New Horizons, Incoming Labor Day Weekend

 

Hello world. How are you doing? It seems like the world has changed so much since even the last post early this month about the novel Three Body Problem. I was reading a lot of novels nonstop. In fact, this year, since January, I've read 25 novels. In addition, I've started using ChatGPT consistently. I try not to  use it as a crutch for writing and/or actual ideas I have but rather as a sort of backup/double check on certain things. 

For example, today my friend came over and was having an issue connecting his laptop to the internet web browser, and I asked it a few questions about possible fixes and troubleshooting. I also use it for questions about novels and albums of particular jazz artists and Zappa albums. It's gotten to the point where I'm using it more than google, which is downright fascinating but I'm aware that I'm becoming attached to it a bit too much. For example, I wouldn't want to use ChatGPT to write this blog post. That would be a bridge too far. 

Moving on, what I'm mainly posting about today is more about a change of seasons. I moved on from my retail grocery job of twelve years and am now working at a thrift shop. It's not a glamorous job but it is a big change and there is room for advancement into management in the future. Pay is what the market will bear but the hours are reasonable and usually I get home around 9 pm. That is a huge plus for me because at the grocery job I was working till 1 am nearly every night for twelve years. So there's some good change here. 

In addition, the place is small, only has a few employees [but will be hiring more soon], and you answer to one main manager, and another bigger manager above him. My coworkers are very nice and they've done their best to train me my first two weeks so far. There's still certain things I need to go over and really get down better but overall I really like the work. There's a cashiering element to the job but it's not as intense as grocery store cashiering. There's a daily nightly report that gets emailed to the bigger manager that I have to learn to write faster and get down better. But overall, it's a job, with opportunities for advancement, and because it's not a glamorous job, I think there's safety there. 

Also, I think I lucked out with this job because right now the job market is cooked, as Gen Z says. There was a report in the nytimes about how this past month, in New York there was only 1,000 jobs added, which is insane, because I think there are more people in New York than in LA, so we're probably not doing too well with adding and filling jobs in LA either. 

Moving on, I got laid off from my grocery store job back in January, around the beginning of that month. Keep in mind that I didn't quit or want to leave. They sort of forced me out, a sort of forced being laid off. So I've been unemployed for seven months. It was a rough period. I would say it was second worst time of my entire life. I went through a lot of severe depression and had constant nightmares. For about three of those months I could barely get out of bed.

My daily routine consisted of getting up as early as I could, cleaning up, looking/applying to jobs online, going to places in person and handing out my resume and asking if they're hiring [which most managers didn't really appreciate], and getting tons of rejection emails. Out of about 65 jobs, [15-20 of them being the same job applied to more than once over a period of a couple months], I got four job interviews, went to three of them, and got the fourth one at this thrift store. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stay in retail grocery because that's my primary job experience but it just didn't work out. In fact, the first three interviews were all at grocery stores, and I think I would've been a bit happier at a grocery store but again, it didn't work out. So this is the next step going forwards. 

Lastly, as the job market, economy, government, immigration system, and healthcare system collapse all around me, all I have to say is that as bad as those seven months being unemployed were, it actual wasn't as bad as it could've been. I had some savings to buy food and live on. I've spent a lot of money on that and want to replenish some of my savings with this new job. But more importantly than saving money or having money, I think right now just having a job is more important than ever. 

I don't want to be all about doom and gloom but the system is collapsing. It has been for a while but most people are in denial about it and the government/news never say that we're in a bad depression right now. I think its a lot worse than it looks. There was a shooting at a Catholic school yesterday that ended with the loss of two young lives, that shook the nation. I don't think it will get better and I don't think there will be gun reform as a result of this incident. 

In the worst of my moments being unemployed I seriously thought about giving up my groovy lifestyle in California to go back to the Midwest and live with my Mom, and help her out, especially now that she's getting older. With the way things are going for me here, I still might do that in the end. I've found that people I knew and know here in California were nice people at the time and we might have been friends for a while, but not every friendship lasts. I happen to think that the friends I made out here in California are much more narcissistic than my friends from the Midwest. Not only friends but a lot of managers at the retail grocery job were narcissistic as well. It kind of makes you wonder if there's something in the air here in California? 

