This Random Thread

[Jonse]

I see a certain irony in Twoism's fascination with technological revisionism and "going back". Boards of Canada has a lot of social networking profiles with some even on sites you wouldn't expect and has proven themselves to be active.

But I understand it, and with some people I see some honest folks longing for the good old days and to them I say if that's your thing, go for it. Move out to the country and change your life, make it happen. Whatever floats your boat.

Then I see some people who are just bandwagon people who are posting about how they "agree" from their phone and not their desktop (if they even still own one) and are probably recording a "vine" at the moment. Not going to point any fingers, you know who you are.


On another note:

Kinda weird/sad looking at old posts and seeing all those who no longer visit the board. Even ones I didn't know, before my time.. seems like a good crowd from back then.

There are those people, and it is unfortunate. Though some of them poke their head in from time to time just when you'd thought they'd never show up again (glances over at A-Ball).

But there are also those people with 40-60 posts who showed up just for the TH hype and then left when it was over, not even caring to say goodbye. To those folks...for lack of a more polite statement, fuck 'em. Crawled back to WATMM I suppose.

[fujee]

Agreed, I like our community though, the ones who come and go and the mainstays - it's all great. I love this place.

[Jonse]

Agreed, I like our community though, the ones who come and go and the mainstays - it's all great. I love this place.

Yeah, I love "our community". That's why I think there's a clear separation between someone who's part of the community and someone who isn't. What I said in my previous post is an exaggeration, I don't hold any sort of particular anger against the general group of people who created an account and stayed just for the duration of the hype train. If they were a good dude/gal, then they were welcome. The downside during that period of time, unavoidably, was that it resulted in a lot of dickheads showing up.

And I'm pretty positive I ignored 95% of them, and when I had to acknowledge them it was typically to a moderator. Can't remember the name of that one guy who was banned here before, which seems a more rare thing than a sighting of MDG online by the way...it was like "Gonzalo" or something like that. I don't remember. We had more than a couple of those.

But we gained some community members as well, so it balances out.

[Synthestesia]

aeiou

[Julian Candy]

aeiou

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[circleofthesun]

aeiou

uaeno

[Mexicola]

Did Sting just sign up here or something??

[fujee]

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/ ... ?CMP=fb_gu

Makes you wonder, what is the point in anything you do, when it appears we are irreversibly heading towards complete and utter destruction.

[Mexicola]

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange?CMP=fb_gu

Makes you wonder, what is the point in anything you do, when it appears we are irreversibly heading towards complete and utter destruction.

Cheers for this. I needed cheering up...

[fujee]

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange?CMP=fb_gu

Makes you wonder, what is the point in anything you do, when it appears we are irreversibly heading towards complete and utter destruction.

Cheers for this. I needed cheering up...

Ha, sorry mate. Pretty depressing read isn't it.

Speaking of depressing, someone just posted this on Facebook. So awful..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkaa3FO4KAw

[Techboy]

See this shit all the time. Sauchiehall Street in particular is a fuckin' dive. Those guys must be complete morons, right in front of a television camera. Apparently the evidence from the BBC guys landed the fat one 8 months in jail so I guess that's a good thing.

also see:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scott ... ng-3162320

edit:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/incoming/humza- ... ck-3161144
better link

[fujee]

So disgusting.

[fujee]

Does anyone get the feeling everyone is very apathetic about things in this post millennial weirdness. The UK especially, seems completely void of any excitement, originality or passion at the moment.

[Techboy]

I have certainly noticed in at least one context. (Sorry to keep going on about this on Twoism but you can probably understand why I feel so strongly). Upstairs we're having our independence referendum as you might know, and there are certainly plenty of passionate voices on both sides of the discussion but indeed I keep reading things like "who cares? it's just politics" or Limmy on Weekly Wipe if you saw it "do you want to be run by /this/ pack of liars ... or that pack of liars?"

Whilst I know that Limmy himself is engaged in the debate and his comment was a joke, I hear that in a serious context quite a lot. People writing into the Metro like, "I wish people would shut up about independence, I just don't care because it won't make a difference to my life." or "everyone is all shouty and arguing about their beliefs now and i find it tiring". Holy shit what do you want from life? Why are you a fucking idiot? Bending over and taking it from those who had the ambition or wealth to stand for election because it allows you an easy life free of critical thought? Such people are beyond my comprehension and their attitude is beyond reproach.

I can't think of another country in the world who, when offered the option of ceding from Britain, would have said "don't care". People around the world have died for their political beliefs and somehow all Scotland has to offer the debate is a great big "meh". Somehow we have been tricked into believing what our London-centric media tells us about our ability control to our own affairs without analysing it, synthesising and applying our own experience to reach a decision or an opinion.

