# Beauty after COVID

Mar 5, 2022

Hopefully we can talk about this now that the world has moved on to the next “happening”

There’s one thing from COVID that got under my skin more than anything else. Cloth masks. Despite the weird hate I got in youtube comments for saying it, can we all now admit that cloth masks do nothing to stop the spread of respiratory disease? Especially with the way people used them in practice (be honest, how often did you wash your mask). Not making any other claims, just this one. In 2019, this was common knowledge to everyone in the field. I understand at the beginning in 2020 not everyone was in the field and knew this, but if you didn’t figure it out by 2022…

What does this say about humanity? Dan Carlin talked about how he thought racism was in the past, and that he’s both surprised and sad to see a resurgence (regardless of who you think the racists are, I think most can agree there’s more racism today than in 2010).

I see the same thing here with the “Science” religion. The masks really had nothing to do with COVID, they were like wearing a cross around your neck. Remember that Jesus died for your sins and also remember that we are in the middle of a global pandemic.

Humanity is not past these things. It’s unclear if they ever will be.

To the brainwashers. To the controllers of the media. To the great determiners of narrative.

What do you think is beautiful?

Lex Fridman talks about love a lot, and I think this is his answer. It’s a pretty common one. Maybe it’s even the tautological answer. Beyond the narrow interhuman definition of love, there’s love for nature, love for simplicity, love for truth, and love for winning. Love is beautiful.

But here we are in 2022, and Moloch is what’s left. When we are all atomized, work from home, entertainment from home, economic units. I like to think I’d resist wireheading, but would I really?

Go read the above linked piece. “If everyone hates the current system, who perpetuates it?”

On my final twitch stream, I did a poll. After playing “The Decline” by NOFX on the piano. I asked this question without context.

It’s so disheartening. I don’t think the “Yes” people are trolls, it’s way more than the 4% Lizardman’s constant. You are why I don’t stream anymore. Maybe once I figure out how to exclude them. It’s literally a self answered question, “Are you the problem?” If there’s anyone you have the moral right to judge…

Sorry I don’t have answers. But when you see smart people turning away from democracy and liberalism, I hope you understand why. The system doesn’t seem to believe in beauty, and so many people have no values outside the system.

If there really is a narrative controller, and you’d like to keep power, you can’t keep doing this.

Crypto and decentralization are tools for a low trust society. Is that the best we can hope for?

Have you seen society learn any lessons from COVID? When the cloth masks were accepted as useless, did anyone admit they were wrong?

The media landscape is so toxic. The consequences are fairly obvious. And there won’t be anyone to even say I told you so to. They’ll barely even remember. It’s just on to the next happening. Member the 500,000 people we killed in Iraq? Oh yes but that was for liberation or something.

Sorry for being depressing. But after the last 2 years of bullshit with zero apology or humility, how can anyone continue to have faith in this society?

(at least I’m not in Ukraine right now watching my apartment get hit by a missile because of these fucking people. it could always be worse. my heart goes out to those who have it worse. we have a common enemy)

Exit is probably the best we can hope for. I know many people have been saying this, it’s just hard to accept. It’s all cycles, this is how the world breathes.

Now we need the leaders of this new world. A positive vision for the future. Beauty. Love. Culture builders.

I haven’t really met these people. I don’t think I’m strong enough to do it, I lack conscientiousness. We need the strong men that are built by weak societies. In many ways my life was too nice. We don’t need too many, so perhaps it’s okay that I haven’t met them, but I hope to God they are out there.

It’s time for real honest debates about the future of humanity. Personally, I believe in technological liberation. I will spend my life fighting for it. But there might be other answers and my mind is always open. I support diversity. The monoculture sucks.

I do know that this thing that produced the COVID security theater shit is a total dead end.