Europe takes a big step towards a post-dollar world
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
There's a reason every decentralized system eventually finds its way onto a platform: platforms solve real-world problems that platform users struggle to solve for themselves.
I've written before about the indie/outsider author Crad Kilodney, who wrote, edited, typeset and published chapbooks of his weird and wonderful fiction, and then sold his books from Toronto street-corners with a sign around his neck reading VERY FAMOUS CANADIAN AUTHOR BUY MY BOOKS (or, if he was feeling spicy, simply: MARGARET ATWOOD):
Crad was a hell of a writer and a bit of a force of nature, but there are plenty of writers I want to hear from who are never going to publish their own books, much less stand on a street-corner selling them with a MARGARET ATWOOD sign around their necks. Publishers, editors, distributors and booksellers all do important work, allowing writers to get on with their writing, taking all the other parts of the publishing process off their shoulders.
That's the value of platforms. The danger of platforms is when they grow so powerful that they usurp the relationship between the parties they are supposed to be facilitating, locking them in and then extracting value from them (someone should coin a word to describe this process!):
Everyone needs platforms: writers, social media users, people looking for a romantic partner. What's more, the world needs platforms. Say you want to connect all 200+ countries on Earth with high-speed fiber lines; you can run a cable from each country to every other country (about 21,000 cables, many of them expensively draped across the ocean floor), or you can pick one country (preferably one with both Atlantic and Pacific coasts) and run all your cables there, and then interconnect them.
That's America, the world's global fiber hub. The problem is, America isn't just a platform for fiber interconnections – it's a Great Power that uses its position at the center of the world's fiber networks to surveil and disrupt the world's communications networks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden
That's a classic enshittification move on a geopolitical scale. It's not the only one America's made, either.
Consider the US dollar. The dollar is to global commerce what America's fiber head-ends are to the world's data network: a site of essential, (nominally) neutral interchange that is actually a weapon that the US uses to gain advantage over its allies and to punish its enemies:
The world's also got about 200 currencies. For parties in one country to trade with those in another country, the buyer needs to possess a currency the seller can readily spend. The problem is that setting up 21,000 pairwise exchange markets from every currency to every other currency is expensive and cumbersome – traders would have to amass reserves of hundreds of rarely used currencies, or they would have to construct long, brittle, expensive, high-risk chains that convert, say, Thai baht into Icelandic kroner to Brazilian reals and finally into Costa Rican colones.
Thanks to a bunch of complicated maneuvers following World War II, the world settled on the US dollar as its currency platform. Most important international transactions use "dollar clearing" (where goods are priced in USD irrespective of their country of origin) and buyers need only find someone who will convert their currency to dollars in order to buy food, oil, and other essentials.
There are two problems with this system. The first is that America has never treated the dollar as a neutral platform; rather, American leaders have found subtle, deniable ways to use "dollar dominance" to further America's geopolitical agenda, at the expense of other dollar users (you know, "enshittification"). The other problem is that America has become steadily less deniable and subtle in these machinations, finding all kinds of "exceptional circumstances" to use the dollar against dollar users:
America's unabashed dollar weaponization has been getting worse for years, but under Trump, the weaponized dollar has come to constitute an existential risk to the rest of the world, sending them scrambling for alternatives. As November Kelly says, Trump inherited a poker game that was rigged in his favor, but he still flipped over the table because he resents having to pretend to play at all:
Once Trump tried to steal Greenland, it became apparent that the downsides of the dollar far outweigh its upsides. Last month, Christine Lagarde (president of the European Central Bank) made a public announcement on a radio show that Europe "urgently" needed to build its own payment system to avoid the American payment duopoly, Visa/Mastercard:
Now, there's plenty of reasons to want to avoid Visa/Mastercard, starting with cost: the companies have raised their prices by more than 40% since the pandemic started (needless to say, updating database entries has not gotten 40% more expensive since 2020). This allows two American companies to impose a tax on the entire global economy, collecting swipe fees and other commissions on $24t worth of the world's transactions every year:
But there's another reason to get shut of Visa/Mastercard: Trump controls them. He can order them to cut off payment processing for any individual or institution that displeases him. He's already done this to punish the International Criminal Court for issuing a genocide arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, and against a Brazilian judge for finding against the criminal dictator Jair Bolsonaro (Trump also threatened to have the judge in Bolsonaro's case assassinated). What's more, Visa/Mastercard have a record of billions (trillions?) of retail transactions taking place between non-Americans, which Trump's officials can access for surveillance purposes, or just to conduct commercial espionage to benefit American firms as a loyalty bonus for the companies that buy the most $TRUMP coins.
Two days after Lagarde's radio announcement, 13 European countries announced the formation of "EuroPA," an alliance that will facilitate regionwide transactions that bypass American payment processors (as well as Chinese processors like Alipay):
There's Wero, a 2024 launch from the 16-country European Payments Initiative, which currently boasts 47m users and 1,100 banks in Belgium, France and Germany, who've spent €7.5b through the network:
Wero launched as a peer-to-peer payment system that used phone numbers as identifiers, but it expanded into retail at the end of last year, with several large retailers (such as Lidl) signing on to accept Wero payments.
