How to be a Slave (by Aleksander Rostov)
Scraped this wonderful piece straight from Aleksander Rostov's Instagram. I couldn't just let it dissolve back into the algorithmic sludge and I had to copy it here. All intellectual property belongs to Rostov himself, naturally. The stanza division is my own improvised mess:
How to be a slave
My independence!
The most precious thing in the world, the measure of every act.
Love the phone! The device of our freedom.
By its power you walk in foreign towns like a local. Talk nearly every language on the planet. Access the noosphere of hyperinformation that we have woven into the air itself.
Your second brain. The offshore sweat shop of mistreated transistors that you have outsourced your memory to.
Your third eye that remembers the precious moments of your life for you.
Hear words from wise men and women on this and that. Or a bedtime tale to help you go to sleep.
Hear the voice of your love from the other side of the world.
Never be alone again.
Love the car! The device of our freedom.
Visit every town. Whatever, you get it.
Love the slave! The device of our freedom.
Never work again. Never spill your wine or pick your own grapes again. Punish the slave when they do or don’t. Wait no! Have another slave punish the first.
The house! The device of our freedom.
Make a cave anywhere. Ooga booga.
Money! The device of our freedom.
Ha ha ha.
Ah, we must be invalids. Our hands so weak, our legs so feeble. Our skin so thin and eyes so dull. Our minds nasty, but clever at inventing crutches for every task.
From the first tool onward we have yearned to build the golem or the kratt.* The tool that tools itself so we can finally rest.
Rest! Sacred rest! So tired of resting. Can I invent a man to rest in my stead?
I will invent a man to f*** my wife so I can finally be free.
Freedom!
* this is a nice Estonian detail: the kratt is a sort of household kobold or puck from Estonian mythology notable for doing everything the master orders, and often used for stealing and bringing various goods for its owner...