# On being social
### Entered in vim on Chaephron (OpenBSD Lifebook P1120)
### 20190623
I am fairly unsocial (antisocial?). I have my moments IRL,
but they are few and far between. Since it dawned on me
that social networks are tools of corporations and
governments to spy on me (and really, why did it take me so
damned long for this to sink in), my social sphere has
shrunken incredibly. That this is possibly the desired end
result of those groups that control the social networks,
I shall leave for another day.
## A laying aside of large networks
I have a neglected VK account I keep around for music
reasons, and an account on mastodon.sdf.org -- that's
about it. Far and away the denizens of the fediverse are
ideologically in opposition to me. I have in place a very
cohesive filter setup on my account to keep my blood-
pressure low. Ultimately, a lot of dreck still gets thru.
I associate at a perfunctory level at work with persons
I have known for years but never integrated into my
personal life. This leaves my family and books. Don't get
me wrong, I like the shit out of them...
I am still trying to get a handle on having only two days
off at a whack after having about a week off with regularity
for years. This schedule does effect the depth and breadth
of projects and undertakings. One change is that this year,
I am actually taking my vacation time, instead of just
burning it on days off. I think a camping trip in northern
Wyoming will do me some good.
## An introvert
As an INTJ, I very much live in my own head. By the same
token, being deprived of channels or socialization via the
malfeasance of powerful groups is a bummer. If only there
was a way to completely, totally opt out of absolutely
everything. Yeah, of course there is, if you do not mind
being homeless and have the skills required to vanish into
public land and survive while eluding TPTB. For those like
me, who have worked just shy of 30 years and voluntarily
shackled themselves to the machinery enslaving them, this
path is hard to swallow. Yet, I do advocate for people to
learn the skills required. Prepping leads to your stock
pile being confiscated. I think the answer to a SHTF
situation is to have the knowledge to survive with nothing
but the shirt on your back and to be able to improvise
whatever tools you require.
## History is a cycle
Right about now you may be thinking I am a nutter. If you
are thinking this, then maybe you should start thinking
long and hard about what is going on around you. Or don't
The herd has been thinned quite a few times before. Leaving
monuments, or mostly -- nothing at all -- behind. Plato
elucidates the like happening around 11,500 years ago in
the telling of the story of Atlantis. In that telling, he
points out that there were other cataclysms prior. In
recorded history we had plagues wipe out 25% to 50% of the
population. Stronger than plague would be something that
strikes the infrastructure we are all so dependent upon.
## How the lack of socialization ties back in
If society fails and we are all islands apart from each
other, having no close associates, then very small tribal
structures will be the result. I see this occurring along
familial lines. Not having a network of people you trust
will splinter those still around further. This is the
point where people tend to toss in something like "go
outside, meet your neighbors," yet I have met my
neighbors and have little in common with them. Oh well,
small group it remains.
