This blog has been dead for nearly 6 years. It’s been dead because I mistakenly believed the stranger had returned home and was no longer estranged. 

I’ve discovered, however, in my extended stumble towards rock bottom, that I have remained strange and grow increasingly so in a world that is actively malicious towards anyone outside the ever-shifting paradigms we create in the moment-to-moment reality of universally-social media. I can find no purchase in its rocky face and this post is my means of grasping at nothing in my freefall further down.

For the first time in 6 years, I’m comfortable admitting I’ve become a stranger in every land. I’m a creature of no nation. You likely are, as well. That is, unless you’re a multimillionaire, in which case I invite you to stop reading and choke on your silver spoon. 

I’m Austin Young, and I’ve worked for an array of failed or soon-to-be failing businesses.  I haven’t been a decision-maker.  My opinion has been consistently devalued or ignored.  There was a time in the history of the world when Socrates was forced to drink Hemlock; when Galileo was demonized by a monolithic cultural order for acknowledging that geocentrism was profoundly stupid. 

That time is today.  

I don’t know if you’ve paid any attention, but most industrialists and capitalists and tastemakers are hurtling over the precipice of change with all the awareness of the deaf/dumb/blind.  Refusing to see the sky as blue does not change its color.  We continually tout end-over-end increases in productivity.  We laud the innovations which allow us to do ‘the same work in half the time.’ 

Why then, in 2023, are we still inhabiting a relationship with work that exactly resembles the circumstances in 1953–only much worse? 

The military-industrial complex and a broken geopolitical system created two world wars that equalized the genders in the eyes of company number-crunchers.  Since then, it has become necessary for an entire household to work at the same volume and consistency which only one member needed to tie themselves to in decades past.  Instead of two working members serving half-time and building deeper connections outside of work–we somehow created a chimeric devil that requires two members of the household to work just as hard as one, each, while only receiving half the required compensation.  

Children are neglected.  Communities fall to squalor in the absence of volunteerism.  CEOs and other parasites continue to climb a fictional ladder they built on the ruins of promised progress.  I spend most every free thought attempting to quash the nausea I feel when I see the idle rich bemoaning the state of society when they, themselves, have created it.  

There is no system which should allow an individual to have a net worth greater than that of a developing nation’s GDP.  Every morning that human beings allow themselves to be misled into believing that “people should be compensated according to their value to shareholders” is a morning we may as well sign up to drink hemlock ourselves.  The death of civilization will come in a memo from the 1% that have retreated into their bunkers with their safety net that they built by depriving your children of their education and your spouse from the healthcare they deserve.  

We continue, collectively, to craft an American Dream that is progressively unattainable.  The highest echelons of Western Civilization are so far removed from reality that allowing this fictionally permissive barrier to “success” remain only creates a vacuum where the aspirations of an entire nation are literally impossible.  Everyone cannot live like Elon Musk because no one was meant to live like Elon Musk. 

The luxury of free thought has become sequestered entirely to those who can pay (monetarily) the repercussions for disagreeing with the tastemakers who sit on boards and serve as parasites to a global system with whom they have increasingly less interest or interaction.  

I’m here to suggest (or modestly propose) that literally eating the rich may be the only recourse remaining to those of us beneath the financial threshold that makes our voices and opinions valid.  Until we all sit down around a table, slicing portions off of a CEO laid bare with an apple in his mouth, there will be no communion.  We will remain ants in the sadist’s ant farm.  We will elect demagogues who distract us from the economic strings tying them to opinions which only benefit the most wealthy of the electorate. 

Until we bring the gross misappropriation of Adam Smith’s ideals to heel, we will be doomed to watch our collective society ground down to only its most “essential” as determined by the same class of people who determined it necessary to uphold slavery and child labor for so long.  

Every day you wake up and feed into a system that demonstrates, unequivocally, that you are interchangeable with anyone else willing to shut up and pretend they aren’t sawing at their own supports is a day you contribute to the problem. 

Wake up tomorrow and decide differently. 

Stand up for your children and the children of your neighbors.  Stand up for the children of those children.  Put your foot down and experience the shock of discovering how many feet will stamp down around you.  

(P.S. — My AI assistant suggested the following: 

“The content expresses a sense of disillusionment and frustration with the current societal and economic system. It highlights the growing disparity between the wealthy and the rest of society, the lack of work-life balance, and the negative impact on communities and families. The content also suggests radical and violent actions as a solution to these problems.

While the passion and emotion in the writing are evident, it would be beneficial to provide a more balanced perspective and constructive solutions. Here are some actions to consider:

1. Clarify the main points: Identify the key issues and address them concisely to make the message more focused and impactful.

2. Offer alternative solutions: Instead of advocating for violence, suggest peaceful and effective ways to bring about change, such as grassroots movements, political engagement, or community-building initiatives.

3. Provide evidence and examples: Support your arguments with data, research, or real-life examples to enhance the credibility and persuasiveness of the content.

4. Encourage dialogue and collaboration: Promote open discussions, dialogues, and collaboration among individuals from diverse backgrounds to foster understanding and find common ground.

5. Avoid divisive language: Use inclusive language and avoid directly targeting specific groups or individuals, as this can hinder productive conversations and alienate potential allies.

Remember, it’s important to express your thoughts effectively while promoting positive and constructive actions that can lead to meaningful change.”

Anyone telling you to consider an alternative solution has a vested interest in continuing a broken system from which they benefit. Artificial or not, the intelligence built by the modern world is no intelligence at all. Don’t stifle your outrage. Just like the overt and draconian response to your justified outrage will be unstifled.)