This Things I Believe

22 They/She, Autistic. “…Mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge… stands to be insulted… pays for the privilege.”

[committeeof100]

[committeeof100-1]

A Brief Explanation of Timeline Divergence in Anthology of American Folk Music

The timeline of Anthology of American Folk Music remains relatively the same as our own, up until the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The mission proves a marginal amount more successful as all of the major Western European powers are stirred from their conscientious objection to America’s quixotic attempt at establishing a true traditional empire.

So whilst the Iraq War’s ultimate goal of full subjugation to Imperial authority under Bremerian supervision fails as it did in our own timeline, the Euros prove more willing to prosecute and execute Iraqi officials. This sets off a greater amount of polarization between the West and “the rest.” Despite the Iraqi state not being popular- the show of acting without impunity worries government and citizenry alike the world over.

The US’ global position backslides at an even more rapid pace than in our own universe, and the decline in its authority over trade results in the country’s decline, causing a three-branch control by conservatives. By the late 2010s and 2020s this government decides to call upon its allies once again in a massive effort to re-secure domination. The prosecution of this war spans all inhabited continents, and created great unrest in the US, over a variety of factors.

[committeeof100-1]

The mercenaries of the past, present and future in Anthology of American Folk Music:

(Contains potentially distressing themes & repetition of the words mercenary, compradore etc.)

In capitalist society, everyone is a mercenary. Americans excel especially in this trait, most of our interactions are transactional, and in fact perhaps someday soon all our interactions will be. In terms of actual mercenaries, America was only ever able to escape the British yoke because of them. Great hordes of drunkards and Frenchman drove the redcoats off the colonist shores. The Civil war also saw the usage of mercenaries, more prominently on the side of the confederates. The Iraq War in our timeline, and in this timeline to a greater degree saw the triumphant return of mass mercenary deployment in a directly prosecuted US conflict- as thousands of PMCs committed butchery on Iraqi soil.

For the universe of Anthology of American Folk music, this is truly a watershed and prescient event, as in their massive crusade the Americans recruit compradores en masse. These compradores largely come from families whose trees are stained by their participation in some reactionary or otherwise unsavory cause which saw US backing at some point. Some aren’t even compradores- some come from far-right European lineages, who side with the American action as both an ideological and monetary commitment.

These mercenaries are prominent in the prosecution of the war abroad and eventually back in the US. Many of them serve as the police force to quell unrest. Many become integrated into bickering American governmental and political factions as they do.

[committeeof100-1]

Introduction to Anthology of American Folk Music:

The title of the series is in reference to a collection of American folk songs (from various cultures across the so-called United States) complies by the eccentric Harry Smith and released by the Smithsonian.

There are three “periods” which the stories can focus on: the past (which corresponds to any number of time periods in post-Colonial North American History, though all before the 2000s,) the “present” (roughly the mid-2010s to ~2060s) and the future (an unknown amount of time later, say for the sake of argument 750-1000 years, the details matter little.) Stories in the past and present are named after songs in the Anthology, which may have degrees of thematic relevance.

Genre-wise, the series can be considered ‘diet sci-fi,’ fantastical elements are present, yet the plot is less so about these. Perhaps the closest author to this style would be Philip K Dick, but even he gets carried away with what sort of technologies are present. Present and Future may feel somewhat cliched, and a bit close to stereotypical post apocalypses, like the Fallout series. I can’t offer much in explanation other than that nothing is original. Many of the truly advanced things in this universe are secret, separate from mainline society. The past, present and future contain these unbelievable aspects.

Many of the characters in the series, especially in the past and present, are abhorrent people. They are the crème de la crème of the American and Imperial project, even if they are not materially at the time. They embody the horrific realities of American excellence and its overreach. Operating usually without impunity, creating comedy and tragedy alike.

It is a story of empire at end and without end. Hope you find it interesting!!

[committeeof100]

(Going to be reposting these things I made!)

[committeeof100]

i have returned

[committeeof100]

A brief explanation of the world of Anthology of American folk music, the short story series I am presently working on

Around let’s say 2020 (the year is not important) conservatives control all of American government in an increasingly teneous geopolitical standing

And so in a last ditch effort to maintain global supremacy the US pulls out all the stops and declares war on all non western countries in order to protect its trade routes and markets and ensure consumptive flow and production by introducing more low wage workers kidnapped from warzones

A major group which emerges in the fighting are mercenaries who either come from bloodied lineages with ties to America or reactionary movements who work for the US government and eventually increasingly become present in police action at home as the fighting abroad begins to sour

Many of these mercenaries eventually come to work under the Library of Congress who formulate them into the Army for the Remembrance of Content or ARC, as the federal American government begins to weaken, which it finally virtually collapses with the nuking of DC

With DC nuked (by unknown actors, perhaps the Library of Congress themselves, or their rivals in the Smithsonian in some suicide attempt after a merger) the ARC and LOC move their operations to (you guessed it) Michigan, even prior to this nuking they had many feelers in the state.

