Monday 5 August 2019

What I've Been Reading, July 2019

Links

Miscellaneous

Fascism

Collapse

  • Are We Doomed? Let’s Have a Conversation, by Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
  • The Age of Denial, by Umair Haque, Medium—Eudaimonia & Co
    I certainly agree with most of what Umair is saying, especially the part about the present day rise of fascism. But I would add resource depletion to his list of problems, and instead of "stagnation", I'd say our economic problem is a system that works well only when it's growing, when we need an economy that can handle degrowth with a minimum of disastrous consequences.
    Anyway, his closing paragraph is brilliant: "Let us all learn the lesson, my friends. Denial has already broken the mightiest nations on earth today — like twigs. It has made them laughingstocks, pariahs, jokes, and paupers. If it can do that to them — nobody is above being brought low this century, no matter how rich or powerful. Who will denial bring down next? Or will the rest of the world learn from the strange, sad story of the world’s two most powerful countries — whom denial made its newest collapsed ones? That part, I imagine, is up to you."
  • The Big Crash, by Umair Haque, Medium—Eudaimonia & Co
    "America is now a country of a tiny number of ultra rich, who effectively own everything, and one of something very much like neo serfs — the average American will die in debt, which means he’ll never (in net terms) own, earn, or save anything. Anything."
  • ‘High likelihood of human civilization coming to end’ by 2050, report finds, by Harry Cockburn, The Independent

Peak Oil

Climate Change

Economic Contraction and Growing Inequality

Energy

Hazard and Risk

Agriculture

Before jumping to the erroneous conclusion that I am a shill for Monsanto, stop for a moment and understand that organic agriculture/food is a multi-billion dollar per year industry that relies on fear to get people to buy its product. Millions of dollars are being spent to convince you that non-organic food is dangerous. In fact both conventionally grown and organic foods are equally safe. Sadly neither method of agriculture is even remotely substainable.

Food

Practical Skills

  • You’ve Probably Never Had Real Soy Sauce, by Wei Tchou, Medium—Heated
    A few years ago, I made soy sauce, using a procedure similar to the one in this article. I got the soy beans from a local farmer, the wheat from Bulk Barn, the mold from Gem Cultures, and miso (the source of another culture) from a local health food store. Worked well and the result was a very nice soy sauce.

Politics

Canadian Politics

Ontario Politics

Debunking Resources

These are of such importance that I've decide to leave them here on an ongoing basis.

Science Based Medicine

Lacking an Owner's Manual

The human body/mind/spirit doesn't come with an owner's manual, and we continually struggle to figure out how best to operate them.

  • Why We Don’t Just Go Get Help For Depression, by Shannon Ashley, Medium—Honestly Yours
  • The problem of mindfulness, by Sahanika Ratnayake, Aeon
    "Mindfulness promotes itself as value-neutral but it is loaded with (troubling) assumptions about the self and the cosmos"
  • The Science Behind Eureka Moments, by Markham Heid, Medium—elemental
    Aha experiences aren’t as serendipitous as you may think. Here’s how to proactively produce them.
  • Against ‘natural’ parenting, by Olga Mecking , Aeon
    "We’re opportunistic, inventive and flexible animals, and there is no ‘natural’ or ‘right’ way to bring up our children."
  • There is No God, and Thou Shall Have No Other Gods

    I don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I am an atheist, but I may not have made it clear that I think any sort of worship is a bad thing and that believing in things is to be avoided whenever possible. Indeed, I do not believe in belief itself. That's what the "Thou shall have no other gods" is about—it's not enough to quit believing in whatever God or Gods you were raised to believe in, but also we must avoid other gods, including material wealth, power and fame.

    • Why I’ll Never Go on a Mission Trip Again, by Mariette Williams, Medium—Zora
      "Our well-intentioned attempts to serve Black and Brown people barely made an impact
      " This piece speaks volumes about that's wrong with Christianity in America.

    Puerto Rico

    Poverty, Homeless People, Minimum Wage, UBI, Health Care, Housing

    Artificial Intelligence

    Education

    Humour

    These are great times for political satire.

    Books

    Fiction

    Non-Fiction

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