ANUS criticism

[▓]

DLA was always the worthwhile bit of this big old site. The anus/corrupt/amerika subsections were trees that would never bare any fruit as they were self-negating. That is: they contained academic content that was skewed and presented in a way to make it useless to academia. You could never source a piece of writing from anus.com for your serious investigative work, for example.

The three best things to come out of this site arcology are all metal-based as well:

1. National Day of Slayer
2. Chuck Schuldiner died of AIDS
3. Black Witchery Masters of Scat metal

I actually like all of these bands musically, but they are funny and self-sustaining memes, regardless of the target.

[Goluf]

I am speaking mainly about the philosophical, activist, or political arms of this site, including these boards, which long ago ceased being a forum for just metal. I see metal, and the DLA, as a separate topic.

Thinking further, I think I've identified two major problems with the site than can be distilled from my last post to this: a practical (this also means monetary) strain, and a social strain. Two broad solutions which I think may bring about the change I want:

1)Don't change the site

Then we have to get groups of at least three productive members living within 30 minutes of each other in the physical world. This solves the social and mental strain (not to be underestimated) of leading a double life, as anus-related activity becomes a part of their one life, and encourages mutual motivation.

This may seem scary initially, but practically it isn't difficult. There are many places in the U.S. where an entire house can be rented for $300 a month per person, including utilities. If you could get people on board, you could all be shaking hands for the first time within a week.

This would alleviate the social strain, and then once there the members can determine amongst themselves how best to alleviate the practical strains (incorporating anti-modern ideology into their careers, making enough money (beyond the jobs to pay the rent) to justify the time devoted to it, etc.) Preferably, and perhaps most essentially, they will have to discover and CREATE ways of making a living by being dissidents.

I realize this doesn't really apply to the under-18's here, but it's something to think about for the future, and could easily be dovetailed with being a university student.

2)Change the site

All the above could still happen, and:

-Cut the fat. We don't need to read articles about how to roll a blunt, or how Chuck Schuldiner died of aids. All such baggage should be excised. Trolling is adolescent.
-Drop the lingering antagonism here towards academia, and instead take steps to merge with it. This means enforcing much higher standards of writing for the site (citations, peer checked, stop letting any dipshit with half an idea contribute), changing the name, etc.
-Come up with viable ways to sustain income for the site. Consider advertising, publishing, fundraising, etc. This way authors can be paid for their work, and it encourages better (and more punctual work) from them.
-Come up with ways to support, professionally or academically, the high achievers among us. An ANUS scholarship fund?

I don't have the details worked out for these changes, but I'd like to generate more discussion, particularly because I don't have a mind for business or mathematics and it's been fruitless in the past for me to try to solve issues related to them.

But in the end, I'm not hopeful for any option that involves extensive changes to the site because:

1)It's the brainchild and life's work of a single person, and it runs off the strength of his leadership, and getting that person to agree to mutilating what they've created, even if I think it's for the best, will be difficult.
2) We've been told in the past by ANUS editors that part of the site's function is to be "an archive of objects", and that it will remain so in the future. This stands in the way of some of the changes I'm suggesting.

But if a sizable faction of us wants to go this route, setting up your own website is pretty easy now.

[Conservationist]

Monetization occurred to the admins long ago. However, it causes problems: suddenly, you're no longer a free agent.

I'm not sure we need writers who aren't doing this for the sake of doing it. After all, since ANUS has formed, numerous spin-off sites have been created, and while some are profitable, none really have any sense of lasting appeal.

Popularity requires whoring to what is contemporary and what the labels want. ANUS has taken a different path, which enables it to be more honest.

Otherwise, we'd have 90% metalcore reviews to "keep current" with "metal."

The main problem here is the name of the domain, and the archaic nature of the content format. We need something more easily updated, and more updates to comprehensively cover all the past materials.

[MsBeast]

I first encountered SRP back in the days of alt.rock-n-roll.metal.death, when he
posted the Heavy Metal FAQ.  I believe that was sometime in the mid to late 90s.

At the time, I was a fairly casual metal fan who had listened to Iron Maiden,
Metallica, Judas Priest, etc.  I did not know about "underground metal" and
I had never given much thought to why I was drawn to metal, or a bigger
picture of what it meant.

As I read the FAQ and the DLA, it opened a whole new world for me.
I heard music I never would have heard otherwise.  I read about thoughts
and ideas I likely would never have found otherwise.  I read books and
liner notes and went to shows in parts of cities I'd never been to before.

