“Carbon dioxide emitted by the top 10 percent of the world's richest people makes up half of worldwide emissions.”

From Kohei Saito's SLOW DOWN.

“On the other hand, the least wealthy half of the world's population is responsible for a mere 10 percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.”

One might be inclined to conclude that the answer may quite simply be to call on the rich to reduce their emissions, and the rich may even agree and conclude that the solution lies in greening the economy by shifting to renewable energy. Ain't that simple though:

“But we must also keep in mind the following: almost every one of us living in a developed country belongs to the world's richest 20 percent, and some of those who call themselves 'middle class' are actually part of the top 10 percent. In other words, it will be impossible to truly combat climate change if we fail to participate as directly interested parties in the radical transformation of the Imperial Mode of Living.”

Thing is though: a shift to renewables is by no means a transformation of the Imperial Mode of Living, given that renewable energy heavily relies on the utilization of lithium-ion battery technology, itself reliant on an exorbitant extraction of lithium and cobalt, which involves processes with severe environmental consequences, first on communities in the global south but inevitably upon the entire global ecosystem, all of which is detailed in Saito's book.

But the crux of Saito's argument is that even if that were not the case, “greening” the economy by cutting down CO2 emissions and utilizing renewable energy would not cause a reduction in consumption (it would likely even increase it), and as such would entail a continuation of the predatory resource extraction necessary to feed the current economic model and the consumerist lifestyles it fosters. CO2 emissions or not, exorbitant resource extraction spells the death of our planet.

“A team of environmental scholars headed by Australian professor Thomas Wiedmann has developed a calculation called the 'material footprint' (MF) to revise our understanding of the effects of international trade. The MF is a figure indexing the consumption of natural resources.”

The only solution then is the adoption of a different economic model altogether.

49 pages into SLOW DOWN, Saito hasn't gotten to that bit yet, but it's clear that's where he's headed. He takes his time giving us all the data and sound reasoning why not only our current mode of capitalism is doomed to fail, but why “Green New Deal”-like solutions are doomed to fail as well. Thus, paving the way for the only viable solution.

SLOW DOWN: The Degrowth Manifesto by Kohei Saito

#reads

“Character, for Kant, is a rationally chosen way of organizing one's life, based on years of varied experience—indeed, he believed that one does not really develop a character until age forty.”

From DAILY RITUALS by Mason Curry.

“Kant rose at 5:00 A.M., after being awoken by his lifelong servant, a retired soldier under explicit orders not to let the master oversleep. Then he drank one or two cups of weak tea and smoked his pipe.

“After this period of meditation, Kant prepared his day's lectures and did some writing. Lectures began at 7:00 A.M. and lasted until 11:00. His academic duties discharged, Kant would go to a restaurant or pub for lunch, his only real meal of the day. He did not limit his dining company to his fellow academics but enjoyed mixing with townspeople from a variety of backgrounds. As for the meal itself, he prepared simple fare, with the meat well done, accompanied by good wine. Lunch might go until as late as 3:00, after which Kant took his famous walk and visited his closes friend, Joseph Green. They would converse until 7:00 on weekdays (9:00 on weekends, perhaps joined by another friend). Returning home, Kant would do some more work and read before going to bed precisely at 10:00.”

What a delightful existence.

#reads

Woke up today comforted by the knowledge that I will no longer be pestered by rich politicians to give them my money.

I have been on a roll of not-so-great reads lately for some reason, a couple of which I reviewed:

• THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus

• THE SEAMSTRESS AND THE WIND by Cesar Aira

George Bataille's STORY OF THE EYE and Nathanael West's MISS LONELYHEARTS/THE DAY OF THE LOCUST are a couple others, yet to be reviewed. I'm annoyed at this bad book spell I seem to have fallen under, and am wondering how these books ever landed in my TBR pile to begin with. Moving onto WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin and keeping my fingers crossed that this'll be the one to break the spell.

#journal #reads

“Miss Lonelyhearts drank steadily. He was smiling an innocent, amused smile, the smile of an anarchist sitting in the movies with a bomb in his pocket.”

From MISS LONELYHEARTS by Nathaniel West.

