I’ve seen a DARPA funded working information-based energy storage device - pretty much Maxwell’s daemon that just remembers where things are

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It’s a rather flamboyant, but famous, translation of a quote of Antonio Gramsci:

The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.

Italian original:

La crisi consiste appunto nel fatto che il vecchio muore e il nuovo non può nascere: in questo interregno si verificano i fenomeni morbosi piú svariati.

A more literaral English translation:

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.

but why now?

Some coverage here that attempts to answer that question: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-iran-escalation-prompts-turkey-launch-talks-pkk

TL;DR: Regional instability has Ankara spooked, and they don’t want to have to worry about the PKK seizing any openings if things escalate. The Turkish government’s bargaining position is quite good right now, so they want to take the opportunity before that changes.

To help the individual to fit into a society which is ever at war with itself – is this what psychologists and analysts are supposed to do? Is the individual to be healed only in order to kill or be killed? If one is not killed, or driven insane, then must one only fit into the structure of hate, envy, ambition and superstition which can be very scientific?

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

‘An Anarchist FAQ’ is a great place to start because you can skip between sections on topics that interest you, and it cites various works, effectively providing a recommended reading list for any given topic.

At the same time I’d like to remind folks that not all Jewish people subscribe to Zionism.

Further to this, the majority of zionists are christians.

It’s not just you. Any time they touch on politics/economics they just regurgitate hegemonic propaganda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti

Great video! He made some really solid points. I hope some of the audience of Contrapoints sees it.

Prefiguration really is the answer in so many cases. I think he could have emphasised, though, that while the road to rebuilding a real revolutionary left is long, every step along the path of prefiguration can and does make a practical difference to people’s lives. The pressure that can be brought to bear on elected officials will also grow little by little.

Regarding disengaging from electoral politics, I think that radicals, since they’re people who are very interested in politics, have often become so highly engaged with electoral politics that they find it difficult to kick the habit. Also, I think there’s a perception that keeping up with the minutiae of bills and appointments is essential for being taken seriously when discussing politics.

Anark is great, I’m always recommending the channel/videos

I’m no expert, but I’d imagine figuring out a (safe) way to use it with your water heater would be the low-hanging fruit, in terms of least-complexity for the amount of grid consumption you’d potentially save.

Ask 'em!

Summary for those who haven’t watched:

• Vote, or don’t, but it won’t change the system
• The system will not offer significant concessions unless its existence is credibly threatened

Seems hard to argue with.

Why “thankfully”? Fuck Biden.

A right thing. And not a very substantial one. But don’t sell the UK short. The government might be despicable, but the massive marches in London by the people have been inspiring. The power of that crowd needs to be channelled into direct action.

I’m pretty sure that the United States was founded on the principle of self determination

Self determination for who? For rich, land-owning, white males.

The US was founded on the same genocidal settler-colonialism as Israel.

Maybe it won’t make an impact this election, but if people start voting for third parties regardless, the Democrats would be incentivised to do better and/or to introduce ranked-choice voting.

In any case, people need to stop waiting for elections and to start taking action now.

In case you - or anyone reading this - are unaware, the term covering the patterns you’re describing is ‘settler colonialism’. It differs from ‘exploitation colonialism’ in that it aims to not only profit from a territory, but to replace the population that is there with another population. What you describe are the logical consequences of that. I think your first two points are understating the history in Palestine/Israel, though. There was intentional displacement of the indigenous population from the start.