They like Corporate cities and entities - e.g. London, East India Company, Vatican City et al. Governance by the people for the people is so 'Enlightenment' period! Maybe the rise of the West, fuelled by private ownership rights, was a mere aberration in the historical timeline, andn ow we are reverting to normal?
Mar 16, 2023·edited Mar 16, 2023Liked by Simplicius
I live in one of the pilot cities in England destined as a "15-minute city". The first rollout involved setting up "traffic filters" forcing automobile traffic into certain patterns - no side street short-cuts to take you from one major road to another through a residential area, filters so that traffic from one part of the city have to follow a circuitous route around the city in order to reach another part of the city, and next year permits that allow you only so many times to enter restricted areas (these of course can be further restricted later and only apply to cars at the moment, but think about also applying them to everyone eventually!). Bicycle lanes are expanded and car lanes reduced, making it more and more difficult to drive in the city, thus encouraging you to take public transport, walk or cycle. I can well see the possible dystopian world we are entering.
I am in hopes that your predictions of a globalist failure will bear fruit eventually as we pass into a multi-polar world. The Chinese and Russian versions of the national state do not allow corporations to rule as they do in the West, so there is some hope there.
I suspect the world will ultimately coalesce into tow major divisions - a "Free World" consisting of sovereign independent states like China and Russia, and a "Dystopian West", an integrate "Fice Eyes", if you will, ruled with the iron hand of major multinational corporations and international bankers..
You're right, as I once heard repeated "in the western system, corporations control the gov't, in China the gov't controls the corporations". Your last paragraph is definitely on the money
I wrote that with sadness, as the West I grew up in, full of hope for the future and inspirational, bears no resemblance to the West as it is unfurling now, covered with clouds of darkness and gloom amidst the image of "progressiveness" and "freedom and democracy". I told my wife, who is a Russian patriot, that I feel I no longer have a home in this world, that my home tragically passed away quietly and without fanfare into the distant past, irrevocably unrecoverable.
Mar 16, 2023·edited Mar 16, 2023Liked by Simplicius
"I grew up in a communist country. My father was imprisoned for three (3) years for the crime of celebrating Christmas (by having a Christmas tree in our home). Then, after the Berlin Wall fell, we had a war. As a grown-up journalist/writer, I was subsequently prosecuted and persecuted for my writing. (As a result, I was granted political asylum in the U.S.)
America was that mythical land so many of us around the world dreamed about. (I know, I've been to 83 countries, and that "America," meaning the U.S., always had an almost magical ring to it.) I am quoting this paragraph from my book just to show you the sentiment re: one tiny part of that America that, it seems to me now, never was:
"I always wanted to go around the cowboy country saying, 'howdy pilgrim' and/or 'howdy ma'am' and even more so, given that I never drink it, 'that's one damn fine cup of coffee, ma'am,' as I dabble in being a cowboy. I would find some ancient diner on the mythical Route 66, near Kingman, AZ, and enjoy bacon strip pancakes, bread-n-butter waffles, and a wonderfully gooey chocolate cinnamon bun. Or two. Perhaps several. Screw those Whole Foods cultists and their damn arugula salad. Who would eat food that requires you to put a beak on a mug in order to eat?"
At that time, I still had fun with the madness. Alas, as the days progressed, I've seen the Cultural Revolution of the worst kind growing in the States like cancer. Those images of "progressiveness" and "freedom and democracy" you wrote about were 10x scarier than the communist dogma -- everyone knew it was BS, the communist dogma, everyone knew the people in power were just mindless, power-hungry ghouls, not worthy of respect -- but once they managed to have the people voluntarily don those ridiculous cloth masks for "health reasons," etc., I started to look around myself, noticing that more than half of the population is utterly insane.
Ready to ostracize you, like they've done with "rats" (Jews in Nazi Germany who were "spreading disease), to isolate you, to corral you - we all know what was happening - I saw the burning houses of Sarajevo many years ago or Bakhmut today in America's future. And then, the "mostly peaceful protests" in the burning parts of Minneapolis, coming from the TV, told me, that's it, that's fucking it - the dystopia is real for the people do not believe their own eyes/reason anymore.
