Where the Sidewalk Cracks, Part 2: Interstitial Insurrection

“From this society—from this state of affairs, people must detach themselves. They must detach themselves quietly, without shouting or riots, indeed in silence and secrecy, not alone but in groups, in real ‘societies’ that will create, as far as is possible, a life that is independent and wise.” — Nicola Chiaromonte

Where the Sidewalk Cracks, Part 1: Ricochet Resistance

I was amazed how a BLM protest could end up creating the conditions for a counter-protest and possibly even politicizing a group of people who may have never engaged in a political demonstration otherwise. While everyone was congratulating me on a great event, I was privately wondering if the most significant impact we had was to energize and mobilize people on the opposite side who might otherwise have stayed home. That was the last demonstration I organized. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to make sense of what happened.

Accelerationism: So close, and yet so far

There’s so much I agree with Accelerationism about, including the diagnosis of our civilizational predicament, the critique of capitalism, and impotence of much of progressive and Leftist politics. But then it takes the weird turn of suggesting that we need to double down on the same things that created this crisis: unrestrained growth, faith in technological progress, and a dream of human transcendence.

“Welcome to the Smugosphere” of Mainstream Activism by Dwight Towers

Smugosphere [sməɡ ō sfir]: 1. "the protective fog of (unjustified) self-congratulation and complacency that surrounds any 'community' of people claiming to be making the world a better place, but which lacks commonly accepted an utilised measures of success and failure"