Principia Discordia

Principia Discordia => Two vast and trunkless legs of stone => Topic started by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 07:50:02 PM

Title: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 07:50:02 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/rBqMltY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/VEr9Il0h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gCPm5dJh.jpg)
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 11, 2013, 08:12:09 PM
NICE.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 08:46:07 PM
I hadn't heard of Emmeline Pankhurst until I found this picture. Not sure about the ethics of everything she did, but dayum that bitch was free.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 11, 2013, 08:48:30 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 08:46:07 PM
I hadn't heard of Emmeline Pankhurst until I found this picture. Not sure about the ethics of everything she did, but dayum that bitch was free.

Not so sure about the arson bit.

But a bit of window smashing and cop-thumping seemed to be reasonable.  Anyone who goes their whole life without smashing a window has missed something.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 11, 2013, 10:01:09 PM
Love it. More of this kind of thing.

Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 10:12:03 PM
More, you say?

(http://i.imgur.com/xnNaVeP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oj52g6A.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aOigUT8.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/n3PczLl.jpg)
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 10:13:18 PM
Say what you will about Occupy, Oakland managed to stay a pain in everyone's asses the entire time.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 11, 2013, 10:16:35 PM
Really liking this. Will say better words when thinking smarter.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 11, 2013, 10:22:56 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 10:13:18 PM
Say what you will about Occupy, Oakland managed to stay a pain in everyone's asses the entire time.

That can be a measure of success.  You might not BEAT them, but you MIGHT be able to make them take ulcer medication.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 11, 2013, 10:23:37 PM
I have an idea for this, but it will have to wait a couple of hours.  AFTER HOURS MEETING TEIM.

(This man is NOT free)
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on November 11, 2013, 10:50:25 PM
These are great, QG!
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 11, 2013, 11:16:30 PM
Fuck it, taking a stab. QG, forgive what follows. Possibly. Let's see.

The aspects of freedom that are highlighted here are pretty stark examples. The two that hit quite hard for me were Swartz and the Pussy Riot Member. Both stunning modern examples of FUCK YOU freedom. She knew what was going to happen fucking with Putin. Everyone's knows what happens when you fuck with Putin. It's never good, just a scale of bad. It takes balls to do that knowing the consequences. A large part of freedom is taking disproportionate and unreasonable consequences for your momentary act. If the punishment wasn't so bad, everyone might just start doing it you see.

Swartz is kind of the other end of this axis. Intellectually, he probably knew how much he could likely stand to lose. Could anyone say that the punishment that he was facing was anything other than draconian? Facing a ruined life, he chose suicide. While regrettable to say the least, it is in many ways one of the ultimate demonstrations of freedom. From Socrates to Swatz, the persecuted have chosen suicide rather than face meaningless suffering.

Is this the only light to consider freedom in, the freedom to get punished and suffer consequences or lack of? Well, it's kind of worthless to consider the opposite. Freedoms to be happy and live and smiles and sunshine are pretty meaningless when you're still working out how not to fuck people with dissenting opinions.

Another angle I'm thinking here is sort of levels of consensual freedom. Apparently society currently condones our laws and has defined how each citizen is free, within certain guidelines, boundaries, restrictions, forms, laws, by-laws, etc.. There's always a creep to push back what is acceptable and currently it seems that a majority will agree to these added impositions because TERRUH. Police forces are getting more militarized daily because of Drug gangs. When all your neighbours agree that the police can search their houses without a warrant, are you going to send them away? Really? This decision WILL directly affect how free you are likely to be in the in immediate and near future. In some situations, you're as free as the monkey next door decided you are.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 11:23:48 PM
You must have said something right because my screen's all blurry.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 11:29:38 PM
You got sold a false bill of goods.

It's not your fault, it happens to the best of us. The most important thing is to just nut up and admit that you've been suckered, so you can try and make things right.

Someone told you Freedom isn't Free.

Maybe they're not the asshole, maybe it was your friend, your mom, your teacher, it doesn't matter. Somewhere along the line the bad signal crept in and it wended its way through society until it ended up at your doorstep, and it looked like Patriotism and Self-Reliance and so you let it in, and now it's running around wrecking shit, and you don't even remember what Freedom looks like. Let me remind you.

Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 12, 2013, 12:02:13 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 11:29:38 PM
You got sold a false bill of goods.

It's not your fault, it happens to the best of us. The most important thing is to just nut up and admit that you've been suckered, so you can try and make things right.

Someone told you Freedom isn't Free.

Maybe they're not the asshole, maybe it was your friend, your mom, your teacher, it doesn't matter. Somewhere along the line the bad signal crept in and it wended its way through society until it ended up at your doorstep, and it looked like Patriotism and Self-Reliance and so you let it in, and now it's running around wrecking shit, and you don't even remember what Freedom looks like. Let me remind you.


  • Freedom isn't Security. Freedom will not stop bullets or tazers or thugs in literal or figurative jackboots. Freedom will not prevent you from getting cancer or blown up or picked on.

  • Freedom isn't granted. Nobody can ever make you Free, the most anyone can ever do is to remind you what Freedom looks like.

  • Freedom lives in your heart and in your heart alone. People who are Free can be locked up and tortured and abused, but that doesn't take away their Freedom. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had more Freedom in the jailhouse in Birmingham than most people get in their whole lifetimes.

  • Freedom is messy.

Freedom is as simple as "NOPE".
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 12:06:28 AM
This guy's pretty free: http://benswann.com/russian-man-nails-testicles-to-the-street-to-protest-the-police-state/
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Cardinal Pizza Deliverance. on November 12, 2013, 12:33:37 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 12:06:28 AM
This guy's pretty free: http://benswann.com/russian-man-nails-testicles-to-the-street-to-protest-the-police-state/

Some people nod respectfully and smile, letting things slide by. Others take that shit to the wall with a mighty 'fuck no!'. Dayum.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 12, 2013, 01:26:19 AM
Photoshop busted, so I'm just gonna caption this.

