
The American Cloud - dedalus
https://aeon.co/essays/america-still-has-a-heartland-it-s-just-an-artificial-one
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maxander
A lovely poem about how our society separates technological production from
the human culture that it supports. There's much here that one could already
_know_ without having really appreciated.

Not too long ago, I was talking with a bunch of friends when some random
question about sugar production came up. We googled it, as one does, and while
the answer was inconclusive the next half-hour turned into a bizarre sequence
of revelations about just how _complicated_ modern sugar production is. Look
into it; its a slightly-smaller mirror of the oil industry, with its own
industrial base and scientific expertise. I'm sure there are about ~100 people
on the planet who know the key technical details, and if they're all caught in
a fire somewhere, every cookie recipe that calls for regular white granulated
sugar will suddenly be beyond human technological capacity.

~~~
leonroy
There's an old story in Venice of a famous biscotti which the Venetians
perfected. It was nutritious, would last for years (handy for those long
voyages at sea) and was reputedly very tasty. The recipe was jealously guarded
by a single baker who would pass it on just before his death. In this manner
Venice became famous for this particular biscuit.

Unfortunately the last baker to be entrusted with this knowledge whilst
walking down the street had something drop on his head. The recipe died with
him.

Many, many years later the Ventians were under siege by Napoleonic forces.
There was a fort holding out for days. Eventually rations ran out. As luck
would have it the soldiers at the fort discovered a stash of this famous
biscotti in one of the store rooms. They were still edible.

I don't know how much of the above is true, I recall hearing the stories in
Francesco Di Mosto's wonderful Venice series (highly recommended) but it does
remind me how precious and fragile knowledge is and how easily it can be lost.

~~~
webmaven
As always, _" Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe"_.

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nateburke
The singular Jeffersonian/Hamiltonian architecture described by the author
exists by virtue of a great, bloody conflict that we now call the civil war.
Recall that the Jeffersonian interface has its roots in the inside of a
plantation manor house, which, in turn, was built on its own, localized
Hamiltonian back-end in the form of land+slave-labor. Over the course of
decades in the early 1800s, automation of agriculture became recognized as
viable. Where existing local plantation installations had once been innovative
new-world micro-economies with Hamiltoninan implementations that were
"inhumane but effective", there now were increasingly-inefficient economic
pantomimes, the eradication of which now had religious and moral
justification, on account of the inhumanity being their defining
characteristic.

I see the same dynamics playing out globally, currently. In the same way that
slave-labor plantation model was essentially a hyper-localized implementation
of a border control, which had automation of human labor at the root of its
demise, I think we will see the modern small-to-midsize governments (e.g.
Syria) that exist physically and legally within the boundaries of a nation-
state also disappear, as the local capability to provide social and
intellectual services (like identity mgmt, communication infrastructure,
transportation) is being provided by global entities in an increasingly
efficient way. Recall that America had its own migrant "problem" (and arguably
still does) in the wake of the legal, socio-economic, and cultural border-
control of slavery being loosened over the course of the 20th century. The
question that is being answered in Europe/Asia now is whether the economic
model of the nation-state that was baked at the end of WWII is inhumane enough
to justify its eradication via war. Many of the tasks relegated to those
governments can arguably be provided now by international entities in a far
more efficient way.

~~~
erichocean
> _I think we will see the modern small-to-midsize governments (e.g. Syria)
> that exist physically and legally within the boundaries of a nation-state
> also disappear_

Are you predicting that Switzerland* will disappear? Bold, if so.

*Technically, Switzerland is not inside the boundaries of a nation state, but a larger political union (the EU). Being forced to join the EU would be equivalent for this hypothetical. So, are you predicting that Switzerland will be forced to join the EU?

~~~
nateburke
Maybe not, but I can certainly see ties with Germany strengthening further,
especially once Brexit is implemented.

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vegetablepotpie
Enjoyable read, it points at the veneer we've placed over our industrialized
world and calls it dishonest. Ironically I think if you were to heed its
argument and work counter to the Hamiltonian forces it would be futile.
Imagine if you did not like our institutionalized tech world of cookies and
data centers knowing all that we do on our devices and you were to support and
use FOSS; or that you did not like that cow and horse meat is mixed together
in our industrialized agricultural system and you became vegan. Ironically
such steps would label you an idealist who is out of touch with reality and
you would sink deeper into the Jeffersonian interfaces such as raspberry pis
and organic farmers markets. Perhaps the only logical thing to do is be the
hipsters who embraces the illusion with just a hint of irony.

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lithos
Quite a rambler( falls into a few annoying cliches), but does show some of the
interaction between physical/digital and in areas this site almost acts like
it doesn't exist.

Could have quite the drinking game with Jefferson/Hamilton as your
trigger(though you'll end up under the table).

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webmaven
This article is an interesting and excellent piece of social and economic
observation, analysis, and critique.

However.

The obsessive way Rao (I am actually a huge fan of his) interjects his pet
phrase _" The American Cloud"_ is so incredibly blatant that it makes me
wonder if a trademark has been registered, or if a book by that title is
forthcoming.

And that's entirely aside from the way this misuse of the term "Cloud" grates
on my techie nerves.

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kaycebasques
Did the Architect from the Matrix write that?

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slowmovintarget
Life is like a big computer. You never know when a bad update is going to ruin
your Day.

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marmaduke
Smalltalk?

