Tag: neoliberalism

The Age of Global Militarism: How Veneration of the Military Spread—and Why it Matters

Militarism is on the rise globally. Arms sales are at all-time highs, and public confidence in the military has surged. Rather than waning in the post-Cold War era, military glorification has intensified, with political and cultural leaders idealizing soldiers, not for their professionalism, but for their heroism and sacrifice.

At a recent event hosted by the #Oxford University International Relations Society, Professor Ron Krebs explored the proliferation of militarism, its cultural underpinnings, and its consequences for democracy, security, and governance. He painted a picture of a world where the military is increasingly romanticized, and political leaders use this veneration to their advantage.

Militarism is a cultural force, where militarism is often framed as a policy issue, whether states use excessive force or employ the military as a tool of national strategy. However, Krebs argues that militarism is, at its core, a set of cultural practices. It is driven by a deep-seated romanticism about the military, which manifests in three ways:

  • Pacifist Militarism – Even among the left, there is a tendency to view the military as a necessary tool of national policy, even in peacetime.
  • Excessive Force – The normalization of military interventions, where using force is seen as a default option rather than a last resort.
  • Idealization of Soldiers – The emphasis on heroism and sacrifice overshadows discussions of military professionalism, effectiveness, or accountability.

This cultural shift is seen in the growing presence of the military in national celebrations, such as Independence Days. Military parades and displays have increased, yet there is little focus on mourning fallen soldiers. Instead, these events serve to reinforce the image of military power and national strength.

Why militarism has grown since the 1980, the decline of trust in government institutions, driven in part by #neoliberalism (the #deathcult), has paradoxically fuelled greater trust in the military. As faith in political leadership eroded, the military, seen as an aspirational and apolitical institution, became a pillar of stability.

This shift has created a dangerous dynamic:

  • Populists thrive on military imagery. They love dressing up in military uniforms, invoking military rhetoric, and surrounding themselves with soldiers.
  • Dead soldiers are useful political tools. They cannot challenge political narratives, making them perfect symbols for populist movements.
  • Public perception of military support influences policy. When the public believes the military supports a political leader, they are more likely to support military action. This feedback loop drives increased militarization across the political spectrum.

The populist-military conflict, despite their public admiration for the military, many populist leaders privately clash with military institutions. Donald Trump, for instance, has reportedly expressed disdain for military leadership behind closed doors. His approach follows a broader pattern. Populists support enlisted soldiers while attacking military officers, particularly those from elite institutions like West Point. This allows them to position themselves as allies of “the people” while undermining traditional hierarchies.

In countries like Poland, Hungary, and India, populist leaders have avoided direct military confrontations, allowing dissenting officers to step aside quietly. In the United States, however, tensions are escalating. If military leaders resist political co-option, they will likely face aggressive purges and public attacks. Brazil under Bolsonaro offers a clear example. Although he had military ties, his alliances were fragile. When officers opposed his leadership, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, he swiftly removed them.

The long-term consequences, militarism is a raw deal. While it leads to increased military engagement, it does not necessarily bring greater benefits for soldiers. Instead, it results in, the erosion of democratic institutions. As militarism rises, civilian governance weakens, and leaders increasingly rely on military authority to consolidate power. Diminished military effectiveness. When the military becomes a political tool, its strategic competence declines.

Personal loyalty to leaders replaces merit, weakening the institution from within. A dangerous feedback loop. If unchecked, militarism becomes self-perpetuating, reinforced by political narratives, public perceptions, and the military’s own internal culture. The military, when it “drinks the Kool-Aid” of its own infallibility, loses its ability to self-correct. The blurring of lines between civilian leadership and military authority erodes trust, making governance more unstable and unpredictable.

Conclusion, we are living in an age of global militarism. The question is not whether it will wane on its own, it shows no signs of doing so. Instead, the challenge is how societies will respond to its continued rise. Will democratic institutions push back, ensuring that the military remains professional and accountable? Or will the glorification of soldiers, the erosion of civilian oversight, and the manipulation of military loyalty accelerate the militarization of politics? As Professor Krebs warns, the veneration of the military is not only about national security, it is about the future of democracy itself.

