(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Anti-Capitalist Meetup: Human Machine Community [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-02 Humans have long traditions of acting separate from, superior to, and in control of nature. Economically, we have taken from nature and valued derivative products incorporating human labor. Nature has value only as far as it is used by humans, and then it is at discounted rates compared to the energy, materials and time it takes to evolve and maintain these irreproducible natural systems. Human products are given value, with value increasing as more advanced and derivative human products are produced. Farming has value, but not as much as end food products, farm machinery, or the economic and legal institutions defining distrubution of food. Similarly, raising and educating children is undervalued compared to producing technology. With higher valuation we get demand to adopt new technology or else. Human society and products are seen as separate from and superior to our earthly biological systems. Problems arise in several areas. For one, nature is degraded for technological gain. On the other side, people engaging in traditional practices developed for local conditions become less valuable than those advancing standardized technological solutions. Our machines become more valued than the natural resources sustaining us. If we don't take care for those resources, then we lose our place in those communities without finding a place in our technological communities. People try to separate ourselves from nature while trying to retain a sense of superiority over machines that out-produce us. In my previous ACM diary, I highlighted documentaries on collective failures under Stalin in the Soviet Union and Mao in the People's Republic of China. One possible interpretation is that these collective nightmares were 20th century human responses to machines being valued more than natural products while also .producing more than humans. Masses of people joined together in attempts to match mechanized industrialization with collective human power. While capitalist countries were advancing mechanization for society and poverty for manual labor, communist nations championed labor and collective action that could not compete with machines and decimated individual autonomy. We still push innovation and competition so much that folks regularly threaten murder suicide on our highways over seconds of time. Competition between human labor and mechanization was exacerbated by powering machines with nature degrading fossil fuels. Industrialists burned fuel to generate power that cannot be matched by humans and livestock. In short, human superiority is challenged by machines powered by environment degrading power. We are losing our place in natural communities without a sustainable sense of our places in mechanized communities. In reality, modern humans need both nature and technology. We are entirely dependent on the earth and it's biological systems to live, while machines and technology are necessary for civilization. We cannot live without our biological communities, and machines are integral to many aspects of civilized life. A challenge for humanity is to find sustainable places for ourselves within nature while continuing to evolve as a technological civilization that supports each of its members. We need machines, but advanced civilization can only last when technology is deployed in harmony with natural systems, not in domination. We have our impactful place, but aren't the overlords of evolving systems. Hey all, over the last few weeks, I've been working on houses, bicycling with Busta, and taking daughter and friends on a birthday camping and float trip. I've had practically no internet access for the last two weeks. T Mobile service has been extremely disappointing. I could not check weather radar in the midst of rainy days in the bicycle. We are surviving our current technological state. I hope this essay came out OK under the circumstances. Please discuss it more, and I can expand on this in future installments I need technology and support to travel dozens of miles a day with me and Busta. Wheels themselves are tech. Love my bicycle. There are many ebike, scooter, and other options available these days outside of vehicles. And we deserve to be just as safe on commuter routes as anybody. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/2/2244263/-Anti-Capitalist-Meetup-Human-Machine-Community?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/