Q&A what is a fashernista in the hashtag way.

Q. I’ve read a lot of your stuff but I’m hoping you’ll clarify something. What’s a “fashernista”?

A. A large part of society who do what’s fashionable. Not what’s right/wrong/best. In the era of the #deathcult of neo-liberalism this has always been the wrong path to take. It’s a simple idea.

men-make-their-own-history-but…

#fashernista is a feedback loop of #stupidindividualism at mo.

The hashtags are designed to make the mainstream as dirty as possible so people see the need to pick up #openweb #4opens tools “spades” to clear the stinking shit and pools of piss #climatechaos is increasingly going to show we live in (consumerism/alienating work/greed is good) Make compost (decay of death) to plant seeds (fertile life) to grow flowers (lifecult). It’s a convoluted metaphor 😉

Its a hard to understand, simple thing. In the era of the #deathcult the fashernisas are almost always wrong and a part of the problem. In the era of the #lifecult fahernistas are mostly right and a part of the solution, does that make it more simple?

What would a #lifecult look like in this era?

What are contemporary sins?

You rarely get anywhere by simply renaming things. All you do is lose the historical thried and then recreate the same mess. #Stupidindividualism is often the motivation for this, and it’s a big sin in the liberals and “post politics” crew.

A metaphor that individualism makes us stupid and that to live outside a balance of individualistic vs community is stupid. Yes, it’s an aspect of liberalism and capitalism and at an extreme with #neoliberalism.

#deathcult worshippers is another metaphor for (invisible) neoliberalism.

All the metaphors (used as #hashtags) are aspects of liberalism and very critical of neoliberalism. The idea is to make #mainstreaming thinking dirty.

The hashtags work if a community/affinity group of people use them without falling into the sin of #stupidindividualism of course 😉

If you miss my point, please go back and reread, don’t drop back into sin 😉

For the social change we need

For the social change we need to survive as a society and flourish as a species we need to take some time to go back to basics

All economic systems are based a unspoken idea of what it is to be human. To be clear, if you do not have an understanding of this you have little understanding of anything that matters in the era of #XR

Let’s look back to early Christianity to highlight this idea.

* The Old Testament is based on a negative view of humanity, greed, selfishness and gluttony are the motivations that god is controlling by forcing us to bow down to his authority.

* The New Testament is based on love and common humane society.

* Capitalism is based on greed and the worst parts of human nature

* Socialism is based on altruism and the best parts of human nature

As you can see, the divide between these different ideology’s goes back a long way and likely to the dawn of human history.

These simple groupings live within supposedly sister ideology’s, think for example of how the horizontal’ists and the vertical’ists in progressive movements represent the different views.

When we start to understand this, you can use this clear difference to make judgments on what has value and what is destructive in our current society.

#deathcult

#geekproblem

#encryptionists

#stupidindividualism

#openweb

#OMN

The only question that matters is the balance between trust and fear is a useful way of looking at this.

What is a hashtag

I use the #deathcult tag to highlight the neo-liberal era of the last 40 years which has left us in this current mess. A cult as few of us inside can see outside “common sense” and death as #XR has made the climate chaos cliff we are facing and billions of deaths visible to the mainstream. Of course neo-liberalism is just an extream form of capitalism we had it before in the UK during the irish potato famine with its millions of deaths and displacements. When people realised the problems mainstream moved to social democracy (soft) capitalism before “forgetting” agen in the late 1970’s. Corbyn and Sanders are trying to move us back to social democracy, which is of course no sulution BUT much better than the current mess. We as radicals need to do better #OMN

My point is that sanders and Corbyn are old mainstream and the current #deathcult are the current mainstream that’s dieing now. Ie we should create real radicalism to make Corbin and Sanders the centrist they actually are if you look back for a moment to the 20th century. We could get some real change then, if we keep them as the “radicals” then the is no future #XR

Calling the current lot a #deathcult is about opening up the space for Corbin and Sanders to be centrists in our minds. No matter what we do the right will be nutters, so not aiming at them with the tags at all.

This applys to everything. So the digital economy are all #dotcons and #failbook with its ownership of whatsapp and Instagram etc. Is the digital leader of the the #deathcult with google and Apple not far behind.

