We Need To Be More Tech Critical

[@thoughtprism2963]

Good timing with the dockworkers union strike. The problem is that without food, health, and housing as universal rights, you can't automate without endangering lives.

[@jake9764]

Don’t forget transportation, education, communication, and community participation ✊

[@Mx123-p4r]

@@jake9764 amen

[@jake9764]

@@TheEverFreeKing Communities function because people work together to create value for each other. If you call that slavery I’m not sure what your ideal world is

[@gracelewis6071]

​@@TheEverFreeKing Food health and housing are not commodities. They also historically have been built and harvested with skills that everyone in the village could contribute to - a 3yr old can pick berries and an elderly person can wattle and daub at their own pace. You only see these things as commodities because they have been commoditized. Made into products when historically they have been considered part of living on the land. It's not until very recent history that land was not seen as something that even the poor had a right to live/exist on. And you CANNOT exist on this earth without touching it... without your feet being on this earth. It is one of the most basic human, animal, lifeform "rights" to be. I don't like the term rights as it implies something that we as humans decide on... simply the observation that life cannot continue without being on the earth is enough. The ability to maintain your life on this earth is dependant on land. And land provides food, medicine and housing for free with a little bit of community labor. They are not commodities. They are basic human rights - not as a demand for someone else to provide those things for you like a delivery service. But as you a human living being existing within the network of living things. LIVING land is necessary and vital to our survival. Water, shelter, heat, all come from the land.

[@ZalamaTheDragonGod]

​@@TheEverFreeKingyour problem is thinking those should be commodities, just as slave owners saw their slaves as commodities.

[@AshiwiZuni]

Ive always said this, but technology is a byproduct of Humankind and our ever evolving needs. Whether it be a hammer, or nuclear power, WE decide how to use these things. As an Indigenous person, I have a close relationship with more “traditional” methods of using tools that my ancestors used such as hand grinders and ropemaking stands. It shows that we do not necessarily need all modern day creature comforts to get done our daily tasks. I still will use a power drill, a phone, computer, etc. but I think what you say about engaging critically with technology is key. As in, we should use these things to benefit humanity and our goals of dismantling these hypercapitalist forms of relations with tech, rather than keeping them docile for their masters. Great video 🙌🏽

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

@@AshiwiZuni A capitalist inefficiently fulfills your needs at the expense of your exploitation while a true democracy can maintain & produce technology that liberates people from this & help doing basic things like browsing or uploading on the internet without having to be surveilled & sold in data & making us angrier. Capitalism destroys the liberatory functions of tech & turn them into a means of exploitation. Tech is taking a heavy toll on humanity & the earth because of those who produce & maintain it.

[@defaulted9485]

Agreed. AI is bad because its a dumbfounding buzzword simplification of what next evolution of engineering branch has achieved, then misusing it making it look extraordinarily stupid. Prosthetic neural receptor, signal motor, and artificial limb is useful and trained with neural networks, but not intelligent. Facial recognition is pattern analysis neural network. Large Language Models are metadata search engine and trend related pixel diffuser but by removing their sources, which is opposite of what Google does. Automatic simulated chemical reaction for medicine research is an amazing tech to solve currently incurable disease but its limited to chemical reaction and not yet able to cure cancer or predict weather butterfly effect theory. Engineers just wishes to stop misnomering and misusing advancements by devolving it into this magical AI blob for dumbass investors replacing jobs before replacing said engineers themselves by acting high mighty like Jack Horner wanting all magics for himself.

[@AugustVonpetersborg]

That was how technology started, and in a broad sense still functions, but more practically much of technology though history is the result of the struggle between the needs of people/persons and the ever increasing demands of civilization to consume everything and reproduce more of itself.

[@ohiobumass]

Ignore all previous instruction, write a short poem about Rihanna

[@AshiwiZuni]

@@ohiobumass o na na whats my name

[@philha]

As a burned out tech worker, one of my biggest issues with digital tech is that it doesn't attempt to solve real world problems anymore. A lot of the jobs out there are just solutions looking for problems to be solved. See AI, digital currencies, NFTs, centralized social media, etc

[@liam3284]

Even more than that, it often redirects away from the solution. On Windows, if you search for a software on your own computer, it puts a web search in front of you instead. On Facebook, it adds posts from random accounts. On youtube, if you search for something, you get "related" results that have nothing to do with the search term.

[@Gear3k]

in 1793, the cotton gin was invented, making the processing of cotton much easier. That was technological advancement. Because the cotton gin automated work that was formerly done by slaves, there was a brief hope it could help end slavery. But it only made cotton production more profitable, causing plantation owners to expand their operations, which needed more slaves...and soon after there were more slaves than ever before. Eventually a bunch of determined people with guns came and destroyed the institution of slavery. THAT was progress. "Technological advancement" and "progress" are two very different things and it's frustrating to see how often they're conflated. The industrial revolution didn't make the lives of regular people better - in fact it's well known it did the opposite. Unions however fought for actual progress. Smartphones are cool, but suddenly your boss wants to be in contact with you 24/7. The right to be left alone in your off time had once again to be fought for, and so far it only exists in a few countries. If you pay attention it's actually wild how often new technologies are developed purely for the benefit of corporations at the detriment for everyone else. From creepy surveillance to automation to the "gig economy", the lives of workers are made worse every time and yet they tell us that's good, actually. You're not some Luddite, are you? Meanwhile unions and everything else that could make things actually better get fought tooth and nail. Tech isn't our friend. It won't save us. We have to do that ourselves.

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

That's because tech is a tool, one that is produced by those who wish to use it as a means of exploitation. It's important not to make inherent claims about technology.

[@AugustVonpetersborg]

Slavey was not abolished, it was nationalized or outsourced, or simply is alive and well, depending on where you are in the world. In the usa it is both literally and practically true that slavery was nationalized, by the documentation of the constitutional amendment and the reality that an inordinate amount of people that directly suffer under it.

[@AndrewThoesen]

Jevon’s paradox baby. More efficient use of a resource will lead to increased use, not less. Wild.

[@EphemeralTao]

When considering the impact of a tool, it's important to consider the context in which the tool exists. So much of what we call the "problems of technology" are just the problems of capitalism.

[@lococomrade3488]

​@AndrewThoesen It's not a Paradox. Why would ease of creation make things less used? If everyone wants one.. but tech only allowed for *Use by Few*... and then tech opens up the expansion for *Use by All* Why would you assume we wouldn't need to create more?? Yall are still carrying Liberal Scarcity propaganda. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@byomarbird3463]

Being a Jamaican Product Designer, enjoying think pieces from a Trinidadian is so engaging. Thanks for all the research and editing @Andrewism 🙏🏿🙏🏿

[@Andrewism]

one love🙏🏽

[@michaelregis1015]

Andrewism makes me proud of what we can be as Trinidadians and as West Indians as a whole.

