let's THiNK about it

In Part I we recap some of Foucault 's panoptic implications, and then begin to consider some critiques of his ideas, with a heavy emphasis on Gilles Deleuze and how the controlled environment and "productive soul training" of Foucault is no longer a primary means of power how power moves, disperses, and obfuscates itself. In Part II Deleuze discusses the multiplicity and fragmentation of the corp...

After discussing the social contract and the balance of "Freedom From/Freedom To" Ryder looks at another form of social power dynamics that stem from ideological prison design, grow into institutional and workplace behavior modification, and eventually spread to the public internalizing self discipline and punishment, and participating not only in surveilling other citizens, but directing their ga...

Part I: Isaiah Berlin's notion of Freedom From/Freedom To and how that relates to the social contract in a way that shows you really are not all that free. Your body and life actually belong to the state, so they can mandate your behavior for the common good.  Part II: Jurgen Habermas syas that many of the Ends/Means problems with Enlightenment Rationality are not considering the balancing effect...

Pulling from Isaiah Berlin's Positive and Negative Freedom, Ryder looks at the "social contract" and the tacit promise of safety (Freedom From) in exchange for taxes and good citizenship. There are no conclusions reached, just a framework for thinking about freedom and the nation/state's responsibility to uphold citizen rights.  The Will to DIY website has references: https://thewilltodiy.com/step...

Drawing from a great article, "Economy of Life?," Ryder discusses some thoughts on how people make decisions based on emotion instead of intelligence. (Yes, Ryder is aware, the 'economy or life' distinction is hyperbolic.) He discusses how the economy has become a religion with associated rituals and dogma and the politicians are priests. The problem is, when a storm hits praying for rain isn't go...

Following up on Arendt's 'active life' we discuss how watching mastery has become a replacement for learning or doing yourself. This leads to other issues, such as decreased time to participate in the real world, leading to further frustration or inadequacy in the real world.  Boris Groys bring up the contradiction that movies are not about moving; they promote action on screen, but only at the co...

We are still hammering on Tom Sawyer as the cognitive laborer, but also discuss how insidious cognitive labor can be. We talk more about the mind/body or mental/physical distinction by bringing up Hannah Arendt's "Active Life" and "Contemplative Life," and pointing out the ways categories are used to create hierarchy and simplify information into rational frameworks that allow for ease of understa...

Part 2 playing with the Tom Sawyer parable, where work can become play. Ryder jumps into how we identity ourselves through our leisure time, only to feed a capitalist machine. Then he swings into amusement and learning, criticizing edutainment, but more concerned with choice and attitude in how we approach hobby, labor and learning.   Tom Sawyer and Learning

This is the first in a set of episodes on chores and labor, and our relationship to them. During the quarantine, the DIY list suddenly seems of vital importance, and the dreaded chore has become a challenge to be productive.  Referencing Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" Ryder discusses the attitude change between work and play, eventually considering the dread of chores as a dread of learning, thus a wil...

Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Freud, offers a way to live without relying on our weakness, trauma, and our passive guilt tripping of others to get our way. In short, how to be a good person.  It reveals that most of us are in the midst of using our pain, inflicting and manipulating others, and just generally not doing the DIY work on ourselves to get past our past.  https://thewilltodiy.com/step...

The Ukrainian revolution brought 1 million people to the Maidon for months, and involved citizens fighting their government because they believed in law and a better future.  This is amazing, and it is DIY citizenry at it's best.  https://thewilltodiy.com/step-4-ukraine/

Doubling: the creation of an image of self serves multiple purposes, one of mimicry for society, and another as a way to alter the self.  The image comes first, then follows the forms of society. The garb of society is already formed, and we are aligned to our roles with repetitive actions. https://thewilltodiy.com/step-3-tools/ 1:41 Wanting to be an active do-er versus being a whiney bitch 2:14 F...

Ryder discusses some of his recent paintings of pliers and snips, and all these dangerous, specialized tools as a simplistic metaphor for how we access and handle the world. Tools are force multipliers, and when force is applied for personal reasons to an ideology (be it free-market economics or a notion of justice) it can be destructive to more than the individual, just like using a hammer becaus...

Why this orange? Co-opted governmental authority is now purchasable and branded. The citizen who spends money can now be an authority, or at least feel empowered, but perhaps this small rebellion is signalling something else. Considering blue-collar stereotypes and groups like the Sovereign Citizens, Home Depot offers a starting point for a conversation about division and voice and the appeal of s...