Ep 338 Peacewarts Lab 10-17-26: A Letter to Palmer Luckey - Peace of Pie & Dangerous (Brave) Listening

In this special Peacewarts Lab episode, Avis steps out of the standard curriculum format to deliver an unvarnished open letter addressing tech founder Palmer Luckey’s recent comments at Moonshots Live. (Currently in Biomimic Defense 101 of Peacewarts - check the short peace classes out.)

When autonomous drone proponents defend AI weapons by pointing to historical pit traps and landmines, we have to pause and look at the real ethical calculations being made: how do we justify sending autonomous killing machines in the name of protecting our own, while completely erasing the humanity of those on the receiving end?

Avis shares personal tools for navigating tech-creep, military rhetoric, and societal fear without shrinking back:

• The Peace of Pie:A personal framework for protecting human agency across 24 hours (Human Me, Human Others, AI & Me, Corporate AI & Distraction, and Brave Listening).
• Brave / Dangerous Listening:Grounding ourselves in our spiritual anchors so we can face uncomfortable truths about AI, politics, and the commons without contracting into fear.

The episode closes with a companion ska-punk anthem, Brave Listener, generated using lyrics crafted in collaboration with Gemini and brought to life musically through ElevenLabs.

Verse 1

Scrolling through the panic, trading hours for the noise

Everybody telling me to run away or hide

They want a contraction, want a wall to build inside

To shrink down to a cipher and surrender up my voice

But I drew a circle on a page this very morn

Keeping corporate clutter where it doesn't belong

Chorus

Oh, I’m standing right here in the middle of the fire

A brave listener, burning out the wire

Won't look away from what they’re trying to hide

Keeping my humanity alive inside!

Yeah, a brave listener!

Verse 2

Used to hit a trigger, used to lock the door and run

Felt the wave of energy come crashing on the floor

Thought that if it hurts, you shouldn't look at it no more

Now I take a breath and face the damage that they'done

Drones up in the sky and all the algorithms creep

Trading human collateral while the politicians sleep

Chorus

Oh, I’m standing right here in the middle of the fire

A brave listener, burning out the wire

Won't look away from what they’re trying to hide

Keeping my humanity alive inside!

Yeah, a brave listener!

Bridge

(Ska-skank beat)

They say latency is the game, they say the machine is too fast

If we want to win the war, we have to cut the human past

Take the person out the loop, let the silicon decide

As if we won't notice how the innocence died!

As if we won't notice who's left on the other side!

Verse 3

Back to my pie, back to the things that are real

Gardening the dirt, making music from the soul

Keeping my agency, maintaining my control

Living out the moments that can help a spirit heal

So bring on the noise, bring on the heavy trend

I’ll stay right here right down to the bitter end

Chorus

Oh, I’m standing right here in the middle of the fire

A brave listener, burning out the wire

Won't look away from what they’re trying to hide

Keeping my humanity alive inside!

Yeah, a brave listener!

Outro

A brave listener.

Keep the pie.

Keep the human hours.

Peace and love.

Producer: Avis Kalfsbeek

Lyrics: Created collaboratively with Gemini

Song Production & Audio: ElevenLabs