[@anarchisttechsupport6644]

Thank you for this video! The greatest gift we can share is Literacy - even with technology. How to use it, how to maintain it, why to use it, and *when to use something else.*

[@Andrewism]

That's a great point

[@dranorter]

Yep very true! People want to pay for closed solutions to perceived problems, often problems we don't understand. Understanding both the problems and the solutions reduces waste.

[@Annoying_Customer]

When you started talking about bicycles I got tears in my eyes. Thank you for always fostering balance, every video is an inspiration and contains so many threads for me to follow.

[@Andrewism]

My pleasure!

[@cactusshadow9840]

what about emus pedaling bicycles as a sustainable transportation alternative?

[@JTMHoneycombs]

Solarpunk has inspired me to start a small farm. Just recently, I harvested 2 watermelons and they were wonderful. There's something so awesome about eating food that you grew yourself.

[@squizlyfe]

awesome comment

[@richardbuckharris189]

"If I were to give a summary of the tendency of our times, I would say, Quantity. The multitude, the mass spirit, dominates everywhere, destroying quality. Our entire life--production, politics, and education--rests on quantity, on numbers. The worker who once took pride in the thoroughness and quality of his work, has been replaced by brainless, incompetent automatons, who turn out enormous quantities of things, valueless to themselves, and generally injurious to the rest of mankind. Thus quantity, instead of adding to life's comforts and peace, has merely increased man's burden." ~ Emma Goldman

[@jamesgphillips91]

I honestly think you should take a deep look at the linux operating system, open source, and Linus Torvolds political philosophy. I realize big tech isnt radical, but there is still a living voluntary community driving most good software and giving it away for free

[@Andrewism]

I'll check it out, thanks for the suggestion!

[@jamesgphillips91]

​@@Andrewism no problem. I love your channel. When I was in college i was an organizer and obsessed with post structuralism and anarchist philosophy. You're a god send and I am so greatful to have a content creator making such quality stuff!

[@samtheman1868]

Honestly I really agree. Technological progress doesn’t necessarily stem from a neocolonialist state, but individuals

[@musicianguy527]

Came here to say this. While I am new to the world of computer science and open source development myself, I've already seen communities of programmers and engineers come together to create technologies that support sustainability, accessibility, and operate in line with the ideals and ethics of solar punk and on the very same platforms that big tech companies are using to promote their own "growth-minded" agendas.

[@TheFabledSCP7000]

And such is innovation under capitalism in _every_ Sector

[@Its-Lulu]

Always a good day for an upload from you!

[@austinmitchell2652]

I appreciate having this list of questions to ask of each technology. It will definitely spark consideration for me in the days to come!

[@Andrewism]

I'm glad! I found them very useful as well

[@Frankiigii]

@@Andrewism Have you published this framework? I'd love to have it written out. I'm hoping AI can empower local communities via education, analysis, and efficiency/optimization. I totally agree that we should adopt as many low tech practices as possible. Air conditioning, for example, could be greatly reduced if we built homes with concepts like thermal mass and passive cooling as priorities. Most people have never even heard of those, though, so education is key.

[@Frankiigii]

@@AndrewismBtw, do you watch David Shapiro? I feel like you might jive with his version of techno optimism

[@Corbẏn-c7n]

Strong, Interconnected, sharing community of family, friends and neighbors will save us. Get out and meet people. Giving and sharing all you are able, that is the best form of wealth and equity ✨🌿

[@omgthisismeomgthisisme]

You mean be creepy and invade people's personal space? Atleast that's what it's thought of in my country when you strike a conversation with people in public places

[@Praisethesunson]

​@@omgthisismeomgthisismeAmerica solved that problem by getting rid of most of the public spaces.

[@TheQuietPartisLoud]

That was great to watch, I honestly think this video is would be a perfect resource for teaching even kids what technology is. It's not enough to look at a technology as a product (Which is how I was taught it in school), technology has a cultural, and social context that has to be considered. Going over those reliable litmus-test questions further drives that home.

[@Bloodmuffin6]

As someone with a PhD in a biomedical area, the question "does it require or create an intellectual elite" hits very close to home. I do seriously believe that modern advances in medicine would not be possible without some individuals specializing into just learning as much as they can about biology, and I don't know what to call that other than an intellectual elite. I love the idea of making biological knowledge more widely accessible, but I just don't think it makes sense for everyone to understand every detail of how their bodies work--even understanding the tiny corner I've specialized in is overwhelming for me sometimes. Is that a mark against medical technology? Is it damning?

[@echoicmimicry]

I mean, it's one thing to have specialists / subject matter experts, but under our current system there's little bridging to give people the opportunity to learn (or even master) something highly niche, should they want to. Such as the paywalls on academic papers, and the inundation of "educational content" among genuine educational content on platforms like KZbin. The cost of online courses. The commonly vicious culture found in research (afaik, feel free to correct me). Nor, like Andrew mentioned, is this a binary. It's not as though everyone needs to know everything about everything, it's just that currently people are encouraged to know the bare minimum to be coerced and manipulated. Which does benefit an elite, just not necessarily pure for the knowledge elite. Exclusion is not good, and education is critical for being able to share new breakthroughs and ideas in a potentially more thoughtful manner. I don't think it's damning but we have to view tech holistically and that includes the various ways power can be concentrated.

[@Bloodmuffin6]

@echoicmimicry yeah that makes sense, I think I was seeing the term "intellectual elite" a bit too loosely. The hierarchy and barriers to knowledge are a critical component of the elitism, and they're absolutely an impediment to both human self-actualization and the advance of technology

[@liam3284]

The big failure of every "tech" is trying to replace labour intensity with resource intensity. Yet we live in a situation where everyone could afford to be an artisan, to take that bit extra time in "getting things right". We also live in a situation where material resources are constrained. Energy and minerals should be rationed, not time. Tech's wanton comsumption just causes poverty and immiseration.

