Another great piece! This reminds me of a debate I got into with my brother three years ago as he started dropping all his Covid mitigations. He was trying to tell me that there was a reasonable argument for stopping them. When I pressed, however, he admitted that we were in the middle of a mass disabling event and he didn’t see the point of limiting his life because of it. He told me that he wanted to live as best he could for as long as he could in a collapsing world. I feel this is the mindset of so many Neoliberals. They think that the system they perpetuate is inevitable. Not realizing that this belief is what’s making it inevitable. We must keep resisting, even if it seems impossible, because it only becomes impossible when we give up.
Technically it was a small expedition ship and the entire hanta story is complete bullshit.
The expedition ship MV Hondius is named after famous Dutch cartographer Jodocus Hondius. The ship was christened for its maiden voyage on June 2, 2019, in Vlissingen, Netherlands by Elizabeth Hondius- no relation to Jodocus. This ceremony makes her the ship's "godmother."
Who is Elizabth Hondius? She is legal counsel for MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) and was involved with Gardasil, Merck's vaccine for preventing cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Her association with the company involves management and legal oversight, particularly in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The expedition departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, 2026, April Fools Day) carrying 88 passengers and 59 crew members representing 23 different nationalities.
The three deceased were Leo and his wife, who had been positioned in an extremely toxic landfill for hours (toxic fumes) as they waited for a "gold medal" once-in-a-lifetime photo of the rare Darwin's Caracara, and an 80 year old German woman who has yet to be identified.
Much more to the story I'll leave it there for now. Anyone who believes any part of this set-up is a fool.
Pretty sure I know the writer you're talking about who jumped to the AI ship. Pretty shocking. I unsubscribed.
The super El Niño, drought and agricultural situation (imploding) present fatal circumstances in themselves. The attack on Iran guaranties more fatalities beyond the war theater. This is not by accident.
The cruise ship hantavirus debacle is a perfect summation of our stupidity.
"I’m afraid that a world of suffering, anguish, precarity and fear is a boon to the forces of darkness, if not being deliberately constructed by them." I agree with you. I was having a discussion with a Marxist the other day who is quite fine sitting back and passively waiting for the people to rise up out of their pain. I think the ruling class has gamed the system by combining psychology and technology to a far greater degree than Marx imagined. If there is a positive path forward, it is a path of proactive action. My personal fear is that the public education system has systematically eliminated thinking skills so that even upon awakening, a person doesn't have the skill set to do anything about it.
As soon as the U.S./Israel war of choice with Iran began, I understood that we have entered the main event. Yes, there are other ominous events unfolding, but a global oil stroke is a keystone.
A force multiplier/escalation trap extraordinaire.
I pray that I have the strength of spirit/breath to continue to cling to my core values of peace, loving kindness, equanimity and sympathetic joy as "Rome burns".
Without getting pseudo-religious or conspiratorial, I’m afraid that a world of suffering, anguish, precarity and fear is a boon to the forces of darkness, if not being deliberately constructed by them."
Yes, but also a boost to revolutionary impulses. The times produce two potentials. At the risk of offending anyone, Anarchism is notoriously vague and frankly immature. When people grow up and desire a perspective that is truly revolutionary and consistently anti Capitalist and pro worker, they turn to Marx, Lenin and Trostky.
I think it's high time to get back to their essential texts and start developing revolutionary parties throughout the West again. At this stage of enforced confusion, a variety of these parties should be developed and fight it out for the allegiance of an increasingly angry working class. Through this progress, history produced the Bolsheviks. Say what you like about them, but it's indisputable that their revolution ended WW1 and created the first workers state in history, which was a serious obstacle to US Imperialism for generations.
Yes, it failed, as did many of the wright brothers first flights. That's how new technology is developed. Workers revolution 2.0 is long overdue and the circumstances for its development could not be riper.
But, the first critical step in this direction is identifying all official "left" parties in the West for what they are: Zio Imperialist. The Democratic Party in the United States has developed racial conflict, gender conflict, sexuality conflict, etc precisely to prevent the development of class consciousness and struggle. That false bourgeois consciousness must be smashed for the working class to come together against their class enemies one more time.
