sprockets & widgets

[LMNO]

Did you check out the latest LMNO-PI chapter?  I have a little bit in there about that.

[LHX]

yeah, that's sort of what I had in mind, only even more decentralized...I think most of us have proven that we're not all that good at working together as a group without infighting and egotism coming into play, but we're all on the same page enough that if we just worry about effecting a change in our own sphere of influence, there will be an inevitable overlap of achievements and changes which will merge into a perhaps somewhat cohesive thing once it gathers enough mass to be more or less unstoppable.

this whole thing is strangely reassuring

almost makes me feel comfortable

like i might
relax
or something

[East Coast Hustle]

Did you check out the latest LMNO-PI chapter?  I have a little bit in there about that.

I did, and as usual it was fantastic.

and I noticed how you couched my and the gnome's thoughts on the matter within the context of the story without losing the feel of the narrative. very nicely done.

[LMNO]

Did you check out the latest LMNO-PI chapter?  I have a little bit in there about that.

I did, and as usual it was fantastic.

and I noticed how you couched my and the gnome's thoughts on the matter within the context of the story without losing the feel of the narrative. very nicely done.

[East Coast Hustle]

can you feel it coming? do you smell a change upon the wind?

NO.

you DON'T.

you CAN'T.

you've deluded yourself with dreams of a grand re-awakening, a massive paradigm shift of the collective social conscience. You've convinced yourself that someone (maybe even you) will come along and cast down the Powers That Be(tm) that are in control of the MACHINE(tm).

You're WRONG.

there are no Powers That Be(tm). The MACHINE(tm) deposed them long ago, or perhaps they just became obsolete, victims of their own efficiency. You see, long ago the MACHINE(tm) became far too large to be overseen by a conspiracy, or even by a network of several different conspiracies. The MACHINE(tm) is no longer under the control of mankind, rather it has become an entity unto itself. A blind, uncaring juggernaut of assimilation and mediocrity. The MACHINE(tm) feeds off of the static nature of humanity. Any real agents of change are percieved as dangerous mutations, to be neutralized and disposed of as quickly as possible. Yes, that includes you. And yes, that also includes me. Why do you think I constantly exhort YOU to become an agent of change? I've got my own schemes and machinations to that end, but I want to see the manner in which the MACHINE(tm) deals with you before I finalize MY game plan. You see, to be effective as a catalyst, one has to confront the problem of scale. You CAN NOT bring the MACHINE(tm) down. You can't even slow it down. What you can do is very slowly and unobtrusively begin to rearrange the basic components. We will refer to these as "widgets" and "sprockets". If widget A and sprocket B combine to exert societal influence C on the stinking morass known collectively as "humanity", then it stands to reason that the MACHINE(tm) can be reprogrammed at a very basic level and in very small increments. You waste your time dreaming of how to effect such a change on a global, national, or regional scale (the impossibility of which, I might add, keeps you in your perpetual state of blissful apathy), dreaming of assembling a group of like-minded fellows who will march with you to the very gates of the ivory tower whereupon those who have misled and exploited you will be cast down upon the parapets.

well guess what?

YOU ARE the one who has misled and exploited you. You have overlooked the most obvious solution, the most effective solution, the only possible solution.


kill yourself, fuck the body.









Just kidding.

maybe.

but seriously, this is what I have come to believe is the true spirit of the oft-misused phrase "we must stick apart": we cannot effect a large scale change, and if we make a serious attempt we WILL be neutralized. Instead, each and every one of us should make a conscious effort to effect a small reprogramming of the MACHINE(tm) in a manner that affects us and our immediate surroundings. keep the mutation small, and give it a chance to become effectively contagious. If we all effect a change on our own paradigm (this DOES require some effort, being a bliss-ninny doesn't count), there WILL be an eventual overlap, at which point the large scale change which we have hoped to effect all along will be impossible to stop.

(insert witty closing tagline here)

bippity-bump!

[LMNO]

Boompity bump for possible pamphlet inclusion.

