In early February of 2018, Alex Jones released a shit flavored Kinder egg with a nugget of gold inside. The concern he voiced remain hidden inside a container of his ideology, and so for the vast public, the value found within his message was overshadowed out by his usual stage performance (ranting and raving).
I neither support nor condone ideological media content, I merely want to take what is valuable and discard the rest. I will make no positive comments on his statments on the last decade of school shootings. Sharing this content and extrapolating on Jones’ point doesn't mean I agree with his ideology. It is not needed for me to say that I value LGBT+ rights. I also object to feeling like I need to say that lest I face retribution.
A link to the Right Wing Watch's report of the content. I sourced it outside of Alex Jones' channel to not get sent to the Gulags
I will get the ideological wrapping out of the way. Allegedly supporting American individual liberties while also rejecting bodily autonomy is cognitive dissonance. These conflicting beliefs are explained inside the larger tapestry of entertaining conspiracies and fundamentalist Judeo-Christian ideology Alex believes in. Nor will this be a discussion about the biological differences between men and women. I need not enter these subjects. The Culture War isn't conducive to civil discussion nor intelligent debate (On either side). I will say "Fuck the Culture War" and so on and so forth.
The spirit of his comments on Transhumanism is entirely on point.
Magicians never reveal their tricks, thankfully I am not a magician.
I will now discuss the possible destructive paths of transhumanist politics.
When discussing this subject, I will use the following political map to help make statements on the politics of Transhumanism. I will not attempt to address the authenticity and moral status of a Transhumanist's politics, but rather discuss the variables that influence their Politic. My purpose is not to demonize anyone, but rather to key my readers into what I see leading to Bad Actors within my ideological tribe.
The false dichotomy of our political system has grown distinctions inside its ranks. The new spectrum is liberty and authority. Within the Authoritarian framework this may lead to the establishment of unequal rights between transhumanists and humans. This would be the foundation for an exploitative dominance hierarchy that may be too effective to be overthrown. If our current distribution of wealth was led by immortal entities sworn to their own code of identity warfare then our world would lead to at worst tyrannical oppression, at worst utter extinction the humanity.
Transhumanists have compatibility with leftist movements for a handful of reasons. The most striking is the desire to create a Utopian order that will remake humanity as we know it and end sources of human suffering. Both Communism and Transhumanism seek to end class exploitation, although I would criticize their authoritarian ends of then engaging in a new paradigm of exploitation. This new exploitation would base on adherence to the new established utopian order and so would be based around the power fundamentals of the ideology in question.
This leads us to a famous criticism levied at Transhumanism by Francis Fukuyama's 2004 Foreign Policy report. It was labeled the "world's most dangerous ideas" that will need to be address in the future. The following is my interpretation of political scientist Fukuyama main argument against transhumanism:
Rights granted to us inside the foundation of Western society presumes that there is a fundamental human essence that goes past identity elements of sex, class, or race. All members of the human species are afforded equality. In a way, the post-human state that transhumanists advocate for a paradigm shift in our conception of equality by altering the fundamental human essence (cf. Bostrom 2012 112-113).
Insuring equity for all individuals is a necessary war that we should fight in our political and personal lives, but also we should be sober against resentment. This toxin will develop new dominance hierarchies built on as equally immoral criteria. The stereotype of Transhumanists is criticized by identitarian communities as Cis-Gender-White-Male-Capitalist. These perceptions are fueled by tribalism and may result in poor relationships developed between identitarian communities and the transhumanist movement.
Transhumanists ride on the coat tails of current progressive movements. They are working with the LGBTQ communities to increase bodily autonomy rights and to liberate ourselves from social control. Transhumanists will be seeking their own form of identity catharsis once technology and societal values have advanced sufficiently.
Everyone wishes to belong inside the communities they find themselves within. These factors lead to a pressure on Transhumanists inside these communities to identify in ways that are both strategically advantageous and being an effective member of their community. I consider transhumanists who engage in identity politics as a threat to the minority communities they claim to protect and to society. This is a system that will naturally result in /some/ transhumanists transitioning into bad actors . These are transhumanists who are violently exiled from their desired community. I have limited trust for transhumanists that bend themselves to the authority of racial collectives, regardless of political alignment.
I can directly speak of my personal experiences, but I am equivalently concerned of transhumanists that are inside the Alt-Right movement. In the Twin Cities, I have heard of underground neo-nazis, and I have heard a whisper of what influence they have in our communities. Nazism is itself a perverse and nihilistic form of transhumanist philosophy. Regardless of the political alignment, Authoritarianism and identitarianism are the key driving forces in the human death drive. Both radical ends of polarization will naturally produce bad actors that will damage the systems they operate inside and lead to further social destabilization.
Consider the archetype of the school shooter. It is a fact that young men who felt threatened routinely in youth tend to show chronic anxiety and aggression. Dependent on the severity of the initial incidents, these individuals will lash out to their environments as if their life was being threatened. These individuals experience a link between anxieties based in social power dynamics and fear of death itself. Essentially castration anxiety leads to fear of death, and by extention, a feeling of loss of control in the victim’s life.
(Sarnoff, I., & Corwin S.M., (1959) Castration anxiety and the fear of death. Journal of Personality,).
It is unsurprising that victims of social and physical domination will lash out at those they perceive as threatening. These reactions are that of a tormented soul hating existence itself. Their internal and external realities are just a wooden cage to be burned down, with them inside.
let us consider the disturbing prose of the journals released after the Columbine Shooting:
Ignorance is bliss
happiness is ambition
desolation is knowledge
pain is acceptance
despair is anger
denial is helpless
martyrism is hope for others
advantages taken are causes of martyrism
revenge is sorrow
death is a reprieve
life is a punishment
others' achievements are tormentations
people are alike
i am different - Dylan
me is a god, a god of sadness
exiled to this eternal hell
the people i helped, abandon me
i am denied what i want,
to love & to be happy
being made a human
without the possibility of BEING human
the cruelest of all punishments
to some i am crazy
it is so clear, yet so foggy
everything's connected, seperated
I am the only interpreter of this
Id rather have nothing than be nothing
some say godliness isn't nothing
humanity is the something i long for
I just want something I can never have.
The story of my existence -Dylan
These people /will/ be bitter and resentful for having been submitted to the bottom of dominance hierarchies. Their hate will be justified with righteous anger towards their experience of universal suffering. They will hate existence as much as they feel they should hate themselves. These arsonists will burn our world to ash.
They seek to destroy creation itself and tear asunder any hope of human peace on Earth.
They will be alone. Loading inside an amoral fog. Ear clipped by power structures. Ready to trigger a slaughter.
They are avatars of destruction born into this world by society and our animal urges.
We must be mindful of the school shooter, the authoritarian, and the murderer. A lack of understanding leads to unopposed and unmitigated destruction by their hands. They will be the threat Alex Jones refers to. The natural impulse for destruction that is latent within every human. Only emerging when that is willing to justify it.
It is unclear of what the political movement of Transhumanism will do in the coming decades, but it is essential that all political and cultural movements hold themselves to a high moral standard and focus on cultivating virtue within their communities before aggressing on the sins of other tribes.
Thus I will redouble my effort to act as a bulwark against destructive tendencies within my communities.
An enjoyable story takes these subjects and integrates them within a work of fiction. Zoltan Istvan's Transhumanist Wager.
Thank you all for reading my content. I would love your feedback. I appreciate having a diverse and inclusive discussion. I enjoy being civil to you.
Peace and Well-Wishes to you,
Andrew Schumacher
As Alex Jones is already a spicy meme, here are some glitch gifs for your eyes.