My heart broke. America was my country of choice, the land I still love, my only home. Alas, now, a cancerous home filled with hatred created in the labs, much worse than the one that gave us virus.
So I left, and now I have no home. I still do not know where to go, where to live out these last remaining years before these evil monsters eviscerate us all in a nuclear war - the only way out for their greed, madness, and utter disregard for human life.
My best years were spent tree planting in the West, living in my straw bale hand built “abode”… the West still holds me captive, the woods, rivers, the big open. The less I intergrate, the better. After many decade …grinding away in service to others; now…service to self, great humility, grace and ease, GodSpeed🧡🔥🧡
"a "Free World" consisting of sovereign independent states like China"
While China may stay independent and 'free' - from a globalist perspective - China has been at the forefront of 'managing' their masses ... social credit scoring, facial recognition systems everywhere, concentration camps (zero covid lockdowns, organ harvesting), squashing HK independence, the impending (?) squashing of Taiwain independence, ...
China is indeed not a democracy. And it certainly is authoritarian in nature. You are correct. But there is also untruth in what you mention as well. There are no concentration camps and organ harvesting - that is all Western propaganda as the Uyghurs themselves will attest. Yes, they have a social credit system - much the same as is being developed in the West. And yes, they have facial recognition systems spread all over - even licence plat readers, and telephone monitoring, and internet censorship - just like us. They have abandoned zero covid lockdowns as unproductive and harmful. You seem to forget that both Hong Kong and Taiwan are chinese provinces, not independent states. The USA has spoiled everything for both by encouraging revolt and social disorder - China reasonably is taking measures to correct that, as is their right to do so.
You are also correct that they have been at the forefront of managing their masses, but in doing so they have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of desperate poverty and now have the largest middle class in the world (NB: Just a gentle reminder - our middle classes are disappearing, not growing). They have the largest car market in the world. They technology is growing leaps and bounds. They are establishing the New Silk Road. And their people are fanatically nationalists - they love their country. They are grateful and proud of the progress their country has made and the part the the CCP has had in that.
It might be wise not to judge too harshly or too quickly other countries for their lifestyles, cultures and governments - esp as we are frequently guilty of the very same acts as others whom we feel free to criticise with abandon. One of the major problems with our governments in the West, esp USA and UK, is that though we live in glass houses, we are constantly throwing stones at other glass houses. This is now coming back to bite us.
Maybe one of the answers to this dystopian future of globalisation is by Wolfgang Streeck who explains why the sovereign nation-state is the only democratic form of political organization in post-neoliberal capitalism: https://www.youtube.com/live/0nrANgtv3l0?feature=share
yep I agree and I think the world is heading towards increasing fracturing which will create a lot of isolated nation-states and 'blocs' in some ways similar to cold war except with a new economic dark age spurred by a collapsing financial system and collapsing human demographics / birthrates / etc
To achieve that, the future should either be linear (SSDD), either dominated by the globalists; they need to crush Russia and China and use their resources for their wet dreams... lots of good luck with that. US$ is crashing and I don't see non-vassal states accepting Fed digital coupons so everything should be built locally (and I see no effort to re-industrialize anything in US).
I don't see the globalist being willing to invest in any type of infrastructure project; the roads and railways are crumbling... why would they invest anything in building cities, smart or dumb? In my opinion, this is highly unlikely to happen...
China on the other hand, is totally able to implement all the above.
Forgive me if I get details wrong. A man was chased by a lion to the edge of a cliff. With no where to turn, he hastily scrambled over the side and started down, clinging to a vine. Halfway down the cliff, he looked down to the ground below and saw a tiger pacing back and forth, watching him, licking its jaws. Looking up, he saw a mouse st the edge of the cliff nibbling on his vine. Looking to the side, he saw a big, red, juicy strawberry. It was the best strawberry he ever ate.
We've been between a rock and a hard place since day 1, whenever that was. Sosdd.
