let's see what the futures hold,,,,pic.twitter.com/1Clu5Q050S

both climate change & automation are knocking on our door, haunting the crises that await uspic.twitter.com/0hdjd6paCa

this isn't terrifyingpic.twitter.com/U4c6cxqmIK

fuck to capitalismpic.twitter.com/WGx5Pdavm0

shorter work week >>>>>>>>>>>pic.twitter.com/s13hpQNZWp

some "children of men" shitpic.twitter.com/nny0x03ciK

class struggle he'll yeahpic.twitter.com/hOIFbg4lAR

frase proposes in order to deal with the automation & climate change crises will require a vastly different economic systempic.twitter.com/QDfZtYj1Vd

socialism or barbarismpic.twitter.com/r58yUaIRqo

frase will sketch four possible futures; two socialisms & two barbarismspic.twitter.com/TfX1aVwI10

frase begins w two assumptions:

1. capitalism is going to end, &

2. our future will be a result of political strugglepic.twitter.com/TyXfTWoSlE

the four possible futures frase will describe are:
communism, rentism, socialism, & exterminismpic.twitter.com/PkvZHnS3q8

predictions can encourage passivity;
assessing possibilities encourages collective action aka DREAM BIG folkspic.twitter.com/vlGndayEzw

this highlights a fundamental problem in incrementalism in that it limits what actually could happen from the get

at beginning of communism ch, frase discusses vonnegut's first novel, player piano, & what could possibly mean to live in full automationpic.twitter.com/ceqhdzZJyF

frase points out that marx wouldn't spell out precisely how communism would look,,pic.twitter.com/W25Y5muEFO

"freedom begins where work ends" he'll yeahpic.twitter.com/dQhI5XEMvy

frase again mentions that the labor movement used to demand shorter hours & the idea of ridding wage labor was once a project of the leftpic.twitter.com/liLK5vnQvg

let's talk about work, babeypic.twitter.com/1bcIADOxKp

what we talk about when we talk about workpic.twitter.com/y9Q7RVK8Ff

he takes on the idea that unemployed are > unhappy & finds a study that shows when the unemployed become retired their happiness increasespic.twitter.com/5y00YEswlr

his argument, then, isnt that employment brings us > meaning or joy in & of itself, but rather we as society treat unemployed w little worth

as someone who has a decent amt of experience w unemployment, i concur not working is enjoyable but having to tell ppl im unemployed isn't

also, id argue lack of wage & stress that accompanies being poor also increases the unhappiness but that id be fine w/o working in general

what's your take? your experience?

[v never-seen-the-show voice] huh. i'd no idea star trek has more or less communist society

those of u who watch: did u ever pick his up?pic.twitter.com/y6oxUh0ze9

lmaopic.twitter.com/I93KrXXt5g

also, in response to unemployment @backwards_dance chimes in w good input, as usual, considering effects of long term unemploymentpic.twitter.com/acRCKuNwsb

though frase, like marx, won't spell out specifics of how we get to communism, he warns it may not be as revolutionary as some thinkpic.twitter.com/tvrnRou4tZ

frase makes the case that the main goal & priority is to decommodify labor, & steps to achieve this can be acquired through welfare statepic.twitter.com/FCe3JAVjno

to reiterate, folks,, ~decommodification of labor~pic.twitter.com/0iYHwIhCWI

gorz, a french socialist who praises non-reformist reforms, is a proponent of "universal basic income" as reform that can lead to socialismpic.twitter.com/hFIIsN3MPp

frase explains how universal basic income (ubi) can transition capitalist societies to full communismpic.twitter.com/RJLow0jfei

communism wont eliminate all conflicts/problems; as @CoreyRobin puts it, it's a way to "convert hysterical misery into ordinary unhappiness"pic.twitter.com/VBcM6vdwHu

not all heirarchies can be reduced to capitalpic.twitter.com/25ppfST5aM

in order to conceptualize full communism, frase looks to a fictional portrayal where money is gone but life is organized around "whuffies"pic.twitter.com/OCiS8vCCV2

"whuffies" are explained as similar to social media validation based on likes or rts; frase argues reputation & esteem will always be scarce

any conflict is resolved by who has the highest social status acquired by whoofies, instead of moneypic.twitter.com/3Gk50IXt40

