Politics and Society

Blog || Philosophy || Science || Fiction || Quotes


Note: The articles below were written years ago (mostly ~2000-2005). For more recent writings, visit the blog.



Technology, Capitalism, Coercion, and Culture

DNA Databases, Privacy, and Targeted Ads - Our privacy may soon erode as emerging technologies open our lives to subtle and pervasive new intrusions.

Media Bias - The problem of "objective" reporting, which has largely replaced watchdog investigative journalism in the mainstream media.

The Monkeysphere - Implications of the Social Brain Hypothesis for our modern culture. Memetic solution to a genetic limitation.

Conveying Authority by Watching - Musings on an article by Katherine Winans, about keeping too close an eye on politics and letting your own life slip by.

Euphemisms and Power Over Thought - How the government wields power indirectly by controlling the language distributed to people through media.

Kill The President - Can saying the wrong thing lead to Secret Service or FBI surveillance? Perhaps it depends who says it.

Sleeping Pills and Quality of Life - Can sleep come in pill form? Can we alter our bodies to need less food? How would that change things?

Is the FDA Past Its Expiration Date? - Privatizing the FDA to speed up the release of new drugs, as some have suggested, might make things worse.

Cochlear Implants and the Death of Deaf Culture - What will happen to Deaf culture as the audiological condition is removed from society?

High-Tech Heroin - By Richard Forno. An article on our addiction to technology and its modern corporate dealers.

Generation Googletm - Google has become an important technological and cultural phenomenon but has it transcended company-hood?

Life of an Anarch

The Abolition of Work - By Bob Black. A brilliant and important essay on getting rid of work, in exchange for a world where play can be productive.

Employment for Profit's Sake - If technology is labor-saving, why do people still work so much?

The Ludic Paradigm: Productive Games - Restructuring mundane, "necessary" tasks into inherently rewarding activities.

Living in the Moment - The past is gone, tomorrow becomes today -- we are forever in the present moment. A call to live deeply.

21st Century Crack - Uncovering a more subtle addiction than drugs, but so pervasive and ubiquitous as to be transparent. A detox proposal.

So What Do We Do? - Things could be better than they are, but how do we get there? How can change be brought about?

Primitivism is a State of Mind - Wrestling with the desire to escape modern society for freethought and peace of mind while still being stuck in modern society.

The Revolutionary Pleasure of Thinking For Yourself - By anonymous authors. On freeing your mind and the difference between living and surviving.

My Anarchism Problem - By Bob Black. Book excerpt about the problematic associations that come with calling one's self an anarchist.

Revolution - Why a political revolution will not get us anywhere without a revolution of the mind.

Political Topics

On Not Voting - Four reasons not to vote and musings on emergent phenomena in campaigning.

My Lai - An attempt to understand how the massacre in Vietnam could happen.

Overcrowded Prisons and the Drug War - The U.S. has the highest proportion of prisoners on the globe. Something is wrong, but it isn't the use of marijuana.

Adel Hamad: How Guantanamo Imprisons Aid Workers - Story showing the problem when you remove the legal checks against mistaken imprisonment.

Abortion - Is abortion just an easy fix? When is it wrong? When does a fertilized egg become human? Some of my thoughts, seeking a middle-ground solution.

Marriage and Sex - Looking at some illogical restrictions on marriage for same-sex couples, and general thoughts on marriage and sex.

Treatment of Animals - Why animals, including those raised for meat, need to be protected from human-inflicted abuse and suffering.

Decaying Freedom - A database of news and research on threats to freedom and civil liberties within the United States. [RETIRED]

Links (Offsite)

Disinformation - News ranging from mainstream to somewhat out there, but usually interesting; also a good archive.
Source Watch - An encyclopedia of propaganda, documenting public relations doublespeak, think tanks, lobbying, corruption, etc.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation - News and research on topics of freedom and civil liberties, focused on online rights.
Anarchist Archives - The history of anarchist movements and collected works of major anarchists (lots of primary source material).
The Temporary Autonomous Zone - Hakim Bey's ontological anarchy and poetic terrorism page; some discordian fun.
The Billboard Liberation Front - Retaking the skyline from corporate advertising in the one place we can't avoid it. Pics of past work, and advice.
Primitivism - A great collection of writings on primitivist theory.
Why Work - Creating livable alternatives to wage slavery. Good articles and links.
SF0 - Collaborative production game. Earn points, level up, and change the world.