Every one of these "production shell companies" that Thiel and them finance each have a marketing budget. That budget goes to click farms and they don't just promote the project, they drive engagement by pissing people off and everyone keeps falling for the fake negativity.

Ya'll don't have to be weird, aggressive and insincere anymore. Just say thinkgs that you really care about and we'll actually get workers rights reforms and honest management of public goods.

I left my wallet at my bodega. got it back with cash in it. I lady I never met before and never will kindly demanded I get rung out before her even though I got out of the line to find something at the grocery store. If you stop letting twitter set the tone for your life, you'll see how you're surrounded by kindness.

Stop getting angry over fake comments and start feeling optimist that most of us are actually nice people when we're not on the internet.

  • thefunkycomitatus [he/him,they/them]
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    4 years ago

    Guys the answer to extrapolating a negative worldview from a small sample of anecdotal events is to extrapolate a positive worldview from a small sample of anecdotal events.

    What are you even talking about dude? If Peter Thiel can steer political action by paying shitposters to shitpost, then shitposting means something. If everyone changes their mind based on twitter, then twitter matters. A lot of people keep insisting that media doesn't matter, it doesn't drive anything, it's not real politics. But that's just a tautology and it may not even be true. You make assumptions about the relationship between media and action based on evidence, ie Peter Thiel pays people to push right wing messaging so the country moves right. You don't start out with an assumption and then only accept whatever evidence suits it, ie Peter Thiel pays people and the country moves right but it's okay because someone didn't rob me so the world is actually good and media doesn't matter.

    I am sincere 90% of the time here. Just because we like a joke doesn't mean we're clowns.

    • PopCultureIsTheCIA [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      You think the "comments" are whats important and therefore don't believe we should both trying to understand the structure of political manipulation and how it's actually happening?

      A worldview where you state problems vaguely without proper nouns or any actual understanding of their strategies, can't actually help.

      Stop thinking every single thing you've ever felt on the internet is real. Go outside and yell at someone from 10 feet away. Ask em how their day is going it. It'll go a lot better than posting ironic pictures of Nazi's.

      • thefunkycomitatus [he/him,they/them]
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        4 years ago

        No I don't think posting is what's important. In my history you'll find I have advocated people log off and do real political action several times here.

        What I am saying is that if posting doesn't matter, and the only real action happens in the streets, then Peter Thiel is wasting his money. If he can actually alter people's actions then posting does matter. Both can't be true at the same time. Either media drives action or it doesn't. People on the left have long insisted that it doesn't. You're actually the one worrying about something that doesn't matter, according to your own logic and reasoning. If the world is actually fine and everyone is good and posting doesn't matter, then why do you need to monitor the structure of political manipulation? Does it manipulation work or not? State your premises.

        • PopCultureIsTheCIA [he/him]
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          4 years ago

          log off and do real political action several times here

          This is kind of the problem. You're coming from the right place but you still think these comments matter in and of themselves. I can read thousands of fake comments and never get angry if I don't trick myself into thinking they're real. The internet is a powerful tool for organization if you don't get distracted by corporate optics instead of focusing on countering their tactics.

          The real world organizing is more important than ever but why are we pretending its hard to post 10 positive tweets? That shit takes 20 minutes if you can think clearly and it might help but it definitely doesn't cost anyone anything and you can do it over your morning coffee. Stop being drama queens. Doing politics is safe, easy and fun if you're not arguing with bots all day.

          All dichotomies are false, never accept the premise.

          • thefunkycomitatus [he/him,they/them]
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            4 years ago

            You’re coming from the right place but you still think these comments matter in and of themselves.

            What in the absolute value of fuck are you talking about? When did I say this? You need to develop your dialectics because they fucking suck tbh. You just want to argue with someone without even hearing what they're saying. Like you've been having this argument in your head and you need to get it out. Start a blog if you just want to write some stuff.

            All dichotomies are false, never accept the premise.

            Guys the dichotomy between slave and owner, lord and subject, employer and worker are false. Guess that settles that.

