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80.05. Blueprint

Free to Change: The Power/Myth Blueprint

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Last updated July 17, 2026

Introduction

This ultimate project intends to weave together the key works from the PowerMyth Index in a 7-part narrative. There are three overarching goals:

  1. Outline its theoretical framework through case studies and comparative historical analysis;
  2. Demonstrate how Power and oppression manifest in Cyberspace; and
  3. Contribute original research on social inequity through a study of digital platform governance.

Each part should be accessible to someone who has no prior knowledge of others. Above all, hopefully it strikes the right balance between academic rigor and good storytelling!!!

1. Power-Renaissance

What is Power? How does Power change as a result of Cyberspace, and why can no one agree on basic facts?

This section defines Power and its centrality to addressing social inequity. While much policy focus is given to disparities in wealth, there are a number of other Power Capacitors (social, informational, cultural, and symbolic) that accumulate like capital and serve as potential enablers for entities to exert influence. While this section will provide a brief overview of the full PowerMyth framework (p. 10 - 15), it will generally stay rooted on the familiar and tangible weaponization of Power through Concentration.

Due to the corresponding Centralization of Cyberspace's infrastructure, information will emerge as the most important Capacitor for today's age. This will bring us to consider the Knowledge Mythoscape, or the assumed processes by which we gather information and reason what is or is not "true." The section will end with the relationship between those who control information empires and the Heterodoxy of the esoteric traditions that defy them.

Aesthetic: Italian Renaissance vs. Cyberpunk
Characters: Cosimo de' Medici; Marsilio Ficino; Elon Musk
Contributors: Michel Foucault; Pierre Bourdieu; Clarissa Hayward; Bruno Latour; Wouter Hanegraaff, Tim Wu

2. Dominant-Reality

How are individuals and society shaped? Who gets a say, and what happens when only experts understand the rules behind it all?

This section defines Realms of Freedom, or the perceptions each person has about what is good, rational, or possible. In society, the Dominant Realm does not reconcile the contradictions of all individual Realms, leaving many nonconformists at a structural disadvantage. There is an eternal process of Boundary Negotiation affecting this, but the Power Reactors of culture and institutions provide more avenues than not for the maintenance of the status quo.

Because unstated knowledge and/or passive continuation is the primary mechanism of the Dominant Realm, this section will explore Power weaponized as Normalization through the contrast of Countercultures and the technocracy. The authenticity sought by counterculturalists and the hyper-rationalization of computer technology will come to a head in early Cyberspace, as we explore the development of Cyberculture. This section will end with a consideration of the new technocracy, where Reliance on technology has turned supposed tools for self-sufficiency into everyday decisions offloaded to billion dollar corporations.

Part 2 Summary

Aesthetic: Flower Power vs. Cassette Futurism
Characters: Stewart Brand; John Perry Barlow
Contributors: J. Milton Yinger; Stuart Hall; Antonio Gramsci; Herbert Marcuse; W.E.B. Du Bois; Fred Turner; György Lukács

3. Myth-Time

How do stories shape freedom? What even is reality, and how does its translation to virtuality redefine the norms of the outside world?

This section defines Myths, the stories we tell to rationalize the world we live in. Common genres persist and adapt with time, such as The Villain appearing nearly identically as the heretical Gnostics of the 1st century AD and the Communists 2000 years later. The truth of Myths is relative, however; all stories are simplified accounts from a certain perspective, anyway. Because of this, we also need to define Mythoscapes, the networks of Myths that inform identity and culture. Mythoscapes vary in terms of malleability and purpose of subscription, though their collective nature ensures a corresponding Dominant Realm.

Both Myths and Mythoscapes can be objects of Mythdirection, which is one of the most dangerous weapons of Power due to its subtlety. Whether knowingly or not, entities can appeal to a Mythoscape in order to buy enough goodwill for significant change toward their own interest. This is particularly relevant to Cyberspace, where unwritten rules about Knowledge, Connection, Celebrity, and other universal systems of social participation no longer operate as they did in Reality. Instead of being collectively adjusted though, they have been rewritten by those who maintain digital infrastructure to encourage profit at the expense of harmony.

Aesthetic: 50s Suburbia vs. Frutiger Aero
Characters: Barry Goldwater; Marc Andreessen; Tucker Carlson
Contributors: Jean-François Lyotard; Jean Baudrillard; Theodor Adorno; Max Horkheimer; Elane Pagels

4. Law-Space

What facilitates social change? How do different institutions interact with Power, and what hope do we have for equity in today's world?

This section defines Power Conduits, the entities targeted for Dominant Realm contraction or expansion. Because culture and institutions have a highly related, cyclical relationship, effective Boundary Negotiation must consider the unique properties of Government, Academia, Religion, Media, and so on. Each opens pathways for change; simultaneously, each can be vessels for Realm Enforcers if not properly scrutinized. Unfortunately for us, the severity of Cyberspace Conduits hasn't yet been fully grappled with by the public.