Brilliant article. Concise and most importantly, dispels the fringe "conspiracy" projections of the capabilities and intentions of 5g.
With the truly nightmarish potentialities as described in this comprehensive outline, who needs to postulate reptilian overlords, energy death beams and switch on/off viruses.
This description is as dystopian as it gets within the realms of rationality.
Many thanks for the grim but necessary picture of a reality that rivals anything in my worst dreams🙏
In view of this essay, perhaps we should put our hopes into a massive CME (Coronal Mass Ejection), disrupting the whole electronic bubble of the globe.
After all, one such happened only a few days ago - on the 'wrong' side of the sun. See this report and the comment posts:
Yeah, you lost me at 5G causing cancer. Microwave radiation is non ionising so cannot damage DNA molecules directly any more than infrared can.
Also, 15 minute cities are to stop urban sprawl and ensure services are provided locally rather than wasteful US cities - which have draconian zoning laws and no mixing of house types or utilities. It's not about fencing people into their local area, it's about making their local area livable without massive energy use for car transport.
Visit a favela around Sao Paulo or any other developing city to see what zero urban planning will create. The suburban, single family home only, dead zones around most US cities are something to ridicule and have been enforced with draconian zoning laws.
Funny you should say that - I lived in a Rocinha, the biggest favela in Rio / Brazil, than in Salvador da Bahia (BR) and Tijuana (MX), in a "hotel" next to the Red Zone. I also spent a week in slums of Mombassa, Kenya with a writer / ghetto dweller and another two weeks in slums of Nakuru where my other friend lived. So yes, I have an idea about lack of planning.
As far as your "guidance," Victor said it much better than I would. No "guidance" just coercion. Read his comment, I ditto 100% of what he said.
There is no "guidance" about it. No one voted for it. The public was not advised. No public scrutiny was offered.
This is being forced on us and we have no say on it.
It is typical leftist tyranny. They never see their actions as tyrannical, but only justified in the causes of "freedom and democracy", a cleaner, carbon-free world. To disagree with them is to be cancelled.
I presume you have never had to submit a planning application. I suggest you try it to see how the process works and see what can and cannot be built in certain areas. Rather than a single family home dead zone, applications for local shops or utilities are more likely to be approved to benefit the local areas rather than being rejected out of hand.
So rather than deal with uncomfortable and heated dialogue with the public over these issues, you and your kind, for our own good, are simply going to force your "solutions" on us.
Nope. It prevents NIMBYs or OCD planners from obstructing mixed neighbourhood developments. It'll allow development by local people to what they feel the area needs.
Excellent article on the machinations of the idiots trying to run the human race. Some points:
1) All this was predicted by cyberpunk sci-fi in the 1980s. Read the rule books and novels associated with the role-playing games "Cyberpunk" and "Shadowrun." Or play "Cyberpunk 2077".
2) This is why hacking is one of the most important survival skills for the world that's coming.
3) Ninjutsu is another one. Ninjutsu is not a martial art - it is a philosophy of survival and espionage - also critical skills for the world that's coming.
4) Drop your 5G phone in a Faraday bag and forget about it. Learn about burner phones and tradecraft.
I'll be writing about these solutions and others over the wide spectrum of possibilities in my Substack, "The Five Essentials" at https:⁄⁄richardstevenhack.substack.com⁄ As Joe Bob Briggs used to say about drive-in movies, "Check it out!"
The technology is a tool, be it cars, guns, computers, etc. There are positives and negatives to everything. The real issues that need addressing are the underlaying paradigms driving society.
Given those with the greatest amount of power are the ones benefiting the most from the current cultural beliefs and the rest of us are being divided and conquered, using the modern versions of carrots and sticks, fear and greed, it is that underlaying psychology that needs to be addressed.