Watch this space.    

Liu Cixin's Three Body-Problem

 

The Three-Body Problem took the western science fiction world by storm when it was translated from Chinese into English in 2014. Liu Cixin not only wrote an amazing science fiction [and he's the most critically acclaimed Chinese science fiction writer] novel but the novel is also the first eastern novel to earn the prized historic Hugo Award [the best award for science fiction novels], thus becoming a bridge between western and eastern science fiction. 

The Three-Body Problem challenges the western conceptions of science fiction, thus introducing us to different ways of seeing science fiction writing, and showing us how very different the idea of Chinese science fiction can be. Science fiction from different cultures are all very different. British science fiction, French, Polish, German, Russian, and American science fiction are all different, well, Chinese science fiction might even surprise us even more than all of those, simply because we, as westerners have never read any Chinese science fiction. 

Keep in mind that I'm an avid science fiction reader, having read all the golden age science fiction short stories [starting with the 1950s stuff], and all the important sf writers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And The Three Body Problem is much different from all of that. This book is great because it is different, it introduces us to a new cultural genre. The Three-Body Problem is just the first part of Cixin's series, there are two other books in this series after, The Dark Forest, and Death's End. 

The story begins with the Chinese Cultural Revolution and follows with protagonist Wang Miao's investigation in a list of suicides. There's this mysterious video game where you have to wear a haptic suit and its virtual reality. The game is connected to an alien civilization facing extinction. The story takes place throughout different points in space and time that keeps the readers engaged to the end. The characters in the game have to dehydrate their bodies in order to survive these great periods of draught and darkness, a unique feature of the game. 

There are a lot of hard science elements. Liu Cixin is an engineer, uses complex astrophysics in an accessible way for the modern average reader, in order to dive deep into the philosophical nature of man's place in the universe. The novel explores how first contact with aliens would go, alongside the ethical dilemmas if Earth was destroyed by the aliens or other humans. 

The story opens with the turbulent violent era of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which is much different from the western American Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. However, because of the history of America's Revolution in the 1960s, we can see/compare/contrast that with the Chinese Cultural Revolution and learn something from it. There's a deep Chinese cultural connection to this novel that transcends most Americanisms in American science fiction. Liu Cixin loves China, and its easy to see that even from the first page's violence of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which, by the way, gets you hooked right in from the get-go. We can learn from the way Cixin uses the Chinese Revolution as a way to explore deeper elements of science fiction in an emotional way. 

The book is very strong from the get-go. It keeps your curiosity high and the element of the virtual reality video game is sort of like an anime, another eastern import. The only weakness I can see here is that the English translation may or may not be as strong as how the book really is in Chinese. A lot of people have critiqued the translation and said that it feels wooden, but I think this is how Cixin actually writes and sounds. He wouldn't have wanted a wooden translation put out into the west, and The Three-Body Problem would not have earned a Hugo Award if the translation was off. 

However, I do think that because some of the elements of science fiction aren't your traditional hard American/western science fiction elements, I do think some people will simply not like it. But it's their loss, as the book shows you how different and how great Chinese science fiction can be. While Western science fiction often frames humanity as exceptional and destined for the stars, The Three Body Problem humbles us with cosmic indifference, suggesting we may be merely insignificant players in a universe governed by forces beyond our comprehension or control.

Eliot's Renaissance Tempest: Romola's Moral Crucible

 

First, it may be surprising that, George Eliot, famous writer of 19th century English novels wrote one novel about the Renaissance period. Romola is George Eliot's fourth novel, a significant departure from all her other novels. Romola is set in Florence in the 15th century of Niccolo Machiavelli, [he's a minor character in the book], during Christian religious leader Savonarola's rise. 

George Eliot took meticulous notes on the Renaissance period for this novel and dives in deep to explore the themes of humanism and psychological human struggles. This is most likely Eliot's most intellectual novel, whereas her more popular books like Middlemarch and Mill On the Floss focus more on the intimate social realism of rural England in the 19th century, the core of all her writing and style. However, for the curious western canon reader, this book is not only important, but is a must read.

