oxymoron
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
On another note – this has probably been discussed here before (I sometimes miss TAE reading for various reasons) but I wonder when it comes to the extreme reactions that groups and individuals have to the curbing of their freedoms and their proclamations regarding the charter of human rights etc. I wonder why they never break the speed limit or change from one side of the white line while driving at high speed or simply refrain from crossing fence lines or any of the innumerable activities that impose limits on what society and government allow us to do. Everybody has been so compliant with all this shit for so long that a few new rules come in and they scream their freedoms are being taken away! This earth was a garden once. Look at it now. No one is jumping up and down about the proliferation of weapons or the enclosures act! I just think the priorities get skewed at times but I aint taking a hard line any more. There is just so much I don’t know now my brain hurts.
Is there a pattern emerging of collectivism and individualism both coming up with their own organic or intrinsic response (mode) toward this virus and the slant toward collectivism being more effective as a response? The situation in Victoria Australia where I live is that with some very heavy handed and authoritarian mandates regarding the health requirements – eg lockdowns and masks, backed up by wide compliance has delivered incredible returns (for now). We are, for all intensive purposes at a place in time now where we have had 29 days consecutively of zero cases and deaths. This is after over 700 cases per day a few months ago and things really spiralling out of control.
We are now back in a rebuilding phase – with the crushing economic cost to small business that Dr. D and others have so eloquently discussed, being more or less helped along via this UBI or semi-socialist or state-backed system.
It is a very confusing time and no doubt the corporatocracy/plutocrtacy are #winning but I feel geo-political trend-lines emerging with the Individualistic or more liberal democracies facing more difficult times.Good to have you back WES. Also have to wonder if Bosco is lurking around… Hope that book is going well.
Got hacked and fleeced a few thousand from my bank the other day. Good to see they are so good at carefully holding my money. They will reimburse I hope. Cyber-security is obviously not my strong point which is okay when nearly all my wealth is on this small farm with my family.
Re Raul’s comment. I think the internet censorship is just getting started.The lies are just taken as truth these days. If you suggest any comment opposite the dominant narrative you just seem like a crazy person. If you work hard and in your community and build your own house with your own damn hands and grow your own fruit and veg and care for your wife and children and do your best by the environment – it doesn’t matter – your just an extremist.
If you just do your best to be a thoughtful and hard working human and try to get to the bottom of things and find the truth of what is happening in the world but still suggest that when the media says (and I mean blanket media – all media) that all of Trumps claims of voter fraud are completely unsubstantiated, that maybe, just maybe – coz it is going through the courts and there have been questionable reports … maybe there may be some substance to Trumps claims..
But I am a russia lover – always have been and the chicks are hot.Sometimes at night I worry that one day there will be no comments section and no TAE and it will be the ministry of truth for me. Orwellian.
Just wanted to say a big thank you to John Day for his long and well considered thoughts on being a person or being fungi. You seem like you would be a fun guy. Get it? I really feel the same pull of broader contributions to my local community but like being on a plane in free fall – I feel like I should put on my breathing mask first before I help others so I am really focused on getting the trees up and growing and my kids fed and schooled and loved.
This year I have been implementing a climate adapted mixed use forest on a few acres here in Central Victoria. Bunya, Stone Pine, Holm, English and Algerian Oak, Carob, Tagasaste, Acacia Dealbata, Jubea Chilensis etc. There was no top soil – it is post gold rush country where all the trees were removed and top soil washed away downstream to look for the alluvial gold deposits (Castlemaine is the siite of the (once) richest alluvial gold field in world). It’s just clay and slate. Really.
The point is I went foraging and collected a huge diversity of locally found mushrooms for their spores and threw them everywhere, was kinda fun – and then applied 30 cubic metres of hardwood chips as mulch. Then we received this wonderful La Nina year of well above average rainfall and those baby trees are just loving it.
The last article you posted really lifted my spirits and validated my extra work. Thank you so much – I want that little forest to be around for hundreds of years.The Social Dilemma is pretty much a ‘must see’ doco. I watched it a few weeks back and it consolidated so much of what gets covered or discussed here and elsewhere regarding the lies vs truth aspect of modern information access and spread.
Really worth a watch. Also Sam Harris podcast interview with Tristan is excellent as well.What a feed! Thanks for hunting down this stuff. It looks like the tech giants are actually owned by power hungry oligarchs with agendas. Oh my what a shock. Looks like we will be in for quite the ride on the downward side of the energy/resource curve.
