Post by theCarbonFreeze on Mar 27, 2021 10:01:14 GMT
I've got something I'd like to say. This is kind of long, so...yeah.
Be Julius fucking Caesar of the Aquarian Age and stand up for what is right--your wife (against Sulla), your justice (against pirates), wealth/land reform that was badly needed a generation ago (stubborn/corrupt Senate), your dignitas (the Optimates) , your people (Alexandrians), visionary progress (badly needed calendar and social reforms), and your family (honoring Gaius Marius, elevating Octavian--recognizing talent.) Julius Caesar was the greatest man who ever lived. A flawed product of his environment, a warlord...but also a man who stood at every hill in life, every crossroads, and said "this is a hill worth dying on." That's not to say he won every battle, or that he never retreated, or that other people didn't help him win many victories along the way. But he never submitted to the will of another man, and if others tried to dominate him, Caesar fucking ended those people. This man lived on his fucking feet, and if he ever got down on his knees it was to give his woman a proper loving, because Roman attitudes towards sex were bullshit.
As evolution has brought us here: beings of such complexity that we invent new abstract methods to keep each other down (like debt, torture, electronic surveillance, DRM, legal codes, tax codes, organized religion, nation states, slavery, war, etc) we must not forget what we are individuals. We live as independent, autonomous Animalian fucking sapiens with unique goals in life. Never fail to stand up for what is your right: to live unburdened of government and corporate overreach, to challenge unjust authority, to call society to a higher standard. We do it so our loved ones are in danger less often than we had to be. We owe it to them that our society never submits to authoritarianism of any origin.* We're supposed to leave a better world for our offspring. We protect our kin in this species, against all threats, be they foreign or domestic. If we allow our wives/husbands/partners and children to live in a draconian society, then we failed: both as guardians of Gaea and as stewards of humanity's future.
*(Caesar might seem like a strange anti-authoritarian icon, but he worked within the system, vigorously and successfully, for years. Even against spiteful and outright despicable gridlocking attempts by Cato and the Optimates. Caesar only marched on the city when he was backed into a corner and either legal option would lead to a loss of dignitas. He flew by the seat of his pants, gambled with fate and fucking won. And when gifted this incredible opportunity to do good for the world, he ruled well and promoted the best possible successor. Caesar was a god among men--a mortal man who made himself a god, in fact.)
Don't submit to injustice of any kind. If there be any wrongdoing, let it be from your own personal mistakes. Make your small corner of the world a better place, in your own way, on your own terms. The right to be different, the right to make mistakes...those should be in the Constitution. Just respect other people's right to do so, too. And if your sphere of influence expands in life, then increase your efforts to make the world a better place exponentially as you go. Be a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior.
(Caesar, among a very select few in history...I know of maybe one or two others...he was all fucking three.)
I say to you, the only one(s) who can make me scream, who could force me to submit beyond the line of dignity are my partner(s.) Nobody else shall ever hear me beg. My loved ones must know that I would fight for them against anyone--even a dictator. Some fates are worse than death, as long as you died in service of a consistently applied moral code of honor. In those times, dignitas was as good of a code as any. To be a patrician Roman man was to be a lion...but it was necessary to protect the people in your community. The perks of greater power came with...yes, great responsibility...but also great risks. Now there are other lions looking to exploit weakness, to take what you have. And to lose dignitas, to lose status, to be seen as submitting to another man's will...that made a person of Caesar's stature a toothless lion. Not only a prime target for other lions, but even a lesser man--a donkey in this metaphor--could get a few kicks in at his expense. That's why men fought for their dignitas--because it was a rare and precious commodity.
"Not Even a Dictator Can Ask That of a Roman Citizen"
As evolution has brought us here: beings of such complexity that we invent new abstract methods to keep each other down (like debt, torture, electronic surveillance, DRM, legal codes, tax codes, organized religion, nation states, slavery, war, etc) we must not forget what we are individuals. We live as independent, autonomous Animalian fucking sapiens with unique goals in life. Never fail to stand up for what is your right: to live unburdened of government and corporate overreach, to challenge unjust authority, to call society to a higher standard. We do it so our loved ones are in danger less often than we had to be. We owe it to them that our society never submits to authoritarianism of any origin.* We're supposed to leave a better world for our offspring. We protect our kin in this species, against all threats, be they foreign or domestic. If we allow our wives/husbands/partners and children to live in a draconian society, then we failed: both as guardians of Gaea and as stewards of humanity's future.
