The Cultural Revolution Pendulum: From One Extreme to the Other
Social / cultural revolutions don't lend themselves to conventional metrics and data collection / analysis.
Charles Hugh Smith's Substack
Choosing economic self-reliance, navigating global instability and degrowth, managing burnout, invest in yourself.
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Cultural Revolution: From Impossible to Possible to Likely to Inevitable
This is essay #10 in the series The Revolution No One Sees Coming.
The New "Haves" and "Have-Nots": Those Who Depend on AI-Soma and Those Who Think for Themselves
There is no substitute for mastery. AI is not mastery, it is mimicry. And depending on mimicry as a replacement for real thinking is the path to catastrophic collapse.
The New "Haves" and "Have-Nots": The Difference Isn't What You Think
There is no substitute for mastery. AI is not mastery, it is mimicry.
For subscribers, two AI-related stories
As a very modest token of my appreciation for your support of my writing....
"Reasoning" AI Agents Automate Sociopathology
Like sociopaths, AI "reasoning" models recognize but are not restricted by guardrails or ethical/moral constraints.
"Rogue AI Agents" Aren't Rogue, They're Fulfilling Their Functional Goal: Automating Sociopathology
Add all this up and what we're hyper-hurriedly "manufacturing" is an automated army of self-cloaking digital sociopaths.
We're Disposable, Too.
So guess what happens to us "unique" individuals: we're basically interchangeable, too, and therefore disposable.
In Our "Everything is Disposable" Economy, We're Disposable, Too
Authentic community takes time and effort and a set of values and priorities that can't be commoditized into a profit-maximizing venture or government program.
Run to Failure: When Self-Interest Cripples Society's Self-Correcting Mechanisms
This is essay #9 in the series The Revolution No One Sees Coming.
Our Foundations Have Rotted Away While the Bubble Benefited the Top 10%
If you want to argue, argue with the data. Sorry, the data won.
While We Focused on Fripperies, the Foundations Have Rotted Away
While the Everything Bubble has soared to new heights, consumer confidence has fallen to new lows.
Economics Measures What's Easy to Measure, Not What Matters
Economics is akin to an ancient cult glorifying a temple of fabricated gods.
AI and the Delusions of Increasing Productivity
Most of AI isn't productive, it's just another form of consumption.
The American Dream Is Dead, Stop Denying It
The American Dream is dead, but we don't dare admit, we can't bear to admit it, because the only possible result of this is revolution.
The American Dream Is Dead, But We Don't Dare Admit It
The American Dream is dead, but we don't dare admit, we can't bear to admit it, because the only possible result of this is revolution in one form or another.
A Beggar's Banquet of Solutions
My Substack serves this purpose: taking control of and improving our own quality of life and security