Decoding the Hashtags: A Roadmap for Social Change

The world we live in is shaped by 40 years of entrenched #neoliberalism and #postmodernism, both of which have systematically dismantled radical change and challenge. To reclaim our future, we must reject the illusions of “common sense” fed to us by the #deathcult and reboot from a place of clarity. This is where the following #hashtags come into play, acting as conceptual tools for navigating, understanding, and breaking free from the mess we’re in.

#nothingnew – A Radical Return to Modernism

The #nothingnew hashtag is a simple and effective (#KISS) framework for understanding where we went wrong and how to start moving forward again. It rejects the dominant neoliberal and postmodern ideologies that have smothered radical politics for four decades. Instead, it seeks to reboot social change by returning to the original modernist path—one rooted in progress, structure, and tangible social transformation.

Once we re-establish this foundation, we can move beyond it to build #somethingnew. But without a proper starting point, all attempts at change remain trapped in the same neoliberal fog that has defined the status quo for so long. The modernist approach of clarity, direct action, and meaningful social structures must replace the disorienting, fragmented logic of postmodern cynicism that has paralysed social movements and left the field open for neoliberal dominance.

#geekproblem – Technology, Control, and the Worship of Power

The #geekproblem is a complex challenge, one that sits at the heart of many of our current struggles. While technology could be a liberating force, it has instead become a tool for control, both in the hands of capitalist class and within geek culture itself. At its core, the problem is that geeks, historically, have been builders and problem solvers. But many have a deeply ingrained need for CONTROL, which is fundamentally out of balance with the collaborative ethos of modernism. Over the last 40 years, as technology has concentrated power, geek culture has been co-opted by the #deathcult, prioritising power, profit, and authoritarianism over openness and freedom.

To fix this, we need to take the “problem” out of “geek.” That means confronting the fetishisation of control, hierarchy, and technocratic elitism that pervades much of tech culture. This is not a #KISS problem, it requires real and deep reflection, social engagement, and the reclamation of technology as a force for liberation.

#deathcult – The Worship of Neoliberalism

The #deathcult is a blunt and direct metaphor for neoliberalism, the ideology of destruction that has dominated the world for the last 40 years. This is a #KISS idea because it’s simple, Neoliberalism isn’t about building, it’s about extraction, enclosure, and control. It disguises itself as common sense, but in reality, it is an economic death spiral, for the planet, for workers, for public services, and for communities. Every time you hear markets presented as the solution to our problems, you are hearing the voice of the #deathcult.

For an example of this, just look at #UN COP process, where the world’s response to climate catastrophe was to double down on markets and profit-driven “solutions.” We are in a truly nasty mess because we have spent decades blindly worshipping a system designed to destroy us.

Breaking free from the mess, understanding these #hashtags is a step towards clarity, a rejection of the confusion and stagnation that has kept us locked into neoliberal dogma.

#nothingnew gets us back on the right path.
#geekproblem helps us understand why technology has failed to free us.
#deathcult reminds us who the real enemy is.

Using these frameworks, we can begin to rebuild a movement that is rooted in reality, not neoliberal delusions. The question is, are we ready to do this work?

Worshipping at the Temple of the #Deathcult: The Business Class and Its Myths

At the Oxford Arms Dealer School, in the room with the “enemy“, the business class, we gathered to hear Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Economist and CEO of the Confederation of British Industry, preach to the “faithful”. But at the drinks after I find the ordnance is actorly a mix of locals and academics, less enemy than frenemy. The wine and nibbles are good.

The message of the talk? Confidence is the mythical glue that holds together the #deathcult of #neoliberalism. The sermon? A familiar tale: business must be given free rein, deregulation is the key to prosperity, and any redistribution is a sin against the gods of capital. If only we believe hard enough, the market will save us. The myths of confidence and growth, Newton-Smith speaks of investment, but not for public good, this is about private wealth. Her concern is business confidence, the great phantom that, if disturbed, will cause the economy to crumble. The solution? Keep to the path, no change, no challenge. Keep worshipping the deathcult, and perhaps the gods of profit will smile upon us.