While I've been on medium for several years, I posted this on sub stack, as an overview of some of the more basic issues;
A good read. Well intentioned plan apparently by some. One thing I gather they gave overlooked. All industries protect their market share and none do so as well as the cash driven drug industry. They are they only group ruthless and powerful enough if they see fit to destroy that infrastructure. I don’t see them using a cdc for transactions
Helium is essential and not replaceable for electronics manufacture - from growing silicon crystals for semiconductors to manufacturing optical fibres, thanks to its low reactivity, low density and high thermal conductivity. But humans are fast running out of this vital gas. Most of the world’s helium currently comes from long-ago discovered natural gas fields in the United States which are nearer to the end of their production life than the beginning. Some comes from Qatar and Algeria, both large natural gas producers. Helium extraction will almost certainly peak when production from the natural gas reservoirs containing economical amounts of helium peaks. The electronic future envisioned in this post is not manufacturable nor scalable, since there are bigger competitors for finite helium supply like welding MRI scanners, leak detection, research etc.
Unless new natural gas fields containing economical amounts of helium are found soon—or one company prospecting for economical deposits of helium mixed with non-hydrocarbon gases succeeds in a big way—helium supplies are likely to begin a long, irreversible decline
Life eventually imitates art. Star Wars communicators were almost prophetic in their prediction of handheld devices. Eventually the real world technology caught up and I will never forget the resemblance of the Motorola flip phone
So, now, what art predict on this tech? Altered Carbon? The Expanse? Minority Report? Black Mirror? A bit of everything?
Asked a different way: is there any way this wounds up NOT being a dystopian authoritarian nightmare?
Farewell and good fortune!
Correct, adios ❤️🇲🇽💚
Santa Clara county used geofencing to monitor how many people were inside a church that did not follow the Covid mandates
Hell, so it's already rolled out huh?
They like Corporate cities and entities - e.g. London, East India Company, Vatican City et al. Governance by the people for the people is so 'Enlightenment' period! Maybe the rise of the West, fuelled by private ownership rights, was a mere aberration in the historical timeline, andn ow we are reverting to normal?
I live in one of the pilot cities in England destined as a "15-minute city". The first rollout involved setting up "traffic filters" forcing automobile traffic into certain patterns - no side street short-cuts to take you from one major road to another through a residential area, filters so that traffic from one part of the city have to follow a circuitous route around the city in order to reach another part of the city, and next year permits that allow you only so many times to enter restricted areas (these of course can be further restricted later and only apply to cars at the moment, but think about also applying them to everyone eventually!). Bicycle lanes are expanded and car lanes reduced, making it more and more difficult to drive in the city, thus encouraging you to take public transport, walk or cycle. I can well see the possible dystopian world we are entering.
I am in hopes that your predictions of a globalist failure will bear fruit eventually as we pass into a multi-polar world. The Chinese and Russian versions of the national state do not allow corporations to rule as they do in the West, so there is some hope there.
I suspect the world will ultimately coalesce into tow major divisions - a "Free World" consisting of sovereign independent states like China and Russia, and a "Dystopian West", an integrate "Fice Eyes", if you will, ruled with the iron hand of major multinational corporations and international bankers..
Wow, thanks for the comment.
You're right, as I once heard repeated "in the western system, corporations control the gov't, in China the gov't controls the corporations". Your last paragraph is definitely on the money
I wrote that with sadness, as the West I grew up in, full of hope for the future and inspirational, bears no resemblance to the West as it is unfurling now, covered with clouds of darkness and gloom amidst the image of "progressiveness" and "freedom and democracy". I told my wife, who is a Russian patriot, that I feel I no longer have a home in this world, that my home tragically passed away quietly and without fanfare into the distant past, irrevocably unrecoverable.
"I grew up in a communist country. My father was imprisoned for three (3) years for the crime of celebrating Christmas (by having a Christmas tree in our home). Then, after the Berlin Wall fell, we had a war. As a grown-up journalist/writer, I was subsequently prosecuted and persecuted for my writing. (As a result, I was granted political asylum in the U.S.)
