Introducing Jack Move Magazine

Just a few moments ago, the writer, editor, publisher, and advertising mind Emma Alvarez Gibson published the first issue of Jack Move Magazine, an old-school zine for the 21st century. I contributed a piece to Jack Move; I will leave it to you to figure out which piece is mine (hint: my byline is on it.) I am refraining from giving you the direct link to my offering, because I want you to rummage through the other quality writing on your way to reading my article.

What is Jack Move Magazine all about? From the masthead:

Like an old-school zine.

(But smarter. And sexier.)

Real talk for the thinking person. Real perspectives from real people. And a really excellent sampling of what’s current. We aim to spark in our readers the sort of sky-rips-open, wonder-filled possibility that those old zines sparked in us. Think of us as the zine-analog you’ve been secretly yearning for.

Culture and vision, vision and culture: It’s the stuff that keeps us from slinking back into the primordial soup. We think that’s worth our attention. We hope we’re worth yours.

Mrs. Gibson has a long history of writing fiction, poetry, expository writing, branding work, consulting, and of course ad copy in the course of her life. As an entrepreneur and ring leader, she has enough energy to statically charge even the dampest of spirits. On a personal note, I am grateful to her for encouraging me in many aspects of my life, not least of which is the artistic part of my life. I honestly don't know where I would be without Emma--even though we only met one time, at a Starbucks in Pasadena, while I was still living in California.

The contributors to Jack Move Magazine offer a wide range of styles, forms, and subjects. I hope you get a kick out of it. Click here to visit Jack Move Magazine and get a piece of raw energy.

A Global Anatomy of Power in the 21st Century

A brief sketch of a hypothetical non-fiction magnum opus: a book about how power works in the 21st century.

Global Power

A survey of the different types of power bases, and how they interact. Governments, extra-governmental corporations, profit-motivated groups, ideologically motivated groups, and unconscious psychosocial movements. Because power does not always rest in human hands, natural phenomena would have to be treated as power bases as well; they would be integrated into the theoretical interactions of human power bases.

National Power

A survey of many countries and a more focused analysis of how power works on the national level. Inclusion of a charting system developed to measure the distribution of power in each country; such a chart would place national, regional, local, private, and hidden power in relation to one another by contact points and weight.

Regional and Local Power

Further magnifications.

Clubs, Families, and Individuals

How power works in small groups, and how individuals change this.

True Power vs. Power in Name Only

A definition of actual power bases. For example, if two countries are better understood as one in terms of power, I would explain why. If one country can actually be broken into multiple true countries, either geographically or psychographically, I would address this as well.

Patriotism

A survey of common and interesting types of patriotism, and an assessment of the influence of patriotism in each geographical region.

Culture

A discussion on how different cultures allow power to distribute itself and to what degree it exercises itself. I would trace the cultural customs and values back as far as relevance allows, in search of an explanation for why power becomes what it becomes.

Gangs, Cartels, Shadow Governments

A survey and portrait of how semi-hidden power bases influence world affairs and the lives of everyday people, as well as their real power relative to official power.

Political Systems

A discussion of various political systems (democracy, communism, monarchy, etc.) and why they don't matter very much.

Language and Art

A discussion of how language and art affect power.

Technology

A discussion of how technology changes the nature of power.

Conclusion: How To Change Power

How to change, redistribute, reduce, or eradicate power. A discussion on fleeting change vs. real change. The key message here will be that real change takes many generations, and that even the most spectacular of world events do not actually change things as much as people think they do. Change must be initiated at the cultural level.

25 Loosely Connected Opinions on the Mechanics of Personal Revolution

I wrote this using my Twitter account.

