The Politics of Nostalgia

As any hope of an actual break with business-as-usual fades into the heat and glare of a summer in which discontent does not lead to action to address its causes; but becomes nothing more than a nuisance of disaffected noise signalling on both sides of our political theater that everyone – with the strongest push

Two Fragments

The distinction between strength and power. As we discover how these terms are far from synonymous we find ways to use their differences as a heuristic.

Division, a not-so-timely second look…

This post has sat in draft form for many months. It’s neither been published nor can I definitively side-line it. As time has passed, it seems unseemly to return focus to the event of Paul Kingsnorth‘s Apotheosis in The New York Times, but there are things here that still matter, that have grown in importance

History

I’ve long had a sense that the story of the Twentieth Century is hidden behind the stories that century’s victors told about themselves. World Wars, I and II, were not what they appeared. Actually, they were more what they appear to be and less what was so shrilly repeated about them in an attempt to

Consuming the Internet

We consume the internet. A movable feast. Lights kept on by a belief that someday it will “pay.” Or. that it is just too good an attention trap to let it go. It’s supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to provide visions of “freedom.” Where free means there is no up-front cost to us. Somebody

Ecocidal Suicide, Where does the violence begin? The Gulf Between a Trail and a Path

Recent misunderstandings have helped breed a new insight. I’ve been reluctant to post on the subject as I’ve looked for ways to write about it that do not remain focused within the drama that incited them. Driving down what passes for the loveliest lane in the area the other day brought to mind the way

Disinterested, Why the Fool was so valuable

Two points: All that’s been covered here so far is preamble. Disinterested parties provide the most valuable commentary. The first point aims at the unfinished quality of what has appeared here.

Salvation and Solve-ation: Two sides of incoherence.

We are trapped either looking for salvation or for solutions. Nothing better shows the deep links between science and civilized religions than this tie. After a few thousand years seeking salvation a splinter group has set off to find solutions and now labels any positive motivation as, “Saving.” This impulse now competes with seeking salvation

Respect

Is respect for a situation bound up with recognizing its – and our – limitations? This question can be more complex than it appears at first glance. – Once we decide, “I’m gonna hit that tree!” It ceases to be an open question. We will hit that tree. This isn’t “mind over matter” or “predestination.”

Titanic, April 15, 1912

My father was eleven years old when the Titanic went down. He would tell his own simple story of when he heard about it. He was living in Portugal at the time…. Told it as an old man to a young boy around the same age as the boy he had been. There were fifty-one

Drowning in Search of Security

There is a persistent delusion behind the fevered activities of the state. As our predicament deepens it acts as an accelerant as it focuses the attentions of the most powerful among us to act in increasingly destructive ways. Simply stated it is the expectation that exceptionalism can be maintained in any meaningful way as we

Rivers of Blood

Listening to much of the conversation between Paul Kingsnorth, Leire Keith, and David Abram in this podcast from Orion Magazine, I am left with a snippet, I’ve used as a title for this post. Rivers of Blood. I must admit, I can only intuit the context. After listening to most of the first half, I