tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15590677865915068082024-02-07T22:58:37.790+00:00Pagan MetaphysicsPagan Metaphysics is written by Paul Reid-Bowen, a lecturer in Religions, Philosophies and Ethics at Bath Spa University (UK). His research and teaching interests encompass metaphysics, existentialism, ecological and feminist philosophy, and a number of new religious movements (notably pagan, nature and feminist religions).Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-81873490642901022182018-03-05T10:52:00.002+00:002018-03-05T10:52:39.535+00:00The Gaia Affect: Doing Thealogy in an Age of Ecological Crisis<h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will be giving a talk on Wednesday 7th March at the University of Winchester as part of the Exploring Aspects of the Feminine Divine 2018
Lecture Series from the Institute of Theological Partnerships. </span></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wednesday 7th March, 6.30pm<br />Room 5, Main Building, King Alfred Campus, University of Winchester, Sparkford Road, Winchester, Hampshire SO22 4NR</span></span></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Gaia Affect: Doing Thealogy in an Age of
Ecological Crisis</i></span></span></b></div>
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In an age of anthropogenic global warming, environmental
catastrophes, mass species extinctions and resource scarcity, this talk
considers what it may mean to draw feminist thealogy into a close
relationship with ecological philosophy. Focusing on some recent
appropriations of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis’s Gaia theory, such
as Bruno Latour’s (2017) <i>Facing Gaia</i>, Isabelle Stengers’s (2015)
‘intrusion of Gaia’ into human history, and Deborah Danowski and Eduardo
Viveiros de Castro’s (2017) <i>The Ends of the World</i>, it is argued that
thealogy must be able to think and feel its way towards and through an
eco-apocalyptic future.<br />
<br />
<br />
For more
information about the Institute, click <a href="https://www.winchester.ac.uk/research/enhancing-wellbeing-nurturing-the-individual/institute-for-theological-partnerships-/" title="Home » Home » Research » Enhancing wellbeing, nurturing the individual » Institute for Theological Partnerships ">here</a><br />
To book, please email: <a href="mailto:%20Joanna.Wilson@winchester.ac.uk">Joanna.Wilson@winchester.ac.uk</a>Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-70845405978798416342017-07-16T19:09:00.001+01:002017-07-16T19:09:38.681+01:00Jodie Whittaker is Doctor Who<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, in news unrelated to ecological collapse and the
crisis of civilization, Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the latest
regeneration of Doctor Who. Now I daresay that there are many who may be viewing
this little cultural event as the end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i>
worlds (and/or a sign of the destruction of British values, the triumph of
liberalism, ‘political correctness gone mad’ etc., etc.), but as a long-time
Whovian, it seems a pretty solid choice to me. My seven year-old son, who can
identify any type of Cyberman at a glance (and can categorise people’s year of
birth by whichever doctor was in role at the time), is fine with it; and so is
my daughter. Admittedly this doctor will be the shortest and is also from West
Yorkshire, and clearly such physical and social/cultural factors can make a
difference. But there have been quite a few Northerners in the role, and, come on,
Sylvester McCoy was only one cm taller. So there aren’t any major issues here.
I just hope Jodie is made of stern stuff. The forthcoming social media, vitriol-fest
will likely be a truly depressing sight to behold. I wonder if poor Peter
Davidson could have withstood the Twitterstorm that would have followed his
replacement of Tom Baker. Personally, I just hope the scripts and stories are
good.</div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-45492694798492423922017-07-05T21:07:00.002+01:002017-07-05T21:10:08.798+01:00The Cthulhucene Now!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">This
is a talk I gave at the recent CenSAMM Climate and Apocalypse conference on
29th June, an amazing two-day event, with an excellent programme of
international speakers. The full programme can be accessed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLeX_GYWBJdMF_Iydw_0LBg/videos" target="_blank">here</a>, with the
individual sections being slowly rolled out over the next few days. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">My
talk starts a little abruptly in this section, the first sentence is: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">My proposal today is that the ways in which we frame and
mythologize our current age may require serious reassessment ...’</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-71811740903022098482017-02-04T11:20:00.003+00:002017-02-04T11:20:51.021+00:00This made me smile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnd1xCn0cPHK9z0RQtxDUHme7DRrsgPNOlD-uo6PZUueEN6ZmIXYKYzBBW2ubBfZQwznV5Xi3ZKAoAztVDnnq_M6rUuA2hQjWXvNKIzUYzlgBA08HGUszyssUBwFBROfthchyB6xI4XbX/s1600/1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnd1xCn0cPHK9z0RQtxDUHme7DRrsgPNOlD-uo6PZUueEN6ZmIXYKYzBBW2ubBfZQwznV5Xi3ZKAoAztVDnnq_M6rUuA2hQjWXvNKIzUYzlgBA08HGUszyssUBwFBROfthchyB6xI4XbX/s400/1024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Full story <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/03/sweden-criticises-us-climate-stance-as-it-reveals-ambitious-carbon-emissions-law" target="_blank">here</a>.Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-49733445755751787072017-01-26T20:48:00.002+00:002017-01-26T20:48:41.233+00:00Doomsday Clock corrected (finally)My suggestion from <a href="http://paganmetaphysics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/the-doomsday-clock-needs-resetting-its.html" target="_blank">November 9th 2016</a> that the Doomsday Clock was running slow and needed correcting now seems to have been agreed upon by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and the clock has moved 30 seconds closer to doomsday. Full story <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/doomsday-clock-closer-to-midnight-in-wake-of-donald-trump-election" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there can't be much satisfaction in predicting the apocalypse. Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-52129752591045121302017-01-25T21:41:00.001+00:002017-01-25T22:02:30.758+00:00The US Endarkenment - Day 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Well, day four of the US Endarkenment Project and if the above story is even remotely true, then the president's new thought police are to be commended on the speed of their assault on, and appropriation of, the state apparatus of knowledge, science and environmental protection (an incredibly impressive epistemic "blitzkrieg"). I suspect that by day ten all references to climate science, global warming, ecological degradation, the environment, pollution etc. will have been expunged from government institutions; while other sources of knowledge production and dissemination (universities and academia, for example) may take a few weeks longer. But don't worry, soon you will be told what to say and think. The new government is clearly committed to unburdening its citizenry of the troublesome complexities and distractions of experts, scientists and whinging liberals. For every inconvenient truth/fact, the new government seems to have a nice alternative fact to make the transition easier.<br />
