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Civilization’s Last Stand: Charter Networks
So all the talk about civilization was just about charter cities and charter schools. They sold you a bill of goods wrapped in the shining veneer of civilization, the grand promise of order, progress, and prosperity. But what did they give you? Not the grand city on a hill, but a shantytown of grifters playing…
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Whodunit: The Jacobean Revenge Play Turned on Its Head
The whodunit, a subgenre of detective fiction, has captivated audiences for over a century with its intricate plots, red herrings, and the ultimate revelation of a murderer. Yet, beneath its polished veneer lies a structure that bears striking resemblance to an older, bloodier tradition: the Jacobean revenge play. While the Jacobean play explores the inexorable…
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Free Stuff
The irony is thick when a Silicon Valley VC criticizes the concept of “free stuff” while the entire tech industry often thrives on giving away services for free, monetizing data, or operating on a “freemium” model. Silicon Valley’s success has largely been built on repurposing industries and offering free or heavily subsidized services to consumers,…
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Tangier
The air hung heavy with the sweet, cloying scent of kif. The narrow, labyrinthine streets of Tangier were alive with the cacophony of street vendors, the chatter of locals, and the distant wail of a muezzin. In a dimly lit, opium den, a group of expatriates sat huddled together, their faces illuminated by the flickering…
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Tyrant
In the labyrinthine corridors of power, the tyrant’s greatest challenge is not the executioner’s blade, but the absence of the mind. For in the realm of simulacra, where reality is a mere reflection, it’s increasingly difficult to find those who dare to choose, those who risk the void by asserting their will against the currents of control. The tyrant craves the…
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The Big Exit
When Jean-Paul Sartre penned No Exit back in 1944, he didn’t have a clue that Silicon Valley would turn his existential nightmare into a business model. There, in a well-ventilated room with glass walls, soft bean bags, and artisanal cold brew on tap, the brightest minds of our generation are sweating bullets, not because of…
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Nerds
Nerds, with their towering intellects and compulsive need to quantify everything from the stars in the sky to the lint in their pockets, often entertain a peculiar notion. They believe that by diving headfirst into a cultural tradition of lesser wit—say, a mathematician becoming a die-hard Thomas Carlyle fan—they can somehow outsmart the grim specter…
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Welcome to the Unwinnable: A Play in Three Acts
Title: “The Theater of Power: An Unfolding Simulation” ACT ONE: The Hyperreality of Strength Step into the spectacle of American power projection, where symbols and signs replace substance, and the imagery of strength becomes more significant than strength itself. The world watches as the United States, armed with the latest in technology and ideology, extends…
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Ripley
The Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith, also known as the Ripliad, present a complex and unsettling view of the world through the lens of Tom Ripley, a morally ambiguous anti-hero. Here are 20 truths about the world you can glean from the series:
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