"Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh;
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky."
Now the Day Is Over
Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist Sabine Baring-Gould died #OTD in 1924.
He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers", and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carols "Gabriel's Message", & "Sing Lullaby" from Basque to English.
Samantha Hill: "Für #Arendt war die politische Emanzipation der Bourgeoisie der Grundstein des modernen Nationalstaates, in dem die politischen Gesetze von den privaten Interessen der Geschäftsleute bestimmt wurden, die es für nötig befunden hatten, den Staatsapparat zu übernehmen, um das Militär für ihre kolonialen Unternehmungen einzusetzen. Diese Kooptation der Nation und ihre Umwandlung in einen Nationalstaat durch private Wirtschaftsinteressen war der Kern ihres Verständnisses. Und was sie betonte - und wofür sie kritisiert wurde - war das Argument, dass der Antisemitismus vom Nationalstaat politisch benutzt wurde, um seine politischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen zu fördern.
"Arendt hat dieses Argument nie aufgegeben. Tatsächlich griff sie es in ihrem umstrittensten Werk, Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), wieder auf, in dem sie Ben-Gurion vorwarf, einen "Schauprozess" zu veranstalten, um das Leiden des jüdischen Volkes auszunutzen, anstatt den wirklichen Verbrecher, Hitlers Cheflogistiker Adolf Eichmann, für seine Verbrechen zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Natürlich sei Eichmann antisemitisch gewesen, aber sein Hass auf das jüdische Volk sei nicht sein Hauptmotiv gewesen. Vielmehr sei es seine banale Hybris gewesen, die ihn dazu gebracht habe, in den Reihen des Dritten Reiches aufzusteigen. Das sei die Banalität des Bösen, und sie definierte die Banalität des Bösen als die Unfähigkeit, sich die Welt aus der Perspektive eines anderen vorzustellen."
In 1944, #Arendt "stressed that the return of the governments in exile corresponded to a restoration of national structures[:] collective security, sphere of interest, national alliances - which had played a decisive role in preparing for the war and bringing it about. "There is nothing to expect from restoration", Arendt concludes, since it is also the restoration of what led to the Second World War and the "German problem".
"Meta's fediverses", federating with Meta to allow communications, potentially using services from Meta such as automated moderation or ad targeting, and potentially harvesting data on Meta's behalf.
"free fediverses" that reject Meta – and surveillance capitalism more generally
The free fediverses have a lot of advantages over Meta and Meta's fediverses, some of which will be very hard to counter, and clearly have enough critical mass that they'll be just fine.
Here's a set of strategies for the free fediverses to provide a viable alternative to surveillance capitalism. They build on the strengths of today's fediverse at its best – including natural advantages the free fediverses have that Threads and Meta's fediverses will having a very hard time countering – but also are hopefully candid about weaknesses that need to be addressed. It's a long list, so I'll be spreading out over multiple posts; this post currently goes into detail on the first two.
Opposition to Meta and surveillance capitalism is an appealing position. Highlight it!
Focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety
Emphasize "networked communities"
Support concentric federations of instances and communities
Consider "transitively defederating" Meta's fediverses (as well as defederating Threads)
Consider working with people and instances in Meta's fediverses (and Bluesky, Dreamwidth, and other social networks) whose goals and values align with the free fediverses'
Build a sustainable ecosystem
Prepare for Meta's (and their allies') attempts to paint the free fediverses in a bad light
Reduce the dependency on Mastodon
Prioritize accessibility, which is a huge opportunity
Commit to anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and pro-LGBTQIA2S+ principles, policies, practices, and norms for the free fediverses
The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values align with the free fediverse
Many of the Meta advocates I've talked to share the free fediverses' long-term goal of building a sustainable alternative to surveillance capitalism -- and the same is true for people on Bluesky. So there are likely to be situations where some of the people and instances in Meta's fediverses and Bluesky wind up as situational allies to the free fediverses.
A few areas where collaboration could be very useful:
A key principle of organizing is meeting people where they are.
Moderation on decentralized networks is a shared challenge.
Bringing concepts similar to Bluesky's custom feeds to the fediverses, and more generally focusing on human-focused and liberatory (as opposed to oppressive) uses of algorithms in decentralized social networks designed from the margins.
Meta's fediverses, Bluesky, and the free fediverses are all vulnerable to disinformation.
Transitive defederation -- defederating from instances that federate with Threads as well as defederating from Threads -- isn't likely to be an all-or-nothing thing in the free fediverses. Tradeoffs are different for different people and instances. This is one of the strengths of the fediverse, so however much transitive defederation there winds up being, I see it as overall as a positive thing -- although also messy and complicated.
So the recommendation here is for instances to consider#TransitiveDefederation: discuss, and decide what to do. I've also got some thoughts on how to have the discussion -- and the strategic aspects.
Growing up in the area, there were years where we'd bring our whole family up to the curbside of the #RoseParade and camp out for a day or two ahead of time. Just floats, bands, equestrians.
It's a little weird to see them going for the Super Bowl type-spectacle now. I'm both impressed & disgusted.
Esp with Honda as a sponsor, we get really auto-oriented BS in the beginning. #HappyNewYear
Unexpected way to see cyclists in the parade - the New Buffalo Soldiers group representing the Iron Riders of the 25th Infantry. When the military was checking out bicycles as an alternative to cavalry.
Autistische Menschen sind hier stark vertreten.
Such mal nach #actuallyautistic
(Du kannst Hashtags hier auch folgen.)
Es gibt auch eine Gruppenverteiler @actuallyautistic an den du posten und dem du folgen kannst, wenn du willst.
Queere Leute (aller Flavours) gibt's auch, wobei ich wenig Einblick habe, wie lesbische zu finden sind. @iyalei, kannst du weiterhelfen?
I've watched the last two Indiana Jones movies today. Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny. I enjoyed them both, even under the weather. Yes I am feeling poorly.
One of two possibilities. Either I have a cold, which coincidentally began about 12 hours after the RSV vaccine, or I am having side effects from said vaccine.
Honestly, even if it is from the vaccine, I'm still glad I got it. Vaccines are important, especially at my age. And, no, they don't cause #autism.
I've had intermittent low grade fever, fatigue, stuffy head, and occasional cough. The fatigue could be #fibromyalgia , but the rest is definitely not.
I'm treating with generic Alka Seltzer Cold and Flu. That and bed rest. No big plans for #NYE are being ruined. Not to worry.
🙏 for mentioning the biography by Frances A. Underhill, 'For Her Good Estate'. I edited the expanded 2nd edition. The booksite at https://barnes1.net/FHGE/ includes a resource page with many free downloads, & an account of the Lady's insistence on choral music at #ClareCollege. Book sales support this! the hardback more so.
Which flavor of #neurodivergent is inability to feel belonging to any group? I think, I finally got why I don’t get that #gender thing. Basically, a gender is just another cohort, with some assumed properties. A group one feels belonging to. And I have never felt as a part of any group. I never fit in. Each cohort is supposed to have certain properties, and I just never have all. I just feel like impostor in any, including any gender/sexuality groups, including #agender#queer#nd#AuDHD
@btaroli@actuallyautistic@olena I just had a flash of an image of being able to interact with everyone primarily with ZERO sexual-orientation baggage and just as individuals and then seeing how that soul connection does or doesn’t develop on its own before even getting to the intimate options…and that image felt wonderful ❤️
@GinevraCat@btaroli@actuallyautistic actually, yes! When I got to the parts with them, I was like ‘why is it even supposed to be funny? They are the ones reasonable here’