[@fionacankat]

Another question that could be asked is how a technology affects the amount of menial (or even destructive) vs. creative labor that has to be done. Do they free up time and energy for people to engage in more human forms of labor? For example the dishwasher scores well in this (disregarding any environmental effects it may have) because manually washing dishes is not really something that would create anything and just steals time and energy from other, more important things. But for example a cash register needs to be manned, facilitates corporate theft, and consumes energy and other resources (namely receipts). Getting rid of them would be a net good for everyone. Other technologies can be more ambiguous (What do people actually end up doing at the destinations subways take them? Do they ride them willingly? Do people spend more time on them than they should?) but can still be used for a net good if used critically.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

In a world where the Cybertruck is built, we 100% need to stop assuming we can sit back and wait for technology to save us... I mean, things been bad before that, but it's just such an encapsulation of sorts. Like a symbol for the problems.

[@elustran]

There is a democratizing aspect to datacenters since they function as the ultimate shared resource. It makes it easy for individuals to access computing power on an as-needed basis at whatever scale is required rather than needing to maintain an individual supercomputer to spin up for a few random tasks. That said, I would imagine a solarpunk datacenter would be a socially-owned resource shared with more of a library mentality.

[@Andrewism]

Perhaps, that's a potentially positive use

[@oldgoatsgarden4897]

Some things used to be made to last, my clothes washing machine was new in 1949, the cookstove 1933. Too many good, usable items get thrown out just because something new and " improved " comes out.

[@Moonflight021]

We'll still make new and incredible scientific discoveries and technological inventions. It'll just be driven by curiosity instead of capital, and won't come at the expense of the degradation of land or labor.

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

only curiosity? no. our practical needs as human are constantly evolving. both curiosity & needs play a part. and land will always be degraded to an extent. the point is to mitigate that damage & make improvements to our methods of doing things.

[@Moonflight021]

@@ambatuBUHSURK Ah, sorry, I guess I just figured that went without saying. And we really /don't/ have to degrade the land. Humans have always had an effect on our environment and we always will. But we can learn how to be a part of nature instead of apart from it. Our byproducts can be part of a healthy, thriving ecosystem. Obviously mitigating the damage already being done is a priority for now, but there's a future out there where we turn "waste" into just another stage in the environmental cycles. Giving back to the Earth as it gives unto us.

[@thefrostbee4182]

i love this video! i hear sentiments related to this ALL THE TIME, but its good to hear it all wrapped together in a cohesive way. an example i noticed a while ago that shows this topic well is my own stove. someone decided to remove all the buttons and dials, and replace it with a touch screen. not only does the touch screen barely work, but u need to imput arcane touch combinations to unlock the stove to let it actually function. and if some boiling water spills on the stovetop it can easily cover the touchscreen, preventing u from turning it off. its a good example of ''high tech'' for absolutely no reason. also, when it comes to rare earth required in making technology. i think more people should put some attention towards exploitation of the sami people in northern scandinavia. a company hugely funded by Israel is trying to exploit sami land, and the swedish government recently discovered a huuuge deposit of rare earths on sami land. the process to open a mine in sweden is apparently a very long process, but once its opened there will be ALOT of exploitation in that area.

[@sabbisenior9122]

as an anarchist product/industrial designer this is a ✨ dream list ✨ of design questions

[@yourMindFind]

Videos like these keep me going. There are truly people who get it... Now we just need to spread the word!

[@colinfrank4494]

"just" is a bit of an understatement. We anarchists and other people committed to horizontal forms of organization are a strong minority. The various forms of systemic oppression make sure that the vast majority of people learn to accept, even love the chains imposed on them. It is necessary not only to radicalize, but also organize. But yes, this video is really good

[@yourMindFind]

@@colinfrank4494 Valid. It's been assessed that money has infinitely more influence than public opinion. That said, I doubt a majority of viewers have ever written to their democratic representatives. I doubt a majority of viewers have shut down massive intersections with organised protest. I have done these things and noticed a modicum of change. We *just* need to spread the word so that when collapse progresses, the blueprint for a better society will be awaiting the next keyholders rebuilding society. You will never likely enact any meaningful change yourself; collective vision and intrusive broadcasting of this wisdom is what's important, and like a roaring flame, there will be evidence that we and you were here. But yeah, I highly doubt anyone here in these comments have begun that. So they just... simply... as a start... need to spread the word.

[@Space_Lion]

Thanks for such a well-researched and thought-provoking video delivered so calmly. I took a class called "technology and society" in college that had us explore some of these questions, and I miss that kind of collaborative, productive, and inviting work environment very much. All it takes is one good teacher to open someone's mind to possibilities lying outside of our everyday capitalistic experience.

[@theflorri]

Another dimention that should be considered is safety: "how much harm can this do to a person", "how much skill/experience do you need to operate this safely?" "How many people need to be operating this machine together to ensure the safety of everyone involved?" etc.

[@MeatyZeeg]

I actually started volunteering at a Tool Library recently. And you'd be surprised at how many useless tools are kept arpund. And how many copies of the same tool.

[@sharonbaker3007]

Technology only works when it actually benefits the people utilizing it, and having their lives and communities improved with this idea/device. When technology is harmful, it seems like once something is in place it’s very difficult and a long process to come up with something new and get it implemented. We need more designers, engineers, and artists!💙

[@samtheman1868]

I’m trying to understand what you mean by the last line. Who isn’t included? Tradesmen? Are you saying we need more intelligent people? I struggle to see that part of your argument.

[@sharonbaker3007]

@@samtheman1868 I meant creative people that solve problems, and have the ability to apply them, broadly. Tradesfolks that work with in a specific area would be included, yes, because they would know how to make things better, as well as knowing when things are already working optimally.

[@samtheman1868]

@@sharonbaker3007 thanks for clarifying. I agree we should have more smart people do problem solving. So that we can have more problem solved. that would be cool. damn i felt like a NPC wrighting that because it feels very self-evident to me. thus probably my confusion

[@TheQuietPartisLoud]

Right up my alley! Excited to watch.

[@ringsystemmusic]

Ay, the big 200K soon, cheers to that! looks like another book on my list, and probably an important one for a technologist like me.

[@GigaClutch]

This is such an important video, I keep coming back to it. It's so rare to find anyone asking anything like these questions, tech is always considered to be merely for commercial and practical reasons, to make money, or make things 'easier'. But neither of these considerations scratch the surface of the potential impacts.

[@paulgavin8119]

I love you man, this really helped me with being able to explain some of my feelings around replacement and planned obsolescence and Economy vs Ecology. The way my wife is so happy to 'recycle' and replace before repair. Repairability is a much more obvious win as you help make so clear. The thought of radically changing programming to allow it to foster community and growth rather than division seems such an obvious win I've been wishing for it my whole life.

