wrote about how phoneworld is killing our political imaginary and making us profoundly miserable in this, a moment when we need to be stronger than ever https://www.late-review.com/p/the-eternal-present
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this excellently draws together many disparate threads, and gives voice to many things i think i have also been feeling subconsciously. i hope you don’t discount that this kind of writing is in itself a powerful tool for helping us organize (our own minds, and each other)
This is so good and thoughtful. I enjoyed reading this and have shared it with a couple friends already. It's stuff I've worried about and other things I hadn't yet noted. Thank you.
From a neuro RN side though, I want to sympathize with your healing process. TBIs are a bitch and rehab is hard.
A very modest response to,
"One of the imminent questions of our moment is: what would it take to relearn how to do political work offline"
▶️ Our 'DOGE mag' project is a collection of print materials for people to print and distro (post them up, or hand them out and start conversations with people)
Great article, I’ve been thinking similarly about how social media affects our perceptions of both terrible and joyful events because they’re right next to each other and how to connect in-person more. I have two ways to help these two things that I’ll share in the next posts.
You can use https://graze.social to split your Following feed into three arts & culture, life & diary, and news & politics feeds. I’ve given very simple instructions in this thread. Now you have control and you’re not scrolling past frivolity and death in the same breath.
As you said, we need to take political work offline. We need to build power in our local communities to circumvent and dismantle oppressive power structures. There are many ideas out there, but finding them is tough. So, I'm curating a feed to collect ideas and resources here. Commit to one!
Wow. Thank you for writing this. I got bit by the local politics bug and started organizing in the early 00s. I used to joke that things would've been so much easier if we had social media, but lately I've been feeling many of the things you express in this piece and trying to figure out what now.
The one thing that we had in the early 00s that we won't get back is vibrant local media. The work I did got picked up by local and regional papers (including the Washington Post) and local TV and this coverage was essential. That coverage is gone now, further exacerbating the problems.
April 26 in NYC is the S.H.I.T P.H.O.N.E. Conference “Scathing Hatred of Information Technology and Passionate Hemorrhaging of Our Neoliberal Experience.”
3pm, Thompkins Square Park. Follow LampClub4People on Instagram for details.
I think you are correct. Phoneworld keeps us in the moment in the worst possible way—unable to be present yet equally unable to move into the future. I’ll be thinking about this piece for a while. Thank you.
This matches a lot of my recent thoughts. As to how to organize offline... it has to be local, by its very nature, and some of the old ways still remain.
The Masons may do it for show but the methods are still valid: codewords, secret gestures, vetted membership.
Best piece I’ve ever read summarizing the way the phone captures us and prevents us from mobilizing. And, may I suggest to the readers a local Team Reach board that tells you what’s happening soon, locally, so you can help, so you can get out there and help make the change you want to see.
“we are all little addicts who want to defend our addictions and the livelihoods that are now unfortunately entangled up with them, but: we have yet to reckon both totally and personally with the fact that the smarphone is an anti-social instrument of control, surveillance, and self-annihilation.” 🥇
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https://bsky.app/profile/acheronxl.bsky.social/post/3lksxs6ibjk2u
From a neuro RN side though, I want to sympathize with your healing process. TBIs are a bitch and rehab is hard.
"One of the imminent questions of our moment is: what would it take to relearn how to do political work offline"
▶️ Our 'DOGE mag' project is a collection of print materials for people to print and distro (post them up, or hand them out and start conversations with people)
Everyone should read this and consider it closely.
3pm, Thompkins Square Park. Follow LampClub4People on Instagram for details.
The Masons may do it for show but the methods are still valid: codewords, secret gestures, vetted membership.