Several major warlords emerge from the ashes to secure their control over Michigan, though none are able to fully do it

Perhaps the most notable of these is a former academic known as Ronald Reagan II whose pederastic appetites have been sated by the LOC and ARC after he began to supply them with Heroin.

Heroin and drugs become a practical currency, serving as a recruiting tool for the ARC as the mercenary lineages begin to decrease in number. This creates also a demand for a new drug in the face of potiental subservience to Reagan II’s project.

Another notable figure who emerges is Bobby Symanski (this universe’s unabomber) who becomes the emperor of the Upper Penisula.

A recurring figure in this story whose role has yet to be fully decided is Uthman Ibn Al-Mawt, the son of an Iraqi Ba’athist official whose reputation is one of violence in the war, yet in reality is not nearly as bad as the people he works for

The future follows mostly the ARC, who long ago fully merged with the LOC with the main goal of preserving music. The ARC has a series of kidnapped and brainwashed children who serve as its collectors and mechanics in order to ensure their cultural supremacy, and perhaps one day lend their backing to a worthy warlord who will allow the restoration of civilization

Many of the future’s factions will be recognizable as having roots in the stories in the present/past, with The Imperial Real of DaYoop, the Republic of Trawerse, NeuNederland, Halamazue (the only truly new polity in the future), the Soviet of Keecago-Derought, The Oonited States, and The Sultanate of Al-Meshegaan all having traceable origins in the past.

There’s also flashbacks to previous points in American history- I’m mostly thinking the American “Revolution”, the Civil war, the Nixon presidency and the Reagan presidency (the American Rev and Reagan Presidency stories are already written!)

Want to read some of this world??? Check out my medium: Debs Guffaw

Substack: Committee of 100

[committeeof100]

booktok books are titled along the lines of something bart simpson would write on the chalkboard at the beginning of simpson and have a synopsis along the lines of a kik rp with a millennial

[committeeof100]

A potential future…

[committeeof100]

A brief meditation on the nature of autism/schizophrenia as relates to the conception of collective unconscious/unified human spirit/Geist

A tumor is a cluster of cells which, due to malformed programming, have decided to rebel, and create something new out of materials given. Particular brands of tumors such as melanomas may even resemble other parts of the body, though grown in abnormal areas.

Autism/schizophrenia is a tumor on the collective human unconscious (NO! This does not mean it is bad!) which exists as partly separate from, but still fully dependent on the rest of humanity. The autistic/schizophrenic does not have a true sense of objectivity, and without the grounding of a Geist, we cannot truly ever grasp the world. This means though we also can view the world in more subjective lenses regarding separate from the piddling debates of our host body. We have most of the innate survival tactics of our peers- as a tumor cell has the same base structure of its counterpart, yet we fulfill our own purposes, living almost entirely off the byproducts of our peers. What is interesting, was Asperger’s “cure” for autism, a chemotherapy if you will, was bombarding the subject with socialization, thus enacting the immune system of humanity, that is to say, shame.

I hope this is useful to someone

[atypical-irritant]

That's an interesting perspective, I'll give you thah, there's a certain telling element that a tumor of all things is what you decided on for your analogy. Don't worry, I do see you don't mean that to be a bad thing, but preface or not, it's not really an ideal situation to have tumors in the first place, even if they're benign, wouldn't you say? The very existence of a tumor is that something went wrong.

If I'm understanding this right, you're presenting the idea that autism and schizophrenia are merely societal mistakes and are separate yet dependent on the collective to survive. Without the majority of society, they would be entirely unable to thrive or connect due to being a deviation from the intended presentation of humanity. That they provide some overall benefit in the form of subjectivity is simply coincidental.

A benign mistake that happens to exist symbiotically with society.

I do see where you're coming from, we certainly are treated that way by the majority of society. However, I feel this outlook is too centralized on the neurotypical perspective and relies heavily on the idea that they are the default presentation of humanity. I feel it's more complicated than that.

