An interesting piece sent from Loyal Reader Bill V arrived in my email. For the first time, it gives a name for the two groups facing off against each other all over the world — the Physicals and the Virtuals. Read it, it’s all good, but this is especially noteworthy:
The thinking classes are fatally removed from the physical side of life… Their only relation to productive labor is that of consumers. They have no experience of making anything substantial or enduring. They live in a world of abstractions and images, a simulated world that consists of computerized models of reality – “hyperreality,” as it’s been called – as distinguished from the palatable, immediate, physical reality inhabited by ordinary men and women. Their belief in “social construction of reality” – the central dogma of postmodernist thought – reflects the experience of living in an artificial environment from which everything that resists human control (unavoidably, everything familiar and reassuring as well) has been rigorously excluded. Control has become their obsession. In their drive to insulate themselves against risk and contingency – against the unpredictable hazards that afflict human life – the thinking classes have seceded not just from the common world around them but from reality itself.
Hence their hatred of the working classes — the “Physicals”. (By the way, you may recall the predicament of Manhattanites about a decade or so ago, when told they needed to seal off their apartment windows with duct tape against aerial contamination — and learning that these twinks not only didn’t know what duct tape was, they had no idea where to buy it. It was funny back then; it’s a fact of life for them now.)
We are heading for interesting times.
‘Not living in the real world’ has been a complaint for a long while. It’s good to see it well-articulated.
He mentions the Canada protests; I’m reminded of the way the French used to do it: with muckspreaders. Yes, they used to spray shit all over.
Part of me, the evil “serves you right asshole” part is looking forward to the howls of the wealthy 4th+ floor apartment dwellers in the cities if they ever lose power and water for a couple weeks, let alone a food supply.
Suddenly that 20th floor place with the awesome view and awesome access to the local deli will be an airless, waterless, cold, or hot, depending on the season, “walkup”; rather like the cliff dwellings of Chaco canyon, soon abandoned along with all the accumulated hyperreal possessions it contains.
This has to do with pampered people who have more money than brains. Like people who ask bears to “please stop wrecking my kayak” . Remember that one?
The clues have been accumulating for a long time, a dated example was when people started paying other people to “farm” their on-line farm for them.
Then there’s this fascination with Cryptocurrency, which depends on infrastructure and at least one country that doesn’t slam the door on trading in it. Which will be a bitch if they don’t happen to live in that country when the new nobility decide it’s time to block that end run around their control of your wealth.
Where is Skippy going to exchange those bitcoins for tangible items used in exchange for tangible items? The guy with the 3 pounds of potatoes Skippy wants to buy, and doesn’t know how to cook, isn’t going to take bitcoins .
Where is Skippy going to exchange those bitcoins for something after the government tells service providers they can’t use that means of exchange, by law. Canada just proved they can, and will, do something like that.
Not convinced there’s a lot of morons out there? How about the latest fad of paying hard cash (or craptocoin!) for virtual things like clothes and cute little animated nodding doggy characters you can see on your cell phone. Useful as pet rocks.
I suspect folks who read here ain’t screwed, but there’s a whole lot of people in a multi-couple of coastal cities that are in for a smack in the face with the shovel of reality if things continue this slide towards becoming Shitholeistan as Biden staggers around trying to snatch the “worst President ever” baton from Barack Obama.
80 million+ people voted for Joe* and never gave a thought to just exactly what those votes meant. Now here we are. Europe is about to break out in a hot war, and those things have a way of spreading like a California brushfire really quick. We have a government to our north that would make South American dictators proud. We have Putin moving like he has nothing to fear, because he hasn’t!
Limited sanctions? To accomplish what, exactly? In a free world, where the leaders of the top-dog nation would make decisions that actually would cause other nations tremble. The sanctions we impose now would be harsh, and border on evil in their scope and intent. Russia would have no pipelines operating. Any freight headed for Russian ports would be turned around, as would any Russian exports. Nothing in, nothing out. No burning, sinking wreckage, just a firm “No, go back where you came from” order. The Ruble should have no value outside an outhouse.
