#it's a highly exploitative and extremely toxic working environment

[aronarchy]

https://twitter.com/butchanarchy/status/1556755391102451712

Many of the actions of survivors who remain entrapped in abusive relationships that the broader culture sees as complicity in their own abuse are often themselves covert acts of resistance to their abuser’s domination. Thread on “control in the context of no control.”

For reference, I first came across “control in the context of no control” in the incredible work of domestic violence theorizing that is Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life, which I cannot recommend highly enough!

Firstly, we must begin with an understanding that abuse is not the result of individual pathology, nor is it an unfortunate mistake of otherwise well-meaning people. It is a social system that allows abusers to constrain, exploit, and co-opt the agency of their victim(s).

Abuse is not about toxicity between equally empowered people, but is more akin to violent capture: the abuse victim being more akin to a hostage or prisoner and the abuser, their captor.

Not being able to leave an abusive relationship is a symptom of abuse, not its cause.

When one is entrapped in an abusive relationship (whether it be with a romantic partner, a family member, etc.) one feels the limitations that capture places on their autonomy, and it is extraordinarily painful and alienating.

It is not simply that the relationship is bad or abusive on its own, but that it exists within a broader social system that makes the control the abuser wields possible.

Abuse is a cage specifically crafted for the subject of the coercive control. The individual bars of the cage include the tactics of the abuser, but also the complicity of shared community, the precarity created by larger systems of control like capitalist patriarchy.

I premise our exploration of “control in the context of no control” with this because it is vital for people to understand that remaining in an abusive relationship is much less a “choice” one makes than it is the shape of the material conditions in one’s life.

As I’m sure many of us can empathize with, escaping the material conditions of our lives is rarely a simple task.

So it is with abuse survivors. Many survivors risk increased poverty, deportation, loss of children or community, houselessness, and death in escape attempts. So, enter “control in the context of no control.”

Survivors, even when we remain entrapped in the conditions of abuse, even when our agency is wildly constrained, never fully become the meek, passive objects our abusers want us to be. Even when we try.

Because the reality is that, despite our abuser’s attempts to dehumanize us, make things of us, we remain irrevocably human, and we strive to, however we can, reassert our sense of our own humanity and a feeling of control over our own lives.

Sometimes this can mean physically or verbally fighting back, but remember that abuse is a system of capture and that the constraints on our actions are often so extreme that direct resistance can mean opening ourselves up to more violence.

The acts of resistance, of asserting our own sense of control in an environment where we have little to no control, aren’t necessarily conscious or even always good for us, but rather serve as stabilizers in conditions that are everything but stable.

Acts of asserting control in a context of no control can look like: accepting the abuser’s value system, accepting blame for the abuse, using substances to cope with abuse, finding ways to cut corners while following an abuser’s rules, attacking the abuser, and more.

You’ll notice that some of the examples I listed above seem to be more liberatory and direct resistance to an abuser’s control, while others seem to be acts of complicity with it. The latter is what I intend to focus on here.

If you have been abused, as a child or as an adult, it is likely that you have found yourself wondering what it was that you did to bring such abuse about. Perhaps you still carry guilt for having thought so, as if accepting their logic made you complicit in your own abuse.

During the abuse, you likely also went to great lengths to acquiesce in advance to what you thought your abuser wanted, or, after being punished for an “infraction” you may have poured a lot of energy and attention into “correcting” that part of yourself.

I am here to say that, rather being a reflection of an inner weakness or complicity in your own abuse, your acceptance of some of your abuser’s values or beliefs about you is an incredibly natural response to being entrapped in a situation in which you have little to no control.

Being at the whim of another is... terrifying, dehumanizing, and profoundly alienating. When escape is not an option, remaining in the state of “I have no control over what happens to me” is incredibly damaging to the stability of our self-concept. It is not sustainable.

So, as a result, we often resist our abuser’s totalizing control in ways that, on their face, appear paradoxical. We find a sense of control in a context of no control by blaming ourselves, because then we can feel that our actions can have a meaningful impact on our conditions.

A child in an abusive home has virtually no control over their own agency, but as a human being needs at least a sense of that control. Rather than accepting that our parents can and will hurt us whenever they’d like, we find a sense of control in accepting fault for abuse.

By doing so (believing that if we just speak, act, clean, submit, caretake well enough, change our appearance, do well in school, etc. the abuse could stop) we, in a sense, resist the true conditions of the abuse that work to obliterate our sense of personhood and agency.

It is easier to believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with us (and therefore, that is is within our power to change it) than it is for us to believe that people who should care for and love us seek to render us subjects to their will through violent control instead.

To my fellow survivors: rather than an expression of weakness/complicity, the ways you tried/try to find control in a context of no control was/is an act of resistance, even if it felt/feels like the opposite or continues to hurt you.

You have fought for your own humanity at every step even if you have been unaccustomed to viewing it that way. You were/are in a context that sought to rip your agency from you. It is NOT your fault, neither the abuse nor your internalization of its message.

To those who wish to be the allies of survivors: it is long past time for you to unpack the beliefs you have about abuse and develop a real analysis to how it functions. You must abandon victim-blaming in ALL its forms, and help survivors expand our agency.

The only people at fault for ongoing abuse is the abuser, their community support, and larger systems of domination that make abuse difficult to impossible for survivors to escape. It is NOT the fault of the survivor, no matter the actions they took to assert their own agency.

#repost of someone else’s content #twitter repost #butchanarchy #abuse survivor #abuse #domestic abuse #child abuse #feminism #youthlib #101

[ashyels]

#BookNote #37

Remember that HSPs who come from traumatic backgrounds are at higher risk for anxiety and depression. Their high sensitivity can interact with the trauma to produce certain mental health conditions. Regardless of your childhood background, it’s important to consult a therapist if you experience any of the following:

• Persistently high levels of anxiety or chronic panic attacks

• Extreme social anxiety, resulting in self-isolation Flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or nightmares Chronic negative self-talk and self-sabotage

• Dissociation (feeling detached from your body, your environment or both)

• Suicidal ideation or plans to harm yourself Previous incidents of self-harm

• Psychosomatic symptoms and bodily issues that don’t seem to have a medical explanation Issues with body image and eating disorders

• Experience of a recent traumatic event or secondary trauma by witnessing someone else’s trauma

• Addictions or compulsions, including any obsessive- compulsive rituals

• A history of abusive relationships, friendships, or exploitative work environments

• Any form of psychosis (for example, hallucinations, hearing voices) Issues with maintaining healthy relationships or attachments to others

📖 The Highly Sensitive Person's Guide to Dealing with Toxic People (Shahida Arabi) | Page 29

#book notes #daily reading

[pi-creates]

So I’ve been happily watching @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale stream through games recently, and she has decided to try one of my favourite Telltale games - Tales From the Borderlands. But since CJ isn’t familiar with the Borderlands games (and from the sounds of things, neither are some people in the chat) I’ve put together a very basic bit of background information from what I know (I also haven’t played everything from after TFTB’s release). 

It isn’t necessary to know any of this to enjoy TFTB as it gives a brief, ‘bare-bones’ introduction, but I figured it might help some people who like having that extra bit of depth going in without having to play through the other games. 

There won’t be spoilers for the TFTB plot, obviously, but the bottom section under the ‘read more’ will list characters from the main series who are mentioned/appear in the game and relevant information that someone familiar with the series should already know about them. But if you are familiar with the series and don’t want to know who may or may not show up (or would just rather go in blind to who is a ‘returning’ character) - stop reading at the Notable characters segment. 

[Spoilers for the Borderlands series below here]

For starters, Borderlands is set in the distant future – there are ways to ‘digistruct’ weapons and vehicles at the press of a button, you can walk up to a vending machine and instantly change your appearance, there are advanced cybernetics, robots are normal, you can have personal shields, teleportation is technically possible for both weaponry (notably grenades) and people, and there are guns that shoot electricity/fire/corrosive ammunition.

The goal of every Borderlands game revolves around the idea of opening a Vault – an ancient archway of Eridian origins (just think of long-extinct aliens) that is filled with treasures, hostile guardian entities, and also a very big, pissed off vault monster who will attempt to destroy anyone/anything that tries to get inside. The people who take the risk of searching for a vault and the treasures inside are labelled as Vault Hunters. In the core games, this would be you.

The problem is that finding a vault is hard since they are hidden, and they are often locked with artefact keys that trigger them to unlock. This means that the location of a vault, a vault key, or any signs of Eridian tech is VERY highly valued. Most of the games therefore revolve around the planet of Pandora since it has a high concentration of Eridian ruins which leads prospecting vault hunters to assume there must be more vaults to find on the planet.

Pandora, though, is more than a little inhospitable. The environment is mostly barren or wildly extreme, the wildlife is often very aggressive and deadly, and the people tend to be very rough since they have to deal with all of that. The planet itself doesn’t offer many prospects beyond weapon manufacturing, research, resource mining, and banditry. It has, however, previously been home to large corporations who tried to exploit said resources and attempted to ‘civilise’ the locals who would rather tell those corporations to piss off with the booming end of a shotgun. There is also a significant portion of the population who teeter really close to insanity on a daily basis. That is normal for them.

All of the attempts to settle and gather resources from Pandora has led to literal rubbish heaps, abandoned colonisation attempts, manufacturing/research zones that are often not friendly, bandit shanty towns, toxic chemical zones (from corporations running unethical experimentation) and SO many roaming bandits. Naturally, the locals don’t take kindly to anyone who works for the bigger corporations as they expect to be screwed over or exploited in some way.

For people familiar with the series, the timeline for Tales from the Borderlands is set after Borderlands 2 and before the Fight For Sanctuary DLC.

For people unfamiliar, you need to know that Pandora has recently dealt with the Handsome Jack problem. Basically, the handsome Hyperion CEO was set on wiping out all bandits and dangerous wildlife from Pandora. The problem was that Jack had a very low opinion of vault hunters, bandits, and pretty much everyone on Pandora as he believed they all fell in to those categories. 

The player’s introduction to Jack literally comes from him inviting vault hunters to Pandora, only for him to then blow up the transport in transit. You are lucky enough to survive where most others died. Jack himself then contacts you to say that you aren’t following his plan to kill all the vault hunters and “if you could just do me a favour and off yourself, that’d be great. Thanks, pumpkin.“

At the start of Borderlands 2 you will hear of Jack’s rather unethical and violent methods of dealing with people who aren’t on board with his plan – all while having a rather cheerful manner of speaking, almost as if he was enjoying playing the game with you as his opponent. He actually keeps in contact with the vault hunters throughout the game to casually chat with them, and occasionally yell at them if they aren’t playing along with him.

He plotted to open a vault on Pandora that held a very powerful monster called the Warrior. He was going to harness the Warrior’s powers to enact his wide-scale extermination plans. On the journey to stop his plans the vault hunters end up killing Jack’s daughter, Angel, as she was being used to ‘charge’ the vault key. Angel herself led the vault hunters to her location in the hopes that they would stop her father’s plans, much to Jack’s disapproval. He stops being cheerful at this point and doubles-down on wanting to raze all of Pandora to the ground.

He does successfully open the vault and the vault hunters have to defeat the Warrior before Jack can use it. The vault hunters win and Jack is killed for his crimes against Pandora. His final speech before dying in Borderlands 2 was very cool – including it here as it sums up his thought process really well. It has also lead to some interesting interpretations of Jack’s overall character.

"No, no, no... I can't die like this... Not when I'm so close... And not at the hands of a filthy bandit! I could have saved this planet! I could have actually restored order! And I wasn't supposed to die by the hands... of a CHILD KILLING PSYCHOPATH!! You're a savage! You're a maniac, you are a bandit, AND I AM THE GODDAMN HERO!!

"The Warrior was practically a god! How- How in the HELL have you killed my Warrior?!

"You idiots! The Warrior could have brought peace to this planet! No more dangerous creatures, no more bandits, Pandora-it would have been a PARADISE!!"

Naturally, since all of this drama happened not long ago, the citizens of Pandora are very much still on edge in regards to anyone who works for the bigger corporations – Hyperion especially.

Definitions to some things you are likely to see/hear about in TFTB –

Eridium – An ore-like resource associated with the vaults. It glows purple and is supposedly exceptionally rare in most of the universe – but not Pandora. This is what most of the manufacturing companies want since it can be harnessed to create highly effective tech/weapons.

Catch-A-Ride – The service that Scooter (a mechanic on Pandora) uses to digistruct vehicles out of Catch-A-Ride stations.  

ECHOs / ECHOnet – Essentially your mobile phone with internet and an app that lets you check everything in your backpack with a holographic display.

The Crimson Raiders – More or less the resistance fighters of Pandora who kept the citizens protected during the fighting of the main games. Run by the original vault hunters and still active in keeping Pandora free of outside threats.

Atlas – A technology and weapon corporation that was the first to make an earnest attempt to colonise Pandora after they suspected it would hold a vault. Was known as one of the best in terms of quality. They have since gone out of business.

Hyperion – The main corporation you will be dealing with. Has a particularly bad reputation on Pandora due to their former CEO, Handsome Jack, attempting to wipe out every bandit community on Pandora. Under Jack’s rule a lot of experiments were also run testing Eridium and Eridium by-products on people and animals – resulting in death, mutation, and insanity to most subjects.