THIS MAN
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/08/article-2046586-0E481DB700000578-865_634x366.jpg)
IS FREE.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on November 12, 2013, 01:38:36 AM
FUCK YES.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Pope Pixie Pickle on November 12, 2013, 01:57:47 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 08:46:07 PM
I hadn't heard of Emmeline Pankhurst until I found this picture. Not sure about the ethics of everything she did, but dayum that bitch was free.

I am more of a fan of her daughter, Sylvia, personally.

And don't get me started on the Suffragettes that joined up with Oswald Mosley.



Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 12, 2013, 01:58:26 AM
Quote from: Pixie on November 12, 2013, 01:57:47 AM
that joined up with Oswald Mosley.

:tgrr:
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 02:05:26 AM
Quote from: Pixie on November 12, 2013, 01:57:47 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 08:46:07 PM
I hadn't heard of Emmeline Pankhurst until I found this picture. Not sure about the ethics of everything she did, but dayum that bitch was free.

I am more of a fan of her daughter, Sylvia, personally.

And don't get me started on the Suffragettes that joined up with Oswald Mosley.

Free isn't the same as Wise or Nice. I should probably do some more of these with dickbags in them.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Pope Pixie Pickle on November 12, 2013, 02:07:50 AM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 12, 2013, 01:58:26 AM
Quote from: Pixie on November 12, 2013, 01:57:47 AM
that joined up with Oswald Mosley.

:tgrr:

Yep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Richardson, as well Norah Elam and Mary Allen.

there is a reason Sylvia Pankhurst is my favourite suffragette, refusing to marry, saying "no, fuck the war" and hiding conscientious objectors, as well as helping working class women in london's east end in a way that did not seem patronising. Also, anti-fascism as all fuck.



Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 03:40:29 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/5neKPyF.jpg)

This kid got shot after this picture was taken.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Dildo Argentino on November 12, 2013, 07:48:58 AM
First of all, brilliant thread.

Secondly, could you just provide a list of the people in the photos? I'm sure most people recognise most of them and many recognise all of them, but for the less informed, could we have a list, please?

Also, I'm not sure about the little boy. He may be free, but he may just be a poor misguided victim of a bunch of not-so-mature adults.

Also, based on the people I do recognise, I've always thought these kind of people (who, faced with an unjust entity that is significantly more powerful than they are that they perceive to be unjust - and which may very well be actually unjust - just stand up against it and speak out and get crushed with alarming regularity) are sort of naively free. Some more than others. And takers (the term is from Daniel Quinn, who says that the neolithic revolution was essentially the culture in the biological sense that gave rise to the taker culture, a result of social evolution, the first one that arose after countless millenia of a multitude of leaver cultures, which then went on to outcompete all the others and today has the majority of people on this planet in its grasp), well takers don't take kindly to that sort of thing.

And I think that foolhardy readyness for martyrdom is attractive and respectable when presented as a spectacle, it is a truly edifying act, but it is possible to be free without ever nailing your balls to the street or not getting out of Russia before Putin put you in prison. It is in fact a matter of personal choice. And going to the wall for truth, to me, reflects a sort of exalted elevation away from reality. Reality is that there are mean big fuckers out there, they are occasionally out to get you, or it's also quite possible to just get in their way, so if you plan to be free and remain free for a great length of time, it's best to look out for them. I would hold nobody in any sort of contempt for doing that. Of course it is quite easy to rationalise away cowardice of the first water by pretending that it is in fact the prudent form of freedom I was outlining: this has indeed no place in Discordianism.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 01:50:29 PM
The last kid I couldn't find a name for. He was leading a demonstration in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1969 as part of the Bangladeshi independence movement.

The others, in order:
Emmeline Pankhurst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.)
Sophie Scholl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl)
Helen Keller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller)
Aaron Swartz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Tolokonnikova)
Unnamed Occupy Oakland Protester
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Dildo Argentino on November 12, 2013, 04:27:46 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 01:50:29 PM
The last kid I couldn't find a name for. He was leading a demonstration in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1969 as part of the Bangladeshi independence movement.

The others, in order:
Emmeline Pankhurst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.)
Sophie Scholl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl)
Helen Keller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller)
Aaron Swartz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Tolokonnikova)
Unnamed Occupy Oakland Protester

Thanks!
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on November 12, 2013, 05:00:28 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 02:05:26 AM
Quote from: Pixie on November 12, 2013, 01:57:47 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 11, 2013, 08:46:07 PM
I hadn't heard of Emmeline Pankhurst until I found this picture. Not sure about the ethics of everything she did, but dayum that bitch was free.

I am more of a fan of her daughter, Sylvia, personally.

And don't get me started on the Suffragettes that joined up with Oswald Mosley.

Free isn't the same as Wise or Nice. I should probably do some more of these with dickbags in them.

I'm pretty sure that, these days, nice is as close as you can get to the opposite of free.

That's my excuse anyway
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 06:10:56 PM
To address Holist's point a little more clearly now that nap time is over:

The reason I went with these people was because at first glance a lot of people would assume they are not free. MLK and Nadia in jail; Aaron dead; Sophie executed, Emmeline and the Occupy protester in the act of being arrested; Helen trapped in a malfunctioning body and dependent on others assistance; the Bangladeshi boy hopelessly impoverished and living under a dictatorship that gives zero fucks about him or his family. These are the types of situations where a lot of people give up on being Free and concentrate on being Not Dead.