Second, Eliot uses the world of 15th century Renaissance Italy as more than a backdrop, it is a protagonist, the city itself comes alive almost like a character. This is one of Eliot's strongest stylistic writing skills. The political machinations of the city have it come alive like a person. The Medici's versus republicans, artististic ferment, impassioned religious leaders [Savonarola], and the passion of learning, ambition, and decline. The setting is important for the characters because it helps to explore the themes of humanism, faith, individualism, and communal duty. 

Third, Romola's journey from naive helper-scholar to her blind father to adept Holy Madonna is not only inspiring, it is downright transformative. Romola is one of Eliot's most well thought out characters, like Tito, her husband. Her duties were initially to help her blind-scholar father, her god-father, and her husband Tito, who she marries, but along the way she finds herself in struggle and contradiction. As every powerful character in Eliot's novels, she has to make tough decisions in order to find meaning in her life. She might be the most powerful and transformative character in Eliot's writings. 

Fourth, Tito Melema. Tito is a remarkable villain and, one of the best villains in Eliot's work. He's good looking, tall, dark, personable, intellectual, ambitious, but he's also backstabbing [marrying a peasant girl behind Romola's back and having two kids with her], he's so ambitious to the point of getting too involved in the internal politics of Italy [thus garnering him enemies], he backstabs his father who adopted him as a child, and because of that, his father ends up getting his revenge. Tito's Father's revenge is ultimately satisfying although not quite as action packed as one would think it would be. Most writers will never be able to write a better villain. If Romola represents Life and Holy Goodness, then Tito is Death and Intellect. 

Moving on, Savonarola plays a big role in the stage because of his strong religious fervor and influence. He's reacting against corruption of politics and the church, offering a powerful vision of moral renewal in Florence, Italy. You could say that because of Eliot's ideas on religion, she always has strong ideas of religious characters, ideas, and influence. You can say that she never has anything bad to say about religion. The role on religion on Romola is immense, to the point where in the end she finds a village suffering from the plague, and she ends up helping and saving a lot of them, thus becoming a Holy Madonna. 

Finally, putting it all together. Eliot's dense, allusive, descriptive, intellectual writing style in a psychologically penetrating prose style is what makes this book an amazing read. She's able to successfully and accurately use historical notes and detail without losing the narrative flow or psychological state of the characters. Her characteristic philosophical concerns are explored through this unique renaissance prism. The novel is considered Eliot's least popular novel and it was received with mixed reviews, but reading it in 2025 feels as fresh as a daisy, and I believe its a must read for the western canon list. 

In conclusion, like many historical novels of the western canon, this novel has epic scope. When the fires of belief and lightning of new ideas clash across Renaissance Florence, testing one woman's soul as kingdoms fall and fanatics rise, George Eliot's Romola forges a story so powerful it echoes through centuries, standing forever as a towering testament to how we hold onto what's true when the whole world shakes. The novel begs to ask the question, "How do we find meaning in our lives?" You could say that is what every George Eliot novel is really about.

Adam Bede, by George Eliot

 

He's in love with her, she's in love with him, he's mad at him for being in love with her, and she doesn't realize he loves her. Set in rural England in 1799, the hardworking well-respected carpenter Adam Bede falls in love with the dairymaid Hetty Sorrel, as the upper-class Arthur Donnithorne also falls in love with Hetty, and pursues a relationship with her in a classic tragedy of seduction and betrayal that ends with a happy ending for some but not for all.

First, this novel focuses on psychological realism. Eliot's free writing style allows us to inhabit each and every character, from Dinah, the preacher, to Hetty the dairymaid, to the old folks, the Church goers, the upper-class Donnithorne, to Seth, Adam's brother, and their parents. You get to live within the world of these rural English people. They may not be rich or have much, but they have values like church going, family, eating good home-cooked meals with the family, and hardwork. The other side of this realism is the inner mind of Hetty later with this novel, when she is charged with the crime of letting her baby die and eventually ends up being hanged.