<br />
More <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/24/epa-department-agriculture-social-media-gag-order-trump" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/24/for-a-few-hours-badlands-national-parks-was-bad-to-the-bone-in-defiance-of-trump/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.eda26b6e9b1c" target="_blank">here</a> and probably in many other places over the next few weeks, before the US goes completely dark. <br />
<br />
<br />Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-40717362838613954512017-01-24T15:29:00.002+00:002017-01-24T15:29:18.688+00:00"This ... is what patriarchy looks like"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLdkPoXZOhzOTnmQbnLK79XXcoDJ4javiscNUrVhBLxgR1-KzNEkyxpcmZd_H3yr-s_lAXWcs0QIp7t-HHF4rMFr4H5F9pybxJII44D9Nht4k_m3X5SQhewfi3-Dv7BZd1lMcun_3l45Y/s1600/5051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLdkPoXZOhzOTnmQbnLK79XXcoDJ4javiscNUrVhBLxgR1-KzNEkyxpcmZd_H3yr-s_lAXWcs0QIp7t-HHF4rMFr4H5F9pybxJII44D9Nht4k_m3X5SQhewfi3-Dv7BZd1lMcun_3l45Y/s320/5051.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
‘This photograph is what patriarchy looks like.’ Reince Priebus, Peter
Navarro, Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon watch as Donald
Trump signs the executive orders in the Oval Office, 23 January 2017.
Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
<br />
<br />
The assault on women's reproductive rights begins, full report by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/24/photo-trump-womens-rights-protest-reproductive-abortion-developing-contries" target="_blank">Guardian</a>.Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-8837900402588042902017-01-23T07:35:00.003+00:002017-01-23T07:39:20.591+00:002016 - A Doom-laden RetrospectiveLest I become too positive and complacent following Saturday's marches and protests, <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/" target="_blank"><i>Desdemona Despair</i></a> has usefully delivered its fifty doomiest stories of 2016.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
22 January 2017 (Desdemona Despair) – For a long time, Desdemona has
feared that when the effects of global warming become obvious to
everyone, governments will shut down our Earth observation science, so
that collectively, the human species can bury its head in the sand. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The year 2016 saw huge strides toward this goal of dismantling science and blinding us all. The May government in the <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/07/climate-change-department-axed-by-new.html">UK</a> and the Turnbull government in <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/02/australia-climate-science-to-be-gutted.html">Australia</a> defunded their climate science research programs. In the U.S., the Trump team declared that they are seeking quick ways of <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/11/trump-looking-at-fast-ways-to-quit.html">withdrawing from the Paris agreement</a> on climate change, and that <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/11/trump-advisor-nasa-to-lose-climate.html">NASA Earth science will be defunded</a>. Scientists undertook a <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/12/in-guerrilla-archiving-event-scientists.html">desperate effort</a> to copy public climate data from government servers, in the event that Trump’s climate denialists order its destruction.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The
most ominous threat to science rose in the advanced economies, as
ultra-nationalist populism captured the governments of the U.S. and the
Philippines, and threatened the social democracies of Europe. Surely,
the doomiest story of 2016 was the ascension of Donald Trump’s
antiscience forces. Trump leads the vanguard of reactionary politics
that <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/12/global-trumpism-harming-efforts-to.html">rejects</a> the expertise of thousands of scientists globally, substituting <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/12/us-house-science-committee-tweets.html">random opinions</a> from blogs and “alt-right” propaganda mills.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
With
murderous force, reactionary parties oppose efforts to reduce carbon
emissions and to preserve indigenous lands: 2016 saw the assassination
of numerous defenders of the natural world, including Honduran activists
<a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/03/gunmen-kill-honduran-indigenous.html">Berta Cáceres</a> and <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/03/guatemala-another-environmental.html">Nelson García</a>. The government of Cambodia <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/08/cambodia-bans-film-about-murdered.html">banned</a> a film about murdered rainforest activist, <a href="https://www.journeyman.tv/film/6541/i-am-chut-wutty"><i>Chut Wutty</i></a>, and the UN declared that governments globally are undertaking an extraordinary <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/10/free-expression-under-worldwide-assault.html">war on freedom of expression</a>.</blockquote>
For the fifty top stories of environmental and eco-political doom and despair, <a href="http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2017/01/50-doomiest-stories-of-2016.html" target="_blank">read on here</a>. Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-17688795636647090472017-01-21T19:21:00.001+00:002017-01-21T19:28:32.555+00:00Resistance is fertile! (not futile)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well I've shed a few tears today, following the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/live/2017/jan/21/womens-march-on-washington-and-other-anti-trump-protests-around-the-world-live-coverage" target="_blank">Women's Marches in Washington and around the world</a>, listening to the speeches. This is one of the few times in the past year that I haven't felt completely despondent about the whole human project. No need for analysis here, I can deconstruct my liberalism, ambiguous hopes, and own need to get active quite adequately later. But, for the moment, I'll take this resurgent women's movement and the anti-Trump sentiment as something that I value immensely.<br />