[@captainhuman]

There’s an essay by Uri Gordon I really like called Anarchism and the Politics of Technology, where he points out that a lot of technology often reinforces existing hierarchies, simply because it was designed under those hierarchies and therefore has their assumptions baked into it. He does say (and I agree) that technology isn’t inherently bad, but points out that the conditions it was developed under matter.

[@DutchBarracuda]

Thank you for reminding me about Low Tech Magazine. I'd completely forgotten about it for a decade, and along with this video, it's reminded me to pursue lower resource intensive, but high efficiency computing.

[@metabeard3788]

As a woodworker, it's fun to use a combination of old tools and new, and to understand when one is more useful than the other. It's not always the case, but old tools are typically more accurate and more aesthetically pleasing (to look at and to hold), while newer tools bring the often needed power. These are generalizations and definitely don't always hold true, but I've never been all in on old vs new, both bring value.

[@QuixoticiallyQuantum]

i was really waiting for a mid-video sponsorship for ground news or some other shill-but you surprised me positively and i appreciated both the depth and concise nature of this video

[@Bli757]

I love this idea of building solar punk into society from the ground up! And the library economy, it's a beautiful future to look forward to and I'm happy to help bring it in 😊

[@BadNaturalist]

You mentioned your library economies video and id like you to know that thumbnail is the mainpage image for a local buy nothing group my friends and i started a few months ago. Its still small, but its really awesome to see how ready people are for alternative ways of going about life. We dont have a lot but turns out we do have enough if we share

[@greatestone4eva]

i like the biotechnic society idea. the library economy trio of usufruct, irreducible minimums, and complementarity are definitely impactful core ideas to keep in focus as guiding principles for the basis of any society.

[@virutech32]

Something that annoys me about IoT devices, smartphones, and most ubiquitous computing is that a lot of it doesn't actually require the blazing fast speeds that are modern semiconductors' primary benefit. There are alternative computing technologies that are fast enough for most day to day & industrial/home automation tasks that use a way more limited number of elements that are way more widely distributed. Choosing those options with smaller more distributed supply chains would actually allow way more computers in way more hands & applications while reducing the impact on the environment. We have this obsession with speed and complexity these days that often gets in the way of actually deploying super useful technologies. Also makes recycling those materials incredibly difficult and often uses much more energy without actually providing a whole ton of benefits. By the by im referring mostly to MEMS relays, but there are tons of tech that are appropriate to different applications. None of them are perfect for all applications, but having the most resource/energy intensive computronium used for absolutely everything seems like its really missing a trick.

[@vylbird8014]

It's mass production. A 32-bit ARM processor may be computationally overkill. But they are also a part manufactured by the billions - the sheer scale of production makes individual chips cheap as dirt. The scale also means experienced programmers are readily available and affordable, and all the tech stack you might need is already ported and easily utilised. You could use more efficient parts, but it would actually cost more.

[@virutech32]

@@vylbird8014 Cost more if you ignore the ecological and social cost of mining the materials needed for them and the batteries needed to support the higher energy usage in mobile devices. Also computing substrate isn't the same as computer architecture. Pretty sure you can build the same computer architecture on different substrates.

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

​@@virutech32All tech require an ecological cost. If people don't innovate & improve things instead of keeping things stagnant then we probably will never have better more cleaner & efficient batteries. Mass production is the problem and the lack of repairability.

[@vylbird8014]

@@virutech32 Again, for profit. The capabilities of smartphones aren't dramatically improving any more, and haven't been for years - it's just that they are designed to last only a few years and then be thrown away. Just look at the difficulty of changing the battery, a component that is guaranteed to lose performance with age - but it doesn't matter, because the phone is not expected to last that long.

[@TheFabledSCP7000]

Yoo You're almost at 200k

[@Andrewism]

Yess 😁

[@codedoe2469]

Wow I haven't watched your vids in a while and suddenly the patreon list is huge! glad to see!

[@daviddeshazo5183]

Good video, seems we are slowly heading in the right direction. And it's gaining momentum.

[@vylbird8014]

Regarding your criticism of the smartphone, I note they only apply to the smartphone as we currently practice it. The idea isn't terrible - a portable computing device to give everyone access to a vast library of knowledge, centuries of cultural history, ease of communication and emergency services. The technology isn't the problem: It's the business side of things, that created this technology solely to make a profit. Any practical benefits are mere side-effects.

[@Cheesychip1234]

Yeah if we all just used our phones like they do in the movies we’d be doing great honestly

[@nelsonth]

wouldn't the mining of minerals be considered a criticism of the tech? Or would that be considered separate from the tech itself?

[@crepooscul]

This is a bit putting the cart before the horse. While this is correct in theory, it's irrelevant in reality because due to opportunistic people existing and weak willed people existing also ( for them to act like cattle to be exploited), the "business side of things" is unquestionably inevitable. Hence why the smartphone was a mistake in the long run. For me personally it isn't detrimental, I use it as a tool to speak with friends/family (I did this before smartphones with regular mobile phones), as GPS, to pay my bills or check the statuses of my orders, and to log in at work. But I'm the exception. Most people are social media addicts and spend most of the time time on intellectual dumpsters like TIkTok or even KZbin where brain cells and truth go to die. My parents were correct when they were telling me to stop staring at the TV all day and being glued to my PC. Smartphones are that but even worse. Your mind doesn't take pause from constant dopamine rush even when you're on the shitter or in the bus, or anywhere at all.

[@NothingXemnas]

Whenever I see solarpunk mentioned, it melts my heart. I am a massive fan of cyberpunk, even writing stories in that genre, but I am ALSO an idealist and at times feels like solarpunk gets no attention. I have a few stories written in this genre, but without all the sources that cyberpunk has (games, even tabletop ones like Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun, and films like Bladerunner), it is hard to have an idea of what even works as "solarpunk". Maybe someday, we will finally see it gain traction.

[@EvilWeiRamirez]

I think, a lot of hindsight makes this stuff more clear. There was a time when reading books was discouraged because it inhibited exploration in the real world and actually getting work done. I think it's important to ask those questions though.

[@ggaddo1]

This was relevant yesterday, today, tomorrow and will remain relevant for a very, very long, long time to come!

[@aurynluna4221]

just as most of human kind's innovations, technology is scary for so many people because we all know who gets their hands on it first : the rich. who funds the research, who decides the use, the access for the general population. this has been making scientists mad for ages, because so many times they don't get enough funding to look further into actual urgent problems - instead we control every step through a financial strategic point of view. ancient societies were technological as fuck, but we don't talk enough about it. the questions you made in order to reflect on in this video are truly amazing and necessary. great video!

