“And that is precisely what attracts elites: not sex, but absolute imbalance of power. There is no conspiracy here.
There is a structure. And if this fair disgusts us, it is not because it is new, but because for a moment we saw our civilization without makeup. Without narrative. Without justification.
The question is not who was there.
The question is why such places always exist. And why, after every exposed island, the world rushes to build the next one.” From Twitter, by @Pergament_F
“From the ‘rational egoist’ to ‘I am above you’ the distance is short when inner discipline is absent. Philosophy thus became not a system of thought, but an exculpatory document for instinct.
This ‘chosen society’ is not hedonistic. It is boring.
Boredom is the most underestimated engine of cruelty. When everything is permitted, only one pleasure remains: crossing a boundary others cannot.
Children and the vulnerable are not ‘objects of desire’.
They are proof of asymmetry.” 4/n
“Epstein merely offered convenient infrastructure. The West responded with noise. Noise is its way of simulating morality. Investigations, media cycles, half-confessions, calibrated outrage. This is not justice, it is damage control.
The East responded with silence. And that silence is more honest. Because there is no illusion there that elites owe a moral explanation. Power does not pretend to be ethical. It is simply power.” 3/n
“There is no ‘fall’ here. A fall presupposes height. There is continuity. From antiquity onward, elites have never been a moral vanguard.
They have been an anthropological vanguard, the first to test how far human impunity can extend. Roman emperors, Byzantine courts, papal families of the Renaissance, the French aristocracy before 1789, Victorian gentlemen with double lives all are variations of the same model: the right to transgress because one stands above the law.” 2/n
“What we call the ‘Epstein scandal’ is not a moral catastrophe. It is an administrative error of history: for a brief moment, a structure normally operating in darkness became visible.
Epstein was not a center. He was a node. A node connecting money, symbolic capital, and what elites have always considered their private entitlement: access to the bodies of others. Not out of passion. Out of proof of power.” 1/n
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
We have some exciting news to share! 🧡
After a rigorous renewal process, Moodle has officially been re-certified as a B Corporation (B Corp)™ — and this time, our certification includes the US and India.
Learn more on our blog:
https://moodle.com/news/moodles-b-corp-recertification-is-here/
#BCorp #Moodle #OpenEdTech
During the conference, our Data Morgana Podcast host Julia Janssen spoke with keynote speaker @parismarx on innovation and seeming progress. From self-driving cars to generative AI, Silicon Valley often frames new technologies as inevitable — but who really benefits?
'Not all technologies are beneficial to the wider public… We need a democratic say in what gets developed.'
Listen to the podcast: https://video.publicspaces.net/w/satjXGA9nsLVrGWbVpGedx
Or re-watch Marx's keynote: https://conference.publicspaces.net/session/shaping-our-digital-future
Nice to see that my faculty has at last caught up with my little Royal Society stunt.
Francesca Albanese’s latest report, which is scheduled to be presented at a news conference in Geneva on Thursday, names 48 corporate actors, including #USA tech giants #Microsoft, #IBM, #Alphabet Inc. – #Google’s parent company – and #Amazon. A database of more than 1000 corporate entities was also put together as part of the investigation.
https://aje.io/1hxnz0
#GazaGenocide #Gaza #israel #israelWarCrimes
UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has named several US giants among the companies aiding Israel.
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ
Moodle
PublicSpaces
SellaTheChemist
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