I turned to Annalee Newitz to think about the current state of propaganda and disinformation and I do not regret it: https://aworkinglibrary.com/reading/stories-are-weapons
(And I’m chewing on a thought here about how we are all armed to the teeth.)
One of the great privileges of spending so much time listening to people talk about their work is those moments when people realize things not only can change but they will change—and that they have the power to shape that change. https://everythingchanges.us/blog/writing-a-living-future/
It can seem terrifically dangerous to dream these days, but we cannot build a future that we cannot imagine. Join a small gathering to imagine a future of work that serves the living: https://everythingchanges.us/workshop/sf
“acting with agency is the primary way to avoid being traumatized by negative experiences. Whether you win or lose, the act of fighting is enough to help our brains process what has happened.” https://margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/the-sky-is-falling-weve-got-this
“Purpose preempts despair,” writes Kelly Hayes. I think the reverse is also true: to live without purpose is to cultivate despair, to fuel it and feed it. https://organizingmythoughts.org/power-up-resources-for-the-road-ahead/
So much this, but especially the bit about inefficiency; to borrow from amb, we need to focus on critical connections over critical mass: https://www.wrecka.ge/safer-places-now/
(cf. https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/change-is-constant)
Finding some solace in this piece, especially the bit about self-trust: if you cannot trust yourself, you make it easier for others to program you with their plans, and you lose the ability to build trust and power with others. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/10-things-to-do-if-trump-wins/
Since I can no longer Google stupid CSS/HTML/etc questions, I must now hit my friends up, and honestly win/win: they get more time with me, a very charming person, and I get highly credible and probably funny answers to my questions.
Searched a very simple question—the kind that a year or two ago would have returned multiple credible and useful answers—and got page after page of obvious slop. What a fucking waste. We made a wonderful thing and then just goddamn threw it away.
Warmest Halloween in almost 80 years; longest stretch without measurable rain in nearly 150; climate change in Philadelphia is proceeding exactly on schedule!
Wrote about privilege and why we need to remember that it’s is a resource to be used not tossed away. It’s worth too much to discard. https://everythingchanges.us/blog/change-the-course/
Grateful to Defector for (again) sharing their annual report—useful not only for insight into how a small media business is run, but also for the description of a worker-led change process. https://defector.com/defector-annual-report-year-four
The move to elevate the “intelligence” of machines serves simultaneously to denigrate the wholeness, creativity, and wisdom of living, embodied human beings. https://everythingchanges.us/blog/what-it-is-to-be-human/
Literally gasped when I read that Nicola Griffith has two more books planned for the Hild series. Cannot wait to clear more shelf space. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/11/07/a-woman-who-wins-hild-nicola-griffith/
With the seasons changing, a reminder that there are times for growth and times for rest and you get to decide what time it is today: https://everythingchanges.us/blog/latewood/
Grateful to Molly White for pointing out the legal precarity of freelance journalism. For most people, the law is more of a threat than a protector. https://www.citationneeded.news/i-am-my-own-legal-department/
“Necessity has been called the mother of invention, but doubt is.” https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/to-serve-and-guide
Very interested in Kissane’s work on governance, not only because of the obvious benefits to the social web, but because I think governance is the central question to how we live and work through climate change. https://www.wrecka.ge/revealing-the-gifts/
“The Sweet had to believe in their superiority or admit that they tore their possessions from the fingers of the Swill.” https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/sweet-and-the-swill
Refusing your own agency time and again is like disconnecting from a power source—the energy is still there, latent and ready, but the plug dangles inches from the outlet. https://everythingchanges.us/blog/haves-and-choices/