Make the “sanctions” harsh and painful, and let the Russian people and military deal with Mister Putin and his aspirations.
I am reminded of a biz colleague, who abandoned his Ph.D. when he was “all but dissertation”. Over drinks, he confided in me that he had the epiphany that if he completed his journey to the dark side, he would spend the rest of his career being judged on his ability to manipulate a set of abstract symbols that had entirely lost their anchor in reality according to a set of rules that were entirely divorced from reality, and therefore, could not be made to produce anything tangible or useful in actual reality.
He preferred to make real things, like software and films, and went on to live many adventures piling up wealth doing exactly just that.
It’s a similar breakdown to the somewhere and anywhere distinction that was nade a couple of years back. Basically the character of a country is made by the history of the somewhere class. The anywheres are the laptop parasite class which in recent years seems to have taken over like cuckoos. Problem is the somewheres are waking up. Next few years could be interesting.
During engineering school I had many professors who were brilliant in their field but unfortunately were the type who needed to be told to come in out of the rain and required someone else to tie their shoes. I think that’s why one ivy clad professor wore loafers.
JQ
After reading the underlying article, I think that the whole “physicals vs virtuals” (Which reads like warmed over Morlocks vs Eloi, btw) thing misses the mark a bit. It’s not, wrong, and it does describe one axis of the thing, but it strikes me as incomplete.
If you boil the thing down to bedrock, the issue becomes:
Who has the highest claim upon your very body, such that he can insist upon modifying it against your will?
Elites, of course, have always felt it their prerogative to “guide” the great unwashed, direct their activities, and milk them for what they can get away with. Not only do they not like their claim over your body being challenged, but that would lead to *gasp* challenging their claims to your mind, and the fruits of your labors.
We can’t be having any of that, now, can we?
Mooo.
Heinlein was on to something when he wrote, in Starship Troopers, of a society which *required* volunteer military service to earn the right to vote. Basic and service are a LONG way from laptop class, or as someone else described them ‘bubbleonians’.
Nevil Shute posited something entirely different in his novel, In The Wet, written circa 1950. In his future society in Australia (almost wrote ‘utopia’!) you could earn multiple votes, based on extra capacities or status earned or undertaken, which are considered useful to society. Everyone got a basic vote, education (degree level) earned another. An officer level commission also earned the education vote. Earning your living outside the country for 2 years earned another vote. The family vote was for raising a child to 14 without getting divorced. The achievement vote was for earning a certain amount of income in a year. And a minister of a Christian church earned another vote.
The idea posited was that this would result in a better class of politician, as the more stable discriminating members of society would choose better leaders. [Restrains smile and urge to laugh. Turns towards camera] You might think that, but I could not possibly comment.
Seems to me that the bubbleonians would likely get some number of votes on this basis, with the achievement vote in particular coming from their receipt of a salary paid for directly or indirectly by the government.
Regarding service, it seems to me that society as a whole would be better off sending 12 year olds to a boot style camp for a couple of years. Think middle school VMIb. Ex-service members doing the teaching (and having the same sort of authority as a DI/DS ) would soon ensure that the graduates would *not* be illiterate and innumerate upon graduation.
Regarding voting, I would restrict voting to those who have a net positive economic relationship with the government. That means, to me, that anyone who receives a govt salary does not get to vote due to conflict of interest. Also the welfare recipient. I would except military service members, but not police officers.
And term limits to reduce the influence of incumbancy, coupled with *long* and draconian restrictions on the revolving door directorships for ex-congresscritters (and flag officers).
Change my mind.
I went to a boot-camp high school. Catholic of course, staffed by the scrapings of the prisons of Dublin. I would not wish it on anyone. If you want to make a dog savage, you beat it every day.
I think that what you mean is discipline, not the gimp mask and handcuffs type I hope. Discipline is what happens when there are consequences, and in today’s we’re all special world there are no consequences.
“Who has the highest claim upon your very body, such that he can insist upon modifying it against your will?”
On a few occasions I have completely mind-shocked (or worse) a lefty (and recently a Karen) by asking them, ‘So who do you think owns your body’.
Some hilarity ensued.