A nod to #climatechaos, but only as an economic opportunity. No mention of the wreckage it has already caused, only that with the right “leadership” (read: the same leadership that led us here) we can turn catastrophe into a marketplace. Innovation will save us, more mythology.

China? She’s pragmatic, trade first, morality later. The UK? She hopes for “stability”, a stable continuation of 40 years of destruction, a sweeping away of the mess, not to fix it, but to make the temple of capital more presentable, more safe for capital.

Fear and the business priesthood, is the overriding theme of the event. Fear of uncertainty, fear of change, fear that the high priests of capital in the current government might lose faith and deviate from doctrine. The business class wants certainty, certainty that their power remains untouched, their profits unchallenged, their control intact.

The EU? Negotiation, to reduce fear. Trade? More important than people, the fear of disruption. Regulation? Only if it removes uncertainty, fear is the real enemy.

The Q&A touches on AI. A bubble of nonsense inflates and then bursts, but somehow the same mythology survives. #AI will fix capitalism’s problems, we are told. A few #climatechaos activists push back, capitalism will heal itself through “innovation” and faith she says. At every turn, she circles back to the cult, unwilling or unable, to step outside the narrow doctrine of the worship of capital.

Conclusion, the mythology in this space remains Intact, this event, like the building it’s held in, is a temple to the #deathcult. Nothing changes, because they fear change more than they fear collapse. The business class doesn’t seek solutions, it seeks certainty. It doesn’t want to fix the mess, it just wants to ensure its own survival as the world burns. Regulation is acceptable, but only if it protects them from risk. Innovation is holy, but only when it upholds the status quo.

Yes, this is the same 40 years of mess, we do need to break free from #KISS

What can we learn, what can we do?

The tension between different approaches to activism highlights the need for creative synthesis in addressing the broader social and ecological crises we face.

  1. Fluffy vs. #Spiky: A Diversity of Tactics The idea that both working within the system (#fluffy) and challenging it directly (#spiky) are necessary is central to creating a robust and adaptive movement. Building “common ground” is crucial, but the left’s fragmentation under decades of #neoliberalism and #postmodernism has left it standing in a metaphorical swamp. Moving forward requires reclaiming a grounded, shared space—intellectually, socially, and ecologically.
  2. Revisiting #Modernism A return to modernist thinking—despite its flaws—can offer clarity and purpose, emphasizing structure, progress, and shared goals. Balancing this with the experimental potential of socialism and anarchism, especially on a distributed scale (enabled by federation and P2P technologies), creates room for growth outside the mainstream.
  3. Liberal Social Democracy as a Step Back While the ultimate goal may lie in more radical transformations, liberal social democracy can serve as a stepping stone away from the creeping threat of fascism. This pragmatic approach helps to stabilize the ground for further progress.
  4. Deathcult vs. #Lifecult: The Cultural Meta-Narrative The #deathcult metaphor encapsulates a culture driven by greed, materialism, and ecological destruction. The #lifecult offers a messy but hopeful alternative, grounded in values like ecology, social justice, and collective care. The process of “composting”—transforming negative aspects into fertile ground—is a powerful metaphor for this shift.
  5. The Role of Undercurrents True hope lies in the undercurrents of social movements that challenge mainstream culture and provide alternative narratives. These undercurrents, messy as they may be, are where transformative potential resides. A focus on “life-affirming values” helps to communicate with those who may be entrenched in rationality or blinded by the logic of the #deathcult.

Suggestions for Moving Forward: Focus on finding shared values between different activist approaches to grow solidarity while respecting diversity of tactics. Encourage scalable experimentation with alternative economic and social models, with federation and P2P tech to scale these efforts. Storytelling using metaphors like #deathcult and #lifecult to reframe conversations and make complex issues relatable and actionable. Education and agitation to challenge apathy and #stupidindividualism by helping people reconnect with collective action and shared purpose. Ecology of movements, its helpful to recognize the importance of both reformist (#fluffy) and radical (#spiky) approaches as complementary rather than contradictory.

