In light of my last post, I offer some science fiction…because I am just full of contradictions. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is an anime from the 80s that steers away from the usual tech-centric themes, and dives deep into the characters that inhabit its world. Unlike much sci-fi, the galaxy is one of never-ending war and suffering, with many parallels to today. Earth is a relic, and the strongest force in the galaxy is a monarchy. Some of my favorite episodes are those that turn into faux-documentaries that illuminate what happened between our time and theirs. Very little emphasis is placed on action, and much of the show is simply people conversing, and I think that’s why I enjoy it so much more than other anime which focus on giant robots fighting each other. The entire series is available to watch on Youtube…all 110 episodes from its over ten year run.

“There are few wars...

(I write this is a US-centric perspective, but most if it can apply to the developed world in general.)

The developed world’s addiction to technology, and absolute faith in it, is one of the main factors in its enslavement of the rest of the world. This faith lies, in large part, to the culture of science fiction that has arisen, and is a peculiar feature of developed nations. It is no coincidence that Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan point to a story from the early 1600s, around the time the features of modern capitalism started to form, as the first example of science fiction. Asimov even goes as far as to lay claim that a Poe story from the 1830s is the first example of “hard” sci-fi, the fictitious cousin of industrialism, in that “many of its details were carefully and rationally worked out.” It should also be noted that science fiction did not really appear in Russia until the...

You take the gold and
I’ll take the forest
You can have what is bought and sold
Cause I can’t take much more of this
My trees of green will always
Give me shade.

When we come around again
Things won’t be looking quite the same
The trees will all be gone and
They’ll keep rolling on
Cause they don’t care about you or me…

When I came back home again
I knew that things just wouldn’t be the same
Like when loneliness was gone and
I kept rollin’ on
Because there was a you
And a me

“The customer is always right.” -Harry Gordon Selfridge

Where does the idea that the customer is infallible come from? Mr. Selfridge coined the term in the early 1900s, and about a hundred years later, the phrase is still with us, and still taken as a truism by many. Selfridge may not have been as successful as other retail magnates, having died penniless, but his contributions to retail strategy can still be seen today.

“Selfridge promoted the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity. The store was extensively promoted through paid advertising. The shop floors were structured so that goods could be made more accessible to customers. There were elegant restaurants with modest prices, a library, reading and writing rooms, special reception rooms for French, German, American and “Colonial” customers, a First Aid Room, and a Silence Room, with soft lights, deep...

The average American spends over 15% of their life watching TV. In the 1950s, commercials accounted for 13% of television. Today the percentage of commercials has jumped to around 33%. This means that, minus being forced to look at internet ads, or listening to radio advertisements, the typical American spends 5% of their entire life being advertised to. Our media is becoming less content, and more a means to sell products. Product placement and more recently, in-game advertising in video games, is becoming the norm. Capital does not even have the decency to let us numb our minds in peace.

Every aspect of media, from entertainment to the reporting of facts, has been co-opted into a tool of domination and division. It is not a coincidence that the same network which shows seemingly left-leaning shows like “The Simpsons” also owns a network which takes a far-right line of ranting...

Pick a side. Any side. You live in “the land of the free.” Vote. If you don’t vote, don’t complain. Buy more bumper stickers. Join a party. Go to meetings. Have an opinion. Try to convince others. Write about it on paper and in digital forums. Go to protests. Hold a sign. Chant. Read books. Write about the books you’ve read. Just don’t DO anything.

Our society prides itself on our freedoms, of speech, of religion, of press. We view ourselves as the greatest nation on the planet because of these freedoms, but fail to see that our chains are just a bit longer than everyone else’s. We are given these freedoms not because our rulers want to hear our opinions, but because they provide a safe outlet for dissent. As long as ideas stay on paper, and do not morph into action, anything is permissible. Because of this trend towards the ideological, we have come to confuse opinion with action.

...

This was originally distributed under the RAAN banner at Occupy Chicago.

I write this as an observer, although the mere act of writing and distributing this makes me a participant. Until now, I have made infrequent trips to the Occupy Chicago site, and simply soaked it all in. I cannot sit on the sidelines anymore. While part of me is amazed at the fact that this is all even happening, another part of me (the part that still has scars from my own attempts to change the world) is screaming that some things just aren’t right here. Please take the following as not as instructions, not even as advice, but as a personal commitment to you all. I’m not writing this because I think you are “doing it wrong,” or that you even need my help. I am writing this because I want you to succeed…because I want US to succeed in creating a better world.

Politics is the Past

Almost three years ago we saw...