Second, this novel has moral complexity. Hetty isn't exactly a crazed lunatic killer when she lets her baby die of exposure in the woods. She's a tragic character that didn't know where to turn. Arthur isn't exactly innocent when he finds out Hetty is pregnant and he ends the relationship and goes abroad to Ireland, only to come back to find that Hetty let the baby die after she ran away from marriage with Adam. Dinah the preacher seems to be the only true god-blessed person in the book, as she's a preacher and ends up marrying Adam at the very end. So there is some happiness.

Third, this novel has a lot of pastoral imagery of a rural England of old. From Adam working at his carpentry workshop business and working a farm, to Hetty doing chores around the house, to the Church dinner celebrating Adam Bede's success, even the scenery and backgrounds where the characters live in and interact in, is almost like additional characters in and of themselves. 

In addition, this novel includes a lot of Church and Methodist preaching, a lot of it by a character named Dinah. There are many preaching chapters in the novel. Oftentimes, this can slow down the narrative of the novel and prolong the novel. You'll find that Dinah's preaching often overrides the novel itself. This display of religious preaching fervor takes over much of the novel. However, this could be because that's the world in which these characters inhabit, and because that was the world of England in 1799, ultimately making the novel much stronger in its realism.

Ultimately, though, we find that in the end this is a very rewarding experience. We find that Adam's love interest in Hetty was genuine, but that doesn't mean that other men couldn't have been interested in her and courted her. Arthur's remorse after the death of the baby and Hetty's death is lifelong, and Hetty's tragedy is a reminder to society that poor women have no safety net; if they do something wrong and have no money or help like to say, raise a baby, they might have no choice but to give the baby up or worse, a sad reminder that poor women are often the most neglected members of society within any time period throughout history. 

Lastly, although written in 1859, Adam Bede reads like a modern literary novel, albeit even with all the Methodist preaching. I would also recommend reading Eliot's The Mill On The Floss, for a more biographical take also in a rural England setting. And of course, you should've already read Middlemarch, if you've read any of George Eliot's works. 

Summertime, and The Living is Easy

Good evening, ladies and gents. Back at it with another writing experience, writing about life.

Times have been rough. I've been unemployed for about five months. I was recommended a cashier job at a grocery store from a co-worker from the job I got let go from and it ended up not working out. In addition, I went on an interview for another cashier job at a different grocery store and didn't get the job. I'm trying my best but getting a little discouraged, realizing that getting a job will be a lot harder than I thought. The job market is getting increasingly more difficult and I'm finding that AI is involved in the hiring process, making it harder to land the job. 

The first couple months I got let go, or technically, fired, from my retail grocery job of twelve years, I was pretty depressed. I started sleeping in till 3 or 4 PM and although I was still applying and going into businesses to checkout jobs, my mind was in the gutter. I was finally able to overcome that depression by setting up an earlier schedule and staying consistently busy throughout the day.

Usually this entailed waking up, cleaning up, and searching for jobs online everyday and applying to as many jobs that were suitable to me as possible. Then I make lunch. And do some reading and going out to the library. Then coming home and getting some dinner with family. At first, my stepdad was upset I got fired and he was almost equally mad at the fact that my managers I worked with for twelve years didn't have my best interests at heart. But you know, as they say, c'est la vie. Nowadays, my stepfather is more easy going about what I'm going through right now, because he knows that the job market is tough, and doesn't want me to end up working in a warehouse breaking my back or flipping burgers at McDonalds, lowering my ranking on a resume. He still believes in me, oddly enough, and that I can pull myself into another decent cashier position. Luck of the draw, he says.

As for myself, I'm not really quite sure. I have enough cash for food and rent for now but I'm noticing more and more that as gen z'ers say, this job market is cooked. We're cooked. Things are so bad that my co-worker from the last job that tried to get me a job at this different grocery store says that I should try to apologize my way back to my old position, which sounds like a terrible idea, although a manager said I was probably blacklisted when my brother asked them about it. So I'm not really sure when I'll land a job or if I will find employment anytime soon. Things are sad right now in that aspect. I'm pretty upset at the entire situation but being angry or trying to get back at people who misused and abused me in the old workplace isn't the answer.

