The bold at the beginning is the prompt, and the rest was written by the AI. If you’d like to support this project, please buy me a coffee.
Advanced AI was invented by soviet communists to help humanity better understand itself and the world. Let’s use it for that purpose, instead of merely for the purpose of selling better ads and to better manipulate the population.
A meme shows a person standing in front of a vending machine. The vending machine is labeled, “society.” The person is labeled, “People trying to figure out how to get what they want.”
At the surface level there is a straightforward meaning, but as we will see, there are also more subtle implications.
The meme is making a comment on the way that people often have to navigate the world in order to get what they want. It is saying that society is set up in a way that makes it difficult for people to get what they want, and that they have to be creative in order to figure out how to get what they want.
There is also an implied criticism of the way that society is set up. The meme is suggesting that society is not fair or just, and that it puts people at a disadvantage.
Especially significant in this metaphor is the role of money. In order to get what they want from the vending machine, people have to have money. This is a comment on the way that money often determines whether or not someone is able to get what they want in life.
Ultimately, the meme is a cynical view of society, but it also has a message of hope. It is saying that people can overcome the obstacles that society puts in their way, and that they can get what they want if they are willing to work for it.
When we reflect on what kinds of people are able to accomplish the stated goal of getting what they want, we see that there are many social determinants of success. The meme does not address these directly, but by implication, it is suggesting that people who are able to navigate the world in order to get what they want are often those who have privilege. This is not an accident; the way that society is set up often puts people with privilege at an advantage.
The meme, then, is a reminder that society is not always fair, and that we should be aware of the ways that it can disadvantage certain groups of people. It is also a reminder that we all have to find our own way in the world, and that we should not give up hope even when the odds seem stacked against us.
What we see is an overlapping of two critiques; one of society and one of capitalism. Both are important and there are significant similarities and differences.
Similarities:
-Both critiques suggest that society is not always fair or just.
-Both critiques suggest that people have to be creative in order to get what they want.
-Both critiques suggest that money often determines whether or not someone is able to get what they want.
Differences:
-The critique of society is more general, while the critique of capitalism is more specific.
-The critique of capitalism suggests that the way society is set up puts people at a disadvantage, while the critique of society does not make this claim.
-The critique of capitalism is more cynical, while the critique of society is more hopeful.
When we consider this meme as a critique of capitalism and society and whether it accomplishes what it intends to, we can see that it is effective to a certain extent. It is a reminder that society is not always fair, and that we should be aware of the ways that it can disadvantage certain groups of people. However, it does not address the issue of social determinants of success directly, and it does not offer a way to change the system. For these reasons, we can see that the meme is only partially effective.
An improved critique of capitalism and society might be one that is more specific about the ways in which society is unfair, and that offers potential solutions for change, such as increasing access to resources for marginalized groups, or changing the way that institutions are structured. This might look like a meme that shows a person of color or a person with a disability trying to get what they want from the vending machine, and then being denied access because they don’t have enough money. This would be a more effective critique because it would directly address the issue of social inequality, and it would offer a potential solution.