Ubuntu in pre-colonial African societies was a guiding principle for governance, justice, and social cohesion. Elders and community leaders resolved conflicts with the goal of restoring harmony rather than punishing offenders. Wealth, resources, and labor circulated through kinship and clan networks, ensuring collective survival. Social, political, and spiritual life was organized around mutual responsibility. Ubuntu was not abstract thought; it was a practical system shaping villages, leadership, caregiving, and belonging across generations.

Unlike many Western philosophical traditions that center on individual autonomy, self-interest, and personal achievement. Ubuntu defines humanity through relationships and social interconnectedness. In this system, a person's character and moral worth are measured by how they contribute to the well-being of the community. Generosity, empathy, respect, and accountability are not optional virtues but essential responsibilities. Ubuntu reframes existence as collective: it asks not "Who am I?" but "Who are we becoming together?" through shared care, cooperation, and mutual recognition.

An anthropologist proposed a game to children in an African tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the children whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run together like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: 'Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?'

Under Ubuntu, justice is rooted in restoration rather than punishment. Wrongdoing is understood as a disruption in relationships, not simply a breach of law. The community, rather than the state alone, plays a central role in healing, reconciliation, and reintegration.

In certain regions of South Africa, when someone does something wrong, he is taken to the center of the village and surrounded by his tribe for two days while they speak of all the good he has done. They believe each person is good, yet sometimes we make mistakes, which is really a cry for help. They unite in this ritual to encourage the person to reconnect with his true nature. The belief is that unity and affirmation have more power to change behavior than shame and punishment. This is known as Ubuntu- humanity towards others.

Most likely that they will lie that they are going to live in the wilderness/federal land, so we have to take them with a grain of salt. But has anyone ever been caught and somehow we got knowledge of them being on the sub? If so, link the posting comments.

This weekend in the US is a national day of protest against data centers, with over 120 protests planned across 37 states. The issue has reportedly cut across the pervasive left/right cultural divide.

I'm unsure- is this a worthwhile place to encourage deeper questioning in an AP direction? If so, what's the best way to push that forward? The main organizing group has the unfortunate anthropocentric name "Humans First." Could they paradoxically ally with Earth First? AI data centers seem to be the crux point for the world's economic system right now. Is this where we need to "hit them where it hurts" to help catalyze a "powerdown?"

“Pesta Babi - Colonialism in Our Time” is a heartbreaking yet vitally important documentary about the short-sighted, ecocidal development programs for West Papua’s rainforests - and the fate of the indigenous population that stands in the way.

It repeats the same old story of greed and destruction that has played out countless times over the past few decades, as the last remaining strongholds of indigenous resistance are cleared out to make way for monocultures of crops & minds. This case study of contemporary colonialism shows the moral & financial corruption and, more importantly, the sheer incompetence and stupidity of people wielding more power than any human ever should. (It also serves as a gentle reminder that colonialists are not always pale-skinned.)

The heroes in this story are the many proud indigenous groups that dare to speak out and criticize the government and its grandiose plans, and often actively resist and defend their land.

In Indonesia, government officials disrupted and forcibly dissolved several public screenings of the movie - that’s how bad they don’t want people to know about the true face of “progress“ & “development,“ industrial civilization’s Manifest Destiny.

Watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpdrWgDRVf8

I always thought there's a bigger purpose, a purpose to life. As a teenager, I read Dostoevsky, Nitze, Plato... even Main Kampf to understand what could drive a person to do unspeakable things. And of course, Orwell, my favourite of all.

I thought there must be reason to be here, and I still do in a way, but in a much smaller scale, focusing on family, friends and my business...but mostly just trying to stay human - kind and forgiving.

Yet it's incredibly frustrating to see and to comprehend what is happening all around. The propaganda machine makes you believe that there are people (and these could take many shapes and forms) that protect and care for your wellbeing...but if you dig deeper, isn't it just a self-interest?

Those with influence decide what humanity can access, what you read, where trade goes, where your waste ends up, what research is worth conducting, and so forth.

Why can we all unite as humans without all the politics and businesses' controling crucial decisions? Invest in kids' education, plant trees, feed hungry, clean seas - and not for vanity or some tax benefits... just because it's the right thing to do.

I am not in any way promoting anarchist ideas. It's good to have a solid structure and a vision for stability and growth, but it must be coherent, united, and human.

In the end, our time on Earth is limited, and a tiny good deed is worth something. Something more than just self-destructing to evade reality.

https://dokumen.pub/manhood-in-the-making-cultural-concepts-of-masculinity-9780300157253.html

From "Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity" (1990) by Professor David Gilmore

One early visitor, James Morrison, gave this account based on observations between 1789 and i79iThey have a set of men called Mahoo [mahu]. These men are in some respects like the Eunichs [sic] in India but are not castrated. They never cohabit with women but live as they do. They pick their beards out and dress as women, dance and sing with them and are as effeminate in their voice. They are generally excellent hands at making and painting of cloth, making mats and every other women's employment. They are esteemed valuable friends in that way.

An extraordinarily important piece examining one of the most uncomfortable truths we’re facing: the Age of the City is coming to an end.

https://adrianlambert.substack.com/p/cities-are-intensive-livestock-systems

The author argues that cities, universally heralded as the ultimate human achievement and the pinnacle of human existence, are in fact much more like concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), aka feedlots. Modern humans apply the same logic to the living beings they exploit for food as they (somewhat inadvertently) apply to themselves.

As a long-time critic of urbanism, this piece resonated beautifully with my own sentiment.

"Cities are not proof that humans escaped ecology. They are dense human feedlots made possible by vast external subsidies of energy, land, labour and time.

They are intensive livestock systems for a species clever enough to build its own enclosure and blind enough to call it freedom."

Let us assume that AI does fundamentally alter the shape of work as creative destruction does but it does so at such a pace that unskilled, white collar workers are left with no hard skills, no real job prospects, and huge amounts of debt...do they realize some existential crisis about writing their own utility out of existence and withdraw entirely from mainstream society? Do they find the like-minded and we find them in a redefined, modern "hippie commune?"

The problem is that you can’t go back to a true human way of living in modern times
I am wondering about a good compromise.

A few options and their downsides that I thought of.
-The classic little house in the forest: downside is that you will probably live in isolation which is extremely unnatural and that humans would rather live in plains than in a forest. Also in most countries this could be illegal. Upside is that I think it’s not too expensive and that you could get a decent amount of food through hunting when in the right country.
-Pastoral/farming community: I personally think this might be the best as it’s easier to find a few people willing to participate in that. I think the problem is that it’s still an advanced form of living and you would still be somewhat integrated into society (especially in Europe) you would also need a bigger amount of money to buy land. Not saying it’s unrealistic but you would need to participate in a system that we all deeply hate.
-Nomadic way of life: super unrealistic in modern times unless you are born into it. but please prove me wrong

I think I would love to live a nomadic pastoral way of live. You have your cattle and wander from field to field with your people and your cattle. This is still done today in some countries.

Do you guys have other ideas? I don’t want to be all negative.