Acting out of fear of The Stick is the opposite of Freedom, but it's what most people in "free" societies end up doing. Being Free is knowing The Stick is there and then doing what you wanted anyway, because fuck you that's why. Not everyone who decides to be FREE ALL OVER THE PLACE gets killed for it, some of them probably live happy lives at home and never even show up on anyone's radar, but this project here is concentrating on people who were/are Free in spite of the outward appearance of being trapped. You can only demonstrate the difference between Freedom and FreedomTM with illustrations of people who are Free while imprisoned or terrified.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Demolition Squid on November 12, 2013, 07:39:18 PM
That beautifully clarifies the work, Q.G. Thanks for expounding on it.

It reminds me of something else I read somewhere - I think it might even have been here - Freedom as a verb, not an adjective. Your freedom is reliant on you using it regardless of the consequences or lack thereof. I think that's a wonderful way to look at the subject, as it clarifies the power relationship between bodies which would try to deny freedom and everyone else magnificently.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Dildo Argentino on November 13, 2013, 09:33:25 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 12, 2013, 06:10:56 PM
To address Holist's point a little more clearly now that nap time is over:

The reason I went with these people was because at first glance a lot of people would assume they are not free. MLK and Nadia in jail; Aaron dead; Sophie executed, Emmeline and the Occupy protester in the act of being arrested; Helen trapped in a malfunctioning body and dependent on others assistance; the Bangladeshi boy hopelessly impoverished and living under a dictatorship that gives zero fucks about him or his family. These are the types of situations where a lot of people give up on being Free and concentrate on being Not Dead.

Acting out of fear of The Stick is the opposite of Freedom, but it's what most people in "free" societies end up doing. Being Free is knowing The Stick is there and then doing what you wanted anyway, because fuck you that's why. Not everyone who decides to be FREE ALL OVER THE PLACE gets killed for it, some of them probably live happy lives at home and never even show up on anyone's radar, but this project here is concentrating on people who were/are Free in spite of the outward appearance of being trapped. You can only demonstrate the difference between Freedom and FreedomTM with illustrations of people who are Free while imprisoned or terrified.

Well okay, but... I think the kind of situation (a confrontation with overbearing force, basically, motivated by a sense of justice) you are outlining, and the way you are outlining, is a bit misleading. Because in that very situation, the free person has a choice of making an example of themselves (I think the proper term is not simply freedom, it is heroic freedom, or simply heroism), or of not allowing the Stick to hit them, because, you know, they value life, each day a new adventure, and also, nailing your testicles to the floor may actually be just plain mad and edgy attention whoring, or it may be offered sincerely, but it may still not be the best way to throw a spanner in the works.

And having spent quite a lot of the last 24 hours thinking about that, I will go further: I think just throwing your life away in order to demonstrate that you will not bow to unjust pressure is a pretty immature act. And that criterion actually differentiates between the people you used in the images.

Pankhurst, King and Keller don't strike me as martyr types at all. But Sophie Scholl? She was 22 when they beheaded her. While she may have been a deeply premature person who had weighed her options and chosen, she may also well have been someone fired by adolescent romanticism to waste her life on a good cause. Swartz, I suspect, may have killed himself because he saw no way out of a dead-end he had unwittingly played himself into. Not necessarily free, not necessarily good move, even, desperation is a poor advisor. Nadesda: hot as she is, she seems a clear case of self-destructive death-wish. Swartz may have made a mistake in underestimating the response his actions would generate specifically against him. Tolokonnikova could have no illusions, really. She is, I note again, 24 ripe years of age... I dunno. Perhaps it was too late by the time she realised this was all too much for real. And the Banladeshi kid? Looking at him, he can't be much more than 8. I personally think the likely scenario is not "I understand the notion and the importance of Bangladeshi independence and I am putting it all on the line because the issue is so terribly important to me", but "hey, my parents, the whole family, in fact the whole neighbourhood is all het up about something, we're marching down streets going ra-ra-ra, I'm a brave boy, so I'm going up front, 'cause it rocks!".

Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Reginald Ret on November 13, 2013, 12:22:36 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.
Good point.

Freedom is not Wise.
Freedom is not Smart.
Freedom is not Cautious.
Freedom is not Sexy.
Freedom is not Productive.
Freedom is not Peace at all costs.
Freedom isn't War either.
Freedom is not Free.
Freedom is not an Answer.
Fredom is not the Question.
Freedom is not the Asker.
Freedom is the Act of Questioning.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 12:26:28 PM
I'm sure I've had this conversation here before but it's never been satisfactorily explained to me what this "freedom" thing that we're all supposed to be fighting for is all about.

I'm kind of seeing where Holist is coming from with the bangladeshi kid - He's completely free to go along with his friends and family and get shot dead. Really? Seems like a pointless fucking waste to me.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Dildo Argentino on November 13, 2013, 01:25:45 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.

Funny you say that, I was tempted to say you were conflating freedom with heroism/naivety. :)

In my pretty extensive experience of children (who are, indeed, paragons of freedom until the age of about 3-4), I found that while they are hard little bastards who stick up for themselves like there's no tomorrow, they know full well when to shut up and put up. And are largely not suicidal.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 01:39:44 PM
Quote from: holist on November 13, 2013, 01:25:45 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.

Funny you say that, I was tempted to say you were conflating freedom with heroism/naivety. :)

In my pretty extensive experience of children (who are, indeed, paragons of freedom until the age of about 3-4), I found that while they are hard little bastards who stick up for themselves like there's no tomorrow, they know full well when to shut up and put up. And are largely not suicidal.

Your experiences have been wildly different from mine.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Dildo Argentino on November 13, 2013, 01:45:16 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 01:39:44 PM
Quote from: holist on November 13, 2013, 01:25:45 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.

