Notices by JA Westenberg (daojoan@mastodon.social)

Never in the history of human conflict has so much idiocy been broadcast to so many by so few.

The biggest dating red flag is when his website ends in .substack.com

Cynicism is what happens when belief becomes too dangerous to afford and too expensive to maintain.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/cynicism-is-the-default-epistemology-of-people-with-too-much-information-and-too-little-power/

Conservative economics has a temporal bias: immediate costs are ‘real’ while long-term benefits are ‘speculative.’ Hence infrastructure and education are ‘expenses’ rather than investments. It’s temporal discounting elevated to political philosophy.

Blessed are the indicted, for they shall lead the GOP.

I don’t trust people who only want to talk about unity, kindness, and love—because the people most obsessed with harmony are usually the ones least willing to name the harm.

The international immune system is activating. Democracy, flawed and fragile, is developing antibodies against a very specific kind of viral politics. The backlash is electoral, cultural, and institutional. And it is spreading.

https://www.theindex.media/rebuke/

America doubled down on Trump. Australia and Canada took one look at right-wing populism and said 'Yeah nah, we're good.'

Not coincidental that both America's Gilded Ages birthed booming industries of 'manifest your own success' hucksters. When inequality becomes obscene, selling the fantasy that thoughts create reality becomes extremely profitable. Robber barons and mindset coaches: a symbiotic relationship since 1895.

I will never understand the fear of “overreacting” to Nazism. You’re worried about being too alert to genocidal ideology? That’s like worrying the fire alarm is being rude to the flames.

People who say "I just speak my mind" rarely consider that their mind might benefit from an editor.

There’s an entire economy based on you never choosing anything.

Keep browsing. Keep scrolling. Keep adding to your cart.

Keep thinking happiness is just one more option away.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/drowning-in-options-starving-for-purpose/

Pierre Poilievre promised to “take Canada back.” Canadians said: “From what? Universal healthcare and not being Florida?”

Every Republican “family values” bill has the same goal: make sure you can’t afford one, can’t feed one, and can’t refuse to have one.

Tech isn't politically neutral and never has been. The question isn't whether your product has politics, it’s whether you're conscious of what they are.

Here’s my problem with Apple News. If I’ve blocked a channel (tabloids in this instance) why am I seeing headlines from that channel?

When the midterms come, understand this:

The GOP no longer sees losing as legitimate.

If they lose, they'll claim fraud.

If they win, they'll claim mandate.

But there’s no version where they quietly accept defeat.
https://www.theindex.media/the-midterms-are-coming-the-gop-is-going-to-cheat/

The "move fast and break things" era is over. "Move thoughtfully and fix things" is up.

If you want to know who has privilege, look for the people who are allowed to be catastrophically wrong in public without losing status.

There is no culture war. There is a resource war disguised as a vibe war to keep the internet busy while the extractive class finishes loading the truck.