#Climate (and other stuff) #Systems

brenda elthon’s short photo essay today contains a corker of a quote: (she is talking about 1968)

<<A US government scientist, speaking at a meteorology meeting, warned that burning petroleum and other organic compounds ‘to move a 120-pound woman and a bag of groceries to and from the market’ radically affects the Earth’s chemical balance and represents a long-term threat to human survival.>>

which calls to mind the observations of author john gall, who wrote about Operational Fallacies in his book General Systemantics in 1975

<<Example 1. Doesn’t the auto industry supply us with millions of new cars each year, even tailoring them to our changing tastes in style and performance?
Answer. The reason we think the auto industry is meeting our needs is that we have almost completely forgotten what we originally wanted, namely, a means of going from one place to another that would be cheap, easy, convenient, safe, and fast. We have been brainwashed into thinking that the Detroit product [cars] meets these requirements. >>

the auto industry has destroyed the face of the earth; it has dictated urban design, while the demand for oil has been behind a lot of global conflict. our economies revolve around cars. people are locked up in jails because they drove unregistered cars because they needed cars to get to work, and so on.

remember in the 1950s/1960s when suburbs all had reasonable public transport, and men (yep, blokes, mostly) still came to households delivering bread, milk, soft drink in glass bottles, collecting used glass bottles, flogging fish, sometimes rabbits, greengroceries etc?

then we got cars and started do-it-yerself shopping. thankfully, we are now reverting to some home delivery, but urban design is still a mess.

stafford beer was the bloke credited with saying The Purpose of a System is What it Does #POSIWID

<<there is "no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do">> (i lifted this from wikipedia)
——-

but i digress… 1968 in the USA

https://open.substack.com/pub/look/p/photo-of-the-day-4ee?r=1g2w5q&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Slate: “Because of the immense power of facial recognition to target political enemies and indiscriminately deport any of us, and because the system’s racially biased inaccuracy is already causing wrongful arrests, banning facial recognition is an essential step toward preventing authoritarian overreach.”

also Slate - giant, page-obscuring popover: “We need to talk about your ad blocker”

yes, I know these two things are not the same. but they are both part of US-led #SurveillanceCapitalism & the #SurveillanceState​(s) that it enables

https://slate.com/technology/2025/06/ice-facial-recognition-camera-surveillance-mistake-deported.html

#FacialRecognition
#biometrics
#racism
#privacy
#POSIWID

@gimulnautti @transworld

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

From what I can tell, now It's OK If You're Republican #IOKIYR

and It's OK If You Are Republican
#IOKIYAR

are indeed the law.

@CindyWeinstein

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does
#POSIWID

SCOTUS would have acted already if they wanted him returned and in full control of his senses

@gtconway3

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does
#POSIWID

DOGE has accomplished what it was put in place to do.

@wragge

#POSIWID 😕

@ShaulaEvans en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pur... #POSIWID

The purpose of a system is wha...

@GossiTheDog

  > …while others are yielding unintended consequences.

counterpoint: “The purpose of a system is what it does”

#POSIWID

@mina

Project 2025 is just a playbook that neo-Nazis wrote.

He answers only to Putin. How is he failing Putin?

To Putin, the fact that the King of the formerly mighty USA is a clown is a bonus.

The Purpose of the System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

I believe that many of us are misunderstanding what the mission is so we are celebrating the incompetence and assuming that he will be replaced.

Truth be told, Trump was placed there to sign the documents they hand him. If he golfs or takes money from foreign powers or criminals, that was factored into the bargain.

The Purpose Of the System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

It is working as intended.

@mina

Nope. He is doing exactly what they expected.

He in concert with corrupt GOP enablers in House and Senate is dismantling the USA as he was put in place to do.

The Purpose of the System Is What It Does #POSIWID

@GottaLaff

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

Not idiotic if you want to downsize US spy agency effectiveness

@ashnod

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

Trump was installed to do what he's done. He probably doesn't actually know what that is but Vance/Musk/Putin/Project 2025 are comfortable with the results so far

@Jennifer @Rasta #POSIWID

@Rasta
The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does
#POSIWID

Destruction of all West Coast economies is intentional

@ErickaSimone

#POSIWID explains a lot of things.

@ErickaSimone

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does

#POSIWID

Leaving the backdoor for Russia to come in was the Purpose.

@godpod

#POSIWID

The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does

Biden didn't send Griner to the Russian gulag

2 things can be true:
Yes, Trumpists are being careless.
Also, these are also not accidents.
#posiwid
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/at-least-2-immigration-lawyers-in-massachusetts-received-notices-to-self-deport

This is gonna be one of those things were we get dismissed as 'hysterical' for accurately describing the results & intent of a law: SAVE, for practical purposes, disenfranchises most American women who've ever been married, & that is one of a number of things it is in fact specifically intended to do.
#POSIWID
https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes/114314789558545972