"Diggy Diggy Hole"

I think this song is fascinating. I mean, it does really resonate with me - for once. And I also vaguely remember watching Togsgast during that time. I think I was a regular of theirs at the time that the episode in question went live.

But it wasn't ... really on my radar at all. I mean, it was a meme for a bit, but "the OG version" also never really did it for me. Now I don't even remember if I saw the new version back when. I mean, while watching Dwarf Fortress related stuff, 'Quill' he goes by I think, mentioned it in response to his Chat I think - and what I thought of was that ... let's call it "Simon's Version". Then there's, let's call it the "Yog's Version" - which I listened to after having been "reminded" of it, and something made me want to check it out.


And it's a little bit of a hymn for me now. Of course ... in symbols. But before I get into that, I have to properly headline this as:

Dwarfs don't Discriminate

Well, maybe they do - but that's up to the player. Speaking of Dwarf Fortress. And I'd lie if I wasn't sitting there at times thinking "Darn those Elves!". So I have to now go and plan out what trees to fell for my building projects - and take it year by year.

But the main thing is, that Dwarves ... as of Dwarf Fortress ... they ... are what we might call a 'post capitalism' culture. Some ... might not know this, but Dwarf Fortress had capitalism once. It caused a lot of problems, the game was all weird, and then they removed it and now ... well, some might call them communists, but ... it's certainly a lot more anarchical.

I mean - it's funny. There are nobles, but for the most part they're also just an ordinary dwarf. I suppose that their standing gives them privileges. I'm not sure though. But, there was one dwarf that ... just wouldn't leave the temple to their particular diety. So much so that she wouldn't do what she was supposed to do, and I had to find a replacement for her duties.
Now, I don't recall whether or not she was a noble, but ... thinking back ... hmm, no ...

Well ...


I just had an idea: So, for stockpile management: Add a layer of options - a priority list - that functions along the lines of stockpile linkage. But I want to be able to name individual links, setup options like ... "until full", "maintain count" and such - and also to arrange them into priorities. Like that I can divert all available resources of a type to a certain place - so, as a temporary measure.


Anyway ...

But so are Dwarves, I'd say. They do what they do ... because they're programs. Or algorithms. But to lift the story with a bit of fantasy - they do at times kind of have a will of their own. They'll do as they please, we may say, and I haven't really delved much into how deep the individual relationships can go. So, I could only assume. But it also works as a magical black box. Some are workaholics, some - it would seem - seek acknowledgment or distraction ... and it all somehow functions.
Like ... if you're planning on producing crafts for sale - you must also take dwarves into account that just fancy a thing that was made and keep it. And they really don't mind being weird about it. They'll happily wear twelve crowns and a sock on their right hand (OK, not literally but figuratively) if they feel like it.

What I'm trying to somehow get at is the part where I point out that some people really like work. Or they need it. And that, not to follow it up with how they do all the work so that lazy bums can leech off of it, but that EVERYONE can. If we started from there - that we ALL just said "fuck it" and turned lazy - there are the "first offenders" who just can't. Be it people that see that somehow we have to eat, or the one that just can't sit and do nothing. So, at that point it's not about who gets rewarded for what. If we said - OK, the only ones allowed to do anything are police - I'm sure some would raise their hand and do it. Like ... how dubious the rules though might be.
In the end, everyone can sure still do something. Especially early on, everyone kind of has to. But - not to make it an excuse, that there's always something left to do. I'm sure there is ... and the way I feel about my pile, it only ever seems to grow. Maybe at the end of it all we end up with a pile higher than our lifetime can hold - and we must set priorities.

Whatever the case - for our culture to heal, I think it's counter-productive to ever only speak of MORE work. Like, if we're working and working "because money" - well. What do we accomplish? What is really being gained?
Luxury? Common Wealth?
I mean - it must be so. How is it, that we here in Germany ... have pre-dominantly a service economy? There may very well be a dark side to it. Like, we produce luxury goods, possibly import the most of what we "have" - in like a way that may look like: Without money we'd be fucked!

And I'm not sure if people out there like us or not. But none of that is the point.


More to the point: How can we ... 'make' time?


Well. It may sound crazy, but ... just as a thought experiment, let's say we all paid our sallary into a shared account. So, whatever our labor is worth in the financial sense, that is turned into an abstract as we get paid according to different standards. In as far as money should still be a concern. Which it sure might be.
The next step then would be to consolidate the systems and structures we produce for our own sake into some kind of unified form - which should allow us to properly rationalize the work that we really need done down to a minimum. However we would want to call that transition - whatever mechanisms we need to employ.

So - going beyond that, I would argue there is education as a passion. So - ignoring the logistics of the labor that needs to be done - we could think of education as a hobby, or leisurely activity, rather than a must. Naturally I assume that reality is somewhere in between.
The idea here is, "Just Think" ... when it comes to how we want to spend our time - duties sure need their place - but ... there ought to be more. Like ... a 4 day work week.


Naturally we can - or should - only truly aspire that which is within reach. But there's no hurt in thinking ahead. In the sense ... having a plan. TO make loud our healthy tendencies!



Kapla!