Cultural Dysphoria

Latest — Jul 19, 2022

I think we all know that the end is approaching

A feeling deep in the gut, beyond ideology, faith, or theory. When I was a teenage christian soldier, I was told that I was in the “last generation,” by a sweating, twitchy preacher’s son, crying on stage, while his muscles twitched from god’s mighty touch. Or something. In

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Demon behind the mirror

Hairy-chested. Egg-bodied. Lantern-jawed. Awkward fuck. Thick waist. Skinny legs. Clown feet. Neck beard. This is my demon Exorcisms aren’t quick I’ve made thousands of tiny cuts to excise the parts of me that recognize him and he still spies on me from behind the mirror Without clothes, I

Bury me in the forest

When I die, bury me in the forest. Bury me in a shallow grave, naked and full of humors. Bury me next to a great tree, so that it may drink of me, and I may be one with it. Bury me in mushroom spores, the colorful ones, the dangerous

Contrapoints: J.K. Rowling - A cupid's arrow of weaponized empathy

There are few people working in Online Culture with as much wisdom, empathy, and insight as Natalie Wynn, A.K.A. Contrapoints. Her videos are known for being well-researched deep dives into the internal psychology of internet communities, and for their surprisingly long runtimes. It is my opinion that the

A Millennial/Boomer Dialectic: Part 3 - Jobs & The Economy

What follows is an imagined conversation between two imaginary people. Alex is a Leftist Millennial and Blake is a Conservative Baby Boomer. Alex: Why should everyone work? Blake: Because work is a moral good, work creates value for the economy, and work isn't just sitting around leeching off the system.

A Millennial/Boomer Dialectic: Part 2 - Police & Prisons

What follows is an imagined conversation between two imaginary people. Alex is a Leftist Millennial and Blake is a Conservative Baby Boomer. Blake: Fine, sure. But the current protests are a bunch of Marxists looking to "Abolish the Police" and "Abolish Prisons." Both of which are nonsense! How can we

A Millennial/Boomer Dialectic: Part 1 - Protests & Civil Rights

What follows is an imagined conversation between two imaginary people. Alex is a Leftist Millennial and Blake is a Conservative Baby Boomer. The starting question: Is America Racist? Blake: No, America is not racist. America was founded on equality and liberty for all. What remained of Southern racism was fixed

The Culture War

"I just wish there wasn't so much hate and divisiveness on the internet these days" This is a take I've been seeing a lot of lately. It's not wrong, but I think that this idea could use some analysis. There are several factions at war in our cultural space, and

Redefining Progress

Many in my generation, myself included, grew up watching Star Trek. That show’s utopian vision for the future informed the moral foundations of my youth, but my Pollyanna-ish ideas were soon tempered by harsh realities. It turns out that even the most basic of technologies that promised to reshape

Choose your own reality

The internet has a way of changing and subverting everything it touches. Every industry has been, or is in the process of being blown apart by newcomers touting touting on-demand service, targeted marketing, analytics intelligence, and employment models that somehow dodge offering any benefits or recourse. The information horizon & shared

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Cultural Dysphoria

Dispatches from the front lines of the great gender war

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Politics

Science

Transgender