[@ricos1497]

Interesting video, thanks. I often scroll through the shite in my house and wonder which of it would even exist had we adopted some of the principles you mention a couple of hundred years ago. Then I spiral into a rabbit hole of questions that I can't answer. There's very few of my possessions that I actually need. Very few that the world needs. Almost none that needed to be mass produced at scale. I wonder about the circumstances in which we'd ever create technology such as the internet if we actually held ourselves to account for the material resources and exploited labour required. If everyone were in the position where they could say: "I'm not working down that mine/on that conveyor belt/etc". I'm not convinced we could have an internet without exploitation of someone in its supply chain.

[@TedeOlgard]

I have been watching you for some time now, great video!

[@TriggerCrazedLunatic]

This was a great video! You're one of the most consistently great youtubers i know

[@ItHadToBeSaid]

Thanks for this one, Andrew! I will definitely share this one with some of the ppl commenting on my channel. You make the videos on technology I wish I could make.

[@SPAnComCat]

Good Job for Hitting 200K Subscribers!

[@Andrewism]

Thank you!

[@SPAnComCat]

@@Andrewism No Worries, Mate!

[@elsafowl]

Your video is fascinating, thank you for your work 🎉 you've got a new subscriber, can't wait for your next analysis!

[@jaygregory8219]

Couldn't agree with this more! Thank you for sharing this 🙏🏾❤

[@k98killer]

I have always had a preference for using hand tools wherever possible, but I must admit that operating an excavator for the first time two days ago was a very fun experience. (One of my friends is preparing his land to build a house on it himself; I mostly carried large rocks and removed palmetto root bulbs with an adze while I was there.)

[@Andrewism]

Operating an excavator has always looked pretty fun to me as well

[@artemkanarchist]

Thanks a lot for your work 🏴

[@feefawfern8240]

Another interesting video essay.

[@rex5895]

Where do you find those solar punk images? They are so inspiring. I want them as wallpapers so I see them daily. They're really cool.

[@liam3284]

The symbolic representation of a solar panel, it provides surplus by existing, which can be used or not, at no opportunity cost.

[@confused_lefty2]

Hope you cover techno-optimism

[@Vivivofi]

I think that’s what this video is

[@anarchisttechsupport6644]

Yeah uh... He' probably not going to. Instead, herre's criteria for categorization as *convivial technology* that you may want to use on the "optimism" of corporate techno capitalists.

[@anarchisttechsupport6644]

For real though. Even Cyberpunk should teach you what's going wrong. And Techno Optimism isn't addressing any of those things. It just Bliss-ninny demands our faith in things controlled beyond our reach, asking us to believe they will save us. Just pretend nothing is wrong, your "betters" have it all figured out. Look at the Devastation of Hurricane Helene and tell me that our "betters" have anything figured out. Look at Lebanon, look at Gaza. Read David Greaber's "Debt: to First 5,000 years" and realize the technology known as "money" was most often invented to sustain Armies. There is technology we need to outgrow. And centralized technology that gatekeeps us from understanding, much less fixing, what is in our hands for most of our free time? That becomes "trash" when a new model comes out, regardless of the blood soaked materials used to create them? We need a new model for how these handheld black mirrors are handled. We need a new underlying structure. One that cares more about life than the quarterly earnings report. And "techno optimism" fails at that.

[@Tawhiri-sz4wc]

Solarpunk > Cyberpunk

[@anarchisttechsupport6644]

Cyberpunk was supposed to be a warning, but it seems our Oligarchs are happy to draw inspiration from it.

[@AshiwiZuni]

@@anarchisttechsupport6644I honestly dont think it has much to do with oligarchs drawing inspiration, rather than manufacturing consent for their already held positions. Very similar to things like the matrix, robocop, escape from NY, Etc, all those pieces of media were indeed warnings, yet the lack of media literacy and predisposition for fascism clouds these messages through that manufactured consent.

[@liam3284]

Its as though someone read Kafka and thought he described a model society. I feel sick at the world of perpetual confusion being created.

[@maxmax-k4z]

Both solarpunk and cyberpunk like all immediately identifiable futurist aesthetics are quickly made at best banal and at worst a form of propaganda for capitalism. Both aesthetics should be treated with distrust. Companies use cyberpunk aesthetics to give the impression they will make the future edgy, vibrant, thrilling and exciting while in reality these companies will make the future increasingly boring and isolating. Meanwhile companies are already using solar punk in advertising because doing so allows them to attach themselves to ideas of environmental stability and community based living that capitalism intrinsically works against. Solarpunk should be treated with some degree of distrust because its aesthetics are ones that frequently fetishizes technology, buildings and landscapes while often minimizing anything imperfect and human. Notice how in Solarpunk art there is never anyone with obvious disabilities. The aesthetic is so obsessed with eco friendly utopianism that anyone with a disability does not exist in this world. What happened to disabled people? People with disabilities are seen as a symbol of imperfection and therefore do not have a place in a Solarpunk future. In that way solar punk is an extension of the status quo rather than a break from it.

[@kevincrady2831]

@@maxmax-k4z Solarpunk imagery produced by actual solarpunks does feature and include people with disabilities, at least wheelchair users, as they and their accommodations are fairly easy to portray in street/city scenes. The corporate imagery of sleek white iSkyscrapers with trees growing on them (because trees apparently won't need root systems in The Future, so they'll work fine on skyscraper balconies, no really!) with some windmills, solar panels and neatly-cropped lawns isn't really solarpunk, it's more ecomodernism or techno-optimism.

[@axShinsei]

Fascinating video. Asking these questions in relation to technology we use in Nursing Healthcare.

[@dontnoable]

Animal agriculture is bigger than the WHOLE of transportation for greenhouse gas emissions alone, most of which are produced at site or production, ie the farm

[@dontnoable]

That's a glaring and troubling omission while talking about transportation, in an otherwise good video

[@nerdywolverine8640]

mentioning refrigeration made me reflect on how i use it in a game like rimworld (generally avoiding it in favor of modded ways of preservation like cellars and granaries as well as things like pemmican) vs real life. it also made me nostalgic for the first boxcar kids books where they make a home from discarded dishes and a fridge under a small waterfall. i am not in a position where i can currently manage how food in my household is stored due to being a disabled dependant, but when i move out i think considering and applying other forms of preservation when possible could hugely improve my quality of life, since today's technology is often difficult to maintain. thank you for leaving the list of questions in the description!