<br />
[<a href="https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/587923bfe4b0f10ba20b7f33/6003576" target="_blank">Photo from the Leeds solidarity march against Darth Trump</a>]Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-70602211077852036292016-11-09T22:08:00.000+00:002016-11-09T22:08:24.913+00:00The Pain of Trump* I don't have much to say. I predicted this one too (although it was far less close than I expected), but I still hoped and I now feel sick to the pit of my stomach. I'll be avoiding the mainstream media for some time, as the narrative is too predictable and nauseating. I'm at present filtering and processing this through the thoughts of others whose expertise and analyses I respect; although this might be read as retreating to my own echo chamber on the internet. But, hey, it's some small comfort to me.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Adam Kotsko has a heartfelt piece <a href="https://itself.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/in-anger-and-in-sorrow/" target="_blank">here</a> that I like.<br />
<br />
R.S. Baker has an insightful analysis that I'm still digesting <a href="https://rsbakker.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/the-death-of-wilson-how-the-academic-left-created-donald-trump-2/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
And I came across this <a href="http://wonkette.com/608425/go-fuck-yourself-america" target="_blank">one</a> via <a href="http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2016/11/wolf-at-the-door-now.html" target="_blank">another blog</a> that I follow. It's this one that is probably far closer to my mood this morning and throughout today (even as a non-US citizen), so I'm re-blogging Rebecca Schoenkopf's post in full below. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">GO FUCK YOURSELF AMERICA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">No. Really. Just go fuck yourself,
you racist piggy white power pieces of shit. You wear shirts that laugh about
lynching reporters. (That smarts!) You <a href="http://wonkette.com/608350/trump-loving-white-dude-calls-black-guy-ngger-for-four-solid-minutes-time-to-vote"><span style="color: blue;">scream “nigger” at men who turn out to be goddamn saints</span></a>
while you’re whitesplaining them the fucking Boondocks. You teach your kids to
tell their classmates how great life will be once they’re deported. You beat up
homeless people, for Jesus and America too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">And you think it’s fucking adorable.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Did you #rig it? Fuck! Maybe! I’ve
always been a little partial to <a href="http://wonkette.com/607432/senior-trump-advisor-alex-jones-obama-clinton-possessed-by-real-demons-and-also-they-smell"><span style="color: blue;">the Alex Jones side of the sanity spectrum,</span></a> but
forgive me if I wonder: I didn’t see Anonymous riding to Hillary Clinton’s
rescue, when four years ago they <a href="http://wonkette.com/489966/anonymous-claims-it-stopped-karl-rove-from-hacking-the-election-by-hacking-orca-we-think"><span style="color: blue;">taunted</span></a> Karl Rove that they’d trapped his little
vote rats in the internet tubes. (Yeah, “citation needed,” Anonymous.) And we
all know Trump loves to accuse people of every thing he’s doing himself.
Besides, you’ll never convince me John Kerry lost Ohio in 2004. Oh, should I
not say that in polite wonky company, if I want to keep my cool pundit card?
WELL FUCK POLITE WONKY COMPANY, THAT WAS ‘WONKY’ AS SHIT.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s talk about all the things that
will be terrible now! BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE EVIL AND EVERYONE SUCKS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Are you a black person? I’m sorry,
everyone hates you, like, <i>personally</i> :( </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Are you Latina? Chica, lo siento!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Do you like doing things in #butts
with your husband, who is a man? The next four justices just deported your
adopted baby back to Cambodia, too bad, it was nice while it lasted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Are you just a regular straight old
boring ass white person, and the cops don’t roust you none, but you also like
eating food and having shelter? WELL DONALD TRUMP JUST BREXITED YOUR STOCK
MARKET, and he’ll do for the country what he did for his casinos.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">And his airline.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">And his steak.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">And his magazine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">He lost fucking money on LIQUOR.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">And he doesn’t know jack shit about
ANYTHING, and say goodbye to that last white-knuckled grasp on the middle
class. Oh, you care about “the debt”? He just <a href="http://wonkette.com/606868/donald-trump-is-gonna-make-our-national-debt-so-huge-itll-be-unbelievable"><span style="color: blue;">blew it up by FIVE. TRILLION. DOLLARS.</span></a> He
promised to treat the country’s bondholders like he treated the people who paid
off his bankruptcies: by not paying them shit. Hello, Greece! Is life fun there
under Nazis?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">But sure, “economic anxiety,” you <i>sister-raping
neanderthals.</i> Enjoy your brother-in-law’s meth trailer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Did you like that 4.5 percent
unemployment rate? Did you like being able to buy yourself a treat when you
went to stock up on toothpaste at Walgreens, and saying to yourself, HEY LOOK,
I BOUGHT ME A TREAT? Yeah, fuck a treat, you don’t get your retirement fund,
and no mortgage payment, and no <i>job.</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Women? Lol, honey, don’t make that
face. It’s so ugly on you, that persona. Also: you don’t matter, and you never
will.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Muslims? It’s Tuesday. Prepare for
your beating.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Media? Oh, yours is coming. Mighta
thought about that when you were playing footsie with James Comey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Oh shit, I almost forgot about
Obamacare! Now, if you’re like us, you won’t be able to buy insurance for your
family! Instead we’ll get repealed and replaced with “the lines around the
