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Fascinating. You have to wonder if they are cognizant of the associations of the term "accelrationism" with the extremes of the political spectrum and signallin

Fascinating. You have to wonder if they are cognizant of the associations of the term "accelrationism" with the extremes of the political spectrum and signalling a dog-whistle for one or the other, or if they just think it sounds cool?

nickpp 3y ago
> associations of the term "accelrationism" with the extremes of the political spectrum Care to elaborate? I am completely unaware of these associations.
- pringk02 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism Though it has left-wing and right-wing variants, accelerationism argues that one should double down on capitalisim in order to destroy it.
  - timmytokyo 3y ago
    The variant supported by most Silicon Valley types appears to be the right-wing one. Andreessen's "techno-optimist manifesto" cites Filippo Marinetti, founder of the Italian futurist and fascist movements, as one of its "patron saints". Also included: Nick Land, spiritual father of the "dark enlightenment" accelerationist philosophy known known as neoreaction.
    - malermeister 3y ago
      Most Silicon Valley VC types are poorly disguised crypto- (excuse the double entendre) fascists.
  - zozbot234 3y ago
    That was Marx's original theory - capitalism had to reach its full and complete development before it could transition into socialism. This is still understood in China as their rationale for supporting a market economy even in a supposedly 'socialist' country.
- EA-3167 3y ago
  Accelerationists believe that the only way for a new political/social system to emerge (Communism, Fascism, whateverism) is to accelerate the downfall of status quo. So instead of engaging with the system and trying to change it, they try to enhance the worst aspects of it in the hopes that will drive people to (generally violent) revolution. It is obviously a niche ideology you rarely run into offline, and when you do it's generally young, mentally ill, or simply very damaged people who can't imagine life ever getting better without the world burning first.
  - nickpp 3y ago
    So it looks to me like the only thing they all have in common is the root word "to accelerate" - otherwise they are completely different ideologies.
- dist-epoch 3y ago
  For example the Proud Boys far-right US group are also accelerationists: https://ctc.westpoint.edu/uniting-for-total-collapse-the-january-6-boost-to-accelerationism/ https://ctc.westpoint.edu/uniting-for-total-collapse-the-jan... They want to accelerate towards civil racial war in US.
catapart 3y ago
As best I can tell, like most things, it's a mix of both. Some people are drawn for the dog whistles, while others are drawn for the surface-level pitch. Each seem confident that the other is the minority. Personally, it feels like a reaction to the failure of crypto (and not the recent failure; the decade-long fits and starts that keep handing them what look like wins, but that haven't actually amounted to their preferred world yet). All of those crypto bros that feel, deep in their bones, that crypto SHOULD work, if not for all of the 'luddites' holding it back, channel their energy into a more generalizeable set of principles that otherize anyone who would tell them to not chase progress, even if the only restriction is "don't do it AT ALL COSTS. Balance it with humanity." And if your whole philosophy is "let the fire consume because fire is pure energy and how can producing pure energy be bad, in the long run?", then I imagine "accelerationism" is still a lot more marketable than "execution engine-ism", or "harvestism", or most other terms that could accurately describe the disposition.
toasterlovin 3y ago
The creators are aware of the political valence of accelerationism. The name “e/acc”, pronounced “ee-ack”, is a play on EA (as in, Effective Altruism). The whole thing was tongue in cheek shitposting that somehow got real traction.
wwalexander 3y ago
Yes, they are, all these psychos are reading Nick Land. It’s not an accident. > Combine technology and markets and you get what Nick Land has termed the techno-capital machine, the engine of perpetual material creation, growth, and abundance. https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ > Land is also known for later developing the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic ideas behind neo-reaction and the Dark Enlightenment, which he named. It’s all neo-fascism.
tomjen3 3y ago
It seems like everything is racist and a dog whistle these days, but I will bite. How is new and better technology racist?
- syndicatedjelly 3y ago
  [flagged]
- the_only_law 3y ago
  who the hell mentioned racism. Or are you so stupidly stuck in brainless culture war crusading you think “dog whistle” is only associated with racism?
- pringk02 3y ago
  It could be a Marxist dog-whistle, though their literature would suggest that is unlikely, as you'd expect a few nods towards inequality. It's also not technology that's suspect. It's the choice of the word "accelerationism" which tends to be associated with people who wish to accelerate what they see as the inevitable collapse of the current social-economic-political system. There are people who believe doing so would usher in Communisim. There seem to be much more who believe doing so would usher in an era without "globo-homo" as they seem to like to use as short hand at the moment. You might enjoy this wikipedia section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism#Fascist_accelerationist_organizations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism#Fascist_accele... Then again, it could all be a massive coincidence that this is term they have chosen to use. I would expect they will certainly attract people who don't believe in coincidence, whether they want that to be the case or not.