Last week, Wero announced an alliance with EuroPA, making another 130m people eligible to use the service, which now covers 72% of the EU and Norway. They're rolling out international peer-to-peer payments in 2026, and retail/ecommerce payments in 2027.
These successes are all the more notable for the failures they follow, like Monnet (born 2008, died 2012). Even the EPI has been limping along since its founding, only finding a new vigor on the heels of Trump threatening EU member states with military force if he wasn't given Greenland.
As EBM writes, earlier efforts to build a regional payment processor foundered due to infighting among national payment processors within the EU, who jealously guarded their own turf and compulsively ratfucked one another. This left Visa/Mastercard as the best (and often sole) means of conducting cross-border commerce. This produced a "network effect" for Visa/Mastercard: since so many Europeans had an American credit card in their wallets, European merchants had to support them; and since so many EU merchants supported Visa/Mastercard, Europeans had to carry them in their wallets.
Network effects are pernicious, but not insurmountable. The EU is attacking this problem from multiple angles – not just through EuroPA, but also through the creation of the Digital Euro, a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Essentially, this would give any European who signs up an account with the ECB, the federal bank of the Eurozone. Then, using an app or a website, any two Digital Euro customers could transfer funds to one another using the bank's own ledgers, instantaneously and at zero cost.
EBM points out that there's a critical difficulty in getting EuroPA off the ground: because it is designed to be cheap to use, it doesn't offer participating banks the windfall profits that Visa/Mastercard enjoy, which might hold back investment in EuroPA infrastructure.
But banks are used to making small amounts of money from a lot of people, and with the Digital Euro offering a "public option," the private sector EuroPA system will have a competitor that pushes it to continuously improve its systems.
It's true that European payment processing has been slow and halting until now, but that was when European businesses, governments and households could still pretend that the dollar – and the payment processing companies that come along with it – was a neutral platform, and not a geopolitical adversary.
If there's one thing the EU has demonstrated over the past three years, it's that geopolitical threats from massive, heavily armed mad empires can break longstanding deadlocks. Remember: Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the end of Russian gas moved the EU's climate goals in ways that beggar belief: the region went from 15 years behind on its solar rollout to ten years ahead of schedule in just a handful of months:
*Posted to doors of the taverns, announcement boards, chapels, and so forth.*
Many things have already been put into motion. The wheel we have gently nudged now sprints down the hill with a hungering ambition, consuming all within its divine path. Our will is just that, divine and ordained unto us by the mud that runs through our veins. We fight for those too weak to defend themselves. We kill for those that have suffered under greed. We will die for those that have been suppressed through fear instead of being allowed to grow. What we have started cannot be stopped with ease. We have opened the eyes or the people and more commoners see the path as the true and right path every day.
Our numbers swell just as the stomachs of Nobility stuffed with rich sugars.
They have kept us on the leftover scraps, struggling to survive as a means of manipulation. A tool of mass control. They have distracted us from their cruel hearts and greed.
While they bend the world to their will, and corrupt souls with their insatiable lust from behind their towering walls that have cast a shadow upon our realm. We shall illuminate their sins and transgressions; for every frightful night in the darkness is quelled with the power of light in one's hand. For every mournful, regretting night of sorrow a bright and prosperous day is not far ahead.
Like the tides of the oceans, night and day trade back and forth, cascading in and out of view... But we have been in the dark for too long. Like the Sun we shall rise and we will blind those who only see in the dark. We will illuminate the dark halls where crime is committed by those that swear to aid us. We will bring energy to our fields of people, and allow them all to grow and prosper.
Join the fight against the Nobility, rebel against those that hold your chains, and fight for an equal future if not for yourself for the coming generations.
Withhold all transactions from the Nobility, refuse to offer your services, refuse to work for their greed, to not pay their taxations and instead keep your coin to feed your families. Form militias, resist their corruption as brothers and sisters in arms.
Together we will earn our freedom from the Nobility. Together we are strong and they will fear the power of a unified Common Peoples.
No sacrifice is too great for a better future.
(Below is OOC information)
Hello, hello folks! Elstine here and this is providing an opportunity hopefully for anyone interested to involve themselves within the story of the Underground Empire; however little or much that may be. You can involve yourselves in such a casual way as mentioning the posting here at a brunch with your pals. Or perhaps you’re a merchant and trader that agrees with the words posted and have decided to cancel all business with the Nobility - or perhaps still, you are a merchant that has decided to capitalize on lack of trade Nobility is getting.
On the other spectrum, as a Noble player you could of course react to such claims, perhaps your merchants have recently denied you services, perhaps there is a revolt in your lands sparked by this very letter.
Whatever it may be, we encourage you all to have your own organic stories produced through the events that occur.
