Dave Lane  ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¿Jul 1, 2023
To folks aware of the #TPPA & its less-pronouceable alias #CPTPPA that I regularly cite as a real problem for the world & us here in Aotearoa NZ - the #InvestorStateDisputeServices (#ISDS) terms of the not-at-all #FreeTradeAgreement our gov't has signed us up to... this will help you understand how bad it is: https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=xW5dEtjMb-k or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW5dEtjMb-k #CorporateCoup @strypey @DrCuriosity This also explains our gov'ts *love* for #BigTech & snubbing domestic companies.
Show threadStrypeyJul 3, 2023

@lightweight
> Investor State Dispute Services (ISDS) terms of the not-at-all Free Trade Agreement our gov't has signed us up to...this will help you understand how bad it is

When the NatLabs talk about defending the "rules-based international order", this is what they're talking about. China is not exceptional in its economic colonisation of smaller/ weaker countries through "aid". Corporate media is just more honest about it when they do it.

@DrCuriosity

#colonisation #FreeTrade #ISDS

Show threadStrypeyJul 3, 2023

Reading Snowcrash is another aid to understanding where we've been heading since the NeoLiberal coups, and where we might end up if we don't change direction. We need to cooperate on a massive scale to defend and extend democracy (by the broadest possible definition - see David Graeber's book The Democracy Project).

@lightweight
@DrCuriosity

Show threadIsaac FreemanJul 6, 2023
@strypey @lightweight @DrCuriosity Also the sequel _The Diamond Age_, which made the insightful point that a chaotic cyberpunk world isn’t a stable end state to history. People can’t keep living like that indefinitely, so a generation later social hierarchies are reasserted and nationalistic power re-centralised (albeit in many competing non-geographical nations). This is the fascist turn.
Show threadStrypeyJul 6, 2023

@isaacfreeman
> Also the sequel _The Diamond Age_, which made the insightful point that a chaotic cyberpunk world isn’t a stable end state to history

Didn't know this was a Snowcrash sequel and haven't read it yet. Will head to the public library at the next opportunity.

@lightweight @DrCuriosity

Show threadDave Lane  ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¿
@strypey I just requested a copy from our library, and am considering reading it out loud to the boys. I read Little Brother and Homeland as well as For the Win (all by @pluralistic ) out loud to the boys who loved them... think they might be read for Diamond Age. @isaacfreeman @DrCuriosity
Jul 6, 2023 at 4:08amWeb
Show threadJon SullivanJul 6, 2023
@lightweight @strypey @pluralistic @isaacfreeman @DrCuriosity I remember Diamond Age being intense, and overflowing with crazy speculative ideas. (Dave, I have a copy if you want to borrow it.)
Show threadDave Lane  ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¿Jul 6, 2023
@joncounts that's very kind Jon - I've just requested it from South Library :) - and I'm 1st in the queue. @strypey @pluralistic @isaacfreeman @DrCuriosity
Show threadStrypeyJul 6, 2023

@lightweight
> think they might be read for Diamond Age

... after Snowcrash, surely? If it's a sequel...

@pluralistic @isaacfreeman @DrCuriosity

Show threadDave Lane  ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¿Jul 6, 2023
@strypey my older boy already got most of the way through Snowcrash on his own (it was the first Stephenson book I read) but I think was a bit young for it (he didn't grok some of it, although I'll be able to help with some concepts if reading aloud). I don't remember Diamond Age being a sequel, but there was probably a pretty big gap between reading them for me... @pluralistic @isaacfreeman @DrCuriosity
Show threadIsaac FreemanJul 6, 2023
@lightweight @strypey @pluralistic @DrCuriosity I remember being quite proud of figuring out that it must literally be a sequel, as it's basically an easter egg. It reads fine as just occurring in a historical period that might logically come after the stereotypical cyberpunk world that Snow Crash parodied.
Show threadDr. Curiosity 💻🔬Jul 6, 2023

@isaacfreeman @lightweight @strypey
Quoting>>>
"Chiselled Spam," Miss Matheson said, sort of mumbling it to herself.

"Pardon me, Miss Matheson?" Nell said.

"I was just watching the smart wheels and remember an advertisement from my youth," Miss Matheson said. "I used to be a thrasher, you know. I used to ride skateboards through the streets. Now I’m still on wheels, but a different kind. Got a few too many bumps and bruises during my earlier career, I’m afraid."

Show threadIsaac FreemanJul 6, 2023
@DrCuriosity @lightweight @strypey That was it, yeah.