states!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">This dumb fucking <i>fuck.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">I deny that a woman like Hillary
Clinton lost to that monstrous Horror Klown for any reason besides THIS COUNTRY
IS HORRIBLE. Fuck your bullshit emails, fuck your bullshit FBI, fuck your
bullshit “she ran a bad campaign; she was a dud and he was exciting.” The man
is a rambling, boring toddler. If they “loved him,” it wasn’t for his charisma,
it was for his flat-out fascism, BECAUSE THEY ARE LIZARD-BRAINED PEOPLE WHO
LOVE TORTURING OTHERS.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">They get off on it. It <i>fucking
gets them off.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Oh man and do they haaaaate us
women. Oh man, a bossy old bitch wasn’t going to tell them what to do! And that
glass ceiling at the Javits Center. Oh, haw haw haw.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is where I fake some Pollyanna
bullshit to leave you on some uplift, and it’ll make you share this post.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">NOPE. THIS POST IS RAZOR BLADES AND
HUMAN SHIT AND KILLING EACH OTHER SID & NANCY STYLE.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">Come back tomorrow for some pony
bullshit, I might be able to fake it for you by then. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/wonkette/works/23780419-fuck-you-america?asc=u"><span style="color: blue;">Now buy my fucking FUCK YOU AMERICA shirt while you still
have any fucking money left.</span></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;">You stupid fucking dicks.</span> </blockquote>
* = From my childhood and home region of the UK, trump has always been a euphemism for fart or passing wind. So the comedic value of Donald Trump has been ever present. The pain today has only been lessened by my dear children reminding me of the reality of President Fart. <br />
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-27838318260551209522016-11-09T06:51:00.000+00:002016-11-09T06:59:55.921+00:00The Doomsday Clock needs resetting (it's running slow)I suggest that the <a href="http://thebulletin.org/timeline" target="_blank">Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists</a> get on this straight away, before they are assigned or drafted to weapons production or wall-building activities.Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-12947806481100375422016-06-28T12:15:00.000+01:002016-06-29T10:29:07.382+01:00Intergenerational Injustice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJX-Hml2pdKZ8b3AWrOstuuY-EVUgkvjctXiX-N2z3GVTAp2QmjjALRrJfBQPzY1gFasObbmVpG5iP4CW-LtSK7n1L4bo5N76TrflPSpyXrzUqkHPL6x2o2c1MfgM3QsNM1WVnUVAIgwda/s1600/nofuture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJX-Hml2pdKZ8b3AWrOstuuY-EVUgkvjctXiX-N2z3GVTAp2QmjjALRrJfBQPzY1gFasObbmVpG5iP4CW-LtSK7n1L4bo5N76TrflPSpyXrzUqkHPL6x2o2c1MfgM3QsNM1WVnUVAIgwda/s320/nofuture.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There has been much in the news over the last couple of days
about the generational rift in the Brexit vote, with 75% of 18 to 25 year olds
who voted doing so for remain. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/27/brexit-family-rifts-parents-referendum-conflict-betrayal" target="_blank">An emerging narrative is that of a future destroyed by the decisions of an older generation who will not have to live through them, and also a strong sense of betrayal</a>. The tensions between and anger
across generational divides, especially within families, has been widespread. I was
reminded of Hobbes’ reflections on the English Civil War and families being
torn apart by the political divisions of his time. And while this example is
perhaps overstated, I do wonder how defining of twenty first century politics
generational divisions will become.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My throwaway comment at a family gathering at the weekend
was that no one over the age of fifty should be permitted to vote. This was a fairly
arbitrary figure, although it would exclude me from voting too, and was
justified on the basis that the over fifties have less invested in the future. However,
Brexit wasn’t my only justification for this claim. There have been no shortages
of environmental writers who have argued that it is the young and future
generations who will be most severely impacted by the political decisions made
today.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Moreover, as <a href="http://dailynous.com/2016/06/28/philosophers-on-brexit/#oneill" target="_blank">Martin O’Neill has noted</a>, “[t]he more
substantive issue is whether it could be normatively justifiable for those who
will be less affected by the consequences of such a huge decision to impose it
on those whose interests are more extensively at stake, and who strongly favour
a different outcome. Yet that is certainly what has happened.”</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One can deploy some defensive hardy perennials here, such as
that with greater age comes greater experience and greater wisdom (little
evidence of wisdom in the Brexit campaign!); plus there is the far more common
assertion that if one has paid one’s dues and taxes for the past X number of
years, then one should have the full democratic right to make political
decisions. Except, of course, each of these claims is problematic, subject to
deconstruction and not directly or necessarily relevant to political
representation.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I’m not sure how one proceeds with this. Today most of the
debates about political representation that I focus on concern the ecophagic
tendencies of plutocracy and the distortion of politics by capital and
neoliberalism. But rulership by the old, gerontocracy, seems a pressing issue
given the demographics of an aging population. I have always objected to those who
project hopes and optimism on to the young and the next generation, because it has
always seemed to imply that people decrease in value as they age, and also because
it lets the middle aged and elderly off the hook and unfairly puts pressure on
the young to sort out the problems of their parents and grandparent's generation. However,
there is certainly a strong rationale – and perhaps even a hedonic/utilitarian-style
argument - for those with a potentially greater investment in the future, as a future to be lived through, to have a proportionally greater say in political
decisions than those who do not. The closest that I have seen to an age-based
form of proportional representation was suggested by <a href="http://kazez.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/old-voters-young-voters.html" target="_blank">Jean Kazez </a>yesterday. Her question
and proposal was that, beyond a minimum threshold, “would it
