[phs318u]

I have said for many years that in the distant future, historians (those privileged by their patrons to claim the freedom of unfettered research), will read about the brief spasm in history, climaxing in the latter half of the 20th century, in which for half the globe, autocracy, dictatorship and absolute monarchy gave way to a system in which the proletariat believed they had (and amazingly in many circumstances actually had) the freedom to be, to think, to live, to flourish - largely as they wished! Those historians will wonder how this chaotic anarchy managed to not only survive, but momentarily flourish before the immense pressure of history brought about the reversal to the mean: the autocrats ruling, precious few flourishing at their feet, and the rest subsisting sullenly.

[defrost]

That's just history though, a paucity of human existence committed to script, nothing at all of, say, 70K years of libertarian utopia in post-Sahul, just the tantalising remnants of pre digital Instagram real silicon party posts.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwion_Gwion_rock_paintings

[AtlasBarfed]

Ai will give the surveillance state total control.

The only thing that may stop it is imperial darwinism, when "freedom" societies can outcompet raw authoritarianism.

We somewhat have it in US vs China, but the USA may go authoritarian at any moment under this regime and its Nazi posturing