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Disempowerment by Democracy

How Powerful is Your Vote?

Power is the ability to act according to your will by exerting control over your environment. The more power you have, the more needs and desires you can fulfill.

But things get complicated as soon as your environment becomes polluted with other people. Resources are scarce, and this leads to conflicts. Power over nature can extend to power over people.

Your power is diminished to the extent that others can exert their power over you and your environment, and vice versa. In the extreme case, a totalitarian dictator can exert absolute power over everyone else. Democracy promises to mitigate this risk by distributing power evenly among the population.

“Empowerment” is often regarded as synonymous with voting. The vote is the means by which marginalized groups could break their shackles, have their say, and win back the freedoms that they have lost to the power of others.

But how much power does a vote really bestow?

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ana032: HVAC vs. COVID: Will Schools Spread Airborne Infection? | with Goshe and Joe from Angineering.Tech

If COVID-19 is airborne, will it spread in classrooms? Can HVAC systems reduce this risk, or will they spread it through entire school buildings?

Goshe King and Joe Green are HVAC engineers and the voices behind the Angineering Tech podcast.

We have a detailed technical discussion covering:

  • Biomechanics of the virus (aerosol vs. droplet spread)
  • Anatomy of an HVAC system
  • How ventilation and filtration can reduce probability of infection
  • UV and HEPA air purifiers
  • Can schools be retrofitted with effective systems?
  • Operational strategies for HVAC systems
  • Masks – what can they do, and what can’t they do?
  • Joe’s crackpot theory

Use hashtag #ana032 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana032.

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ana031: Liberland Design Competition 2020 | Daniela Ghertovici Interview

Want to design a libertarian micronation?

Daniela Ghertovici, Founder and Director of ArchAgenda LLC, joins us to discuss the Liberland Design Competition 2020, which she is curating. https://designliberland2020.splashthat.com/

Daniela is also curating the Free Private Cities Architecture Symposium on July 18, 2020. It’s a free online event with no less than three former Anarchitecture guests: Patrik Schumacher, Titus Gebel, and Scott Beyer. Register now at https://freeprivatecitiesarchitecture.splashthat.com/

We can’t mention Patrik Schumacher without talking about parametricism, which ArchAgenda LLC was established to promote. Patrik is Daniela’s PhD advisor, and together with Lars Van Vianen they are launching Parametricism.com

Use hashtag #ana031 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana031.

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ana030: The ABC’s of Market Urbanism | Scott Beyer Interview

“Market Urbanism is the intersection of urban issues and free market philosophy.”

We interview Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report to introduce the ideas of Market Urbanism and discuss a broad sweep of issues in housing, transportation, and governance.

Use hashtag #ana030 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana030.

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ana029: Hospital Space is Inhibited, so Public Space is Prohibited

How does a quarantine affect public space?

Why aren’t there enough ICU beds?

Tim reflects on his experience designing hospitals to explain why the US healthcare infrastructure may be ill-equipped to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spoiler alert: It’s far from anything resembling a free market.

This stress on the healthcare system has been used to justify unprecedented restrictions on the use of government-owned public space. How would private owners of public space manage infection risk in a stateless society?

Use hashtag #ana029 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana029.

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ana028: Anarchitecture 101 | John Ellis Interviews Tim

John Ellis is a student in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

He is also, arguably more auspiciously, a long-time Anarchitecture Podcast listener.

Tim has been working with John over the past few months as an advisor for his thesis project. John was recently given an assignment to record a podcast for one of his classes, and interviewed Tim in a wide-ranging discussion which John’s class will be forced to listen to.

Use hashtag #ana028 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana028.

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Greetings from 2020!

Happy New Year!

And to those of you still languishing in the last decade, greetings from 2020!

The ’20’s are off to a “roaring” start, mainly because the 1920’s were called “the roaring 20’s” and humans, as a species, have lost any semblance of originality or historical perspective.

To wit, hipsters have decided that the 90’s are now retro, and have started wearing fluorescent spandex; ironically at first, then… unironically.

And they still have the beards. Picture that: 1890’s facial hair with 1990’s spandex, serving your morning coffee. That’s your first interaction every day.

The world anxiously awaits their discovery of grunge, when their beards will finally find an appropriate context.

