My question of the year seems to be centered around the idea of “what are practices that each of us are responsible for opting out of in order to creaMy question of the year seems to be centered around the idea of “what are practices that each of us are responsible for opting out of in order to create a better society for all?”
This book adds another dimension to that question. What do the economically privileged need to give up for the sake of those less privileged?
Core argument: to reduce wealth inequality, the upper middle class/wealthy (top 20% of earners) will have to forgo certain privileges (that he terms opportunity hoarding) that reinforce social immobility (legacy admissions, exclusionary zoning, nepotism). Gonna be a tough sell. Necessary but tough. ...more
“The question before us, then, is an extremely difficult one: How do we begin to remake, or to make, a locEveryone should read a little Wendell Berry!
“The question before us, then, is an extremely difficult one: How do we begin to remake, or to make, a local culture that will preserve our part of the world while we use it? We are talking here not just about a kind of knowledge that involves affection but also about a kind of knowledge that comes from or with affection— knowledge that is unavailable to the unaffectionate and that is unavailable to anyone in the form of ‘information.’"...more
“Building your own sense of taste, that set of subconscious principles by which you identify what you like, is an uphill battle compared to passively “Building your own sense of taste, that set of subconscious principles by which you identify what you like, is an uphill battle compared to passively consuming whatever content feeds deliver to you. But the situation can't solely be blamed on the presence of algorithms. Today we have more cultural options available to us than ever and they are accessible on demand. We are free to choose anything. Yet the choice we often make is to not have a choice, to have our purview shaped by automated feeds, which may be based on the aggregate actions of humans but are not human in themselves.”...more
The irony is not lost on me that I read a good chunk of this book while walking on the treadmill.
This book and concept had so much potential! But eacThe irony is not lost on me that I read a good chunk of this book while walking on the treadmill.
This book and concept had so much potential! But each chapter felt like a loosely related roast by the author about an aspect of modern thought, medicine, religion, etc. that she doesn’t like. Many valid points but poorly executed. Why did we start the whole book around the legit failings of the medical system only to end it with “dying isn’t so bad if you can think less of yourself”??Feels like an odd end to a book that critiqued a hyper-focus on the self but the only solution offered was centered around the individual. Hm. ...more
So many thoughts about this. The main takeaway: any “othering” of another living being (women, animals, someone different than you) is a slippery slopSo many thoughts about this. The main takeaway: any “othering” of another living being (women, animals, someone different than you) is a slippery slope to violence. Adams identifies this in a model of Objectification-Fragmentation-Consumption. We objectify the “other” which excuses violence against them. The presence of any violence is linked to *all* violence. So, it’s worth questioning why we are so comfortable with violence against animals (and against women, for that matter).
On a less serious note, it’s funny how defensive men get when you try to take away their meat....more
“Man has a responsibility to his own time, not as if he could seem to stand outside it and donate various spiritual and maMonks for social justice!!!!
“Man has a responsibility to his own time, not as if he could seem to stand outside it and donate various spiritual and material benefits to it from a position of compassionate distance. Man has a responsibility to find himself where he is, namely in his own proper time and in his place, in the history to which he belongs and to which he must inevitably contribute either his response or his evasions, either truth and act, or mere slogan and gesture.”...more
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