Steve P Brady

How to Quit Capitalism

“Once we chip away at capitalist assumptions constraining imagination, radically different social forms emerge where equity and sustainability reign. Relationship anarchy supplants hierarchy. Identity is rooted in purpose, not profession. Technology aligns with ecology. Innovation seeks social gain, not market share. Production localises. Possession communalises. Value redistributes. Labour diminishes. Resources do not infinitely grow, but capabilities and connections do.”

My son’s socialistic tendencies are starting to rub off on me and I find articles like this strangely hopeful.

Boleskine House was a place I had heard of but never really knew too much about. It’s a historic manor located on the southeastern shore of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The main reason I had heard of it was due to its association with Aleister Crowley, who owned the property from 1899 to 1913. When I thought of the house at all I thought of stories of occultism, dark rituals, and paranormal activity, partly due to Crowley’s own controversial reputation and the mystical nature of his practices.

However, I just learned via a recent episode of Essoterica that this historic property is on it’s way to a rebirth of sorts. After a couple of fires that destroyed much save the stone shell of the building, it is now in the hands of a charitable restoration group. Their plans for the property are pretty big and include a completely restored Victorian Manor house where they can host academic conferences, art festivals and dining opportunities.

As described by The Boleskine House Foundation:

Nestled along the ancient Farigaig forest along the banks of Loch Ness lies a remarkable eighteenth–century manor house that is the home of “a thousand legends.” Nearly lost to history after two devastating fires, Boleskine House and its estate is now owned and safeguarded by The Boleskine House Foundation, a registered Scottish charity.

Makes me wish I lived in Scotland.

Shoegaze, sometimes compared to “dream pop”, is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by an ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It’s been a favorite genre of mine for the past few years.

Bristol-based shoegaze ensemble, The Fauns, are back with their first new music in ten years. Wish I’d been listening ten years ago.

This is fascinating.

“In the local language of the Kuuk Thaayorre, a group of Indigenous Australians, there is no left or right. Instead, they use cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) to describe almost anything: ‘The dog bit my eastern leg’, or ‘The boy standing south of Mary is my brother.’ Not only does this require them to always stay oriented, but interestingly, when they use their hands to gesture to the past or future, they do so depending on which direction they are facing, showing that the way we conceptualise time in language affects how we think about space.”

~ From the recent Dense Discovery Newsletter

A different kind of true.

Library haul for a snowy weekend.

Supposed to turn to rain soon, but the school’s courtyard looks pretty now.

New-to-me bookstore knows where it’s at.

First real snow of the year. Better late than never.

4/5 stars. Sean Harris is amazing.

2nd to last long run of 2023. Spent this morning in the woods. Still wishing for some snow though.

Week 51, 2023

The week started with a freak storm and power outages predicted to last 4 days- luckily ours was back in about 24hours- and ended with the start of the much needed Christmas break.

Reading

I came across this quote from Brian Eno:

"[S]o much of modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them. "

Makes you wonder how much of art’s beauty will be lost under the guise of a digital perfection.

I also read a pretty fun short story by Andrew Van Wey called “December 20th 1986.” It was a fun horror romp about a giant eye that shows up in a man’s basement as he tried to host the most important Christmas party of his life. This was short, creepy, seasonal and I actually finished it of December 20th.

Listening

Spotify continues to impress me with it’s ability to deliver new artist to me that are right in my wheelhouse. The lasted examples is Mindwarden’s album TIMELESS. It’s dark jazz, perfect for fans for fans of lingering piano notes, misty interiors and introspective science fiction in the mode of BLADE RUNNER.

Watching

Not much unfortunately. That’s something I want to get better at in the new year- finding interested out of the way movies to watch.

“When education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to become the oppressor.” — Paulo Freire (1921 - 1997)

Two roads diverged…

#SaturdayLongRun 12/16/23

Doing a bit of a deep dive into Meister Eckhart this past week. I have to say, after spending the past 6 months studying Plotinus and Neo-Platonism in general I can't believe Eckhart was not exposed to those ideas at some point. I am just seeing so much overlap. 

Introduction to the Soul: Plotinus begins by discussing the nature of the soul, emphasizing its divine origin and its connection to higher realities.

The Descent of the Soul: Plotinus explores the soul's descent from the divine realm into the material world. This descent involves the soul taking on a succession of bodies as it becomes entangled with the physical realm.

Purification and Return: The soul's journey involves a process of purification, where it detaches itself from the material world and strives for a return to its original divine state.

Intellectual Beauty and Unity: Plotinus introduces the concept of Intellectual Beauty as a divine principle that draws the soul toward unity. The soul's ascent involves a progression through various levels of reality.

The One as the Ultimate Source: The culmination of the soul's journey is union with the One, the ultimate source and principle of all reality. Plotinus discusses the ineffable nature of the One and the transformative experience of the soul's reunion with it.

Ethical Considerations: Throughout Ennead III, Plotinus touches upon ethical considerations, emphasizing the importance of virtue and the pursuit of the Good in aligning the soul with its divine nature.

12/9/23 Weekend Long run

From Robin Sloan's most recent newsletter comes this reminder that he does a public reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight every New year's Day. Putting this here as a reminder to myself as I want to listen int his year.

Longtime subscribers know that on New Year’s Day, I broadcast a live reading of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I took last year off; this year, the poem gallops forth again.
My reading will begin at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. GMT, and run for a bit under three hours. Play it in the background while you relax or putter; it would be my honor to be invited into your home on the first day of 2024.
The broadcast is already scheduled on YouTube, and you can press a button over there to receive a reminder, if that’s helpful. I’ll send a quick newsletter on the morning of January 1 with another link.

New Dark Ambient find

As a teacher in a public school the Pledge of Allegiance is a daily ritual, but it's one I don't particularly care for. This speaks to one of the reasons why.

 "How does one hate a country, or love one? I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one’s country; is it hate of one’s uncountry?" 

~ Ursula K. Le Guin

  “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.”— Frantz Fanon (1925 - 1961)  

The concept of witch hunts in the political sphere are all the rage right now, but they are nothing new. I watched a recent episode of Esoterica on YouTube and learned about the infamous Urbain Grandier. He was a French Catholic priest who lived in the 17th century, specifically in the town of Loudun. He is primarily known for his involvement in a famous case of alleged sorcery and possession, which became known as the "Loudun Possessions."

In 1632, several nuns from the Ursuline convent in Loudun claimed to be possessed by demons and accused Urbain Grandier of being a sorcerer responsible for their afflictions. The accusations against Grandier were partly due to personal and political conflicts in the town. He had enemies among the local clergy and was known for his criticism of the church's authorities.

The trials and accusations against Grandier were highly controversial and drew significant attention. Grandier vehemently denied the charges of sorcery but was nonetheless found guilty and sentenced to be tortured and then burned at the stake in 1634.

The Loudun Possessions and the trial of Urbain Grandier remain a notable episode in the history of witch hunts and witch trials and cab be seen as an example of how political and personal motivations can lead to accusations of witchcraft and sorcery during a time of heightened religious and social tensions. And as someone who lived through the "satanic panic" of the late 70s and early 80s and who now sees conspiracy theories run amok online, this really doesn't feel like ancient history to me.

On the one hand Hegel was a proponent of  historical development. His view of history was one of an unfolding of human consciousness and freedom. History progressed as societies and individuals resolved conflicts and contradictions to move toward more freedom and self-realization.

On the other hand:  “What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.”

So 🤷‍♂️.