          • Nakoichi [they/them]
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            4 years ago

            you still think these comments matter

            Take your own advice bud.

    • PopCultureIsTheCIA [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      https://www.stratcomcoe.org/jeff-giesea-its-time-embrace-memetic-warfare

      This is the tactic. The optics are "lets make sure Joe Rogan is the loudest voice in podcasting because he's the only person dumb enough to believe every single thing we have Bret Weinstein tell him on air".

      You think you're taking in real information when you're on twitter but every dumb shit, self defeating comment on the internet is coming from marketing interns hired by Geisea. You still think there are meaningful numbers of trolls just because you take "like counts" and "shitty comments" at face value.

      • thefunkycomitatus [he/him,they/them]
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        4 years ago

        Stop pigeonholing me dingus. You're having an argument with some person in your head who isn't actually replying to you right now. Reply to me, not a strawman. Either quote where I said anything you just accused me of believing or shut the fuck up.

            • PopCultureIsTheCIA [he/him]
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              4 years ago

              I have never once called you an idiot and I'm sorry you read it that way. I guess I don't understand why the people here don't seem capable or interested in talking to someone they might disagree with. Why are you viewing my ideas as an attack?

              • thefunkycomitatus [he/him,they/them]
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                4 years ago

                The title of your thread implies we all have some sort of misunderstanding. So you start off with a critique. I argue back with a slight bit of sarcasm to point out how your solution to the problem we all have is to commit the same error in logic, but on the other side. Then I explain why your views on posting are contradictory. Next you start telling me everything I believe and think about posting, which isn't based on anything but your own prejudices. You didn't even read what I said you just pressed on with your own argument. That's not talking. Now you're trying to frame it as we're too sensitive to entertain contrary ideas? Pathetic.

                Looking through your history there's a lot of idealism there. Your politics just don't seem developed enough. That's okay, we were all there, but you need to work on that shit dude. Just some examples:

                Vote for Biden and then lets impeach him for voter suppression. Thats the most optimal strategy for workers rights going forward

                ???

                I completely agree. I just think it actually matters if we’re going for “positive influence” or “negative influence”. I dont think activism needs leadership, it just needs to be positive. Good ideas spread for free and bad ideas need money and authority behind them.

                Pure idealism.

                The tumor isn’t trump, its Manafort, Black and Stone and lobbying in general.

                lib shit. as if lobbying not existing would fix things.

                I kinda think nearly all of us are here because we want to help workers but that we’ve all been tricked into never caring, never trying and just being sarcastic edge lords.

                13 days ago. This is what I mean by having an argument in your head.

                Vote for the least destructive person and then engage in direct action on behalf of good people. There isn’t one election. We have a whole life’s worth of voting ahead of us. Think about what it would mean for 10 million young voters to say “I will only ever vote for the furthest left candidate”. Well if your job is being in office, your job becomes “moving to the left”.

                Kindness + Market Principles = Shrinking Capitalism until its a safe mini-game in a healthy society.

                Absolute insanity. No material basis in the slightest. Liberalism. Kindness + market principles = shrinking capitalism. What the fuck? That's not how capitalism works. That's not how math works. None of this makes sense. Please, and I hate to pull this card, read theory.

                • PopCultureIsTheCIA [he/him]
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                  4 years ago

                  Why not just ignore the negative parts and appreciate the positive? I am actively trying to shake my own internal negativity. You realize the algorithms DO work. They change out how we feel based on the input material we take in. But what if we don't have to take EVERY piece of it in the same way?

                  Do you think I'm being funded by a rightwing influence peddling, money laundering conservative think take? If not, there's no reason to pretend any of the bad parts of what I'm saying are actually going to matter.

            • Nakoichi [they/them]
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              4 years ago

              That comment didn't even come across as angry, just calling him a silly name for getting worked up over stuff that actually doesn't matter enough to be angry about.

              Edit: I knew I recognized this name, this is the "vote Biden or else" guy. Glad there are still libs to dunk on here.