have been more fair if the Brexit vote had involved a multiplier, so the vote
of a 20 year old counted for 1/20 and the vote of an 80 year old counted for
1/80?” Although she admits that this may “sound repugnant”, there is also “<i>something</i>
sensible about age-based multipliers.” I find myself agreeing, and not
particularly for Brexit reasons, but more especially for environmental ones.</span></span></span></div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-653281382103728012016-06-24T07:41:00.000+01:002016-06-24T17:00:55.302+01:00Britain Decides [Insert Expletive]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-19426976180182135192016-06-21T18:40:00.003+01:002016-06-21T18:40:40.602+01:00Remain and Women's RightsPart of my rationale for supporting Remain, alluded to <a href="http://paganmetaphysics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/eu-leave-remain-collapse.html" target="_blank">below</a>, is that the EU is probably far better for women's rights than Brexit. There is a good discussion of the issues at the F word blog <a href="https://www.thefword.org.uk/2016/06/eureferendum/" target="_blank">here</a>.Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-63223662304418873342016-06-21T17:56:00.001+01:002016-06-21T17:56:34.920+01:00John Oliver on Brexit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iAgKHSNqxa8/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iAgKHSNqxa8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<br />Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-66515675878342707352016-06-20T14:58:00.002+01:002016-06-20T16:00:05.787+01:00EU: Leave, Remain, Collapse<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">I rarely get sucked in to the minutiae of national and party
politics these days. As only one human sub-system amongst the collective
cluster-fuck of global eco-systemic crises unfolding around, through and within
us, I find it too easy to view party politics as an irrelevance, a trivial
sideshow, or, more often, as merely epiphenomenal, a shadow play for deeper
systemic powers and agencies. Trying to make sense of the kaleidoscopic mess of
networked systems and assemblages frequently relativizes the local stuff away. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">However, over the past few months I’ve stared in sick
fascination at the successes of Trump in the US, and, more recently, the EU
referendum has pressed itself ever more forcefully into my consciousness. Like
many, I’ve been stirred and shocked by the affect-driven and toxic politics of
our age. The spectacle is a heady show of irrationalism, obfuscation, rhetoric,
threats and scaremongering. It’s impossible to avoid being perturbed by the
agitation of the political body within which one is inevitably entwined. The
political is already personal in its dreadful proximity. Whether through
friends and family, co-workers and community members, institutions and
materialities, there is no escaping the political. But what to do? </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">Well, I’ve already chosen (postal vote … done and dusted),
but the question remains: why? Humans are far better at rationalising their
decisions after the fact than reasoning forwards. How, therefore, might I
rationalise my decision? My first pithy and smug answer was “Better a mitigated
disaster (Remain), than an unmitigated one (Brexit).” Siding with what seemed
to be the overwhelming wealth of evidence for political, economic and social
stability in the short-term, Remain was the obvious first choice. Of
course, this was also helped by my visceral and negative
assessment of the three main political advocates of Brexit: Gove, Farage and
Johnson, political demagogues who frankly couldn’t be any lower in my esteem.
But was there anything else? </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">As a doomer and collapsenik by intellectual inclination, <i>whether
Britain is in the EU or not,</i> <i>I think we are screwed</i> (i.e.
ecologically, economically and socially). The more pressing questions are: how
badly, how quickly and how much of the biosphere and nonhuman world are we
likely to take with us? With these points in mind, I was pleased to see <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/15/european-union-eu-britain-sovereignty" target="_blank">Monbiot characterising Remain</a>, in
terms with which I fundamentally agreed, as the ‘worst choice – apart from the
alternative.’ For those touting Brexit as a route to political autonomy and
economic recovery, Monbiot echoed my own early conclusions that ‘[w]e do not
release ourselves from the power of money by leaving the EU. We just <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/10/eu-in-health-wildife-european-union" title="">exchange one version for another: another that is even worse</a>. This
is not an inspiring position from which to vote remain. But it is a coherent
one.’ </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">This also returned me to one of my favoured go-to analogies
for the current situation, namely, civilization as the post-impact Titanic. In
a comforting manner I’ve reminded myself that the EU referendum probably
amounts to little more than a rearrangement of the deckchairs or orchestral
music on the sinking Titanic, or, perhaps more accurately, it is a change with regard to where and
with whom one stands. But there is little point rocking the boat when the
boat is already sinking. As to whether we are nearer the aft, the stern, the
lifeboats, or how much time we have left, all that we can know with much
confidence is that the ship will sink. The only meaningful thing that we have
any significant control over is how we behave towards one another as it goes
down! </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">So much for rationalising Remain. Only two things have
rattled my position during the past few days. A couple of days ago, I was
surprised to see <a href="http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2016/06/murder-lifeboats-an-iceberg-and-an-orchestra/" target="_blank">another writer</a> at the economic
collapse edge of the internet also deploying the Titanic analogy to illuminate
the Brexit debate. Only in this case, “[t]he Brexit vote is, in a nutshell,
Britain’s last chance to hit the lifeboats and jump the Titanic before it hits
the iceberg.” I wasn’t convinced. For reasons of economic, political and
social inertia, ecological overshoot and hitting the limits to growth, plus crossing
various planetary tipping points and boundaries, it is more plausible to think
that the iceberg has already been struck (or more aptly, it is still ripping its
way though the bulkheads of civilization]. But it was intriguing to to see
Brexit being touted as an opportunity to dodge an EU specific economic iceberg.