And most importantly please try not to be a #blocking prat.

The clear and urgent challenge, to step away from entrenched thinking

There are deep cultural and structural problem in our social world, here I concentrate on the #openweb and tech spaces, which are shaped by entrenched hierarchical thinking (#feudalism) and the inability to embrace horizontal governance models. This #geekproblem represents a persistent resistance to the solutions necessary for the meaningful change we need, and defaults to patterns that reinforce the status quo (#deathcult worshipping).

Horizontal solutions have proven foundations, community-driven models like #OGB (Open Governance Body) reflects a grounded understanding of what works. The last five years of work in the decentralized #Fediverse shows that horizontal technology can scale without succumbing to the mess of centralized, hierarchical control.

#Nothingnew is about combining what works. The creative task now is to integrate these proven social and technical approaches into cohesive systems: #OMN (Open Media Network): A decentralized framework for building media networks based on trust, transparency, and shared governance. #OGB: A governance model for the open web, ensuring horizontal decision-making structures that resist co-option by hierarchical or neoliberal influences. #Indymediaback: Reviving radical, grassroots media projects that embody these principles, amplifying voices outside the mainstream.

To do any of these project we need to break the #blocking cycle, when discussions about radical or progressive changes are met with #blocking, the result is to often a stagnant cycle of unresolved issues that eroded goodwill. This stagnation is a direct threat to the social commons. To break this cycle, we can use, and, think inside the Fluff/Spiky debate to encourage broad, inclusive paths while not shying away from hard truths and unpopular calls for accountability. Reject #fashernista worship to push back against superficial trends that align with neoliberal and #mainstreaming values, which are ultimately harmful to the #openweb.

The language trap, #liberalism, and by extension #neoliberalism dominate conversations, we need a constant low level critical examination of this misalignment with the goals of the #openweb. Then calling this out is uncomfortable but necessary, to recognize and challenge how these frameworks perpetuate the #deathcult. The question remains, will others step up to help make this happen? Are they ready to take on this challenge?

Blindness and Compost

Ideologies are frameworks for interpreting and navigating the world, the #mainstreaming “common sense” of rejecting them amounts to rejecting structured understanding. When people claim to eschew ideology, they default to the dominant paradigm, the #deathcult of #neoliberalism, without realizing it. This uncritical stance isn’t radical or alternative; it’s a by-product of mainstreaming and the disorienting effects of #postmodernism.

The act of composting this mess is acknowledging and breaking down these entrenched, harmful systems, for the needed, cultivating healthier, more grounded alternatives. Keeping it simple (#KISS) and reaching for that metaphorical shovel is the first step in transforming decayed ideas into fertile ground for the #OMN and other grassroots projects.

So yes, it’s time to dig deep, break it down, and build anew. Let’s shovel together. 🌱

What can you do? Some actions to reclaim the #openweb and refocus on its core principles of trust, humanity, and grassroots democracy is a good first step. The #posttruth era has eroded the integrity of our media, and tools like #Google—once a gateway to knowledge—have been reduced to serving the agendas of #dotcons and more recently the state, leaving us stranded in a desert of noise and distraction.

To take the different path, we need:

  1. Composting the #geekproblem: Our tech culture has long been trapped in deterministic, myopic paths that prioritize tools over people. This “#techshit” needs to be broken down and repurposed, with a focus on social and democratic values rather than isolated, insular designs.
  2. Pushing aside the #dotcons: These thrive on extraction, disconnection, and control. By putting them aside, we free ourselves to create paths and projects that genuinely serve communities, fostering collaboration rather than competition.
  3. Rebooting the #openweb: Grassroots democracy must be central to this effort, with social technologies incorporating human and social needs into their design, ensuring they empower rather than alienate. The #OGB and projects like it offer a tangible path by embedding democratic processes and open collaboration into the fabric of the web.

