What A Nightmare!

The Politics of Internet Censorship: A Technological Critique

First of all, I just want to point out that the recent protests and other actions in relation to the issue of SOPA/PIPA (bolstered by varying degrees of blackouts on websites like Reddit, Wikipedia, and Google) quite likely amounted to the most politically active day in the history of the world -- in terms of people discussing legislation, issues of free speech, and governmental corruption. Furthermore, we are quite likely to see evermore people championing the cause of free speech (and challenging legal restrictions upon it through loopholes like copyright and trademark). These are very hopeful developments.

However, what I find particularly noteworthy is the kind of information that the government is looking to restrict... namely, access to art. On it's face, there are specious arguments about protecting artists and the profits of the movie and recording industry. These arguments have already been thoroughly dismantled by others -- in terms of artists thriving because of their works being spread and because artists created and thrived before any copyright laws existed. But the underlying issue isn't really about protecting artists -- or even corporatized industries profiting off of them. Rather, I feel, the issue is about the plain censorship of political dissent.

END:CIV – RESIST OR DIE – Full Documentary

From http://submedia.tv/endciv/

A small part of what it is that inspires my political/philosophical worldview...

(The following statements [backed up with linked citations], were given as response to a comment on Reddit which reached the front page of the "best of" subreddit. Since I took the time to spell it out and dig up the links... I thought I'd repost it here as a reminder to my readers of some of the things which I feel are fairly important. Most of these issues won't come as a surprise to anyone, but it's amazing how easy it is to forget about them as we go about our mundane daily lives.)

Some Basic Social Media Recommendations

For those of you interested in the issues I often write about (see the tags in the lower left hand column), I'd strongly recommend trying to network a little more by following, subscribing, and linking to other blogs and sites that you feel others should see. Linking (wherever you can -- Facebook, your blog, del.icio.us, stumbleupon, etc.) and subscribing to various blogs can help them immensely in many subtle ways.

In particular, I'd like to recommend trying out (perhaps for the second time), Reddit.com & Twitter.com. The latter takes a little more work to really get the information flowing, but both can be used very effectively to find and distribute good information. I'll try to describe them both and provide some ideas about how to make them easier to use.

A developing discussion about anarchist ideas, ideals, and practice.

The following article was written by Alex Bradshaw and raises some very challenging and interesting points.  I will continue the dialogue at some point in the future... 

Social Anarchism, Techno-Pessimism, and Primitivism: A Belated Response to Nihilo Zero

Two Video Interviews with Two Great Philosophers

I know it may seem like I'm posting a lot of videos lately, and this format may be a bit clumsy (you can just watch them on Youtube if you want), but these are really excellent multi-part videos featuring two of my favorite philosophers (Jacques Ellul and Herbert Marcuse) discussing imminently important subjects which are often misunderstood.

We'll start with Ellul and you can click the little "read more..." button below (if necessary) to see the rest. BTW, the first interview is given in French (w/ English subtitles) and the second, with Marcuse, is given in English.