Does anyone remember the WordPress Blog Futurism Forever? Since I assume most people reading The Fourth Estate may not be aware of this, I should mention that I was fascinated by its discussions of Futurism as both an Artform and a Worldview when it was active a while back. The Blog is no longer active because Gio, the guy who ran Futurism Forever, had too many run-ins with all sorts of people who were not serious about exploring Futurism as something viable. Either it was some opportunist trying to expropriate something that it is not or it was somebody who only learned about it from playing some obscure mod for Hearts of Iron IV on Steam. Some genuine Reactionaries got involved, causing things to go into a downward spiral that led to the dissolution of Futurism Forever.
The good news is that Gio is still around, having restarted on a clean slate does not involve Futurism being its core emphasis. The Beautiful Monsters Substack can be considered a sort of successor to Futurism Forever. I have been contemplating for some time now on whether I should consider contributing a short work or two for Beautiful Monsters, seeing how August has proven to be a difficult month for me in the writing department. Finding ways to deal with my writer’s block after finishing The Work-Standard (3rd Ed.) has not been easy for me. Something tells me that a change of pace, a different subject or a broadening of literary horizons will help me overcome the writer’s block at present.
However, writing something for another publication outside of The Fourth Estate is a different matter altogether. If I had to describe the principles behind Beautiful Monsters, it is the belief that we cannot revere old traditions that have ceased to remain relevant in the present, instead promoting the creation of newer ones that are more suitable for the future. To be nostalgic for a distorted past represents a form of defeatism because it strips oneself of the ability to realize that the future does not necessarily have to be bleak. One must learn to wield the power to reshape their future within the present.
From an International Relations standpoint, we live in a world where centuries-old Worldviews from the 19th century had fought for dominance through various Ideologies in the 20th century. Many of those Ideologies, despite having small numbers of adherents, offer very little for the 21st century, let alone the 22nd century. While these Worldviews continue to persist, new Ideologies are needed in order to address the pressing issues of our contemporary epoch. Beautiful Monsters is supposed to appeal to those who are determined to build something new in this century with as few historical connections as possible to whatever was notable in the last century.
The question that has me stumped is whether I should be writing fiction or non-fiction. I may need to ask Gio about that sometime since fiction, non-fiction and even poetry are considered as valid for that Substack. Whatever I decide to write is going to be a short work that may or may not be expanded on. If there is potential for further expansion, I reserve the final authority on that matter because writing for somebody else’s publication is something I am not accustomed to.
Categories: Blog Post
The Fourth Estate 
Leave a comment