The collective consciousness of society requires that subjectivity and varying viewpoints. Without it, the entirety becomes susceptible to a sort of tunnel vision and struggles to adapt or evolve. Those deviations and differences are an intentional phenomenon rather than a defect.

You mentioned how, without the collective, an autistic or schizophrenic would lose all grasp of the world. That they could not navigate without the majority, and while that's true, it's not something unique to just them. In fact, any person, if separated from society, would begin to lose grasp with our world. We are a social species and many morals and mannerisms, ideals even, are dependent on outside reinforcement and guidance. Children are taught right or wrong not because they are incapable of coming to these conclusions on their own, but because these concepts are directly aligned with what the majority agrees on and if the child is left to learn separately, they likely won't come to the same conclusions.

This would imply we are all tumors in the making, regardless of neurodivergent status, or better put, cells. All performing different tasks, serving different purposes, and make up the entirety of society.

To view one group as deviant and defective because it differs from another would be as dangerous as a surgeon deciding a lung, functioning nothing like a heart, is a tumor. Nevermind what this surgeon thinks of tumors, because given the general understanding of the word, someone may come along and decide it needs to be removed.

Maybe that is precisely what you mean to say; that to see an entire group as connotatively defective overshadows what vital roles they do play in the greater part of humanity. Which if that's the case, I'm merely preaching to the choir here. But from one autistic to another, it's best to try and avoid parroting the very ideas many use to justify our abuse and death. The people who may find this useful might not be who you'd hope.

[committeeof100]

Yes- I do agree my tumor metaphor is misguided, and I should have come up with a better one. So I fully apologize for any confusion that may have caused. I appreciate your reply, it’s actually helped me to develop what I meant to say further. While I have a strong distaste for implying autistics or whomever are the next in the evolutionary line, and I don’t believe that there is such a thing as neurotypicality, I do think the way the autistic/schizophrenic mind works is, in some way meant to compliment more “neurotypical” minds and force them to reevaluate themselves.

[committeeof100]

dobby vs yoda

[committeeof100]

another quote I think a lot about. 👍👍👍

[committeeof100]

there are few people more in hell than john calvin

[committeeof100]

oooh you want me as your androgynous and shady visier soooo bad oooh you need someone to corrupt your righteous reign with their schemes…

[committeeof100]

currently forming cliques with my school chums. perhaps, in say, 30 years, these relationships will blossom a beautiful officers’ coup.

[committeeof100]

Diagnosis Regime

I will never not love this quote. Lemme say this. The collective is first between the individual and the collective- when an individual is born, the collective gets the first punch- it is the thesis. However, some intangible thing, call it brain chemistry, call it a soul, call it whatever you’d like, serves as the antithesis, a truly unique thing melds together with societal expectations and adds its own unique flourishes- it reaches synthesis until the next go around. Certainly I use the autistic label to define myself and my actions, but that label is still an imposed one, I am ultimately alone in the world, but so is everyone. To quote Nixon in Secret Honor, who himself is quoting an apocryphal line from the Great Helmsman: “I am alone, with the People behind me.” And so, the Marxian ideal applies here also- by creating endless diagnoses and labels, whatever it is you’d like to call it, that is to say, the oppressor class and their minions in psychology, psychiatry, policing, etc., create their own ruin, eventually we all shall realize our humanity, the arc of history bending at last towards justice, and the crude individualism imposed by the bourgeoise will topple in favor of that of a truly human collecto-individuality.

[committeeof100]

A brief meditation on the nature of autism/schizophrenia as relates to the conception of collective unconscious/unified human spirit/Geist

A tumor is a cluster of cells which, due to malformed programming, have decided to rebel, and create something new out of materials given. Particular brands of tumors such as melanomas may even resemble other parts of the body, though grown in abnormal areas.

Autism/schizophrenia is a tumor on the collective human unconscious (NO! This does not mean it is bad!) which exists as partly separate from, but still fully dependent on the rest of humanity. The autistic/schizophrenic does not have a true sense of objectivity, and without the grounding of a Geist, we cannot truly ever grasp the world. This means though we also can view the world in more subjective lenses regarding separate from the piddling debates of our host body. We have most of the innate survival tactics of our peers- as a tumor cell has the same base structure of its counterpart, yet we fulfill our own purposes, living almost entirely off the byproducts of our peers. What is interesting, was Asperger’s “cure” for autism, a chemotherapy if you will, was bombarding the subject with socialization, thus enacting the immune system of humanity, that is to say, shame.

I hope this is useful to someone

[committeeof100]

a conservative cannot be an intellectual