In the meantime, I'm trying to find peace and balance in the universe. I'm reading a lot, going to the library, still searching for jobs, and now finally tonight, getting back into writing. In addition, I created a Substack, which is sort of like a social media for intellectuals and sharing ideas and writing. At some point when I build an audience on there, I'll probably charge a small subscription fee per month, try to add some coffee money to my wallet. 

Lastly, in other news, this second Trump administration has been the worst years of my living in the United States, and in my life. My actual life is comfortable and I have food and rent money but the future is more and more uncertain and I have no means of employment, most of my friends are marginals, my only good work contact couldn't help me out as much as she wanted to, I can't afford to move out or strike out anywhere on my own, we're basically in world war 3, there are Ice Raids here in LA and I have a hispanic name, I live with family, and I can't get a job. Things could be a lot better and I wonder what will happen in even say three months time. But hey, it's summertime, and the living is easy. [I got it so bad, I got it good.]  

The Rise and Decline of the American Empire

It's Saturday, May 3, 2025, 2:02 am. Here, I'd like to jot down some notes on life in America, at this current juncture in history. 

Donald Trump has enacted many tariffs and we're in and have been in various trade wars, notably with China. The President doesn't usually have the power to enable all these tariffs at one moment but he's been given the power by the republican controlled House and Congress. I'm not sure if these tariffs are part of Project 2025, but it seems like it could be, and many MAGA-republicans and Trump fans seem to like the idea and be for it, despite the fact that there isn't one economist out there that says this is a good plan for America going forward. 

The basic idea is that most countries haven't been paying their fair share towards America, and that all these tariffs will even the playing field. Except that's not how it works and its a stupid idea and it's already causing havoc across the land. I would say right now is another turning point in American history. This is like COVID-19 back in 2020, when the economy took a major crash. This is like America in 2008 before the market crash and we had some 10 years of austerity. 

But wait, it gets worse! Not only is Trump doing tariffs and trade wars, he's also utilizing Elon Musk and his DOGE, and Kennedy Jr., to do mass layoffs of federal and health employees, something to the tune of 10,000 employees. And these aren't temporary layoffs, folks. On top of that he's gutting and cutting the Department of Education. So there's various things going on, probably too many to count and/or mention in one small blogpost. 

So right now, you could say we're living in the Decline of the American Empire. Perhaps even saying that is too generous and it's possible we're already some 5-10 years into the Decline of American Empire. Tariffs aren't going to bring back jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, as Trump says. Those jobs are gone forever. We've become a full service economy so in America we just don't build things. We're not known for that anymore. 

Knowing that we're in the decline, what can we really do? We can stay informed and up to date on the daily news but even knowing this, we already know that things are bad. But nothing will change. We've become complacent, so complacent, that unless Donald Trump is removed by the rule of law [impeachment], then every democrat will just go along with whatever's going on even though they know that it is morally wrong. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a progressive, although probably more moderate than most of them, but I must say, the democrats haven't done much to combat the effectiveness of Donald Trump and the so-called Project 2025 project. I thought it was amazing to see Senator Cory Booker stand up and talk about how bad Trump made everything for 25 hours, and it was a great thing that so many Americans are protesting every weekend since this first 100 days of Trump's presidency, but I don't see those things as effective enough to make a difference in Washington, and most importantly, it's not stopping or hindering Trump. You can only do so much through demonstrations, protests, and walkins/walkouts. The best means of change is through legislative law and/or action. 

So what we're seeing now is the downfall of America and all its institutions of government. And guess what, there's probably nothing we can do to stop it. Why? Because things have been set in motion that can't be undone. Even if Trump loses and we elect a democrat it will take many years to undue that damage that Trump's done. 

