What is this blog?

This is a blog about a lot of things. But really at the center of it is my journey trying to make sense of the problems facing this world. I’m very concerned about the future we face, and I don’t have much faith in a lot of the usual solutions and frameworks we turn to to try and address them. That really leaves only one option then, which is to put in the work to develop an alternative to the ideas and strategies we’ve taken for granted.

With this blog I try to challenge existing theories as to why things are the way they are, and try to brainstorm a path forward to actually solving our problems. What I would eventually like is for this site to act as a full dump of my brain – a place where people can go to understand how I think and engage with my ideas, see my work and build off of it, and just get to see what I spend so much of my time on.

Who am I?

I typically avoid discussing myself, since I want this blog to be about the ideas rather than the author.

I’m pretty eclectic in what I draw from, both in terms of subjects and viewpoints. My reading is very broad, but some of the writers you’ll often see me cite include Barth, Lasch, Ellul, Hobsbawm, Burke, Marx, and Adorno.

In the realm of tech, I try to maintain a commitment to the principles of UNIX design and promote the usage of free-software. I make it a point to explore not just how the existence of tech has come to impact society, but also the larger political context surrounding its production and evolution.

How does the site work?

The site’s kinda structured as a hybrid of a bunch of different things: academic blog, newsletter, and project portfolio. Basically it’s a personal page for me and my work. The three categories on the top bar pretty much break down the site into it’s main components.

What should I read?

There’s a lot of different pieces on this site, and some of them I’m more proud of than others.

If you’re looking for something with more complexity and depth, I’d recommend:

• The Injustice of the Cross – Easily the most complex thing I’ve written so far. A multi-part series using the saga of the crucifixion to develop a theological deconstruction of the concept of justice. In simpler terms, this essay tries to make sense of what it means to engage with politics as a Christian.
• Good Intentions Don’t Pave Roads – An in-depth critique of the organizing models that currently exist in FOSS (free-and-open-source software) circles. This piece would go on to serve as the basis for a lot of my tech-organizing efforts.

If you’re looking for something shorter and more accessible:

• America Isn’t So Tough on China – A quick piece critiquing the long-standing incoherence in U.S. foreign policy towards China, using current events as a springboard to introduce people to world-systems theory.
• AI and the Black-Box Problem – Tracing a lot of the common problems with AI-reliance back to more fundamental concepts surrounding abstraction and alienation under capitalism