But despite these setbacks, the fact that this decade can be pithily referred to as “the 20’s” is a welcome reprieve after “the aughts” and “the teens.” People who use those terms are universally reviled, and with good reason.

Speaking of revulsion, the 2020 election has been every bit the shitshow that it promised to be. Literally. During his first debate with Trump, Democratic nominee Joe Biden shat himself onstage.

This immediately alienated Biden’s core following, who could no longer ignore that the man was, in fact, full of malarkey.

Not to be outdone, Donald Trump quickly committed an equally embarrassing gaffe by continuing to be Donald Trump.

Consequently, the Libertarian Party nominee, Jacob Hornberger, received record-shattering votes, almost breaking into double digits.

He was, however, thwarted by a split vote when principled libertarians came out in force for Joe Biden, the man most likely to shit his pants while sitting in the oval office.

This additional 0.1% almost gave Biden the bump he needed to defeat Trump and avert the encroaching technocratic total police state. Because that’s what Democrats do, right guys?

Guys?

PS. Many Aussies have lost their homes this holiday season due to bushfires. As Michael Malice has said, for those who have lost everything, $5 is underwear. Please donate to https://www.redcross.org.au/donation.

USD$5.00 is AUD$7.14. Transcend borders.

Who is Responsible for the Orinda Airbnb Shooting?

It is a regrettable coincidence that we released an Anarchitecture Podcast episode lightheartedly mocking certain “fears” about short-term rentals just hours before a shooting at an Airbnb unit in Orinda, California took the lives of five people on October 31, 2019. Our hearts are heavy for the families of Tiyon Farley, Omar Taylor, Ramon Hill Jr., Javin County, Oshiana Tompkins, and others who were injured. 

However, some of the arguments we made in our episode can help to shed light on what was done wrong, by whom, and some possible approaches to reducing these kinds of risks in the future. In our Halloween episode #27 of Anarchitecture Podcast, titled “#ana027: 11 Spooky Fears About Short-Term Rentals – ASSUAGED!!!” I talked about my experience as an Airbnb host, and we addressed a list of concerns about short-term home rentals that have motivated bans and other legal restrictions on short-term rentals across the country. These “fears” ranged from effects on housing affordability to fire safety concerns to licensure requirements to noise and other nuisances. We concluded that there are generally building code and licensure requirements that place some reasonable limits on the number of occupants in a single-family home rental, and proposed a “home rental mediation” service to mediate nuisance complaints between hosts and neighbors.

Let’s start with some facts of the case as they have been reported:

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ana027: 11 Spooky Fears About Short-Term Rentals | ASSUAGED!!!

Tim rents his home as a short-term rental on summer weekends. Why is this so scary to everyone else?

We discuss eleven fears about short-term rentals, one of which is legitimate. Fear not, we have a non-governmental solution for that one. All others will be #ASSUAGED!!!

11 Fears About Short Term Home Rentals

  • Fear #1 – Home rentals hurt a town’s “character”
  • Fear #2 – Home rentals make housing less affordable
  • Fear #3 – Home rentals are unsafe
  • Fear #4 – Home rentals are not in compliance with building codes
  • Fear #5 – Home rentals are not licensed and inspected as lodging places
  • Fear #6 – Home rentals are preparing and serving food without a license
  • Fear #7 – Home rentals are not ADA / FHA compliant for accessibility for people with disabilities
  • Fear #8 – Home rentals do not have adequate insurance
  • Fear #9 – Home rentals are not paying taxes
  • Fear #10 – Home rentals are unfair competition to hotels
  • Fear #11 – Home rentals are creating nuisances

Use hashtag #ana027 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana027.

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ana026: Music of Anarchitecture | Joe on Sounds Like Liberty

Joe was interviewed on the “Sounds Like Liberty” podcast about:

  • The music of Anarchitecture Podcast
  • Our band
  • The making of “Theme from Friends Against Government”
  • How naming our band killed our faith in democracy (and might get us in trouble someday)
  • 5 (or 10) albums that everybody needs to hear

Check out our band “Diametric” at diametricband.com, where you can stream our music and find links to spotify, itunes, and several other platforms.

Use hashtag #ana026 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment.

View full show notes at https://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana026.

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