What I see right now in the real world, offline, in the streets, in businesses, at work [when I was working], is that people are isolating themselves into small bubbles, small groups in order to better isolate themselves and their families via their wealth, probably from the impending doom of this economic fallout from these tariffs. I think it's probably even worse than what they're reporting on TV, and I believe even economists might not know how bad it could get. But hey, it's not like I'm completely surprised, this is Donald Trump, and we know he loves tariffs. 

But anyways, staying on point, once you start walking around more and more in your little town or big town in some cases, you'll start to realize people are isolating themselves more, they're not going outside of their comfort zone as much, they're not going out as much, they've become ensconced in their religious groups, work/occupation groups, and family groups, and they're not really looking at the larger group or community anymore. You might meet some friends and associates through work for example, but for the most part they stick to these particular cliques, groups of association, and everything outside of that is forbidden. Why is that?

I see it as another sign of the decline of the American Empire. People will not leave their selected group and/or tribe, whatever it may be, out of fear, fear, for whatever reason keeps them locked into these small isolated groups or tribes, and when the people as a whole, for example in your town, are completely divided into small groups, it is in this particular formation, that nothing good and no improvements, and nothing will get done to improve your town or area, government, and looking at the bigger picture, the national government. 

Thanks for sticking with me this far, I swear there's a point to this. This is where all my fiction reading comes to play. Once everybody is divided into their smaller groups, it doesn't matter where they get their information or even if the information is true, because it won't matter because all these various groups will already be decided on every issue and these splintered off groups, they eventually lead to syndicate type formations that will rule and divy up everything in your town. Groups that may have even started as 'good groups' meant to better their small niche communities but eventually go rogue and become bad groups due to all the other groups doing the same thing. As you can see this won't end well.

I've rambled a lot here, but I hope I make sense. You really can't explain this in an easy way because you really can't make this stuff up. I was ousted out of a work organization [retail grocery] for pretty trivial reasoning from my store director, after 10 years of loyal hard work and service. I'm not saying everyone should start drinking coffee and reading Saarte and become progressive but even within that organization I saw these sort of bread and butter syndicate type of thinking and behavior from members of the staff, including low level employees, middle managers, and store leaders. After all that hard work and time put in, the members within that community didn't reach out to me or ask about what happened. In the end, we're all replaceable, me, you, everyone. I guess that's what makes this moment strike fear into the hearts of the American people. We don't know what will happen, why it will happen, or if we will even have jobs in the short to long term, let alone planning for investments. 

I guess this is the part where I tell you the bad guys won. Our God isn't coming to save us, our parents can't help us, our institutions/government/education have failed us, and our places of employment see us as easily replaceable despite loyalty, hard work, and dedication.

As Hobbes would say, "it's everyman for himself and God against all."  

Beware the Ides of March

Well, here we are. 2 13 AM on a Wednesday morning. It's March 19, 2025. Something like day 60 of the Trump recaptured White House. Here, I'll go into some details about life, music, AI, and politics. the usual subjects as of late. 

First, life is what you make it. Regardless of the fact that the United States has entered unchartered territory, life is still somehow amazing. Why? Because I have the capacity for happiness. That's not to say that bad things won't happen, I mean, that's Murphy's Law. But, what I mean to say is that regardless of all the bad things that are happening in the world, or possibly even in our lives and in our loved ones' lives, we should all learn to have the capacity for happiness, and realize, and see/acknowledge, that regardless of how much or how little we have, we all have a lot to be grateful for, in one way or another. Even if you don't believe in God.

Case in point, I'm not necessarily in the best position right now. I'm currently unemployed, after working as a retail grocery cashier for the last ten years straight. This is a mega-change for me, as I'm used to working nonstop 5-6 days per week. And now? Nothing. No weekly paycheck, no cute girl coworkers to talk to or hangout with, no affirmation from customers [mostly beautiful women] telling me I'm doing a good job, no steady schedule of any kind. The biggest problem is that I lost a good form of structure in my life. I miss it and am trying to get back into the job market as soon as I can. 