And if you simply don’t want to be involved at all - then ignore it all. Simple as that; no pressure to join in at all.
TLDR: Consent is good and required for -everything-. Everything? -EVERYTHING-. Feel free to make your own spinoff stories, but make them your own and do not advertise them as the same arch. Do -not- harass anyone for any reason OOCly; I do not care what the reason is. Do -not- start a Tumblr Crusade. We are here to have fun, and inspire RP, not deal with petty drama name calling BS. :> Thank you. Any issues - please contact Elstine directly, or message this tumblr.
(Permalink: https://harboson-c.tumblr.com/WRAUE )
Just please keep in mind, we do not advocate the hostile interactions (Physical or verbal) from one character/player to another without first getting firm and clear consent from all parties and players involved. Anything less is not something we condone nor support.
If for whatever reason you have received a negative interaction with individuals taking part of the U.E. I encourage you to discuss such with myself (Elstine) and I will handle the situation as fair, quickly, and with as little drama as possible. Our goal is to inspire roleplay and new interactions - not cause OOC Crusades.
Lastly, the only other thing of note is to please not hijack the story. Do not turn the Empire Agents into people producing a zombie plague and sharing that as the undoubted happenings of the storyline. The Empire is an NPC force created and established by myself from years back and thus I would appreciate their intentions and ideals not getting muddled. All official happenings and supported ideas will be reblogged by this page. If you’d like to make an offshoot story inspired by such things, by all mean - but make your own and do not try to force it into this individual arch.
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Thank you all for the read, and I hope you have fun. :>
(( This post occurs on the night February 8th. In response to; http://adhelin.tumblr.com/post/170658830383/ue-prepared ))
“Castellan, you might want to come see this...”
Ceruszael turned away from the window in Adhelin’s townhouse room, wasting little time in seeing what it was the Lionsguard had found. By this point the men and women milling about gave him a wide berth. They were unable to gauge the Ebon Knight’s mood but all were unwilling to risk his anger flaring toward them. As such, he swiftly arrived behind the man which made the call - startling him in the process. He plucked the offered letter, plucking it open and pulling out the contents to peer at.
AHR ZNTBNGNE AHRZ UQCD QWE AHR CLQMM JN IQBE QTTHZEBWXMA HWTN ULN ENNE BC EHWN.
The jumbled lettering made little sense to him, though he recognized a coded message when he saw one. Though nonsensical, it didn’t carry the harrowing mental tone of the Old Gods or any language he knew.
A task for another.
Ceruszael knelt beside the corpse from which the letter had been acquired. Cause of death was fairly obvious, what with the hole in the man’s skull. The disturbing angle of his feet further spoke to compromised ankles, to some degree. Ceruszael raised a hand to hover just above the man’s face. Spectral energies ignited runic inscriptions about his armor, the lichfire in his eyes flaring as the Death Knight invoked darker magics to attempt to draw upon a spirit so freshly removed from its body. To glean from it the truth of this man’s passing. Again his perception shifted to those aspects relevant only to those departed from the realm of the living.
Fear. That was expected. Uncertainty for what was to come, and panic as a mortal mind contemplated the worst possible outcomes imparted by… Holt? Lord Holt? The name was present, but not directly connected to the feelings. It simply followed them. But it was concrete, assured, confident. No, it wasn’t the name. Another feeling. It did not war with the dismay or turmoil, but existed beside them. As surely as this man felt them, he felt this, but they were as disconnected to each other as the name to it all. An image formed. It shifted constantly, shivered. From the man’s perspective. As he moved… but he couldn’t move. He is lying down. Being dragged? From where is uncertain. He sees another, a short distance away. The air around him shimmers and wavers. A portal? Yes, it was. Two figures carried a third through. Perspective shifted as pain spiked. He now looked down his own body, down his legs. That is where the pain came from. Movement, from above. Perspective shifted again. A hole blocking out the sky, and before true comprehension, it spat fire and everything fell away.
At this point the Castellan’s attention was drawn away from the scene as Thaylynn’s voice broke across Holt communications.
“Lords and Ladies, Bannermen, Knights and Soldiers of House Holt, this is Lord Marshal Thaylynn Kestavin…..it is with a heavy, and weathered heart that I confirm the reports our Matriarch has been taken. Given the recent situations that have come to pass within our House, I am hereby deputizing one hundred of my soldiers and knights, to bolster our security, and safeguard our areas of interest, and members of the family. Do not be alarmed at their presence. This is no power play, it is simply a matter of security. If you have questions, you know how to best reach me.”
Ceruszael furrowed his brow as he rose. The introduction of a hundred new men posed nearly as many dangers as assets. At this juncture he had to give Thaylynn a degree of trust, but if the ranks of Addlewood’s Lionsguard had been breached, it was just as likely Kestavin men were also compromised. Whether or not such was true, Holt soldiers would already be peering over their shoulders and sticking to groups of known friends among their garrisons once news of this potential infiltrator sect became known. It would be far easier for them to place blame on another house’s soldiers, no matter the loyalty of their Lord. He turned to the Lionsguard who had discovered the body.
