Hating Robots for the Right Reasons
(or something like that...)
The Abominable Newsletter
Ecology, History, Politics, and the Arts
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Conservatives aren't funny, but liberals are even worse.
It was October 29, 2019.
Why You Shouldn't Learn History Through Memes.
I felt compelled to screenshot this meme, post it here, and explain why it’s nonsense after seeing it (or something a lot like it) one too many times.
Peace is Impossible While States Exist.
The belief that governments originally emerged from some sort of social contract is surprisingly widespread.
Lessons for the Present Found Through Nineteenth Century Readings of Ancient Authors
In Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche writes, “my cure from all Platonism has always been Thucydides.”[1]
I Think This Should Help Explain Things.
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were both born on February 12, 1809.
Calhoun and Hobbes:
Is there an ideological through-line, or is it actually so much less than we think it is?
Current Events & Historical Events
(that's a pretty nondescript title but hopefully you'll keep reading because I think I have a point)
From Grid to Grind:
Part I, The Grid
The Hilarious Consequences of Hubris, Past and Future
South Carolina seceded from the United States right around the 1860 Winter Solstice, too scared to live in a country with a president who didn’t want slavery in the territories.
It’s Time to Leave: The Black Hawk “War” and Indian Removal in the Old Northwest
Plus a music video and a song on some of the same themes.
This week's essay is a video
(Revisiting and contextualizing last week's essay!)
The Socialist Roots of the Republican Party
(the Lone One finds some friends.)
Victor Berger and the Contradictions That Made Milwaukee a Wonderful, Terrible City
A History of Clean Government and Nasty Racism
We never agreed to this, or, just because we’re hanging out doesn’t mean we have to boss each other around.
A small group of people saw a naked boy run on all fours through a forest in France.
Capitalism will never solve homelessness because capitalism needs homelessness in order to exist.
(A travelogue that turns into a polemical harangue.)
This Week's Essay is a Video.
(On the issue of whether or not you should pretend to be a river.)
Be Like Bluto.
Or why all the white guys need their acoustic guitar privileges revoked.
The Revolution is Always Already Underway.
Or, how your bowling league can matter.
The Transition From Serial Killing to Mass Shooting as a Symptom of Capital.
I was writing every Monday about plant intelligence and bioacoustics, but then the omicron variant mutated its way into my house and I lost my train of thought, and as you’ll see, perhaps my better judgement about what constitutes a proper topic.
Can We Extend Extended Cognition to Plants?
In my previous post, I discussed the ways apparent cognition can emerge from simple systems acting in parallel, and how the richness of an environment can help generate complex behaviors from seemingly simple organisms.