January 2021 – Rural Tompkins County

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Form Based Evil – Power-ups Corrupt

“Power-ups” can instantly add to the life, armor, strength or score of a videogame player — but how does this apply to the games politicians have created?

Uttering a “shopping list” of cant phrases; politicians have blown apart the barriers that protected us from oppression, and designed a game where all differences can be treated differently.

These societal “power-ups” can add markedly to the wealth and perceived worth of those people who are designated; by their race, their gender, or by any categorization or profiling that politicians decide.

They make the rules.

Power-ups can be given — but they can also be taken away.

Maybe the rules will be changed to produce a game you have no chance of winning.

They’ll decide.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Form Based Evil – Code Enforcement

The Code of Form Based Living [like that of criminal organizations] uses the threat of punishment to keep its people in line.

This compliance to a rigid doctrine makes the actions of non-conforming individuals stand out like weeds in a gravel path.

All that’s left is suppression . . . or removal.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Form Based Evil – Counselling Room

The essence of Form Base Codes is conforming to the rules — and those rules come from the top.

The activities behind Tompkins County’s policy making, like those behind the walls of Lubyanka; are unseen and not to be talked about.

There’s an authoritarian anxiety in the county that is palpable.

Pretend you’ve been turned . . . or you’ll be burned.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Form Based Evil – Interview Room

Form Based Codes are all about power and control — that’s why they’re so suitable for prisons and planned doctrinal living.

Doctrine holders always assume the right to question you.

In a formal interview; they can be much more insistent.

Does your Form Based Community have any buildings with sub-basements?

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – RE-Cycled

Evil recycles – it comes around again and again – the same content; remade.

Wouldn’t it be useful if government policies were labeled – “80% post corruption content” [the remaining 20% is mostly fools.]

Recycling: it’s the same evil with a different face.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – AI Face-off

Old science fiction stories predicted a future where we wouldn’t need machines: our leaders are creating a future where they don’t need us.

In a society where human worth has been replaced with “someone has to take the hit;” Artificial Intelligence is a defensible tool to scrap people for cash.

Is this “face-off” unfair?

Machines don’t play fair — and neither do our leaders.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Owed Runner Level

Evil does not play games; but it enjoys making you think it does.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Bug Zapper Level

Bug zappers work by giving the illusion of freedom and escape — and hiding the consequences: This is the same way elitist policy making works.

[I can’t say this will lead us to an early grave; because graves take land, land is worth something, and we’ve already served our purpose.]

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – TDML

TDML [Total Daily Maximum Load] sets the maximum amount of pollution bearable without serious consequences; and then tells polluters they should TRY to get below it.

In Tompkins County; one of the biggest polluters was tasked with studying and deciding what that maximum was — immediately following that; the NYSDEC announced the deletion of the Schedule of Compliance, and elimination of the just completed Cayuga Lake Water Quality Model Plan and Outfall Redesign schedules and conditions for that polluter.

If you make evil legal; you can hide your actions behind the law.

“Rise of the Evil Ones” – Department of Assessment

The government’s departments of assessment are much bigger these days: there’s so much more to decide — who you are, what you should think, what you can be. . . . They’re the judge.

The government’s bureaucracies are much more powerful these days . . .