Enough people have taken this premise apart that I don't have to do a whole thread on it.

[mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io]

Enough people have taken this premise apart that I don't have to do a whole thread on it.

But I did want to point out this paragraph, that is one of the most Anti-African things I've read recently.

This long-termism and great replacement nonsense is seeping into brains and cooking them.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/471918/ai-science-growth-deepmind-alphafold-chatgpt-google

[ligasser@social.epfl.ch]

@mekkaokereke I seem to miss the context in which this has been written - this paragraph looks to me like "immigration good".

[mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io]

@ligasser

"Immigration good" is the part that you focused on.

"Brains in Africa don't count!" is the dangerous part.

The author doesn't even realize that he's discounting the possibility that African brains in Africa might produce the technological advancements that he seeks. Either it happens in the developed world (as defined by 2025 standards) or it doesn't happen. This is both wrong, and an awful and dangerous world view.

It's not possible to understand why DOGE happened, without understanding great replacement theory and long-termism. Yes, part of it is just certain billionaires wanting to make even more money and not be regulated. But a bigger part of it, is belief in this nonsense.

The central premise of great replacement theory is "The good white people are becoming less numerous!"🤡

The central premise of long-termism is "Don't help people in Africa have equal resources to Europe and the US! Instead, take even more resources from Africa, to be used to advance technology in the US and EU even faster!"🤡

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/nick-bostrom-longtermism-and-the-eternal-return-of-eugenics-2/

[mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io]

@ligasser

Analogies:

Suppose I meet a new person. That person frequently says a few catchphrases in everyday conversation, like, "These are not the droids you're looking for." And "May the Force be with you!" And "That's no moon." I might ask the person, "Are you a Star Wars fan?" The person might answer "Yes I am a big Star Wars fan!" A third person that has never seen Star Wars, might wonder how I knew that this person was a Star Wars fan. I would then point out the give-away catch phrases.

Also possible, is that the new person might have answered, "No, I'm not a Star Wars fan. I've actually never seen the movies. But all 3 of my roommates in college were huge Star Wars fans, and I picked up some of their catchphrases."

When people promote these long-termism, eugenics-lite viewpoints, it's impossible to tell whether they are Star Wars fans, or if they just hang out with Star Wars fans. It almost doesn't matter.

It almost doesn't matter if this article is intentionally or unintentionally promoting eugenics talking points. What matters is that it is promoting them, in a major publication.

And the normalization of these views is not just idle talking. The long-termists have the means and the will to put these ideas into action, and they have already done so.

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@mekkaokereke @ligasser

Too many European and North Americans have massive blind spots (and with "blind spots" I mean "racism") that prevents them from seeing Africa as anything other than a source of refugees and raw materials.

A friend of mine is a black woman from South Africa with a medical background who specializes in regulatory affairs. She frequently told German producers of medical products that Africa is a massive growth market, and she has been met with continued disinterest - "they couldn't afford our products anyway, so we will focus on wealthy countries instead".

No wonder China is eating our lunch in the African markets.