Categories
history

No Good War

There is a familiar habit among commentators and observers to reach backward into history whenever the present becomes frightening, as though the archive might reassure us that the machinery of civilisation has seen worse and survived. Maybe it has. But what we are dealing with now looks less like a familiar historical episode and more […]

Categories
cybernetics

After

If the United States survives their current political apoplexy, there is a genuine possibility of reconstruction, but only because damage exposes the relationships that mattered and brings hidden dependencies into the open, revealing how the system was actually held together. The damage being inflicted is real and severe, economic and political at once. Disruption to […]

Categories
politics technology

The Engine of Tyranny

Blame draws breath. Inhale the fear of other people. Exhale the accusation that keeps the fear alive. Each cycle promises control—naming enemies, drawing boundaries, standing strong—but strength here is a mask. What passes for rebellion only generates new codes, new rituals, new obligations. Rules always return, harsher and more brittle, precisely because they are denied. […]