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themalaiseoftech.bsky.social
@themalaiseoftech.bsky.social
Body in the twin cities, mind in the 16th-early 20th century. Thomas Paine was robbed…and so were we.
The “donate” button should have been a clue!

Thank you, sir. Donation sent.
November 11, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Hi Hamilton - other than subscribing to In These Times (which I have), is there another way to support you?

I’ve always been a huge fan of your work but jesus christ do we need your incisiveness more than ever…
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
*to clarify about Minima Moralia…it was an excellent book.

But it was like going from the occasional beer to having 20 lemon sharps in one sitting. 😆
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Given those breaks, it would be easy to move on to something else….

Which is why I really appreciate your work and the fact that you post insightful snippets that pull me back in and remind me “I really need to read more of these works”.

Thank you for keeping the CT flame lit on Bluesky!
November 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Hey James, where can one donate to support your work?

I’m just a critical theory / FS cub scout (only read one book each by Marcuse, Horkheimer and Adorno so far…)

Latest was Minima Moralia (probably a poor choice for first Adorno book…)

I always need a mental breather between their books…
November 11, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I want NONE of this. NONE.

But what is the alternative here? It seems to be:

Shock deprivation and chaos now

Or

Slow bleed deprivation and chaos
November 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Yes, 2 million folks not getting paid is terrible - but not just for those people.

2 million foreclosures/unpaid landlords. 2 million people immediately ceasing discretionary spending. Zero government services. 2 million people hitting the job market.

The knock on effects would be nuts.
November 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I worry that with each day of funding, the admin gets a chance to put their plans in motion + people normalize what is happening.

I absolutely agree with you, Mike, that we need a ToV and that there wasn’t one within the existing system now.

But is there a ToV within this system at all?
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
It seems to me that:

-all feds (other than military + DHS) going unpaid
-SNAP benefits not getting paid
-ACA exploding

Is the current admin theory of victory. They want this.

Would it not be better to have it hit sooner rather than later and hit all at once?
November 10, 2025 at 1:58 PM
OMG - so embarassing! Thank you for the correction!
November 10, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Penny Flanagan!
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Fellow “Club 44” member here…

Can’t even get to the cow tools part….i’m stuck on “I was young, now i’m 36”.

😂
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
November 4, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Asked and fucking answered….in 1976!!!!!

No, no, no….a thousand times no!

These people write about everything and read about nothing…..fuck’s sake!
November 3, 2025 at 2:13 PM
This is when you realize how many things in your home bear what i’ve affectionately termed “the Benedictine Curse”.

Clocks everywhere!
November 3, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Yep. There is no overarching mission statement. No vision.

I’d say take the preamble, the best ideas that have worked (in all countries, accounting for all the reasons they worked) and, uh, star trek and let’s go from there.
October 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Not saying that personal responsibility is an illusion nor that good environments will always result in good people…only that terrible environments act as a force for all creatures to do terrible things.

To me, what connects these two images is distress.
October 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
So much amazing analysis between 1945-1970 on leads people to become like this and not only did people with money ignore it….they set up an economic system around it.

Insecurity, no agency and lack of connection makes for an easily manipulated consumer + worker.

That shit also makes nazis.
October 29, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I started writing the quote as I remembered from the book and realized I was gonna butcher the hell out of it.

Upon looking it up, yeah…it would have been a shadow of his original words.

One does not paraphrase the King!
October 23, 2025 at 11:46 AM
“If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”

-Stephen King, “On Writing”
October 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
100000000%!

And especially when it is during lunch, like a “brown bag virtual training” or “lunch and learn”.

Let me eat my goddamn microwaved paneer in peace - it’s all I have left.
October 23, 2025 at 4:20 AM
He’s the reverse Roy Batty.

“I haven’t seen things you people believe.”
October 18, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Completely agree that it’s not something you can overlook. Bland conversation and lack of intellectual curiosity are bad enough, but they are mere symptoms of a much bigger problem.
October 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Look at that mimesis. Clearly you’ve read Adorno to them.
October 15, 2025 at 3:54 AM