America was that mythical land so many of us around the world dreamed about. (I know, I've been to 83 countries, and that "America," meaning the U.S., always had an almost magical ring to it.) I am quoting this paragraph from my book just to show you the sentiment re: one tiny part of that America that, it seems to me now, never was:
"I always wanted to go around the cowboy country saying, 'howdy pilgrim' and/or 'howdy ma'am' and even more so, given that I never drink it, 'that's one damn fine cup of coffee, ma'am,' as I dabble in being a cowboy. I would find some ancient diner on the mythical Route 66, near Kingman, AZ, and enjoy bacon strip pancakes, bread-n-butter waffles, and a wonderfully gooey chocolate cinnamon bun. Or two. Perhaps several. Screw those Whole Foods cultists and their damn arugula salad. Who would eat food that requires you to put a beak on a mug in order to eat?"
At that time, I still had fun with the madness. Alas, as the days progressed, I've seen the Cultural Revolution of the worst kind growing in the States like cancer. Those images of "progressiveness" and "freedom and democracy" you wrote about were 10x scarier than the communist dogma -- everyone knew it was BS, the communist dogma, everyone knew the people in power were just mindless, power-hungry ghouls, not worthy of respect -- but once they managed to have the people voluntarily don those ridiculous cloth masks for "health reasons," etc., I started to look around myself, noticing that more than half of the population is utterly insane.
Ready to ostracize you, like they've done with "rats" (Jews in Nazi Germany who were "spreading disease), to isolate you, to corral you - we all know what was happening - I saw the burning houses of Sarajevo many years ago or Bakhmut today in America's future. And then, the "mostly peaceful protests" in the burning parts of Minneapolis, coming from the TV, told me, that's it, that's fucking it - the dystopia is real for the people do not believe their own eyes/reason anymore.
My heart broke. America was my country of choice, the land I still love, my only home. Alas, now, a cancerous home filled with hatred created in the labs, much worse than the one that gave us virus.
So I left, and now I have no home. I still do not know where to go, where to live out these last remaining years before these evil monsters eviscerate us all in a nuclear war - the only way out for their greed, madness, and utter disregard for human life.
powerful words!
My best years were spent tree planting in the West, living in my straw bale hand built “abode”… the West still holds me captive, the woods, rivers, the big open. The less I intergrate, the better. After many decade …grinding away in service to others; now…service to self, great humility, grace and ease, GodSpeed🧡🔥🧡
"a "Free World" consisting of sovereign independent states like China"
While China may stay independent and 'free' - from a globalist perspective - China has been at the forefront of 'managing' their masses ... social credit scoring, facial recognition systems everywhere, concentration camps (zero covid lockdowns, organ harvesting), squashing HK independence, the impending (?) squashing of Taiwain independence, ...
China is indeed not a democracy. And it certainly is authoritarian in nature. You are correct. But there is also untruth in what you mention as well. There are no concentration camps and organ harvesting - that is all Western propaganda as the Uyghurs themselves will attest. Yes, they have a social credit system - much the same as is being developed in the West. And yes, they have facial recognition systems spread all over - even licence plat readers, and telephone monitoring, and internet censorship - just like us. They have abandoned zero covid lockdowns as unproductive and harmful. You seem to forget that both Hong Kong and Taiwan are chinese provinces, not independent states. The USA has spoiled everything for both by encouraging revolt and social disorder - China reasonably is taking measures to correct that, as is their right to do so.
You are also correct that they have been at the forefront of managing their masses, but in doing so they have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of desperate poverty and now have the largest middle class in the world (NB: Just a gentle reminder - our middle classes are disappearing, not growing). They have the largest car market in the world. They technology is growing leaps and bounds. They are establishing the New Silk Road. And their people are fanatically nationalists - they love their country. They are grateful and proud of the progress their country has made and the part the the CCP has had in that.
It might be wise not to judge too harshly or too quickly other countries for their lifestyles, cultures and governments - esp as we are frequently guilty of the very same acts as others whom we feel free to criticise with abandon. One of the major problems with our governments in the West, esp USA and UK, is that though we live in glass houses, we are constantly throwing stones at other glass houses. This is now coming back to bite us.
Spot on!
