Being Human in a LARPing World
Epsilon Theory
June 8, 2022·Politics
American political and social institutions have become so locked into polarization that reform efforts from within actually reinforce the problem they're trying to solve. The deeper issue isn't guns or police tactics. It's that every major institution profits from maintaining the conditions that make disasters possible. As long as the game rewards performative action over real change, no amount of policy reform will break the cycle.
- The Uvalde police dressed in tactical gear but didn't act as protectors. The actual hero wore jeans and a baseball cap, and he didn't wait for permission.
- Only 18 percent of Biden voters see Trump voters as good Americans, and 22 percent of Trump voters feel the same. This isn't policy disagreement. Both sides benefit equally from dehumanization.
- Every reform effort becomes just another red vs. blue battlefield. Gun control, police reform, campaign finance reform. The system has learned to absorb dissent and use it as fuel.
- Schools and police departments benefit from perpetual crisis. Political parties benefit from eternal enemies. The institutions that should prevent disasters don't actually want them to stop.
- If you can't reform the system from inside the system, what do you do? The question isn't whether gun control works. It's whether anything can work within these rules.
The Why of Epsilon Theory
- Direct access to leading narrative-tracking technology across global news.
- Deep analysis of how narratives shape markets, politics, and society.
- An active online community of independent voters, investors and thinkers.
Subscribe to Premium
Already a member? Log in
Looking for Deeper Insights?
Unlock exclusive market intelligence, trade ideas, and member-only events tailored for investment professionals and active investors with Perscient Pro.
VISIT PRO
Politics
ET Note
Politics
Comments
I love this Ben.
In a world where somehow we are reduced to picking between a destructive anti-government/anti-rules libertarianism and equally problematic big-government/fiat politics, I would like to choose a bottom-up system based on our shared humanity. Where rules aren’t the enemy, but are recognized as the useful fictions they are.
I believe we have reached a good old storage issue. Society has developed into something so complex that we can no longer see the duality between our useful fictions and our actual network of human beings. And like the time-poor Consumers!TM that we have become, we resort to reading only headlines instead of the stories the headlines were intended to symbolise.
What a mess.
Beautiful Ben, this had me tearing up on the subway.
LARPing
Live Action Role Playing
Unaware of the water in which we swim.
Unaware of the narrative in which we live.
Thank you Ben,
Jim Handshaw
Why is there no discussion here of what actually happened, and didn’t happen, in Uvalde on a macro level? Seems pretty clear that this whole event was stage managed, much as so many of the major events that have happened since like… the beginning of the twentieth (and I don’t mean 21st) century. Until we confront the demon head on, which means calling it out for what it is instead of hiding behind memes, we cannot even begin to make progress in defeating it – all the pray, eat, love, teach aside. What we are looking at is a Hydra whose sole desire is our complete capitulation, which is to say enslavement. Uvalde, clearly so, is just another operation designed to further their narrative. Can it possibly be seen in any other light? How many MK Ultras, Project Artichokes, et al. need to surface until it is understood what is being done to us? Good grief!
Thank you Ben. I need to regularly hear your voice of sanity and reason, in this insane, unreasonable world. Your efforts are appreciated.
Therapeutic. You have captured the despair so well.
Ben, will you please take a few minutes to define what you mean by “gun culture”? It’s not clear to me what behaviors, actions, and attitudes you consider to be part of the cancer of gun culture versus those that are not. A little clarity may help advance the discussion.
I think he means things like this, I live in a part of Texas with lots of LARPs: :Is a Daniel Defense AR-15 Worth the Money? The DDM4 V7 Review - YouTube
Excellent post!
I can relate to the anger. I am so frustrated and weary from trying to be human in a LARPing world.
I needed the reminder that I am not alone.
So this article was what finally out me over the edge to become a member of the pack. Long overdue in retrospect but glad to be here. This is my first post.
I read an article recently by Jonathan Haidt about the last decade of American Stupidity the other day and I thought he nailed the problem very effectively, but wasn’t very keen on his solution. Highly recommend taking the time to read the article. It’s in the Atlantic.
Shortly after I read this article from Ben, and BAM! The solution crystal clear. A personal revolution has begun. Make. Teach. Protect. It starts with me.
I’m excited to join the pack and support all the hard work Ben and Epsilon Theory is doing, and look forward to getting to know this community. I trust that perhaps this is a place that has not become an absolute dumpster fire of dart throwing entrenched ideologues.
Hope Everyone has a wonderful day today!
Continue the discussion at the Epsilon Theory Forum...