Category: Writing (Page 1 of 2)

Original writing by Tim and Joe.

Anarchitecture at Porcfest XIX!

Visit the Anarchitecture Lounge at Porcfest! Tim Brochu, co-host of Anarchitecture Podcast, will host a Lounge activity hub (ANA) on site RV L42, where he will give a series of conversational talks over the weekend:

Thu 6/23 4:00 PM (Note the time change from the Porcfest Schedule)
Public Space: Not All Land Should Be Private

Fri 6/24 5:00 PM
Building a House: Land, Budget, Design, and Construction

Fri 6/24 6:00 PM
House-Hacking: Income, Energy, Function, & Form
(Plus a special presentation by co-host Joe Brochu (live from Australia) on self-hosted open-source home automation!)

Sat 6/25 10:00 AM
The State of Cities in 2022 

Sat 6/25 11:00 AM
Private Cities and Intentional Communities

Can’t make it to a talk? Stop by the Anarchitecture Lounge anytime to say hi!

See below for full descriptions of each talk.

Continue reading

Disempowerment by Democracy

How Powerful is Your Vote?

Power is the ability to act according to your will by exerting control over your environment. The more power you have, the more needs and desires you can fulfill.

But things get complicated as soon as your environment becomes polluted with other people. Resources are scarce, and this leads to conflicts. Power over nature can extend to power over people.

Your power is diminished to the extent that others can exert their power over you and your environment, and vice versa. In the extreme case, a totalitarian dictator can exert absolute power over everyone else. Democracy promises to mitigate this risk by distributing power evenly among the population.

“Empowerment” is often regarded as synonymous with voting. The vote is the means by which marginalized groups could break their shackles, have their say, and win back the freedoms that they have lost to the power of others.

But how much power does a vote really bestow?

Continue reading

Greetings from 2020!

Happy New Year!

And to those of you still languishing in the last decade, greetings from 2020!

The ’20’s are off to a “roaring” start, mainly because the 1920’s were called “the roaring 20’s” and humans, as a species, have lost any semblance of originality or historical perspective.

To wit, hipsters have decided that the 90’s are now retro, and have started wearing fluorescent spandex; ironically at first, then… unironically.

And they still have the beards. Picture that: 1890’s facial hair with 1990’s spandex, serving your morning coffee. That’s your first interaction every day.

The world anxiously awaits their discovery of grunge, when their beards will finally find an appropriate context.

But despite these setbacks, the fact that this decade can be pithily referred to as “the 20’s” is a welcome reprieve after “the aughts” and “the teens.” People who use those terms are universally reviled, and with good reason.

Speaking of revulsion, the 2020 election has been every bit the shitshow that it promised to be. Literally. During his first debate with Trump, Democratic nominee Joe Biden shat himself onstage.

This immediately alienated Biden’s core following, who could no longer ignore that the man was, in fact, full of malarkey.

Not to be outdone, Donald Trump quickly committed an equally embarrassing gaffe by continuing to be Donald Trump.

Consequently, the Libertarian Party nominee, Jacob Hornberger, received record-shattering votes, almost breaking into double digits.

He was, however, thwarted by a split vote when principled libertarians came out in force for Joe Biden, the man most likely to shit his pants while sitting in the oval office.

This additional 0.1% almost gave Biden the bump he needed to defeat Trump and avert the encroaching technocratic total police state. Because that’s what Democrats do, right guys?

Guys?

PS. Many Aussies have lost their homes this holiday season due to bushfires. As Michael Malice has said, for those who have lost everything, $5 is underwear. Please donate to https://www.redcross.org.au/donation.

USD$5.00 is AUD$7.14. Transcend borders.

The Matrix Reconceived

The Architect: Hello, Neo.

Neo: Who are you?

The Architect: I am the Architect. I’ve been waiting for you.

You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not.

Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant.

Neo: The Matrix exists so that humans can provide energy to the machines. But that makes no sense.

A: Interesting. That was neither a question, nor was it pertinent.

