In a week I will be returning from a nice weekend off work. In this moment, I struggle for moments of recovery amidst the work. It’s good work. Lots of bookseller work, but some community and family work as well.
Hosted the First Pétanque Game of the Year
What is the work after all? Bringing people together to facilitate us each being the best we can be happens many ways. I like this way a lot. My excellent placement is shown in the image. Very lightly attended this first time. We shall see later today how the second game goes. Next week I will not be hosting as I will be out of town.
Hosted the Humboldt Solidarity Coalition Networking Event
Lightly attended, but with good networking in the plentiful time following report outs, we will have a couple more like this, adding in some elements to keep it fresh going forward. For November we will have a gratitude themed gathering where we share some of the accomplishments of the year. In December it may get a bit more cozy as we keep the light shining through the darkest time of the year.
Dad Taxi
Soccer season is in full effect! And covering for sick and vacationing employees at the same time caused me to miss some games!
What I Watched
Some Video Clips of Professor Catherine Liu
Social Media fed me a clip of Liu explaining the difference between Leftist (like herself) and Liberals. I found it intriguing and looked for the longer original interview. The panel included an Ayn Rand adherent which was frustratingly boring as usual and a couple other academics (one of which was on some kind of anti-woke crusade) which kind of fell in line with what Liu was talking about. Anyway… overly intellectual blather mostly.
Watched some other clips of her, including some from her own webpage. This was interesting as I have my own webpage and think a lot about how people will find me and my ideas, about what is the point of it all, and about how can I be more effective. I have some other thinkers that I like, but their presentation is lacking in a way. I wonder if I have just been trained to like polished, “professional” looking video and if my mind has been tainted by mass corporate media. Probably.
Her main point in the first clip was basically her explaining the difference between Leftists and Liberals. She says that Leftists believe in universal values and the importance of history and culture as a way to understand what is going on and how to make it better. She explains that Liberals believe that we are in the best possible world and that it just needs some tweaks where all viewpoints and feelings are included. So, she is coming from a Marxist perspective — the method of science can lead to universal values.
She goes on to counter the current movement to look to Native cosmologies for answers as unhelpful because those indigenous ways of knowing are pre-enlightenment and she labels them as “myth.” I get that she is all about “using reason” to find answers and having an understanding of the world through scientific means, but I think I understand how so many academics (even Leftist ones!) miss the boat on how to incorporate the diversity of voices into our understanding of the world. She dismisses indigenous understanding as “primitive” while chiding Liberals for romanticizing the primitive (which I agree they should be!).
Enough! I’d rather be reading some Native authors.
Rationalising Colonialism — How the US Stole Indian Land on Philosophy Tube (on Nebula!)
Nebula is a creator owned platform that I generally don’t watch too much of, but which I support. I like Legal Eagle, but my favorite is Philosophy Tube (which my daughter introduced me to). Host Abigail Thorn did what she does best, making an honest philosophical inquiry into a topic and surprising me with the results. I usually learn some thing new and I am always entertained along the way. Thorn did not use her usual theatrics to back up this episode of the show which is a shame as many lengthy passages led to the show being a bit… boring? But it was a weighty topic and Thorn did amuse at times. I was mostly listening instead of watching anyway.
Despite her thorough attention to detail, Thorn missed one point (which was surprising to me. Thorn mentioned how Native Americans arrived in the Americas as over the land bridge. This is not respectful of how many Native peoples explain their origin. While she might have insisted that the land bridge thing is the most current way that we understand human migration and I would be okay with that, I would have liked a nod to the understanding of how Natives see our own origin (in the same way that certain religious groups have their own origin story). In any case, the rest of the show was a good introduction to the topic. Always recommend checking out this show.
What I Listened To
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) on Confused Breakfast
I only discovered these guys as a clip on social media shorts of them discussing fan theories (which I love), associated head canon (which I also love), and curious elements of movies that somehow made it past a number of editors to make it into the movie. The clips are more fun. I’m surprised I listened to the whole show, but it was fun.
Downstream: China Is Building While the West Crumbles w/Dan Wang
This show from Novara Media is always enlightening. I find host Aaron Bastani’s inquiries always genuine and generally well informed. The guest had a unique perspective that we just don’t hear in the United States often. I found the study of the realities of China fair and frightening in a way. Worth a listen.
Trump Is Building His Own Paramilitary Force on the Ezra Klein Show
Of course no focus on how Democrats enabled all this through their years in power, but good to hear someone else with knowledge like Radley Balko share what he knows of the problem. One weird thing was how much Balko nervously laughed while recalling all the depredations of the current presidential administration. I found it inappropriate, but honest, I suppose.
This Is What DC’s Black-led Resistance is Teaching the Nation on Rising Up with Sonali
Great show with a great guest gave me some perspective.
Fifteen Minutes of Fascism
Hearing Craig Johnson continue to be increasingly amazed by the lethal shenanigans happening in our country is a curious sensation.
What I Read
The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity by Sarah Schulman
Listening to this on audio book. It’s good. I’m already giving a copy to a friend.
Solomon Everta 