This brings to mind Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory and the neverending escalation of mimetic violence that destroys communities and will end up consuming our world if we're not careful. This is why non-violent action is so powerful and the only way out of the cycle. Non-violent action transcends violence because it points to qualitative goods that are beyond the ownership of any person. These are goods which are owned by Being itself. The commons must be re-oriented vertically, not toward those who have the most physical goods, but towards higher principles that can only be felt and encountered in the embodied Being that lives in each one of us. No one can take that away from anyone else. This sense of transcendent Being gives true power to those who seek a non-violent path, even if this means we end up crucified in the end for the crime of pointing to the truth of all things.
Spot on, and beautifully expressed. I’ve thought of Gerard’s work a few times since the shooting, I’d love to see a deep dive through that frame, definitely feels relevant.
That's very beautifully expressed charity. It's all true, in the same way that what Luigi and other revolutionaries have done, was trully necessary. Non violence & Ahimsa serve a purpose just as boundaries, reclamations and actions serve a purpose. Even Jesus Christ had a violent demonstration by flipping the tables of the merchants at his temple. This is exactly what Luigi is doing: flipping the tables of the invasive n abusive olygarchy. Amen
I have no inclination to subscribe to any religious ideology, though if my understanding of what the term Christ Consciousness might refer to, your comment further clarifies ‘This sense of transcendent Being’.
I'm with you on that one, T. L., I'm not one to subscribe to religious ideology either but I'm also not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is something very profound about the Christ story that resonates throughout the ages and still resonates throughout our culture, at least here in the West. I think Christ consciousness can indeed be a synonym for the transcendent Being that I'm referring to. In my experience, these terms, along with Girard's work, can help open up the Passion narrative for us seculars in a way that may have been inaccessible to us before.
That was a tour de force, Alexander. Best article I've read all year. Other people got trapped in the murder vs justice bind but you jumped to the meta level and accurately analysed the forces at play. So lucid. BTW, did you see that mother (another denied claim) got thrown in jail for saying her health insurer will be next. Slammed with $100k bond. The power structures protect the guilty elites.
Hey Alex, I’ve been following you since the RW days and just wanted to say I think this piece is a real testament to your arc since ~2016. You’ve clearly put in a lot of hard work and it’s really paying off in useful, shareable, genuine insights. To me that’s the mark of a true thinker. The world needs your voice man - more than ever. Hope you’ll keep it up and keep connected to whatever stokes your fire ;)
Yes if Citizens United codifies “corporate personhood”, the assassination seems like a kind of horrific blowback for the mayhem that concept has wrought on our society.
Thank you Ali for this delicately nuanced piece. Many of us have likely been grappling with the internal contradictions of our reaction to this latest “breach” as you so eloquently describe it. I found your framing of an embodied, qualitative, existential response versus the abstract, quantitative, machine exchange quite useful in reconciling my own cognitive dilemma 🙏🏼
It certainly feels like we are crossing a revolutionary rubicon, doesn't it? Many of us are quite ready to throw a 12 Monkeys Wrench into the gears of this increasingly Odious Machine. Your piece is a sublime call to action. Time to pull our heads (and personal data) out of The Cloud and re-embody with our feet on the Sacred Earth 🌎
what a great piece! thank you Ali for sharing your wisdom with us. Looking forward to more opportunities to connect and make sense of all of this as a community. Sending love from Moldova
Just one word: brilliant. I will try to upgrade to paid. I have, at least, ordered your book! As someone said, there are so many good writers on Substack, it would be handy if they all joined together to form their own online newspaper.
This is an excellent piece. We are seeing this same "quantitative/qualitative" structure happening in psychotherapy. "Measurement-based care." Same slippery path. Great nourishment. Thank you.
This was the best piece of thinking / writing since the assassination of Thompson. I'll be rereading this two or three times. Very impressive and thought-provoking. You're really on to something.
"The assassination is a koan that brings to light the paradox at the heart of civilisation: what’s real is our experience of being alive, not how we can be quantified, but we pretend the opposite is true. This truth also holds the seeds of a new kind of revolution."
This brings to mind Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory and the neverending escalation of mimetic violence that destroys communities and will end up consuming our world if we're not careful. This is why non-violent action is so powerful and the only way out of the cycle. Non-violent action transcends violence because it points to qualitative goods that are beyond the ownership of any person. These are goods which are owned by Being itself. The commons must be re-oriented vertically, not toward those who have the most physical goods, but towards higher principles that can only be felt and encountered in the embodied Being that lives in each one of us. No one can take that away from anyone else. This sense of transcendent Being gives true power to those who seek a non-violent path, even if this means we end up crucified in the end for the crime of pointing to the truth of all things.