Because of everything I read and thought about and decided, my life
is completely different today than it was over ten years ago.  And it
is completely different in a way that has left me satisfied with my life
on a very deep level, and yet still excited about each day and the
challenges it brings.

What I find interesting about your discussion here, is some of you seem
to be judging the "value" of ANUS.COM and the DLA, by who is
posting on the forums.  In all the years of reading the site and the forum,
I have always been content to read, ponder for myself, and go on
with my life.  I never felt compelled to join in the discussion.  It didn't
seem important for my own growth, or for anyone else's.

I do think it would be a great travesty to move the site to another name.
I think the "stigma" of the site's name is part of the lesson and the
commentary.  I've always appreciated it in that spirit, anyway.
Is the DLA still relevant?  Of course it is.  There are still plenty
of people in the world who are just hearing their first
death or black metal.  Or their first metal at all, for that matter.
For them, ANUS.COM and the DLA will likely be as it was
for me.  A place of learning every bit as important as a library,
and every bit the mental catalyst a university classroom should be.

What may be most amusing or shocking or quizzical about me
for a lot of you, is to learn that at the time of this writing, I am
a 47 year old woman.  I am middle aged and middle classed,
but because of what I read and thought about in relation to
this message board, the ANUS.COM writings, and the DLA,
I got off of the gerbil wheel of corporate life and dedicated my
life to things that were important to me within the context of
nihilism as I understood it. 

Most people who would ever see me, would have no idea that I am
a regular ANUS.COM reader, or any guess what fills my iPod, let
alone my head.  And yet, these sites and all the words on them
have been invaluable to me.  They are a very real part of why
I function as I do in our society.  They are proof that a truly
sound idea can appeal to people across age, race, gender, and
national spectrums. 

I hope ANUS.COM and DLA will stay exactly where they are,
exactly how they are.  Whatever branches come from them, I'm
sure will be invigorating and exciting as well. 

The influence of ANUS.COM is much larger than just what you see
on the forums.  The importance of this place is really incalculable. 
Thanks to all who keep it going.

[Time Curator 23]

It is a funny thing that the critics of ANUS, without fail, have never been contributors to ANUS. Now that's just passive-aggressive (or, in gamer culture, 12-year old behavior).

ANUS has done good, does good, and will do good.

ANUS -- with its imperfect but nonetheless noble attempt to discern good art from bad art -- is probably our best shot at any sort of political activism. Plato once said something along the lines of "if I can have say over the art, music, poetry, and literature of a state, I care not who makes its laws" and I think ANUS genuinely understands that and tries its best.

ANUS -- with its "active nihilism" and "transcendental idealism" -- truly helped me turn my life around for the better. I'm talking major attitude and behavior improvements, major emotional and intellectual development, and spiritual growth.

ANUS -- with its community of not merely learned but wise people -- truly helped me open my heart and mind to great artists and thinkers: Brahms, Bruckner, Beethoven, Respighi, Asphyx, Bathory, The Chasm, Demilich, Emperor, Enslaved, Immortal, Massacra, Morbid Angel, Obliveon, Sacramentum, Summoning, Therion, Socrates, Plato, Jesus, Plotinus, Ibn el-Arabi, Rumi, Echkhart, Blake, Emerson, Thoreau, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche...

I still have my own mind, and do not always agree with Prozak, Conservationist, scourge, the other staff, and the other members of the community, but I nonetheless respect them as brothers (and sisters) who, despite our differences, share one thing in common: our undying love of Truth and Reality (and metal and sodomy).

cheers

[Goluf]

It is a funny thing that the critics of ANUS, without fail, have never been contributors to ANUS. Now that's just passive-aggressive (or, in gamer culture, 12-year old behavior).

1) This isn't true, and if it appears so, consider the fact that most of us use multiple pseudonyms across locations to minimize the chance of being found out and blacklisted in real life.

2) This constant characterization of forum members critical of ANUS as hipsters, morons, non-contributors, vindictive-failures, passive aggressive 12-year-olds, or whatever new epithet of the week, is a comedic defense mechanism. I'd like to see this type of name-calling stop, and see more engagement with actual issues.

It is a funny thing that the critics of ANUS, without fail, have never been contributors to ANUS. Now that's just passive-aggressive (or, in gamer culture, 12-year old behavior).

ANUS has done good, does good, and will do good.

