Working The Land Pierce Walker This chapter has a lot of logical progressions and it starts off with a solid choice as far as land laborers go: An old-fashioned (and self-described poor) farmer. Walker has “about five-hundred acres” to labor on and has lived where both his father and his grandfather worked the land. Tradition…
They say write what you know (whose they?) and I’m doing that in spades today for this late original article entry. Basically, I’m sick. I tend to think I’m invulnerable and impervious to the effects of sickness around me but a few times a year I’m proven wrong (maybe cause I skip the flu shot).…
Preface 1: Who Built The Pyramids? At least in this first part, it’s going to be easiest to break down the book from one interview to another. I’ll try to limit references to future interviews so as not to confuse anyone. I may make some callbacks as time goes on just to show what some…
There’s something to be said about the concept of “class warfare”. The concept has only grown in popularity and is being recognized as a term that doesn’t mean some sort of literal warfare (though it can mean that too) but a much more symbolic sort of struggling against oppression in the workplace. Whether that oppression…
A book that recognizes that at its heart work is a kind of violence (spiritual, emotional, physical or otherwise) is a book destined to highlight that reality. It’s a book that is almost guaranteed to show the harsher aspects of an already harsh topic for many people. Working is a book that promises to do…
Lately I’ve been reading Murder on the Orient Express. Partially because I want to but also partially because my worst manager caught me bringing a book into the store. And so, for now, I’ve decided to rely on the only book in the store that I want to read. Now that I’ve had this situation…
The passage below is specifically taken from The Foucault Reader, pp. 130-138. Any mistakes, grammatical errors, or other faults are mine.It this entire, rather undifferentiated mass at which the edict of 1657 is aimed: a population without resources, without social moorings, a class of rejected or rendered mobile by new economic developments. Less than two…
Cooperation is a wonderful thing when it goes well. Coordinated efforts towards a common good can make the hardest of tasks seem so much easier. Whether it’s in your personal life, while a disaster could be happening, or for something as simple as just managing a party, coordination is an essential part of our existence.…
I am a strong supporter of mental illness being freely talked about in media. Ideally with the media itself directed by mentally ill folks or people who (at least) are heavily consulted by people who deal with mental illness. For example, if you’re going to do a show about folks who suffer from depression then…
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is perhaps one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Despite the fact that I only started watching it later on, have not seen all of the episodes and wouldn’t be able to name most of the main cast by name. It’s a show about improvisation where the host…
In a recent TED Talk, David Lee talks about the future of jobs in the wake of automation. It’s not a new topic by any means, but it’s one I’m always willing to talk about. Speaking as someone who works in the already highly automated job of retail (I’m barely necessary except for scanning and…
Scott Adams is a very very strange person. You’d think given his pages upon pages of writing against corporate bureaucracy, the tyranny of hierarchy, the problems with individuals (or in “duh” viduals) having power, the issues of work and even just more generally the problems of humanity…that he wouldn’t endorse folks like Trump or Romney.…
There’s a concept in the Less Wrong community when it comes to issues of bias and politics and it relates to how politics numbs or even erodes our sense of sanity when trying to discuss things “reasonably” (whatever that means). And although I sympathize with what LW type folks are saying and am clearly using…
I haven’t been posting lately due to a mixture of the usual: Existential dread, laziness and perhaps the fact that my to-do list has been recently cut down to a list of anti-work(ish) movies and an assortment of other half-finished ideas. So, in order to pick the pace (back) up for the rest of the…
Happy Halloween, y’all. You know what’s really scary? Corporate jargon.