“Nobody hears of this. Cover the body, bring it to Addlewood. Stand guard over it. None gain access but myself. Any who would inhibit you in this, invoke my name. If anyone sees you in this endeavor, they are to conscripted into it and await me just as you will. Go.”
After receiving a curt nod and salute from the man, the Knights moves far enough away to observe the collection of the body, out of earshot, shrouded in the moonlight-cast shadows of Stormwind. Thinking for a moment, he opened the communicator.
“Cedrick. Cordelia. Tiom. We should meet to discuss recent events and formulate a plan of action. Cedrick, I would advise leaving Blackfyre with Venreena. Cordelia, I’ve dispatched a contingent of Addlewood men to find you. Reinforce them with Embris personnel if you must, but allow them to see you to Addlewood. Tiom, make your way there if able. I will be there tomorrow evening.”
I'm about to leave for a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me on Feb 14 in BOSTON for FREE at BOSKONE , and on Feb 15 for a virtual event with YANIS VAROUFAKIS. More tour dates here.
Well, Saturday's come around and I have a gigantic list of links that didn't fit into this week's newsletter, so it's time for another linkdump, 26th in the series:
https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/
My posting is about to get a lot more erratic, as I'm days away from leaving on a 20+ city book-tour, which starts in Boston on Feb 14, with a sold-out event at the Brookline Booksmith:
But Bostonians get another bite at the apple: I'm appearing at Boskone, the city's venerable sf convention, a few hours before my Brookline gig, and admission is free:
https://schedule.boskone.org/62/
The rest of the tour (including a virtual event with Yanis Varoufakis on the 15th) is here, and more dates (New Zealand, possibly Pittsburgh and Atlanta) are being added all the time:
Of course, even as I scramble to get ready to hit the road for months, I'm regrettably forced to give some rent-free space in my head to Elon Fucking Musk. This week, I wrote about DOGE as a government-scale private-equity style plundering of the nation:
But that was before I read Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman's Lawfare article about how Musk's seizure of payment chokepoints will allow him (and Trump) to surveil the entire economy and wield unilateral, unaccountable power:
In 2023, Farrell and Newman published an important book called Underground Empire, explaining how, during the War on Terror, GWB (and then Obama) weaponized global payment processing systems (most notably SWIFT) and other boring, technical systems, and then used them to wield enormous power around the world:
Farrell and Newman's point isn't merely that this power was used unwisely or cruelly, but also that the co-opted systems had an actual, useful, important job to do – a job that was only possible if these systems were widely viewed as credibly neutral and apolitical. The book ends with a sobering message about the chaos on the horizon if (when) other countries walk away from these system, leaving infrastructure vacuums in their wake. In their new Lawfare piece, Farrell and Newman imply not just that Musk and Trump are fashioning a powerful weapon out of the nation's digital infrastructure, but also that this could permanently undermine the vital national systems they're seizing control over, with no obvious candidates to replace them.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are still trying to find their asses with both hands, even as voters across the nation bombard them with demands to actually do something. I'm gonna call my senators and rep right after I finish this and remind them that when South Korea's autocratic president attempted a coup, lawmakers stormed the capital, leaping the fences while livestreaming to voters:
And they've launched a counterinitiative with the delightful name of "The Department of People Who Work for a Living":
https://deptofpeoplewhowork.org/
It's nice to see some inside/outside strategy underway. After all, Musk is cruel and disgusting, but he – and the lawyers and creeps who back him – are also very, very stupid, and they're fucking up all over the place.
Take shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency charged with defending America from financial predators (e.g. would-be usurers hoping to turn their social media sites into payment processing platforms). Under Biden's CFPB chief Rohit Chopra, the Bureau was an absolute powerhouse, adopting rules, investigating scammers, and punishing wrongdoers, all in service to the American people:
So naturally Musk and Trump have shut down the Bureau. But, as Adam Levitin writes for Credit Slips, this was a profoundly stupid move. You see, under Dodd-Frank – the post-2008 financial crisis law that created the CFPB – state attorneys general are empowered to enforce its rules. Those rules can't be amended or rescinded for so long as the CFPB is in a coma. What's more, any "violation of an enumerated consumer law is a violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act," which can be gone after by state AGs. Another thing: the Truth in Lending Act has a threshold for small loans, below which the Act doesn't apply. The CFPB is supposed to adjust that threshold for inflation, but without a CFPB, that threshold will be frozen in amber like the federal minimum wage, bringing every-larger constellations of financial activity within scope for AG enforcement in any or every state in the Union. Also: none of this can be changed without a 60-vote Senate majority. Nice one, Elon:
That isn't the only way that Trump shot himself in the dick last week. As Luke Savage writes, threatening to put tariffs on Canadian goods (and to annex Canada and make it the 51st state) had a profound effect on Canadian politics:
https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/all-bets-are-off
Before last week, Justin Trudeau's political legacy seemed assured. His many leadership failures, along with a billionaire-funded dark-money hate-machine that targeted him with culture-war nonsense and climate denial all added up to record low approval ratings. It was so bad that Trudeau actually sent Parliament home (recklessly leaving Canada without a legislature on the eve of Trump's presidency) and resigned as Liberal Party leader.
