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The MoA Week In Review – OT 2026-187
Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:
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Other issues:
Gaza:
SoAm:
Tech / Science:
Use as open (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Iran) thread …
Not long ago I posted a collection of electronic music from 1992 themed on the immediate predecessors of the Trance genre, which has changed colours a couple of time but it is still up and running. Israel was long famed for its vibrant theme, but it’s surely losing appeal between the Nova festival massacre, the Gaza holocaust and a missile rain on Tel Aviv. There waere always political undertones in this music, and rave culture more generally, ranging from the latent but, seeing the disruptive countermeasures, apparently quite serious threat associated with youth counterculture, especially if there uniting forces like music, drugs, happenings, and a message of peace involved. I for one don’t doubt the US killed Bob Marley for this very reason, and I’m sure the attempts at taming the rave scene by seeking to part their gatherings from communal spiritual experience („you should always dance facing the DJ“ read one advice in a little brochure lying out in a tiny harbourside venue; printed in Israel) comes from the same strategic directives of empire.
Going back into the roots of trance has been a worthwhile endeavour for me. I had expected the early stuff to be a little rough and likely pretty straight, while modern techno (the minimal flavour, not psytrance) would be more subtle and refined, but I found this untrue. For one, the predecessing stages include numerous sophisticated productions from different genres, some mostly forgotten today. I was struck by the art of songwriting and wide range of styles which contributed to what became trance in or around 1993. It’s the very moment in history where the short period of weightlessness ends as it becomes apparent the devils of empire are going in with force. Their evil smirks can be heard in much of the 90ties pop music, and trance for all its lightness and celebration of extatic joy is indeed rougher, more driven and in your face, both on recordings and in the scene gatherings, where amphetamine vibes and relentless forward energy have left the younger folk, like me, withan impression of shallow and cheesy indulgence which feels a little embarassing in hindsight. First off, I am not of the opinion that simple emotions are something to look down on, and the powerful positivity that’s easily mistaken for shallowness until one gets the vibe which creates the reinforcement on that particular meditation on extacy. That said, I know people who were very much in and onboard with the scene, who claim that drug use was strictly optional for the liberating effect, though most did it. It’s weirdly connecting, as I realized when I felt a particularly strong vibe with a DJ one night, and later found out he had taken the same exotic and potent psychedelic that I had (a thing called 2C-E, which has a dose/effect curve to be measured in miligram steps, with light tripping at 11 and heavy at just 17, but that after a little getting used to the unpleasant body load can be taken recklessly in extreme doses, which uniquely induce profound synaesthesia, like I was getting between sense of movement and duration of time. That was bonkers I tell ya, as for a good half of eternity I was enjoying a total blast on the dance floor while the walls were visually melting all around me, very much reminiscent of the melting time pieces painted by Salvador Dalí).
Yeah, anyway. The themed mix from 1991 was done by an enthusiast from Russia,who goes under the moniker neowave. He has created many more such samplers for the years spanning 1988-97 or so, and I shall say he did a magnificent job there. Almost all instances I’ve put on are excellent in all respects – selection, mixing, sound, plus he catches a vibe like others a subway, and just runs with it for a duration which feels always short. This is not dirty music at all, on the contrary; I always thank god for finally sending some real proper amphetamine my way a while ago, which inspired me to finally adjust the phase matching in my combined stereo pairs. The resulting difference is not subtle at all in this type of music. The fast-pacing electronic low-end heavy kick and tom thumps do not just get a little better definition for the ear, but suddenly the rhythmic texture has gained a totally new quality, a visceral and immediate affection of the body, an experience in addition to the sense of hearing.
The studio where I lodge is acoustically benign, and large enough to allow for deep end (often restricted by the size of typical living rooms), and I’ve always been intruiged by the intricacies of optimal speaker setup, but this sound just keeps blowing my mind. I must assume, unfortunately, those of my neighbors too.
[jukebox] neowave – Roots of Trance Anthology (1995) pt.11
This one is bouncing along a bit faster than his usual choice of 160bpm at 167, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but it really is. The noise arpeggios from the step sequencers are drifting from melodic apperance over to a more textural impression, with short phrases sometimes occuring like fanfare. The energy level is way higher as well.
