D&F 8/22/21
Yesterday marked the hardest bike ride I’ve been on. Drew and I rode from Sausalito up Mount Tam, and back around. It took us four hours of riding, but around six overall with a few food and bathroom stops. At the top, it pseudo-rained on us, and was so foggy our view was barely far enough to see turns. Also we kept getting passed by ebikes.
It ruled.
Today’s newsletter is late because when I got home I was too exhausted to do much more than eat and watch What Lies Beneath (which is a weird movie). Thanks for reading, regardless of when you do.
This link is somewhat dry, but I enjoy this site and its essay on construction labor.
In circumventing the sources of worker power—construction unions—employers also destroyed the institutions that had historically been responsible for training skilled workers.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that when you make an entire industry race to the bottom of pay, you end up with a skill shortage. So much of American capitalism is “buy cheap and often” and that inevitably leads to the collapse of the industries that previously could retire after a career of making quality goods. Bummer.
Ready for link whiplash? This is an interview with a man who is perversely obsessed with wedgies. Kink is cool and fine, but please don’t message random women to try to get them to talk about what gets you off.
I loved this essay on the unfortunate popularity of the libertarian decentralized internet over a thoughtful use of political and state power to prevent the whole shebang from continuing its decline into paywalled and advertising-rife puritanical hell.
Early champions of the internet assumed both that its structure made it decentralized and that its decentralization would protect it from monopolization.
But individual actions will never generate emancipatory online spaces. That will require state action to fund and build the alternatives, pushed by an organized public demanding technology for the people.
As a reader of sci-fi and fantasy, and a fan of metal, I’m extremely aware of the splintered specificity of genres. “Hard SF” is one such silly genre, and its fans will occasionally discount SF that appears more concerned with sociology of politics, not realizing that those things are also technology. I think there’s a larger message to be gleaned here about how men and the patriarchy prefer “logic” to “emotion” and look down upon topics and ideas that are coded feminine, but that’s the topic for a longer essay.
History is strewn with examples of people worrying that new technologies will undermine older skills.
On the note of reading, this piece on how we read and learn on paper and screens was fascinating. The pandemic meant spending more time at home for me, and as a result, I could buy and read paper books again—freed from the constraints of travel packing. I’m a book-smeller, and both the scent of a good book, and the feeling of the pages are things I’ll never fully want to give up. I still take notes digitally when I do take notes, but I also keep a journal every day with assorted thoughts and events. Generally, I read for pleasure, so retention and “learning” aren’t paramount, since I prefer to let a book wash over me, but I like knowing that paper can enhance the memory of a book.
Links
- I don’t plan on having children, but this video presents a compelling reason to hope for grandkids:
Closing
Phew, that was a bit all over the place, huh? I’m sitting here with a cool kitten named Little Boots, and It’s clear she’s tired of me writing instead of playing, so I will bid you adieu for now. Stay safe, and try to go outside and look at a tree this week, space cowgirls~