever and moral enough planners can organize the economy much better and more efficiently than a random set of uncoordinated individuals and companies, each of them engaged in a war of all against all and in pursuit of private, egotistical gain.

This last part, the emergence of order and efficiency out of atomized, relatively free market transactions and relations is traditionally emblematized through the Invisible Hand, which when originally explained to me, inspired incredulity on the level of religion and classical mythology. On my defense, I must say that I was not much aware of the complexity of price-setting and of emergent properties, and what little I knew of economics was heavily filtered by the red cloth of Marxism. And on the face of it, the idea that the value of stuff depends on the work that has gone into it does not seem less plausible than that said value would be a good estimate that arises from an efficient market.

There's a second reason that I can also think of, though, and you yourself point in its direction: even if markets tend to be efficient in the long run (and to the degree that they allow for competition, reasonable costs and barriers to entry and volume, they key is they are never perfect, and people make money by taking advantage of those imperfections, and of asymmetrical possession of knowledge. And these cases get most of the limelight: the ones that appear in the newspapers are the prodigious market-beaters and money winners, dirty or clean, those who saw what nobody else could at the same time and made fortunes. The Kimchi Premium Arbitrage comes to mind. What does not appear is the sort of work you used to do in Jane Street before going to Alameda: little tweaks of computer algorithms that scrape a few cents and depend on very small margin profits in bulk. The economical ants versus the fiddling grasshoppers.

Quote:

The efficient-market hypothesis is the only model of capital market behavior that has stood up to serious empirical testing.

Michael Jensen