ANUS -- with its imperfect but nonetheless noble attempt to discern good art from bad art -- is probably our best shot at any sort of political activism. Plato once said something along the lines of "if I can have say over the art, music, poetry, and literature of a state, I care not who makes its laws" and I think ANUS genuinely understands that and tries its best.

ANUS -- with its "active nihilism" and "transcendental idealism" -- truly helped me turn my life around for the better. I'm talking major attitude and behavior improvements, major emotional and intellectual development, and spiritual growth.

ANUS -- with its community of not merely learned but wise people -- truly helped me open my heart and mind to great artists and thinkers: Brahms, Bruckner, Beethoven, Respighi, Asphyx, Bathory, The Chasm, Demilich, Emperor, Enslaved, Immortal, Massacra, Morbid Angel, Obliveon, Sacramentum, Summoning, Therion, Socrates, Plato, Jesus, Plotinus, Ibn el-Arabi, Rumi, Echkhart, Blake, Emerson, Thoreau, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche...

The changes I suggest in no way attack or demean the positive aspects of anus that you and previous posters have mentioned, and I will affirm their existence for myself and others. Furthermore, I've stated previously that I see the metal parts of the site as comprising a whole separate issue, with its own problems that have yet, to my knowledge, to be acted upon.

our undying love of Truth and Reality (and metal and sodomy).

Praise Christ.

[Goluf]

Monetization occurred to the admins long ago. However, it causes problems: suddenly, you're no longer a free agent.

Monetization in the hands of the right people is not an attempt at commercialization. There are multiple sites with extremely non-mainstream content, that manage to make enough money to pay their regular contributors and staff. I wonder if ANUS can learn from this model. Alternative Right's format looks promising.

I'm not sure we need writers who aren't doing this for the sake of doing it. After all, since ANUS has formed, numerous spin-off sites have been created, and while some are profitable, none really have any sense of lasting appeal.

Popularity requires whoring to what is contemporary and what the labels want. ANUS has taken a different path, which enables it to be more honest.

Otherwise, we'd have 90% metalcore reviews to "keep current" with "metal."

This comes close to equating monetization with commercialization, and with the advent of things like google-ads and freely available development technology, I don't think this is an accurate description of how content distribution systems work in the U.S. anymore.

True, it used to be that the "labels" controlled all of the technology required for producing and distributing content, but that's changed; anyone can do it now, and anyone can find ways to make it profitable.

Which brings me to my next point: the distinction between profit as "getting rich" and profit as sustenance. I am advocating the latter.

Right now I'm assuming the hosting costs for ANUS are coming out of someone's pocket. It wouldn't be difficult to make enough money through some of the methods I've already mentioned to pay the hosting costs for the site, and pay the writers something per article. I guess what I'm saying is that the amount of money initially paid to contributors doesn't have to be large, because largely people are doing it "for the sake of doing it'. You're not going to get pandering yahoos at the rate of $10 for 10 pages, but I do think you'd be able to keep the good contributors already doing it at this rate.

The main problem here is the name of the domain, and the archaic nature of the content format. We need something more easily updated, and more updates to comprehensively cover all the past materials.

Yes. For example, the blog should be larger than a small side-bar, and perhaps moved to a different domain. As you mentioned elsewhere, at this point in the internet's development people are trying to avoid spam and virus likely site domains like "ANUS", and given that these are the most popular and frequently updated parts of the site, I think it would only affect them positively.

[Spectrum]

The main problem here is the name of the domain, and the archaic nature of the content format. We need something more easily updated, and more updates to comprehensively cover all the past materials.

So let's build centralized teams, and then work towards bulking up Amerika.org (political science & philosophy) and DeathMetal.org (music). There are so many advantages to this, and if we succeed in the centralization, we would have established a good team. Afterwards, we utilize the IRC and metal forums for open communication amongst members.

[Time Curator 23]

It is a funny thing that the critics of ANUS, without fail, have never been contributors to ANUS. Now that's just passive-aggressive (or, in gamer culture, 12-year old behavior).

This isn't true, and if it appears so, consider the fact that most of us use multiple pseudonyms across locations to minimize the chance of being found out and blacklisted in real life. This constant characterization of forum members critical of ANUS as hipsters, morons, non-contributors, vindictive-failures, passive aggressive 12-year-olds, or whatever new epithet of the week, is a comedic defense mechanism. I'd like to see this type of name-calling stop, and see more engagement with actual issues.

Should have been more clear in what my reply was to (the original post).