Maybe one of the answers to this dystopian future of globalisation is by Wolfgang Streeck who explains why the sovereign nation-state is the only democratic form of political organization in post-neoliberal capitalism: https://www.youtube.com/live/0nrANgtv3l0?feature=share
yep I agree and I think the world is heading towards increasing fracturing which will create a lot of isolated nation-states and 'blocs' in some ways similar to cold war except with a new economic dark age spurred by a collapsing financial system and collapsing human demographics / birthrates / etc
That fragmentation would presumably lead to whole new sets of tribal alliances. Mad Max, anyone?
To achieve that, the future should either be linear (SSDD), either dominated by the globalists; they need to crush Russia and China and use their resources for their wet dreams... lots of good luck with that. US$ is crashing and I don't see non-vassal states accepting Fed digital coupons so everything should be built locally (and I see no effort to re-industrialize anything in US).
I don't see the globalist being willing to invest in any type of infrastructure project; the roads and railways are crumbling... why would they invest anything in building cities, smart or dumb? In my opinion, this is highly unlikely to happen...
China on the other hand, is totally able to implement all the above.
Forgive me if I get details wrong. A man was chased by a lion to the edge of a cliff. With no where to turn, he hastily scrambled over the side and started down, clinging to a vine. Halfway down the cliff, he looked down to the ground below and saw a tiger pacing back and forth, watching him, licking its jaws. Looking up, he saw a mouse st the edge of the cliff nibbling on his vine. Looking to the side, he saw a big, red, juicy strawberry. It was the best strawberry he ever ate.
We've been between a rock and a hard place since day 1, whenever that was. Sosdd.
good stuff
Brilliant article. Concise and most importantly, dispels the fringe "conspiracy" projections of the capabilities and intentions of 5g.
With the truly nightmarish potentialities as described in this comprehensive outline, who needs to postulate reptilian overlords, energy death beams and switch on/off viruses.
This description is as dystopian as it gets within the realms of rationality.
Many thanks for the grim but necessary picture of a reality that rivals anything in my worst dreams🙏
thanks very much
Absolutely, articulate and…well, a bit of sadness…carry on. ❤️🔥❤️
In view of this essay, perhaps we should put our hopes into a massive CME (Coronal Mass Ejection), disrupting the whole electronic bubble of the globe.
After all, one such happened only a few days ago - on the 'wrong' side of the sun. See this report and the comment posts:
https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2023/03/15/extremely-rare-cme/
Yeah, you lost me at 5G causing cancer. Microwave radiation is non ionising so cannot damage DNA molecules directly any more than infrared can.
Also, 15 minute cities are to stop urban sprawl and ensure services are provided locally rather than wasteful US cities - which have draconian zoning laws and no mixing of house types or utilities. It's not about fencing people into their local area, it's about making their local area livable without massive energy use for car transport.
By coercion of course.
#BeKind brigade and their deep, lovable concern of "livable" local areas is a new crop of the most terrifying tyrants.
Nope. It's urban planning guidance. No worse than the current regime.
Urban planning in the Soviet Union was also a guidance. "Chinese Urban Planning," under the guise of
"environmentalising" cities, where the people were forced to relocate started as the guidance as well.
Visit a favela around Sao Paulo or any other developing city to see what zero urban planning will create. The suburban, single family home only, dead zones around most US cities are something to ridicule and have been enforced with draconian zoning laws.
Funny you should say that - I lived in a Rocinha, the biggest favela in Rio / Brazil, than in Salvador da Bahia (BR) and Tijuana (MX), in a "hotel" next to the Red Zone. I also spent a week in slums of Mombassa, Kenya with a writer / ghetto dweller and another two weeks in slums of Nakuru where my other friend lived. So yes, I have an idea about lack of planning.
As far as your "guidance," Victor said it much better than I would. No "guidance" just coercion. Read his comment, I ditto 100% of what he said.
There is no "guidance" about it. No one voted for it. The public was not advised. No public scrutiny was offered.
This is being forced on us and we have no say on it.
