I’m an anthropologist, sometimes I occupy things & such.

I see anarchism as something you do not an identity...

...so don’t call me the anarchist anthropologist

Twitter was David’s public platform and tools for practicing a new language – clear and understandable for everyone, it was a space where he made friends and enemies.

Tweets 7,501 Replies 51,144 Retweets 24,559 Everything 83,204
Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:44

pre-industrial ages knew melancholia, & identified it with artists & thinkers (it roughly corresponded to what we’d now call clinical depression), but it was Baudelaire, the prophet of modernism, who turned that into boredom, & thus embraced boredom as an aspect of creativity 5/

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:41

I suspect the key to the introduction of modern industrial boredom is the creation of the industrial-model school system; kids are not spontaneously bored, they typically say they’re bored only when adults make them do something they don’t want to do 4/

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:39

in the ancient & medieval world, shepherds were famous as musicians & mystics, since they had lots of time to just sit around. It was always assumed to be one of the best lives you could have. Pastoralists i.e., in Somalia, often feel the same. 3/

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:29

in non-industrial societies, people can speak of the pleasure of just sitting around doing absolutely nothing, breathing the air, looking at the light. I occasionally heard this in Madagascar. “What’s your favourite thing to do?” “Sometimes, just nothing.” 2/

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:27

Boredom is an industrial phenomenon. At least as we know it. The key to boredom is you’re doing something meaningless & repetitive, but you also can’t wander off physically or mentally but have to pay attention. As on a factory line. 1/ https://t.co/ZwhzkGUbSP

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 20:06

whenever someone tells me they wouldn’t want to live 300 years, because they’d be bored, I say to myself: wow, that is a genuinely boring person. If I discovered i’d live for centuries, I’d instantly start learning 5-6 languages, 2-3 musical instruments, & nuclear physics

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Mon 27 Apr 2020 19:33

I shouldn’t retweet this, the DSA might start preparing another bill denouncing me. https://t.co/plv3q5eR6j

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:41

basically the income ladder is based on power, and power is meaningless unless you can destroy or demean other people 6/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:40

if jobs which benefit others are the least well paid & typically offer the least on-the-job respect (i.e., force workers to wear uniforms…), the best paid & most respect workers are not those that risk their own lives, but have the most capacity to damage others 5/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:38

deep-sea fishing is the most deadly profession, farming, logging, garbage collection, carpentry… All jobs that are clearly needed, are the ones where you’re actually putting your life on the line; even taxi-driving is more dangerous than being in the security forces 4/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:35

We regularly speak of cops & soldiers as putting their lives on the line for our sake, but these are hardly the most dangerous professions. If you look at the top 10 they’re not even on the list: https://t.co/z1nLsSMQ2k… 3/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:33

what is less often remarked is how much this is the case even in ordinary circumstances. Not only is work which most benefits others less compensated, it’s almost always more dangerous. 2/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:31

we’re starting to recognize that the more directly your work benefits others, the less you’re paid & worse you’re treated. With the pandemic, some also these ‘essential’ or “front-line’ workers are also those expected and willing to risk their lives for the sake of others 1/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 03:13

amazingly, there seem to be actual human beings out there who literally believe this. And then they wonder why the left isn”t taken more seriously. 4/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 03:11

since it never occurred to me that abandoning anarchism & promulgating NZ imperialism might evoke a negative reaction, I was startled, and covered up by falsely claiming that my original tweet was humorous in intent 3/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 03:08

at one point, I decided to reveal my true political views -that New Zealand should be put in charge of a world empire – but thought it would be a good idea to propose it in the form of a quiz, asking people “if you were forced to chose a global hegemon who might you choose?” 2/

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Sun 26 Apr 2020 03:06

so let’s get the story straight: apparently, I am a secret social democrat who for some reason decided to publicly masquerade as an anarchist, a member of a semi-criminalised political minority who most people believe are insane. 1/

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Sat 25 Apr 2020 18:14

Neil Young of all people is sponsoring my friend, The Reverend Billy’s, podcast https://t.co/uoh2za397Y

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Fri 24 Apr 2020 15:55

The US is gone, i don’t want China as my overlord… If we were forced to choose one country to put in charge of the world, under its current government, or even just to replace the US as hegemon, who would that be? I’m thinking possibly New Zealand?

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Fri 24 Apr 2020 15:16

I keep hearing dire predictions that “the economy’ (GDP) will decline, in many countries, as much as 35%. This is treated as cataclysmic. My reaction: wait, everyone is locked at home & economic activity only decreased by A THIRD?? Huh? What is the “economy” anyway?

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Thu 23 Apr 2020 12:56

here’s an essay about Nûdem Durak, a 32-year-old Kurdish singer who’s in prison in Turkey for 19 years (!) for thought-crime. Hopefully it will draw some international attention to her case. https://t.co/cnKDpfy1mU

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Wed 22 Apr 2020 00:17

by what possible journalistic standards is the discovery that there was a faction in the Labour Party actively trying to lose the election not a story? How after literally thousands of stories about ‘institutional antisemitism’ in the LP is that suddenly not a story either?

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Wed 22 Apr 2020 00:14

I must admit I’ve always been cynical about the media, & the UK media is among the worst, but even I am sometimes a bit incredulous that they can just collectively pretend the #LabourLeaks scandal didn’t happen.

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Tue 21 Apr 2020 12:31

XR reduces number of cops on the streets! Apparently the gov’t is so miserly they’re asking the Met to pay for protest policing out of budget, so to pay for all that double overtime they’ll have to cut patrols telling people to stop sunbathing or whatnot https://t.co/DBMAQp0LA0

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Mon 20 Apr 2020 20:03

anyone have any theories why the US Federal Gov’t is stopping states from shipping in PPE? They mention Illinois & Massachusetts which are I believe governed by Dems. Is it partisan thuggery, or just completely confused? https://t.co/Gv9egSnYv4

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Sun 19 Apr 2020 18:58

the hilarious thing is the Johnson regime refused to confer with Corbyn & McDonnell on the crisis because they weren’t “serious” & waited for useless Starmer. In fact they turned out to have been complete Bozos while JC & JM got pretty much everything right from the start https://t.co/RQbDCXBEtn

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Sun 19 Apr 2020 17:20

just out of curiosity, what is supposed to be good about Biden? What policies is he proposing? What is he saying he’s going to provide for which constituencies?

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Sun 19 Apr 2020 17:18

honestly I think someone in the Democratic Establishment decided they’d rather have Trump. This guy has basically no positive qualities. Let alone policies. Would anyone vote for him for any reason other than thinking someone else might? https://t.co/W8yxBEyJvv

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