A week ago, pretty much everyone in Canada figured that the Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was about to romp to victory with a Ba'ath-style Parliamentary majority. Poilievre was and is an extraordinarily weak candidate, a guy who has literally never had a job except for "politician," who nevertheless ran as a political outsider, leading a coalition of racists, climate exterminationists, xenophobes, forced-birth militants, and other cryptofascists and low-tax brain-worm victims. The threat of a Poilievre government with a commanding majority was frankly terrifying. Think of him as someone with Trump's agenda and Mitch McConnell's ruthless administrative competence. Trump is bad enough – but smart Trump? Nightmare.
Then came the Trump tariffs and the annexation threats, and overnight, the Tories' 20-point lead narrowed to a two-point lead, which continues to shrink. Poilievre's brand boils down to "Make Canada America Again" – dismantle medicare, smash unions, punish immigrants, ban abortion. With Canadians booing the American anthem at NFL and NBA games and Quebecois demonstrators waving maple-leaf flags, this is not a good time to be running as the America guy.
Don't get me wrong. Trudeau is terrible. Bill Clinton terrible, say. But Poilievre? A fucking monster. Canada's political future may just have been rescued by Trump's big, stupid mouth. Thanks, eh?
Meanwhile, south of the border, our American cousins keep getting fed into the corporate woodchipper. It's been just over a year since Mainers went to the polls and voted in a Right to Repair law with an 83% majority. But a year later, the law is foundering, amid a corporate legal blitz led by the automakers, who have also put Massachusetts' massive popular 2020 Right to Repair law on ice with endless lawfare. :
This is the status quo in America. As a highly influential, widely cited 2014 peer-reviewed study found:
economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.
In other words, the only time the American people get what they demand is when giant corporations and oligarchs want it too. But when the plutes want something that the people despise, they almost always get their way.
Speaking of which, how's things going with Uber?
This week, Hubert Horan, the aviation industry analyst whose writings on Uber are the most important analysis of the company's business, investor scams, wage theft, and lobbying, published his long-awaited 34th research note on the company:
This edition is devoted to Tony West, Uber's Chief Legal Officer, and also brother-in-law to Kamala Harris, as well as manager of her disastrous failure of a 2024 election campaign. West may have run a Democratic presidential campaign, but he epitomizes the corporate corruption that gave rise to Trump. As Horan writes, West's first major accomplishment at Uber was to get the company exonerated for intimidating customers who were raped by Uber drivers. But his obituary will lead with the fact that he got Prop 22 passed in Calfornia, legalizing Uber's worker misclassification gambit, which allows the company to pay well below minimum wage and evade all workplace protection laws.
It was West who tapped Silicon Valley's tech oligarchs for large-dollar donations to the Harris campaign, which presumably played a substantial role in Harri's unwillingness to take a tough line on Big Tech while on the trail, creating the (correct) impression among voters that Harris would stand up for big business over their own interests.
It's an important read, and it's a reminder that the Democrats lost the last election every bit as much as Trump won it, and that their paralysis in the face of a national crisis is absolutely in character for the Democratic Party.
But on the other hand, the antitrust surge in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and China (!) over the past five years are all the more remarkable and heartening in light of the dismal and corrupt state of world governments. After all, there is no billionaire-backed dark money lobby whipping up support for smashing corporate power. The antitrust victories of the 2020s marked a turning point – the first time in my memory when extremely popular policies that the wealthy hated triumphed.
Decapitating the agencies that made those policies won't change the enormous political rage that led to the antitrust surge. If anything, it will only feed it. Enforcers like Rohit Chopra, Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter did brilliant, important work – but they were only able to do it because of us. They're out of office, but we're still here. Don't ever forget that.
I certainly won't. This week, I turned in the edited manuscript for my next book, a nonfiction title called Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It, which Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish next October:
The day I turned it in Ars Technica ran a huge package called "As Internet enshittification marches on, here are some of the worst offenders," reeling off the most disgusting high-tech ripoffs trying to worm their way into your home and wallet:
I love to see how giving a name and a description to this phenomenon has captured and directed some of that rage. And for the record, it doesn't bother me at all that some of these people are using "enshittification" to mean "corporations fucking shit up" without regard to my formal definition of the process. As I wrote last October:
Many people apply the term "enshittification" very loosely indeed, to mean "something that is bad," without bothering to learn – or apply – the theoretical framework. This is good. This is what it means for a term to enter the lexicon: it takes on a life of its own. If 10,000,000 people use "enshittification" loosely and inspire 10% of their number to look up the longer, more theoretical work I've done on it, that is one million normies who have been sucked into a discourse that used to live exclusively in the world of the most wonkish and obscure practitioners. The only way to maintain a precise, theoretically grounded use of a term is to confine its usage to a small group of largely irrelevant insiders. Policing the use of "enshittification" is worse than a self-limiting move – it would be a self-inflicted wound.