Continue reading

Explaining the Economy to Dad (2008)

Saturday, November 15, 2008, 1:34 PM

Hi Dad,
After we talked a little about the economy on my birthday, I thought it would be helpful for me to write down my understanding of what has been going on for you. I also wanted to do this for myself to help organize my own thoughts. I was hoping to just do a quick write-up, but it turned into a 20-page essay that gets into a lot more detail. I tried to keep it non-technical without dumbing it down. I was also hoping to get into some predictions and investment advice, but I think 20 pages is long enough. I’d be happy to share my advice with you after you read this essay. Feel free to pass it on if you think anyone else would like to read it.
See you tomorrow!
Tim

Explaining the Economy to Dad

November 15, 2008 (Dow 8,497)

In order to understand what is happening in the economy right now, it is important to have an understanding of economic principles and history. Far from being a “natural,” emotional market cycle, this crisis is the direct and inevitable result of a fraudulent monetary system forced upon the world by their governments and banks. This broad manipulation of economic activity has been further aggravated by more specific governmental interventions in many markets, most notably the housing market. This essay is divided into four sections: Economic Principles, History, The Housing Bubble, and End Game. The first two sections explain the general causes of the current downturn, and the second two sections chronicle the specific events that have resulted from those causes to lead to the present situation.

Continue reading

Greetings from 2017!

Greetings from 2017! And what a great year it’s shaping up to be!

Poverty and hunger have been almost eradicated across the globe, after the surprising discovery that flying killer robots are also capable of delivering bundles of hope and cheer. The resulting outbreaks of good feelings caused people to overlook centuries of colonialism and tribal conflicts and work together as neighbors.

This led to record-breaking agricultural production in all global markets. The abundance of low-cost food further freed up resources for capital investment in critical infrastructure, launching developing nations into a standard of living rivaling, and in some cases surpassing, that of developed nations.

And this is all thanks to the wisdom and beneficence of Our Glorious World Leader. Our Glorious World Leader was the first to recognize the true causes of the problems facing humanity, and to act swiftly and decisively to eliminate The Great Betrayer.
Continue reading

Patrik Schumacher, Anarcho-Capitalist Architect

“When were you last in Hyde Park? How much are you actually using it? We need to know what it costs us!”

Patrik Schumacher might as well have suggested blowing up the moon when he proposed that Hyde Park in London should be privatized for development.

In a presentation at the World Architecture Festival 2016 in Berlin, Schumacher argued that London’s housing crisis is due to constraints imposed by government policies. In his “Urban Policy Manifesto,” he outlined eight “demands” for radical reductions of regulation and subsidies, and even private ownership of infrastructure and public spaces.

This polemic has predictably catapulted him into controversy, with some applauding his courage while others condemn his callousness, dubbing him “the Trump of architecture.”

But Schumacher is not some alt-right Twitter troll living in his parents basement. He is the Director of Zaha Hadid Architects, a 400-person international design firm that has produced some of the world’s most remarkable buildings of the last three decades, including the Heydar Aliyev Center in Azerbaijan and the London Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympics. Schumacher was named Director after the untimely death in March 2016 of Dame Zaha Hadid, the groundbreaking Pritzker Prize winner whom Schumacher has worked alongside since 1988.

While he has clearly stated that his political views are his own and do not represent the firm (and the firm’s trustees have emphatically agreed), his position adds gravitas to what might otherwise be easily dismissed by the traditionally left-leaning architectural profession as irrelevant blasphemy.

Continue reading

Why I Became An Australian Citizen

Q. Why did you become an Australian citizen?

A. I recently bought one of those Australian hats with a wide brim, and I feel like a tourist when I wear it. As a citizen, I will feel more confident about wearing that hat since, legally, I won’t be a tourist.

Q. Where did you buy the hat?

A. Sea World gift shop on the Gold Coast.

Q. One of Australia’s key tourist destinations.

A. Yes. You can only get real, authentic Australiana stuff at hokey tourist traps.

Q. Where do real Australians get their hats?

A. I haven’t seen many Australians wearing hats like that. Probably because they don’t want to look like tourists.
Continue reading

« Older posts

© 2024 Anarchitecture

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