Afleveringen
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The themes I addressed in this essay are ones Iād like to return to soon, after I finish digesting Plato and Aristotle and feel freer to return to studies more directly related to ecology, systemism, and the like. Among things Iām interested in studying are Bruno Latourās actor-network theory, Mario Bungeās work on causality, and the field of environmental history, which studies the relationships between ecosystems and people through time, as well as more thoroughly studying the question of the appearance of mathematical objects in nature, particularly the naturalistic arguments of D.M. Armstrong, and their critics. Ambitious readers are encouraged to get a step ahead of me on this stuff, as Iām probably not going to get to it for some time.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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I finally broke down and got a better microphone. My own ears are accustomed to fifteen year old Librivox recordings, but we live in a podcasting world, and a crappy compressor mic doesnāt slide the way it once did, so I decided to make the bare minimum effort.
A sidenote: at one point in this essay, I referred to Will MacAskill as a utilitarian. He has publicly rejected the label, and thatās fair enough. The book itself does reluctantly advance a utilitarian philosophy and doesnāt make much mention of alternative approaches, so itās no surprise I and so many others came away from it reading MacAskill as a cautious utilitarian (and EA as a utilitarian movement, which it undoubtedly was at least originally), but apparently heās more of a moral agnostic. Since EA has exploded, Iāve encountered several of its advocates arguing that it can be justified without falling upon a utilitarian moral calculus, a claim I wholly agree with. Anyway, this essay isnāt a critique of utilitarianism of the sort writers like Erik Hoel have offered, mainly because I feel like thereās nothing new to be said there-anyone who knows much about philosophy knows that utilitarianism is at best a very flawed theory. But since I do mischaracterize MacAskill in the essay and the term āutilitarianā has become a bit spicier since I wrote it, I thought I should mention that the characterization was a misreading on my part, and didnāt give enough weight to MacAskillās circumspection about the argument offered in the book.
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Dan Chodorkoff is an anthropologist and co-founder of the Institute for Social Ecology, which he founded with Murray Bookchin in 1974. His new book, Sugaring Down, is a fictional story about a group of New Left radicals in the mid to late ā60s establishing a commune in rural Vermont. The book is genuinely a page-turner (at least for the commune-enthused like myself) and Dan is a wealth of history, information, and insight on the leftās past, and proposed roads for its future. It was truly a pleasure to talk with him.
Interviewing is an uneasy concept to me, as listeners to this interview will likely be able to tell-the fact of the matter is Bracero is an outlet for my thoughts as a reader of and hobbyist in philosophy, and by the nature of my work Iām much more inclined to discussions than interviews, which is a self-serving way of saying Iāve never been very good at asking questions. But then, what better way to get better? Iām not sure whether this will become a more regular occurrence, though I would like it to be more than a one-off. Bracero will hopefully always be, principally, a writing project. As much as podcasting offers the temptations of a larger audience and a bit less of a grind than the often painstaking and time-consuming writing process, writing has long been a passion of mine, and it remains my favorite way of expressing myself.
That being said, I love having this blog as an opportunity to talk to interesting and brilliant people like Dan, with the added benefit of turning this into a bit less of an inherently navel-gazing project. I hope you find it worthwhile.
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Forms, man. Forms are the s**t.
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In the beginning of this one I mentioned Cooperation Jackson, a revolutionary cooperative in Jackson, Mississippi. I want to note that Cooperation Jacksonās handling of the event was excellent, and their work is inspiring.
Recently, Jacksonās water supply was compromised when a major water plant failed due to poor maintenance, staffing, and rainwater flooding-a very 2022 kind of series of problems.
Jacksonās water is (maybe?) close to returning back to normal pressure, but residents had already been on a boil-water order since July due to existing chemical imbalances. Now, theyāre either relying on a highly inefficient bottled water pickup system, or are simply drinking contaminated water.
It feels apropros to mention this, and to encourage readers to donate to Cooperation Jackson and their ongoing mutual aid efforts.
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Song credit to Mikey, who let me use this very slick track in exchange for helping him move. Pray that this will eventually force me to buy a better microphone.
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A fun, light-hearted reading for your weekend.
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So I recorded this entire episode before noticing that I hadnāt plugged my microphone in, and had in fact been recording with my laptop mic. I donāt think this has impacted the quality very much, and instead simply serves as evidence of how cheap my actual microphone is. And the benefits are graciously passed on to you, the listener. Enjoy!
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I knew this essay was one of my longer ones, but you donāt realize how long until you have to actually sit down and read the whole thing aloud (if I sound like I need a glass of water at any point here, itās because I do, desperately). My goal eventually is to better synthesize my thoughts on consciousness and the nature of identity with my political ideas, and hopefully do so in somewhat less indulgently, willfully confusing language. Probably not gonna want to listen to this one on 2x speed.
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In a perfect world I wouldnāt do audio recordings, but I also know how much of my āreadingā gets done listening to audiobooks at work. As you can tell Iād much rather just write, based on how often I do these. Regardless, hopefully I can get up to date on them today. So here ya go!
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This piece is not meant to dissuade anyone from doing what makes them feel safe, and I am not a medical professional. Nor am I giving medical advice-obviously. Iām not an expert, but like everyone else I am forced to confront a smorgasbord of information about the pandemic, and the way people around me are reacting to it, and make some sort of sense out of it. Some of those reactions I find concerning, and not just those of anti-vaxxers and Covid-denialists. What I am trying to do in this essay is decouple the natural phenomenon of COVID-19 from a political narrative, to be more easily able to avoid confusion between the two, and think practically about both.
Links are provided for sources to all factual claims made in this essay in its original form:
If you found this essay interesting or useful, consider subscribing; itās a huge help. Thanks.
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Welp, I guess the spring on my mic stand decided it really wanted to be part of the action. Bummer, dude.
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This is my first attempt at providing an audio version of one of the essays posted on Bracero. Itās obviously pretty janky, but I impulse bought a cheap condenser microphone a couple years ago and never used it, so I decided Iād try and justify its existence. I figure a lot of people would find this a more convenient way to engage with my writing, or at least less tedious. For someone whoās used to listening to Librivox audiobooks, I consider this pretty serviceable, but if it does well and I end up doing this on a regular basis Iāll eventually invest in a better setup. As it is, enjoy!
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