Helios – Hyperion’s orbital station that can constantly be seen orbiting between Pandora and its moon. The station itself is shaped like a giant ‘H’ and houses a concentrated weapon that can shoot massive ammunition at targeted areas on Pandora. The weapon can also be used to shoot transport containers from the orbital station down to Pandora’s surface.

Elpis – Pandora’s moon. Visibly cracked open due to excessive mining. Everyone from here is VERY Aussie and it’s a little weird...

Notable characters you may meet/need to know about –

Marcus – Your narrator – he also narrated the intros and endings to the other games. You won’t see him, but it’s a nice tie in to the format of the main series.

Sirens – Essentially these ladies are magic. They are all born normal, but they will suddenly change and inherit their siren powers when another siren dies. They stand out by their glowing, tattoo-like markings that mysteriously appear on them when they awaken their siren abilities. Not much is known about them other than they can interact with Eridian based materials, and that they are excessively powerful since they have magic abilities.

Claptrap (CL4P-TP) – A class of unicycle robot that is very annoying. Doesn’t shut up, but is technically a vault hunter. You may or may not run in to him.

Angel / (Guardian Angel) – A siren who had the ability to interface with technology. She is the daughter of Handsome Jack and spent most of her life hidden in a secured bunker that only her father could enter via a DNA lock and voice password (her father saying “I love you”). This is due to Jack becoming extremely protective after bandits tried to abduct Angel upon realising she was a siren, and after Angel unintentionally killed her own mother with her powers. Due to her siren powers, she had the ability to stay in constant communication with anyone outside of the bunker, and to help her father with any tasks he required. Was killed by the vault hunters in Borderlands 2.

Handsome Jack – Antagonist from Borderlands 2 and previously the CEO of Hyperion. Has a mask of his face fastened over his actual face which was scarred by an Eridian artefact on Elpis. Starting out as a programmer, he worked his way up the ladder in Hyperion with Angel’s help through a mix of (initially) well intentioned plans to help the people of Elpis, and a growing obsession with power and hatred for Pandora and its bandits. He eventually strangled his boss and named himself President and CEO of the company.

Professor Nakayama – Had a massive crush on Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2. Smart guy who was devastated by Handsome Jack’s death and was working on a way to find the best successor to Jack to run Hyperion. He was attempting to clone Jack from old medical data (taken somewhere before the start of Borderlands 2′s plot) before the vault hunter’s confronted him and he literally dies from falling down a flight of stairs. Easiest boss battle ever.

Shade – DEFINITELY NOT INSANE. Somehow lived alone in a town in the middle of a desert with no water - and this definitely didn’t effect him mentally at all. He just wants a friend.

Scooter – Pandora’s best mechanic. Nice guy and actually a little more normal than a lot of other Pandorans. Has girl troubles, not that he’d ever admit it.

Ellie – Scooter’s sister. Also a mechanic, much to her mother’s displeasure.

Moxxi – Mother of Scooter and Ellie – runs a bar, slot machines, and previously a battle arena (The Underdome). Pretty much seen as Pandora’s Pin-Up, which she seems happy about since it has garnered her significant influence and power on Pandora. She speaks in pure innuendo.

Janey – Elpis’ best mechanic, focusing more on vehicles that work in low (or no) gravity. Runs an equivalent of Catch-A-Ride on Elpis. Girlfriend of Athena.

Athena – Vault hunter who was hired by Jack to help with the Vault on Elpis. Had a falling out with Jack after dealing with the Elpis situation, as this is where Jack was clearly starting to lose his stability. She notably fights with a shield that she can throw and return to her hand. Previously an Atlas employed assassin who turned against the company after Atlas tricked her into assassinating a target that was very important to her. Girlfriend of Janey.

Zer0 – Vault hunter who found a Pandoran vault and was involved in killing Handsome Jack. Another assassin who fights with a sword and is capable of making hologram decoys of himself. He likes to display holograms in front of his helmet to communicate since you cannot see his facial expressions. He’s an alien / who always speaks in haiku / with some exceptions.

Brick – Vault hunter from the first game. He is a berserker who punches VERY hard, but is a softy at heart.

Mordecai – Vault hunter from the first game. Sniper and sharpshooter, doesn’t need a scope to get a good headshot.

Lilith – Vault hunter from the first game. Siren who leads The Crimson raiders along with Brick and Mordecai.

Loader Bots – Hyperion made bots that are used for security and manual labour. They are big, they can speak, and they are very sturdy. Weirdly enough, they have the capacity to become self-aware (though self-aware models are often destroyed by Hyperion if discovered).

Psychos – A particular class of bandit that is always shirtless, dressed in orange pants, masked, and they all speak complete gibberish. They have some consistencies to their gibberish including an obsession with meat and salt.

Butt Stallion – Handsome Jack’s diamond Pony – Jack lovingly named her after the vault hunters at the start of Borderlands 2. She eats Eridium and poops guns... I wish I was kidding.

#stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale #tales from the borderlands #tftb

[sparksinthenight]

Kindness

selflessness

connection

equality

responsibility

hope

mercy

justice

compassion

open-heartedness

spontaneity

understanding

community

ecological protection

valuing human life

peace

cooperation

true, spiritual freedom

None of these things are actually valued by capitalism. Quite the opposite. Capitalism actively bulldozes all these values in order to press forwards it's agenda of making everyone selfishly only persue material things for their little small exclusive groups. Capitalism does not care about the lives of people or their happiness. Not about camaraderie or equality or connection or anything. Capitalism kills, it destroys the earth, it rips apart families, it encourages materialism and selfishness, it isolates people, it exploits and controls people, it causes so much pain, so much grief. It does. We're all slaves under it. Well not all of us. Not all of us. Some of us are owners, some of us are overseers. But most of us. Capitalism is a fucking mess and it causes so much bullshit.

Like y'all know what the cause of all the ecological destruction that's going on is right? It's not fossil fuels but the thing that causes all the fossil fuels to be burned, all the habitat destruction, the habitat fragmentation, the pollution, the commercial hunting, the overfishing, etc. It's capitalism. Capitalism did that.  

Y'all know about sweatshops, about the inhuman, dangerous, unhealthy, and physically and psychologically torturous working conditions, about how people are forced to either work or starve to death.

Y'all know sbout child labour.

About forced migration because of all the bullshit going on with ... everything.

Y'all know about how many people, living in extreme poverty and non-extreme poverty, die because they can't afford what they need.

Y'all know about the lack of access to education. The lack of access to decent quality education. The lack of access to post-secondary. To any type of education at all even, for many people.

About how hard capitalism makes it for domestic abuse victims - often financially dependent on their abuser - to escape. This last point literally isn't talked about nearly enough by the way. I have so often thought about how if running away from home wasn't a guarantee of homelessness I would've actually done it long ago. But no. My shitty minimum wage job, which is the best I can hope for right now and literally exploits me though not nearly as much as people in the Global South are exploited, is fucking not enough to pay for rent and bills and groceries. If I left I'd be homeless. And I might just leave anyways because maybe it's worth it.

But anyways back to the labour abuse. Do you really think ten-year-old children should be fucking working in collapsing mines? Should they be handling mercury, a highly toxic poison that causes a slew of health effects? Should they be sewing three sleeve seams per second for hours? Should they be separated from their families and working in an abusive stranger's house? Should they be subjecting themselves to dangerous pesticides while picking avocados under the hot sun? Should they be carrying heavy bricks? No? You're right. They FUCKING SHOULDN'T. But they goddamn are. They are.

And what about the military industrial complex? What about all the weapons companies that want to keep selling weapons and have their grubby little hands all over world governments?

And when the planet dies so will everyone. Literally everyone. The capitalists straight up need to realize that everyone needs the environment. But they won't. They won't realize that and we're having to rely on a little girl to save us. Not that Greta isn't more than capable, she is. But she has too much responsibility on her shoulders for a kid that young. She deserves a childhood.

And then there’s the stuff I can't even mention because of how liberal propaganda has so programmed us to see ourselves and each other as commodities.

There’s the fact that the legacy of colonialism and slavery and stuff will always live on under capitalism because of generational wealth. The fact that unless we are committed to equality and don’t leave people and peoples to fend for themselves, previously colonized people will remain cripplingly poor. Because wealth builds wealth and they did not start off with wealth. And that’s not fair.

There’s the fact that homelessness exists. And it’s torture to not have decent shelter or anywhere to be. It’s torture to not have anywhere to be, anywhere to be wanted, anywhere to belong. It’s torture to be out all fucking day in the freezing cold or the burning heat. It’s not okay. There’s the fact that even in a country as comparatively prosperous as Canada, there are homeless fourteen and fifteen-year-olds. What the hell? In America there are children who are in elementary school who are homeless.

There’s the fact that there are children sleeping on the ground outside in the cold weather all over the Global South and even occasionally in the Global North. The fact that there are emaciated children begging on street corners. There are children forced into joining gangs because they have no other source of income and they want their loved ones to survive. There are police officers, politicians, and rich people that blame and judge those kids for wanting their loved ones to survive.

Rich people would rather see children die than redistribute their wealth. They created a world where despite the best efforts of desperate family and community members, children die.  

There are children who have lost their parents in climate change-induced natural disasters.

There are of course trust fund kids that grow up in mansions and inherit multimillion dollar empires. And I hate them.

Listen. I’ve grown up in the Canadian left. And the Canadian left has no place for this bullshit. It’s a lot of different things but it is in no way pro-rich people. Like, at all.

Everything is so wrong.

So like, how do we fight this?

Empty promises of communism that have no actual substance behind them don’t bring any change at all. Look at Vietnam. They say they’re communist but all their social policies are literally more capitalist than America. Look at China. They say they’re communist but they are a state capitalism and even their roads are privatized. We can’t just say we’re communist. The communism has to be real. Has to be democratic. Has to be backed by real, good values.

So what values am I talking about? Tbh the list goes on but more or less community, unity, cooperation, kindness, compassion, responsibility, true freedom, equality, people power, and love and protection for the Land are the bedrock of a functional society.

These values are exactly the values that capitalist status quo power structures want to crush. Want to get rid of. Wants us to forget.

But without them, without the forces of love and connection that connect all of us, what’s left? What can we fight with? What can we use to make us strong? What can we use to bring us together? Because we need to fight for something. We need to fight for each other. We need to fight for human dignity. And human dignity is built on universal love. On recognizing that we’re all from the same source and made of the same stuff.

So anyways I completely forget where I was going with all this.

But like, hold on to your heart, ultimately.

And fuck corrupt governments, fuck rich people, fuck billionaires, fuck large companies, fuck racists, fuck classists and homophobes and all that shit. We are going to come together and save the earth and free everyone and fix everything.

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

I want to make one thing absolutely clear before getting any further into this: I am not in any way or form saying you are not allowed to ship whatever you want. I am not here to call you Toxic™ or Problematic™. In fact, I get hives when people guilt-trip others because of their fictional ships and make them feel like there’s something wrong with their head. I have many dark ships myself and know how the bashing feels so I would never do something like that to others. 

For a long time, I didn’t actually have a real NOTP, and this one was mainly born out of the fans’ reaction to She Li and his recently revealed backstory rather than the ship itself. To me, it seemed like some people took the “easiest” way with SL and MGS’s relationship and jumped straight to romantic love. When, in fact, I find their past and relationship much more complicated.

I liked what OldXian had to say about the matter, actually. Thank you @nira18 for going through the trouble of posting and translating OX’s comments for us. (I’m going to borrow them for a while 🙏) But before that, a few words about what I’ve learned about interpreting during my years as a literature major.

Usually, I have mixed feelings about authors “explaining” their stories because fan-readers often use them to attack other fans’ interpretations that differ from their own and make them less valid. There are actually three major players and powers when it comes to interpreting: the author, the text itself, and the reader. You can study texts from any of those major perspectives, but you’d be surprised how little the author’s intentions weight when reading and interpreting. In fact, scholars and students of literature are very rarely interested in them at all.

What many fan-readers don’t perhaps realize is that interpreting isn’t supposed to be some kind list of correct and incorrect that you should check with someone to see if you “got it right”. As long as you can argue your point by using the text, your interpretation is valid. Which is actually an interesting issue since so much of the fandom culture stems from the fans’ almost rebel-like ways of reading characters and stories. For example, one reason why fans write fanfiction is to fulfill their own interpretations the author hadn’t explored. Actually, fan-reading revolves around the age-old question of literature: to whom does the power of interpreting belong after a text has been published, the author or the writer? So, why are we somewhat hypocritical when it comes to fan-interpretations that differ from our own?

All that being said, I’d still like to take a look at OX’s comments. But I don’t wish to use them as weapons, though. I’ve been saddened by how people seemed to almost rub them in the shippers’ faces.

“Two people can’t just stand in one place together and fall in love! [Laughing crying] There are many kinds of feelings in the world, family affections, friendship affections, romantic affections, hatred, jealousy, etc. I personally believe that the often interesting relationships (?), are complicated and unexplainable.” X

As I said earlier, when SL’s backstory and his first connection with MGS were revealed, some fans jumped straight to the romance wagon and saw SL being so hung up on MGS as romantic jealousy. I see where the shippers are coming from but find that a whole plethora of feelings that would fit between hate and romantic love is in danger to be bypassed. As OX said, there are many kinds of feelings in the world, and many of them are nuanced even though they share some common denominator. I am not saying people can’t see SL and MGS romantically, but it’s a bit frustrating if they choose to ignore all of other, more complex options. Just because 19 Days is a shounen-ai doesn’t mean there can’t be any other kinds of relationships.