And also: there's a lot of stuff that's just shitty right now, which is one of the reasons my word's putting up such great numbers. People are getting fed up with it, in ways large…and small. Take the post-pandemic trend of using your phone in speaker-mode in public places. I'm a prison abolitionist, but I'll make an exception for people who do this. Display 'em in stocks. Chain 'em up by their wrists. Or, you know, do what they do in France: fine them €150 for using a speakerphone on the train:
Speaking of gruesome tortures, the essential Long Forgotten blog has posted its extensive, thoughtful review of the changes to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Very few people can write about built environment entertainment like Long Forgotten (the only other person who comes to mind is the excellent Foxx Nolte). Long Forgotten's verdict is "mostly good, but man, that new gift shop *suuuuucks:
OK, it's time for me to go and make my packing list for the tour. I'm going to leave you with a song. Last night, my pal Cynthia Hathaway turned me on to the Shotgun Jazz band, led by trumpeter/frontwoman Maria Dixon. If you like Louis Prima-style shout-singing, you'll love 'em – I bought everything they had on Bandcamp this morning:
https://www.shotgunjazzband.com/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Wake up, grumble about the nobility and injustices in society, consider a shower and ultimately ignore standard, basic, daily hygiene rituals. Time to decide upon warm oats or stale bread with mold in place of jam. Ultimately decide on that sweet, sweet jam. Now, time to go to work.
Krusty grunted as he stepped into the prison’s cavern, pressing his hands onto his lower spine and flexing backwards in a futile attempt to pop his back. Releasing another agitated grumble as he’d make his way over to his stool where he had spent most of his time in the past few days. It was hard work sitting and staring at a wall, but fortunately Krusty was a professional with years of experience under his rapidly expanding belt. Today was no different for the jail keeper; making his way over to the cell with a simple cudgel in hand. Tapping on the cell’s iron bars rather the Matriarch was up or not.
“Right then, move your skinny ass over to the wall and stay there. It’s time for your bucket change; got a clean one right here for ya. Nothin’ but the best for you, Princess.” Krusty tapped on the metal bars with the said bucket that had an equally crusty interior likely from years of use for the same reasons. After a few moments, Krusty would open up the cell door with his key before sliding into the cage himself making his way over to the corner with the droppings bucket - perhaps disturbingly excited to do so in fact. As Krusty made his way over there you both could hear his name being called down the labyrinth of tunnels; a booming voice shouting orders for the old man:
“Krusty! We got some shite buckets for you to empty out! Get to the barracks!”
With a low grumble, Krusty sat down the new bucket and scooped up the other, looking over his shoulder at the opening into the prison as he’d try to decipher the orders with his patchy hearing that had come with his age and unhealthy lifestyle.
“Meh, whole damn place would be floodin’ with shit if it weren’t for ole’ Krusty.”
@adhelin
The Empire seemed to have calmed down the past few days with their advances. Sure there were common folk that were busy resenting the Nobility, but few had seen an attack or death threat. Of course such was just the ebbing of the waves, drawing out towards the vast oceans to restore its reserves before casting itself towards the lands in a mighty shove. It was time to add fear to the Nobility, time to burn the lands that many had murdered and stolen for.
With the assistance of a Dwarf, the Empire made ready for their next plan. Within the lands of Nobility large, consuming orbs of fire with a great force radiated out from a mundane epicenter in an explosive mass. Ripping through the earth and stone they were planted on or under to devastating effect. Some were stored in holes underneath homes, some stored along pathways and bridges that winded through the various noblelands. Others breached through imposing border-walls and fortresses creating gaping wounds in the various militant structures.
Perhaps it was a busy road of yours with an unfortunate passing over that caught the explosion. Perhaps it was a maid opening the wrong door to a household that triggered the destruction. Or perhaps no one was around at all but still the earth would quake as the force blasted a hole through your army’s defensive wall or fortress. Some may have taken lives, others simply reminding that the Empire was still here in the fields awaiting their next moment to strike.
In addition it seems a group has been supplying discontent villagers within the lands of Westfall. Fueling them with the directed message of the Empire, arming them with basic weaponry, and simply pointing causing for a surprisingly effective uprising within the impoverished lands. Reports of government buildings being broken into and raided, supplies being stolen, before torching the area and moving to the next location like a plague of locust. Moving together as a swarm and resorting to guerrilla tactics when necessary, the force steadily made its way to the bridges that connected the masses to the lands of Duskwood and Elwynn.
