Earlier this year I posted The Ruling Race: Quotes on those who improve their lives on the suffering of others, corrupting them, with quotes from podcast guest James Oakes’s book The Ruling Race, which describes the demographics, beliefs, and views of slaveholders in the U.S. south. They are no more or less human than you. That book reveals how being on the dominant side of a dominance hierarchy corrupts one’s[…] Keep reading →

Imagine you’re sitting in your home, comfortably with your family, say a spouse and a kid. Then five other families move into your home with you. You can imagine conflict would arise more when you more than quintuple the number and density of people in your home. I found the following graphs in a piece a podcast guest, Jane O’Sullivan, wrote, The Catalyst of Overpopulation in the Gaza Conflict. I[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been learning more about colonialism lately, as regular readers could probably tell from my recently reading Heart of Darkness, King Leopold’s Ghost, and Cobalt Red, among others. I used to think colonialism was something from the past, that we outgrew. Do you consider imposing on other people’s life, liberty, and property wrong? Do you find past colonialist behavior wrong and believe colonialism is mostly in the past? Do you[…] Keep reading →

I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but I haven’t received an electric bill since July, when I posted My last electric bill? after my first bill after closing my account. Partly I’d expect not received one because that’s what happens when you close your account. Partly it didn’t feel real to close it. I know I had disconnected the circuit so I hadn’t drawn power in over a[…] Keep reading →

A third trip to the doctor this year feels like a lot, but I went again for routine, preventative stuff and they took my vitals again. I don’t have a good picture like last time, so I can only show a screen shot of the email, but here they are from last week: Blood pressure 99/63 looks normal. Back to a pulse of 47 beats per minute, and that was[…] Keep reading →

I forgot to post that I just started my third year with my fridge unplugged, the last year and a half with the whole apartment unplugged. Why did I forget? Because it’s a non-event. Last summer was challenging as I had never made it through a summer without a fridge and I was worried things would go bad faster. I knew then that all humans who ever lived didn’t use[…] Keep reading →

I read this week: Cobalt Red, by Siddhart Kara: Of all the books I’ve recommended lately, I recommend Cobalt Red the top. If you believe imperialism, colonialism, and slavery are things of the past, you’re in for more than a rude awakening. You are funding it, especially if you like electric vehicles. I often clarify that solar and wind are not clean, green, or renewable since they require fossil fuels[…] Keep reading →

I was looking up indigenous cultures from New Guinea and stumbled on this video. It looks like it’s showing a lovely, diverse place to expand your horizons if you’re a wealthy American or European. Every bit of of it destroys the cultures and environment it purports to celebrate. It’s the insouciance I described in colonial cultures in Insouciance, colonialism, and sustainability. The travel the woman in the video presents is[…] Keep reading →

First some context: When I challenged myself to avoid flying for a year, I expected the worst year of my life—my family disowning me, running out of money, etc. Instead, after a couple months I unexpectedly found the experience rewarding enough to go for another year. Then each year led to another. At some point I figured I’d never fly again. It’s easy enough not to get on a plane.[…] Keep reading →