*(Caesar might seem like a strange anti-authoritarian icon, but he worked within the system, vigorously and successfully, for years. Even against spiteful and outright despicable gridlocking attempts by Cato and the Optimates. Caesar only marched on the city when he was backed into a corner and either legal option would lead to a loss of dignitas. He flew by the seat of his pants, gambled with fate and fucking won. And when gifted this incredible opportunity to do good for the world, he ruled well and promoted the best possible successor. Caesar was a god among men--a mortal man who made himself a god, in fact.)
Don't submit to injustice of any kind. If there be any wrongdoing, let it be from your own personal mistakes. Make your small corner of the world a better place, in your own way, on your own terms. The right to be different, the right to make mistakes...those should be in the Constitution. Just respect other people's right to do so, too. And if your sphere of influence expands in life, then increase your efforts to make the world a better place exponentially as you go. Be a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior.
(Caesar, among a very select few in history...I know of maybe one or two others...he was all fucking three.)
I say to you, the only one(s) who can make me scream, who could force me to submit beyond the line of dignity are my partner(s.) Nobody else shall ever hear me beg. My loved ones must know that I would fight for them against anyone--even a dictator. Some fates are worse than death, as long as you died in service of a consistently applied moral code of honor. In those times, dignitas was as good of a code as any. To be a patrician Roman man was to be a lion...but it was necessary to protect the people in your community. The perks of greater power came with...yes, great responsibility...but also great risks. Now there are other lions looking to exploit weakness, to take what you have. And to lose dignitas, to lose status, to be seen as submitting to another man's will...that made a person of Caesar's stature a toothless lion. Not only a prime target for other lions, but even a lesser man--a donkey in this metaphor--could get a few kicks in at his expense. That's why men fought for their dignitas--because it was a rare and precious commodity.
We've all got to pick a hill to die on in life, and I say "Let it be art!"
In your own corner of the world, empowered with the technology we have, the information, what can you do? How can you help? Make existence less horrible for your fellow man. Learn from the accumulated knowledge of all mankind at your fingertips. Appreciate other people's perspectives--across gender, race, geography and creed. Preserve the art and experiences which have been recorded on various media, and archive them for all mankind. Search for lost media to restore to popular availability. Upkeep the vast swaths of out-of-print media into modern standards. Recognize that, what separates humanity from other animals, is our ability to ask questions and pass down observations to the next generation--then act accordingly.
Fight back against all who oppose the free flow of AEIOU (Art, education, ideas, observation and understanding.) Copyright law is bullshit; 61 year old art should be public domain. In the internet age, "artificial scarcity" , "limited quantities" and "unavailable" should be historical terms we've progressed beyond. (At least for media that can be shared digitally.) I'm sure the deceased artist, who's not alive to benefit from this price gouging, would prefer their work live on, be heard by more than just a scattered few collectors, and inspire new generations of fans/students. Post-Disney Copyright law is evil.
HDCP for HDMI cables is evil. The phasing out of component video output is evil. Region codes for consoles and films is evil. Scrubbing torrents and downloads off the web for out of print stuff that nobody can find/afford legally is bullshit. Shutting down fan conventions, fan games and the hacking community is bullshit. (Especially when it's essential to gaming preservation.) Hoarding a vast catalog of material (cough Disney, cough EA, cough Time Warner, cough...) and not making it available to the public is inexcusable in a post-home video, post-internet, post-streaming world is evil. If the corporations won't take care of this stuff, get out of the fucking way and let the people who care about them do it. It's not hard to allow for a paid download, to dump this stuff on Netflix, to offer a made-to-order DVD-R in a paper sleeve in a special mail order. (I'd pay good money for that, if it's the right movie.)
If I cannot force such pro-art, pro-consumer, changes from my small corner of the world, so be it. But I will then at least collect, preserve and archive what media comes my way. I will save what I can from rotting away in a vault somewhere and give adoring fans a way to see it. I will offer detailed plans for a better world, of automation, education, individuality, opportunity and ubiquitousness. That's how I will honor the spirit of Julius Caesar, the concept of living with dignity in a cruel world or not at all. The Aquarian Age descendant of dignitas is the selfless preservation of mankind's greatest achievement (the accumulation of our knowledge and wisdom) against its inevitable decay.
