Mike Brock 🇺🇸
@brockm.bsky.social
Ex-tech exec. Deeply unfashionable. Penning dispatches from democracy's peril at notesfromthecircus.com. Unmasking the unholy alliance of Silicon Valley and aspiring despots. 2+2=4, even when power insists otherwise. For Frodo.
Pinned
Revenge of the Technocrats Could Be the End of Democracy
A Response to Ruy Teixeira
www.notesfromthecircus.com
A return to technocratic liberal centrism would be the death knell of democracy.
In other words, it's Monday.
California struck by magnitude 3.7 earthquake
December 8, 2025 at 5:13 PM
In other words, it's Monday.
On intellectual courage.
Humility
A meditation on intellectual courage.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:01 PM
On intellectual courage.
Honestly, at this point, I'd be okay pardoning Trump for all his crimes and letting him ride off into the darkness if he got out of the way and let us prosecute all the cretins around him. He is not long for this world, anyway. If such an offer were possible, I'd make it.
December 8, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Honestly, at this point, I'd be okay pardoning Trump for all his crimes and letting him ride off into the darkness if he got out of the way and let us prosecute all the cretins around him. He is not long for this world, anyway. If such an offer were possible, I'd make it.
AMERICANS! YOUR GOLDEN AGE HAS ARRIVED! BEHOLD YOUR NEW GLISTENING KINGDOM OF PLENTY!
US HIRING IS SLOWING AT AN ALARMING RATE: US-BASED EMPLOYERS HAVE ANNOUNCED 497,151 PLANNED HIRES YEAR-TO-DATE — THE WEAKEST TOTAL SINCE 2010, WHEN 392,033 HIRES WERE PLANNED IN THE FIRST 11 MONTHS. SOURCE: REUTERS
December 8, 2025 at 1:32 AM
AMERICANS! YOUR GOLDEN AGE HAS ARRIVED! BEHOLD YOUR NEW GLISTENING KINGDOM OF PLENTY!
I have a pretty killer startup idea for anybody in Silicon Valley who still gives a shit about human civilization, wants to give democracy a fighting chance, and wants to make an honest buck doing it.
December 7, 2025 at 11:56 PM
I have a pretty killer startup idea for anybody in Silicon Valley who still gives a shit about human civilization, wants to give democracy a fighting chance, and wants to make an honest buck doing it.
Reposted by Mike Brock 🇺🇸
If you're not against what's happening everywhere, you're in favor of it.
December 7, 2025 at 9:15 PM
If you're not against what's happening everywhere, you're in favor of it.
I hereby declare ...
The 21st Century is a New Dark Age
An open letter to the intellectual community.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I hereby declare ...
The truth is, we are already in a new Dark Age, intellectually. We just haven't admitted it to ourselves from within intellectual culture. It's a scary thought. But let me tell you: it is true. There is no slide back to normal. It's a grueling fight forward.
December 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
The truth is, we are already in a new Dark Age, intellectually. We just haven't admitted it to ourselves from within intellectual culture. It's a scary thought. But let me tell you: it is true. There is no slide back to normal. It's a grueling fight forward.
I'd rather have an Italian mafioso in the White House than Trump. He'd be making side deals, but his mother would never let him do the ICE raids.
The Mafia Believed in a Leviathan. American Moguls Believe They Are Leviathan
A meditation on moral codes
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I'd rather have an Italian mafioso in the White House than Trump. He'd be making side deals, but his mother would never let him do the ICE raids.
The shape of the realignment has become somewhat clear. And boy, is it a sight to behold. In pathos, that is.
The Great Specialization of Civilizations
A meditation on geopolitics.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The shape of the realignment has become somewhat clear. And boy, is it a sight to behold. In pathos, that is.
This is an essay that is mostly about Ben Shapiro.
Monsters Everywhere
It didn't start out being about Ben Shapiro, but it's about Ben Shapiro.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:32 AM
This is an essay that is mostly about Ben Shapiro.