1. High energy and fast poetry break barriers to entry. Don't wait for permission to speak. Move in, get in front of the crowd, and explode.
2. I have commandeered microphones in minutes flat. I have created stages out of staircases. You don't need airwaves and Carnegie Halls.
3. Raised eyebrows become head-scratching becomes stroked beards become arms akimbo become heart-pounding becomes shouts & applause in moments.
4. Prepare for that moment. Get the message ready. Sculpt it, chisel it, perfect it. An opportunity to unleash the message will present itself.
5. Blitzkrieg. The revolution of the mind cannot be self-administered. The element of surprise is key. The ego's defense relies on forewarning.
6. Comedians are like double agents. They appease the conscious mind to gain access to the unconscious mind.
7. If you want to change the world, be a mind agent. Infiltrate psyches and install messages that fuse to the ego.
8. "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."
9. Hackers say code is poetry. I say it's also vice-versa.
10. It is unnerving to think that our minds are programmable. But they are. Propagandists and marketers are programming us at this very moment.
11. The mind is a battlefield. To ignore the rules of battle is to allow meaningless objectives to prevail. Apply conscious programming.
12. Changing your own mind is often just a reconfiguration of existing components. To change your mind, an external force must operate on you.
13. In my experience, fundamental change is something that comes over you, like a force of nature. It's out of your hands.
14. Choice comes after assessment. Assessment comes after options. Options come after exploration. Exploration comes from perpetual motion.
15. Vision precedes perception.
16. Your vision is a hollow vessel. Information serves mainly to fill up and justify the existence of your vision.
17. Information, facts, figures, and data do not change the shape of your vision. And emotion only serves to heat and thus soften your vision.
18. The sheer gravity of other visions, in my theory, is the only force that can change the shape of your emotion-softened vision.
19. Visions can take the form of symbols. Symbols are visions that have been eroded over the years to their irreducible essence.
20. To draw a parallel to physics: An individual human vision is the "weak" force, while a symbol (collective vision) is the "strong" force.
21. An individual's vision can make subtle but universal changes to other visions. A symbol makes highly perceptible but localized changes.
22. In the end, we have only the tools available to us. We have language, for example: an assemblage of blunt objects and surgical instruments.
23. Language is partially a function of the number of people involved. Its nature changes drastically at each succession towards infinity.
24. It is useful to understand Dunbar's Number when talking about language, cognition, and revolution. http://bit.ly/cXilP4
25. We have only so many mental, emotional, and temporal resources to address such questions. There is sacrifice.

A blues note.

The future is a terrible place, in my view.

I was born in 1980.

The 1990s was a wonderful place to come of age. Opportunity seemed endless. I was doing anything and everything I wanted. School was warm, nurturing, splendid. I was involved in numerous extra-curricular activities, mainly arts-oriented.

Outside of school, the winter ice crackled spectacular underfoot and the summer breeze cooled the leaves. Bicycles turned to car wheels. Riding was the stuff life is made of.

On the periphery of consciousness, in the media, the economy was booming harder than ever before. The human condition was getting better all the time, as far as we knew.

Friendship was solid, dependable. Love was rich, sincere, committed.

I was 21 when the planes hit the towers. I took it pretty hard.

Since then everything has seemed bleak. The first decade of the 21st century have been rough on me. I have not aged gracefully. Numerous false career starts have left me doubting I will ever find a solid niche and wondering whether I should even try. Numerous of my personal friendships and romantic relationships have shattered.

The false promise of the 1990s have left me with the 2010 blues. Thirty years old and I'm stuck in the mud with little desire to even spin my tires, let alone get out and push.

So much remains uncharted.

Eighty percent.

You took some hits.

Some chunks broke off the ship.

And you're light years away

From where you started.

But you're still kicking up stardust,

Line dancing with black holes.

Swing your partner, she's all you got.

So much remains uncharted.

I will not avert my eyes, I will not turn my back...

I will not avert my eyes, I will not turn my back.

I will stare into the sockets of the skull, the endless black

That never dulls, that never cries, that never blinks, I will not shrink

Until the finish. Nor shall death diminish my resolve, think

Forward.