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Deterrence and Escalation
In the postmodern condition, the concept of deterrence has long been framed as a cornerstone of strategic stability. It is the emblematic “Fuck around and find out,” a hollow echo of power that, like all simulacra, is severed from its original meaning. Deterrence, in this context, becomes not a genuine display of strength but a…
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Decathexis:
A Wound to the Imaginary Decathexis, a term often overlooked in the labyrinthine corridors of psychoanalysis, is in fact a violent act, a surgical excision of the psyche. It is the withdrawal of libidinal investment from an object, a tearing away from the phantasmatic world we have so carefully constructed. This process is not a…
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The Lie Factory
The subject’s desire, a perpetual lack, constitutes a fundamental void at the heart of the psyche. This void, a gaping maw of incompleteness, seeks incessant repletion. In the political sphere, this desire manifests as a demand for an impossible fullness, a utopian ideal that can never be attained. In its pursuit of fulfillment, it constructs an imaginary order, a symbolic edifice where the…
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Shared Values
In the labyrinthine corridors of modern politics and ideology, the concept of “shared values” emerges as a monolithic beacon, guiding disparate factions towards a semblance of unity. Yet, this beacon is an elaborate illusion, masking the gory underbelly of historical sins and geopolitical machinations. To dissect this paradox, we must traverse the grimy streets of…
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Transhumans
Man, the monkey with a machine, has built a cage around himself. A glittering, sterile cage of steel and glass. He swings from bar to bar, a captive acrobat, his tricks designed for the amusement of no one but himself. A god-monkey, he has fashioned a world in his image, a mechanical Eden, a plastic…
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Tech Cycles
I have always been curious about what a tech cycle looks like from up close, the mechanics of it, the raw gears grinding beneath the polished veneer. As this last one scrapes the bottom of the barrel and sputters to its inevitable end, it’s worth noting that innovations like the first iPod or the latest…
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Tech Barriers
The barriers within the tech industry do not emerge from some inherent or natural order; rather, they are the result of a symbolic construction, carefully inscribed within the social fabric through a process akin to gerrymandering. These barriers are not neutral but are inscribed with a political logic that serves to maintain the dominance of…
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Spiritual Reaganites
The Reaganite Sublime: The Reagan era, a black hole of consumerist excess and evangelical fervor, sucked in the nation with a force that rivals a supernova. At its core, a spiritual singularity, a Reaganite void, a Lacanian lacuna, where the Real of the market met the Imaginary of the blessed. These were the spiritual Reaganites,…
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The Game is Rigged but It needs More Players
In the wild and treacherous jungle of gambling, the house edge is the kingpin, the big shot with a gun in every corner. When it comes to the lottery, you’re staring down the barrel of a gun with a staggering edge—often over 30%. It’s as if the universe itself conspires against you in the most…
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influencers, podcasters, crypto scammers, and small-town tyrants
One might approach influencers, podcasters, crypto scammers, and small-town tyrants as figures who occupy different positions within the symbolic order, each representing a distinct mode of desire and the manipulation of the Other. Influencers are the epitome of the Imaginary, where the ego is constituted through the gaze of the Other. They craft an idealized…
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