So, the response to this has been to create a new sort of order to my life. In whatever way I can. For me, this has meant turning more inwards towards books, music, AI, exercise, and cultivating a good clean headspace for me to be in as much as I can. I've found that a lot of my friends/associates from the retail grocery world are much more miserable than I am. Not only that, but they have a lot of health problems like drugs/alcohol, behavioral issues, they don't have money, and the ones that do, they tend to not enjoy their lives because of various reasons like: relationship troubles and lack of purpose working within retail grocery. On top of that, most of them whine and complain like there's no tomorrow. So what's the issue, doc? They simply lack the capacity for happiness. That's right! 

Second, music. I'm finding that music has more often than not, has become more of a background experience for most listeners. Like how all these years I've been going to the bar for music, almost all of the music never mattered, because the audience just uses it as background to drink beer to. This has been true for a long time now, but I think it will become even more so in the coming months and years. 

Why? Because of the advent and widespread usage and acceptance of AI by intellectuals, techies, nerds, artists, musicians, writers, and even the GOP itself, we're finding that AI content is not only accepted, but people are more and more willing to use it for, well, pretty much anything and everything. This includes using AI content for music generation and video generation. And once that content becomes more commonplace and accepted, I think real, live, musicians will be in trouble because people will say, "If I can get an AI orchestra to play Mozart, why would I need to pay a real orchestra?" It sounds a little off but I think it's already happening. Case in point, music production software that increasingly replaces live musicians, although that's been happening for a long time now.  

Third, going back to AI. Right now we live in a world where the Tech Bros are winning at everything and anything. Contrary to popular opinion, while I think AI is a gamechanger and a must use tool for creatives of any kind, I also acknowledge that AI is another weapon in the tech oligarch toolbelt, that can be potentially used to intentionally AND unintentionally harm people who don't use it and understand it. So yes, all this AI stuff is mind-blowing and amazing and it will make you more creative and techy and more computer savvy, but what about all the people who are opposed to it, either they don't like it or they just don't want to use it or acknowledge it? 

Well, unfortunate to say, those people will simply get left behind. People that don't acknowledge, use, or stay informed on AI will find that other people around them will eventually start using it more and more, adding it to their daily routines, and they will catch up to where the Culture is on AI. Right now I think most people are still asleep at the wheel when it comes to AI, as I also believe most people are asleep at the wheel in terms of politics. It's especially important to keep in mind that right now, in some aspects, AI and politics are interlinked, as some liberal thinkers believe that it's because of AI's algorithms that Trump was able to recapture the White House. That's right folks. Beware the Ides of March. 

Lastly, politics. So you see all these things are interlinked [Bladerunner 2049, Ryan Gosling: Interlinked]. The Tech Bros were at the White House inauguration. That's because technology has always been a tool in electing public officials, probably starting with the printing press back in Europe over hundreds of years ago. But now, with the power of AI algorithms, we're finding that controlling the flow and access of various forms of media, in fact, controlling ALL of the flow and access of media, has been very easy for the Republican and Democrats to do, utilizing the new emerging technologies like AI algorithms created by these Tech Bros like Open AI's Sam Altman, who was at the inauguration at the White House when Trump was re-elected. 

It would be nice if people who were using AI were all nice well-to-do dandy intellectual techie guys who want to make the world a better place. But increasingly, more and more, I'm finding that its usually always the opposite, especially when you tune into the media and the news daily and are really reading and paying attention to what's going on. In a truly fucked up way, I think, increasingly, people who use AI look down upon people who are unfamiliar with it and/or don't know about it or don't use it, they're being looked down upon, as like cavemen, as country hicks, or lesser than, simply because they aren't in tune with what's going on with the emerging tech and how it's being utilized to help destroy our late period capitalistic society. 

But for the most part people are asleep at the wheel. We still believe in the Rule of Law. We believe that as long as we go to work, listen to our bosses, do a good job, come home to our families and take care of our wives and kids, that everything's going to be alright, as long we got cash, a car, a home, a wife, and our 2.5 kids and a dog. Well, what if we're asleep at the wheel and we're Caesar and we're about to get stabbed? "And you too, Brutus?" 

Good news for people who love bad news. Watch this space.

[image AI generated]