#societies of control

[athousandrabbitholes]

Unlike relationships, objects can be thoroughly and reliably controlled. The logic of consumerism and commodity capitalism is thus based on responding to our unquenchable longing for resonance in the form of a promise of controllability, which channels the desires that guide our actions towards objects themselves. In effect, this corresponds to a process of fetishization.

Hartmut Rosa, The Uncontrollability of the World, 107

#Hartmut Rosa #The Uncontrollability of the World #Uncontrollability #Societies of Control #Fetishization #Marx #Social Theory #Control Society

[stickybitch]

Remember when you used to be able to own a movie? You used to be able to hold it in your hands. It was yours and no one could take it away from you. It was so real. I never appreciated how beautiful that was.

#movies #I hate you subscription services #I hate you proprietary file formats #I hate you proprietary software #we shoulda listened to deleuze #societies of control

[kenyatta]

Databases in the UK—and elsewhere—have only proliferated; increasingly manufactured and maintained by a nexus of private actors and state agencies, they are generated by and produce more and more information streams that inevitably have a material effect on the populations they’re used by and against. More than just a neutral method of storing information, databases shape and reshape the world around us; they aid and abet the state and private industry in matters of surveillance, police violence, environmental destruction, border enforcement, and more. Databases and their particularities are often seen as a merely technical concern—something to be worried about only when there’s a glitch or a security breach. But as theorist Liam Young argues in his book List Cultures: Knowledge and Poetics from Mesopotamia to BuzzFeed, statistics and information have emerged as the “lifeblood” of the modern state. These massive streams of information—portrayed as seamlessly whizzing from one dataset to another—produce the state in as much as they also reveal the state as it is.

As the authors of the 2009 report note, the aims of what they call the “enforcing state” and the “public services agenda” are increasingly fused together; information collected about individuals en masse is cast as a way to better provide for them. To a very limited degree, there is some value to this argument—in certain health care contexts, for example around vaccinations and allergies, detailed datasets offer clear benefits. But these databases demonstrate how excessive—and often unnecessary—the majority of their counterparts are.

[...]

At the time of the Database State report, the [UK] Labour government then in power was dedicated to what it called “joined-up” thinking, or pulling information from one part of the state to another in order to enact policy and deliver services more efficiently and effectively. In practice, this led to the creation of massive databases containing seemingly indiscriminate amounts of information, databases that frequently had no legal justification for their existence. Though often seen as neutral, or even user-friendly, by those who design them, these repositories are political interventions; they make possible the governmental overreach and omnipresent surveillance that are the dominant features of our times.

Public debate around databases tends to focus on the question of extraction—the extent to which modes of data collection pose a threat to civil liberties. But there’s more to it. As Dan McQuillan, an academic and lecturer in creative and social computing at Goldsmith’s College, explains, the relational database “transcribes between informational content and action in the world,” meaning that even seemingly neutral, legal data collection inevitably produces outcomes that may not have occurred otherwise. In this way, too, massive government databases are never just benign repositories.

For all of the crypto conversation about the supposed liberatory benefits of putting the world on the blockchain (a publicly distributed database), I'm surprised at how little critical conversation I've found about how databases are still an apparatus of power whether we "intend" them to be or not. Maybe I'm not reading the right stuff.

It just seems really weird considering how much the crypto and crypto-adjacent folks love Seeing Like a State.

#database #state power #societies of control

[redheadedfailgirl]

Only on tumblr can I watch someone who has never read an academic essay in their life discover for themselves Gille Deleuze's concept of societies of control, specifically through the context of trans girl degeneracy, cancel culture, and kink.

And that makes it so much more based than that French asshole could ever be

#TW: French People #philosophy or something #trans girl degeneracy #cancel culture #kink discourse #societies of control #bitch it is 12pm and the progesterone is hitting #somehow this is not the worst post I've made today #and you people have to see both of them #we are in hell and my presence is punishment for your sins

[fandomsandfeminism]

On Saturday, in New York, a group of friends pulled into a strangers driveway to turn their car around. The homeowner came outside, shot at them, and killed one of the 20 year old women in the car.

Last Thursday, in Kansas City, a 16 year old boy ended up at the wrong address by mistake trying to pick up his younger siblings. He rang the doorbell. The homeowner shot him in the head. He is, miraculously, alive and recovering.