COVID? Climate change? China will manufacture our stuff and sell it to us? (Like the weapons we will use to attack China?) Persistent surveillance? Freedom of assembly and speech?
The questions I pose show that denial is both a state of mental comprehension and the restriction of permission.
I still hold hope that thinking for myself will enhance the possibility for others to to avoid the severe storms that loom.
Or maybe they haven't yet experienced crushing suffering under this system. They are projecting from a position of relative comfort. They're stressed but haven't experienced first-hand the genocide yet.
Great blog. I'm not sure about hanta. I agree it likely doesn't have the potential to cause large-scale outbreaks, but it can incubate for 40 days and initial symptoms are generic and mild, so people can travel far before onset then go out and party while infectious.
Anarchist here, your fears are justified, people are getting less and less capable of dealing with the situation as it gets worse. You have to understand that the majority of people are too immature, preoccupied, ignorant, stupid, or brainwashed to sort out what is going on. Whereas 150 years ago a leftist supporting a state or ruler would be shunned, now it is normal. I have found there are two types of anarchists nowadays: those who just don’t like being ruled but don’t read, and those who actually understand how hierarchies at different scales function and why their abolition is essential for anything to work half decently. They both have the same name but are functionally different ideologies, the guy you mentioned is not an anarchist; campism is dangerous to us all.
I don’t think hantavirus is a major threat, but am terrified of super El Niño and the energy crisis. This is the beginning of the collapse of global industrial civilization, I think, we have reached a threshold in the metacrisis where crises compound exponentially.
I’d also like to add that a coherent anarchist framework helps me understand the actions of the state and the ways in which people are manipulated and indoctrinated into fighting one another. It also helps me understand a lot more, like how academia, religion, and media enable the state to blind people so effectively. In my opinion, there will be mislead revolutions to overthrow the state only when it fails to provide essentials, and that anarchists will be necessary to prevent the next system from becoming too authoritarian. I see anarchism as a long uphill battle to secure political power against all hierarchies for a just and free social order, and the wider public is not currently capable of understanding and practicing it, the fight for mutual freedom takes centuries. I don’t think a civilizational collapse will immediately radicalize most to become anarchist systems-thinkers but I do believe that anarchist communities are the most capable of adapting to it. It is more of a discovery than an ideology, once you’ve seen enough politics and history you cannot ignore the basic conclusion that all forms of hierarchy are coercion, and all coercion leads to collapse cycles. Many people think they are above ideology, but that really means they haven’t inquired into to their actual ethical values enough to recognize a pattern. I believe that fundamentally everyone is an anarchist in the most fundamental sense of freedom of agency, they just haven’t realized it yet.
I genuinely don't mean this to be rude but I've seen it so much recently I can't help but ask, what is the reason for making every sentence a separate paragraph? is this a new editorial change in the journalism profession, a substack thing, or what? I can hardly get through a few lines before my brain just shuts down and idk why my brain reacts like that or why people are writing like this now, but it's new and tbh kinda confusing/distracting
It's a fair point. When I'm writing an more opinion style article I like to do it for impact but I don't do it for my investigative articles. It has crept in as a stylistic thing over the last few years. But I might do it less overall because I think you're right
thanks for replying bc I'm genuinely curious! idk if it's because I'm autistic, dyslexic, or what. but when I read articles where every sentence is its own paragraph it's like someone is beating my brain with a hammer
Nope. You’re doing it wrong. You’re contemplating things that are not easily quantified. That don’t parse neatly into a spreadie or graph.
From what I understand, things like human nature, geopolitics, corporate malfeasance, etc. must be fully discounted in order to maintain the claim that there is still hope.
If we start looking at these soft sciences, it makes the likelihood that we avert catastrophe plummet and people might be sad.
Sure, we’ve been following that plan for decades and things have only gotten worse, but that just means we’re statistically closer to a breakthrough. Can’t abandon all this previous investment, amiright?
It’s like if you’re sitting at a blackjack table and you notice the dealer hasn’t busted for a while, the mathematically intelligent thing to do is to start doubling your bet every hand. Because math says it’s unlikely for him to not bust again….right? (Careful folks, this one is tricky. Might need Prof Eliot Jacobson to help us out here).