This section is the climax of the project and contains the original research contribution. For however inaccessible Power Conduits generally are in the outside world, little else could be as closed off as the rules for Digital Platforms, where social interaction in Cyberspace occurs, or the Ranking Algorithms that determine what content is or is not seen on them. As Cyberspace's self-governed communities became increasingly governed by tech empires, it is likely that fundamental aspects of our culture have changed without so much as an attempt at government regulation. A Discourse Analysis of 1990s Usenet forums compared to Reddit posts today should help illuminate this. When so much of everyday communication occurs on Cyberspace, what does it mean for society when its infrastructure is built for the interests of corporations?

Part 4 Summary

Aesthetic: Brutalism vs. Early Cyber
Characters: Milton Friedman; Martin Luther King Jr.; Lyndon B. Johnson
Contributors: Manuel Castells; Lawrence Lessig; Michel Foucault; Donna Haraway; Pierre Bourdieu; Jürgen Habermas

5. Art-Shmups

Power isn't going anywhere... what now? Power is embedded in the unlikeliest places, from the invisible to the assumed, so how can we avoid fatalism and fight for the future?

This section, the turning point of the project, will slow to reflect on the fluid nature of Power's mechanisms. For example, where Art is often a Power Tool that humanizes other perspectives through vulnerable expressions of self, the same medium can be a Weapon to profit off a derivative product that reinforces narratives of the Dominant Realm. Categorization can be a dehumanizing method of organizing groups of people, or it can sort through large datasets for greater human efficiency. And as we've seen, Technology can be used to increase quality of life just as it can increase ease of oppression.

As a result, we will consider multiple areas where potential gifts are merely wolves in disguise. First, how online application of Copyright laws promised creative control and ownership but resulted in the Repression of Dominant Realm critique. Second, how Surveillance crept in under the guise of convenience and personalization and threatens anonymity and freedom. Lastly, how Echocultures mirrored countercultures with anti-establishment rhetoric despite advocating for a previous, more contracted, Dominant Realm. The section will conclude with an attempt to outline a consistent method of distinguishing between "good" and "bad" actions.

Part 5 Summary

Aesthetic: 80s Arcade vs. Cable Chyrons
Characters: Alex Jones; David Rosen; ZUN; Tsuneki Ikeda
Contributors: Lawrence Lessig; Shoshana Zuboff; Siva Vaidhyanathan

6. Tools-Revival

This section defines Power Generators, the oppressed or subaltern found outside the Dominant Realm. Their stories are often untold, turned into a spectacle, or otherwise mythologized by those excluding them in the first place. Perhaps this has fostered an exceptional ability to develop Power Tools, which means we can learn from their Solidarity and other methods of thriving within the status quo.

Oh wait... wasn't early Cyberculture dominated by Generators before it was subsumed by capitalism? Maybe it's not just a nightmare hellscape after all!! Here, we will discuss the potential of Cyberspace through Hacker mavericks, digital utopianism and tools to getting there, the realities of the modern Web Revival efforts, and more.

Part 6 Summary

Aesthetic: Y2K Futurism vs. Oakland Militarism
Characters: Huey Long; Huey P. Newton; Aaron Swartz
Contributors: Angela Davis; Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò; bell hooks; Paolo Friere; Kimberlé Crenshaw; Yochai Benkler

7. Freedom-Genesis

This project closes by defining the ultimate paradox for societies: GOVERNANCE. If we are to eliminate social inequity, how do we factor in so many different Realms or mitigate the impact of all these Weapons? This outline is admittedly pretty loose so far, but in all likelihood, we will talk about the successes and contradictions of the American Revolution, alongside the mythology that surrounds it to this day. We will consider the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy and the many other groups that the Framers pulled from to circle back on the idea of Appropriation.

The basic idea is that this section will serve as a series of recommendations for where to take Cyberspace next. I think I'll pull partly from my experiences attempting to restructure our regional homeless system governance, as it is a great microcosm for a lot of the overly-bureaucratic, hyper-specialized, and agenda-conflicting hurdles prevalent in modern spaces. And... yeah, I dunno. This is where we wrap it all up! Hooray!!!!

Part 7 Summary

Aesthetic: Oasisamerican vs. Romanticism
Characters: (hidden)
Contributors: (hidden)

Delivery

This series will initially be developed as standalone videos with a phased, nonchronological rollout. Once everything is complete, it will be published as a novel.

The tentative timeline is below:

Meanwhile, the PowerMyth Index itself will still be continuously updated with raw information as normal. While lacking the cohesive narrative found in this project, some may still find interest in having real-time access to research as it occurs (or only want to read specific bits here and there).