A simple path is the invitation to “click on the hashtags and think” which is a challenge to break out of default paths of disengagement and passivity. The #OMN isn’t only a tech project; it’s a rallying cry for those who want to see through the mess of the #mainstreaming culture and the #deathcult of neoliberalism.

If you’re reading this and feel the pull, its time to act. Visit Statements of Support, sign up, and let’s compost the mess to grow a flourishing, democratic #openweb together. Don’t be shy—this is our moment. 🌱

Metaphors matter, composting the current paths in #AI

This #AI-meets-copyright consultation is another wave of opportunistic grafting, much like the #crypto mess before it. The rhetoric about leveraging AI to “grow the economy” and “improve public services” is justification for a “commons” grab by nasty interests. It’s the normal pushing in the ongoing path of #deathcult worship, 40 years of #neoliberalism, digging us deeper into a hole we desperately need to climb out of.

The metaphor of composting captures the urgent need for discernment, what cultural and technological artefacts still serve us in the onrushing era of #climatechaos, and what is toxic and must urgently be composted. People ask what do we mean by this, in its cultural sense, composting is about adapting the remnants of the deathcult into something fertile for a radically different way of life. This is achievable only if we act swiftly to embrace radical change while there’s still time for the metaphor to remain metaphorical. Delay, and #climatechaos will render the metaphor physical—turning our cities, infrastructure, and economies into literal waste piles, where the nasty few will be left to fights over the scraps.

This urgent need for sorting what’s salvageable from what’s dead weight, requires critical thinking and collaborative effort, we need projects like the #OGB to build affinity groups of action, to balance radical action with consensus-building. While consensus about the failures of the last 40 years is important, we need to avoid falling into the trap of endless sterile deliberation. The urgency of the moment demands bold, practical action to balance the needed intellectual and rhetorical critique.

The metaphorical shovel is right there, let’s use it. What we need, is a clear framework (#OMN) to identify what is compostable (ideas, tools, and systems that can support a degrowth future) and what must be discarded to the compost heap. A part of this is cultural agitation to shake people out of their complacency, as the economy of thinking must shift radically. This has to be on a positive path to community resilience, building networks of mutual support, trust and regenerative paths, not the default #deathcult’s control/fear paradigm we are currently walking.

#AI could play a role if it’s on the path, but the current #dotcons push to #AI is part of a “last binge” of neoliberal exploitation, it’s largely irrelevant to the path we need to take, we need to urgently ignore and shift #mainstreaming conversations to focus on what we actually need. The challenge is to redirect the narrative, how can we use our technology to empower grassroots alternatives to build a post-death cult world? We need to do this in tandem with radical action for fertile new growth. Delay, and we’ll find ourselves buried under the non-compostable remnants of a civilization too slow to adapt. It well pastime to grab that shovel. #OMN

Homo curator: towards the ethics of consumption

Book Launch Reflection: Homo Curator: Towards the Ethics of Consumption

The launch of Homo Curator: Towards the Ethics of Consumption, edited by Peter Rona, Laszlo Zsolnai, and Agnieszka Wincewicz-Price, brings fresh Dominican thinking into the pressing issues of consumerism and environmental collapse. This book is a product of the Las Casas Institute’s symposium on “The Ethics of Consumption” at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. It engages deeply with the moral dimensions of consumption, critiquing the failures of modern economic theory and calling for ethical renewal.

The book explores two critical questions: the inherent human capacity for excess and wrongdoing, and the inability of mainstream economics to factor morality into its frameworks. The central critique is aimed at the language of maximization—an ethos that defines success as unending growth and consumption. Instead, the authors ask a fundamental question: what is enough?

Consumption and justice in today’s world, justice is intrinsically tied to the limits of our planet. The authors argue that economics is not a science in the analytic sense, but a descriptive tool that has strayed far from its moral purpose. As we face ecological collapse, the question of “enough” demands responsibility, judgment, and moral courage. This requires resisting the “iron cage of consumption” that defines modernity and rethinking our relationship with resources.