Pushing the dialog is probably the most powerful nonviolent direct action you can do from a armchair or public meeting

Q. The tags my friend are meaningless distracting drivel alas. That allude to something grand. When I click on them sometimes all I see is a list of Hamish posts. They have some utility if they bind peoples posts by theme, which is how they came to be popular on twitter I guess. They are useless when forging ahead one ones own with one’s own invented idiosyncratic tags that just litter ones text with # chars and jargon.

You have great things to say and if you shared them in common English you would reach many more people with them, I assure you.

A. look at the problem I am trying to solve agen. You actually do describe it in your reply but that is as far as your understanding goes in this reply. Note if you would have added a common #hashtag your post WOULD have been added to that hashtag view and the would have been more than my voice. Now keep adding new (common) hashtag users and you get a meaningful conversation and organic spread. When you don’t do this all you have is your #failbook echo chambers. I call this problem #stupidindividualism and it is both #mainstreammedia bad and sad

Note hashtags are comparable across #silos and more importantly on the #openweb get a #hashtag conversation going then do a web search on it to reach outside the #dotcons its very basic stuff.

As an example. The is a opening to #stepaway from the #dotcons here if people desire change. That problem we face is fear and doubt and the widespread use of #FUD https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/F/FUD.html

Capitalism is now visibly a #deathcult its basic stuff

Reminder: Climate Change Was No Accident

As far back as 1982, fossil fuel executives knew they were trading a few…

Q. I notice you have used the #deathcult hashtag a few times recently on posts about capitalism, neo-liberalism and green consumerism, so I thought I would look it up. Wikipedia says that Death Cult may refer to an early name for the British rock band The Cult or a compilation album featuring all the songs from Death Cult. Under “See also” it links to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (also known as the Southern Death Cult), and to Southern Death Cult as yet another name for the band. Finally it says it is used as a synonym for the term “destructive cult”.

Destructive cults are described in the Wikipedia entry for Cult as “groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people”. John Gordon Clark cited totalitarian systems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult.

A. good research, am trying to get #XR beyond liberalism were #deathcult solutions are discussed with out a thought. A step.

Q. Hamish just loves a hashtag! Once he gets his hands on one he uses it until it falls apart.
A. The idea is to spread um so that they join the mainstream discussion and then becomes the mainstream. Simple idea, very hard for #stupidindividualism #fashernistas to actually do anything so simple. Much like #stepaway from the #dotcons is simple #OMN One can but keep trying, while sailing away on a lifeboat #boatingeurope

Q. I am beginning to suspect you are getting money each time you mention one of these 😉

A. Sadly not, though when I recommend stuff on my blog I anyway put an affiliate link, more outa curiosity to see if it works than any income. Think the is a little money in a paypal account which I have lost the PW and can’t reset die to old phone number 😉

A. #hashtags click on um, search the web with um, use them to create conversations across the #dotcons and out onto the #openweb it’s a little stepaway that is easy to do. It’s a shame about #stupidindividualism #fashionistas that they can’t be a part of this #stepaway its basic stuff.

A. Of course neoliberal Capitalism was always a #deathcult just now with #XR it’s kinda ok to say this. A good example to give people is the Irish potato famine, as we are likely to repeat this soon with climate change hitting industrial agriculture. We really don’t want to be in the dogmatic neoliberal world when this hits as were then, lots of death and despair to go around.

From the #dotcons

“Thrown into the mix are the US Evangelical Christians who are waiting for Armageddon, the End Times, and the Second coming of Christ, and who welcome climate change catastrophe as a confirmation of their twisted beliefs.

The only time – to my knowledge – that I was ever unfriended on Facebook was by an Evangelical Christian Zionist, now living in the USA, who was offended by my posts showing The Israeli military bombing the hell out of civilians in Gaza. It confused me at the time, but I only recently found out that Jews returning to Israel is also a ‘sign’ of the approaching End Times for those Christian Fundamentalists.

It really is a death cult. US Republicanism, especially in its Christian Fundamentalist form, is a death cult of the most dangerous kind, and is without doubt the greatest obstacle to the continued existence of life on Planet Earth.”