nickpp 3y ago

> associations of the term "accelrationism" with the extremes of the political spectrum Care to elaborate? I am completely unaware of these associations.

pringk02 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism Though it has left-wing and right-wing variants, accelerationism argues that one should double down on capitalisim in order to destroy it.
- timmytokyo 3y ago
  The variant supported by most Silicon Valley types appears to be the right-wing one. Andreessen's "techno-optimist manifesto" cites Filippo Marinetti, founder of the Italian futurist and fascist movements, as one of its "patron saints". Also included: Nick Land, spiritual father of the "dark enlightenment" accelerationist philosophy known known as neoreaction.
  - malermeister 3y ago
    Most Silicon Valley VC types are poorly disguised crypto- (excuse the double entendre) fascists.
- zozbot234 3y ago
  That was Marx's original theory - capitalism had to reach its full and complete development before it could transition into socialism. This is still understood in China as their rationale for supporting a market economy even in a supposedly 'socialist' country.
EA-3167 3y ago
Accelerationists believe that the only way for a new political/social system to emerge (Communism, Fascism, whateverism) is to accelerate the downfall of status quo. So instead of engaging with the system and trying to change it, they try to enhance the worst aspects of it in the hopes that will drive people to (generally violent) revolution. It is obviously a niche ideology you rarely run into offline, and when you do it's generally young, mentally ill, or simply very damaged people who can't imagine life ever getting better without the world burning first.
- nickpp 3y ago
  So it looks to me like the only thing they all have in common is the root word "to accelerate" - otherwise they are completely different ideologies.
dist-epoch 3y ago
For example the Proud Boys far-right US group are also accelerationists: https://ctc.westpoint.edu/uniting-for-total-collapse-the-january-6-boost-to-accelerationism/ https://ctc.westpoint.edu/uniting-for-total-collapse-the-jan... They want to accelerate towards civil racial war in US.

catapart 3y ago

As best I can tell, like most things, it's a mix of both. Some people are drawn for the dog whistles, while others are drawn for the surface-level pitch. Each seem confident that the other is the minority. Personally, it feels like a reaction to the failure of crypto (and not the recent failure; the decade-long fits and starts that keep handing them what look like wins, but that haven't actually amounted to their preferred world yet). All of those crypto bros that feel, deep in their bones, that crypto SHOULD work, if not for all of the 'luddites' holding it back, channel their energy into a more generalizeable set of principles that otherize anyone who would tell them to not chase progress, even if the only restriction is "don't do it AT ALL COSTS. Balance it with humanity." And if your whole philosophy is "let the fire consume because fire is pure energy and how can producing pure energy be bad, in the long run?", then I imagine "accelerationism" is still a lot more marketable than "execution engine-ism", or "harvestism", or most other terms that could accurately describe the disposition.

toasterlovin 3y ago

The creators are aware of the political valence of accelerationism. The name “e/acc”, pronounced “ee-ack”, is a play on EA (as in, Effective Altruism). The whole thing was tongue in cheek shitposting that somehow got real traction.

wwalexander 3y ago

Yes, they are, all these psychos are reading Nick Land. It’s not an accident. > Combine technology and markets and you get what Nick Land has termed the techno-capital machine, the engine of perpetual material creation, growth, and abundance. https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ > Land is also known for later developing the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic ideas behind neo-reaction and the Dark Enlightenment, which he named. It’s all neo-fascism.

tomjen3 3y ago

It seems like everything is racist and a dog whistle these days, but I will bite. How is new and better technology racist?

syndicatedjelly 3y ago
[flagged]
the_only_law 3y ago
who the hell mentioned racism. Or are you so stupidly stuck in brainless culture war crusading you think “dog whistle” is only associated with racism?
pringk02 3y ago
It could be a Marxist dog-whistle, though their literature would suggest that is unlikely, as you'd expect a few nods towards inequality. It's also not technology that's suspect. It's the choice of the word "accelerationism" which tends to be associated with people who wish to accelerate what they see as the inevitable collapse of the current social-economic-political system. There are people who believe doing so would usher in Communisim. There seem to be much more who believe doing so would usher in an era without "globo-homo" as they seem to like to use as short hand at the moment. You might enjoy this wikipedia section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism#Fascist_accelerationist_organizations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism#Fascist_accele... Then again, it could all be a massive coincidence that this is term they have chosen to use. I would expect they will certainly attract people who don't believe in coincidence, whether they want that to be the case or not.