Funny you say that, I was tempted to say you were conflating freedom with heroism/naivety. :)

In my pretty extensive experience of children (who are, indeed, paragons of freedom until the age of about 3-4), I found that while they are hard little bastards who stick up for themselves like there's no tomorrow, they know full well when to shut up and put up. And are largely not suicidal.

Your experiences have been wildly different from mine.

In what way?
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 01:52:28 PM
Quote from: holist on November 13, 2013, 01:45:16 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 01:39:44 PM
Quote from: holist on November 13, 2013, 01:25:45 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.

Funny you say that, I was tempted to say you were conflating freedom with heroism/naivety. :)

In my pretty extensive experience of children (who are, indeed, paragons of freedom until the age of about 3-4), I found that while they are hard little bastards who stick up for themselves like there's no tomorrow, they know full well when to shut up and put up. And are largely not suicidal.

Your experiences have been wildly different from mine.

In what way?

The shutting up and not suicidal.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 13, 2013, 02:23:11 PM
Quote from: :regret: on November 13, 2013, 12:22:36 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 12:02:44 PM
you are conflating Freedom with Wisdom. Children are generally Free as a default state.
Good point.

Freedom is not Wise.
Freedom is not Smart.
Freedom is not Cautious.
Freedom is not Sexy.
Freedom is not Productive.
Freedom is not Peace at all costs.
Freedom isn't War either.
Freedom is not Free.
Freedom is not an Answer.
Fredom is not the Question.
Freedom is not the Asker.
Freedom is the Act of Questioning.

No.

Freedom is the act of DEMANDING an ANSWER, which is different.  It is demanding and demanding and never, ever shutting the fuck up until they TELL YOU, GO MAD, or KILL YOU.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 02:25:37 PM
Also, anyone who tells you "Freedom isn't Free" is selling you something that isn't Freedom. Usually it's something like Security.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:21:11 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 13, 2013, 02:25:37 PM
Also, anyone who tells you "Freedom isn't Free" is selling you something that isn't Freedom. Usually it's something like Security.

Actually, what they're selling is a space on the pew in the Church of Eternal Warâ„¢.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:28:23 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"

"I protested at the G8, and all I got was toxic derivatives and no prospect of ever retiring"
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:33:21 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:28:23 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"

"I protested at the G8, and all I got was toxic derivatives and no prospect of ever retiring"

I stole a bunch of shit and all I got was to keep it. For free!
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:36:45 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:33:21 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:28:23 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"

"I protested at the G8, and all I got was toxic derivatives and no prospect of ever retiring"

I stole a bunch of shit and all I got was to keep it. For free!

"I fought and died for Universal Suffrage, but all I got to vote for was John Jackson and Jack Johnson"
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:46:00 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:36:45 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:33:21 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:28:23 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"

"I protested at the G8, and all I got was toxic derivatives and no prospect of ever retiring"

I stole a bunch of shit and all I got was to keep it. For free!

"I fought and died for Universal Suffrage, but all I got to vote for was John Jackson and Jack Johnson"

I fought and died for ALL THE CAUSES, and all I got was a massive slogan collection
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:47:37 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:46:00 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:36:45 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:33:21 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:28:23 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 13, 2013, 03:24:04 PM
Quote from: Payne on November 13, 2013, 03:22:40 PM
I bought a bag of Freedom and all I got was this lousy flag I'm not even allowed to wipe my ass on.

"I went to Afghanistan and all I got was this lousy prosthetic limb"

"I protested at the G8, and all I got was toxic derivatives and no prospect of ever retiring"

I stole a bunch of shit and all I got was to keep it. For free!

"I fought and died for Universal Suffrage, but all I got to vote for was John Jackson and Jack Johnson"

I fought and died for ALL THE CAUSES, and all I got was a massive slogan collection

...which was used to market more effectively to my disaffected teenage offspring.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on November 13, 2013, 03:51:46 PM
 :awesome:
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 14, 2013, 01:46:29 PM
Post clean up bump, per OP's request.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 15, 2013, 03:17:54 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24954570

This guy is pretty free
QuoteA naked performance artist who nailed his scrotum to Red Square as a political protest may face up to five years in prison, Russian media report.

A criminal investigation has begun into Pyotr Pavlensky's actions at the Kremlin wall on Sunday, the interior ministry told news agencies in Moscow.

Pavlensky was arrested but released the following day and placed under travel restrictions.

However, the 29-year-old now faces the charge of hooliganism.

QuoteTiming his act to coincide with Police Day, Pavlensky said in a statement published on Sunday: "When the authorities turn the country into one big prison, openly robbing the populace and channelling funds to increase and enrich the police and other security agencies, society accepts arbitrariness and, having forgotten its advantage in numbers, brings the triumph of the police state closer through its inaction."

Pavlensky previously attracted attention by sewing his lips together in July of last year and demonstrating outside St Petersburg's Kazan Cathedral in support of the imprisoned Pussy Riot protesters. In May of this year, he wrapped his naked body in a "cocoon" of barbed wire outside the city's parliament.

No need to highlight the different level of treatment being given to this chap and the Pussy Riot Protesters. Surely nothing gender related in the mix here at all.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 16, 2013, 07:04:00 PM
http://www.vice.com/read/barrett-brown-is-bored-out-of-his-mind-in-jail

Free.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/a-dispatch-from-jeremy-hammonds-sentencing

Also free.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 17, 2013, 04:39:47 PM
This is what The Stick looks like.

A hacker turned FBI informant, acting under the watchful eye of several government agencies, assembles a team of unwitting accomplices to break into a private security firm and sell information about their deals with the US government to a foreign national that has released mountains of data the state would rather see buried. When the data is extracted, one of the team members releases the data before it can be sold, removing any possibility of nailing that enemy of the state with a crime in the US (purchasing stolen goods). A journalist links to the data dump after it has already been reported on in national and international media outlets.