"A virus needs lots of asymptomatic or mildly ill hosts to really propagate. From what we know about hantavirus, the majority of cases are symptomatic and usually progress to severe disease."
Nate, you do realize that this sentence is complete nonsense don't you? You are using the language and idea of your oppressor.
There are exactly zero "cases" of hantavirus except via the fraudulent usage of PCR and the fevered imaginings of those who are invested in the pandemic preparedness racketeering operations.
The Dutch bird-watching couple were exposed to highly toxic fumes (copper/mercury poisoning) from the landfill in Ushuaia, Argentina. Scrap collectors burn the plastic insulation off copper cables at this landfill to scavenge the valuable metal beneath.
The Dutch couple got off the cruise ship to visit a landfill in Ushuaia that is known to attract the White-bellied Seedsnipe and the rare Darwin's Caracara.
Toxic threats from this site are long known among residents with burning rubbish, particularly cables for copper extraction, producing smoke that "burns the throat." They avoid the place like the plague except for the destitute scavengers.
The smoke from burning copper cables is particularly dangerous because it often contains hydrogen chloride from PVC insulation, which creates an acid in the lungs that directly causes chemical burns and fluid buildup and nitrogen oxides which are known to cause delayed pulmonary edema that can "drown" a person several hours or even days after they leave the smoke.
Burning and other scavenging activities at the Ushuaia landfill also stir up dust and smoke and additional toxic vapors are released. This is a regular feature of this landfill and locals (except those who scavenge for survival) know to avoid the place. Local community groups like "Let’s Clean Ushuaia" have highlighted hazardous waste disposal and environmental neglect in the region.
Burning electronic waste is a common practice at this scarcely regulated landfill and this releases dangerous toxins, including mercury vapor, lead, and cadmium. Inhaling these vapors can cause "metal-fume fever," which has similar symptoms to what they are calling "hantavirus."
Another great piece! This reminds me of a debate I got into with my brother three years ago as he started dropping all his Covid mitigations. He was trying to tell me that there was a reasonable argument for stopping them. When I pressed, however, he admitted that we were in the middle of a mass disabling event and he didn’t see the point of limiting his life because of it. He told me that he wanted to live as best he could for as long as he could in a collapsing world. I feel this is the mindset of so many Neoliberals. They think that the system they perpetuate is inevitable. Not realizing that this belief is what’s making it inevitable. We must keep resisting, even if it seems impossible, because it only becomes impossible when we give up.
Thanks Tal appreciate it
It was a cruise ship, they could have handled it. I would love to be quarantined in such luxury.
Technically it was a small expedition ship and the entire hanta story is complete bullshit.
The expedition ship MV Hondius is named after famous Dutch cartographer Jodocus Hondius. The ship was christened for its maiden voyage on June 2, 2019, in Vlissingen, Netherlands by Elizabeth Hondius- no relation to Jodocus. This ceremony makes her the ship's "godmother."
Who is Elizabth Hondius? She is legal counsel for MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) and was involved with Gardasil, Merck's vaccine for preventing cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Her association with the company involves management and legal oversight, particularly in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The expedition departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, 2026, April Fools Day) carrying 88 passengers and 59 crew members representing 23 different nationalities.
The three deceased were Leo and his wife, who had been positioned in an extremely toxic landfill for hours (toxic fumes) as they waited for a "gold medal" once-in-a-lifetime photo of the rare Darwin's Caracara, and an 80 year old German woman who has yet to be identified.
Much more to the story I'll leave it there for now. Anyone who believes any part of this set-up is a fool.
😂
Pretty sure I know the writer you're talking about who jumped to the AI ship. Pretty shocking. I unsubscribed.
The super El Niño, drought and agricultural situation (imploding) present fatal circumstances in themselves. The attack on Iran guaranties more fatalities beyond the war theater. This is not by accident.
The cruise ship hantavirus debacle is a perfect summation of our stupidity.
I wonder about him...
Bizarre flip for sure. Maybe he's an AI trainer now.
