Brett Scott

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...

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

Really glad you like it

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.

YouTube video by Brett's Altered States of Monetary Consciousness Modern Monetary Theory - A Primer

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...

'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.'

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

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

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

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...

YouTube video by Chris Burke Sober night out 🕺🏻 #90s #rave #dancemusic #raves #party #hardstyle #edm

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

The Five Faces of the Taxman He cometh, but who is he and what does he want?

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...

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

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)

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)

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)

Money as Addiction Escaping solutionist perspectives on our means of survival

“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...

YouTube video by Brett's Altered States of Monetary Consciousness The entire global monetary system explained in under 15 minutes

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...

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

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)

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)

You’re having fun developing AI, and you’re probably getting very rich off it, and you feel like you want to tell some positive story about this, but please don't.

Please don’t spin your naive feel-good tales about the wondrous things AI will do in future.

(3/6)

So many of them are now very wealthy but still tell stories about how they naively hoped the tech wouldn’t be weaponised to enrich small groups of elites while empowering increasingly authoritarian regimes

Those people were, in the 90s, in the same situation that you find yourself in now...

(2/6)

A message for every person working on AI in 2025

There’s something slightly obnoxious about watching people who pioneered the Internet later crying tears at the fact that it’s now used for massive surveillance, data extraction and centralisation of power...

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For a long time I’ve referred to the ‘defence industry’ as the war industry and got mocked for doing so. Finally our global emperor has validated my long-held belief

The Global Money System in 10 Pictures The see-sawing webs that hold the world together, and rip us apart

Are you feeling confused about the geopolitics of tariffs and terms like ‘trade deficits’ and ‘stablecoins’?

I drew the global money system in 10 pictures to help y'all understand it www.asomo.co/p/the-global...