The word hypernormalisation was coined by Alexei Yurchak a professor of anthropology who was born in Leningrad. He introduced the word which describes paradoxes of life during the 1970s and 1980s in the USSR. He says everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend.
Just the other day there was a writer that explains a phenomenon in her new book (can't remember her name off the bat).
She describes the fact that people always say "it starts with you", promoting individual action. Like, "if you want to stop climate change, why don't you become a vegetarian." But few people actually do.
She argued that it's not that people don't want to, however what's never taken into account is that the cards are stacked against the individual by corporations and (in many cases) government.
There are laws, marketing machines, price points and supply chains that set the virtual boundaries within which people can maneuver.
People still have enough individual freedom to keep a sense of free will, but under the hood, this free will is heavily influenced by what's affordable, normalized or in supply.
It's a pretty bleak view, and only solved by a change in politics where politicians actually want to work for the people and for democracy rather than for corporations.
The people can provide them with votes, corporations with money. This can lead to a government that benefits from lying to their voters while profiting from corporations.
When has it ever been any better? There’s plenty we can say about class exploitation, racism, lack of healthcare for the poor, low wages, war… but was any part of that better in any other era of history? You could make a tenuous argument that some of these were marginally better a decade or three ago, but in the grand schemes of things, the only thing that’s gotten worse during our history is environmental devastation. And even on that score, we are rookies. The cyanobacteria fucked this ball of slime UP long before it was cool.
I’m not saying everything’s great. I’m saying it’s only been worse as you look back.
William Gibson wrote: The future has arrived, it's just not evenly distributed.
Yeah I've been feeling bizarre as the US falls into fascism and ill just be at work like any other day
We aren't, we are simply adapting and continuing on with our human existence. It's not normal but humans will always adapt. We invented air conditioners and populate a literal desert in opulence. We literally created flying machines to get from one side of the world to the other in 24 hours. None of that stuff was normal either. We are inventive and adaptive.
I sometimes wonder if I'll ever be inspired again. Or feel motivated.
Seeing a convict run amok and President really fucks with your mental health.
Seeing the blatantly corrupt and evil people just makes it hard to care about anything anymore.
I sometimes just stare in the dark night wondering why im still here when other people who wanted to do things are not here anymore.
Alexei Yurchak who was a professor of anthropology coined a term for this: Hypernormalisation.
From Wikipedia: "He introduced the word in his book 'Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation', which describes paradoxes of Soviet life during the 1970s and 1980s. He says everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend."
Story of my life! 😁😂😭
The weird thing is it's kind of more bizarre than a dystopian society. In dystopia, you know resources are scarce and that you have to defend yourself with violence. But in this actual dystopia, I can still get up and go play disc golf, pretty much without incident. There could come a day when I'm pulled over by some Nazi cop who decides to make an example of me, which face it, has been the case for some time now, but until then for little things like that, it's pretty much business as usual despite the plummet into fascism. Very weird.
There is no use in getting overwhelmed. I am merely getting more practiced in drinking larger and larger amounts of whiskey and smoking larger and larger amounts of cannabis to deal with it.
We all have a process
And hopefully, at least most of us will survive.
If not, for all of you fascists: I have a plan to destroy all of you that involves an enormous amount of pee. Like, so much, you can’t fucking imagine. An absolute cavalcade of pee.
Don’t try me
#PeeStrong
Yeah. Especially living in a society actively sliding towards some of the worst features described in some of the fictional worlds I enjoyed in novels coupled with a police state. It was never perfect, ever, but the amplification of the awful parts is really depressing.
This weekend I built a shed in my back yard, which was a nice bit of father-son bonding, and stockpiled ammo in case civil unrest causes widespread violence to break out in our neighborhood.
Definitely a strange vibe.
All day everyday
Do you ever statement framed as a question?
Society has a lot of inertia.
When the weight of the world feels overwhelming, remember this: Everything humans have ever done, every building, road, machine, and moment, makes up only a tiny fraction of this planet’s mass. We are small creatures, clinging to the surface of a vast, ancient, quietly turning sphere. The Earth itself is not in crisis. It simply is. Steady, silent, and endlessly patient. If human noise becomes too much, just place your hand on the ground. Feel the stillness. Let it remind you that you are connected to something far older, far larger, and far more enduring than any headline or heartbreak. The Earth will hold you.
EvErYoNe kEEps aCtINg LiKe it’s NoRMaL
But Momma, that's where the fun is
"We live in a dystopia"
Said the dude
With access to running water
Food
Medicines
Rights
Technology
Opportunities
Privileges
That 99% of the whole world population doesn't have and won't ever have access to, even in their wildest dream
This dude doesn't need to worry about being sold into slavery
Or leaving his country just to avoid persecution be it political or otherwise
Or working 24/7 non stop
Or being caged just to be a source of entertainment for others
Having his limbs chopped for food.
Being used as a tool to relieve sexual stress
Being extorted into war and crime just to save his family lives
Being forced to murder and rape perks just to not be murdered himself
Or being used as a human shield against his will or else
Having his organs harvested to pay debts
Murder his own family and children to avoid them the pain of being abused and tortured to death
All things that happens daily in our current world
And yet he says he lives in a dystopia nightmare
while sitting on his couch
At his parents or his own house, owning property
Stoned out of his mind
On his latest generation phone that he probably got to pay for on easy installments or was gifted to him
Having had breakfast and a good night sleep
While having access to the sum of the whole world knowledge at his fingertips
And working a couchy desk/customer service job which requires zero skill whatsoever
Yes we hear you and feel so sorry about your pain. Let us commiserate together about how bad YOU have it.
I'd like to think people like this are not real, but in case they are, I just wish them to experience the most slowest and agonizing of lives