#reads

“I gently sucked Simone's breast while waiting for the soft-boiled eggs, and she ran her fingers through my hair. Her mother was the one who brought us the eggs, but I didn't even turn around, I assumed it was a maid, and I kept on sucking the breast contentedly. Nor was I ultimately disturbed when I recognized the voice, but since she remained and I couldn't pass up even one instant of my pleasure, I thought of pulling down my pants as for a call of nature, not ostentatiously, but merely hoping she would leave and delighted at going beyond all limits.”

I knew Georges Bataille's STORY OF THE EYE was supposed to be “transgressive”, but this is just trash. I cannot for the life of me understand what the appeal was to Sontag or Sartre, the appeal that drew me to look into the book to begin with. It is, thus far, not even sexy.

“Simone settled on the toilet, and we each ate one of the hot eggs with salt. With the three that were left, I softly caressed her body, gliding them between her buttocks and thighs, then I slowly dropped them in the water one by one. Finally, after viewing them for a while, immersed, white, and still hot (this was the first time she was seeing them peeled, that is naked, drowned under her beautiful cunt), Simone continued the immersion with a plopping noise akin to that of soft-boiled eggs.”

Odd fixation with eggs and urine, the latter of course I know to be a fetish but one I never could quite understand. None of the characters' actions seem to make any sense to me, they're all just stupid in the same way modern porn actors typically are. Most reviews of this loathsome pamphlet of poorly conceived depravity seem to refer to it as “thought-provoking”. I, thus far, cannot see why. It's short enough that I'll carry on with it anyway, but I have a feeling I'll long for the time wasted on it nonetheless, no matter how little.

I've been awaking past midnight for the past few nights now, tummy growling with want. And every night I succumb to its needs by prepping a little snack. Terrible new habit.

#reads #journal

“The newspapers, needless to say, complied with the instructions given them: optimism at all costs. If one was to believe what one read in them, our populace was giving 'a fine example of courage and composure.' But in a town thrown back upon itself, in which nothing could be kept secret, no one had illusions about the 'example' given by the public. To form a correct idea about the courage and composure talked about by our journalists you had only to visit one of the quarantine depots or isolation camps established by authorities. As it so happens, the narrator, being fully occupied elsewhere, had no occasion to visit any of them, and must fall back on Tarrou's diary for a description of the conditions of these places.”

From Albert Camus' THE PLAGUE.

The above passage basically highlights the role filled today by blogs and social media, the role which traditional journalism for the most part cannot quite fulfill. Social media however is positioned to soon be taken over by an onslaught of AI-powered content, likely fueled by mix of corporate and government agendas, and people are likely to be forced to take their genuine voices elsewhere.

#reads #journal

“You get married, you go on loving a bit longer, you work. And you work so hard that it makes you forget love.”

From THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus.

#reads

“People linked together by friendship, affection, or physical love found themselves reduced to hunting for tokens of their past communion within the compass of the ten-word telegram. And since, in practice, the phrases one can use in a telegram are quickly exhausted, long lives passed side by side, or passionate yearnings, soon declined to the exchange of such trite formulas as: 'Am well. Always thinking of you. Love'.”

This passage from THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus brings to mind how interaction with friends and lovers with whom hours upon hours were once upon a time regularly spent laughing, discussing, and debating have now been reduced to likes and shares. An unintended consequence of suddenly being separated by time-zones, and the Defacto mode of communication being social media: instant yet far from substantial.

“Some few of us however persisted in writing letters and gave much time to hatching plans for corresponding with the outside world.”

#reads #journal

THE SOLAR GRID #1 is completely sold out. Issues #2-8 are still in stock. I'm sure the time will come when I look upon these single-chapter editions as the strange time capsules that they are.

Started THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus. This being my third Camus, it's now very evident that Camus' writing appeals to me. Adequately sparse, just the right words in exactly the right places in a way that evokes more than what is being said. Something I don't find entirely true of most contemporary authors who lean towards the extra telegrammatic. The buildup of eerie over the first 30 pages in THE PLAGUE is really perfectly paced.

#journal #comix #tsg #reads