[East Coast Hustle]

OK, but let me give it an edit/re-write first, since this was more internally aimed than externally. It could be redirected without much trouble, though.

[LMNO]

Oh noes!  too late!


Heh.  kidding.

[East Coast Hustle]

here's the rewrite. I think it's quite a bit better than the original. YMMV.

can you feel it coming? do you smell a change upon the wind?

NO.

you DON'T.

you CAN'T.

you've deluded yourself with dreams of a grand re-awakening, a massive paradigm shift of the collective social conscience. You've convinced yourself that someone (maybe even you) will come along and cast down the Powers That Be(tm) that are in control of the MACHINE(tm).

You're WRONG.

there are no Powers That Be(tm). The MACHINE(tm) deposed them long ago, or perhaps they just became obsolete, victims of their own efficiency. You see, long ago the MACHINE(tm) became far too large to be overseen by a conspiracy, or even by a network of several different conspiracies. The MACHINE(tm) is no longer under the control of mankind, rather it has become an entity unto itself. A blind, uncaring juggernaut of assimilation and mediocrity. The MACHINE(tm) feeds off of the static nature of humanity. Any real agents of change are percieved as dangerous mutations, to be neutralized and disposed of as quickly as possible. Yes, that includes you. And yes, that also includes me. Why do you think I constantly exhort YOU to become an agent of change? I've got my own schemes and machinations to that end, but I want to see the manner in which the MACHINE(tm) deals with you before I finalize MY game plan. You see, to be effective as a catalyst, one has to confront the problem of scale. You CAN NOT bring the MACHINE(tm) down. You can't even slow it down. What you can do is very slowly and unobtrusively begin to rearrange the basic components. We will refer to these as "widgets" and "sprockets". If widget A and sprocket B combine to exert societal influence C on the stinking morass known collectively as "humanity", then it stands to reason that the MACHINE(tm) can be reprogrammed at a very basic level and in very small increments. You waste your time dreaming of how to effect such a change on a global, national, or regional scale (the impossibility of which, I might add, keeps you in your perpetual state of blissful apathy), dreaming of assembling a group of like-minded fellows who will march with you to the very gates of the ivory tower whereupon those who have misled and exploited you will be cast down upon the parapets.

well guess what?

YOU ARE the one who has misled and exploited you. You have overlooked the most obvious solution, the most effective solution, the only possible solution.


You


need


to


wake


UP.


You cannot effect a large scale change, and if you make a serious attempt you WILL be neutralized. Instead, each and every one of you should make a conscious effort to effect a small reprogramming of the MACHINE(tm) in a manner that affects you and your immediate surroundings. keep the mutation small, and give it a chance to become effectively contagious. If we all effect a change on our own paradigm, there WILL be an eventual overlap, at which point the large scale change which you have hoped to effect all along will be impossible to stop.

The only question that remains is...


Will you talk?




Or will you ACT?

[LMNO]

woot!

[nurbldoff]

double w00t with cherry on top!

[P3nT4gR4m]

 

[Sepia]

"TURDS PIZZAS"

Come to Maine, feel the breeze, linger among the smart, hip and urban kids in their natural enviroment.  See the spring break break out and think of it as a mass outbreak of ebola, but it's not. TURDS PIZZERIA, where you are forced to act on how you would like your pizza. Do you want it to act? To talk? Most people want to talk to the pizza but some others choose to act through the bald pizzamaker and choose their pizzas to act. Several bureaus are staking out TURDS FANTASTICO NEGRONI PIZZERIA and international newspapers have linked TURDS MAGNIFICENTO GRANDIOUZO FANTASTICO NEGRONI PIZZERIA to the infamous website neurocam and have linked it to several people being arrested, apparently brainwashed, for throwing pizzas at prominent politicians, celebrities and homeless people walking around with "THE END IS NIGH" signs.

I couldn't find the clapping hands emoticon so

[East Coast Hustle]

damn. I forgot I even wrote this, and at risk of tooting my own horn, I think it's kinda good.

[nurbldoff]

Better to toot your own horn than to toot someone else's; you don't know where it's been.