Temperance and the commons, the Dominican perspective shines here: take what you need, no more. Temperance, once a core virtue, is now subsumed by a culture of excess. The monetization of the commons—the transformation of shared resources into exchangeable commodities—has stripped nature of its intrinsic value. The result? A world where growth relentlessly encroaches upon the commons, leaving us with privatized, degraded ecosystems.

This critique of monetization calls for a radical reevaluation of the way we assign value. Economic systems built on perpetual growth cannot sustain a world of finite resources. Justice and sustainability require that we mediate compassion with responsibility, tempering individual desires for the sake of collective well-being.

Time, prudence, and addiction to the present, the book also delves into the mutilation of prudence by unbalanced rationality. Traditionally encompassing past, present, and future, prudence has been reduced to a myopic focus on immediate gratification. This short-term thinking fuels addiction to consumption, where future benefits are discounted, and irrational preferences dominate decision-making.

The addiction metaphor is powerful here. Like addicts, societies rationalize their destructive behaviours under the guise of “rational” self-interest, even when the long-term costs are catastrophic. The authors challenge this paradigm of irrationality, advocating for a return to prudence that considers the well-being of future generations.

Here the Christian thinking kicks in with moral renewal over structural reform, a criticism that while structural reforms are touted as solutions, the book argues they cannot succeed without a moral foundation. Real change requires a reawakening of ethical principles—justice, temperance, and responsibility. For this path without these, even the most revolutionary economic policies will fail to address the root causes of ecological and social crises.

Shovelling the mess, the themes of Homo Curator align with the challenges we face in building a sustainable and just future. The critique of consumption, monetization, and short-term thinking reflects the broader struggle to escape the “#deathcult” of #neoliberalism.

As I often say, our world is smeared in social and ecological “shit,” but shit makes good compost. By wielding these tools of justice, temperance, and prudence, we could maybe shovel this mess into something fertile. This Dominican vision dose offers not just critique but hope: a call to embrace moral responsibility as we plant the seeds of a new economy rooted in shared humanity and care for the planet.

It’s a reminder that we need more than technical fixes—we need ethical renewal. The work ahead is messy, but necessary. Grab a shovel.

Book launch for Homo Curator: Towards the Ethics of Consumption edited by Peter Rona, Laszlo Zsolnai, and Agnieszka Wincewicz-Price.

This book explores the under-researched sources of the consumerist culture and the environmental damage it has brought about. The book is an outcome of the symposium on “The Ethics of Consumption” organised and hosted by the Las Casas Institute at the Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford as part of its Economics as a Moral Science Programme. It takes on two contemporary problems: the human weakness and capacity for wrong-doing, and the failure of modern economic theory to account for the moral character of human behaviour and its implicit encouragement of gluttonous life-styles. In a time when grand political schemes are proposed to revive sustainability of global economy, the authors of the papers collected in this book highlight the need for moral renewal without which the most revolutionary structural reforms are bound to fail at producing the desired outcome. Topics of the book include the meaning and sources of avarice, the attempt to define what is enough, exploration of philosophical and theological perspectives which can serve as building blocks for the ethics of consumption. This makes the book of great interest to a broad readership of economists, social scientists and philosophers.

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That economics is not a science, rather it is descriptive rather than analytic. They are quite progressive, Franciscans in Oxford.

Criticism of the language of maximization, enough is the question.

Temperature, taking what you need, not more. Now the is the question of justice, due to the limits we now understand.

We have to take the responsibility for making judgments. To mediate the compation, in our money society, it’s hard work to counter this.

The iron cage of consumption, we need radical change in our economics to escape this.

Produce, the 3 ages of men, past, present future, its feald is time. Modern rationality, gives us mutilated “produnce” only the present.

Addiction, as rationale, they discount future benefits. A paradine of irrationality. Some preferences are irrational?

Monetisation is a core problem, commons are closed, growth is more and more inclosing the”commons” the environment becomes property. All nature is turned into exchange values.

#nothingnew sets the stage for #somethingnew

The #nothingnew hashtag offers a straightforward and bold #KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) approach to rejecting the prevailing ideologies of the past 40 years: #neoliberalism and #postmodernism. These ideologies have shaped the current “common sense” to push individualism, relativism, and market-driven solutions, at the expense of collective action and systemic change we so urgently need.