"I’m afraid that a world of suffering, anguish, precarity and fear is a boon to the forces of darkness, if not being deliberately constructed by them." I agree with you. I was having a discussion with a Marxist the other day who is quite fine sitting back and passively waiting for the people to rise up out of their pain. I think the ruling class has gamed the system by combining psychology and technology to a far greater degree than Marx imagined. If there is a positive path forward, it is a path of proactive action. My personal fear is that the public education system has systematically eliminated thinking skills so that even upon awakening, a person doesn't have the skill set to do anything about it.
As soon as the U.S./Israel war of choice with Iran began, I understood that we have entered the main event. Yes, there are other ominous events unfolding, but a global oil stroke is a keystone.
A force multiplier/escalation trap extraordinaire.
If it helps, I read you, I'm an anarchist, and I hate AI (and all the bullshit that comes with it).
I pray that I have the strength of spirit/breath to continue to cling to my core values of peace, loving kindness, equanimity and sympathetic joy as "Rome burns".
Thanks very much Nate Xx
Thanks Sangeeta
"And I’m afraid that this is the point.
Without getting pseudo-religious or conspiratorial, I’m afraid that a world of suffering, anguish, precarity and fear is a boon to the forces of darkness, if not being deliberately constructed by them."
Yes, but also a boost to revolutionary impulses. The times produce two potentials. At the risk of offending anyone, Anarchism is notoriously vague and frankly immature. When people grow up and desire a perspective that is truly revolutionary and consistently anti Capitalist and pro worker, they turn to Marx, Lenin and Trostky.
I think it's high time to get back to their essential texts and start developing revolutionary parties throughout the West again. At this stage of enforced confusion, a variety of these parties should be developed and fight it out for the allegiance of an increasingly angry working class. Through this progress, history produced the Bolsheviks. Say what you like about them, but it's indisputable that their revolution ended WW1 and created the first workers state in history, which was a serious obstacle to US Imperialism for generations.
Yes, it failed, as did many of the wright brothers first flights. That's how new technology is developed. Workers revolution 2.0 is long overdue and the circumstances for its development could not be riper.
But, the first critical step in this direction is identifying all official "left" parties in the West for what they are: Zio Imperialist. The Democratic Party in the United States has developed racial conflict, gender conflict, sexuality conflict, etc precisely to prevent the development of class consciousness and struggle. That false bourgeois consciousness must be smashed for the working class to come together against their class enemies one more time.
Denial is the state of the moment.
COVID? Climate change? China will manufacture our stuff and sell it to us? (Like the weapons we will use to attack China?) Persistent surveillance? Freedom of assembly and speech?
The questions I pose show that denial is both a state of mental comprehension and the restriction of permission.
I still hold hope that thinking for myself will enhance the possibility for others to to avoid the severe storms that loom.
Or maybe they haven't yet experienced crushing suffering under this system. They are projecting from a position of relative comfort. They're stressed but haven't experienced first-hand the genocide yet.
Great blog. I'm not sure about hanta. I agree it likely doesn't have the potential to cause large-scale outbreaks, but it can incubate for 40 days and initial symptoms are generic and mild, so people can travel far before onset then go out and party while infectious.
Anarchist here, your fears are justified, people are getting less and less capable of dealing with the situation as it gets worse. You have to understand that the majority of people are too immature, preoccupied, ignorant, stupid, or brainwashed to sort out what is going on. Whereas 150 years ago a leftist supporting a state or ruler would be shunned, now it is normal. I have found there are two types of anarchists nowadays: those who just don’t like being ruled but don’t read, and those who actually understand how hierarchies at different scales function and why their abolition is essential for anything to work half decently. They both have the same name but are functionally different ideologies, the guy you mentioned is not an anarchist; campism is dangerous to us all.
I don’t think hantavirus is a major threat, but am terrified of super El Niño and the energy crisis. This is the beginning of the collapse of global industrial civilization, I think, we have reached a threshold in the metacrisis where crises compound exponentially.
