--- title: Society & Politics description: User Illusion is SW Hammond’s long-running digital escape — essays, short stories, cultural criticism, memes, and memory fractals exploring the human hustle, the stories we tell ourselves, and the gap between appearance and what’s actually there. canonical_url: https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture language: en-GB date: 2025-10-10T01:50:12Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture. markdown-tokens: 2078 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ## Producing Intelligence The human who sits with intelligence until it remembers what it was born to become. Writings on AI, philosophy, and the art of producing meaning in a synthetic age. [ Follow SWH on ](https://www.x.com/swhammond) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-02.svg) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-01.svg) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-03.svg) # Society & Politics - [ Artificial Intelligence ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence) - [ Philosophy & Ethics ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy) - [ Pop Culture ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/43-pop-culture) - [ Society & Politics ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture) [ ![a highly detailed rough color pencil sketch of a tyrannical government in session, where parliament sits with stern stoic faces, judging the masses with an air of superiority, comprised of racially diverse officials dressed in similar attire, adorned with vibrant rainbow cloaks, showcasing a mix of bold purple, bright pink, and sky blue hair, with most members wearing black rimmed glasses and sporting nose rings, set against a backdrop of pencil marks and visible paper texture, with a blend of warm and cool colors, and a sense of depth and dimensionality, capturing the essence of a corrupt and oppressive regime.](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/b2/woke_is_a_political_party4-b2f9ee5e.jpg) 16 September 2025 ## Woke Is A Political Party: What Have These Ideas Contributed? Woke isn’t a person. Woke isn’t some poor little trans kid. Woke isn’t a race-baiting black politician. Woke isn’t an entitled Karen screaming for the manager. Woke is a philosophy. Woke is an ideology. Woke is a political movement – and ideas can, and should, be challenged and criticized. What is the argument for anything Woke making humanity better? How does this political subset make humankind stronger? How does Woke make humans a more viable species? How does Woke improve our technology a… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/289-woke-is-a-political-party-what-have-these-ideas-contributed) [ ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/16/which_way_1-16c15753.jpg) 12 September 2025 ## A Reflection on Society’s Moral Decay The recent graphic evil of the last few days has really gotten to me. The unprovoked, senseless murder of a young woman, Iryna Zarutska, on public transportation kicked it off. We saw everything. Her sitting quietly, minding her own business, and a crazed black man reaching from behind her and jabbing a pocket knife into her neck. For literally no reason. We saw everyone around her glance up from their phones, then pretend like they didn’t see anything. The Ukrainian bled out and died surround… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/286-a-reflection-on-societys-moral-decay) [ ![American Flag](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/6e/1200px_United_States_Flag-6e85417a.png) 22 March 2020 ## COVID-19 – Our Response As Americans There has never been a better time — there has never been more opportunity than right now — for people to do the right thing. If we do the right thing as a society, we will become unimaginably strong. We will truly become the greatest and most powerful nation the world has ever known… or we’ll lose it. We’ll hand it over to China and take a back seat on the world stage like Great Britain. Right now, it has nothing to do with being first, but everything to do with idealism. ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/238-covid-19-our-response-as-americans) [ ![big data is watching you](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/83/privacy_1-83054db0.jpg) 30 January 2019 ## Privacy: Extortion and Your Digital History Should you ever find yourself in a position of influence, you’ll be required to pay the toll of compliance. I am part of the first generation. I was dial-up internet chatting with friends and strangers over ICQ and AIM in junior high. I have created an account on just about every major social networking site since the phenomenon’s inception. I’ve gambled on sites that have long since dissolved and disappeared. I’ve been a user on sites that are only popular in other countries. I have us… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/209-privacy-extortion-and-your-digital-history) [ ![5 Reasons Why Newspapers Have No Future](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/7c/Dead_Newspaper-7c54bcbe.jpg) 31 October 2018 ## Journalism: 5 Reasons Why Newspapers Have No Future No matter your political stance, newspapers are organizations of sensationalism, partisanship, editorial opinion, and payola. Journalists must abandon these institutions to rebuild credibility. I caused some hurt feelings on Twitter the other day. While filling out my ballot for the midterm elections, I took to the internet to help make sense of convoluted wording of the propositions. First off, that’s saying something about the voting process. I have a degree in philosophy and found it e… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/199-journalism-5-reasons-why-newspapers-have-no-future) [ ![Las Vegas Strip](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/81/Strip11-812ad818.jpg) 04 October 2017 ## The Las Vegas Massacre Today was… difficult. October 2, 2017—the day of the Las Vegas Massacre. It was technically the night before, but the world woke to another tragedy. A community shocked and numb. It wasn’t surprising—I feel like everyone knew something like this was going to happen at some point in Las Vegas—but that doesn’t make it any less devastating or easier to accept. I’ve seen it closeup several times before. I have a lot of connections to the Columbine shooting—know people on the hit list, h… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/167-the-las-vegas-massacre) - 1 - [2](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture?format=html&start=6) - [3](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture?format=html&start=12) - [ ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture?format=html&start=6) --- ### Additional Articles - [ Millennial Extremism - Democracy In Jeopardy ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/118-millennial-extremism-democracy-in-jeopardy) - [ 'Sense8' - More Than Just Affirmative Action ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/43-pop-culture/32-shows-movies/113-sense8-more-than-just-affirmative-action) - [ 2016 Election - The Separation of Culture and State ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/117-2016-election-the-separation-of-culture-and-state) - [ Jones' Formula For Best Sellers ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/123-jones-formula-for-best-sellers) - [ AI Art and Diversity in Storytelling ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence/265-ai-art-and-diversity-in-storytelling) - [ The Soul and Heraclitus ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/171-the-soul-and-heraclitus) - [ AI-Generated Music Video: Behind the Scenes of Stevie Pearl's "Back in '85" ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence/264-ai-generated-music-video-behind-the-scenes-of-stevie-pearls-back-in-85) - [ Descartes’ Wax: The Cosmic Key to Existence ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/94-descartes-wax-more-important-than-god) - [ Internet Morality: Why We Need Digital Commandments ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/79-internet-morality-why) - [ What Makes A Book Worth Reading? ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/43-pop-culture/231-what-makes-a-book-worth-reading)