Yesterday, in Texas, a group of high school cheerleaders stopped at a grocery store on their way home. One of them opened the door to the wrong car by mistake, realized her mistake, and quickly retreated and found her friends car nearby. The man in the car followed her and shot at the group. 2 were shot. One remains hospitalized.

In less than a week- 3 people, doing normal, nonmalicious, nonthreatening, everyday things. Turning around in a driveway, ringing the wrong doorbell, going up to the wrong car by mistake. And with no escalation, no warning, it turns to gun fire.

It's a terrible intersection of easy access to firearms and an entitlement to use violence against others. All 3 of these recent incidents were so unprovoked and unjustifiable, and the core thread remains the same.

A man who felt entitled to use violence and had the means to do so with a firearm.

I don't even know what to say.

#gun control obviously #but even that feels like too little #we need gun control #but we also need I dunno some...something more #because what kind of society creates this #what kind of culture allows it #the entitlement to leap straight to deadly force before you even speak to a person #to shoot at a stranger through your front door or car window without warning #just what in fucking hell

[shittysawtraps]

when your friend says “i’m becoming the joker,” reply, “well, i’m becoming jigsaw” to one-up them. do not elaborate on what this means

#shitty saw traps #saw franchise #mod amanda #oh you’re gonna do fucked up shit because society has driven you crazy? #well I’M gonna do fucked up shit because I’m tired and done #your violence is rooted in a desire to shock while mine is rooted in a desire for connection #(even if that connection is through trauma) #you may have lost control. but I just gained it. and that’s scarier #anyway im sorry to hear that your shift sucked #(sorry if this post is too edgy)

[strawberrysamara]

"Kaidan Alenko is boring" WRONG. Kaidan Alenko is one of THEE characters of all time. He's Canadian, he's Schrodinger's man of colour, he's DOWN to fuck and still didn't manage to figure out that he's bisexual until his thirties, he killed a man as a teenager and almost caused a diplomatic meltdown bc of it, his tits are bigger than yours, he's constantly getting migraines, he has autism but doesn't know it AND he glows. What more could you want

#samara speaks #mass effect #kaidan alenko #now if you'll excuse me it's date night. i need to go fall down several floors through a fish tank and have him come pick me up. #also like. as much as he is under control in comparison to some of the other squadmates he's still got his personal problems 4 u 2 fix #it's just that his problem is that society demands that biotics be perfect to be accepted; otherwise they're seen as threats #part of his arc with shepard is (imo) learning to have more confidence in himself and his abilities and to listen more to his emotions

[waveoftheocean]

yet another vw wip for this week's wip wednesday bc i have zero (0) self control and so. so. so many thoughts abt them

#vashwood #trigun #trigun maximum #vash the stampede #nicolas d wolfwood #mine #wip #lmao ngl this looks like it could be done but it is not!!!! it is not :3c #please join me on my journey of creating more and more elaborate merch #where the setup and trying to vizualize how the pieces should fit make my head hurt 🤯 #(but yes this will be a charm and it has multiple parts and i really hope it comes out like i planned it to) #merch stuff #actually my caption is a lie i have SO much self control #because this much? this is me holding back #i want to draw SO MUCH of them i want to read fanfic i want to rewatch tristamp and finish the 98 anime and finish the manga #i wanna admire other ppl's fanart and cosplays and theory vids and edits and everything just everything. #but NO. i live in a capitalist society and i have to WORK. I HAVE DEADLINES 😭😭😭

[chasingfictions]

buffy the vampire slayer | 1x12 → 5x22

#btvsedit #my edit. #spuffygifs #slayerdaily #buffysource #usercande #usersez #userveronika #tuserjana #tvedit #buffysummeredit #it’s the way buffy is the one staring most intently at the master as though she can see what’s coming #it’s the way the other two staring at the master are jenny and angel who are the most steeped in doomedness #how the scoobies are looking at each other #how giles is just looking at buffy. and then he’s still looking at buffy again 4 years later #also thinking abt the transition from the school to the ruins of the tower #the controlled environment vs the revelation that society’s structures are flimsy and fabricated #and the school carries that specter too with its eventual explosion #SO MANY GHOSTS

[poppiesforthirteen]

i don't get people who don't like looms because "when two time lords love each other very much they send a formal application to the council to use a machine that is in their house" is so much funnier than a nuclear family