The person who released the data early just got sentenced to ten years in prison without the possibility of parole. The journalist is facing 105 years if convicted, and has already spent one year in jail awaiting trial.

An army intelligence officer witnesses multiple incidences of war crimes in Iraq, and is told to SHUT UP about it. She copies reams of data onto a disk labeled "Lady Gaga" and releases it to the public, including a video showing two journalists being murdered by trigger-happy helicopter gunmen, and two children injured for having the gall to be passing through on their way home from school. This is in addition, of course, to the other anonymous Iraqis who were caught in the crosshairs. The data released proves over and over how the US government has been using diplomatic channels to spy on their allies and enemies, in violation of international norms and in some cases laws.

The army private is serving 35 years in military prison. No one else is going to jail.


A bright young scholar, entrepreneur and activist devised a method to download thousands of files from a University network: files that were accessible to anyone who was on this deliberately open network to read, download, and print as they saw fit. He downloaded them faster than the company liked (though this was not in violation of their terms of service) and the company asked the University to look into the problem. When they discovered who was downloading the files, the secret service stepped in because of the young man's politics. Despite the company actively requesting that charges be dropped, and the University not requesting it, a criminal investigation went forward. All he wanted was to give the research back to the public who funded it.

The young man could not live with the knowledge that he would spend the rest of his life a convicted felon, and hanged himself instead.


A journalist who had already taken down a five star general with his investigative reporting told friends and colleagues he was on the verge of uncovering something even more explosive than his previous stories. His excitement turned to anxiety, and he warned others that he might need to "go dark" for a while as he continued his research. One night he went downstairs to ask his neighbor to borrow her car, as he was afraid his had been tampered with. She could not, because she needed the car later in the evening. He went out in his car.

It crashed into a tree at 100 mph, exploding in a fiery wreck. There were no skid marks.


DO YOU FUCKING GET IT YET?

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T SHUT UP. THIS IS WHAT THE STICK LOOKS LIKE.

It's not subtle and it's not discerning and it's not legal or moral or right. And we let it happen. We let it happen right in front of us day after day and they keep locking up literally anyone for any goddamn reason from "couldn't pay fines" to "participated in a protest" to petty possession of things that will be legal within the decade. There are over a hundred non-violent offenders in the US on life without parole. They arrest kids in school and bodily violate traffic offenders. They let off murderers and the architects of global financial catastrophes and shoot veterans in their homes.

THESE ARE NOT OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS. THIS IS WHAT THEY ADMIT TO, WHAT THEY ALLOW ON THE FRONT PAGES.

This is what The Stick looks like.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 01:47:42 PM
Oh, it gets even funnier than that. 

Will respond after meeting.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 18, 2013, 03:53:56 PM
I was asked to write a letter in support of Jeremy Hammond. Not "the internet in general was asked," his lawyer asked me specifically (along with hundreds of other people, but still). The judge didn't read any of the letters in the end, she gave him the maximum sentence allowed and called him a terrible person in a prepared statement she'd written weeks before the court date. Her husband is part of Stratfor's legal team, but no one could make her recuse herself.

I didn't write the letter, because I was scared.

It wouldn't have made any difference to him, to the outcome, but I'm still messed up.

When I got the call from my Aunt last year, she said mom had already passed, but I refused to hear it. I made dad get dressed and somebody drove, I think my sister-in-law, and we rushed. And when we got to the hospital, we ran. Not because it would have made any difference, she'd been gone almost twenty minutes by the time the car got there, but because we would want to know later that we ran. That we tried.

And I didn't try for Jeremy, because I was afraid.

Still not free.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 03:56:37 PM
Here is what the stick looks like.

"All hourly employees not released due to right-sizing will take a 10% pay cut, effective the beginning of the current pay period, as a means of maintaining profitability by cutting fixed costs by $12 Mn."

Followed immediately by

"The CEO, CFO, and board of directors will receive a combined $12.5 Mn bonus for increasing shareholder/stakeholder value."

Don't laugh, something like this actually happened at US Airways, and then again at damn near every bank that took TARP funds.  Well, okay, laugh.  But it better not be a healthy laugh.

The stick also looks like the inside of a WalMart.  Dingy, seedy, and full of cheap fucking crap built elsewhere, on the cheap.  It looks like the neighborhood (read: loser) bar.  Dimly lit, mostly dirty, with life-long alcoholics more or less permanently attached to the stools that are the closest thing they want to a throne, a throne which they can afford as long as they can buy shitty draft beer in greasy glasses.

It looks like a Unicef commercial, while Tony Hayward circles the oil slick in his yacht, bitching about the inconvenience to his personal life.  It looks like a dead Pakistani baby, while everyone fights over Obamacare.

That is also what the stick looks like.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 18, 2013, 04:08:16 PM
I think The Stick is its own book waiting to be written.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 04:11:11 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 18, 2013, 04:08:16 PM
I think The Stick is its own book waiting to be written.

Hell, yeah.

THE CARROT LEFT TOWN
THIS IS WHAT IS LEFT.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 04:23:13 PM
The carrot, for humans, is exactly the same as the carrot for donkeys.  No matter how hard you work, you'll never reach it.  And for those who figure this out, or just get too tired or discouraged to keep trying for the carrot, we have the stick.

The carrot is why "pre-rich" works.  The stick is why "Will I get in trouble?" is the very FIRST question smart people ask in ANY risk/reward analysis.  This is why we jam people in prison for ridiculous shit like marijuana and improper use of Freedomâ„¢ without consulting the owner's manual.

One other thing:  If you're rich and powerful enough to be dangling the carrot in front of others, then to a certain extent you are immune to the stick as well.



Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 04:36:54 PM
QuoteFollowed immediately by

"The CEO, CFO, and board of directors will receive a combined $12.5 Mn bonus for increasing shareholder/stakeholder value."

Don't laugh, something like this actually happened at US Airways, and then again at damn near every bank that took TARP funds.

Lets not just stop there. Think about any business that your betters (By which I mean, your government) has considered too big to fail. Automotive, Chemical, Energy production and transport infrastructure are all sectors that have been in receipt of massive bailouts. The stated reason is always that we MUST help these things or we will ALL pay. Cars with a myriad of options must be built and stockpiled. Power plants must be subsidised or suppliers will refuse to build them. DOW Chemicals gets a free pass on Bhopal because it's not affecting OUR freedom.

The reality of the Stick is that practically every business that measures profit and turnover in the tens of millions and billions has a horrific human cost every single day. From the workers in the 3rd world supplying raw materials and labour right the way down the chain, cost and profit potential is emphasised above the well being of any of your fellow humans. The Stick encourages you to exploit the guy next to you because fuck him. And If you don't fuck him, he'll fuck you. And if you both choose not to fuck each other, the boss will fuck you.

The Stick is fear. Fear of Punishment, Fear of consequences (Real or imagined), fear that the other guy will somehow come out better than you.

We all use the Stick too. It's only somewhat our fault, we've been beaten with it for so long that the methods of The Stick seem natural. Anyone who has ever had responsibilities over others at any point (Co-workers, children there's little difference) will in times of duress return to threats and The Stick to get the objective accomplished. What does this teach those you are influencing? That when you don't get your way, Pick up the Stick. When others are not acting according to your desires, Pick up the Stick.

Pretty soon, you can't remember to put the Stick down. 
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 04:39:00 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 04:36:54 PM
Lets not just stop there. Think about any business that your betters (By which I mean, your government) has considered too big to fail. Automotive, Chemical, Energy production and transport infrastructure are all sectors that have been in receipt of massive bailouts. The stated reason is always that we MUST help these things or we will ALL pay. Cars with a myriad of options must be built and stockpiled. Power plants must be subsidised or suppliers will refuse to build them. DOW Chemicals gets a free pass on Bhopal because it's not affecting OUR freedom.

The reality of the Stick is that practically every business that measures profit and turnover in the tens of millions and billions has a horrific human cost every single day. From the workers in the 3rd world supplying raw materials and labour right the way down the chain, cost and profit potential is emphasised above the well being of any of your fellow humans. The Stick encourages you to exploit the guy next to you because fuck him. And If you don't fuck him, he'll fuck you. And if you both choose not to fuck each other, the boss will fuck you.

The Stick is fear. Fear of Punishment, Fear of consequences (Real or imagined), fear that the other guy will somehow come out better than you.

We all use the Stick too. It's only somewhat our fault, we've been beaten with it for so long that the methods of The Stick seem natural. Anyone who has ever had responsibilities over others at any point (Co-workers, children there's little difference) will in times of duress return to threats and The Stick to get the objective accomplished. What does this teach those you are influencing? That when you don't get your way, Pick up the Stick. When others are not acting according to your desires, Pick up the Stick.

Pretty soon, you can't remember to put the Stick down. 

The stick is essentially the fnord, except that it WILL eat you.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: LMNO on November 18, 2013, 04:42:21 PM
This whole thing is awesome.

And yes, it needs to be eventually compiled and released.  I tentatively volunteer.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 04:48:19 PM
QuoteOne other thing:  If you're rich and powerful enough to be dangling the carrot in front of others, then to a certain extent you are immune to the stick as well.

I need to think about this some more, but I'm not entirely certain that's the case. I strongly suspect that there's just a different aspect for the Stick depending on your relative position in the world. Look at Obama. By all accounts, at least one of the most powerful men in the world. Do you think Obama is Stick free? Or is his stick just held by people that would have no concern or interest to hold yours?
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: LMNO on November 18, 2013, 04:49:06 PM
Obama is not free, because there's market share to consider.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 04:50:03 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 04:48:19 PM
QuoteOne other thing:  If you're rich and powerful enough to be dangling the carrot in front of others, then to a certain extent you are immune to the stick as well.

I need to think about this some more, but I'm not entirely certain that's the case. I strongly suspect that there's just a different aspect for the Stick depending on your relative position in the world. Look at Obama. By all accounts, at least one of the most powerful men in the world. Do you think Obama is Stick free? Or is his stick just held by people that would have no concern or interest to hold yours?

I think Lloyd Blankfein is stick-free.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 06:07:20 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 18, 2013, 04:50:03 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 04:48:19 PM
QuoteOne other thing:  If you're rich and powerful enough to be dangling the carrot in front of others, then to a certain extent you are immune to the stick as well.

I need to think about this some more, but I'm not entirely certain that's the case. I strongly suspect that there's just a different aspect for the Stick depending on your relative position in the world. Look at Obama. By all accounts, at least one of the most powerful men in the world. Do you think Obama is Stick free? Or is his stick just held by people that would have no concern or interest to hold yours?

I think Lloyd Blankfein is stick-free.


I'm still not sure. On the surface, yes, there is little you can really threaten the man with. He has extensive wealth and power. However, there have been others in similar positions where the Stick eventually came into play. Think Enron.

I think it may be more accurate to class these kinds of people as "people the Stick has no vested interest in beating".

The guys at Enron got out of line. The Stick had to be used publicly to let everyone know it was still there and has a nail in it. We've not seen the Stick really hit any of those nominally "responsible" for the latest economic fuckup. That can't last forever. Part of the Stick is the public visible punishment side. The token offering of blood to appease everyone. The solemn reminder that this can not and must not happen again. Or we'll use that Stick again.