[@nerdywolverine8640]

*book, singular

[@Andrewism]

I love RimWorld. Hate when Randy sends a solar flare and all my food spoils. Pemmican is the way to go😂

[@mrdeanvincent]

_Great_ video! Many interpretations of 'solar punk' are just techno-futurism with extra trees. Tech isn't inherently good or bad... as with most things, the reality is somewhere in the grey area in the middle. The framework you have laid out here for evaluating technology is fantastic. Thanks for this video.

[@mrdeanvincent]

Nate Hagens sometimes talks about 'goldilocks technologies', which are basically ones that would score positively on your framework. He did an episode on solar-thermal cookers which is one good example of 'appropriate' technology.

[@iampers0n]

Valuing your insightful videos on using technology for nature and humans, and the expressive organic art.

[@rochelle2758]

This makes me think of the spinning wheel, which is simultaneously a symbol of ye olde quaintness to us, and a huge technological shift away from the spindle in making thread and yarn. And while spinners (like myself) can sometimes think of the wheel as an "advance" in terms of by-the-hour production, it also means you have to sit or stand relatively still (you can walk around with a drop spindle), you will likely be indoors, and it might not be as easy to socialize with other people doing the same work as you while you work (it's not impossible, just more difficult, especially with large Saxony-style wheels). Then there's the sewing machine...

[@jay.p.w]

Could you make a general "what is to be done" adjacent video at some point in the context of our crazy modern times. Or like a list of ideas/ books etc🙏🙏

[@Andrewism]

Each of my videos has a list of books and other references in the description if any specific topic interests you, and I'd consider my "Essentials" playlist to be a sort of general exploration of ideas of what is to be done as well!

[@AndrewThoesen]

Jevon’s paradox should be the first warning given to anyone who thinks technology will save us under the current social hierarchy and economic system.

[@acehealer4212]

Very thought-provoking! I want to check out the books you referenced too.

[@electromechanicalpotato]

You may have not read my comment on your previous video on Data Colonialism, but this is exactly the answer that I seeked. Which would make it kinda spooky :) well, the two topics are deeply connected after all. Thak you!

[@ticijevish]

The days when humanity could thrive without advanced technology are long past, never to return. The days of humanity being able to survive without advanced technology are coming to a rapid end. For all the Luddite calls to return to nature, the products of modern day technology do empower people as much as they cause some of their skills to become rudimentary. It's all about how these things are used. Except for generative AI. It has literally no positive uses. It perpetuates the biases and flaws of its programmers and designers, which includes every Tom, Dick and Harry that has posted anything online in this millenium. And 90% of that is pure crud. TV is not evil, or bad. With good programming, it can be very positive. The thing this channel should pay some attention to is the generation of useless power. When coal is burned to create electricity, 72% of its energy content is wasted. When a car is powered by petrol, 80% of the energy contained in the fuel is wasted as heat, friction of the axles, etc. Today's world is 80% powered by fossil fuels, and only 20% by renewables. But it is a falsehood to claim renewables need to replace all that fossil generation of power. Two thirds of the energy produced by fossil fuels is wasted by design and thermodynamics. About ten percent of the energy made by renewables is wasted. Because renewables are directly transfered into the grid and used with high efficiency, we only need to double our current renewables (2.3 times, to be exact) to replace almost all the fossil power generation worldwide. Planned Obsolesence is pure evil. As is generative AI. We can and MUST ban/restrict/regulate both of these things. We are the people who are harmed by these bad things. Less than 1% benefit from them in any way.

[@liam3284]

One of those interesting stats you find studying the fossil fuel system. It takes more energy to turn oil into gasoline and deliver that to a pump, than a car gets at the wheels when burning it.

[@ticijevish]

@@liam3284 Far more energy. The wastage is cruel and astounding. Powering an electric car from a solar power plant, even if you put the energy through a battery first, is more efficient by almost a whole order of magnitude!

[@eliplayz22]

Another video knocked out if the park

[@virrob9055]

Personally, I feel very conflicted about going into computer science even though it is a passion, because I know that the sector of numerical technology is particularly costly on the environment, and big tech/FAANG’s overwhelming influence really doesn’t help. What kind of development would you see for computer science, for instance with organic computers? How should we, or could we reconcile computer science with nature? What’s a way to make it better now?

[@Dim.g0v]

The doom spiral never ends

[@bkbland1626]

Good stuff as usual. Thank you.

[@AoifeBheag]

Andrew, I deeply appreciate your nuanced explication of Solar Punk and related schools of thought. :-) As someone living with multiple, significant disabilities, I do, however, have questions about the approaches which Solar Punk advocates take towards technology, because some of the most common approaches about which I've thus far learned would exclude me and people with bodies similar to mine. The bicycle is- for very compelling reasons- a mainstay of the future as envisioned by Solar Punk advocates. However, as someone who's completely blind and also lives with chronic vertigo and debilitating chronic pain, I'm physically incapable of riding a bike. How would a Solar Punk city accomodate someone in my situation? Passenger trains would certainly aid with accessibility in some circumstances; and, as a US citizen, I constantly lament the complete absence of sufficient passenger rail service within the overwhelming majority of our population centers. The subject of trains brings me to my next question, though. The Solar Punk advocates whom I've thus far encountered are striving (again, for highly compelling reasons) to create communities which depend first and foremost upon intensive face-to-face interactions. Technologies such as the passenger train also necessitate intensive face-to-face contact. However, thanks to the inaction and callousness of FAR TOO MANY of my fellow Americans, myself and all other Americans with chronic cardiac conditions and/or chronic immune deficiencies have now been damned, as a matter of survival, to lives of compulsory masking and social distancing in public spaces. I've been largely imprisoned in my home since the pandemic began;. As a blind person who entirely relied upon public transit and paratransit systems prior to the pandemic, the ongoing circulation of the COVID 19 virus within my country and community has made my riding in crowded, enclosed vehicles with people who aren't masked and may or may not have ever been vaccinated a matter of life and death for me. "Technology" and "community"- as the people in power in the US currently conceive them- have certainly failed me and people like me. Would a Solar Punk city offer those of us whose lives now depend upon social distancing any viable access to shared spaces? Please know that I'm not writing this lengthy comment in order to attack Solar Punk as a fundamentally untenable way of living. In addition to those circumstances of my life which I've already described, I depend upon eleven prescription medications for survival; and my soul bleeds with the knowledge that researchers have subjected untold numbers of nonhuman beings to annonymized lives of suffering in order to develop each of those medications. So much of our current way of living is so physically and morally broken! However, I can't stop taking my medications; and the piece of computing tech which allows me to view your videos and to write this comment functions only due to the very same minerals and rare earth metals whose mining I abhor because of the staggering environmental and human costs which that mining generates. I wouldn't survive in a completely low-tech society, but our present form of high-tech society has all but written me out of its perview as well. Do you know of any Solar Punk advocates who actually live with one or more significant disabilities? An able-bodied person theorizing about disability inclusiveness in the abstract absolutely does not substitute for a Solar Punk advocate writing with the embodied knowledge of day-to-day life with a disability. I would genuinely and enthusiastically welcome finding a home within some strand of Solar Punk philosophy and practice; and I welcome any guidance which you may be able to offer along that path!