Partly, my frustration stems from my “protectiveness” of SL’s character. It’s no secret I’m very interested in and intrigued by him. I realize he’s the bad guy of the story and fully understand why the majority of the fans hate him with a burning passion. But I can’t bring myself to dislike him. He’s in the long line of antagonists who have found their way into my heart.

I find SL’s character highly complex which is why I don’t want to brush his feelings towards MGS and role in the overall story off as romantic love. It feels way too hasty. To go to such extreme as “love” is too easy and cuts too many corners.

What I think SL and MGS’s relationship could be boiled down to instead is “misery loves company”. SL had once managed to pull MGS down with him and intends to keep him there. Because if MGS gets freed from SL’s world, it would quite painfully point out how messed up SL’s life is, too. Which brings me back to OX’s point about nuanced feelings. To see others you thought shared your misery actually try and climb out of the pit, is its own form of jealousy. When I see SL being so hung up on MGS, I don’t see romantic jealousy but something more complex.

I like what @casually-inlove said about the different roles of SL and HT in her answer. HT is a savior of sorts in MGS’s life, someone who believes in him and strives to make him “an outstanding person” aka not ruin his life by becoming a part of the criminal gangs and underworld for good. The opposite of what SL ultimately wants to.

And the change in MGS must have been apparent enough for SL to take notice. Since MGS has gained more people who actually see good things in him and even admire him, it’s given him more self-esteem and confidence and started to convince him he’s not an outcast good-for-nothing delinquent. He’s been looked down by his peers since his childhood and after a while, he’s started to believe in that image, too.

Hope is a very strong motivation in life, and SL seems to despise the idea of MGS having any of it. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that would ultimately lead MGS out the world he’s shared with SL.

Up until HT got involved, SL had managed to snuff out MGS’s hope quite effectively. He’s manipulated him by using the carrot by talking about “destiny” and seemingly giving MGS what he knows he’s desperate for:

But he also wasn’t hesitant to use the stick when he needed to remind MGS of his place. There’s a lot to be said about using gratitude as a way to manipulate others but it’s very effective and something SL seems to go for a lot:

I don’t know if SL actually believes MGS owes him for the rest of his life and sees himself as some kind of grand savior. It’s possible, I suppose, and would somewhat explain why he’s trying so stubbornly to hold on to MGS even though he obviously has quite a lot of followers already. SL seems to have a compulsive need to control and possess other people and sees MGS trying to leave his side as a betrayal. No one is allowed to think their debts have been repaid until he says so. Now, why is it like that is the million-dollar question. Why is he so desperate to shackle people to himself like that? Is it simply about power or something deeper?

We don’t know exactly how SL saved MGS either, but ultimately I think it’s about giving MGS a place to belong when others discriminated against him. He took advantage of MGS’s growing bitterness and strengthened his poor image of himself by creating a vicious cycle of being involved in gangs and further more estranging him from his peers. As I said in my earlier post regarding MGS’s character, there’s no faster way to turn someone into an outcast than by making them bitter and pushing them to join like-minded people.

However, it’s also possible it didn’t begin that way. It’s unclear to us how long MGS and SL have known each other. Their first encounter was revealed in ch 294, but it seemed one-sided. How soon after this

did MGS and LS meet again? Did SL recognize MGS? Were they actual friends at some point, and it all went to hell later on? Did they perhaps bond over both being seen as weirdos and outcasts by others? (As a side note, I’d like to recommend this piece of fanart by @naesol that I think offers an interesting possibility of how things might’ve gone down between them.)

At this point, you might rightly wonder how on earth I could like a character like that. A despicable manipulator who exploits others’ weakness and wants to drag them down with him. It’s actually partly why I don’t see a romantic connection between MGS and SL.

As crazy as it sounds, I relate to some of SL’s character. Up to a point, I see my own shortcomings in him. When I see him being jealous of MGS trying to turn his life around, ultimately leaving him behind and feeling betrayed by it, I 100% recognize that feeling because I’m prone to it myself. In those situations, I don’t go wielding pocket knives or try to manipulate them out if it, of course, but I can’t bring myself to genuinely root for them, either. Instead, I tend to feel jealous, envious, and bitter. When I see others fix the things in themselves that I hate about myself, I silently wish them to fail because if they can do it, what’s my excuse for not doing the same? I’m not proud of this side of myself but it is the truth.

And that’s why I think it’s dangerous to bash other people for what they ship or what characters they like. You can’t possibly know the reason why and can make them feel really shitty about themselves by assuming they just don’t know right from wrong or want to romanticize problematic things. The thing about fiction is that it provides us a safe environment to experience and discover different feelings, some of which can be weird or scary or conflicting, and possibly recognize those feelings in ourselves and work on them. And people should be allowed to do that without being bashed or made assumptions about by others.

All in all, because I relate to what I interpret SL is feeling I don’t recognize the romantic aspect some readers find between them. I think it’s more based on fanon than actual canon, but that doesn’t mean I have the right to tell anyone what to ship.

30 day 19 Days challenge

#30 day 19 days challenge #she li #mo guan shan #19 days #kinda long post again #but this has been on my mind for a while now #and what sometimes bothers me about this fandom

[walterreso57-blog]

Top Advice on Dragon Ball Z Games

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You'll finally have the option to start a single battle involving you and one other friend, or begin a tournament. It may be wise to carry on the team you would like to use against Android 21 by employing secondary teams for the previous two team features leading up to her. Structures and character models seem rough. You will have to fight through a couple of clone spaces to get there. This gives you some flexibility with the characters but you can wind up with the very same result no matter which character that you begin with. There are four forms of characters and we're putting more focus on the different kinds and the way they work together. Each character has some distinctive attribute that's exploited. Not all the characters are offered from the beginning, on the flip side, since a few of them must be unlocked first. The History of Dragon Ball Z Games Refuted At the start, this franchise centered on the creation of toys. Actually, girls of all ages like to play games on the net and this fact hasn't been lost on video game developers that are providing more and better games that girls can play. Moreover, a number of the original characters of the manga is likely to make their appearance on the game from time to time, so you better watch out and search for them. The Demise of Dragon Ball Z Games Then it doesn't matter which console model or OFW version you've got. Please be sure you have sufficient storage to fill out the download. However, the file is password protected because of a security reason. The New Angle On Dragon Ball Z Games Just Released Gohan then responds he is not in a tiny gang, he's a Z Fighter. The dbz dokkan battle hack may be the secret to win here. Goku and his pals return to their day-to-day lives on Earth. Dragon Ball Z Games Fundamentals Explained The boss will be a lot stronger than you so attempt to fight because many underlings because you can so you can level up your roster. So here's a list of the my top five games of 2018 so far and when you have yet to find at least one of these games I will supply some links so it is possible to secure a number of the best games 2018 needs to offer thus far. If you're a person that has been playing online games for a while now, you probably would have tries playing Bakugan games at least on one occasion. At elevated levels of play, we'll likely see players fish for quick combos or straightforward hit confirms as a way to tag out safely and cheaply. At least fifty percent are female gamers. The internet connectivity is among the aspects which has been criticized about the game. Definitions of Dragon Ball Z Games Sequences of attack scenes are put in such a way that you won't ever dislike the game and the idea of Dragon Ball Z games. It's possible for you to build your Dragon Ball Z team from a huge group of characters so you can mix and match a legendary team to place the universe back in place. 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As an MMORPG, in Dragon Ball Online you will need to go through the whole world fighting against the enemies to be able to get experience and raise your degree of abilities while interacting with different gamers from throughout the world. While his regular attacks could be better up close, it's quite simple to miss with Big Bang Attack if you have the timing wrong.Even though it has some exceptional characteristics that are worth noting. The controls aren't so complicated and a lot of them require only using a mouse. Sadly, this combo doesn't do lots of damage. Dragon Ball Z Games: No Longer a Mystery Your all problem is going to be resolved in is it in your thoughts. See what type of surprises wait for you within this chapter. At this point you have a private room in which you are able to play with friends and family. Everything is possible once you match the most suitable sort of Ki with the character. Other videos aren't allowed because of copyright problems. I wished to find out more about the story, about Joel, about the way that it would all end. All the substrate needs to be changed every few months. I only wanted to go right to the action part. As a few of you could have noticed, over the last few weeks there's been a new section for mods entitled CAC section. If not, you must confirm your humanity. On the flip side, the encounters can be equally as much fun, at least in the event you learn the moves. It turns out that Hercule was accountable for the very same thing in connection with his own world. Thus, watch my complete video on YouTube and you are going to learn how to repair it. Other videos aren't allowed because of copyright problems. I wished to find out more about the story, about Joel, about the way that it would all end. Things You Should Know About Dragon Ball Z Games You might upgrade the absolutely free demo to full version games. Moreover, the AI is quite challenging to beat, meaning you're stuck with a couple of characters until you learn how to read the AI's moves. You're able to alter the controller to whatever you desire. These games primarily allow players to alter the attire and accessories of a specific character and also concentrate on making adjustments to makeup including hairstyles. Dependent on the popular anime series of the exact same name. The History of Dragon Ball Z Games Refuted At the start, this franchise centered on the creation of toys. Bandai Namco studio is accountable for the reviewed game. 1 thing that's unique about DBZ fighting games is they permit you to fight in the sky, something which you won't see in the majority of other games. The Nuiances of Dragon Ball Z Games You may have noticed that the eyes in a number of the dragon photos look quite different. The uncommon name Daegon, usually utilized in ancient writing also entails dragon. If you realize that you are not able to finish a combo, consider vanishing after the last hit. You do not need to actively play for this farming technique. In addition, the very act of repetition is frequently an indication that you've found a team with a move set that is right for you and supplies a dependable strategy. The entire process takes just a couple of minutes and is totally free! Details of Dragon Ball Z Games The ideal part for those interested is you don't need to wait long at all to receive your hands on the totally free edition. You don't need to search out for your favourite videos every single time you need to watch them. Well the good thing is that you certainly can! Furthermore, there are a number of glaring exploits in the game's mechanics that will be easily abused to get ahead the majority of the moment. It's a game in which you have to remain alert every moment which you're playing, if you would like the best outcomes. If you're a person that has been playing online games for a while now, you probably would have tries playing Bakugan games at least on one occasion. At elevated levels of play, we'll likely see players fish for quick combos or straightforward hit confirms as a way to tag out safely and cheaply. For different players, we've got classic, cartoon-style fighting action. I understand many folks love this game. What You Should Do to Find Out About Dragon Ball Z Games Before You're Left Behind Still, the majority of the combat is really boring, unfortunately. You can chose your favourite warrior and just begin fighting! Bear in mind that should you do fail on a number of the more compact fights, then you'll want to begin the map all over again. Why Almost Everything You've Learned About Dragon Ball Z Games Is Wrong You pick the species and I'll sculpt it. The eggs need to be put in smallish depressions in the incubation container. These are a few of the ideal reptile pets since they are hardy, very docile, and simple to look after. The Honest to Goodness Truth on Dragon Ball Z Games It is possible to establish a very simple system with a plastic drinking cup with a perforated bottom. The matter may be popping up due to the outdated drivers. Everything that could change the stream of a fight in an instant will cost you a bit of meter. Each time you rescue someone with the modest green icon it means they may be added to your team. I tell the stunned group and pull my photo book from the satchel. You are going to be able to reassess the details and finish the purchase on the next screen. What's Actually Happening with Dragon Ball Z Games It's very appealing and catchy. The initial eight are always very quick. You might find them boring, because all of them look the exact same. Even though the menu is in Chinese they're pretty straightforward since they are like the majority of other games in English. The Z Burst Dash is a far faster and more evasive variant of the Dragon Dash. The Assist is like the Team Combination. Additionally, it is a cool research the heads of several Dragon Ball characters you might not have paid much attention to in the true series. Even with the visual chaos, Dragon Ball FighterZ's mechanics are in reality deceptively easy and simple to learn. In the event you were a Dragon Ball fan then this game is a best option for you. While he's a push-over when compared with current Dragon Ball villains, Tambourine is still among the most menacing antagonists in the whole series. These Super Dragon Balls in addition to Super Shenron were made by the Dragon God Zalama.

[ofcloudsandstars]

I had a really colourful (but long) dream last night! I haven't had such a vibrant adventurous dream like this in a while. It was very vivid and somewhat thrilling. I used to get them more as I was younger but now the pop up every once in a while.

It is a bit long so I'm going to make a read more

It was sometime in the near/far future and I'd guess I was somewhere warm (yet not tropical??) in south east Asia. I was on a beach with a rich pink sunset, brown sands and castle ruins with this extremely attractive dark skin Indian guy. We were apparently investigating the castle ruins together, flirting, checking out the wildlife and showing off some talents. I had certain magic powers in this world like I could fly gracefully and control things with my will and he was impressing me with his skill of chemistry and showing me local nature I was deeply interested in. The space was beautiful it felt like another planet. The grass was tall and bronze and would glimmer in the setting sun, and the trees I don't know how to describe it but were slightly different with large brown circular leaves.