#it's also about the Themes #like if you loom a childe it skips all those developmental stages where it's 100% reliant on caretakers #tying into gallifreyan emotional neglect and children being forced to grow up too quickly #you can just Create More People there's absolutely no physicality required for it #time nobility is a society so deeply allergic to genuine attachment why would they allow for unpredictable biological processes #like pregnancy. why would they want all those hormones #population control - even less people to join their elite society. not to mention the eugenics #looms are a great meme but they're an even better plot device #i haven't read lungbarrow yet #looms #🥀

[athousandrabbitholes]

Our own everyday lives and actions seem to be increasingly beyond our own control, and not even the experts who appear to be the guardians of 'theoretical' controllability are capable of creating the impression of control through calculation. The expansion of our technological reach is not increasing our self-efficacy, but undermining it. We feel ourselves powerless or blameworthy in an unresponsive world.

Hartmut Rosa, The Uncontrollability of the World, 113

#Hartmut Rosa #The Uncontrollability of the World #Uncontrollability #Resonance #Social Theory #Societies of Control #Control Society

[chaoticcomposition]

been seeing more hobgoblins around and it made me really wanna design arjun, nepenthe's mentor and friend! the dumaran hobgoblins were given dark fur, pale eyes, and the ability to control the giant vermaloc wood spiders from lolth

edit: arjun's pronouns are he/him!

#dungeons and dragons #hobgoblin #barbarian #dnd #d&d #dnd oc art #drawerings #ocs #arjun gorvak #i guess she has some kind of obsession with changing the appearance of her followers #to better control them/ostracize them from society #exandria #dumaran

[bananonbinary]

somewhat kicking a bees nest here, but hear me out-

"homemade and handcrafted goods should cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars" is why attaching a monetary value to esoteric concepts like "time" and "skill" (and, you know, "a human being") is a bad system.

now, before the pitchforks come out, i am not bitching because i want a handcrafted quilt for $20. i do recognize that it would be unbelievably unfair to the quilter. but like...doesn't that sound obscene? that we live in a system where things that used to be pretty mundane are now only available to the upper class, or the creator just fucking dies? where in order for someone to make anything artistic, they need to be independently wealthy or ONLY cater to wealthy people?

again, i am not suggesting that artists should sell me their shit at a horrific loss. im not really suggesting any solution at all here, we're between a bit of a rock and a hard place. but it feels really inherently fucked up to me that the only options are "Artists taken advantage of" and "only rich people get art."

anyways, UBI huh

#like i see these arguments about rising videogame and movie and tv costs as well #and like. yes! i do think those artists deserve a living wage! #but also its grotesque that that means only rich people have access to art #a ubi wouldnt solve EVERYTHING but it sure would make literally everything easier you know? #i hate the idea of art as career #not because i dont think its important #but because i feel like its TOO important to attach to that fucking carrot/stick you know? #whoever controls the money can control the art and that's real stupid. even if it IS how its always been. #but taking it further than that. i guess i hate 'career' meaning 'reason you get to live' in the FIRST place #so i dont hate artists that make it their career. that's fine. #but i think a society that forces you to attach a dollar value to everything you care about in order to live is very sick

[tygerland]

4 April 1980: Ian Curtis on stage with Joy Division at the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, London. Photography: Peter Anderson.

#1980s #transmission #dark #rock #alternative #gothic #80s #music #singer #control #society #chaos #post punk #joy division #concert #punk #ian curtis #history #retro #new order #warsaw #peter hook #bernard sumner #peter anderson #stephen morris #culture #👽

[valc0]

Having SO MANY insistent thoughts on Tiefling tails and their social dynamics and uses...

#tieflings #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #like...the way a society like theirs must grow to be very open and blunt #even just because in my mind they have no control over the movements of their tails #so they express emotions ALL the time #like there is no space to be coy with your feelings #if your crush is in the same room you WILL wag your tail and if you wanna keep it hidden you better do something abt it #feral over these little guys #my fave fantasy race fr

[queerstudiesnatural]

i still can't believe dean slept with anna "cas mirror" milton titanic style the minute they met and she touched the handprint while they were going at it. what in the hays code

#why is the titanic thing important? well i'm glad you asked #when they first meet cas is rose. formal education yearning to break free etc. dean is jack offering a new perspective on life #then as time goes on they switch. cas becomes jack acting as (believing himself to be) a stepping stone in dean's story #sacrificing himself so dean can live free of the control of society (god) #dean becomes rose. suffocating and desperately trying to claw his way out of his own destiny #dean and cas are jack and rose. then rose and jack. so yeah it matters #rain posts