National Nomadism and the Double Life of a Pseudonymous Writer
Recent podcast appearances
Over the last week I’ve been travelling, and therefore haven’t had time to publish anything of great consequence. Since these travels have been related to my secret identity’s professional double life, there was absolutely no time to sit down and write anything. It was as much a social experience as a strictly professional one, meeting friends and colleagues that I hadn’t seen since before the scamdemic shut down the planet and derailed my normie career. It was weirdly refreshing to take a breather from schizosophy mode and re-inhabit the clean Apollonian halls of the technical sciences, blessedly free from politics and culture war ... although politics inevitably loomed in the background like a thunderhead. I was good, though. I only got in one argument, when someone bizarrely claimed that diversity statements weren’t political, but a simple matter of keeping out white supremacists (white supremacy, you see, being both an imminent threat, a widespread problem, and its suppression an apparently apolitical question).
Several of those old friends and colleagues approached me to express their concern that I’d been unsuccessful in landing a position in the meantime, and to inquire what I’d been doing with myself during my extended hiatus of funemployment.
“Writing,” I replied evasively, “Mostly science fiction stories.”
“Oh,” they’d say, “Can I read it? Is any of it published?”
“Not yet,” I’d laugh, and change the subject.
Which isn’t technically a lie (I do try not to actually lie to people), since in fact I have a couple of short stories along with three novels in various states of completion, none of which I’ve yet published. A month or so ago I made an off-hand remark in the italicized end notes of a post that I’d rather be writing sword and planet stories than whinging and ranting about politics, which the incompetent malfeasance of our demon-haunted ruling class keeps dragging me back into. This spur of the moment remark then led to me actually starting one, and over the next few weeks the notes worldbuilding, character arcs, and plot outlines evolved into a 16,000 word document (although I’ve yet to actually start, you know, writing the story).
A senior colleague remarked that making one’s way as a writer was an even more difficult career path than what I’d been doing before. Which is true, but of course, I didn’t dare tell him that many of you have made it possible for me to go well on my way to making that dream a reality ... something which never ceases to amaze me, and which I really don’t think I do enough for all of you to deserve, to the point that I feel vaguely guilty for getting away with it. It would have been nice to brag, but such is the double life of a pseudonymous dissident writer.
Speaking of the double life of a pseudonymous writer, Chris James invited me onto his podcast to discuss exactly this. Chris is trying to make it in the business too, and unlike me, he has a book out, All Outcomes Are Acceptable, the Kindle version of which is currently free. We chatted about Substack and how it’s turned into an absolute game-changer for wordsmiths, and from there discussed the ongoing decay of legacy institutions under the impact of ESG and DIE, my writing process (insofar as it’s a ‘process’), the uses and misuses of Artificial Incompetence, the challenges of modern dating, and the opportunities and pitfalls of digital nomadism.
I also discussed digital nomadism with my friend Chris Dulny, who runs the Swedish language Vita Pillret podcast, the name of which is Swedish for ‘the white pill’, which is in turn a double entendre. Since I don’t speak Swedish, Chris was gracious enough to conduct the interview in English. Chris is himself a very interesting guy, with a background in conventional Swedish electoral politics within the nationalist Sweden Democrat party previous to his career as a bomb-throwing right-wing provocateur. He’s a keen observer of international politics.
While we spent the last bit of the podcast talking about the expat lifestyle, which Chris knows a thing or two about, having spent the last few years exploring Eastern Europe and South America, the actual point of the episode was to do a deep dive on the viral essay I wrote last year concerning the cold shoulder corporate America is giving the white male, and what white men can reasonably do about it (aside from dying with needles in their arms):
If No One’s Hiring White Guys, What Are They Doing With Themselves?
Over the last year, several readers have noted that they’ve been having trouble finding work for quite some time. This is despite the unemployment rate being supposedly low due to a supposed shortage of workers. The one thing that all these anecdotal reports have in common is that they come from White guys. Given the ideological psychosis that has gripp…
The episode is aptly titled HR Hell, since the purpose was not just to discuss the recent consequences of the Great Awokening but to understand how we ended up in the outer circles of Karen From HR’s Inferno in the first place. Thus, we went into Civil Rights, anti-discrimination laws, and the disparate impact doctrine created by Griggs v Duke Power. Chris has been podcasting for several years now, and unlike me is a consummate professional. He actually had a plan for the episode, like an actual outline, and to my amazement he kept me mostly on topic throughout. Personally I think this is one of the best interviews I’ve ever done, and I think you’ll enjoy it.
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/vita-pillret-sommarspecial-2024-hr-hell-with-john-carter--60605697
While I’ve got your attention, I’d like to direct it to L.P. Koch’s blog. Luc is best known for being one of Substack’s most incisive philosophers, a mystic who absolutely defies political characterization. He is also, it turns out, a musician:
It’s a great song, and you should check it out.
Aleksandar Svetski’s Bushido of Bitcoin is now available for pre-order. For the past several months I’ve been helping him edit it, and it’s been a fascinating project to assist with. Svetski meditates on the warrior virtues of feudal Japan, medieval Europe, and the Hellenistic age, asking how these can be adapted to the coming diamond age of cyberpunk multipolarity. There’s a Kickstarter, which is very close to its initial goal has passed its initial goal and is now into stretch goal territory. The promo video is amazing, and worth watching for its own sake:
If you’re new here, you can find a selection of some of my better work here, which spans quite a range of topics, much of it having little to do with politics per se.
Of Science and Shitposting
When I started writing Postcards From Barsoom two years ago, I was in a pretty different place in my life. At the time I was still thoroughly immersed in my career as an academic scientist, something I’d devoted over a decade of my life to at that point. There was a lot to enjoy about that vocation.
IMHO it's tough to write a Substack like this and also write fiction. I can't think of anyone who substacks on your level and is also a successful author. I made the decision myself not to blog or substack because I need that energy for my sci-fi. Not saying you can't do both, but you shouldn't feel frustrated about not publishing fiction. After all, essays about contemporary society and politics ARE a kind of science fiction, just with fewer sympathetic characters!
The dreaded 'I'm a writer' conversation... well handled.