Posted by: persiflo | Aug 30 2026 14:43 utc | 9
@74 too scents
Not to mention the workers who accepted employment, the farmers who chise to borrow to buy at inflated prices
“The peak in total miles of railroads was in 1910, with about 240,000 miles of track and 1.7 million workers. They were the largest enterprises the world had yet seen, consuming vast amounts of capital and employing ~2% of the United States population.”
https://www.fabricatedknowledge.com/p/lessons-from-history-the-great-railroad
…and not to mention the land given was ‘stolen land’, that it was public land given to companies by the government, that including local buyers knew this.
…and not to mention that government sold land at net ‘loss’ (appears common eh ? ) while companies made large profits , which is also common; whether by fractional reserve or promise forward returns , the article above explains some of how the stock market became its own currency.
…and not to mention that investors chose to commit their capital to questionable enterprise, which would be their right one supposes.
…yet hard currency (or whatever version close to it at the time) was what actually showed up the miscalculation and fraud.
…if it were all centrally managed via government without that to interfere, then who knows, they would have ‘carried on building because it was for the common good – you know where wages are if you want to compete for the reduced agricultural production due to labour loss ‘ for example.
There is just no reason to trust all to government, centralised planning etc.
‘Who made the train ?’
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c6T6suvnhco
@(? Previous thread) too scents
The theory of marginal utility did seem ‘out’ when I first read it, an ideal or a truth that was only partial or specific in the real world.
The essay you linked did not convince me further one way or the other, although it did help to elaborate on any underpinnings of idealism present, picked up and amplified by a writer who would espouse those maybe.
A definition of equality might start with an equal respect for the person, including of having the ability and choice to decide their own action and effort, that a person is ‘their own property’ and therefore holds responsibility, which might or should include community.
Voluntary action as part of a collective is quite normal also:
In traditional society, the custom would be to lead by example, where a role model was emulated and respected. A child would see a parent working in the fields for example, to provide sustenance, and himself and the grandparent being fed, and so it would be natural for the child to continue this role and tradition.
However where the roles are not equal in more complex circumstance, for example someone at a desk telling someone on a factory floor, no matter under which ‘ism and regardless of difference in reward, requires a different understanding.
Economics remains only a hypothesis with regard, because someone might not agree to work equal hours for equal wage but prefer to work less for a lesser wage…’wasted capital’.
Equally they might find that they would like to work or contribute more but that the only recognition of that would be to be called a fool by a formal collective.
So the theme, whichever direction taken, must essentially be based on an approach that has transparency and accountability, that has a clear moral and ethical guideline, basis, and reasoning.
Etc.
Posted by: Ornot | Aug 30 2026 22:01 utc | 77
@86 karlof
I always appreciate Hudson’s historical presentations (and thanks @juliania for text link).
On democracy there he misses a major shift, maybe because it is out of context for that discussion, which is the move off of gold standaed and into Keynesian then MMT economics. Bretton Woods was gold settlement between nations, but nationally debt creation became the norm, the Fed in the US, via the loss of budget veto by Lords in UK. In UK this was promoted on grounds of social agenda, merged into politics and democracy, but eventually serving financial interests in an otherwise deflationary world.
In the US post ’71, as well as formation of linked currency system around the world, inflation via debt within the US gave ‘wealth’ not only to existing asset owners but via social spending, in a more distributed sense. The inflation that occurred was offset by cheaper foreign production, both wealth and debt increased across society, though not in a balanced way, particularly debt was socialised or for those lowest on the asset rung. This was also the direction of US democracy. Economically it allowed a move to service employment and inflation of value of questionable enterprise .
You counter yourself maybe when speaking of China though. Not only is China part of the US system (what is it doing holding, adding worth to, US debt e.g.) , but it accepted the trade off of industrialisation and modernisation and technology transfer for supplying cheaper labour export production, and so subsidised export to US (by pegging, as others, its currency) .
That is to say it knowingly facilitated the current US direction, beggar thy neighbour some would call it, but ultimately it is national policy that decides on what international position own country takes – US chose its own direction, or at least high finance in the US did. No criticism of China is implied, it is just a different understanding of its position.
This also brings to mind one other point. The Catholic church has been involved in continental europe maybe, but the Anglo Germanic world turned to other finance quite a wbile ago. The industrialists mentioned were one side to that, and fitted with hard currency.
The social soft money and political influence finance was another banking line however, that benefitted from the MMT approach and de-industrialisation.
Which maybe explains the world petergrfstrm is trying to figure out, whether biased or otherwise,
Posted by: Ornot | Aug 31 2026 2:39 utc | 85
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