And yet people seem willing to accept it, not showing up to vote because they don't know what side they are on -- or voting how someone else has told them to vote. They can't be fucked engaging with political debate; they are too lazy to turn on their brains for more than a few seconds whilst they try to remember where they left the television remote; they are too fucking thick to understand that voting is not only a right but a responsibility -- and when you shirk that responsibility you give up your right to fuckin' moan and complain because you are everything that is wrong with today's society. And you have the cheek to publicly shame yourself by complaining that "too many people" are engaging in the most important political debate Scotland has had or will have within a margin of about 100 years. Well - to those people I have only one thing to say and that thing is get a fucking education.

[Edited to be agnostic on the actual subject matter of independence - although for what it's worth I believe we should just find within ourselves trust, trust in the incompetent band of Etonians in the Houses; trust that they are not running a kleptocrasy behind the curtains; trust that the facts are wrong and that their blatant lies are infact the ultimate truth. Oops, typo, what I meant to say was "fuck Westminster".]

[A_Northern_Soul]

You're absolutely right about voter apathy - not just on the independence issue, but there's a wider disengagement from politics in this country at the moment.

Remember a few months ago Russell Brand edited the New Statesman and basically sent out a message that voting was pointless? That made me furious - millions have died for that right. In our grandparents lifetimes women have thrown themselves under horses in protest at not having the vote. To not vote is the laziest kind of political gesture. Robert Webb wrote a great piece in response to Brand's piece - both worth a read on the New Statesman if you get the chance.

[jcnporter]

I think that apathy regarding the Scottish independence vote is unforgivable, but personally I wouldn't equate it with apathy about voting in general elections.
While I can't really stand a lack of engagement with political issues and the associated celebration of shallowness and intellectual mediocrity, to be fair anyone saying that you get the same thing with either of the main political parties has a valid point. To me the idea that voting for Conservative instead of Labour or vice versa enacts real change is more dangerous and delusional.
If all of the political parties represent minor variations the same core political and economic system, what is the point, where is the choice? Perhaps a 'none of the above' on the polling card?
I think it is the politicians as much as the voters who are responsible for demeaning the efforts made by those who secured democracy - the difference being that I believe that on the part of the politicians, it is intentional.

[A_Northern_Soul]

^ then vote for someone else. Agreed that the main parties are often a little too similar - I think there a number of reasons for that; one of which is they're all pursuing the same focus-grouped to hell voters. That said, I don't think a Labour government would have done what this current shower are doing to the country.

There are alternatives out there beyond Tory & Labour. Voting for *anyone* shows you're at least engaged with the process. Staying at home & not voting "because the government always get in" changes nothing.

I think there is a genuine desire out there for an alternative. The rise of UKIP shows that people are seeking a different voice (albeit in their case a very wrong-headed voice). It would be good to see a populist left-leaning movement appear. It might say more about the political/media types I choose to follow on Twitter or whatever, but it does seem like "socialism" is no longer seen as a dirty word...

[jcnporter]

^ then vote for someone else. Agreed that the main parties are often a little too similar - I think there a number of reasons for that; one of which is they're all pursuing the same focus-grouped to hell voters. That said, I don't think a Labour government would have done what this current shower are doing to the country.

There are alternatives out there beyond Tory & Labour. Voting for *anyone* shows you're at least engaged with the process. Staying at home & not voting "because the government always get in" changes nothing.

I think there is a genuine desire out there for an alternative. The rise of UKIP shows that people are seeking a different voice (albeit in their case a very wrong-headed voice). It would be good to see a populist left-leaning movement appear. It might say more about the political/media types I choose to follow on Twitter or whatever, but it does seem like "socialism" is no longer seen as a dirty word...

I wasn't just talking about the main political parties - there isn't anyone else. Probably the closest political label describing my beliefs would be left libertarian or geolibertarian. There are no left-leaning parties that advocate anything beyond nanny state socialism - I want to vote for things like land reform, a citizen's income, a voluntary state, removal of corporatist protections, support for co-operative business models and so on. No party is even close to this.
The action of voting isn't a guarantee that the person has given any thought to the way wider society should work - most people vote for what would benefit them personally, or along tribal lines.
I would prefer to see people educate themselves about economic and political processes before casting their vote, unfortunately the last thing our system promotes is critical thinking.

[jcnporter]

Does anyone get the feeling everyone is very apathetic about things in this post millennial weirdness. The UK especially, seems completely void of any excitement, originality or passion at the moment.

What's particularly depressing about it is that in the past, times of economic hardship inevitably led to a surge in creativity. Maybe what we're seeing is the gradual victory of commercialism.

[fujee]

Maybe. All I feel is that everything is hugely contrived and packaged. Nothing looks like it comes from the heart. I get a weird sense that everyone is unaware of this inertia, or conversely they are happy for it continue. People are happy for this drudgery to continue. I see nothing original or inventive in society. I don't see genuine passion in people. Maybe it's technology which is causing this inward looking feeling for the public. I get the impression people are apathetic about anything which doesn't have a vested interest for them. Maybe it will all boil over and something exciting will happen.