G A N Z E E R . T O D A Y

Radar

Via Dense Discovery #333:

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN WOKE: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi

“Musa al-Gharbi argues that the rise and influence of ‘wokeness’ in contemporary discourse is often overstated and misunderstood. With data and historical context, al-Gharbi challenges common assumptions about social progress, activism and political identity, offering a nuanced perspective on the limits and contradictions of what he calls ‘symbolic capitalists’. 'In education, media, nonprofits, and beyond, members of this elite work primarily with words, ideas, images, and data, and are very likely to identify as allies of antiracist, feminist, LGBTQ, and other progressive causes. Their dominant ideology is ‘wokeness’ and, while their commitment to equality is sincere, they actively benefit from and perpetuate the inequalities they decry.'”

Adding to my tbr, because it sounds spot on.

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“We’ve become incredibly good at turning collective challenges into personal shortcomings.”

— Kai, from Dense Discovery #327

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  • My Most Dangerous Year: “In my view, whacking corporate CEOs isn’t an acceptable method of solving grievances. But perhaps the Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque idolization of someone seen as striking a blow to the system is a symptom of capitalism run amok.” — Marlon Weems for Oldster.

  • 50 Years of Travel Tips

  • Bauhaus Manifesto: Walter Gropius' manifesto from 1919.

  • How the Federal Government Fell: “What is happening across the federal government right now is unprecedented. But this is not Germany in the 1930s; it’s not the fall of the Soviet Union. We grasp at analogies to help contextualize current events that escape understanding. There are similarities, but what’s happening is new, very American, and very 21st century. In 50 years it will be talked about in the vein of ‘What happened to the United States in the mid-2020s.’”—Garrison Davis

  • Chinpokomon Diplomacy: “On the surface, the conversation went smoothly — at least for the American President, who announced Japanese concession after concession without ceding much in return. And Ishiba pointedly refused to engage with questions about tarrifs. It might make one wonder what Japan stands to gain. The short answer is everything.” —Matt Alt

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  • Public Work: Search public domain imagery from The MET, New York Public Library, and other sources.

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“It would take the redistribution of a mere 0.2 percent of the world's wealth to end the hardship of the 1.4 billion people currently living beneath the world's poverty line of US $1.25 a day.”

More from Kohei Saito's SLOW DOWN.

“Economic equality if realized via the redistribution of subsidies currently spent on the fossil fuel industry ($5.9 trillion or 6.8 percent of the GDP of 2020), would produce no additional environmental burden. In fact, it would likely improve the environment!”

$5.9 trillion redistributed to 1.4 billion people would come out to about $11.5 a day per person, not a whole lot, but still 9 times more than what you've got if you're living on $1.25 a day.

One thing to keep in mind, the necessity of wealth redistribution does not only apply to the Global South vis-a-vis the Global North, but also applies within the populations of some nations of the Global North.

“The per capita GDP of most northern European nations like France and Germany is lower than that of the United States. But their standards of social welfare are much higher, and many of these nations provide healthcare and higher education free to their citizens. In the US, by contrast, some people lack health insurance and therefore have difficulties accessing healthcare, and many people struggle with student loans they will never be able to pay back Japan's GDP is also much lower than America's, but the average Japanese lifespan is almost six years longer.

“In other words, the extent to which societies thrive changes greatly depending on how production and distribution are organized and how social resources are shared. No matter how much an economy might grow, if the resulting wealth is monopolized by one part of the population and never redistributed, large numbers of people will live in comparative misery, unable to realize their potential.

“This can be seen the other way as well: even if its economy doesn't grow, if existing resources are distributed well, a society may thrive more than ever.”

SLOW DOWN: The Degrowth Manifesto by Kohei Saito

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When this pops up as you unsubscribe from a service, you can't help but wonder: Well, why didn't y'all just price it that way in the first place?!?!

On a completely different note, I was today years old when I discovered the term “emotional age”. Based on this excellent interview with Jane Pratt on the Oldster substack, I think my emotional age may have capped at 32.

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