This here is phase two; designed as a self-inflicting prompt. The groups and individuals themselves will decide on a location of the explosive and the severity of the damage, and if it harmed/killed anyone.
For the Kestavin Family, things quickly grew dim as the soldiers of the empire lined the top of the nearby hills - outnumbering their small garrison by nearly three to one. To make matters worse, a large cannon was wheeled forward - the largest the land had seen thus far; it seemed nearly impossible in size... Yet here it was, firing stones larger than most carts into their gatehouse. The force of the strike rattling the length of the walls as Lady Rian watched atop - ordering the soldiers and encouraging them in the trying hour, knowing full well that many would be dying today. With the final slam of stone against the gatehouse, the doors were ripped ajar and with that the mass of the Empire’s militia charged down through the fields. Dozens were picked off by rifle and cannon fire, as well as arrows and bolts - but still like a forest fire they continued to run rampant. Flooding into the broken gatehouse to engage the daring Kestavin elites. Dozens and dozens of bodies began to stack up in the small quarters - forcing the Empire’s soldiers to drag out their dead to continue their assault.
Nearly an hour passed before finally the Kestavin Soldiers lost their footing - allowing the Empire’s forces to run up the length of the walls to engage the archers and rifleman. With the guns and cannons distracted and silenced, the Empire launched their Elite Soldiers into the fray. With the Kestavin soldier’s largely exhausted from their extensive combat the influx of skilled, highly trained, and well equipped soldiers quickly turned the tide against the House of Kestavin.
Seeing the tide of battle turn, Lady Rian called for a tactical retreat within the sturdy keep. The few surviving soldiers turning and making their way into the fortifications as the Empire surged over the area - taking the courtyard. Taking the time to wander the fields and stab at any surviving Kestavin Soldiers while tending to their own injured. The keep was surrounded, the Empire would have to take the fort fully know if they wanted a true victory here - they know other armies would come sooner or later.
((The following conversation took place on the eve of February 10th in Addlewood. Forgive any formatting errors, as this is a cleaned up log of in-game chat.))
Ceruszael inclines his head toward Cordelia and Cedrick as they arrive. The room he'd appropriated was spares, a single desk pushed against a wall with a few papers strewn across it. Two chairs, clearly unused, were shoved against the opposite wall. "Thank you both for being prompt."
Cordeliea entwines gloved digits together at the base of her abdomen, as was per her customary stance. Cordially, she dips her head in greeting and offered another toward the cousin juxtaposed to her right.
Cedriçk looked between the two. His features were rather stern and he offered nothing more than a nod to them both.
Ceruszael takes a step forward, hands moving to clasp behind his back. "I'll be blunt. As you both know by now, and if not you should, Adhelin has been abducted from her townhouse in Stormwind. A group of no less than four carried out the act. No traces of magic were left behind, and everything suggests someone besides our mutually acquainted warlock as the perpetrator." He reaches toward the desk, plucking an opened envelope from it and holding it out to Cedrick. "A body was discovered not far from the house. Ankles broken, shot through the head. This was on his person."
Cedriçk accepted the note after strolling forward. He looked down at the parchment and studied its contents, "When do you need it by?" the nobleman asked.
Cordeliea dips her head in a solemn nod. "I pressured one of the guards to tell me what was transpiring; he was reluctant to say, but told me in hopes it would placate my curiosity." Her attention momentarily drifts toward the envelope Ceruszael handed to Cedrick. "Other than this letter, have we heard anything about her current state?"
Ceruszael's eyes flared brighter for a fleeting moment. "As soon as it can be deciphered. Time, I needn't remind you, is of the essence." He looked toward Cordelia. "Those who abducted her escaped via portal, not far from where the body was found. It was one of the last things he saw before being shot. I've yet been unable to track down Sarahni to investigate and see if she can trace its destination." He reached again to the desk, this time pulling free a piece of paper. The note upon it was brief, and bore the sigil of House Von Gacy. "Percival, formerly of the City Guard, now a Von Gacy, before that Dewdancer, and when first I met him Aldenhardt. His disdain for us is not unknown. Yet, he offers aid." He held this letter toward Cordelia. "Lord Marshal Kestavin, appointed just prior to Adhelin's abduction, has seen fit to task a portion of his House's forces with the protection of Addlewood and its occupants. This is either a legitimate act of concern, or in contradiction to his claim a play for control and he is complicit in her abduction." At this, the Castellan paused. "You two, along with Kaidren and Tiom, represent the core power behind the Holt name. We need a plan."
Cordeliea accepted the letter with a newly unentwined hand; gloved thumb drifts along the parchment whilst her other hand gripped the opposite corner. "My husband wrote and said he would sent men to assist in our protection. If more are needed, I am to send word...and he said that if we would like, myself and my siblings can go to Ebonbrooke. As far as we are aware, no one outside of myself and perhaps a few others know of its immediate location."
