I spent an hour writing a post about what it means to be authentic, and then Tumblr didn't save my draft. But it boils down to this:
authenticity = honesty + perspective
You need to be honest about what you believe, what you know, and what you don't know. You need to strive for a perspective that reveals more than just what your ego wants to see.
I had kind of given up on the idea that I had anything of value to share, even anonymously. But after reading about the events in Ferguson, and even watching a live stream one night, I felt compelled to do something, what little I can, to resist the police state and show solidarity with the protesters.
What can we do in the face of such reckless disregard for human life? Here are a few things: We can subvert. We can educate others. We can care for each other. So that's what I'll try to do, and I'll document my successes and failures here just so people know they're not alone.
Because elections are carefully contrived so that they are like selling toothpaste. In fact, they’re run by the same people who sell toothpaste. I mean when you turn on an ad on television, you don’t expect to get any information. You expect deception. That’s the point. Only economists talk about markets. Business can’t tolerate markets. They don’t want markets in which informed consumers make rational choices. What they want is deluded consumers who will make irrational choices. That’s what hundreds of billions of dollars in advertising are spent on. You don’t get any information about the product.
But what happens when the same industry sells candidates? Exactly the same thing. I mean, about 10 percent of the crop of voters knew what the stand of the candidates was on issues. What they knew is the delusionary imagery that was created. So Bush is created to be an ordinary guy with his sleeves rolled up and you could have a drink with him in a bar. My guess is he’s taught to make those mispronunciations and grammatical errors; I doubt that he talked like that at Yale. He’s probably taught that way so that ‘them liberal intellectuals’ would make fun of him and then they can say, oh yeah, he’s an ordinary guy just like you, going off to his ranch. That makes him about as realistic as the next ad you could see on television for a lifestyle report. [John] Kerry was goose-hunting, riding his motorcycle - anything but talking about issues, and you can see why. On issues people just disagree with both parties but the media aren’t particularly concerned. And they’re marginalized.
I'd like to keep this blog low on images, but I may post them from time to time. When I do, I am adopting the following rule: For every protest image I share (person throwing molotov cocktail, black block marching, "we are fucking angry" sign, etc.), I will also post a bit of theory, an intelligent quote, a positive non-protest image, or at least a semi-informed opinion.
Protest images can be inspiring, but they are not the same as protesting. If your goal is to start a revolution, remember that most revolutions are co-opted because the people marching haven't done the groundwork of educating their community about political alternatives. If people aren't informed, they aren't able to work in their own best interest. When the dust settles, they will follow the ideology that is most familiar or the group that seems the most authoritative. Revolution needs to be equal parts education, public relations, and protest.
Everyone wants change, but change is a vector: It requires force and direction. If you're serious about change, work to educate your community.
BitMessage is a newish, decentralized communications protocol. Think peer-to-peer email. There are no central servers relaying messages. Everything is done by peers.
My problem with those sorts of comments is not so much that they might be offensive to certain people. This is the internet, after all, and by now everyone should have very thick skin. My problem is that they stifle real discussion. You can't have a 4 message exchange without it being derailed by some idiot who is hung-up on sexuality, race, etc.
Having seen enough of that, I decided to do something about it. I can't silence the trolls (nor do I even want to), but I can let them and everyone else know that not everyone on BitMessage is a hateful troll, and try to raise the level of discourse. I posted the following in the General chan:
Greetings, Bitmessengers.
This message is for everyone, but especially people of color, LGBTQ people, women, or anyone else who feels excluded because of who you are:
Don't let the racist, sexist, hateful people on BitMessage fool you into thinking you have no allies here. You do. I am one, and there are others.
- l0fi
Nothing works these trolls up more than unequivocal rejections of their bullshit. My message was immediately met with bile like the following:
How does it feel to be a cultural marxist drone and big brother mind slave, faggot?
WTF? Then a bizarre back-and-forth where these homophobes got to fulfill their dream of roleplaying gay Batman and Robin:
Holy shit, gay Batman!
Robin, get your dick out of my ass.
Yes Batman, just wait a little, ahhh! aahhh! aaahhh! Nice, now it is your turn, don't be too rough you tough gay.
Quick Robin, to the butt cave.
No repressed sexuality issues there, amirite? Then some great bits about how my message was stifling straight white men:
You guys are just plain meanies and so straight and caucasian too.
Maybe the problem is that we haven't made fun of the right people for -l0fi.
Just to keep things fair, from now on I am only going to make fun of straight, caucasian, men.
Yes, straight white men: The victims of past and present. Ha!
All in all, I'd say this was an extremely successful reverse-trolling mission. The trolls took the bait hard, and it looks like my message really got under their skin.
I plan on regularly posting anti-hate messages and trying to enlist other anarchists to do the same. (Or at least to use BitMessage to talk about anything at all without calling each other fags constantly. I feel like I'm back in high scool with this shit).
Interested in helping?
Make sure you have Tor installed.
Install BitMessage. Inbox me if you need help.
Configure BitMessage to use Tor. Again, I can help.
Once you're up and running, send me a BitMessage at:
BM-2cTBVrBZqG8u2gfWvtFt7dEcM3umNtGAic
I decided to write anonymously here for a selfish reason: I want to have multiple identities.
Like most people, I want to live honestly, express myself fully, and advocate for the values I believe in. But in "real life," many of my views aren't palatable to the people around me, including people I love and respect. Perhaps you are in the same boat. If I were to be open with those people about my opinions on subjects like recreational drug use (don't knock it til you've tried it), religion (fuck, no), and politics (subvert the state!), it might cause needless strife. For example, my mom is not ready to hear that magic mushrooms saved my life, or that god is just Santa Claus for grown-ups. That's OK; we can connect about other stuff, and leave the rest unsaid.
On a more serious note, it's becoming increasingly dangerous to speak out about certain subjects. Society is liberalizing about drug laws, sexuality, and atheism, but saying an unkind word about the surveillance state or corporate control of the government could get you bugged, harassed, or worse (depending where you live, or how far in the dystopian future you are reading this). Yes, it is important to speak out and fight back, but it is more important to be careful how and where you do so.
If you believe something, and you believe that belief can help other people, you have a duty to advocate for it, but you don't need to risk your life, livelihood, or personal relationships to do so. The beauty of this moment in time is that the tools exist for anyone to write anonymously and share their words with a global audience. If you're careful, the tools exist to keep your primary identity a secret. We no longer need to suppress controversial opinions. By stepping into an alternate identity we can finally be ourselves. Trippy, eh?
To take this to its logical conclusion: Not only is it acceptable to adopt a second identity, it is actually preferable. It would be irresponsible not to do so. By disassociating radical ideas from your real-world identity, you free yourself to do your duty to speak up and fight back. You also protect your loved ones from the possibility of reprisal.
Around the world our privacy rights are under attack. We need to do more than just grumble our disapproval: We need to use our privacy to shout our dissent. I urge everyone to embark on this adventure with me: Adopt a second identity today!
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
gummygunk
areudirty
snowghoul
janainaart
vaporwave