Stupid individualism and Re creating the Soviet Union

Published Date 1/2/12 5:52 PM

This is from 07/03/2005

You can go on this journey and find these things out, thus creating a possibility, or you can push them under the surfaces, smother or bash them every time they spring or seep out of our subcultures.

The lack of any group memory

In activist cercals it is thought a good thing to constantly re-invent the wheel… it’s a symbol of belonging to not rock the bout.

* Tribalism – it’s symbols and seint markings – cercals and their disappearing spirals

* Ridged thought – political correctness and it hidden fidgety – re-creating the Soviet Union

* Stupid individualism

What do all these things mean?

#Stupidindividualism – is all bound up in the smallness of the ego that capitalism makes in us all. Me, me, me is a strong priority even in our most enlightened people.

Re-creating the Soviet Union – is an excellent way of describing the rigidity of much “thought” and clocking of real process. Just as the Soviet Union had a model constitution on paper, but acted in a very different way, activist are continually re-righting and re-righting paper utopias and then, actively working under completely different ways – this has been a continues problem for outreach of most projects I have been involved in. The paper ways fall over as they are never enacted by the majority of people. And the hidden ways though often surprising affective at getting things done are very disempowering beyond the small claque at the centre. If we keep re-creating the “Soviet Union”, unconsciously certainly, nothing can be achieved by this… they had the secret polices and a highly authoritarian polices state to make there paper constitution in to a big illusion and there hidden workings into an affective administration… we just have a paper illusion that confuses and a hidden minority who burn out and move on.

Tribalism – gives the sense of belonging, which for the majority is the attractive part of the activist project. The outcome is relatively unimportant to the majority of the people involved in any campine, they simply move onto the next issue as the passion/creativity of the last issue burns out. This churning ends with most individuals returning to the traditional tribes of consumerism and careerism.

The Role of #Blocking in Horizontal Projects: Mannequins Dancing to Barely Visible Strings

(DRAFT) In this post, I explore how #blocking hinders positive social change in horizontal projects. By #blocking, I mean various tactics: ignoring core issues, prioritizing everyday agendas to obscure systemic problems, and using significant issues to distract from necessary changes.

Understanding Outcome-Driven Horizontal Projects

Outcome-driven horizontal projects, such as Climate Camp, face sustainability challenges. A notable issue is the strong resistance to process change—this resistance, or #blocking, makes necessary changes harder, leading to vertical structures and eventual ossification. This results in rigid, non-functional structures incapable of adapting, ultimately breaking under pressure and failing to achieve horizontal processes.

Psychological Roots of #Blocking

At the core of #blocking is a psychological fear of losing perceived certainty, where individuals cling to a misguided sense of certainty and autonomy. I refer to this phenomenon as “#stupidindividualism,” to overcome this, we need to circumvent this “stupid individualism.”

Comparing Intentional Communities and Online Projects

Rainbow Gatherings manage to circumvent this #stupidindividualism by creating environments of enforced scarcity. In these intentional communities, participants are moved into a world where normal options are unavailable, necessitating change. The path of #Stupidindividualism becomes too dysfunctional to impede progress.

In contrast, online media projects like #visionontv lack this scarcity, allowing “stupid individualism” to thrive unchecked. This results in participants self-defining and dismissing critical points without engagement, perpetuating the issues.

Trust Networks as a Solution

“Trust networks” are essential in overcoming “stupid individualism.” With this understanding, I view the Climate Camp process more sympathetically. The “process people,” criticized for ossification, suffered alongside the wider camp. This issue reoccurs, and those pushing empty agendas are less to blame than the unaddressed systemic problems.

The Metaphor of Strings and Mannequins

It’s crucial to avoid personalizing the responsibility for this problem. Viewing ourselves as mannequins dancing to barely visible strings highlights the systemic nature of the issue. The circle we dance in isn’t right—we need a new circle with different strings, some more visible, to start a new dance.

Participants often feel tangled by the strings, trying to unravel them to create a new circle. It’s the strings, not the messengers, that block progress. Assistance in untangling and resetting the strings is needed—perhaps the messenger is trying to help. Try not to shoot.