1. yes, it sounds fairly terrifying tbh, &

2. "racism & sexism don't disappear when capitalism does" hillary was right! lolpic.twitter.com/eHgw6Wrpsi

another example: the wikipedia projectpic.twitter.com/vEfVWl19rt

frase discusses bitcoin & more interestingly, dogecoin

did any of you use dogecoin?pic.twitter.com/JodTOzWd6E

the complexity of utopia <<<<<<<<<<<pic.twitter.com/Dbd4zTJlUX

to sum up the possible communist future:
it's not perfect & it's not egalitarian but we're not slaves to money & "work"pic.twitter.com/V2HxWuSt1g

get ready,,pic.twitter.com/hzqRcsaxcE

"those who control the most copyrights and patents become the new ruling class"pic.twitter.com/CK3QsgTrUD

rentism is different from capitalism bc the rentiers don't produce anything & receive a passive income simply by "owning" (stocks, land, IP)pic.twitter.com/Ys155OWkmv

private property & rentism is not necessarily a given in a capitalist state; however, the complete privatization of land is normalized nowpic.twitter.com/Sx6EGxZwDW

intellectual property is v diff fm private property in that u don't own physical object but rather a pattern, an idea that can be replicatedpic.twitter.com/2bVycCNktc

examples of intellectual property:
genetically modified seeds, apple iphone software, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, brands, etcpic.twitter.com/6hGzKiGBjS

intellectual property industries already make up a decent chunk of the economypic.twitter.com/83mwdf1b1t

the penalties for "copying" IP seem steeppic.twitter.com/ZexCEeitGd

great example of rentism automationpic.twitter.com/PdeyQ36MPe

star trek in a rentist societypic.twitter.com/cJUGTmZ54u

frase identifies four potential career fields in rentist society:
creators, lawyers, marketers, & guards, all of which could be automatedpic.twitter.com/EZyJ0n91rM

the problem of demandpic.twitter.com/zqGlCQWGjU

hey u kids wanna try some socialism pic.twitter.com/uFLQAPphBD

capitalism and scarcitypic.twitter.com/jl8YP3NLWp

frase thinks full on human extinction fm climate change is unlikely & the q becomes how to organize our society for those that do survivepic.twitter.com/0fOOIZkKHM

frase's concern is that the result is a more or less egalitarian society, vs a small ruling class & everyone else (think children of men)pic.twitter.com/VTbTYpOLdr

do not succumb to nihilismpic.twitter.com/rbkJZBsZv4

think positive pic.twitter.com/AEXpC3WjW6

meager emotional satisfaction is the name of my memoirpic.twitter.com/MUQNNCi5zB

frase goes on to explain that we'll hv to rethink our relationship w nature & suggests we determine how to cohabitate mutually beneficiallypic.twitter.com/gTTrzR8Elu

love the monster we've madepic.twitter.com/aHxV4ZIDrz

plenty to do in a resource-challenged socialist worldpic.twitter.com/N9ipsjJVMA

markets, markets, markets !pic.twitter.com/RWgHqzpmgw

consumption is limited by the market, a technology, in an ecologically limited world where distribution of means of payment is equalizedpic.twitter.com/KB7fW20qaa

that's a mouthful folx. it's also a possible future

socialize uber pic.twitter.com/nHfd8OxckA

the socialist future contains multitudespic.twitter.com/G1nStWG4ui

the final chapter, i've a bad feeling about this pic.twitter.com/jLxPw12qNX

exterminism is when scarcity meets heirarchy; there is abundance but only for a small elitepic.twitter.com/oXxMEcHetC

frase also points out that the communistic world described in ch one already exists for the very richpic.twitter.com/e0pEFzoMvx

something much darkerpic.twitter.com/5kH4TUatFR

w capitalism, the masses are needed to work;
w automation, the need for the worker disappears
which poses a grave threat to the massespic.twitter.com/w3pb7otopZ

welp, here we go,pic.twitter.com/tUYOUZlB1v

"a world where the poor are merely a danger and an inconvenience"

when the masses aren't needed to work, what's their utilitypic.twitter.com/0PkooZQLiR

for now ,pic.twitter.com/oPHLfPq9sy

"an inverted global gulag" holy shitpic.twitter.com/ZDnf033o5y

lolpic.twitter.com/XHLvyNR3hU

normal world we've got herepic.twitter.com/4qCPL3tM10

im no expert but this doesn't sound good,,pic.twitter.com/ejrvZISG8R

[sweating] this is finepic.twitter.com/Cuw2jjEyVz

while this may seem far off, frase points to the genocide happening to the palestinian people as we speakpic.twitter.com/AzctzFya3K

tfw u realize america's current trajectory most likely leads to exterminism, of the four futurespic.twitter.com/sKnLoWsLu7

america is already great pic.twitter.com/weV4D3U1B5

frase finishes the book citing more examples of how the us is approaching exterminism: mass incarceration, police brutality, militarization

can't imagine how using algorithms for prison sentencing (or identifying drone targets) can go wrongpic.twitter.com/WN2Rgo4FgT

silencing protests bodes well for exterminismpic.twitter.com/DgqaXwadHm

that's it, folkx

i may post about the conclusion later today or tmr