The only revolution worth thinking about is the one that conquers violence.
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Akbar’s Book Club #2 – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
In this continuing series, I will share the book I am currently reading and invite others to read it, and have a discussion below. Remember, no spoilers. I chose this book because I have heard, like many books, that this one suffers much from over-saturation in our culture and that it is a classic for a reason, dealing with issues of scientific hubris and ethical concerns that were very prescient. I’ve read the letters that begin the story and I am really enjoying it so far. There is something about 19th century writing that is so precise and beguiling. Let me know what you think.
This is Mary Shelley…she finished writing Frankenstein when she was 21 years old…mind blowing.
He who feels it…knows it…
The more I awaken to the world I live in, the more I find it impossible to stand idly by while enslavement of my fellow human beings happens at an escalating rate. There are those in the polite society I have somehow found myself in, who urge me to focus on my own success…who see in my compassion a kind of ‘backwardness’…and they forget that I did not grow up in this polite society. I grew up very much among the poor, and so I know just a little bit about this world, and if the freedom I’ve found means anything, it means I have the duty to speak up, to have the audacity to care about those who live in cages. The internet, much like the printing press did in the 15th century, is providing a window of opportunity for us to liberate ourselves from the lies that keep us bound and silent.
Open Letter to David Graeber and Chris Hedges…
After watching the video interview of Chris Hedges, and reading the follow up letter by David Graeber (both below) concerning the Black Bloc occupy tactics, I wrote my own open letter. Please share.
Open Letter to David Graeber and Chris Hedges
Dear Distinguished Dudes,
As a member of this ‘struggle’ I cannot help but see in the debate you both articulate something fallacious from the outset, something I am going to speculate comes from being too informed by history, the result of over-education. This is not meant to be disrespectful. I have a deep admiration for both of you, but that admiration must be put aside in order to speak to my own vision of what is occurring.
First of all, the whole notion of ‘what works’ is not grounded in any finalized notion of the object or goal that makes efficacy of any sort possible to measure. The diversity of tactics cannot be confused with diversity of aims, and I think that is exactly what is occurring.
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Football Metaphors and Class Struggle
What is the end zone?
Patriotism?
David and Goliath?
Engines driving us over the environmental metaphor?
Loyalty to growth vs. commitment to sustainable slow down?
Living in a Conspiratorial World…
Two items today.
1. Hilarious parody of the new Tom Hanks movie I have no interest in seeing…dealing with 911 issues, and the madness caused by thinking too much about the anomalous nature of those events.
2. More seriously, if you are interested in hacking, and what it means to the unfolding of the 21st century society, here is a recording made by Anonymous, who were able to hack into an FBI conference call, and listen into the investigation of themselves…they later posted it. Read the NYTimes article here.
Definition of Happiness…
Hollister Store at my local mall closed down…the upside of economic crisis…
Minidrones…
the applications are endless…
Mythbusters busted…
Another example of truth being covered up by corporate interests.