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">The second piece was by another collapse blogger, Jason
Heppenstall, whose opinions and arguments I very much value. In a <a href="http://22billionenergyslaves.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/why-leaving-eu-is-ethical-choice-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+22BillionEnergySlaves+%2822+Billion+Energy+Slaves%29" target="_blank">lengthy, measured and also very
entertaining post</a>, Jason eventually sides with the Brexit vote as ‘the
chance to throw a spanner in the works of the <i>inevitable</i> onward march of
the EU machine.’ Again, I wasn’t wholly convinced. There are elements of EU
membership that I value and believe will atrophy and wither away in a
post-Brexit Britain (e.g. Human Rights legislation, labour and environmental
laws, health, education), but I strongly recommend that you read his article
and line of argument yourselves. I certainly appreciated the sentiment and tone
of the piece. If it is indeed the case, as has been argued by the likes of <a href="http://www.resilience.org/stories/2016-06-16/why-global-capital-fears-brexit" target="_blank">Norberg-Hodge, Read and Wallgren</a>, that
‘global capital fears “Brexit”’, then there is quite a powerful anarchic
justification for a leave vote. Moreover, it may be this line of thinking that
will help me keep going if (when) Brexit triumphs on June 23rd. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">Following a phrase coined, I think, by <a href="http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/collapse-now-and-avoid-rush.html" target="_blank">John Michael Greer</a>, and popular
amongst some permaculturalists and doomers too, Brexit may simply be a way of
getting ahead of the curve and/or else hastening certain inevitable processes
of social collapse. The phrase, “<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collapse-Now-Avoid-Rush-Archdruid/dp/0692389458/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1466430347&sr=8-1-fkmr0" target="_blank"><i>collapse now and avoid the rush</i></a>”,
implies that the best preparation for the forthcoming collapse is to experience
and consciously choose it sooner, rather than having it inflicted on you later, a process that requires re-skilling and reducing one’s reliance on as many of the products,
structural elements and dependencies/addictions of industrial civilization as
possible. That is, be prepared, collapse early and through choice. Now, the
majority of Brexiters certainly aren’t voting for collapse (quite the reverse,
I suspect – economic prosperity and political autonomy seem to be high on their
wish list), but I may have to console myself that the unintended consequences
of the Leave vote may be ones that are ultimately for the biospheric and
more-than-human best. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">So, perhaps “Vote Brexit, collapse early, avoid the rush!”
is a slogan I could get behind. However, my vote has gone for “Vote Remain”;
the regimes of discipline and policy making generated by the EU are unlikely to
be any worse than we can achieve through our own sovereignty.</span></span></div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-6556468416106704242016-06-02T09:28:00.000+01:002016-06-02T09:28:24.550+01:00Human SupremacismA nice review of Derrick Jensen's new book, <i>The Myth of Human Supremacy</i>, at <a href="http://wildancestors.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">What is Sustainable</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="BlogText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style;">When an unlucky person has been swept away by the
brainwashing of a wacko cult, concerned friends or family members sometimes
seek the assistance of a skilled deprogrammer to exorcize the demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a painful process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scrambled soul is blasted with a
fire-hose of strong rational arguments, hour after hour, hammering away at the
many contradictions in the cult’s beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ideally, the shining power of truth blasts away the illusions, and opens
the door to healing.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="BlogText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style;">I was reminded of this while reading Derrick Jensen’s book, </span><em><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">The Myth of Human Supremacy</span></em><span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his story, the wacko cult consists of
human supremacists, zombies who have been indoctrinated to believe that humans
are the miraculous conclusion of the long evolutionary journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humans are the one and only species that is
sentient, self-aware, intelligent, and able to make tools and communicate.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="BlogText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style;">The cult of human supremacy has grown rapidly, and now
includes a large portion of humankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The zombie mobs are mindlessly destroying the living planet that
everything depends on for survival. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jensen puts a spotlight on the demon:
“Unquestioned beliefs are the real authorities of any culture.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are bombarded with supremacist ideas from
early childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They define our understanding
of normality, and encourage us to live like there’s no tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only humans matter, a living planet does not. [<a href="http://wildancestors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/the-myth-of-human-supremacy.html" target="_blank">READ MORE</a>]</span></div>
</blockquote>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-57770943378645463022016-02-20T09:44:00.003+00:002016-02-20T09:44:58.545+00:00Malthus AgainAn <a href="http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-sadly-malthus-was-right-now-what" target="_blank">opinion piece</a> by Madeline Weld of the Population Institute Canada (h/t Gail):<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Saturday marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Robert Malthus. I would like to wish him many happy returns.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And he does keep on returning, doesn’t he, despite those who say he is wrong or passé.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">His Essay on the Principle of Population argued that, if left
unchecked, human population growth would encounter limits: “The power of
population is indefinitely greater than the power in the Earth to
produce subsistence for man.” He foresaw famine, disease and much
suffering, especially among the poorest. But in addition to these
“negative checks,” he also recognized “preventive checks” like limiting
birthrates and later marriage. As a cleric, he advocated “the chaste
postponement of marriage.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Some 218 years after the first edition of his controversial treatise
was published, we are still arguing about it. In 1798, the world
population was under one billion. Now it’s 7.4 billion and counting. For
the last 40 years, it’s been increasing by one billion every 12 to 13
years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Some people say that’s no problem, that we’re better off than ever.
