Invisible Doctrine

What Hacker News says

1. yeyeyeyeyeyeyeeMay 2025
   To survive the future, one must start by understanding the problem. The world we see today is the result of choices that started to be made in the 1970s. The positive momentum China currently has started with choices made during the 1980s under Deng Xiaoping. Things change gradually, and then suddenly, and the self-inflicted wounds by the US administration only accelerate what was already happening. There are few parts of the world not subject to the same forces. I strongly recommend reading The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot as a brief, first line explanation of many of the symptoms we currently see in the Western world.

   The second thing to realize is that the current political and economic system is not a force of nature, it can be changed. Not easily and not quickly, but changed nonetheless. However, the beneficiaries of this possible change will be our children, and possibly their offspring.

   As being stressed and concerned on a daily basis is hardly a useful emotion, we must take care of ourselves. It has become a radical act of resistance. To help ourselves, we can read world history, to understand how great powers and industries disappear and what can reasonably be expected in its aftermath. We can read philosophy, to help us think right and keep in touch with the things that are truly important in life. And we can create or appreciate art, to feed our soul. Importantly, we must make appropriate technology and media choices, so we limit our exposure to toxic things we have no direct control over to a level that is sustainable long-term for each individual. If you have access to a positive local community, cherish it and be welcoming to those who do not have that privilege.

   I am not as bullish on the effects of AI as most people in technology, especially not LLMs, though I fully agree it is something to keep tabs on. It is however wise to see through the hype and beyond very powerful companies trying to justify an enormous investment with little to show for until now. Only Nvidia is selling shovels. That said, most CS has now become blue-collar work, and it is something people in the industry have not yet come to terms with.

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2. meristohmFeb 2025
   If more of us grew up with unconditional postive regard, and internalized that, I reckon this focus on competition would be less.

   It's okay to draw lines in the sand. Yeah, I grew up with computers, and yeah, they're cool and all, but unnecessary for a meaningful life. I have yet to intentionally use ML/LLM tech, wnd I make efforts to turn it off in DuckDuckGo (haven't made an account to save that setting yet...) and others when I'm aware of it.

   I would far rather promote education of humans by humans, and the idea of "public luxury, private sufficiency."

   Two books come to mind: The Evolved Nest, by Darcia Narvaez Invisible Doctrine, by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison

   I recommend checking your public library for these, or bookshop dot org or thriftbooks, rather than Amazon.

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3. meristohmJan 2025
   The Invisible Doctrine, by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison. 4hr audiobook, concise text. If by "classical liberal" you mean "laissez-nous faire", this might be easier to be open to reading. If you mean Hayek's now-maligned term "neoliberalism", and you're still trying to find a way to justify that well-meaning (as a reaction to nazism) but flawed approach (the need for bailouts, for one, and the Hobbsian "competition all the way down" lens), this may rub you wrong.

   Of the two, I'd lean into history, and go way back, like 50kya.

   We need a new story to guide us, other than the time-tested authoritarianism/fascism, and I like a messy mix generally guided by "public luxury, private sufficiency."

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4. kadkadelsJun 2024
   I agree. It seems to me that people just ... like to forget stuff like that. They just want someone else in charge. And now with the advent of TikTok a certain party frequently targets young people and tells them that there are easy solutions to their problems. Sad thing is, other parties don't seem to get that they need to be where the young people are and provide content that matches what they like to see.

   I can also only recommend to read "the invisible doctrine" by goerge monbiot. Sad enough that I can't think of a similar book in German. Or a newspaper that would be able to match the Guardian, for example.

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5. meristohmMay 2025
   Capitalism (control of land, labor, and money) has been on the rise since the 1600s[0]; to what degree has this economic model shaped Democracy?

   [0] according to Invisible Doctrine, a history of capitalism by Monbiot and Hutchison (2024)

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