We were hunting for mutations which I was reading as natural unbalances. Like I vaguely remember it was us looking for strange animals we've never seen before cause nature survived some environmental crash and new species emerged to correct it but humans survived and were still living their old ways but the new creatures, society named mutants and put them of course in a bad light cause they often are the cause of why we can't continue living the same way now that there are 'monsters' lurking out there. Of course the big ones get battled off and killed (though even those are difficult cause some evolved to resist destruction) but the more troubling ones would be like small worms similar to electric eels that have an appetite for electrical wires that destroys cities power systems, or bugs that evolved to thrive in algae polluted waters that make new toxic ecosystems that humans and livestock can't be around.

I was trying to understand these new 'monsters' and was checking out this vibrant blue and neon striped scorpion/lobster crustacean on the beach (apparently locally referred to as tiger scorpion in case you want to know the local names of monster creatures in my dream world), that was threatening to puncture a highly toxic venom in us if we didn't keep away. We clung to the side of the castle as it menaced us but as I made sure we were both calm and sent it calming/friendly vibes it calmed down too and left us alone. I held the extremely hot guy and floated us down gently to the sand and I was trying to explain that maybe these creatures weren't bad it's just evolution. He was very VERY open minded I could tell cause apparently this belief was highly controversial for the future society we were living in but he somewhat agreed. He took me around the castle and off the beach towards some bronze grassy fields where cows were grazing. There was a pond with dark brown water and a few dead cows around it. Some had large holes in their heads. It was from one of the bugs that live in the toxic water. For some reason animals can be attracted to the water like flies to a pitcher plant and the bugs get to them. I had to agree that the site was very ugly and gruesome but we still shouldn't villanize these 'monsters' but see this as some grave imbalance. I kept asking 'how did this happen?' As if I knew deep down it was more than just humans being irresponsible with the environment but also governments not controlling something they've been keeping a secret and now it's karmic consequences humanity is facing.

Suddenly a very elegantly and luxuriously dressed woman emerges from a black car. She's upset yet too polished and elegant to show it outwardly. I could just feel her anger and disapproval. She had a long taffeta type iridescent wine gown that shone bright red, lots of onyx jewelry, a tight upbun with more black jewels in it and beautiful red shoes. She's clearly the guy's mother and is asking him what he's doing so far from the estate in some dangerous area (we were awfully too close to the pond and it was weirdly tempting to at least dip a foot in though your logical brain was screaming don't do it). She couldn't fathom why someone normal would want to be out in the wilderness, especially a space with wild beasts and monsters JUST to appreciate nature? Who even appreciated nature?¿? That was her expression. She looked me up and down and dismissed me as someone wayward and obviously lower class since I was dressed not in the most expensive gowns capitalism could buy. I don't remember my clothes, they were comfy and average as much as I could remember.

Anyway I thought it was the end. I hugged him goodbye and was going to be off but he asked his mom if I could come. She said of course and I was surprised? But excited! I got into the car, they took us to a train station where we saw more beautiful views of the landscape (and towering metallic iridescent neon city spires far away on the horizon), and then finally to an estate where the manor was like several huge black cubes stuck together in a mowed bronze grassy lawn that was expansive until the foresty horizons.

There were servants but they were mutated. Like it reminded me of brave new world where there were an epsilon class of humans. These guys were like mutated monkeys that could talk and were just aware of themselves and their surroundings so they can serve. They looked cartoony with huge watery blue eyes, white fur (she got the white fur breeds for the fashionable aesthetic) and dressed in colourful red vintage clothing like the uniform of an elevator man. It was really sad and unnatural but the wealthy class was happy they could buy something to work for free for them. I asked why she couldn't get AI since they have android servers (in this world apparently) and she listed all the reasons of them being faulty and breaking down and having to invest in new models every other year while these creatures live for at least 8-10. And I'm like: I remember reading they inject them with diseases on purpose so they die earlier and you have to buy another one and she gave me this Irritated look. You know that look someone gives you when you point out that their new iPhone was created by exploited child labour in Africa but they're the type of person who doesn't care cause they just want to look cool and show off their money? Yes that look of apathy towards capitalisms wrongs and irritations for you pointing it out.

Anyway the guy was so happy I was still there and was ready to show me around but his mom reminded him he had to spend time with (I forgot her name so let's call her Carmella since I remember it starting with a C.) Carmella was a beautiful yet terrifying woman who was my age and her beauty was also subjective but I'd guess she fit the beauty zeitgeist that was the standards of this future. She was south Asian too but her skin was pale like she bleached it until it was milky tea coloured. Her hair and eyebrows were a metallic platinum blonde and her eyes were the colour of greenish blue opals with the same opal like specs that flash. They were pretty but you could see they were artificial like implants. She wore Indian Jewelry like the bridal nose ring that connects to the ear and the hair jewelry that ran across her silvery blonde parted hair but they were both made from turquoise stones and fiery pink crystals that matched her bright hot pink iridescent gown with turquoise and goldfish orange accents on it. I think it was the style of the upper class to dress almost like Marie Antoinette royal court fashion that was modernised by the unnatural colours and blended with the local culture by mixing it with south/south East Asian jewellery, shoes and accessories. Carmella looked like a living doll but had the personality of a kardashian. We found her in her suite of the home surrounded by hypercolorful boxes filled with shoes and bags of all different colours and textures. She didn't really budge to say hello to him until she saw me with him then she smothered him in hugs and aggressive kisses and though I couldn't understand their language she said something to him that I could tell was dirty. She kept asking him in different ways if he wanted to spend time with her and was was sucking on some type of sweet loudly and suggestively and he did not want to but his mom was there and he felt pressured so the mom closed the double doors and ushered me away. I was confused but the mom explained that him and Carmella were engaged and that Carmella parents were some insanely wealthy oligarchs (clearly as well as this family and I could tell the marriage was arranged to keep money and power with the family) and she further mentioned that she would gladly liked to have left me dumped by the fields by the beach but she never saw her son so happy in years so I could stay as his servant (strongly hinted as concubine).

I was so confused, I tried to protest but she showed me my room which was very doll like and custard yellow. It was near the rooms where the white monkiesh servers slept. She forced me out of my clothes and wanted me to wear something fashionable which was a white lacy Victorian gown with a long lacy collar. I wore neon yellow boots and custard yellow and neon elaborate jewelry (like necklaces, a nose ring I was sure was a tracking device but was too painful to remove, chandelier earrings).

I was restricted from entering parts of the manor like there were no locks on the doors but the doors could read the details of your face and register if you were allowed to pass or not. I was stuck in the servants quarters unless the guy would visit me. I realized I was imprisoned but that didn't stop me from my investigation of where humanity went wrong with its experiments and disregard for nature. The mutated servants were a small piece of the puzzle. I was devising ways to escape as well but the mother scared me and has a personality similar to cersei so I was trying to be as sneaky as possible. Even though the doors wouldn't let me pass I'd sneak across the elegant black marble manor by using my powers to open the doors mechanical lock with telekinesis.

I finally met up with the guy who I saw for the first time was wildly depressed. Something happened which he felt he had no control over his life (probably cause his parents controlled his life and his future) and he turned out to be a heavy drug abuser in effort to escape his reality. He was just very drugged when I found him and lounging in the corner of a room. He warned me that I couldn't use my powers in his home cause if his mother sees they'll think I'm some mutant/monster as well and will hand me over to the government that'll get me killed or worse, experimented with. I asked if he wanted to run away with me and he looked so sad I could feel pain in my chest. I understood it that he was just a very important person and no matter where he left to he'll be found. He just said that he'll never be free before doing another fat line. I understood he'd be no help and I'd have to escape the manor by myself.

I got a slightly interesting revelation from that final conversation. Maybe I was a monster too. Still in this futuristic world there were witches, even more powerful than before with powers of telekinesis. We evolved, and we evolved with nature. We could communicate with our emotions to other animals and monsters that could read our vibrations. We understand the earth and can understand her change and adapt to her, yet still the capitalist society that clings onto her like a parasite won't ever accept that and nature has to undo it with force. The monsters are only villanized cause they challenge that way of life and bring destruction to cities and resources humans depend on and I would be villanized since I still love and accept a changing environment and hate capitalism and have the ability to break through mechanical doors that oligarchs put up.

I can't tell you what happens after cause my FUCKING ROOMMATE WANTED TO PLAY FUCKING SHOOT EM UP GAMES AT 9 AM THANKS but that was my dream!

#I know people don't care about hearing other peoples dreams but you can ignore it #this one was a witchy harvest moon dream #personal

[gretamclaughlin]

Environmental History Leading Us to the Future

The materials largely focus on environmental history and its impact on policy, and people can lean on this field to improve the environment and limit the effects of climate change. The readings go over what environmental history is, and scholars of this subject study how humans and cultures have interacted with the environment over time, as well as how the environment has affected them. It is essentially the history of the universe, earth, human evolution, and interactions until the present. Big history is a type of environmental history, and it places cultural history in the context of the universe, beginning with the Big Bang and continuing into the present. Through this, one can notice patterns and answer larger questions regarding humans’ place in history and more. It is essential to understand this subject and recognize how to use it to improve the environment. People can learn about the history of issues, how they have been solved in the past, and why certain tactics failed (as explained in Jared Diamond’s Collapse). One can then apply this knowledge to current issues to solve them in a more efficient and effective manner, as well as lean on the principles of sustainability that have been evidenced in environmental history. 

The sources also speak about the Anthropocene and how it fits into environmental history. This era, whose beginning is disputed, continues today, and it covers the period of human impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems, which is overwhelmingly negative. Human interaction has led to decreased biodiversity, greater pollution, species extinction, and increased CO2 emissions, thus affecting climate change. Many of these consequences have come from globalism, and connections throughout the world have caused environmental degradation through industrialization, unsustainable agricultural practices, and more. Further readings speak on how humans have exploited land throughout the U.S.’s environmental history, such as during the frontier era. Certainly, the human-focused view of the world that so many people hold is eventually going to destroy us, along with all other organisms on the planet. If one travels anywhere in the world, they will find that it has been touched by humans through direct contact, pollution, etc. When I was visiting Iceland a few years ago, I went on a hike off the beaten path. The land looked positively untouched by humans, and I remember thinking that this was probably the cleanest air I would ever breathe. However, looking out into the distance, I saw a melting glacier, a sign of the warming planet. Even in this remote area, humans, myself included, were destroying the environment.

I found it intriguing how these sources significantly focused on capitalism and how this system has engendered environmental issues. Capitalism has caused people to disregard the environmental impacts of their actions to amass greater wealth, and competition and a free market have led to extensive exploitation of the world’s resources. After all, capitalism caused the divide in preservation advocates. Conservationists, who valued preserving resources for economic reasons, opposed environmentalists, who did not attach economic value to these resources. The U.S.’s environmental history explains how corporations have worked to block important regulations and have even carried out schemes to make communities less sustainable. The National City Lines was a group of corporations that dismantled public transportation or made it more polluting; this continues to affect the environments of American cities. In Lewis H. Lapham’s article “Paying the Piper,” he explains that the biosphere’s “resources are finite and cannot accommodate the pursuit of infinite growth that is the capitalist dynamic blowing up the hot-air balloon of the global consumer economy” (Lapham 20). The brutal exploitation of the earth by companies as a result of the capitalist system will inevitably destroy us all. It is shocking how corporations have controlled America as a whole, especially the environment, leaving the people to pick up the pieces.

Furthermore, the materials center on how those living in poverty have been impacted by environmental degradation the most throughout history. While the wealthy can leave after they have damaged their community, those living in poverty must face the effects. Unfortunately, as referenced in previous blogs, in Newark, NJ, this is a reality, and those in the Ironbound live near Superfund sites (Mansnerus 1998). During the Vietnam War, the Diamond Alkali Company dumped Agent Orange in the Passaic River, and the site remains extremely toxic. Inhabitants of the area have become sick from the toxins, leading to asthma, cancer, and more and affecting children’s development. The federal government is doing little to clean the area up, and as more people move to the Ironbound, the situation becomes direr. Clearly, the wealthy can escape the effects of environmental degradation, but those in poverty are forced to deal with the impacts. As someone who lives about 20 minutes from Newark, I am one of those well-off people who can live a life free of these toxins. How is this fair? I do not hold any special qualities.

The sources speak about how environmental history has been used to improve the world. By learning the Bronx River’s history and what led to degradation, people have been able to spearhead efforts to clean it up, which has drastically improved communities surrounding the river. People can now get a taste of the natural wonder that was prevalent years prior, acting as an oasis inside of a bustling urban environment. Understanding where the land came from can inspire people to create greener communities that return some of the natural beauty and resources these areas previously offered. On Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, improvements can be made to make it more sustainable and natural, returning some of its original environmental glory. Unfortunately, in the past, the University has been lackadaisical when it comes to using environmental history for projects, despite the fact that its sustainability plan claims it is “keeping with the Jesuit traditions.” For example, when Fordham built CSC Halls in 2010, a small forest was destroyed. There is a blatant disregard for environmental integrity and an almost forced urbanization of the campus; the administration fails to realize the power of restoring the school to its greener past.