Reflection and Call to Action

In this post, I attempt to untangle a string, acknowledging that the Climate Camp process wasn’t as bad as I once thought. What string will you untangle? Avoiding “stupid individualism” is crucial, yet we increasingly become ensnared by it on all sides.

The danger lies in discussing parallel things and thinking along parallel, divergent lines. “Stupid individualism” is strong and active—the more we struggle, the more entangled we become, diminishing hope for a new dance. Dance, as a metaphor for process, and strings, as a metaphor for the human sense of belonging necessary for societal cohesion, illustrate this struggle.

Conclusion

Does this end well? Historically, it hasn’t, but approaching the problem from different angles might yield different results this time. Therefore, I avoid personal responsibility, seeing us as mannequins dancing in a circle, twitching to barely visible strings. The current circle isn’t right—we need a new circle with different strings, some more visible, and to start a new dance.

The role of #blocking in horizontal projects

Published Date 12/16/11 6:00 PM

Mannequins dancing to barely visible strings (DRAFT)

This is an attempt to understand how blocking is used to stop/slow positive social change. By #blocking I mean many things, refusing to address core issues, pushing everyday agenda’s to hide more systematic issues, and confusingly using big issues to distracts and fog everyday needed changes.

Outcome-driven horizontal projects are hard to sustain. I understand #climatecamp process #ossification better now – there is a strong blocking to process change – the continuing pushing of the needed change is blocked thus the change gets harder (more vertical) until it ossifies and becomes non-functional strong enough to break the block (thus breaking the horizontal process it is trying to achieve). End up with a broken structure that cannot move or change.

So the issue is “blocking” which largely is a psychological fear of losing non-existent certainty – ie. the false consciousness (cf Marx) of capitalism – Thus the moniker “#stupidindividualism”. The root out of this is to work a way round this “stupid individualism”.

Rainbow Gatherings manage this – by forcing scarcity, in #visionontv we don’t have this option, in Rainbow you are moved into a world where all the normal options are simply are not there – thus change HAS TO HAPPEN – it’s an intentional community. “Stupid individualism” simply becomes too dysfunctional in this situation to stop change. This is at the heart of rainbow process. In our situation, on the internet, in media there is no scarcity, so “stupid individualism” reigns supreme and unstoppable.

An issue is that many people will self-define what I am saying at this point – BUT will not engage with it – The writer is being a “stupid individual” and this would be the case if the writer was not actively engaged in a real social project.

“Trust networks” are the solution to “stupid individualism”. With this understanding, I have a more sympathetic view of climatecamp process. The derided “process people” suffered from ossification as much as the wider camp. And I am arguing that this is a re-occurring issue, so the individual who were left pushing an empty agenda are less at fault than the systematic issues that they haven’t addressed.

It’s important NOT to take personal responsibility for this, as the is a dead end block in using this as a solution to this problem. Maybe more useful to seeing us as mannequins dancing in a circle, twitching to barely visible strings. And the circle we are in – is not the right one. We need a new circle with some different strings (some of them more visible) and to start a new dance.

The blocks: what participants feel are the tangling of strings, the process they are trying to unravel so as to make a new circle to dance in. We are all attached to strings, so get untangling. It’s the strings, NOT the messenger, that stops you. Help is needed trying to untangle and re-set some strings, perhaps the messenger is trying to help? Try not to shoot

In this post, I attempt to untangle a string (#climatecamp process wasn’t as bad as I thought it was). Which string are you going to untangle? “Stupid individualism” is the trap we have to avoid, but we are getting more and more snared in it – on all sides.

The danger is that we are talking about parallel things and more tragically – thinking along parallel divergent lines – “stupid individualism” is strong and kicking and the more we kick, the more entangle we become – leaving little hope of a new dance – by the way dance is a metaphor for process and strings are a metaphor for the very human senses of belonging that we need for society to hold together.

Does it end well, I wonder – it never has in the past, but one can keep coming at a problem from different angles. Maybe this time it might. Thus, am NOT taking any personal responsibility – just seeing us as mannequins dancing in a circle twitching to barely visible strings. And the circle we are in – is not the right one. We need a new circle with some different strings (some of them more visible) and start a new dance.