Anyway, to the point: Everyone is Stick Free, until you're not. The Stick might come when you get into work, or it might come when you create a PR fuckup and get caught with your hand in the till. To claim to be Stick free is to practically invite it. You can't escape the stick entirely with wealth and power, you can only soften the blow. In many of these cases what the stick will cost you will be money and power rather than freedom and your life. While this would seem to be preferable, I doubt many of the exceedingly wealthy would consider it anything less than death in another name. Think about the Sultan who had a hissy fit over the "Rich List". That's a perfect example of how you can be free and yet still totally under the Stick.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on November 18, 2013, 06:08:41 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 06:07:20 PM

I'm still not sure. On the surface, yes, there is little you can really threaten the man with. He has extensive wealth and power. However, there have been others in similar positions where the Stick eventually came into play. Think Enron.

G/S is to Enron as Enron was to disenfranchized poor kid from Flint, MI.

QuoteI think it may be more accurate to class these kinds of people as "people the Stick has no vested interest in beating".

I can't see a real distinction, here.

Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 06:22:21 PM
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on November 18, 2013, 06:08:41 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on November 18, 2013, 06:07:20 PM

I'm still not sure. On the surface, yes, there is little you can really threaten the man with. He has extensive wealth and power. However, there have been others in similar positions where the Stick eventually came into play. Think Enron.

G/S is to Enron as Enron was to disenfranchized poor kid from Flint, MI.

QuoteI think it may be more accurate to class these kinds of people as "people the Stick has no vested interest in beating".

I can't see a real distinction, here.

I'm still thinking about this, so may be quite wrong:

The Stick creates it's own narrative to a degree. We "know" that Police are honest, Politicians upstanding and Judges just. We know these are "good" people and so seek very good reasons and lots of evidence before mentioning the Stick to them. You'll be lucky to see the stick actually used against them, as these are parts of the system that make up the Stick. Apparently, Society would collapse without these people.

There seems to have been an extension to the list of people who would doom society by their absence. If you own/run a company big enough, you are granted exceptions to the Stick and favourable terms when you encounter it. This elevates you to the same level as
police/politician/judge. Only what is expected of you is profit. Fail to deliver in this regard and the Stick will suddenly give a shit again.

I think I'm looking at profit potential. The potential earnings of say, me or you are nothing compared to the daily salary of a football player. Their earnings again nothing compared to multinational CEO's. Yet the relative level of privilege afforded at those 3 wage levels is massively different. I think that may be because the Stick is much more interested in me and you. The footballer currently profits from the system, the multinational CEO practially creates the system. You and I just operate levers and we are easy to replace.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on October 05, 2015, 11:56:46 PM
Bamp!
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on October 05, 2015, 11:57:35 PM
Oh, shit, I loved this thread.

Needs Edward Snowden.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on October 06, 2015, 12:02:31 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on October 05, 2015, 11:57:35 PM
Oh, shit, I loved this thread.

Needs Edward Snowden.

I was looking for it because of the new guy but he seems to have flounced already.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on October 06, 2015, 12:05:00 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on October 06, 2015, 12:02:31 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on October 05, 2015, 11:57:35 PM
Oh, shit, I loved this thread.

Needs Edward Snowden.

I was looking for it because of the new guy but he seems to have flounced already.

He's still here, lurking.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Wizard Joseph on October 06, 2015, 03:55:53 AM
I'm glad it got bumped. This is a good thread that hits two issues I find important.

The original pics and the "is this person free?" question kinda breaks me a bit. Do I really know what freedom looks like? Then a thought about putting the OM into FreedOM struck. I had to accept that I DON'T know just by looking. I need knowledge of the STORIES to ever say I know for sure. Even obvious context in the images like bars or that kid with his, sadly doomed if I read right, fist up in the air and his GRIN wide could not tell me just by looking. Where this could OM things would be in getting those trapped by the illusion of freedom to at least question their own ability to recognize this nebulous thing they feel they understand well enough to identify with it, if not outright realize that have no idea what it actually looks like.

The Stick could really be a whole lot of good lessons and the ones presented so far are amazing. I've found myself wondering what the stick could possibly be for those at the very tippy top of the system. There's a sick feeling in my gut that in the end it's just MORE STORIES accepted as true without real knowledge even as they go about manipulating the stories others hold true.

In both cases we have the sad state of affairs where a delusion has formed that informs all decisions made by those afflicted. It a sort of a sort of story poisoning from misabsorbtion of a fiction as fact. One SO powerful that it can drive folks to murder either to reinforce "the cannon" or remain in a powerful position as a self-styled Storyteller. Of course once you've explicitly shed blood to "prove" the story you believe it HAS TO be more real for you and anyone that hears of it. To accept that it was a senseless death at the hands of an ape with broken toys in its attic is TRULY unthinkable, especially when the ape is you!
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on October 06, 2015, 12:05:44 PM
At the tippy top you get to hold The Stick. That's the whole promise of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" narrative.

(http://i.imgur.com/Z0mE7jV.jpg)

In fact, that's really all the carrot we give most people. If you do good enough, you get to shit on someone else. If you survive boot camp, you can go stick it to those smudgy brown people. If you make enough money, you can get away with literal murder. If you're smart enough, you can figure out how to pay no taxes at all and those dummies will applaud you for it.

It used to be that everyone got to use The Stick on the regular, as long as you had a sufficiently narrow definition of "everyone." But now we can't offer vaginas as a carrot anymore because those bitches got uppity and started having ideas like "choosing their own partners" and "actually not being cool with borderline or actual sexual assault." And then you couldn't use The Stick on your wife anymore or else the cops might use The Stick on you, and then they decided you can't use The Stick on your kids either, which means the only way left is to make so much money that nobody cares what you do anymore.