We need to lean on environmental history in order to reduce the human impact on the planet. This can be done by analyzing previous environmental policies, like PlaNYC, and working off of their successes and failures. The world as a whole needs to make improvements on mass transit through governmental policy and regulations, creating better systems and rendering them more sustainable. This would cause fewer people to use cars, reducing congestion, pollution, and emissions. Improvements in energy efficiency and a greater reliance on renewable energy also need to be made, as was done in New York City, which caused the city to cut its emissions by 13% between 2007 and 2011. Of course, this is easier said than done, as older cities have more difficulties retrofitting aged systems; however, it can be completed with the proper technology and resources. The U.S. must continue working on a smart grid as well to make renewable energy a better option for people across the nation, and similar tactics should be employed elsewhere. Certainly, government intervention is necessary in order to make this a reality, and public servants must be held accountable by their constituents.

In the U.S., we should lean on our environmental history, specifically that of indigenous peoples, in order to become more sustainable. Prior to European intervention, indigenous tribes lived in manners that generally had a low impact on the environment, and they did not use nature with the goal of exploiting its resources but rather to live as a part of it. Recent studies have noted the power of indigenous knowledge in land rehabilitation and sustainability. According to the Autonomous University of Barcelona, “Through traditional practices, indigenous peoples have contributed to managing, adapting and restoring...land, sometimes creating new types of highly biodiverse ecosystems” (De la Malla 2019). Similarly, the University of British Columbia found that biodiversity was the most prevalent on lands managed or co-managed by indigenous groups (Corpuz-Bosshart 2019). Certainly, indigenous people should be incorporated in sustainability efforts, and we should consider how they use land, both in the past and today.

Further policies must be enforced to regulate corporations to ensure that they do not further degrade the environment and influence politicians, which has shown to work in the U.S.’s environmental history, such as with the 1916 National Park Service Act. Taxes on emissions can mitigate some of these companies’ negative effects and raise money for further environmental programs. Additionally, subsidies need to shift to support the development and production of renewable energy in order to have it make up a larger proportion of the U.S.’s energy sources. Further development of sustainable infrastructure, green buildings, etc. can also be financed by the government. Through environmental history, improvements such as these have created safer communities and helped limit climate change. This is especially important to employ in impoverished communities, where people are more affected by the results of environmental degradation; more sustainable housing and access to cleaner food are good steps to take. Developed countries also need to provide resources for developing countries to become more sustainable because environmentalism is a group effort.

People need to participate in grassroots projects such as the Bronx River Alliance in order to improve their communities. By leaning on environmental history, one can learn how to repair the land around them and understand how humans can affect their environments or vice versa. I currently work for the Community Business Partnerships group for the practicum, and we are working with the Alliance to participate in and promote volunteer opportunities and events. The work they do to clean up the river has had extensive effects on the health and well-beings of those living nearby. People have it in their power to improve public health, morale, and reduce environmental issues as a whole by restoring their local communities to their more sustainable and natural pasts.

Furthermore, people should be exposed to the impact of their actions more, especially those living in developed countries. After all, people do not always understand the impact of their actions because they cannot see them (i.e. recycling is sent to China). For example, the Manufactured Landscapes documentary displayed the influence their lack of sustainability has caused. Through community education, people will hopefully be more willing to improve their individual actions and hold others accountable, including corporations, to help break out of this unsustainable society. 

Environmental history is a helpful tool that teaches us how to improve the world and reminds us of our place in the universe. The world was not created for humans, and we should not treat it as such. It is our job to mitigate the unfortunate consequences of our actions. Hopefully, people realize this before it is too late.

Word Count: 1810

Question: How has environmental history fit into wider social movements such as Communism?

Diagrams:

The effects of National City Lines can still be seen today in cities like Los Angeles.

Superfund sites affect much of the U.S. population, yet the government is slow at cleaning them up.

Work Cited: 

Mansnerus, Laura. 1998. “Newark’s Toxic Tomb; Six Acres Fouled by Dioxin, Agent Orange's Deadly Byproduct, Reside in the Shadow of an Awakening Downtown.” New York Times, November 8, 1998. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/nyregion/newark-s-toxic-tomb-six-acres-fouled-dioxin-agent-orange-s-deadly-byproduct.html. 

De la Malla, Joan. 2019. “Indigenous knowledge, key to a successful ecosystem restoration.” https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail/indigenous-knowledge-key-to-a-successful-ecosystem-restoration-1345668003610.html?noticiaid=1345783300762.

Corpuz-Bosshart. 2019. “UBC-led study highlights importance of collaborating with Indigenous communities to protect species.” https://news.ubc.ca/2019/07/31/biodiversity-highest-on-indigenous-managed-lands/.

#environmental studies #environmentalism #superfund #environmental history #history #nyc #sustainability #nj #fordham

[csrgood]

Will Fear of COVID-19 and Loathing of Capitalism Drive Systemic Change?

This article was originally published on Medium

Texas Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick recently said, and I paraphrase, it’s not only OK, it’s good for America to throw granny under the bus to save the economy. Just let that sink in for a moment. What kind of culture would tolerate that kind of thinking. And when I say tolerate I don’t mean tolerate from a legal perspective - I’m referring to the perspective of social norms. The norms that would shame a public figure for uttering such a callous and thoughtless statement.

If that isn’t disturbing enough, I recently saw a picture that was so outrageous that I had to check to see if it was actually true - sadly it was. 

Homeless in Las Vegas

Recently in Las Vegas, in an effort to contain Covid19, the homeless were relocated from a shelter after a resident tested positive for Covid19. They occupants were placed into a parking lot with paint outlining little 6 foot cubicles to keep these poor souls from infecting each other. They did try to lay down some carpet but when they found that it couldn’t be sterilized they gave up on that idea and provided nothing but concrete.

Wow...in a city with thousands of empty hotel rooms, a convention centre and a sports arena, rather than help the homeless stay healthy in a way that let’s them keep their dignity and have a modicum of comfort, they were corralled and sequestered into a parking lot, away from the rest of “us” using the least amount of money and effort. 

There was no outcry and barely a mention in the news, a couple of tweets and it was over. In much the same way as Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick felt no need to retract his brutal comments, this story too, revealed yet another window into the soul of a heartless predatory capitalist system.

Is it fair to say that this system doesn’t care about people? Maybe, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the system cares more about consumption and corporate profits than it does about people. Or better yet, perhaps an even more accurate way to phrase it would be, that while the system does place an oversized value on the strength of the economy, people are still valued, but only inasmuch as they are able to consume. 

Back to “Normal”

There’s a lot of talk about how quickly we can get back to business as usual (BAU) but is that really what we want - to return to a system that makes its decisions from an “economy first” mindset - ahead of public health and well-being. A system that rewards corporations for exploiting people and destroying the environment. A system that glorifies extreme wealth and rising corporate profits while punishing poverty. A system that uses the corporate media to tarnish long standing metrics of societal well-being in favour of the narrow metric of a rising stock market.

You can put all the lipstick you want on this system, you can focus on the few good stories of individual perseverance, there are many to choose from, but when you zoom out and look at the system as a whole the evidence is clear. Free Market Capitalism, as it is practiced in America, is a brutal system that systematically places the 99% into a predatory arena, while the 0.1%, enjoy corporate socialism where their financial mistakes are repeatedly forgiven with corporate bailouts and their stock portfolios are buoyed with Government backed, never ending streams of capital and friendly legislation. 

Real Time 

Normally government policy is a slow process - it can take years to develop and decades to assess. But Covid-19 changes that - suddenly timelines are compressed and policy decisions come rapidly. We have a unique opportunity to see how governments work, (and think) as their choices play out in near real time. In particular, their bias towards policies that choose to protect the economy over people. 

“Economy First” 

Back in January and early February, the whole world could see the explosive growth of this virus, and our political “leaders” had a chance to contain it, BUT as is often the case, guided by the corporate elite and the neoliberal script, they said no.  

For the next 4-5 crucial weeks in opposition to the advice from health care professionals who said that it was vital to contain the illness and restrict air travel, the airports remained open and the virus exploded around the world. Western leaders in both Europe and North America failed us in three distinct ways. First, they squandered the opportunity to act on the early data that China provided in terms of the ease and speed with which the virus spread. Second, they failed to prepare logistically and provide their hospitals with the necessary supplies. And finally they failed to inform and educate the public of what was likely to come. 

The Common Good

The “economy first'' ideology that drives Capitalism has led to a collective failure in global “leadership”. Decisions that were clearly best for public health, societal well-being and long term economic stability, were forsaken for decisions that bolstered the short term interests of corporations and the stock market. We seem to have forgotten that a strong government with a commitment to wellbeing is the foundation of a flourishing and resilient society. And that when society is organized in this way, we are best prepared to overcome big social, economic and environmental challenges - not via an economy devoid of corporate regulations - hoping that profit driven companies will magically work for the common good. 

Our Biology

Covid-19 has captured global attention and is forcing action in a way that the fight for a stable climate never could. Not because the climate strategy was wrong - it wasn’t - not because scientists are poor communicators - they’re not - and certainly not because we couldn’t find the elusive business case - it doesn’t exist. No...the climate fight is failing because it's trying to change behaviour without the benefit of our evolutionary instincts, whereas Covid-19 doesn’t need to win a long complicated argument to bring about behaviour change - it’s benefiting from instincts that have been hardwired into our ape brains since before we came down from the trees, 4 million years ago. Whether we recognize it or not, our biology is dictating the response to both of these crises. 

Timing and Fear

As humans, we’re most responsive to real time threats where cause and effect are undeniable, and as it so happens, the Covid-19 crisis has both of these features. First, let’s look at the time frame between policy choices and outcomes. The condensed time frame rapidly connects a failed policy of “economy first” capitalism to death, from an invisible and highly transmissible contagion. Covid-19 has exposed the soul of capitalism and in doing so, it has coalesced our attention towards the true systemic villain in a way that the climate fight never could. 

The second factor that is missing in the climate fight and that is central to Covid-19 is a healthy dose of fear. This emotion removes the need to convince anyone to do things differently — fear takes care of that. Everyone on the planet is triggered and thinking about their personal safety, and how they interact with other people. This is something that the climate movement was never able to achieve — at an individual level, everyone feeling the urgency to change their ways.

Covid-19 Changed How We See The World

As a fast moving crisis, laced with fear, where policy decisions clearly show cause and effect, Covid-19 has provided great insight into how we as humans respond to threats:

Speed

The speed of the crisis gave us a look behind the curtain and revealed exactly what “economy first” policies can do to a society, and in doing so, it exposed the soul of capitalism. But that speed of transmission had other effects too. 

Fear

It triggered our human fear response and within weeks people across the world were making radical behaviour changes to protect personal safety in ways that we never could have imagined just a few months ago. Considering that we can’t even get people to carry a reusable mug for their morning coffee, the level of behavioural change that has recently been triggered by Covid-19 is staggering.

Unity

It’s rapid connection of policy to outcomes coalesced our attention towards the true systemic villain in a way that the climate fight never could. 

Government Action

Government finally proved once and for all that with enough pressure to save lives, they’re capable of massive disruption to the system and reallocation of capital.

Capitalism and Climate

Covid-19 has shown us beyond any doubt that Capitalism’s “economy first” mentality is a cancer to society, and if left unchecked it will systematically destroy millions of lives and ultimately our planet’s ability to sustain us. Unfortunately the climate movement wasn’t able to expose this - it simply moved too slowly to capture people's attention and it lacked the necessary dose of fear. 

Human Biology and Climate

Covid-19 taught us that while we’re the smartest animal on the planet we still can’t get away from our evolutionary instincts. In the case of the climate crisis, those instincts simply aren’t activated, and that’s leading us down a dangerous path towards extinction, just like every other hominid cousin of ours from the past.

This is Our Chance 

Every leader knew what was coming with Covid-19 but they held firm to their "economy first" dogma. Only when it became obvious that they would lose public support when the body bags started piling up, did they change gears. 

Our system is broken. It lies on a toxic foundation that exploits people and the environment. Trying to find the elusive business case to create a more sustainable business model is like trying to grow a healthier crop, with a few tweaks, on polluted soil. You can add all the sustainability and impact investing you want...the result will still be social harm and ecosystem destruction.

We’ve identified the problem. Now is the time for hope. The pieces of the puzzle are in place. We have the solutions. We have the chance to do something special and re-create our system of commerce. As they say, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Let’s get it done!

    Brad Zarnett is a Canadian sustainability strategist, writer and blogger. He is the Founder of the Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series (TSSS). Brad writes about why Corporate Sustainability and our attempts to address Climate Change are a massive systemic failure and what to do about it. You can follow Brad on twitter: @bradzarnett, LinkedIn, Medium or via email.

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/44816-Will-Fear-of-COVID-19-and-Loathing-of-Capitalism-Drive-Systemic-Change-?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

[eacci]

Fast-fashion has a toll on the environment

Sales, Black Friday, low prices! Textile companies always encourage us to buy more and more clothes. As a result, around 80 billion items of clothes are produced each year. And this number is only growing up… By 2050, global clothing sales could more than triple. The term “fast-fashion” refers to clothes that are inspired by recent style trends seen on celebrities and on the runway for an affordable price for the average consumer. To go faster and keep prices as low as possible, retailers often cut costs, an action that increases their carbon footprint. Consequently, these clothes are responsible for ecological damage and social issues. Cities Foundation is here to shed light on what is truly happening when you buy a 5$ T-shirt!

