07.28 | hello from the first newsletter ever!
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.
—Joseph Campbell
✉️ letter #1
I thought I was over email.
No really, I don't think I've used email for anything except either work or collecting spam for over a decade. Especially after GChat stopped working, I gradually moved all communications (that weren't specifically to leave a paper trail) over to social platforms.
But I've since learned that, actually, newsletters are going strong! And not just with old fogeys who can't figure out that newfangled Tiktok stuff, the actual kids are into it too.
So, after much deliberation - I'm starting one of my own!
Read more:
In it for now: musings about what "existing ethically" means, including links to the outside world of thought regarding the topics of sustainable development, global equity, and personal health within late-capitalist systems. I hope someone out there finds this useful.
Also, probably, whatever else is happening with me - little snippit updates about my life for those interested.
I'm aiming to send this out every Wednesday morning. Hope you enjoy!
🌱 the ethical ideas news reel
Pieces I've found from around the internets with interesting ideas for sustainability, human health, and diversity (both bio- & people).
- We're in the midst of Typhoon Infa right now on the Eastern Coast of China. I'm staying dry in my part of Shanghai (thankfully), but other neighborhoods have not been so lucky. This op-ed has an interesting take on what actions coastal (and frankly below-actual-water-level) could do - managed retreat. Granted, telling 15 million people to abandon everything and move inland is probably a hard sell. I doubt this is going to happen until something actually collapses into the ocean.
- While using algorithms for currently qualitative decisions could reduce bias, I'm always a little wary about what might happen if we accidentally (as we so often do) hardcode in biases into the algorithm. These folks though make the case for automating morals in future AI.
- The term "regenerative" is the new buzzword. This Guardian piece about regenerative agriculture gives some food for thought, especially when it comes to completely rethinking the current corporate farming model - “Everyone’s talking about sustainability, but why would you sustain something that’s wrong?" it quotes one farmer. Good point.
- Put this on my wish list: Amy Sohn's new book "The Man Who Hated Women" is not actually just about anti-vice lobbyist Anthony Comstock, but rather the women who opposed him. Despite not even having the right to vote, these women were vocal about what rights they thought they ought to have - the right over their own body, over who and how they loved. Inspiring, but the fact that they're considered "radically feminist" and Comstock not "radically conservative" shows we still have a ways to go.
- This sounds like an interesting idea out of Europe that is hopefully a little more diverse than it looks at first glance: think of Human Hotel as a vetted, progressive AirBnB specifically looking to match local hosts interested in things like activism, art, and/or spirituality with like-minded guests who want their accomodation dollars to actually go to the community.
🎵 Song of my week
Starting us off on this newsletter business with something atmospheric in a grungy, moody, very dance-but-goth way.
✨enjoying: one final piece of pop culture fun
I really loved learning how much ancient Romans loved their pets, and I am definitely one of the people who got teary-eyed hearing epitaphs from over 2000 years ago. "Myia, who never barked without reason, but now he is silent."
NO YOU'RE CRYING.
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