Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brett Scott

@brettscott.bsky.social

1.2K followers 180 following 180 posts

I experiment with altered states of monetary consciousness https://www.asomo.co

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 1d

Sometimes I like to visualize things to make them seem less alien, because when things seem less alien, your ability to act increases

Rather than the financial sector appearing as an obscure and complex realm of shadows, it becomes a space you can mess with www.asomo.co/p/the-ten-la...

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 2d

The most important part of maintaining this self-image is to never engage with the group being oppressed, because, if that young man in Ohio had to actually spend any time with actual trans people, his worldview would be shattered, as he realises that they've almost no power in the real world

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 2d

All these acts of oppression are imagined as acts of defence, which means the true oppressor thinks of themselves as a victim. Telling them that they’re actually the arsehole never works - you’ll simply be seen as an ally to the dangerous element that’s threatening their imagined social order

(4/5)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 2d

This applies to a 1930s German mother, cheering at an anti-Jewish rally, or a Christian man shunning trans rights in Ohio, or an Israeli settler presenting Palestinians as being a threat to their existence, or the Apartheid state in 1970s South Africa justifying crackdowns on black groups

(3/5)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 2d

Throughout history, persecuted groups are always imagined as much more powerful than they actually are, and as being some kind of oppressor. This means the attack on them can be imagined as a form of defence, or as a promotion of some positive value that’s under threat

(2/5)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 2d

When someone attacks a marginalized person, it’s very seldom justified by saying 'I don't like them'. Rather, it’s justified by saying ‘they are dangerous’

(1/5)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 5d

I visualized the ten layers of finance, from sunlight and soil to sliced synthetic CDOs

www.asomo.co/p/the-ten-la...

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 14d

Really glad you like it

Reposted by Brett Scott

Common-Planet.org @common-planet.bsky.social · 15d

One of the best short video descriptions of how state money creation works. Just love the analogies and clear descriptions used. Well worth a listen.

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 15d

Why do both conservatives and traditional left-wingers get so triggered by MMT, or Modern Monetary Theory?

In my latest video, I lay it out for you
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmL...

Modern Monetary Theory - A Primer

YouTube video by Brett's Altered States of Monetary Consciousness

www.youtube.com

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 15d

Why do both conservatives and traditional left-wingers get so triggered by MMT, or Modern Monetary Theory?

In my latest video, I lay it out for you
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmL...

Modern Monetary Theory - A Primer

YouTube video by Brett's Altered States of Monetary Consciousness

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Brett Scott

Jussi Pasanen @jopas.bsky.social · 18d

'fascisty or thuggish vibes emerge when capitalism is feeling insecure and anxious. That’s when the systemic forces within it will - through…degrees of interconnection - come to favour leaders who batten down the hatches and get people to lean into the more authoritarian parts of their personality.'

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 21d

My latest piece just dropped!

Making Capitalism Bad Again: How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more

www.asomo.co/p/making-cap...

Making Capitalism Bad Again

How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 16d

THE CULTURE WARS: A SUMMARY

One side cares about those who got cancelled between 2017-2024

The other side cares about those who never got booked for the few hundred years before that

Reposted by Brett Scott

Vanessa Spedding @vanessaspedding.bsky.social · 21d

A superb explanation by @brettscott.bsky.social of certain alarming trends currently spreading across the western world especially ...
Making Capitalism Bad Again open.substack.com/pub/brettsco...

Making Capitalism Bad Again

How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more

open.substack.com

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 21d

My latest piece just dropped!

Making Capitalism Bad Again: How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more

www.asomo.co/p/making-cap...

Making Capitalism Bad Again

How ditching the cognitive dissonance of liberalism makes some men feel secure once more

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 22d

Granddad, what was it like to experience the world without constant digital intermediation? www.youtube.com/shorts/rtnsa...

Sober night out 🕺🏻 #90s #rave #dancemusic #raves #party #hardstyle #edm

YouTube video by Chris Burke

www.youtube.com

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 27d

Is the taxman a robber, a provider, a redistributor, a technocrat or an anchorman?

A guide for how to think about the politics of tax

www.asomo.co/p/the-five-f...

The Five Faces of the Taxman

He cometh, but who is he and what does he want?

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 27d

That can impact foreigners, through potential lost sales, or through the reduction of profits through them trying to lower the tariff impact on American buyers by lowering their prices. But every dollar paid to the government in tariff revenue is coming from the bank accounts of its citizens

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 27d

I'm not making a value judgement here about whether that policy makes sense or not, but the continual insistence that the tariffs are imposed on foreigners is bullshit. The tariffs are a local sales taxes imposed on Americans

(3/4)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 27d

The visual image you want is of Trump electroshocking his own population to make them back away from foreign goods, and thereby indirectly punishing his foreign political opponents

(2/4)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 27d

I find the language around tariffs so bizarre

When a newspaper says Trump puts 50% tariffs “on India”, what it really should read is “on Americans who buy from Indian sellers”

(1/4)

Reposted by Brett Scott

Phil Free @philfree.bsky.social · 28d

“The world of bumbling cavemen trying to exchange mammoth tusks for necklaces is a crude stone-age replica of a modern capitalist economy built in the mind of an economist.”

Money as Addiction - @brettscott.bsky.social
www.asomo.co/p/money-as-a...

Money as Addiction

Escaping solutionist perspectives on our means of survival

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · 29d

Want a simple foundation from which to understand confusing topics like trade deficits, tariffs, and stablecoins? Check out my new video where I explain the international monetary system in under 15 minutes www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRHT...

The entire global monetary system explained in under 15 minutes

YouTube video by Brett's Altered States of Monetary Consciousness

www.youtube.com

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · Sep 8

Your mantra should be "I assume this will turn out bad, but I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t". That might sound bleak, but it puts you in a more realistic frame of mind, and a more authentic moral position, so that the rest of us won’t have to be subjected to your crocodile tears later

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · Sep 8

I don’t want to see you in some future documentary talking about how the promise of AI was betrayed blah blah. If you don’t start with the unrealistic perspective, you won’t be disillusioned when the obvious thing happens...

(5/6)

Brett Scott @brettscott.bsky.social · Sep 8

Rather, it would be refreshing if you’d just start from the assumption that by far the most likely outcome is for the tech to be used for massive enrichment and centralisation of power into an even smaller elite than before, with even more terrifying mechanisms of control at their disposal

(4/6)