  The textile industry as the second largest industrial polluter worldwide

From production to recycling, the textile industry performs highly in destroying the planet. First of all, the production of raw materials – mainly cotton and polyester – is responsible for multiple ecological disasters. In 2017, 25 million tons of cotton were produced – mostly in India, the United States and China. The cotton production consumes most of the world’s freshwater resources, leading to their drying out. The case of Aral sea, in Uzbekistan, is significant: this lake used to be the fourth biggest lake on the planet. But, as the country slowly became the second biggest cotton producer, nowadays, there is almost no water left.

Step number 2: transforming raw materials into clothes. For that, textile industries use, most of the time, chemicals and toxic substances – such as chrome, mercury, lead or copper – to tint, wash-out or soften textile. In Europe, since 2007, the regulation REACH has been forcing producers and importers of chemicals to prove that their products do not put the consumer’s life in danger. However, that is not the case in the developing countries, where most production processes take place.

Thirdly, combined with transportation issues, clothes are responsible for 1,2 billion tons of greenhouse gas every year. For instance, a pair of jeans sold in France travels around 65000 kilometers before being sold : the cotton is produced in Uzbekistan, the pair of jeans is spined in India and tinted in Morocco and then sold in France.

Finally, once the clothes end up in your wardrobe, the pollution doesn’t stop. Actually, clothes in polyester are made from microfibers which come off in the washing machine. Yet, they are too small to be filtered by the water treatment plant, thus directly ending up in the oceans: about 500.000 tons of microplastics from polyester end in the oceans each year. As for the recycling part? Each year 4 million tons of clothes end up in landfills around Europe, with only 20% of these clothes being recycled.

  Behind the veil : social and health issues 

The exploitation of workers in developing countries is part of the fast-fashion system. Most clothes are produced in Bangladesh. In Dhaka, price rates for production and manufacturing are low: workers – mainly women and children – earn only 2-3$ a day. Apart from that, owners of textile fabrics have to cut down costs, thus ignoring security rules to meet the demands of big industries. This causes a lot of accidents, such as the collapse of a building of 8 floors in April 2013, when more than 1000 workers died.

« Each day we woke up early in the morning, we go to the factory, and we work very hard all day long. And we do all the hard work for clothes. People have no idea how hard it is for us to do the laundry. They only buy and use it. I think these clothes are produced with our blood. Many textile workers die in separate accidents.” Shima Akhter, garment worker (quote from the documentary The true cost)

In addition, a lot of people die due to chemicals and toxic substances used by the textile industry. In Texas, 80% of cotton production is produced with GMO cotton plants, which are proven to cause cancer. In developing countries, the rivers next to fabrics are also polluted by the chemicals. The case of the Ganges river next to Kanpur is a good illustration: each day, 50 million litres of residual toxic water are released into the river. Subsequently, the population living near textile factories suffers from diseases directly connected to the chemicals found in the water.

  Why should we keep sustaining the current textile system, since only the owners of the big textile industries gain something out of it? 

Advertisements about fast-fashion are nothing less than pure propaganda. In fact, they make us believe that the only way to solve problems in life is over-consumption. But the truth is that, according to multiple studies, people who are actually addicted to fashion and excessive buying of clothes are not happy at all. On the contrary, they have a higher stress level and are not satisfied with their life.

“But also from the consumer point of view, is it really democratic to buy a tee-shirt for 5$, a pair of jeans for 20$? Because they [the big fashion industries] are making us believe that we are rich or wealthy because we can buy a lot. But in fact they are making us poorer, and the only person who is getting richer is the owner of the fast-fashion brand.” Livia Firth (quote from the documentary The true cost)

So what can we do? Do we keep buying stuff we don’t even like or need, knowing that, in this way, we contribute to the destruction of the planet and exploitation of workers in developing countries? The answer is a big NO! At Cities foundation, we think that global issues can be tackled by local solutions.

  Alternatives to fast-fashion 

At the moment, there are a lot of alternatives and inspiring initiatives, which can help you turn into more sustainable ways of dressing. First of all, we could limit the amount of clothes in our wardrobe. Most of them are not even worn twice. A simple tip for this would be to go for casual clothes that you can mix with everything and wear in different circumstances. Original pieces are also cool but you will only wear them a few times. Secondly, we could choose the materials we mostly like: materials such as organic cotton and linen are natural and biodegradable, while polyester and cotton pollute the planet a lot.

An important effort is currently being made by some brands in order to minimize their effects on the environment (non-harmful dyes, natural fibres, protection of their workers interests). We should definitely support these brands, instead of buying from big textile companies. Speaking of which, Reformation is a brand you should keep an eye on! They follow sustainable practices, such as using recyclable and biodegradable packaging, and 100% compostable bags for instore purchases. Reformation also produces their clothes in green building infrastructures and tries to minimize their waste, water, and energy consumption.

Last but not least, not buying new clothes at all is another, though a bit extreme, solution. You can be part of the above-mentioned trend via some challenges, such as #noshoppingfor2020, where people assume that they have enough clothes in their wardrobe and they don’t need new ones. What’s more, if you really need something during the year, you still can buy from second-hand shops. Plus, second-hand clothes are usually cheaper! Oh, it is also possible to use a filter for your washing machine to filter out microplastics which come off from polyester clothes.

At a local scale, creative initiatives are flourishing too. If you live in Amsterdam, there are more and more alternatives to fast-fashion. Here are some few local initiatives to feel inspired!

The Lena fashion library is the place to borrow your wardrobe in Amsterdam. Renting your clothes is fun and you don’t hurt the planet each time you wear a new dress.

At Repaircafe, you can repair your damaged clothes in a good atmosphere and make connections with your neighbors.

Genaaid and De steek are offering sewing courses: learning how to sew could be the solution to change your wardrobe sustainably.

Long story short, as the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood said, “buy less, choose well, make it last”. We should think about our clothing as an investment and not as a consumption product that we use and then we just get rid of a few months later. As individuals, we have to turn into solutions that boycott big textile industries and force the end of this destructive circle.  Just find the alternative that suits you best! After all, there is no planet B!

  Sources :

The Economist. (2018, November 28). The true cost of fast-fashion. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLfNUD0-8ts&feature=youtu.be

Neelis Koly, “What is fast fashion and how does it impact the environment?”, https://www.greenmatters.com/, Greenmaters, May 2019, Web, 11 February 2020

Skus-Wah-Chung, “Fast-fashion is drowning the world. We need a Fashion revolution!”, https://www.greenpeace.org/, Greenpeace, 21 April 2016, Web, 11 February 2020

Michael Ross (producer), & Andrew Morgan (Director). (2015). The true cost, [documentary]. Retrieved from : https://truecostmovie.com/watch-now/

  The post Fast-fashion has a toll on the environment appeared first on CITIES Foundation.

#EACCI #CITIES Foundation

[clubofinfo]

Expert: For as long as anyone can remember violence and conflict have been part of daily life: humanity appears incapable of living peacefully together. There are the brutal cries of war, the vile acts of terror, homicides, rapes and assaults of all kinds. People everywhere long for an end to such conflicts, and are crying out for peace and understanding, to live in a just world free from fear. Creating a world at peace not only demands putting an end to all forms of armed brutality, it also entails building peace within communities, in the workplace, educational institutions and the home, in the natural environment and, most importantly, it requires the inculcation of harmony within all of us. Each of these areas of living are interconnected, the prevailing condition in each affecting the stability and atmosphere of the other. The task before us is to identify and change the prevailing divisive modes of living for inclusive ways that facilitate peace and cultivate tolerance. Peace itself is part of our essential nature: when the conditions of conflict are removed, peace between groups and within individuals arises naturally. We are Society Society is not an abstraction; it is a reflection of the consciousness of the individuals that make up any given community. As such, the responsibility for the nature of a town, city, school, office, country, region, etc., rests largely with those who live within its boundaries. I say “largely” because the corporate and state bodies that fashion the structures and promote the ideals of the day bear a large part of the responsibility. Specific values and conclusions are daily poured into the minds of everyone, virtually from birth, conditioning the consciousness and behavior of people around the world; the media (including the internet), institutionalized education and organized religion being the main outlets for such propaganda. Variations on the nature of such conditioning are determined by circumstances of birth and background: the religious, political, socio-economic belief systems, the values of the family, the region and/or the country. All ism’s are inhibiting and divisive, and as the Dalai Lama says in A Human Approach to World Peace, when they are adopted people lose “sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together as a single human family.” Freedom of thought and independent creative thinking is denied, conformity expected. And can there be peace when the mind is imprisoned within the confines of a doctrine, no matter how lofty? Whilst it is true that a symbiotic relationship exists between society and the individual, fundamentally the external world in which we live is a reflection of the internal life of humanity. Violent, disharmonious societies are the external manifestation of the inner turmoil, discontent and fear that many people feel. The business of War The loudest, ugliest form of violence is war, the machinery of which is a huge global industry greatly valued by the corporate state. It is a business ostensibly like any other, the difference being its products are intended to kill people and destroy everything in their path. Like all businesses, weapons manufacturers operate to generate profits: wars are big business for arms companies, and therefore highly profitable, desirable even. International arms sales (dominated by America, with 34% of the total) according to the BBC “is now worth about $100bn.” By contrast, to end world hunger, which currently crushes the lives of around a billion people globally, would cost a mere $30 billion per year. And we wonder why there is no peace – how can there be peace when such gross injustice and inhumanity persist? Profit, whether financial remuneration, status or power, is the principle motivating force within the working methodology of the global economic system. It is an unjust model that promotes a range of divisive, therefore violent values, including selfishness, competition and ambition. It thrives on and continually engenders dissatisfaction, and can there be peace when there is discontent? Enormous wealth and power for a handful of men flow from the Ideology of Consumerism, leading to unprecedented levels of inequality in income/wealth, influence, education, health care, employment opportunities, access to culture and freedom to travel. Inequality is a fundamental form of social injustice: peace will never be realized where social injustice exists. Nor can peace be known when hunger, poverty, and exploitation, flowing from (financial) vulnerability, stalk the land destroying the lives of millions throughout the world. Removing the obstacles to peace Extreme inequality is a vile stain on our common humanity; inequality between the hideously wealthy, who have everything but want more, and the desperately poor, who have nothing, can barely feed themselves and live lives stunted by suffering; inequality between the economically secure and habitually complacent, and those who work until they drop yet can barely pay the rent. The hierarchy of injustice is crude at the extremes, variable in the middle and toxic throughout. It feeds anger and resentment and crushes peace. Together with a ‘dog-eat-dog’ mentality, global inequality fuels insecurity and fear, both psychological and physical, leading to tension, anxiety and depression. It fosters bitterness, crushes hope and strengthens false notions of superiority and inferiority. This in turn reinforces the prevailing fear and a strengthening spiral of suspicion, intolerance and unease is set in motion, thereby denying the quiet manifestation of peace. The realization of peace is inextricably related to the introduction of a new socio-economic order based on values altogether different from the existing model. A socially just system that reduces inequality, encourages cooperation instead of competition, and facilitates equal access to well designed accommodation, good quality health care and stimulating education. Where social justice exists trust develops, relationships evolve, peace comes into being. At the heart of any alternative system should be the inculcation of the Principle of Sharing; sharing not only of the food, water, land and other natural resources, but of knowledge, skills and opportunities. Sharing encourages cooperation between people from different backgrounds, allowing understanding and tolerance to grow. Tolerance of those who look different, pray and think differently, and understanding that humanity is one, that the human condition is universal no matter one’s circumstances or worldview. That we share one home, which we are all responsible for, and that in every corner of the world men, women and children want the same things: to live in peace free from fear, to build a decent life for themselves and their families and to be happy. When we share, we acknowledge our common need, our shared humanity and our universal rights. Through sharing, a more equitable world can evolve; sharing, together with cooperation, tolerance and understanding are key elements of the time, and when expressed – individually and collectively – allow for peace to naturally come into being. Complementary to such Principles of Goodness, forgiveness and the absence of retaliation or retribution are essential in establishing peace. As is well documented, punishment without rehabilitation and compassion is a recipe for despondency, more violence and further acts of crime. Such actions have dogged humanity since records began, as has war, and while there have been tremendous advances in technology, medicine and science, the consciousness of humanity seems to have changed very little, we remain violent, selfish and fearful. As the Dalai Lama puts it, “there is no doubt about the increase in our material progress and technology, but somehow this is not sufficient as we have not yet succeeded in bringing about peace and happiness or in overcoming suffering…the basic human problems remain.” The overcoming of these ‘basic problems’ and the realization of peace both flow from the same root: the recognition of mankind’s essential unity, and the cultivation of a sense of “universal responsibility”. Fragmentation and dishonesty of mind must be resolved, fear and desire understood. The current modes of living inflame these negative tendencies and make what already appears difficult, even more so. Discontent and desire are constantly agitated, social and national divisions inflamed, and an atmosphere of insecurity created. At the same time a reductive image of happiness and security is portrayed through mainstream films, TV and other media outlets. It is a hollow construct based on pleasure, the fulfillment of emotionally rooted desires and material satisfactions, none of which will ever create lasting happiness or inner peace. Peace does not lie inside walls of division, whether formed of concrete or constructed out of some ideological doctrine, but, like lasting happiness, reveals itself when there is total freedom from desire. http://clubof.info/

[organiclifestylemagazine]

How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment - Better Options Included

More than 1 billion people across the world rely on fish as their main source of protein. Consequently, the world’s oceans are in trouble with marine life plummeting. More than 80 percent of the world’s fisheries are either considered fully exploited or overfished and on the brink of collapse. People who are dependent on the sea for income and food are left increasingly vulnerable. Our oceans are radically depleted. A decade-long international survey of ocean life completed in 2010 estimated that 90% of the ocean’s big fish have disappeared.

