damas Somehow, they still miss being authentic even with all that effort.
This is actually one of my obsessions. Authenticity means that an object is adapted to its context, or to the needs of a human.
The reason why a barrel is inauthentic is because it does not work in a modern context. It's larping as though we're in the 1800's or something, when.. we're not, and it looks like it was made in a factory. There is no practical use for a barrel sink, and its implementation did not come about organically -- it does not solve a need, or make shrewd usage of available materials. It's forced.
The videos you linked are larping as funny / retro / politically serious when they're obviously not. They are low-quality, and have no taste.
Authenticity comes from revision, effort, perfectionism, etc. I use the term perfected routine to denote a routine that has achieved authenticity. This is a routine that has developed from a lengthy process of trial and error. The reason why the Amish are authentic is because it's a lifestyle based on perfected routines -- whereas historical reenactors (such as Townsends) are just kind of exploring a time period and experimenting with their way of life.
This is actually why things like globalism, racial diversity, free market capitalism, technology, and mass public works projects are culturally deleterious: they destroy the routines, creating a stressful, alienating, and inauthentic environment.
Social media is an extension of this: where before there were, organic, enracinated cultural spaces, there is now chaos and greed. Youtube used to have an entire intellectual ecosystem, where users would make response videos, host live debates, and comment on each others' blogs.
That no longer exists: only popular influencers have the luxury of access. Keith Woods can respond to Richard Hanania, and Richard Hanania can respond to Aella, or the Red Scare people, and they have their own little thing going on. But YOU can't do that because you're not popular and nobody cares. You don't have the place within an ecosystem or milieu for substantive engagement.
Inauthentic is another way of saying "low quality." In the past, people believed in perfected ideals, and they tried to achieve them in everything that they did: carpentry, masonry, art, interior decorating. Unfortunately, modern capitalism has convinced everyone that perfectionism is just a mental illness, and that you have to be really really efficient about everything because it is super important.
This is why I don't support traditionalism, traditional architecture, traditional art, and so on. You're just reintroducing routines from the past, you're not actually making something of quality. Liberal futurism is the opposite problem: introducing sweeping changes to society without considering the finer material conditions. Like yeah, in theory dumping a ton of nutrients into a lake would give the organisms more to eat, but algae is going to cover the surface and deplete all the oxygen. Nutrient-dense environments create a biological arms race, resulting in reduced biodiversity. That's how liberals think about human ecology: introduce a 'better' change, and nothing bad will ever happen.
This also explains why Japan is such a weird country. It's not exoticism on our part: Japan is a deeply perfectionistic society. So anytime a resident gets a weird idea in their head, they refine it until it blends seamlessly with the environment. If someone comes up with a rhinoceros beetle vending machine, they will find some way to make it work.