The Green Revolution staved off the starvation in India predicted by
Paul Ehrlich in The Population Bomb. Advances in agriculture, medicine
and other technology have made us richer and healthier. The late Julian
Simon even said that ever more people is a good thing, since humans are
“the ultimate resource” and every mouth to feed comes with a pair of
hands to work and a brain to solve problems. What could go wrong?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But things are going seriously wrong. To provision our ever-growing
population, we are, in Ehrlich’s words, turning the planet into a
“feedlot for humanity.” We have taken over about one-third of its land
surface and scoured its oceans, wiping out several major fisheries and
depleting the rest. Our “solution” of farmed fish creates other
problems. High-yield Green Revolution crops require pesticides,
fertilizer and water; the first two are becoming more expensive, the
last scarcer in many areas.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Homo sapiens’ appetite is gargantuan. As we strive to get at
dwindling resources for ever more people, we dig deeper into the Earth,
blow the tops of mountains, divert rivers, cut down forests and pave
over swaths of land. We fill the land, water, and air with our
pollution. We’re driving record numbers of species to extinction and
decimating others with activities from chemical poisoning to hunting for
bushmeat, or simply by taking over their habitat.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Greenhouse gases from our industry are changing the Earth’s climate,
with such dangerous consequences as ocean acidification, rising sea
levels and flooding, changes in rainfall patterns including in vital
“breadbaskets,” and loss of forest cover.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">While the word “sustainable” has become popular, growing human
numbers and activities are anything but. Increasing awareness of our
impact has led to developments in renewable energy, recycling,
earth-friendly farming and more. There have also been spectacular
advances in family planning. But powerful —notably religious —
opposition has kept governments and international bodies from actively
promoting small families and prevented hundreds of millions of women who
would plan their families from having access to modern methods.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Those who deny that overpopulation is a problem say the poor don’t
consume much. Yet the poor want nothing more than to consume more, as
proved by India and China. Who can blame them? And a burgeoning number
of desperately poor people does have a major impact: they cut down
forests to grow food, drain rivers, deplete aquifers, and overfish and
over-hunt in their local area. But make these points and you’ll be
accused of blaming the poor for the problems of the rich.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We seem bound to learn the hard way that there really is a limit to how many people the Earth can support.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We wish it weren’t so, but it really is starting to look as if Malthus was right.</span><br />
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Madeline Weld is president of <a href="http://www.populationinstitutecanada.ca/">Population Institute Canada</a>, based in Ottawa.</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-61357340951176558622015-09-16T16:12:00.000+01:002015-09-16T18:09:24.866+01:00Pre-Traumatic Stress DisorderThere is some increasingly interesting and grim research on the psychological consequences and affects of rapidly changing environmental conditions and global warming available. This is a summation of a <a href="http://www.nwf.org/pdf/Reports/Psych_Effects_Climate_Change_Full_3_23.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by Van Susteren and Coyle, reblogged from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/09/16/3701936/brain-on-climate-change/" target="_blank">Climate Progress</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We spend vast amounts of time and personal energy trying to calculate
the most urgent threats posed by climate change. Washington, D.C.
psychiatrist and climate activist Lise Van Susteren, however, says the
most insidious danger may already be upon us. She’s not talking about
heat, drought, floods, severe storms, or rising seas. She’s focused on
the psychological risks posed by global warming. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Van Susteren has co-authored a <a href="http://www.nwf.org/pdf/Reports/Psych_Effects_Climate_Change_Full_3_23.pdf">report</a>
on the psychological effects of climate change that predicts Americans
will suffer “depressive and anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress
disorders, substance abuse, suicides, and widespread outbreaks of
violence,” in the face of rising temperatures, extreme weather, and
scarce resources. Van Susteren and her co-author Kevin Coyle write that
counselors and first responders “are not even close to being prepared to
handle the scale and intensity of impacts that will arise from the
harsher conditions and disasters that global warming will unleash.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is currently no organized discipline for the study of the
psychological risks of climate change, yet it is already taking a toll
on many people who tackle this issue. Surprisingly susceptible are those
who might seem to be immune. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The climate deniers? I always say they‘re really too stressed to
hear the truth,” said Van Susteren. “We see this kind of thing in my
work all the time, where people who aren’t ready to hear the truth about
something will simply say it doesn’t exist.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Those who do acknowledge the problem face a different set of issues,
particularly those who work on the problem. Lisa Van Susteren coined the
term “pre-traumatic stress disorder” to describe the grief, anger, and
anxiety clinging to the scientists and advocates whose job it is to gaze
into a future that can look increasingly bleak. [<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/09/16/3701936/brain-on-climate-change/" target="_blank">MORE</a>]</blockquote>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-84966121534543874992015-09-05T10:28:00.002+01:002015-09-05T10:28:59.349+01:00Professor of Environmental HumanitiesThis job opportunity may be of interest to some of my readers. Details <a href="http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ALX003/professor-of-environmental-humanities/" target="_blank">here</a>.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-size: small;">Professor of Environmental Humanities</span></b><br />
<br />
<strong>Shape the new home of world-changing ideas</strong><br />
Bath Spa University is an inspiring place, founded on creativity,
culture and enterprise. We are creating a world-leading research centre
in Environmental Humanities. We are looking to appoint a Professor of
Environmental Humanities who will chair the centre and play a pivotal
role in university-wide projects spanning disciplines as diverse as
film-making, literature and history, and environmental sciences.<br />
<br />
The successful candidate will shape the centre’s research and secure
external funding to address interconnected social and environmental
issues. Involving environmental education, connecting communities and
creating change, this is a unique opportunity which will call on your
commitment to sustainable futures, and expertise in such areas as
ecological criticism, geography and philosophy.<br />
<br />
<strong>Discover more and apply at <a href="https://jobs.bathspa.ac.uk/wrl">https://jobs.bathspa.ac.uk/wrl</a></strong><br />
For an informal discussion of this post, please call Professor John
Strachan, Vice Provost for Research and Enterprise, on 01225 876292.<br />
<br />
<strong>Closing date:</strong> 1 October 2015.</blockquote>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-17881588598735597522015-08-25T12:10:00.000+01:002015-08-25T12:12:07.352+01:00What are we meant to do when we are told the world is ending?<div style="text-align: justify;">
Reblogging <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/what-do-we-do-when-we-know-the-world-is-ending?utm_content=buffere2035&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">this piece</a> I came across by Clive Martin from March 27th 2014. It encapsulates a recurrent question students on ecological philosophy courses I run ask, and it's a 'hardy perennial' for anyone who makes a habit of staring into the interlocking and unfolding ecological and social crises of the twenty-first century.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[VICE] It's become commonplace to say that we, as "young people", have no
future. We blame the shocking unemployment levels, we blame the Lib
Dems' collaboration in the benign Vichy coalition we live under, we
blame the baby boomers who are refusing to bequeath their wealth to the
generation beneath them, we blame Thatcher for creating a society of
bored and broken service industry workers whose jobs are constantly
under threat. And we're right to.<br />
I fully agree that these problems have sent everyone a bit mad, forcing
us into a fruitless, childless existence that we can only escape with
drinking games, Tesco Finest meals, cheap flights, gut-rotting drugs and
shit games on our phones. But what is our generation going to do when
the shit really hits the fan? Not when Carphone Warehouse pull out of
the UK and universities cost 30 grand a year, but when Armageddon starts
WhatsApping us?<br />
<br />
Everyone’s been predicting the end of time since time began, obviously.