Cedriçk snorted to himself, "A plan for what? Without any knowledge on.. well.. anything.. what -can- we plan?" the Duke sighed as he looked over the note once more, "While it is not the Intelligence's job to run after nobles... I can certainly pull strings. Gain the aid of a few operatives. In more ways than one." He then waved the note about a bit, "..we can observe the scene, unless it has been tampered with?"
Cordeliea's face scrunched with Ceruszael's assumption about the Lord Marshall. "I understand our House has been at the center of many tragedies... but I don't believe the Lord Marshall has any discontent and merely wishes to help protect us."
Ceruszael looks to Cedrick, though points to Cordelia. "Perhaps not a plan, but we need to agree on certain aspects. That is one of them. I have no problem, voicing darker thoughts that, however unlikely, may be possible." He then shakes his head. "Her chambers have not been tampered with to me knowledge, beyond the removal of one dead guard and two injured men. All wounds inflicted were with knives. Two thrown, one to cut the dead man's throat. I have the throwing knives here, along with the corpse of the man found shot in the street. You're welcome to inspect them." He glances toward the table for a moment. "As for Ebonbrooke, it may be a good idea. It may not. A plan coordinated in this manner implies strategic thinking and execution. Perhaps they anticipate consolidation and more guards. Perhaps they anticipate fleeing to little known strongholds." He shrugs, again looking to the pair. "I'm open to suggestions, but that leads to my final point. Who is to make the final decision on these matters, until Adhelin's return?"
[Cedriçk]: Well, where is our beloved Head of House? Hiding away and mourning the kidnapping of his sister?
Cedriçk shrugs.
Cordeliea's lips part with the expulsion of a heavy sigh. "Should it truly be one person or a vote amongst us? As one person, would our judgment not be clouded or biased, depending on the matter of discussion? At least with a vote, we would have others to help make a decision with a clear mind."
[Cedriçk]: A vote amongst us will only lead to disagreement, as we have seen with Rinoha, whom has taken it upon herself to withdraw. I must agree with the Castellan. One individual to make the decisions, with the guidance of the rest.
Ceruszael shrugs in response to Cedrick's query. "I don't know, but neither can we waste time digging him out of whatever hole he's found himself in." He then looks to Cordelia. "A group will not always be able to be called together. When decisions need to be made swiftly and decisively, one needs the authority to act without worrying about being overruled." An inclination of the head toward Cedrick. "I haven't been able to contact Tiom or Kaidren as of yet. So it falls to us. You two, as family. Myself, appointed by your blood."
[Cordeliea]: Since we were unable to contact them and draw their concern, let it fall to the three of us. I will trust the two of you to mobilize the forces and execute tactics because I haven't been properly schooled in the matter. I've some knowledge, but I am not a soldier.
Cedriçk looked between the two once more. He offered a shrug, "If you feel you can make the right decisions, by all means. But I will not be told how to do my work. That being said.." he trailed off, "..I will do my own work and leave you both to the rest."
[Ceruszael]: If that is the case, Cordelia will be consulted on family matters and the conducting of a noble house's business. I am properly versed in neither. I will call on you for insights into subterfuge and intelligence. I ask only reports back on what either of you find, and will provide the same. So we are all well informed.
Cedriçk nodded, "Excellent."
[Cedriçk]: Might I ask for the body to be delivered to the Intelligence headquarters within the next day? Along with the various weapons.
[Ceruszael]: It will be done. The man who discovered it, along with those who have seen it in the process of it being brought here are with it. I ordered its discovery not be spread, as he wore our colors. I suspected, if infiltration became known among the Lionsguard, suspicion toward the influx of Kestavin soldiers would cause infighting. Do with them what you will.
Ceruszael cants his head to the side. "What of Von Gacy's offer? Do we involve him?"
Cedriçk sighed quietly, "For the time being... I say no. They have helped us many times, and each time it has ended not so well for them, leaving he and his on bad terms with us.
[Cedriçk]: If i'm being honest, I think it is more of a headache than any assistance.
Ceruszael nods slowly. "His reaching out is an opportunity to mend relations, to a point, however. I think we reject his offer, but advise him of the dangers we've seen thus far in general terms. We cite a need to organize and stabilize as the reason for rejection."
[Cedriçk]: While that is true, the man seems to have a short fuse. One that does not mesh well with that of our own.
[Ceruszael]: I'll take the brunt of it if his anger flares. If the response comes from me, perhaps his anger will not wholly set upon the Holt name.
[Cedriçk]: If you feel we should accept, I am not against it. I simply believe that we should have caution.
[Ceruszael]: I agree with rejecting the offer, for now. But advise sharing a measure of information we've gathered surrounding the act. Not who was taken, nor full details, but enough that he doesn't feel scorned by a family he already has disdain for.
Cedriçk nods.
[Cedriçk]: Very well then. Have you anything else for me?
Ceruszael shakes his head. "Let me know when you've decoded that message. I'll have the weapons and body sent your way promptly."