If psychology is the study of the mind then Buddha and Jesus were obviously engaged in fraudulent fields of study according to Taleb
So Facebook is anti – real world harm hey. OMG the temerity of these arseholes. Are these people really coming up with this or have we actually finally lost the battle to machine-learning?
The pro-life Trump article was weird. Just sayin’. Obviously written by a man. Or someone who wasn’t raped by a family member or whatever…
So, I been thinking Joe Biden is just a senile washed up dodgy dude, but I can read people pretty well and that interview had me questioning that narrative. He seemed sharp and he seemed able to deflect back onto the interviewer with some skill and lack of perceivable staging.
The current humanising of Julian Assange is going to make it harder for them to make him a monster or non-state actor or whatever… they must be feeling a little anxious – oh I forgot – they couldn’t give a shit as they are just doing jobs in the community like lawyering and stuff. Hillary on the other hand maybe perturbedTaking lots of photos of grandparents in case anything happens…
I cracked up. So funny. Man what a world. Young generation are like – eco destruction, intergenerational debt, feudalism, robots – now corona… they are just going along with it like the weather.Dr. D, I did as yoou asked and watched Jimmy for 6 mins at least. Thanks spot on!
Another day of lies.
When you see so much lying everywhere you fall between anger and disappointment.Robot Vines!!!! thanks for that blew my mind.
But…plastic. Still – amazeballs
Assange is the head on the stick staring dead eyed at journalists as was said recentlyI’ve Kunstler a little brittle and maybe a little ‘off’ recently but this piece is back to his brilliant best. Loved it and thanks so much for sharing. Biden’s “end of quote’ was exhilarating. To see such a lack of interest in the subject matter when the subject matter is within the context of an American Presidency was amazing. The USA is at quite the juncture.
Those New York restaurant numbers mirror Melbourne’s. The thing is a lot of people lose jobs, alot of people lose their business but also alot of people lose the house they used as collateral to finance the business. So many people are taking a hit right now it is crazy.
Segregation in universities hey… Weird.
Kunstler sounds a bit provocative – like the guy deserved it or something – getting shot in the back. Dunno, just threw me – his tone.
If police can’t be trained to deal with that situation properly they need to get trained in other countries where it doesn’t get to that. American cops just seem like crap cops who don’t really know how to do their jobs or are lazy or unorganised or something. I just can’t get my head around the absolute mind-boggling incompetence of Law Enforcement in the US. Just buy more guns and tech. That’ll work. Not.
Wouldn’t happen in Russia.Thanks for letting Dr.D jump on the mic. I like his rap style. Alot. Sometimes he misses the mark but who doesn’t. He/she should be allowed a voice just for the sake of his literary style. I absolutely love it. It’s just fluid and ranty and thought provoking and juicy.
My opinion is to go the art of war on this one, all Chinese and tactical – STOOP TO CONQUER. Wear the damn mask. Wait the thing out. People more mad and ill prepared than you or I will crack first. Hell people in power will crack first. Concessions will be made, drawn lines will be rubbed out. Just hang in there the herd will change direction quick.
Also, if anyone wants a laugh and understands “Australian” – mad as hell was brilliant tonight. From 9 minutes some hilarious insight into financial response by govt to covid. Trust me.
Ditto the painting. Amazing. Stunning.
John, fabulous take on things. Re avocados, I have tried Rincorn, Hass, Bacon and Fuerte. we get to minus 4C with longish winters but it is the hot summer sun – up to 45c that burns the bark and causes the cambium layer to suffer badly – I have given up but if you make sure young trees have humidity and protection with limewash on the bark you should be fine in Texas.
Pollination is a pain but ants helpThe Roots of Wokeness article is really fantastic – coming from my perspective as a white middle aged male – so it must be an oppressive power based article 🙂
Thought and reason always have a place over the shadows of shifting identity. I don’t know if I am making sense… but there is a lot of horse-shit and identity politics going around and I found it quite refreshing to readI liked this very much but agree with V that having the civilization skills are a bit over rated when there is a world of junk money and left over tools already out there.
Thanks for posting the new york city article Raul – I read the whole thing and it was great. Years ago I toyed with the idea of a podcast about self-reliance and some TAE related subject matter around energy and finance. It was to be called ‘Run to the Hills’. It looks like I didn’t need to sell the idea. I think this stuff will happen in Melbourne too. So many people have freaked themselves out with what is happening and are aware of risks around price falls in housing. Restaurants are closed, commercial real estate is getting smashed and the cbd will not resemble what it once did. So many changes to work routines means that people want to be somewhere nicer and perceived as safer. Many will try to cash out or just move out.
