Alistair Young @cerebrate@schelling.pt

Namely, I am going to take a moment to observe that the decline of slavery and the rise of the energy-powered machine roughly coincide in history, and that this is no coincidence.

And we should take this as a very pointed warning for the future.

Because humans do not, by and large, enjoy going gentle into that good night, and because one of the most blatant correlations in all history is that between per-capita energy usage and quality of life.

So, today on here I have read a thread concerning the high density of slaves (relative to population) in certain older societies, and contrasting that to, as Buckminster Fuller called it, the "energy slaves" we have today in the form of our per-capita energy usage, having replaced human labor with energy-powered machine labor.

(Primarily fossil-fuel energy, which is a problem.)

Now I don't want to derail that thread in the service of my own point, so I'm going to start my own here.

Speaking of which, consider this a reminder that "tax wealth not income" is an idea of the same shape as "burn fossil fuels, don't catch sunlight", and if you can recognize the obvious failure mode of one you should also be able to recognize the obvious failure mode of the other.

Among the first rules of tax policy should be "If the French tried it and backed off because it failed and/or backfired spectacularly, abandon the whole goddamn concept."

In which I have no interest for unfortunate-association reasons. But, y'know, if flying the wartime flags of our former - and sometimes current - enemies is to be considered _chic_, which empirically it *is*, my trollish heart can do better than that.

tl;dr anyone know where I can get hold of a reproduction Imperial Japanese Navy battle ensign?

So, I've been looking to replace my flag recently, thanks to the inevitable tattering effects of Kansas wind, and after ordering a duplicate, went looking for other flags that reflect my values. Thought I might mix it up a little.

Searching for interesting flags on the Internet is always an experience, given the number of dire sins against vexillology and good taste out there, but I'm quite irritated by the crowding out of other interesting possibilities by the old Confederate battle flag.

I see people whine “But why must I always be better than them?”

Because the controller of the simulation is running an evolutionary algorithm, bro. Only the single best one of us will get out of the universe alive.

Among the joys of designing financial systems for SF universes of varying tech/dev level is the moment when you realize that the ultratech galactic transaction clearing system requires an error handler for “payment delayed due to sick bullock”.

#eldraeverse #scienceFiction #writing #worldbuilding

Concerning today's multi-state 911 outage, I should just like to clarify that it wasn't me. It was almost certainly some Russian dude, JUST LIKE LAST TIME.

#notyourcybercriminal

"Today I have restored our access to the dark web! Muahaha!"

"What do you use the dark web for, anyway?"

"Use?"

"..."

"Because people want us not to have it?"

"That's it?"

"You need more?"

All I want to know about the Borderlands movie is who they've cast to play Face McShooty. Who is, as you know, the heart of the entire setting.

Is it just me, or does "The Path of Totality" sound like an excellent name for a cult, martial art, or possibly band?

I mean, intellectually, it is easy to remember that Good Things do not become Bad Things just because they're also considered Good by people with a, hm, statistically high likelihood of stanning mass-murdering fuckheads and/or their ideas.

But the feels, man, the feels are icky.

Request to world:

Would you kindly stop describing Obvious Good Things as Anticapitalist Works, lest I end up stopping supporting them despite their being Obvious Good Things.

(tl;dr My rationality is imperfect! Please help me not succumb to polit tribalism!)

Today's pitch: a zany romantic comedy set in the #DragonAge setting. I call it "The Love Nug".

Incidentally, while I usually boost my writing here when I post it, if you just want that without my other weird ramblings and sarcasm, you can follow it alone at @avatar .

#eldraeverse