Link Log 22
2026-06-28
Article from Aeon on trauma creep. Yeah, people calling everything "trauma" these days sucks and is stupid. But those same kids who complain about their "trauma" and "anxiety" won't tell you that they've seen videos of people dying brutal deaths on Instagram Live. They won't tell you they've seen the footage, and when we get bombarded with it every single day, that's what's really adding up. Earlier this week, I saw a video of a Ukrainian soldier's entire bottom half get blown off by an $800 bomber drone. No, I'm fine, really.
Another article from Aeon on Zhuangzi's rejection of meritocracy. Reading through this reminded me a lot of Spinoza and Nietzsche's critiques of morality, and I've always agreed with them. Morality exists not because of a greater sense of virtue, but because it helps perpetuate existing social power dynamics. Out of that, of course, come things like laws and norms, and generally that stuff is fine. But where it gets dicey for me is when people think that following the law entitles them to certain things like rights or whatever else. Rights are, as Stirner would put it, a spook. They help people cope with the cruel realities of nature and humanity, but when we treat them as a pillar outside of a deeper sense of spiritual understanding, we end up inviting ourselves to be oppressed in some way. However, that doesn't mean I advocate for political dissidence or thievery; it makes me remember the writings of Stoics like Epictetus and Seneca: the worst prison we can build is one we build ourselves.
Freedom of Form: Transcendental Furryism. Back in 2024, someone donated $200k to make this happen. Furries, even for their strangeness and proclivity to attract socially maladjusted people, really do come from all walks of life. A strange and interesting fandom, truly.
Unmade on HKCR. Dreamy pop and shoegaze vibes, whatever that means. There's a really good cover of "Duvet" in this set, so there you go.
Article from WaPo last year on Thiel lecturing about the Antichrist. It's a stale meme at this point, but from reading the article, I found a very interesting quote: "'It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money,'' Thiel said, according to the recordings. 'An incredible machinery of tax treaties, financial surveillance and sanctions architecture has been constructed.' Wealth gives the 'illusion of power and autonomy,' Thiel added, according to the recordings, 'but you have this sense it could be taken away at any moment.'" Financial struggle is a universal thing at this point, regardless of your net worth, AUM, or whatever. It's funny how freedom seems to be the most elusive thing in the world, and how it's something that even the mega-rich struggle with. The Stoics had it right from the beginning: it's found inside ourselves. Pray for the billionaires, skids.
Demonstration of how easy it is to stop thinking. Here's a link to the full lecture if you're interested. My favorite piece of advice Ajahn gave was that when you're trying to meditate or be still, you can ask your mind, "What do you want to do?" instead of commanding it to do stuff like watch your breath. Harmony with the mind is important, especially because it can either be a prison or a nice Zen garden, and the choice is entirely up to us as to what it'll be.
do not resurrect x KEDALOS - Sarcophagus. IDLEGLANCE is a rather popular channel for finding underground music, and I remember discovering it a few years ago. After going through the intense process of getting over my YouTube addiction, I've come back to the channel to find some good music. Most YouTube videos aren't worth watching, but there are still a few channels I follow via RSS, particularly wow_mao, Mental Outlaw (Odysee), and Boiler Room. What's disappointing, though, is that much of the music promoted by IDLEGLANCE feels somewhat stale, and the sounds produced from the linked track seem stuck in the early 2020s—not just in hip hop, but in most commercially released music these days. Something something Mark Fisher and hauntology, blah blah blah. More than staleness, I just feel somewhat unfed, but I've sort of written about that already.
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