DVS Press

Boomer Economist vs. innerne’ pr0n

rpmfidel January 9, 2020 January 9, 2020Economics, Non-fiction, politics 2

I really don’t know how to write about Paul Krugman. Others have talked about his economics which is beyond my scope here (in short – the criticism is that he’s bad at prediction and engages in nostalgianomics), but when it comes to something like this, it’s hard to know where to begin: This is like a piece of post-modern art, only it actually means something. It’s a portrait of a boomer, painted with the boomer’s own words. Mike Cernovich had this to say: Yes, obviously the idea that someone “compromised” his IP address to download child pornography is absurd, but…

Disney Star Wars may provoke an artistic renaissance

rpmfidel January 8, 2020 January 8, 2020Analysis, Movies, Non-fiction 0

Not because it’s good. Oh no, it was very, very far from good. And yet it may be the shock that wakes people up from the cultural stupor of the corporate period and gets them to either stop consuming entirely (starvation) or gets them to look at non-corporate alternatives, most of which are fare more original and better executed than the drivel that has been pooped out by Disney the last few years. That incentive could drive lots of money – and therefore talent – back to writing classic stories. The meta-narrative of Disney Wars, which has primarily been about…

Romance Writers Implode

rpmfidel January 8, 2020 January 8, 2020Non-fiction, politics, Writing 0

Corporate cancer has afflicted the romance writers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/01/08/romance-writers-america-cancels-awards-program-writer-racism-controversy/ The saga continues. This time, the entire organization has folded back on itself, much like something that is frequently described in the tomes of the membership. This won’t end well, of course, but we must also ponder: What exactly is the point of a professional membership organization like the Romance Writers of America, anyway? Is it a trade union? If so, it’s a shambling corpse in the newpub landscape. Is it for author support? Clearly the constant harassment and infighting doesn’t serve that purpose. They cancelled their awards, so they are clearly…

Feeding Molech for a Trophy

rpmfidel January 7, 2020 January 7, 2020Movies, Non-fiction, politics 3

Very rarely does something appear truly devilish to me, but this one really seemed strange, even crazy. I’m curious if those who don’t share my faith get the same vibe, but for sure there is something… off about her voice. It sounds compelled, if that makes sense: Of course, there is more to this than that. First, she makes the trade obvious – she is successful because having an abortion allowed the opportunity to be so; she would not have the trophy had she not aborted her child. She says, “Thank God or whomever you pray to.” An image comes…

Who is Michael Moore Talking To?

rpmfidel January 7, 2020 January 7, 2020Non-fiction, politics 0

It sure ain’t the Ayatolla, who probably doesn’t know who he is and wouldn’t care what a godless, decadent American has to say to him anyway. This is to say nothing of the fact that posting a podcast is not actually communicating with a foreign leader. So who is this tub talking to? Well, everyone who agrees with him, that’s who. This is a plea for attention and an attempt to regain relevancy that has been lost due to the free-flowing information of the internet. He’s talking to leftists like himself, saying the things that they want to hear. They…

On Being Prolific

rpmfidel January 6, 2020 January 5, 2020Non-fiction, Writing 0

What does being prolific actually mean? Usually, it means that someone is outputting a great deal of something: a prolific writer, a prolific musician, a prolific painter, etc. I’m a bit different, though, in that I tend to split my productivity among several pursuits: writing books, writing blog content, recording informative (and hopefully somewhat entertaining) videos, recording music, and raising children. Yes, we often do not think of raising children as part of productivity, but it certainly is. Your progeny is in many ways your biggest legacy, and is also one of the biggest contributions you can make to your…

“Star Wars Fans” and created identities

rpmfidel January 5, 2020 January 5, 2020Non-fiction, Philosophy, politics 0

Just a little follow-up to my post yesterday: Being a “fan” is no to a large part a function of identity. However, it is fundamentally different from other forms of identity, such as race, ethnicity, or religion. For ethnicity, membership is generally obvious and immutable – either you are the descendant of an ethnic group or you are not, with the only grey area being multi-ethnic individuals in some circumstances. For religion, identity is primarily how one views himself and his alignment with tradition and creed that has been passed down, and so is in most cases not up for…

Social Proof

rpmfidel January 5, 2020 January 4, 2020Economics, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Writing 0

“Social Proof” is something you NEED to become familiar with. It’s essential if you are going to be doing any kind of marketing. What is social proof? Basically, it’s this: Other people think this, therefore it is likely to be true. If you are thinking straight away that this is a logical fallacy, just hold your objections. I’ll explain how social proof is different than an appeal to popularity. Social proof is a very fast method of judging initial likelihood of truth – A filter, more than “proof” in the logical sense. This is in the realm of induction, obviously.…

What the hell is a fan, anyway?

rpmfidel January 4, 2020 January 4, 2020Non-fiction 1

Seriously, I have to wonder at this point, what a “fan” is. It seems like every fandom is trying to be a clique that excludes anyone isn’t interested in every piece of media related to something regardless of their preferences. Not only do I have to watch the bad movie, I have to read a bad book made out of the bad movie? I have to read bad tie-in books to the bad movie? I have to also read the good books that got thrown out by the corporation that made the bad movies, and I have to bad read…

The Material Mind – What makes a mind “alive”?

rpmfidel January 4, 2020 January 4, 2020Analysis, Non-fiction, Philosophy 0

I detailed in a recent Star Wars Mandalorian analysis a rare entry into the the true science fiction space in the mighty space opera franchise. In the final episode of the first season, a droid character acts as though he is sapient, even making moral calculations, but at the same time denies that he is alive. This becomes important when the Mandalorian, who never removes his helmet in front of living beings due to an oath, allows the droid to remove his helmet and treat a life-threatening wound. This creates some dissonance with the titular character – he has come…