Pluralistic: William Gibson vs Margaret Thatcher (17 Mar 2026)

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/17/technopolitics/

Pluralistic: William Gibson vs Margaret Thatcher (17 Mar 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

@Nickiquote and to persuade us that #ThereIsNoAlternative.

Wenn der polnische Ministerpräsident Donald #Tusk auf dem EU-Gipfel heute meint: "Wir haben keine Alternative! Europa muss sich dieser Herausforderung, diesem Wettrüsten stellen. Ich bin mir sicher, dass Russland dieses Rennen verlieren wird!" kann ich ihn angesichts der Geschichte Polens verstehen. Gleichzeitig zeigt sich TINA (There is no alternative) leider oft als ein Bumerang für demokratische Gesellschaften, den mensch lieber nicht wirft[1].

Abgesehen davon, dass es natürlich immer eine Vielzahl von Alternativen gibt [2]. Es ist nur fraglich, ob mensch schon bereit ist, die zu sehen und zu debattieren.

Mir scheint, Europa hat sich durch seine extrem kurzsichtige Außenpolitik der letzten ~30 Jahre (den Amis bei allem Unfug außer Libyen blind hinterherrammeln) in eine schlimme Zwickmühle manövriert. Mit #Wettrüsten kommen die Menschen Europas da aber bestimmt nicht raus. Eine Alternative wäre z.B. global über eine Änderung der Spielregeln des von Jahr zu Jahr tödlicher tobenden Kapitalismus nachzudenken und zu streiten.

[1] Astrid Séville 2016 - From ‘one right way’ to ‘one ruinous way’? Discursive shifts in ‘There is no alternative’ European Political Science Review, Available on CJO 2016 doi:10.1017/S1755773916000035

[2] Senne Vandevelde - There Is No Alternative: A Discursive Analysis of Past and Present

#Polen #Rußland #Bumerang #TINA #thereisnoalternative #EU #Wettrüsten #Alternativen #Kapitalismus

From ‘one right way’ to ‘one ruinous way’? Discursive shifts in ‘There is no alternative’ | 10.1017/S1755773916000035-Sci_hub

For just 200k/day, you too (and 8 billion others) can believe the world is real.

#TINA #ThereIsNoAlternative

All in all, the cost of these productions has gotten cheaper. It used to be deaths all the time to remind us worlds were real.

Now, even 200k/day/8billion people is almost too much.

#kidsthesedaysaretoosoft
#inmydaydeathwaseverywhereandwelikedit

I bet we could get by with fewer.

I bet they don't even have to be real.

#HaveYouEvenSEENaDeadBody
#ItWasProbablyAI

@DenisMeuthen @academicchatter

Contrary to popular belief, #TINA = #ThereIsNoAlternative is not supported by the evidence.

Ethical alternatives to #Slack include the #MatrixProtocol or #Mattermost . No need to centralise on a single server or depend on non-free software.

* recommendation based on public discussion: https://switching.software/replace/slack

* lists of #Matrix servers:
** https://servers.joinmatrix.org
** https://tatsumoto-ren.github.io/matrix
** https://www.hello-matrix.net/public_servers.php

#DebunkingMisinformation
#OpenScience

Slack

Collaboration Software

switching.software

The American #neoliberal malaise - celebrated in by "centrists" who insisted that everything was fine and nothing could be changed - didn't just lead to a sense of helplessness, but also *hopelessness*. #Denialism and #nihilism are Siamese twins, and the YOLO approach to the #ClimateEmergency, #covid mitigation, the housing crisis and other pressing issues can't be disentangled from the Thatcherite maxim that #ThereIsNoAlternative.

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* "group size and the need to represent diversity":

https://www.nicolas.claidiere.fr/wp-content/uploads/DiscussionCrowds-Mercier-2021.pdf

* "pressures for conformity and concerns for epistemic reputation":

https://academic.oup.com/princeton-scholarship-online/book/30811

Realism is a demand dressed up as an observation. Realists like #MargaretThatcher insisted "#ThereIsNoAlternative" to #neoliberalism, but what she meant was "stop trying to think of an alternative."

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