Neoliberalism is an ideology that emphasizes free markets, deregulation, and privatization, by eroding social safety nets and collective power. It normalizes austerity, wage suppression, and the commodification of public goods, making systemic exploitation appear inevitable and unchangeable. This is the mess we have made over the last 40 years.

Postmodernism, is rooted in scepticism and relativism, which undermines the belief in truths and collective narratives. While it does critique power structures, it leaves people without a path forward, reinforcing apathy and fragmentation which our economic system has spread.

Together, these ideologies create a world-view where large-scale social change is dismissed as impossible, reinforcing a status quo that benefits the few. We are past the time when we need to reboot social change back to a more action orientated modernism path. This is how #nothingnew sets the stage for this #somethingnew.

The #nothingnew framework advocates revisiting modernism, which championed progress, reason, and collective solutions to social challenges. Modernism’s optimism and belief in systemic change are powerful antidotes to the paralysing scepticism of postmodernism. By rejecting the last 40 years’ intellectual and economic inertia, #nothingnew seeks to create a foundation for practical, action-oriented social movements we need to mediate the building crises.

Building #somethingnew, is about recentring collective action with a shift of focus from isolated individual efforts to collaborative, community-driven paths. This path needs simplicity and accessibility by keeping frameworks clear, actionable, and rooted in shared goals, avoiding over-complication. to make this happen we need to build trust in progress, by advocate for meaningful growth—improvements in living conditions, equality, and sustainability that serve humanity rather than the profits of the few.

The #nothingnew project isn’t about nostalgia—it’s about learning from the past to chart a clear, modernist-inspired course for a future that values fairness, collaboration, and systemic change over stagnation and skepticism. It lays the groundwork for a transformative shift to #somethingnew and is an important part of the #hashtag story and #OMN

Please lift your head from worshipping this aspect of the #deathcult

One of the core’s of #stupidindividualism is the fantasy that we, as individuals, can personally solve the most catastrophic problems. This mindset aligns with neoliberalism’s ideology, which denies the importance of collective action and reduces challenges to a personal responsibility. #Neoliberalism convinces us that our only role is as solitary actors. Instead of organizing or building solidarity, we’re told to “vote with our wallets” or “solve problems ourselves,” with consumers trying to recycle their way out of the #climatecrisis.

Why this benefits the nasty few, it isolates us, keeping us from organizing real challenge’s to power structures that push the current mess. It frames systemic failures as individual failings. If you’re underpaid or exploited, it’s not because the system is broken—it’s because you didn’t negotiate well enough or switch jobs fast enough. It turns political engagement into pointless and addictive consumer choice, where spending habits are treated as activism, ensuring the richest always win no matter what you think you are doing.

How this is reflected in our reality with #climatechaos, we’ve been told to recycle or reduce waste individually, but systemic corporate pollution and pro corporate regulation are the actual culprits.
With elections, unlimited campaign spending by the wealthy transforms democracy into a farce, where their financial “votes” drown out grassroots movements. With labour rights, workers are urged to negotiate alone with bosses rather than unionizing, perpetuating exploitation.

This path fosters disillusionment and helplessness, trapping us in a cycle of meaningless individual gestures when what’s needed are collective, systemic changes. It’s not just ineffective; it’s designed to keep the status quo intact. Breaking free means rejecting the “stupid” part of individualism and embracing solidarity, cooperation, and paths that prioritize shared well-being over personal mess.

Please lift your head from worshipping this aspect of the #deathcult

A view of this https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/24/mall-ninja-prophecy/#mano-a-mano

Composting mess (truth)

NOTE: This might seam a little confused because it is, I am arguing for “balance” and “use” in truths, and arguing against dogmatic, blinded, worshipping of the #deathcult as a moral argument. None of this shit is rational, it’s a mess I am pointing to, and a shovel and composting is needed to build truth.