Someone has to talk about this.
Narcissism
A meditation on our epistemic culture.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Someone has to talk about this.
Reposted by Mike Brock 🇺🇸
I didn't know this would be about Ben Shapiro when I started writing this. But I think it's fair to say it's about Ben Shapiro.
Monsters Everywhere
It didn't start out being about Ben Shaprio, but it's about Ben Shaprio.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:25 AM
I didn't know this would be about Ben Shapiro when I started writing this. But I think it's fair to say it's about Ben Shapiro.
I mean, if these justices relent in Trump's direction, I would see that as a form of treason, personally.
If the Fourteenth Amendment isn’t real then Section 3 isn’t real either and the justices are suddenly just people in funny clothes.
The Supreme Court Friday agreed to decide whether President Donald Trump can unilaterally limit the constitutional right to citizenship granted to virtually every person born in the United States. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
December 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I mean, if these justices relent in Trump's direction, I would see that as a form of treason, personally.
A personal note.
A Personal Note, from the Circus
A meta-meditation on authenticity
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:50 AM
A personal note.
Thoughts about thoughts.
On Elitism
A meditation, since the accusation has been made.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Thoughts about thoughts.
I'm not elitist. I'm intellectually hygienic. I'm on the people's side.
December 6, 2025 at 6:10 AM
I'm not elitist. I'm intellectually hygienic. I'm on the people's side.
I didn't know this would be about Ben Shapiro when I started writing this. But I think it's fair to say it's about Ben Shapiro.
Monsters Everywhere
It didn't start out being about Ben Shaprio, but it's about Ben Shaprio.
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:25 AM
I didn't know this would be about Ben Shapiro when I started writing this. But I think it's fair to say it's about Ben Shapiro.
Reposted by Mike Brock 🇺🇸
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
December 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
America, can you not see? The country belongs to you. It is being stolen from you. You must act if you are to save your inheritance. People died so that you may have it, you know.
December 5, 2025 at 10:24 PM
America, can you not see? The country belongs to you. It is being stolen from you. You must act if you are to save your inheritance. People died so that you may have it, you know.
For all of the people within Silicon Valley and the tech industry who have reached out to me with warm recognition of my honest gesture, I thank you. It means the world to me. I am not motivated by hate.
December 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
For all of the people within Silicon Valley and the tech industry who have reached out to me with warm recognition of my honest gesture, I thank you. It means the world to me. I am not motivated by hate.
Reposted by Mike Brock 🇺🇸
Scott Bessent pushed for some softening of the language about Beijing, according to two people familiar with the matter. Bessent is currently involved in sensitive U.S. trade talks with China, and Trump himself is wary of the delicate relations with Beijing.
December 5, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Scott Bessent pushed for some softening of the language about Beijing, according to two people familiar with the matter. Bessent is currently involved in sensitive U.S. trade talks with China, and Trump himself is wary of the delicate relations with Beijing.
I have decided to drop the paywall early on this piece.
LLMs Are Universal Translators, Not Universal Thinkers
Or: Why the AGI Skeptics Are Right But Missing the Deeper Point
www.notesfromthecircus.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I have decided to drop the paywall early on this piece.
Yes! The American people have reasonable questions, Congress. We seek redress of these grievances so presented!
Where to begin. Let’s start w/the ARTICLE about the plan. A plan that dt surely did not write. Is the author familiar w/dt? dt’s only focus is self-aggrandisement & personal enrichment. Oh, and pleasing Putin.
Will leave it to experts to assess the actual plan & guess who wrote it.
Seriously?👇👇
Will leave it to experts to assess the actual plan & guess who wrote it.
Seriously?👇👇
December 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Yes! The American people have reasonable questions, Congress. We seek redress of these grievances so presented!
We have to put a stop to this, America.
Trump reveals what he wants for the world
The National Security Strategy, which presidents usually release once each term, offers a formal statement of U.S. global priorities.
www.politico.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:26 AM
We have to put a stop to this, America.