Gear One: The Crank
GEAR ONE: THE CRANK It all starts with a crank. Not the handle kind, but the human one. Someone so fed up, so wound up, they decide to turn. They don’t even know what the machine is, not yet. But they’re going to set it in motion. That crank? Might be you. Might’ve been me.
Gear Two: The Shaft
GEAR TWO: THE SHAFT Once the crank starts turning, it needs a shaft. Something to carry the motion forward. The shaft is purpose—raw, unpolished, possibly reckless. It doesn’t know where it’s going. It just knows it has to spin.
Gear Three: The Cog
GEAR THREE: THE COG Then comes the cog. The first follower. The friend, the partner, the one who says, “Okay, let’s see where this goes.” Cogs are underrated. Without them, cranks are just lonely freaks spinning in the dark.
Gear Four: The Grind
GEAR FOUR: THE GRIND The gears start to bite. Friction enters the system. Resistance. Wear. This is when you find out if your shaft is forged well enough. It’s when idealism meets inertia. Most machines stop here.
Gear Five: The Grease
GEAR FIVE: THE GREASE But not this one. This one finds its grease. Humor. Faith. Forgiveness. A damn good playlist. Something keeps the grind from destroying the system. Grease is underrated. It doesn’t get you glory, but it keeps you going.
Gear Six: The Belt
GEAR SIX: THE BELT Now the machine needs connection. Transference. A belt to carry momentum from one axis to another. The belt is trust. Collaboration. Sometimes it slips. Sometimes it snaps. You replace it, re-tension it, or you stall.
Gear Seven: The Governor
GEAR SEVEN: THE GOVERNOR Power builds. Speed increases. Enter the governor. Regulation. Ethics. The voice that says, “Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.” Without this, the machine spins out of control. Hello, burnout. Hello, billionaires.
Gear Eight: The Lever
GEAR EIGHT: THE LEVER You reach a point where turning isn’t enough. You need leverage. Smart action. Strategy. This is where wisdom enters the scene, usually dressed in overalls and late to the party. The lever multiplies effort. It doesn’t work harder. It works smarter.
Gear Nine: The Switch
GEAR NINE: THE SWITCH Every machine needs a way to stop. To rest. To say, “Not today.” This is the gear most people forget to install. Then they wonder why they break.
Gear Ten: The Spark
GEAR TEN: THE SPARK And sometimes, when all the other gears are aligned—crank, shaft, cog, grind, grease, belt, governor, lever, switch—you get the spark. The real reason the whole thing exists. Illumination. Joy. Flow. It doesn’t last. Nothing does. But it’s enough.
Gear Eleven: The Warning
GEAR ELEVEN: THE WARNING Ignore the machine and it will run you. Let the wrong hands at the crank and it becomes a weapon. Fail to grease it, and it tears itself apart. Confuse the spark for the purpose and you’ll keep chasing fire while the frame collapses.
Install a switch. Install a governor. Respect the belt.
Or one day, the machine will turn you into the gear that breaks.
Epilogue: The Schema
EPILOGUE: THE SCHEMA I wrote this because machines are everywhere. Bureaucracies. Corporations. Startups. Families. Movements. AI. You name it. We pretend we’re not in one, or worse—we pretend we’re not part of one. But every one of us is a gear in some machine. The only question is whether we’re the gear that powers it, breaks it, or redesigns it.
Me? I’m designing a new machine. The “Our” Machine. The People’s AI. You in? Should we call it Further Two? Or how about Further Too!