In the postmodern mess we inhabit, “truth” becomes deliberately obscured by those who view it as subjective, fragmented, and relative. This is more than denying an objective reality; it’s an embrace of #nihilism, where the concept of truth dissolves into endless, conflicting, interpretation. Combined with #Neoliberalism, which blurs the lines between fact and fiction while commodifying knowledge, we find ourselves in a world where power and influence, rather than evidence, define what passes for truth.

This distortion is evident in how conflicting “truths” clash with each other. Instead of an honest pursuit of understanding, debates become competitions of influence, narratives backed by the most powerful voices are treated as “truth.” For example, corporate media giants and political power politics shape public discourse by determining which facts matter and which are dismissed. Consider #climatechange, where scientific consensus is downplayed or outright ignored by industries whose profits depend on denial. The truth, in this case, becomes buried under the weight of vested interests.

Sophism, using clever but misleading arguments, has replaced honest discussion. Truth is no longer about what is empirically verifiable, but about what can be sold as convincing in a highly fragmented, pluralistic, and increasingly polarised space. This problem of competing narratives, shaped by power, leads to a collective confusion where “truth” is more mess than ground to build on.

Ultimately, this is not a sustainable path for society. A world where truth is shaped by power rather than facts is a path of instability and distrust. To change this path we need to take simpler, grounded approaches—what you might call #KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)—where clear thinking and evidence-based understanding are our guides.

It’s time to unearth the truth, stripped of neoliberal distortions and postmodern doubt. We need to reject the noise and focus on reality, a (social) truths that exist in communities outside of power games and manipulative sophistry.

When truth-telling is penalized, it’s a clear sign we’re navigating a post-modern, obfuscating mess. Instead of addressing issues openly, society hides and punishes those who expose inconvenient views, letting problems rot and fester. It’s a reminder that transparency is essential for creating a healthier culture. When truth is composted rather than suppressed, it breaks down unhealthy systems and makes way for healthy growth and accountability.

The #deathcult we worship: Totalitarian Capitalism Consumes Everything

In the modern world, #neoliberalism penetrates every aspect of our lives. It commodifies not only goods and services but human relations, creativity, and increasingly the natural world. This historical #dathcult is designed to obscure its roots and operations, keeping people powerless and confused, while ensuring the prosperity of a greedy and nasty few. By stripping away regulations and protections, neoliberalism pushes into a rentier society that thrives on exploiting paths essential for survival.

After 40 years of this mess, people think this is natural, a natural law, but in reality it is an ideology engineered to strip away all barriers to capital. This system reconfigures societies, de-industrializing, privatizing, and commoditizing vital services while dismantling unions, which are key obstacles to capital’s control. As a result, wealth is funnelled upwards, creating vast inequality and social decay.

For many, life feels empty, alienated, and devoid of meaning. Stripped of communities of trust, disconnected from nature, and instrumentalized relationships, turning humanists into consumers. The result is widespread disenchantment and mental health crises as people struggle to find purpose beyond our worship of this #deathcult of cold logic, profit.

On this #mainstreaming path, nature itself is commodified, with the “natural capital” agenda aiming to put a price on ecosystems, further pushing exploitation rather than preservation. This soulless, anti-humanistic calculation drains the “spiritual” value from the world, creating an environment where everything, including human beings, are treated as a resource to be mined, used and exploited until they collapse.

The allure of this system is its false promise of simplicity, we can point to external forces, like an enemy or a far-off political struggle, and believe the problem is out of our hands. This form of disengagement is a hallmark of neoliberal control, preventing the collective action required to reclaim #KISS power and meaning in our lives.

The antidote is not only in dismantling neoliberalism but in rediscovering our sense of agency, rebuilding social bonds, and fostering a grassroots vision of community and solidarity. This is where resistance begins, by recognizing that another world is possible and actively working to reclaim the future from those who profit from the present decay.

In doing so, we must compost the rot in the current path and plant seeds of hope and collective action, like the #OMN, #OGB and #indymediaback to build paths that ensuring that the systems of tomorrow are built with people and planet in mind, not only profit.

You can see a #mainstreaming view of this https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-secret-history-of-neoliberalism