Thanks for this piece. I struggle with the “it is what it is” feelings of most my friends and family, so I am glad to find new communities where I feel understood. 🫶🏼
Also, do you know of The Consilience Project, and Daniel Schmachtenberger? I think you would appreciate and find... High Level Stimulus in that place. Which you deserve.
“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even tacitly take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon all the apparatus and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” - Mario Savio, 1964
Your writing is always so encouraging and optimistic, which is so, so necessary at this point in time. Thank you for keeping Atlanta in your thoughts and writing as we continue the fight to Stop Cop City!
You raise a lot of good points. I appreciated your previous writing on the myths of capitalism. I think it's always worth pointing out the flimsy foundations of our current political-economic system. One passage I really liked was - "Whereas many people now see the economy, in its complexity and scope, being out of our control, they saw things very differently." and then at the end - "There are a handful of very rich and very powerful people invested in us believing that our purview, the domain we legitimately have a say in, is a tiny corner of the world."
I used to think that technocrats were good, and that we should have smart experts making policy decisions, but I've come to realize that democracy is more fundamental and anything that takes away the voices of people will inevitably lead to a narrowing of power under a group of elites. With technocrats that is determined by the prestige of the college they went to, and who is chosen by media and politicians among the many experts in different fields with differing opinions. Of course, the person working on health policy should have a background in medicine or public health. Of course the person working on education policy should have a background in education. And of course the person working on foreign policy should have a background in foreign affairs. However, if we limit our view to "education" and ignore "policy", we are forgetting that policy impacts many people, and that people should also have a say in what they need. When we tell people that the economic issues that impact them personally are too complex for them to have input on, we're reinforcing an anti-democratic view of the world that says that leaders don't have to explain their policies to people because they just won't understand.
Thanks for this piece. I struggle with the “it is what it is” feelings of most my friends and family, so I am glad to find new communities where I feel understood. 🫶🏼
I really like the hopeful tone of that last paragraph. There is nothing we can't achieve when we organize!
Also, do you know of The Consilience Project, and Daniel Schmachtenberger? I think you would appreciate and find... High Level Stimulus in that place. Which you deserve.
I don't, but excited to look into these now! thank you.
I am very much appreciating these questions you tackle.
Great essay! Noted the following typos fyi “a failure to underatnad the ture precedent”
Ah thank you!
“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even tacitly take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon all the apparatus and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” - Mario Savio, 1964
Your writing is always so encouraging and optimistic, which is so, so necessary at this point in time. Thank you for keeping Atlanta in your thoughts and writing as we continue the fight to Stop Cop City!
You raise a lot of good points. I appreciated your previous writing on the myths of capitalism. I think it's always worth pointing out the flimsy foundations of our current political-economic system. One passage I really liked was - "Whereas many people now see the economy, in its complexity and scope, being out of our control, they saw things very differently." and then at the end - "There are a handful of very rich and very powerful people invested in us believing that our purview, the domain we legitimately have a say in, is a tiny corner of the world."
I used to think that technocrats were good, and that we should have smart experts making policy decisions, but I've come to realize that democracy is more fundamental and anything that takes away the voices of people will inevitably lead to a narrowing of power under a group of elites. With technocrats that is determined by the prestige of the college they went to, and who is chosen by media and politicians among the many experts in different fields with differing opinions. Of course, the person working on health policy should have a background in medicine or public health. Of course the person working on education policy should have a background in education. And of course the person working on foreign policy should have a background in foreign affairs. However, if we limit our view to "education" and ignore "policy", we are forgetting that policy impacts many people, and that people should also have a say in what they need. When we tell people that the economic issues that impact them personally are too complex for them to have input on, we're reinforcing an anti-democratic view of the world that says that leaders don't have to explain their policies to people because they just won't understand.
Keep up the good work!