I’d also like to add that a coherent anarchist framework helps me understand the actions of the state and the ways in which people are manipulated and indoctrinated into fighting one another. It also helps me understand a lot more, like how academia, religion, and media enable the state to blind people so effectively. In my opinion, there will be mislead revolutions to overthrow the state only when it fails to provide essentials, and that anarchists will be necessary to prevent the next system from becoming too authoritarian. I see anarchism as a long uphill battle to secure political power against all hierarchies for a just and free social order, and the wider public is not currently capable of understanding and practicing it, the fight for mutual freedom takes centuries. I don’t think a civilizational collapse will immediately radicalize most to become anarchist systems-thinkers but I do believe that anarchist communities are the most capable of adapting to it. It is more of a discovery than an ideology, once you’ve seen enough politics and history you cannot ignore the basic conclusion that all forms of hierarchy are coercion, and all coercion leads to collapse cycles. Many people think they are above ideology, but that really means they haven’t inquired into to their actual ethical values enough to recognize a pattern. I believe that fundamentally everyone is an anarchist in the most fundamental sense of freedom of agency, they just haven’t realized it yet.
I genuinely don't mean this to be rude but I've seen it so much recently I can't help but ask, what is the reason for making every sentence a separate paragraph? is this a new editorial change in the journalism profession, a substack thing, or what? I can hardly get through a few lines before my brain just shuts down and idk why my brain reacts like that or why people are writing like this now, but it's new and tbh kinda confusing/distracting
It's a fair point. When I'm writing an more opinion style article I like to do it for impact but I don't do it for my investigative articles. It has crept in as a stylistic thing over the last few years. But I might do it less overall because I think you're right
thanks for replying bc I'm genuinely curious! idk if it's because I'm autistic, dyslexic, or what. but when I read articles where every sentence is its own paragraph it's like someone is beating my brain with a hammer
Get it
Nope. You’re doing it wrong. You’re contemplating things that are not easily quantified. That don’t parse neatly into a spreadie or graph.
From what I understand, things like human nature, geopolitics, corporate malfeasance, etc. must be fully discounted in order to maintain the claim that there is still hope.
If we start looking at these soft sciences, it makes the likelihood that we avert catastrophe plummet and people might be sad.
Sure, we’ve been following that plan for decades and things have only gotten worse, but that just means we’re statistically closer to a breakthrough. Can’t abandon all this previous investment, amiright?
It’s like if you’re sitting at a blackjack table and you notice the dealer hasn’t busted for a while, the mathematically intelligent thing to do is to start doubling your bet every hand. Because math says it’s unlikely for him to not bust again….right? (Careful folks, this one is tricky. Might need Prof Eliot Jacobson to help us out here).
"A virus needs lots of asymptomatic or mildly ill hosts to really propagate. From what we know about hantavirus, the majority of cases are symptomatic and usually progress to severe disease."
Nate, you do realize that this sentence is complete nonsense don't you? You are using the language and idea of your oppressor.
There are exactly zero "cases" of hantavirus except via the fraudulent usage of PCR and the fevered imaginings of those who are invested in the pandemic preparedness racketeering operations.
The Dutch bird-watching couple were exposed to highly toxic fumes (copper/mercury poisoning) from the landfill in Ushuaia, Argentina. Scrap collectors burn the plastic insulation off copper cables at this landfill to scavenge the valuable metal beneath.
The Dutch couple got off the cruise ship to visit a landfill in Ushuaia that is known to attract the White-bellied Seedsnipe and the rare Darwin's Caracara.
Toxic threats from this site are long known among residents with burning rubbish, particularly cables for copper extraction, producing smoke that "burns the throat." They avoid the place like the plague except for the destitute scavengers.
The smoke from burning copper cables is particularly dangerous because it often contains hydrogen chloride from PVC insulation, which creates an acid in the lungs that directly causes chemical burns and fluid buildup and nitrogen oxides which are known to cause delayed pulmonary edema that can "drown" a person several hours or even days after they leave the smoke.
Burning and other scavenging activities at the Ushuaia landfill also stir up dust and smoke and additional toxic vapors are released. This is a regular feature of this landfill and locals (except those who scavenge for survival) know to avoid the place. Local community groups like "Let’s Clean Ushuaia" have highlighted hazardous waste disposal and environmental neglect in the region.
Burning electronic waste is a common practice at this scarcely regulated landfill and this releases dangerous toxins, including mercury vapor, lead, and cadmium. Inhaling these vapors can cause "metal-fume fever," which has similar symptoms to what they are calling "hantavirus."