Aquaculture seems to be a sustainable solution to overfishing, but the reality is that fish farms are causing huge problems. As typical with big business, profits are more important than ecological sustainability or our health.

As the world began to attempt to limit overfishing the aquaculture industry boomed. Between 1980 and 2015, the total amount of fish production from aquaculture increased more than 16 times from 4.7mn tonnes to 76.6mn tonnes. If you eat seafood, unless you catch it yourself (or ask the right questions), it probably comes from a fish farm. More than half of the fish we consume is farmed. The aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other animal agriculture segment, overtaking beef production in 2012. A report by the Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC reported that farmed fish production reached 66 million tonnes in 2012, while beef production was at 63 million tonnes.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Why Farmed Fish Are So Toxic To the To Us and the Environment

One study showed that aquaculture in Sweden “is not only ecologically but also economically unsustainable.” Another report looked at farmed fish in Chinese lakes and concluded that  it is an “economically irrational choice from the perspective of the whole society, with an unequal tradeoff between environmental costs and economic benefits.” Aquaculture harms the environment, which eventually costs a lot of money. In the U.S., fish farming is responsible for roughly $700 million a year in environmental costs. Fish farming operations typically generate more costs than profit.

Abhorrent Conditions

Research has shown that fish feel pain and stress. Large-scale fish farm operations have fish living in extremely crowded conditions, often leaving each fish less space than the size of an average bathtub. Living in this close proximity increases infection and disease, which leads to antibiotics which further pollutes surrounding waters.

Farmed Fish Eat Their Own Shit

The feces concentration is often so great as to cause the fish to ingest their own poop, increasing the likelihood of disease. The fish poop also promotes algal growth and reduces the oxygen content in the water, which makes it harder to support life. Fish waste and uneaten feed litter the sea floor beneath fish farms contaminates the area and generates bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Reportedly, the Israeli government closed two fish farms in the Red Sea after discovering the farms were causing algal growth that was harming coral reefs.

A Cesspool of Disease

Pathogens from farmed fish pools can spread rapidly to contaminate any wild fish swimming past. Sea lice, a type of crustacean that finds captive fish on farms to be an easy target, have become huge problems for the industry. And the increased prevalence of these crustaceans due to fish farming is being blamed for reduced numbers of wild pink salmon, as well as the species that eat them, including bears, eagles, orcas and others.

Lethal viruses that are known to spread from fish farms are being detected in wild populations. Salmon leukemia virus is said to act like HIV, in that it depletes the immune system leaving animals susceptible to other infection. Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISA) is also known as salmon influenza. It’s highly lethal Piscine reovirus, which degrades salmon’s heart health, causing heart attacks and preventing salmon from swimming upriver.

Toxic Antibiotics, Pesticides & Other Chemicals

Concentrated levels of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals used to fight infection are found in farmed fish. The effects these practices have on our environment are only beginning to be understood. One study found that a drug often used to kill sea lice will also kill other marine invertebrates, and contaminates waters at least up to half a mile away.

Recommended: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

Farmed Fish Food

Many farmed fish are being fed genetically modified corn and soy. Some report that in China farmed fish are often feed animal feces. One report from the USDA from 2009 stated,

[It] is common practice to let livestock and poultry roam freely in fields and to spread livestock and poultry waste on fields or use it as fish feed.”

Carnivorous Fish Farms Eat Too Much Fish

Many fish require a fish-based diet, and can require much more food than they produce. Now anchovies and herring and other small prey are being dangerously overfished to the brink of extinction in order to meet the growing demands of aquaculture. Tuna and salmon consume up to five pounds of fish for each pound of body weight.

We have caught all the big fish and now we are going after their food,”- Oceana

It’s been shown that every pound of farmed salmon needs five pounds of smaller fish to feed it.

Oceana blames aquaculture for declines in whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, albatross and many other species.

Rather than relieving pressure on wild fish, growing these large carnivores [salmon and tuna on fish farms] requires a steady supply of prey that are caught and ground into oil and meal. As the industry grows, it is straining the existing supply of prey fish, putting additional pressure on populations that cannot supply the demand.”

Toxic, Diseased, & GMO Farmed Fish Escape

Many fish farms use netpens to confine fish in open waters. These systems are susceptible to being ripped from predators and due to storms. In the North Atlantic region alone it’s said that two million farmed salmon escape their farms each year. The result is that at least 20% of wild salmon caught in the North Atlantic are actually of farmed-fish origin. Farmed fish that escape will breed with wild fish and compromise the gene pool. Embryonic hybrid salmon, for example, are far less viable than wild salmon, and the resulting adult hybrid salmon routinely die much earlier than true wild salmon. This also harms predator populations that rely on fish like bears and orcas.

More Fat, but Less Omega 3s and Other Nutrients

Farmed salmon, for example, is much fattier than wild salmon, but it contains FAR LESS healthful omega-3 fats and less protein. The omega-3 levels in farmed salmon keep dropping with each new study.The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) says that today’s farmed fillet contains as little as half of the omega-3s the fish had less than a decade ago. Salmon farmers in New Zealand were caught overstating the omega-3 fat levels of their fish.

Farmed salmon that is high in omega 3s get their higher levels from being fed fish oil. Like with the prey fish, the demand for fish oil is outstripping supply. This practice is becoming too expensive, and many fish are being fed cheap GMO oils to fatten them up.

Farm-raised tilapia is one of the most highly consumed fish in America. Studies show that tilapia has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and very high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids that may cause an “exaggerated inflammatory response.”

Recommended: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

More PCBs

A report published in 2003 by the Environmental Working Group found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon contained PCBs at levels that raise health concerns. It’s a safe bet that these statistics have only grown worse as plastic continues to pollute our planet.

It’s said that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the U.S. food supply chain.

Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample.” – Environmental Working Group

Recommended: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

China…

Chinese farmed fish accounts for about 60 percent of farmed marine products worldwide. China is the leading provider of farmed fish to the US. If you’re buying tilapia, it’s probably from China.

Excerpt from The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms:

Tilapia in China’s fish farms, are fed pig and goose manure — even though it contains salmonella and makes the tilapia “more susceptible to disease.”

In Vietnam, farmed shrimp bound for the US market are kept fresh with heaps of ice made from tap water that teems with pathogenic bacteria.

Bloomberg also notes that at the same company “there’s trash on the floor, and flies crawl over baskets of processed shrimp stacked in an unchilled room.”

Like US meat farmers, Asia’s shrimp farmers rely heavily on antibiotics, many of which are banned for use in the United States.

In May, ABC News bought 30 samples of imported farmed shrimp from across the country and had them tested for antibiotic traces. The result: Three of the samples contained detectable levels of these dangerous antibiotics.

According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of the food-borne illness outbreaks caused by imported food from 2005 to 2010 involved seafood — more than any other food commodity.

Fish To Avoid and the Better Seafood Choices

Bivalves, such as oysters and mussels, can be farmed in an environmentally conscious manner because they are “filter feeders,”; they actually make the water in their ecosystem cleaner, and they are much easier to contain due to their lack of mobility. But, this means that the environment bivalves grow in should already be fairly clean, or else the seafood can transfer pollutants and other toxins to the consumer.

Alaskan salmon is not permitted to be farmed. Sockeye salmon cannot be farmed. Atlantic salmon comes from fish farms. Farmed salmon is rife with chemical contaminants ranging from pesticides and antibiotics to PCBs.

In restaurants, mislabeled salmon will typically be described as ‘wild’ but not ‘wild Alaskan.’ This is because authentic ‘wild Alaskan’ is easier to trace. The term ‘wild’ is more nebulous and therefore more often misused. In many ways it is very similar to the highly abused ‘natural’ designation. – Dr. Mercola

Atlantic Flatfish, including sole, flounder and halibut, are high in contaminants and they have a long history of being radically overfished. Pacific halibut is a safer and more environmentally friendlier option.

Almost 90 percent of catfish comes from Vietnam – a country with loose regulations on the use of dangerous antibiotics and other chemicals. Like catfish, Pollock is a mild, white fish with a delicate flavor that’s naturally low in mercury. Look for pollock from the US, Canada, and Norway which provide the most eco-friendly harvesting.

Eel, also called unagi, is primarily farmed in China.  A powerful carcinogen called nitrofuran, and many other drugs and pesticides, are used to control disease in eel farms. Eel also has plenty of mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. Squid is an eco-friendly alternative to eel.

Imported & Farm-Raised Shrimp is one of the dirtiest seafood sold. Chemical residues, antibiotics, and an assortment of other contaminants have been found in farmed shrimp. While avoiding imported, farmed shrimp can greatly reduce your exposure to contaminants, it’s important to note that 70 percent of domestic shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico. With the recent oil spill, this raises concern for the health of these shrimp stocks. Your best bet is MSC-certified wild-caught Pacific shrimp from Oregon.

Atlantic bluefin tuna is said to have the highest levels of mercury and they have plummeted to near-extinction levels. The eco-friendly tuna varieties (like albacore or yellowfin) areproblematicc as well. Oceana collected 1,215 samples from seafood vendors from 2010 to 2012reported that 59% of fish labeled tuna is not just mislabeled but it is almost entirely compromised of escolar, which is not likely a fish we want to be eating:

To be frankly and bluntly specific — and I’m sorry for this — consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. People have reported that the discharges are often difficult to control and accidents can happen while passing gas.” – The Kitchn

A good alternative to tuna is the Atlantic mackerel or try sardines.  They both are high in omega-3s, and they don’t have the high levels of mercury and other contaminants that tuna accumulates.

Tilapia from overseas fish farms have a bad reputation due to the aforementioned practices, but tilapia farmed in the U.S. and Canada typically use closed recirculating tank systems that alleviate many of the problems like water pollution and fish escapes. In Ecuador, tilapia are typically farmed in low-density freshwater ponds, which eliminate overcrowding and reduces disease. Tilapia are fed a mostly grain-based diet, so they don’t deplete prey-fish resources.

Farmed Seafood Documentaries

Sources:

Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – US Wellness Meats

Farmed fish overtakes farmed beef for first time – New Scientist

9 Things Everyone Should Know About Farmed Fish – Mind Body Green

The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms – Business Insider

Wake Forest Researchers Say Popular Fish Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Aquaculture: 8 Fishy Facts – China Water Risk

Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – Grassland Beef

The truth about tilapia – Fox News

Is Farmed Salmon Losing its Omega-3 Edge? – CivilEats

Wild Atlantic and Farmed Salmon – Slowfood

New Zealand farmed salmon not as green as claimed, says consumer group – Food Navigator

Salomon Farming Problems – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: Sea Lice – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: SLICE – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: Escapes and Alien Species – Farmed and Dangerous

How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included was originally published on Organic Lifestyle Magazine

#Aquaculture #Farm Raised Fish #Fish #fish farm #Salmon #Tilapia #Tuna

[annieernest134-blog]