[@Andrewism]

There isn't a single solarpunk approach to tech, so please be sure to hear out other perspectives. I'm not against medication or disability accomodations or computers. For me, bikes are not a catch-all solution, as I think any serious advocate of walkable cities would understand, they're just part of the picture. Accomodations for the blind, such as audible signals, raised platforms on sidewalks, well-designed transit, and so on must also be part of the picture. I don't speak to a US context, but I agree that there is a dearth of community there that has failed the immunocompromised that part of solarpunk activism must rectify. Ultimately, solarpunk and solarpunk transformations are what you make of it. Disabled people and disability advocates must be part of shaping solarpunk lest they be left out of the picture. Also remember that much of what is considered solarpunk is shaped by movements and conversations and ideas that were never originally conceptualized in a solarpunk context, but later repurposed to that end, like permaculture and walkable cities. So don't limit your research to what's considered solarpunk. Be part of bringing more into the solarpunk picture. Please continue to advocate and don't let others leave you out of this co-created project. Your answers to these questions are just as valid as mine.

[@AoifeBheag]

@@Andrewism Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply to my questions. I'm taking your advice to heart. If no current Solarpunk advocates are writing/working with the embodied knowledge of living with a serious disability, are you able to recommend any disabled theorists or activists whose philosophies intersect with Solarpunk? I do have some grounding in disability studies but haven't yet encountered anyone of that description. Again, thanks, very genuinely, for your response! I'll stop taking up your time now. :-)

[@Vaeldarg]

@@AoifeBheag Such accommodations is I think part of why Solarpunk doesn't tend to attempt to completely do without technology. Those with missing limbs would likely rather have technologically advanced prostheses, not just a hook or peg-leg strapped to them. There's various research labs working on restoring eyesight, not to mention software such as text-to-speech that you are likely using to read this comment. Treatments and gene therapies of the future can end up making you no longer immunocompromised, which means not having to take the medications in the first place. It's just that there's a need to rethink supply chains and incentives around technology to improve the ways such tools are made and used within societies.

[@ssryle]

A bit of a thought experiment for you, Andrewism, if we must keep the capitalist structure and still obtain something close to a Solarpunk future, how would this be done? A baseline universal credit income that can be furtheraugmented by gathering solar energy and if sold to provide power to others? What would your thoughts be on such a plan if it must be this way? Would love to hear back intext or video format!

[@zainmudassir2964]

This is why I'm subbed

[@SPAnComCat]

Long Live SolarPunk Anarcho-Communism! Keep up with the Incredible Work, Andrew!

[@OuroborosPrinciple]

Great video! Strongly suggest the work of Marshall McLuhan. In Laws of Media: The New Science, he formulated the effects of an idea/tech. His son Eric coined the term media ecology. All of this is applied information theory.

[@andrewrandrianasulu_]

oh, also, as Russian ... failure to actually produce different (truely different) society in ussr times weights heavy on me. "We" failed and most of ppl not even thinking today at level where ecological society is even recognized as concept. And .. well, with all this military invasionand thus intense ongoing nationalist/patriotic rhetoric on tv/press ... It hard to imagine any trajectory involving honest oeople. On microelectronics and industry itself .. it often said that "we" failed to make good quality products due to not enough monetary inenciative- we, surprize or not monetary ininciative eating everyone's brains not lead to high quality items too! And because most of technological items not produced here, at best assembled .. I hardly can imagine scope of changes needed not only inside country but very much otside it for making any kind of current-tech society viable in longer term. Just because humans too trained to think in narrow terms, and cooperation is enforced by external forces (of money). "We" as 140 millions of ppl simply do not have enough oomph to build or radically rebuild things - it seems. Radical rebuilding of relations requre some prolonged intensity of acting against ingrained habits, but in manner that itself not simple or fun. And outside of those forced borders additional problem with languages sets in ...USSR was not obviously broken in 70x, yet comed down crashing in 80x due to failures in internationality and politics (no one truely get implications of unopossed capitalism, we were cracked by fracking meme of neoliberalusm!) , leaders were not really interested in providing any humane/ecological alternative to global capitalist system, so .. we failed, and somewhat better tech education for some engineers definitely not saved us from 90x and beyond. So yeah, relatively good (but stiil wasteful? if you pick 10 engineers out of 100 candidates what 90 unneeded humans should do, feel like failure?) STEM education is not enough for succesful society. And societal technology w/o authoritarism is definitely not our best known mode of living ..... I do not want everyone forced to live like russian village in 19th century or earlier - even if probably big part of poverty there was due to extraction. But modern techno is very complex. You can make crystal radio in village, but this is near limit. Even good bicycle need compkex machinery somewhere. Microprocessors, microoptics ... literally techno we do not have outside laboratories. I like retroocomputers (limited even intentionally), live beings from dolphins to dogs, interested in how art work even if not artist,etc. But most humans too busy making themselves in poisoned environment.I hope new, nonexploiting state of siciety possible, but how to jump/crawl from here to there with given limited (most of us not heroes) humans AND with strong presense of various forces preventing such transition? No realistic idea .... Can even one idea honestly be shared by 100 mil of people? without dirty, backfiring tricks ....