Spot on, and beautifully expressed. I’ve thought of Gerard’s work a few times since the shooting, I’d love to see a deep dive through that frame, definitely feels relevant.
That's very beautifully expressed charity. It's all true, in the same way that what Luigi and other revolutionaries have done, was trully necessary. Non violence & Ahimsa serve a purpose just as boundaries, reclamations and actions serve a purpose. Even Jesus Christ had a violent demonstration by flipping the tables of the merchants at his temple. This is exactly what Luigi is doing: flipping the tables of the invasive n abusive olygarchy. Amen
Thank you for your considerate response. I look forward to exploring Girad’s work.
I have no inclination to subscribe to any religious ideology, though if my understanding of what the term Christ Consciousness might refer to, your comment further clarifies ‘This sense of transcendent Being’.
I'm with you on that one, T. L., I'm not one to subscribe to religious ideology either but I'm also not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is something very profound about the Christ story that resonates throughout the ages and still resonates throughout our culture, at least here in the West. I think Christ consciousness can indeed be a synonym for the transcendent Being that I'm referring to. In my experience, these terms, along with Girard's work, can help open up the Passion narrative for us seculars in a way that may have been inaccessible to us before.
That was a tour de force, Alexander. Best article I've read all year. Other people got trapped in the murder vs justice bind but you jumped to the meta level and accurately analysed the forces at play. So lucid. BTW, did you see that mother (another denied claim) got thrown in jail for saying her health insurer will be next. Slammed with $100k bond. The power structures protect the guilty elites.
Hey Alex, I’ve been following you since the RW days and just wanted to say I think this piece is a real testament to your arc since ~2016. You’ve clearly put in a lot of hard work and it’s really paying off in useful, shareable, genuine insights. To me that’s the mark of a true thinker. The world needs your voice man - more than ever. Hope you’ll keep it up and keep connected to whatever stokes your fire ;)
Thank you so much Sam - comments like this fill me with energy and keep me inspired, I really appreciate it.
Yes if Citizens United codifies “corporate personhood”, the assassination seems like a kind of horrific blowback for the mayhem that concept has wrought on our society.
That first paragraph sums us up: enraged at not being treated fairly, not the cage.
Damn, I hadn’t even considered that subtext fully - spot on
Love this analysis! The ghost does live in the machine after all.
Thanks! And great metaphor, I should have used that :D
Thank you for this !
Thanks for reading :)
Thank you Ali for this delicately nuanced piece. Many of us have likely been grappling with the internal contradictions of our reaction to this latest “breach” as you so eloquently describe it. I found your framing of an embodied, qualitative, existential response versus the abstract, quantitative, machine exchange quite useful in reconciling my own cognitive dilemma 🙏🏼
It certainly feels like we are crossing a revolutionary rubicon, doesn't it? Many of us are quite ready to throw a 12 Monkeys Wrench into the gears of this increasingly Odious Machine. Your piece is a sublime call to action. Time to pull our heads (and personal data) out of The Cloud and re-embody with our feet on the Sacred Earth 🌎
what a great piece! thank you Ali for sharing your wisdom with us. Looking forward to more opportunities to connect and make sense of all of this as a community. Sending love from Moldova
Thanks Nico :)
Just one word: brilliant. I will try to upgrade to paid. I have, at least, ordered your book! As someone said, there are so many good writers on Substack, it would be handy if they all joined together to form their own online newspaper.
This is an excellent piece. We are seeing this same "quantitative/qualitative" structure happening in psychotherapy. "Measurement-based care." Same slippery path. Great nourishment. Thank you.
This was the best piece of thinking / writing since the assassination of Thompson. I'll be rereading this two or three times. Very impressive and thought-provoking. You're really on to something.
The Roman Colosseum is alive and well....CEO got a thumbs down....collective is feeling a bit better now...see how that works.
Excellent writing! The synthesis of ideas here is pretty astounding. Please write another book ;)
Thanks! I’m working on a new book at the moment :)
I wish there were more articles like this around Luigi. This is so spectacularly done and so early on, thank you for writing it!
Thanks!
"The assassination is a koan that brings to light the paradox at the heart of civilisation: what’s real is our experience of being alive, not how we can be quantified, but we pretend the opposite is true. This truth also holds the seeds of a new kind of revolution."
Fantastic piece. Thank you brother!