If you're not Caesar then don't try to fit into that mold--nor any other. We live in the Information Age, in a world where every has dignity--which is etymologically related but a totally different concept. We are accepted as innately worthy of respect and value. We have the advantage of being who we really are, no matter the cost. So, be Cassandra: a psychonaut, a philosopher and a libertine. Accept your colors, blue or pink, black or red...and play the hand you're dealt. Being true to yourself is in keeping with the Caesarian spirit in an Aquarian Age context. But you know what? Just as dignitas-laden Lions had to deal with increased burdens as payment for their privilege, so too are Information-addled Millennials weighed down by the upkeep of this data. Every film, every novel, every physical record of media...it's a beautiful work of art. It's also a window into the perspective of an author, of a cultural reaction, a societal critique...a historical artifact, in any case. And it's an obligation to painstakingly preserve all of them. That's the tradeoff. And even the internet still requires servers to maintain and rent space on.
As mankind removes ourselves from physical struggle, from the challenge of personal success...we also become more dependent on the information which empowered us to reach that point. It's like a drug, a high but with an inevitable comedown. As all empires crumble to dust eventually...so too must the Empire of Information. Maybe it will be space junk which prevents more satellites and shuts down global communication networks. Maybe solar flares shorting out the power lines. Our magnetic poles shift too much or fail. Whatever. But just as the inevitable fall of all cities never prevented the Romans from building and conquering and going on...neither should we lay down and accept the inevitable. Always stand up for what's right, to the bitter end. Fight for worthy lost causes and they may surprise you. The most doomed venture might pay off. The guy you hurt might go on to be your best friend. The lost film may yet be found. Wisdom may yet be obtained in Washington.
As mankind removes ourselves from physical struggle, from the challenge of personal success...we also become more dependent on the information which empowered us to reach that point. It's like a drug, a high but with an inevitable comedown. As all empires crumble to dust eventually...so too must the Empire of Information. Maybe it will be space junk which prevents more satellites and shuts down global communication networks. Maybe solar flares shorting out the power lines. Our magnetic poles shift too much or fail. Whatever. But just as the inevitable fall of all cities never prevented the Romans from building and conquering and going on...neither should we lay down and accept the inevitable. Always stand up for what's right, to the bitter end. Fight for worthy lost causes and they may surprise you. The most doomed venture might pay off. The guy you hurt might go on to be your best friend. The lost film may yet be found. Wisdom may yet be obtained in Washington.
In your own corner of the world, empowered with the technology we have, the information, what can you do? How can you help? Make existence less horrible for your fellow man. Learn from the accumulated knowledge of all mankind at your fingertips. Appreciate other people's perspectives--across gender, race, geography and creed. Preserve the art and experiences which have been recorded on various media, and archive them for all mankind. Search for lost media to restore to popular availability. Upkeep the vast swaths of out-of-print media into modern standards. Recognize that, what separates humanity from other animals, is our ability to ask questions and pass down observations to the next generation--then act accordingly.
Fight back against all who oppose the free flow of AEIOU (Art, education, ideas, observation and understanding.) Copyright law is bullshit; 61 year old art should be public domain. In the internet age, "artificial scarcity" , "limited quantities" and "unavailable" should be historical terms we've progressed beyond. (At least for media that can be shared digitally.) I'm sure the deceased artist, who's not alive to benefit from this price gouging, would prefer their work live on, be heard by more than just a scattered few collectors, and inspire new generations of fans/students. Post-Disney Copyright law is evil.
HDCP for HDMI cables is evil. The phasing out of component video output is evil. Region codes for consoles and films is evil. Scrubbing torrents and downloads off the web for out of print stuff that nobody can find/afford legally is bullshit. Shutting down fan conventions, fan games and the hacking community is bullshit. (Especially when it's essential to gaming preservation.) Hoarding a vast catalog of material (cough Disney, cough EA, cough Time Warner, cough...) and not making it available to the public is inexcusable in a post-home video, post-internet, post-streaming world is evil. If the corporations won't take care of this stuff, get out of the fucking way and let the people who care about them do it. It's not hard to allow for a paid download, to dump this stuff on Netflix, to offer a made-to-order DVD-R in a paper sleeve in a special mail order. (I'd pay good money for that, if it's the right movie.)
If I cannot force such pro-art, pro-consumer, changes from my small corner of the world, so be it. But I will then at least collect, preserve and archive what media comes my way. I will save what I can from rotting away in a vault somewhere and give adoring fans a way to see it. I will offer detailed plans for a better world, of automation, education, individuality, opportunity and ubiquitousness. That's how I will honor the spirit of Julius Caesar, the concept of living with dignity in a cruel world or not at all. The Aquarian Age descendant of dignitas is the selfless preservation of mankind's greatest achievement (the accumulation of our knowledge and wisdom) against its inevitable decay.