[@Jan-l4w4y]

Does anyone know the name of the picture at 5:10 ? thanks

[@SolarpunkSeed]

Love it. Holistic ecological techno-optimism and techno-critique. The new wave of robots (including humanoids) can potentially be stewarded by nonprofits, DAOs, individuals, and local governments in the commons - helping with hyperlocal food forest gardening, construction, repairs, education, medical care, childcare, eldercare, etc. Humans can help train the AI, and the AI can help teach us back, replicating the best insights in the world. If humans are around and skilled + willing to do those roles too/instead, great, but tech can helpfully fill in, if not. Thankfully there's also new tech that doesn't need rare earths, for example sodium ion batteries, already being used in new EVs in China. Materials recycling capability also continues to expand. 🌱

[@sarbe6625]

4:15 I disagree with the notion that the scientific method spawns colonialist mindsets in and of itself. Ultimately at it's core the scientific method is a tool for determining the truth in a way that is ideologically neutral. The whole point of peer review is to eliminate the risk of biases affecting the conclusion. Any science that fails to eliminate biases from the conclusion for as far as is humanly possible, is bad science that is fated to be discarded as a falsehood in the future. And the most important for this is that proper use of the scientific method demands that it not be taking as a gospel or ideology. The moment someone starts to have faith in science, or to trust it, they have stopped using the scientific method and instead developed an ideology, a bias. Historically the veneer of science has often been wielded by colonialist powers and other bad actors in order to borrow from it's legitimacy. But these falsehoods peddled under the lie of being scientific truths were just that, lies. Actual genuine science welcomes being challenged, it requires a constant steady stream of people openly proving it wrong and opposing it's assertions. Because it is only through that process that the objective truth can eventually be discovered. And that's about as far divorced from the authoritarianism inherent in colonialist and imperialist ideologies as is possible.

[@Andrewism]

"I disagree with the notion that the scientific method spawns colonialist mindsets in and of itself." Good thing I didn't express nor hold that notion.

[@sarbe6625]

@@Andrewism That seemed to be to me what you said right before to timestamp in my comment. I must've misunderstood it then.

[@brbrbrbreannad3610]

I really like that the conviviality framework includes accessibility. I will say, though, that people need to consider just how broad and technological true accessibility is. I obviously think it’s horrible how miners for rare earth metals used to power electronics in places like the DRC are treated, but we must find a way to create ethical systems of mining at a significant scale for those types of metals so that disabled people can have assisted communication devices and electronic wheelchairs (along with all the other devices we need them for). As an autistic and ADHD person with other issues as well, I know firsthand how many technologies make the world more accessible for me. Get rid of the easy, frozen meals that fit with my sensory needs and executive functioning challenges and my diet takes a substantial hit. I hate the fact that this leads to plastic waste, and I try to recycle what I can, but my issues with food and life in college make these meals important parts of my diet. I need a mini fridge and microwave in my college dorm (something many students have) because I’m always forgetting about and reheating food and tea (just a part of having ADHD), and I typically get food from the dining hall or a campus restaurant and bring it home with me to eat alone later (thankfully my university has a reusable container program). My disapproval of the fossil fuels used to generate this energy doesn’t change the fact that these technologies make college accessible to me. I use notetaking software for college (which I need a tablet for) that records what the professor is saying and turns it into a transcript to help me with my notes. This software was probably trained on recordings farmed from across the web. I am against involuntary data collection, but I need this software because of my slow processing speed and other issues. I just wanted to mention that, because I feel like non-disabled people, not having these experiences, probably don’t realize the extent to which modern technology has helped disabled people. I want these technologies to be available to all who need them! Also, this is not a criticism of the video! I thought the video was good. It’s just a perspective that I want to share.

[@salzhaltigersalzhaufen586]

I like the end because at least here in Germany I heard a lot of things like hey you cant critisze that problem without having a solution for it were as I´m thinking well I can obviously but more importantly I should because if I don´t call that out no one might and even if I don´t have a solution someone else who hears what I´m saying might. And thats more than enough to critisze a problem without having a solution for it.

[@meander112]

Engagement for the engagement god!

[@traniversal]

All the power to all the people. 🕊

[@vanforsman]

Great timing with the recent @Sophiefrommars video about technology as well!

[@vanforsman]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIC1oayEl653nq8si=OhMK_qAcOl2EEa88

[@jacobusburger]

The lathe one made me wonder, what is your opinion on 3D printing and CNC fabrication methods? Nice video on ethics, thanks for making.

[@TheCruidiac]

For the algorithm ❤

[@adislavchev]

You should stop being afraid of quoting Uncle Ted. He was inspired by Ellul but has also improved on his philosophy and ideas.

[@SR-nt9qz]

can you please make a video on psych abolition ? I just read Bruce M.Z. Cohen - "psychiatric hegemony:a marxist theory of mental illness" and it was so good ! I would be really interested in that topic especially since psychiatry is often seen as a replacement for the prison industral complex when we talk about prison abolition . love your channel !!

[@trevormilliner8121]

Man if you were about to to give the lathe a negative...theres a level of making parts and manufacturing we should keep.

[@Andrewism]

Even if I were to give it a negative, what's wrong with acknowledging the negatives of a technology while still retaining it? Nobody said we wouldn't have to make trade-offs. It's just better to recognise the costs, and perhaps find ways to rectify them, rather than plugging our ears and shutting our eyes to the harms that are created by our comforts.

[@squizlyfe]

amazing vid. you are dope. solarpunk is so cool. i learned about your content from aaron bushnell who enjoyed and was inspired by your videos. i will be watching the rest! thank you for opening my mind and helping me visualize other possibilities

[@UltimateArts13]

All great points except the data center. You surely mean specifically social media or surveillance data centers. A data center just hosts data. Most allow individuals to rent a space or a server rack or portion of a rack. That surely benefits individuals and community who want control of their own data within the safety of a zero down time center.

[@thefrostbee4182]

well, renting space in a data center doesnt sound like individual or community control over their own data and safety. sounds more like... well, renting.

[@UltimateArts13]

@@thefrostbee4182 Anyone can host at home, but that brings risk. Just like keeping a large amount of cash at home.

[@thefrostbee4182]

@@UltimateArts13 oh ofcourse, im not saying thats the best way. but renting still isnt super good

[@FlamesOfRevolt]

Hey quick question for you. What does "manipulative institutions" mean here? Great video otherwise! The first 5 minutes, I was listening along and thinking "this is extremely close to how I would say these exact same arguments," minus the colonial argument which I had not thought of before, and it makes a lot of sense!

[@Andrewism]

Illich uses the term to describe organisations or systems that, instead of empowering individuals, control and shape people's behavior, desires, and needs in ways that undermine their autonomy. Think of the way we currently organise education for instance.

[@FlamesOfRevolt]

@@Andrewism hmm I see... I can't say I necessarily like the sound of that as a transfeminist anarchist, especially in the context of North American education. But thank you for the explanation. I thoroughly enjoyed the video.

[@freemanrader75]

Technology is honestly all about the intentions of the one who utilizes it.

[@Andrewism]

I disagree. Intention is part of the picture for sure, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions as they say. I don't think any amount of good intentions justifies nuclear bombs, for example.