It is typical leftist tyranny. They never see their actions as tyrannical, but only justified in the causes of "freedom and democracy", a cleaner, carbon-free world. To disagree with them is to be cancelled.
No worse than the current regime? I rest my case.
I presume you have never had to submit a planning application. I suggest you try it to see how the process works and see what can and cannot be built in certain areas. Rather than a single family home dead zone, applications for local shops or utilities are more likely to be approved to benefit the local areas rather than being rejected out of hand.
So rather than deal with uncomfortable and heated dialogue with the public over these issues, you and your kind, for our own good, are simply going to force your "solutions" on us.
No thank you.
Nope. It prevents NIMBYs or OCD planners from obstructing mixed neighbourhood developments. It'll allow development by local people to what they feel the area needs.
"fact-checker" Bob sounds like a fan of "mandatory moral bioenhancement".
Don't let any pesky facts get in the way of your fee-fees.
"Nature has left this tincture in the blood, That all men would be tyrants if they could."
~ Daniel Defoe
Excellent article on the machinations of the idiots trying to run the human race. Some points:
1) All this was predicted by cyberpunk sci-fi in the 1980s. Read the rule books and novels associated with the role-playing games "Cyberpunk" and "Shadowrun." Or play "Cyberpunk 2077".
2) This is why hacking is one of the most important survival skills for the world that's coming.
3) Ninjutsu is another one. Ninjutsu is not a martial art - it is a philosophy of survival and espionage - also critical skills for the world that's coming.
4) Drop your 5G phone in a Faraday bag and forget about it. Learn about burner phones and tradecraft.
I'll be writing about these solutions and others over the wide spectrum of possibilities in my Substack, "The Five Essentials" at https:⁄⁄richardstevenhack.substack.com⁄ As Joe Bob Briggs used to say about drive-in movies, "Check it out!"
RE: Number 4
In the new world if you drop your phone in a Faraday bag, you will be denied access to everything and possibly even have your bank account penalised.
The technology is a tool, be it cars, guns, computers, etc. There are positives and negatives to everything. The real issues that need addressing are the underlaying paradigms driving society.
Given those with the greatest amount of power are the ones benefiting the most from the current cultural beliefs and the rest of us are being divided and conquered, using the modern versions of carrots and sticks, fear and greed, it is that underlaying psychology that needs to be addressed.
While I've been on medium for several years, I posted this on sub stack, as an overview of some of the more basic issues;
https://johnmerryman.substack.com/p/peeling-away-the-layers-of-performative
A good read. Well intentioned plan apparently by some. One thing I gather they gave overlooked. All industries protect their market share and none do so as well as the cash driven drug industry. They are they only group ruthless and powerful enough if they see fit to destroy that infrastructure. I don’t see them using a cdc for transactions
Helium is essential and not replaceable for electronics manufacture - from growing silicon crystals for semiconductors to manufacturing optical fibres, thanks to its low reactivity, low density and high thermal conductivity. But humans are fast running out of this vital gas. Most of the world’s helium currently comes from long-ago discovered natural gas fields in the United States which are nearer to the end of their production life than the beginning. Some comes from Qatar and Algeria, both large natural gas producers. Helium extraction will almost certainly peak when production from the natural gas reservoirs containing economical amounts of helium peaks. The electronic future envisioned in this post is not manufacturable nor scalable, since there are bigger competitors for finite helium supply like welding MRI scanners, leak detection, research etc.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-05-19/helium-is-a-finite-resource-who-knew/
Unless new natural gas fields containing economical amounts of helium are found soon—or one company prospecting for economical deposits of helium mixed with non-hydrocarbon gases succeeds in a big way—helium supplies are likely to begin a long, irreversible decline
Life eventually imitates art. Star Wars communicators were almost prophetic in their prediction of handheld devices. Eventually the real world technology caught up and I will never forget the resemblance of the Motorola flip phone
So, now, what art predict on this tech? Altered Carbon? The Expanse? Minority Report? Black Mirror? A bit of everything?
Asked a different way: is there any way this wounds up NOT being a dystopian authoritarian nightmare?