Friday, July 03, 2026

Anything close to the notion of privacy or anonymity that we expect from technology seems like an anamoly compared to say…Tsarist Russia. Or periods prior to that even. Yes the Gendarmes know you’re at the gym. Yes the Gendarmes know you ate lentil for supper. Yes the Gendarmes know you have four kids. Yes the Gendarmes read your mail. Yes the Gendarmes know all of this and guess what your neighbors do too.

I think Gendarmes is a term I picked up out of an audiobook, Stalin: Passage to Revolution. Great listen. Crisp narration. Painstaking detail. In little Georgian towns everybody knew everyone’s business (‘We don’t think that’s your real dad, Soso’) and then so did the Gendarmes in St. Petersburg.

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Typically I’m opposed to comparing digital things to physical spaces on the principle that I don’t like the comparison but you ever think that social media platforms are like project houses?

Flipping on dirty mattresses and playing inside refrigerators and things like that. Burning trash, burning cars, urinating where ever you like. A sense of community nonetheless. Not being too ashamed of coming from up out of that but never wanting to return.

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