Or you go buy some guns and use The Stick unauthorized at your local school.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: The Wizard Joseph on October 06, 2015, 04:21:22 PM
"Thy rod and staff, they comfort me" now clearly and blatantly pro-stick propaganda.  :kingmeh:

You make a fine, if unpleasant, point there QG.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Pergamos on October 10, 2015, 06:50:16 AM
Well this is incredible. 
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 16, 2016, 07:39:06 PM
Need some opinions on layout. Also I'm adding some more people to the booklet form of this and I'm very open to suggestions!

http://imgur.com/a/uk5z5

Also did three more in the original style:
(http://i.imgur.com/3qcPxgW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/lfxQxAT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/DmUIhKL.jpg)
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on February 17, 2016, 05:01:07 AM
Holy shit, I love this. This is really, really good.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 17, 2016, 06:24:48 PM
First draft of the print document done!

The font on the last page should be a messy kind of script, let me know if it comes out wrong on other machines. Like the other print pdfs, this is designed to be printed double sided (landscape, flip on short side) and folded into a neat little booklet. I can do a non-print version that will look better on screens if there is demand.

I'm also still really interested in suggestions for more people to add in.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 17, 2016, 06:26:04 PM
Not entirely kopyleft-safe, many of those images are protected. Probably meets fair use for noncommercial, though.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 18, 2016, 04:21:08 AM
Okay, this one has some new entries and is in online/single page flyer format.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: trix on September 23, 2016, 06:36:37 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on November 17, 2013, 04:39:47 PM
This is what The Stick looks like.

A hacker turned FBI informant, acting under the watchful eye of several government agencies, assembles a team of unwitting accomplices to break into a private security firm and sell information about their deals with the US government to a foreign national that has released mountains of data the state would rather see buried. When the data is extracted, one of the team members releases the data before it can be sold, removing any possibility of nailing that enemy of the state with a crime in the US (purchasing stolen goods). A journalist links to the data dump after it has already been reported on in national and international media outlets.

The person who released the data early just got sentenced to ten years in prison without the possibility of parole. The journalist is facing 105 years if convicted, and has already spent one year in jail awaiting trial.

An army intelligence officer witnesses multiple incidences of war crimes in Iraq, and is told to SHUT UP about it. She copies reams of data onto a disk labeled "Lady Gaga" and releases it to the public, including a video showing two journalists being murdered by trigger-happy helicopter gunmen, and two children injured for having the gall to be passing through on their way home from school. This is in addition, of course, to the other anonymous Iraqis who were caught in the crosshairs. The data released proves over and over how the US government has been using diplomatic channels to spy on their allies and enemies, in violation of international norms and in some cases laws.

The army private is serving 35 years in military prison. No one else is going to jail.


A bright young scholar, entrepreneur and activist devised a method to download thousands of files from a University network: files that were accessible to anyone who was on this deliberately open network to read, download, and print as they saw fit. He downloaded them faster than the company liked (though this was not in violation of their terms of service) and the company asked the University to look into the problem. When they discovered who was downloading the files, the secret service stepped in because of the young man's politics. Despite the company actively requesting that charges be dropped, and the University not requesting it, a criminal investigation went forward. All he wanted was to give the research back to the public who funded it.

The young man could not live with the knowledge that he would spend the rest of his life a convicted felon, and hanged himself instead.


A journalist who had already taken down a five star general with his investigative reporting told friends and colleagues he was on the verge of uncovering something even more explosive than his previous stories. His excitement turned to anxiety, and he warned others that he might need to "go dark" for a while as he continued his research. One night he went downstairs to ask his neighbor to borrow her car, as he was afraid his had been tampered with. She could not, because she needed the car later in the evening. He went out in his car.

It crashed into a tree at 100 mph, exploding in a fiery wreck. There were no skid marks.


DO YOU FUCKING GET IT YET?

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T SHUT UP. THIS IS WHAT THE STICK LOOKS LIKE.

It's not subtle and it's not discerning and it's not legal or moral or right. And we let it happen. We let it happen right in front of us day after day and they keep locking up literally anyone for any goddamn reason from "couldn't pay fines" to "participated in a protest" to petty possession of things that will be legal within the decade. There are over a hundred non-violent offenders in the US on life without parole. They arrest kids in school and bodily violate traffic offenders. They let off murderers and the architects of global financial catastrophes and shoot veterans in their homes.

THESE ARE NOT OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS. THIS IS WHAT THEY ADMIT TO, WHAT THEY ALLOW ON THE FRONT PAGES.

This is what The Stick looks like.

Bumping this old thread due to its brilliance.

And because the above quoted post literally made me cry.

Especially knowing I'm far too chickenshit to get off my couch and go be FREE ALL OVER THE PLACE, like the amazing people described ITT.  When I do bother to get off my couch and throw a wrench into the gears, I do it like a coward.  Small, petty, dumb shit done under cover of darkness with absolutely minimal risk.

The existence of people like the above is one of few redeeming qualities of our fucked-in-the-brain species.

I don't know what to say, I just had to say SOMETHING due to how much this thread affected me.

Thank you, Q. G. Pennyworth.  I am utterly in love with 80%+ of the things you post on PD.  In fact, I found this thread by stalking your Previous Posts via your profile.  Since yesterday.
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Q. G. Pennyworth on September 24, 2016, 04:22:03 PM
Thanks, Trix. I'm really glad this place has been here for me to vomit into because I'm pretty sure I would have lost all my shit if I tried to keep that bottled up. Always feels good to know something I wrote might be useful to someone else :)
Title: Re: Are You Free?
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on September 24, 2016, 08:50:43 PM
You are, indeed, a deliverer of fine, fine content.