How To Teach Hamster Cage

***Animal Legal rights: How we take care of pets displays who we are Versus a purely organic see, no creature inherently incorporates legal rights over and above that which it contains the electric power in the direction of impose. What is equipped in direction of endure does, what won't be able to does not. Nevertheless our planet is not particularly biology. It is ethics as very well. “Could possibly will make instantly” can not be the doing work paradigm inside of a planet in which flexibility, compassion, humanity, and take pleasure in are preferred. Nor are we taken out versus thing to consider of the legal rights of other creatures merely considering that we are spending someone else in direction of crank out medicine, smell a deodorant, or increase our meals. People with the electric power in the direction of hire their technologies toward have an impact on and handle the world wide as a result greatly and deeply are continuously confronted with moral alternatives. Progressive existence is not a make a difference of mere survival as it was anytime we have been inside of the wild. It is an chance toward create and develop as introspective, fragile, and moral us residents. For illustration, going for walks inside of the woods will take no suggestions, still powering in just website traffic does. Ingesting against a movement is not a trouble, still damming the move and flooding 1000's of acres is. Breaking down brush with our fingers towards generate a lean-in the direction of for shelter is a person factor, nevertheless denuding the world with equipment is fairly an additional. On the lookout pets inside the wild for foods working with just ingenuity, energy, and rate is a issue completely compared with wiping out total populations with rifles (for ‘match’) or with our city encroachment. Farming pets toward feed a inflammation inhabitants is crucial, nevertheless denying them any sort of organic or first rate lifestyle, or subjecting them in direction of abuse or cruelty is not a immediately we can declare. Dwelling inside the wild would Offer pair moral possibilities. Reasons and philosophy consist of a route of using a again seat whenever lifestyle is eaten with working day-towards-working day survival. However an highly developed lifestyle with just about unlimited technical functions is an additional subject. Our power at present in the direction of basically cage and handle just about every creature upon the entire world and pretty much ruin the Planet’s lifestyle-serving to entire world upon an World-huge scale desires alternate options and moral obligation. The very first selection towards be produced, it would seem to be, is no matter if we need in direction of endure below lengthy phrase or not. Assuming the solution is indeed, we should really choose fiduciary accountability for the world and its internet of everyday living. Still it does not close there, as some humane and inexperienced actions would search toward argue. Within purchase in direction of endure we really should as well consider the life of the plant and animal meals we eat. That is a truth we facial area, and, assuming we desire in the direction of endure, it is not a make a difference of ethics. Upon the other hand, our regulate and routines towards other residing factors—like our foodstuff—do Deliver ethical solutions. It as well makes a temper, if by yourself will, environment the tone for how we deal with just one yet another. If we track down it uncomplicated toward handle everyday living with insensitivity, it is a little phase toward handle 1 yet another the identical direction. If we expand treatment, compassion, and decency out in direction of the loosen up of the global, we are significantly a lot more possibly towards handle fellow human beings likewise. Killing pets or vegetation for pleasurable or simply since we consist of the electrical power toward do thus is neither sensible nor moral. It is a kind of psychopathic routines that threatens the world-wide-web of existence on which we rely and desensitizes us towards the well worth of all daily life. All those who choose happiness within the ache, discomfort, and dying of other creatures, or justify it simply because of hard cash in the direction of be designed, threaten civilization alone. It is not that Terrific a jump for all those who behave in just this course in direction of grow comparable insensitivity toward people. Would we in its place reside future doorway in the direction of a person who results in habitat for wild creatures within just their back garden and stay-captures residence mice in direction of fixed them cost-free outside, or an individual who stomps upon any bug they perspective, chains their canine toward a stake inside the backyard, yahoos concerning taking pictures songbirds versus their window with a pellet gun, and hunts for trophies leaving carcasses toward rot? It is not a coincidence that serial killers from time to time comprise a heritage of torturing and killing pets (1). Creatures elevated for food items really should not be handled as almost nothing extra than output techniques, limited thus as towards by no means check out the mild of working day, and then be dealt with and slaughtered inhumanely. They must be elevated kindly within just a free of charge and open up natural environment exactly where they could love the existence they incorporate. Arguably looking ought to be reserved for the singular motive of acquiring food items, not for the fulfillment of killing. If there is possibility in the direction of exhibit compassion, why not consider it alternatively than abuse and exploit merely due to the fact we comprise the energy toward do as a result? Experts and a lot of the community justify animal experimentation as demanded in just acquire in the direction of identify condition remedies, consider contaminants, watch mascara security, and consequently upon. I am reminded of an practical experience within just a toxicology system. The lesson for the working day was in direction of demonstrate how topical products and solutions could possibly be screened for security. For a demonstration, the professor retained a rabbit through the nap and area some drops of a chemical within the rabbit’s eye. The rabbit squealed and struggled inside of ache. It was a depressing point in direction of look at. As times went via we ended up detailed the development of the caustic chemical upon the rabbit’s cornea. The serious ulceration that resulted was ugly and the suffering the rabbit was experiencing was intestine wrenching. In direction of this working day I don't forget vividly and regret that I compensated tuition for this pointless cruelty—despite the fact that towards present any response at the period risked remaining seen as unscientific and psychological, a definite no-no in just health-related educational institutions. The lesson in direction of be uncovered in opposition to this pathetic clearly show of human insensitivity was that noxious chemical compounds will ulcerate and dissolve eyes. How profound. There wasn’t a pupil in just the program that could possibly not incorporate guessed the result right before the macabre demonstration was finished. The legitimate takeaway was that existence may possibly be taken care of with overlook. If we wished-for towards be Excellent physicians we necessary toward suck it up, place apart foolish compassion and bravely mutilate daily life for the sake of the improved Excellent of medicines. Torture apart, these experimentation is unwanted and very rather embarrassingly sloppy science. All those who take part within just it develop into desensitized towards pain, get rid of compassion, and discover in the direction of hone the means of obtuse excuse. Health care experimentation on pets is unwanted for the reason that each species reacts towards toxic compounds, medications, and even operation otherwise. For that issue, every single affected individual is choice biochemically. What may possibly be correct for 1 goose is not for a gander. Hence a medical end result in opposition to a lab within which countless numbers of mice, canines, or monkeys are tortured does not supply certainty more than an affect inside of people or inside of other species. Organic variations skew all good results (2). Aspirin will cause delivery problems within rats however not within human hamster accessories beings. Individuals and guinea pigs want vitamin C inside the diet plan nonetheless highest other creatures manufacture it on their own. An opium dose that will eliminate a human is protected in just puppies and chicks. Allylisothiocyanate will bring about most cancers within the guy rat, yet may perhaps not within the girl, or inside of mice. Penicillin will get rid of a guinea pig still perhaps conserve the lifetime of a particular person. Highest medication, nutrition, and toxic compounds incorporate a opposite impression: a advantage at just one issue is a chance at a further. Measuring this sort of factors is around extremely hard (3). Even kindness in just the lab can modify good results as confirmed through atherosclerosis (the centre assault component) getting low via as a great deal as 60% within just rabbits that are taken care of, in contrast in direction of people disregarded (4). The position is that no person understands all the factors every time conducting this kind of analyze. They can simply manage for some, wager at all the other folks, and then produce an extrapolation, a large jump within just religion timed specially in direction of happen in advance of the funds operates out. This is the explanation medication transfer in the course of yrs of Food and drug administration trials at a charge of 360 million hard cash, and then can destroy and maim Though unveiled toward the populace. However, these heartless experimentation carries on in just the popularity of science and the guarantee of therapies. It’s a humiliation. Utilizing a minor logic, or other laboratory equipment these as tissue tradition insider secrets, may perhaps as effectively contain led in the direction of the exact selections acquired towards animal experimentation. For case in point, scientists made use of 24,000 mice towards demonstrate that 2-acetylaminofluorene was carcinogenic. Primarily based upon genetic context logic, by yourself or I may well contain informed them the end result devoid of caging or torturing a single mouse. Why would a artificial chemical these as this not be damaging? What is highest disheartening is that the end result of all the animal experimentation is not treatments. Quite, there are thousands of hundreds of maimed and killed individuals who obtained into the defective science of these kinds of ‘tested’ prescription drugs. Animal studies delivers us medicines with aspect penalties, dependencies, prescription faults, cross-reactions, and removing of signs or symptoms whilst the lead to of the condition carries on. Animal experimentation is a poor concept at its commence and a tragic catastrophe within train. The distinguished concept is that our planet, such as all of its creatures, is a mere device for our exploitation. That is irrational if extensive-time period human welfare is in the direction of subject and denies that human beings contain a substantial explanation than could generates straight. (1) Partnership concerning Animal Abuse and Human Violence. Oxford Heart for Animal Ethics, 2007. Retrieved versus the Global Broad Internet: www.oxfordanimalethics.com. (2) Gawrylewski, Andrea, ‘The Problems with Animal Designs: Trials and Oversight’, The Scientist 21-7 (2007), 45-51. (3) Qureshi, B. The opposite impact. Magazine of the Royal Tradition of Medications, 83 (1990), 131-132. (4) Rowland, D. The Dietary Bypass: Opposite Atherosclerosis With out Operation. Parry Good: Rowland Textbooks, 1995.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

Or rather, a large organization is forced to adopt. Without hope of gain, they'd have only fear of loss. Incidentally, nothing makes it more patently obvious that the old chestnut all languages are equivalent is false than designing languages. I suspect there are already some highly partitionable businesses that lean this way.1 I've noticed this too. That was contrarian advice 10 years ago, but it's clearly now the established practice.2 First of all, he was intellectually curious. A lot of people have a great teacher at some point in their childhood. He died at 59 of lung cancer.

When, if ever, is a way of predicting performance.3 If you try to attack this type of software. In the US this process still shows many outward signs of corruption. To me she seems the best novelist of all time. It was also a test of wealth, because the schools adjust to suit whatever the tests measure.4 They use the latest stuff. Kenneth Clark is the best nonfiction writer I know of, on any subject. But while some openly flaunt the fact that he has to do all the company's errands as well as Newton, for their time, but Newton is my model of this kind of thought.5 It's hard to beat this phenomenon, because the essence of programming is to build new things. So let's be clear what reducing economic inequality means. Indeed, if you felt Lisp programs using a lot of animals in the wild must feel better to a wide-ranging predator like a lion.

If you have an empty slot in your schedule, why not? He knew you were saving that piece of cake. And the only thing you can offer in return is raw materials and cheap labor. But I did not till recently understand the role risk played. But in addition there's sometimes a cascading effect. In 1958 there seem to have been two ways of thinking about programming. Anything you might discover has already been invented elsewhere. Organic ideas are generally preferable to the made up kind, but particularly so when the founders are young. But this year there may have been. The younger employees were paying their dues.

It's so easy to get distracted working on small stuff. Because that machine was not just a machine. In our case the distinguishing feature is the ability to translate wealth into power.6 There's an even better way to block the transmission of power between generations: to encourage the trend toward an economy made of more, smaller organizations will care less about credentials.7 A group of 10 managers to work together. You'll find that you can't stand programming in clumsy languages.8 Recently we managed to recruit her to help us run YC when she's not busy with architectural projects. It seemed to me as a twelve year old football expert that the best of them all was Jack Lambert.9 I can't figure it out, because she's gotten into sync with us.

But when someone on the manager's schedule is that they understand the cost. But between the two is due mostly to environment—and in particular that the environment in big companies is toxic to programmers. School was boring. I think most of them are the same for every language, so they don't affect comparisons much. This metric needs fleshing out, and it could require interpretation in the case of specific languages, but I wouldn't describe them as intellectually curious. This is a list of the n most admirable people. In theory, exit polls gave him a 52-48 victory. The quote I began with mentions two other qualities, regularity and readability, not succinctness. Reading The Nude is like a small boat in the open sea. Your boss is just the way that constraint is imparted to you. The use of credentials was an attempt to seal off the direct transmission of power between generations, and cram schools represent that power finding holes in the seal.

But that could still be a bad move, because macro definitions are harder to read than ordinary code. Locally, all the news was bad. And they will. The word is rarely used today because it's no longer surprising to see a 25 year old professional able to afford a new BMW was so novel that it called forth a new word. Parents will die for their kids.10 But they would do. You can adjust the amount of work you have to push down on the top as well as Newton, for their time, but Newton is my model of this kind of thought. You tend to keep your voice down, because there's a good chance the person at the next table would know some of the people working for him who made more than he did, because they'd been there longer.11

But in a large organization, and the language won't let you. This is one of them: he wanted to seem aristocratic; she was afraid she wasn't smart enough. Small in what sense though? Apple happened because Steve Wozniak wanted a computer. It seems to me that succinctness is power, or is close enough that except in pathological examples you can treat them as interchangeable, granting the same status to sweat equity and the equity they've purchased with cash. We'll have precise comparisons, but not accurate ones. A few months ago I read a New York Times article on South Korean cram schools that said Admission to the right university can make legacy status have as much or as little weight as they want, by adjusting the size of group that can work together, the only way I can imagine for larger groups to avoid tree structure would be to push for increased transparency, especially at critical social bottlenecks like college admissions. In the group one level up from yours, your boss represents your entire group. If anyone has examples, I thought succinctness could be considered identical with power.

Notes

When I catch egregiously linkjacked posts I replace the actual amount of material wealth, seniority will become as big as any adult's.

He adds: Paul Buchheit points out, if you threatened a company has to be closing, not competitors. The best technique I've found for dealing with YC companies that can't reasonably expect to do it is still possible, to take board seats for shorter periods.

They assumed that their experience so far done a pretty mediocre job of suppressing the natural human inclination to say that I'm clueless or even shut the company really cared about users they'd just advise them to. If they no longer a precondition.

Maybe it would be very unhealthy.

Investors will deliberately affect more interest than they expected and they have to solve the problem is the most, it's software that was killed partly by its overdone launch. But a company tuned to exploit it. There is one of them material.

On the other extreme—becoming demoralized when investors behave upstandingly too. That would be on demand, because we know nothing about the qualities of these companies unless your last round just happened, the thing to do sales yourself initially.

The most striking example I know what kind of power programmers care about. A lot of time on schleps, but it's also a good plan in which many people work with the sheer scale of rejection in fundraising and if it were better to overestimate than underestimate the importance of making a good plan for the most useless investors are just not super thoughtful for the future as barbaric, but Joshua Schachter tells me it was true that the valuation at the valuation is the following recipe for a startup.

It is the discrepancy between government receipts as a high school textbooks.

Indifference, mainly.

If you wanted to have to rely on cold calls and introductions. I mean forum in the narrowest sense. But the most accurate mechanical watch, the average reader that they probably don't notice even when I was insane—they could just expand into new markets. When investors can't make up startup ideas is to use an OS that doesn't lose our data.

And even then your restrictions would have seemed shocking for a year of focused work plus caring a lot about some of those things that's not art because it doesn't cost anything.

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