April 29, 2020

Permanent Changes Are Needed in Politics, Economics and Culture - Otherwise, We Remain Doomed




A Collection of Charts, Graphs and Maps Exploring
the Global Oil Industry

The Globalist
April 28, 2020

Just how big is the oil industry? Much bigger and more invasive in our lives than I thought. It is tied to almost every product and service we consider modern necessities and desirables. See the above link for eleven graphics providing facts on the global oil industry.

The last chart from The Globalist (see above, top) shows a selection of consumer products that can be produced from one barrel of oil.

Along with our technological efforts at fixing, ameliorating, and redirecting oil dependency we need a radical reset of our values and beliefs, especially those about our relationships with each other, and with Earth.

Regrettably, this involves efforts in politics and economics, areas where the vast majority of humankind have little to no control.

I say regrettably because of the deep dysfunctional and economic cronyism of current US and global politics. The troughs provided by the wealthy are bottomless and tasty. Leading these political minions of the rich manufacturers and service providers in a better, more humane direction is difficult to nigh impossible, and dangerous.

Some of you think, and have said, I am a contrarian doomsayer. I am, but not without good reason.

April 21, 2020

Forget "Tribe" - Become a Citizen of the World

Photo: Raising Miro: On the Road of Life


Ligaya Mishan
April 13, 2020
The New York Times T Magazine

Some things, the writer of this essay gets right, IMHO. Others, she does not.

Writer at large, Ligaya Mishan, declares she is going to rescue "tribe" from "decades of anthropological study that privileged Western civilization." Okay. I guess. But that would be a tall order in a short New York Times T Magazine essay. Yes, the British Colonial Office hired anthropologists in the early-mid 20th Century to further colonialism, and help expand the privileges of Westerners beyond Europe.

I am not sure what decades of anthropological study the writer wants to rescue "tribe" from. Because later she rightly refers to American anthropologist Marshall Sahlins who objected to the term in the mid-20th century; and who was quickly joined by virtually all other American anthropologists, especially within US cultural anthropology. Within British social anthropology, on the other hand, is where the term "tribe" took root in academia and far beyond in the early-20th century. However, even among the Brits its professional usage declined significantly, especially so by the middle of that century. Regrettably, the British, via BBC, still to this day like to report on "tribal clashes" in Africa.

More importantly, there is much more to the anthropological use of "tribe" that Mishan does not address. At the end of this post, for example, there is a link to the use of "tribe" with reference to African ethnic groups, a very good article readers will find informative.

All that said, there are more important fish I want to fry here than the history of anthropology shortcomings in Mishan's essay. The real problems with her essay begin when she tries to "square this [early human within-band bonding] with the ethos of individualism."

Book Review: "Augustus" by John Williams

Caesar Augustus (63BC-14AD)

Over the past year or so, I have been reading ancient Roman history and biographies of notable Romans of that time. I have done so out of interest and at the recommendation of my doctor, a good friend who insists I need some mental popcorn to balance the nonfiction staple of my literary diet. Rather than the fiction he recommends I have opted for the grandeur that was Rome!
I finished my most recent book, Augustus, this morning, in my bed. I mention where I was to express how grateful I am to be retired and have the time to read as much as I want, of what I want. Happily, government reports and white papers, emails, congressional inquiries, immigration law books, have not appeared before my eyes since November 2007. With that and having in mind my friends many of whom are also in their good, old age, I offer below some excerpts from the last pages of Augustus. Pages that focus on the emperor’s final days, his summing the counts of his personal life and the accomplishments of his rule. As background, a good summary of Caesar Augustus’s life may be found here.
Augustus was written by John Williams, a native Texan who was educated at the University of Denver. Williams obtained his Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Missouri in 1954, and thereafter returned to the University of Denver to teach literature and creative writing. Williams’s previous books include Butcher’s Crossing (1960) and Stoner (1965). I have read neither.
Augustus was published in 1972 and received the (US) National Book Award in 1973. This book fits best in the category of historical fiction. The contents are factual but the book is no straightforward narrative of events through time. Its format is that of a collection of fictional letters and journal entries by members of Augustus’s family, friends, comrades in arms, enemies, and the prominent poets and historians of his time.
The entries are arranged in an out-of-sequence manner. For example, in one instance you will be reading a letter from 22BC and next a journal entry from 4AD. Then you might go back to 20BC. This took some getting used to for a non-classicist like me, but I adjusted. The method was effective for narrating events and for conveying deeper meanings from the reflective depictions and reminiscences of the writers.
Not being deeply knowledgeable of European classics and geography, I found using Google Maps and Wikipedia useful. I even listed the main characters in chronological order of the dates of their lives. One does not need to go to these lengths to enjoy and learn from this book. It is a true page-turner of mostly short entries written in a clear style, but a notch-up characteristic of the literati of that time. The editors and proofreaders of this great work were meticulous.
From the first page, I simply let my eyes flow and mind relish the vivid imagery of Rome, its people, and their Empire. I did not mark this 305-page masterpiece with marginalia until I reached its final forty pages or so. I then began very minimally placing brackets and asterisks in the margins. I would have begun marking key events in the earlier pages when I was younger. But now, I wanted to focus on writings about living, meaning, dying; understandings of such arrived at by Roman men and women at the close of long, virtuous and often unvirtuous lives.
It is from Augustus’s final letter my excerpts begin. This one is to historian, biographer, and the emperor’s friend, Nicolaus of Damascus. Nicolaus was a Jewish historian and philosopher and intimate friend to Roman client King Herod the Great of Judea. The following are for all of my friends and readers, young and old.

April 1, 2020

New Book by James E. Lassiter - From the Unknown into Uncertainty



by
James E. Lassiter
(2020)

To purchase this book click the image or title above, or here.

From the Unknown into Uncertainty is a compilation of my essays and commentaries from 2010 to the present. Most of the material is from my blogs, Facebook (before I jumped ship), and published articles. I revised or rewrote all of the original writings. Much of the material in the essays and commentaries is new. Some essays contain extracts from written communications I have had with a few of you - presented in the book anonymously, of course. Revisions include eliminating run-on sentences and unnecessary jargon, adverbs, and adjectives, curses of my speaking and writing style.


This book is not the breezy, catchy read I somewhere in my mind wish it was. There are breezy, sometimes funny passages in it. But it is really a thinker’s book, of sorts. Something to study, criticize, and learn from. It provokes thought and persuades a reconsideration of a person’s ideas and values. 

From the Introduction and Preface:

The origin, evolution, and future of our species is part of the process of change over time in the universe, one of billions of stories of matter and energy in motion - ever changing, ever responding, often unpredictable; sometimes successfully adaptive, sometimes not. Most important for humankind in this evolution of the universe’s matter and energy has been emergence and agency.

Archive for "Being Human"