[Conservationist]

I've got some criticism:

* Kick the racists out. There are nationalists, some of whom recognize the unfortunate truths of natural selection (not just race but social caste), and then there are racists. Anyone who thinks mistreating other races is some kind of solution is poison.
* Kick the iconoclasts out. Some people come here to try to be different or big shots because they're dissidents. Hey, I'm more cool than cool, I went to the dissidents and was a dissident to them! It makes for hamster discussion.
* Yeah, I get the nostalgia. Move on. The net has changed and anus.com is not the place for serious content.
* Get rid of most of the shit on deathmetal.org. Not only is the visual design ugly as dog shit, most of the content is way too kind to "undiscovered gems" that are totally mediocre.
* What happened to grindcore.org?
* Stop listening to people who contribute nothing.
* Cover a few popular bands so people can see where you're coming from. Why does ARE YOU TALKIN TO ME? suck? Why do you think White Zombie, tool, rage against the Machine, Pink Frothy AIDS and others are dog shit?

[Spectrum]

I've got some criticism:

* Kick the racists out. There are nationalists, some of whom recognize the unfortunate truths of natural selection (not just race but social caste), and then there are racists. Anyone who thinks mistreating other races is some kind of solution is poison.
* Kick the iconoclasts out. Some people come here to try to be different or big shots because they're dissidents. Hey, I'm more cool than cool, I went to the dissidents and was a dissident to them! It makes for hamster discussion.
* Yeah, I get the nostalgia. Move on. The net has changed and anus.com is not the place for serious content.
* Get rid of most of the shit on deathmetal.org. Not only is the visual design ugly as dog shit, most of the content is way too kind to "undiscovered gems" that are totally mediocre.
* What happened to grindcore.org?
* Stop listening to people who contribute nothing.
* Cover a few popular bands so people can see where you're coming from. Why does ARE YOU TALKIN TO ME? suck? Why do you think White Zombie, tool, rage against the Machine, Pink Frothy AIDS and others are dog shit?

Agreed. I am already messaging Brett on Facebook. Concerning DeathMetal.org, it needs a restructuring altogether in order to handle the load of Hessiandom.

[Time Curator 23]

I. ANUS "criticism" (read: vague, destructive iconoclasm and creeping crowdism):

* Metal is retarded, derp
* Politics are futile, wah
* Studying philosophy is for unsuccessful nerds going nowhere in life so study game instead and get ahead in the real world, lol

II. ANUS criticism (straightforward, constructive commentary):

1. Stick to adaptive politics, not reactionary conservatism. Yes, I realize the right is far closer to reality than the left, but all this emotionally charged bashing disguised as erudite psychological analysis of liberals of late is foolish estrangement of possible allies and is clearly revealing of an inner fear -- don't you pussy out on me yet, ANUS!

2. That you seek wider exposure through frequent updates via continual commentary on current events in the worlds of art (anus.com) and politics (amerika.org) is perfectly understandable, but there needs to also be a quieter place or an inner cloister (*snicker*) for clarity of ideas to develop over time from discussions -- no muddy waters!

3. The philosophical and political are good, but don't forget the personal and practical. Showcase more examples of how one might actually apply eternal truths and values to ones life -- not merely apprehend or appreciate.

4. More humor.

5. Tell under-contributors such as myself to contribute more, or leave.

[Spectrum]

3. The philosophical and political are good, but don't forget the personal and practical. Showcase more examples of how one might actually apply eternal truths and values to ones life -- not merely apprehend or appreciate.

This has to do with the writers. In my opinion, the ANUS-sphere needs more of them. Different writers bring different perspectives whilst hovering about the same principles.

[Ksatria/Gang_Rapist]

* Get rid of most of the shit on deathmetal.org. Not only is the visual design ugly as dog shit, most of the content is way too kind to "undiscovered gems" that are totally mediocre.

Is it that bad? Was kind of enjoying it of late. Got me into Autopsy and Ripping Corpse. Sometimes you have to plough through the shit to get to the gems.

Only gems are real.

[Jim Necroslaughter]

* Cover a few popular bands so people can see where you're coming from. Why does ARE YOU TALKIN TO ME? suck? Why do you think White Zombie, tool, rage against the Machine, Pink Frothy AIDS and others are dog shit?

that's a really good idea.  you're saying a serious critique instead of just outright bashing?  it would be important to pick out the real sacred cows of popular metal (like the bands you mention) and not just strawmen.