We'll be adding more communities soon!
44
from February, 2019, in the aftermath of Californian wildfires:
"Despite all the pictures of devastation circulating online with each new wildfire, we face the insufficiency of the image. Frozen and flattened, images of fire present a misleading visual field of aesthetic contemplation. Framed and objectified, they offer only a privileged sort of distanced voyeurism, a reassuring domination of disaster, ...Read More
Inadequate public water infrastructure and climate change have created an opening in Nepal and elsewhere for private operations delivering water (often low quality or contaminated) at exorbitant prices to desperate people. It's the emergence of an ecosystem of vested interests both on the private side (growing monopoly over water access) ...Read More
9
‘A recent poll of people aged 18-35 by a state think-tank found 52% of those living in smaller towns and cities had moved there after spending on average three years in top-tier cities, citing the fast pace of life.’ An interesting news item that steers away from an-prim framings and ...Read More
27
𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 400 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘖2, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮-𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘦
𝘉𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 400 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵-𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦,” 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺.” ...Read More
38
"The new bushfire recovery agency must use a similar strategy. This would acknowledge both the historical experiences of Aboriginal people and our inherent strengths as communities that have not only survived, but remain connected to our homelands. In this way, perhaps the bushfire crisis might have some positive longer-term outcomes, ...Read More
35
"...it’s hard to convey the intensity of living in the middle of a long-running disaster. The world narrows. Your ability to think critically evaporates.
New daily rituals emerge – wake up, check the fire warnings, check the air quality reading. Get out of bed, check the air purifier. Next, wash brown smoky water out of clothing or animals that have left the sanctuary of the house for any period of time. ...Read More
55
As I read this, I couldn't help but think about when DJing and the beats aren't properly matched and slowly go out of time, and as an audience member without quite realising what's happening, its as if you are pushed out of the trance into a space of dissonance.
3
"The fires have been raging for weeks, destroying 2.2m hectares of bush, over 700 homes, killing several people, and an uncountable amount of animal life, but it is the poor visibility in Sydney, the terrible air rated magnitudes worse than ‘hazardous’ that dominates media attention. Photos of a vanishing Sydney ...Read More
55
From April but deserves a re-read
"Ecological pain has been the subject of a growing body of academic study. The environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the word solastalgia to describe it while he worked at the University of Newcastle in NSW. Specifically, solastalgia is the feeling of distress associated with environmental change close to your home. ...Read More
“Who will account for the creepy crawlies and the drab species? These are some of the questions underlying the scientific community’s increasing reliance on crowdsourced environmental data.”
24
I would be wary to flatten the responsibility of governments, workers, and individual consumers. Moreover, these fires should be connected to a heritage of genocidal neglect and colonial genocides (either of which have diverse academic precedents), both forms taking on this more abstract diffuse form where violence is not dolled ...Read More
80
Disarm the lifeboats
Jonathan M. Katz •
katz.substack.com ↗︎
This: "Disaster experts can predict how most people will react: Most will try to work together to save the most people possible. But there is a notable exception. The richest people on the ship are the least likely to cooperate. There is a formal term for this, based on a ...Read More
7
“The impact on many species has been extreme and is ongoing. The full scale of wildlife losses will probably never be known, but they will surely number in the millions"
59
This wet-noodle 'journalism' has to stop.
This article presents the 'technosphere' as a non-aligned, neutral productive force which operates to some extent at the whim of consumers but with an irresistible internal logic to grow. This growth is achieved at the expense of the environment. ...Read More