God was going to kill us. Then the devil was going to kill us. Then the
nuclear bomb was going to kill us. And now asteroids, or the sea, or
our own shitty behaviour is going to kill us. Whatever happens, we know
that one day it's all going to end in fire and for the media, this
paranoia is a golden ticket. The ultimate paper-selling, SEO-friendly
scare story – because most people are going to have at least some
passing interest in hearing how and when their species is going to end.
It's grade-A clickbait with a highbrow twist: the holy grail of the
modern media.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, when you pick up <i>the Guardian</i> or whatever, it’s
not mad men waving "THE END IS NIGH" placards, it’s really
serious-sounding scientists. This gives weight not only to individual
scare stories about bird flu or acid rain, but more significantly to the
patchwork of terror, which suggests that – through a combination of
gluttony, stupidity and cruelty – we’ve pretty much fucked the planet
and the future is looking very much like a disaster film directed by
Hieronymus Bosch.<br />
<br />
The latest study I read comes from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists" target="_blank">the pretty solid source</a>
of NASA, who've worked out that just because our society has managed to
produce Citalopram, Itsu and Spotify, we aren't immune from the same
kind of collapse that has eventually befallen every other human society
in history. And that our resource-plundering modern habits aren't
exactly helping our case for survival, either.<br />
<br />
It's interesting, and somewhat sobering reading. Much like Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/25/michael-gove-chap-hop-favourite-genre-mr-b" target="_blank">retort to Michael Gove</a>, it's a piece that will make you wonder if it's worth just shuffling off this mortal coil with as little fuss as possible.<br />
<br />
And that’s the real question: What we are we supposed to do with this information? Is there anything we <i>can</i>
do? Or should we just get the patio chairs out of the garage, put some
Stella on ice and wait for our neighbours to start barbequing Alsatians?
I mean, it’s one thing for old people to hear that their legacy is
fucked, but it’s another for young people to hear that they have no
future. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/what-do-we-do-when-we-know-the-world-is-ending?utm_content=buffere2035&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">[CONTINUES]</a></blockquote>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-48784876574822055592015-07-22T22:36:00.001+01:002015-07-22T22:36:59.770+01:00Agnes Török - 'Worthless'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kiaxHUFAWew/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kiaxHUFAWew?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
[Youtube] "Poem by Agnes Török on the news of a new Conservative budget. Based on
experiences of living in Britain under austerity as a young, queer,
unemployed, female immigrant student - and not taking it any more. More
info on: <a href="http://www.agnestorok.org/">www.agnestorok.org</a> "</div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-8219933190640451902015-07-22T18:45:00.000+01:002015-07-22T18:45:02.595+01:00Feminist Philosophy QuarterlyThe <a href="http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/fpq/" target="_blank">Feminist Philosophy Quarterly</a> launches today. Free pdf downloads of articles available.Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-11803939856674588542015-07-22T18:13:00.000+01:002015-07-22T18:27:37.629+01:00The Stickiness of the Fossil Fuel Age <div style="text-align: justify;">
Interesting piece on the distortion of carbon dating caused by the fossil fuel age <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/22/3683293/now-carbon-dating-could-suffer-from-fossil-fuel-emissions/" target="_blank">here</a>. It seems like Tim Morton's analysis of global warming as a hyperobject, perhaps most notably its trait of viscosity, could be applied to this in an illuminating manner.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
[Climate Progress] Those concerned with climate change spend a lot of time arguing that
it’s not just an environmental problem, but also an economic, human
rights, national security, and even mental health issue. Now a new study
has found that greenhouse gas emissions could impact a range of
unlikely fields due to their effect on radiocarbon dating, a
much-heralded scientific method used to determine the age of objects
containing organic material.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/15/1504467112">study,</a> published Monday in the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>,
found that emissions from fossil fuels are artificially raising the
carbon age of the atmosphere, which makes objects today seem much older
than they are when scrutinized by a radiocarbon dater. This change in
the ability to date objects could impact measurements commonly taken in a
broad range of endeavors, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/15/1504467112">including</a> archaeology, forgery detection, forensics, earth science, and physiology.<br />
<br />
<b>For instance, the study suggests that by 2050 — just 35 years from
now — new clothes could have the same radiocarbon date as something worn
during the Battle of Hastings in 1066.</b> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/22/3683293/now-carbon-dating-could-suffer-from-fossil-fuel-emissions/" target="_blank">[MORE HERE]</a></blockquote>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559067786591506808.post-91087851012532803592015-07-13T16:00:00.002+01:002015-07-13T16:00:55.948+01:00Harvard Study on Bee Colony Collapse<div style="text-align: justify;">
[CS Globe] "One area we are waking up to is the
massive amount of pesticides we spray (especially in North America) on
our food that has not only been linked to human disease, but a massive
die off in the global bee population within the past few years.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A new study out of Harvard University,
published in the June edition of the Bulletin of Insectology puts the
nail in the coffin, neonicotinoids are killing bees at an exponential
rate, they are the direct cause of the phenomenon labeled as colony
collapse disorder (CCD).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Neonicotinoid’s are the world’s most widely used insecticides." [<a href="http://csglobe.com/harvard-study-proves-why-the-bees-are-all-disappearing/" target="_blank">READ MORE</a>]</div>
Paul Reid-Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05305501394205279347noreply@blogger.com0