I am watching this space. I think NYC is a good lens to look through. The cops don’t help. A man was fined over $1000 and hauled out of his won car for trying to get some sleep as the baby was crying and lockdown was difficult for him. My own family have taken to stupid songs made up on the spot and sung quite loudly to beak the valve and release some pressure. We are all seeing a hell of a lot of each other, which is nice but the socials would help right now.
Keep up the good workThat counter punch piece was brilliant. So much blood-letting going on.
Husky, They are definitely going to double down on sheep-like compliance. She’s got celebrity spray on here now and people want to feel special.
The photo is great and the moon is amazing but places without trees always make me feel a little sad and suspicious. I remember Bill Mollison saying years ago that based on available tree cover the population of Greece import oxygen from Macedonia – probably not true but at a certain point removing your natural resources becomes your problem and then you die – think easter island.
Everyone thinks trade will save them till it doesn’t and trees are your nest egg par excellence – if your portfolio is just fish then you need to diversifyAlso as for Judge Baraitser, Berate – scold or criticize (someone) angrily.
Maybe every time she heard her name growing up she became programmed to be a harsh scolding hard-hearted person?
Just a musing. I guess I could look into her star sign now I’m going left-field…..Looking forward to a payment coming through shortly – I’ll make a donation to TAE ASAP
Carol, Huskynut and others from yesterday’s thread – yeah thanks for the support. I’m glad others find their way through the madness. I know Raul has said he is angry a lot of the time because there are just so many malevolent forces – read people – out there doing us as humans harm. I feel that way at times and then other times I have such optimism and joy at living in the forest with my wife and 2 beautiful children repairing soil and ecosystem. Working hard for clients planting fruit trees and oaks and the rest and generally going for whatever level of right livelihood I can get to with what I have to draw from. Still it bugs me to think of all those good people who are having a crack at the same and some asshole comes along and says – “hey the queen has sanctioned me to take what you have and kill you, or how about I steal you and make you work for me”. I just want people to be nice to each other but there are so many wounded crazy bastards out there who think they can complete themselves with the stuff of the world at others expense. Dick Cheney’s a real stand out but so is Schiff and the other power players around the world.
I guess I’m intolerant of a system that is hard to tolerate.
Thank you all again.more along the lines of how little effect the actions have in the face of brutal grift.
I just can’t wrap my head around the epsilon theory article and Dr D’s take on it. My mind just can’t account for this shit…..
It makes me feel like all my composting and clothes mending was the dumbest shit a guy could do. Growing Vegetables! What sort of a moron am I? I could be swimming with sharks but I’m looking at other fishes assholes through muddy water….
Sorry about the languageYep – she is just a rude bitch. Low moral compass. Sleeps with a mouthguard. Not a fan at all.
I also think we are perfect food for the virus. I want to be at least very chewy, gamey and unpalatable for the time being.
The Adam Schiff thing — how do we even bother reading the news if you can’t trust anything any more? People just lie and you can’t touch them, you can’t sue them and you can’t speak out against them or you are just some right wing freak. No frikken justice man. Like the poor Rio Tinto guys. No justice. Them aboriginees – all they wanna do is dig up precious cultural sites – those concrete skyscrapers are where our people share culture and gather on behalf of the community so we all have what we need to shine. Them suit-tie fellas are our healers and leaders that care for country and seven generations. We are so lucky to have them.
Dr D. Stunning work. Loved it. Thanks for pointing at predatory banks. They are also know as Vampire squid. I still believe to produce even only the smallest bit more than you consume is better than porkin’ out on debt fuelled bounty.
Also my parent said know – I reckon you are pointing in the right direction. I think Kunstler was on it but turns out a virus born of mother nature’s bag of tricks was the vector. Always hard to pick timing and causation over patterns.Oh and John and Bosco – you guys are killin’ it here right now.
I don’t wanna be all judge-y but that photo of Janet and Ben didn’t show a hell of a lot of smile lines or wrinkles. Sad and safe and bored, but hey I could be wrong. Ben probably gets his socks blown and parties hard and who knows what Janet gets up to – we know how Frankenfurter enjoyed his time with her….
Also – I’m a bit peeved over intellectuals, academics and book writers generally right this second. I have planted thousands of trees over the last few years because I wasn’t on a computer arguing about the environment and climate change. I think these computer things are making people dumb and crazy. Then people come along and say that the environment is all fine and we can just keep chopping trees down coz it’s all cool out there.
It is not.
But if you hate forest and love dust then it’s fine. Maybe north Africa is your jams. Or Western Queensland – cotton farms are just brimming with options for community. Oh and the views. Views to die for. Nah it’s all fine. Trust me.Also Raul, I have regrettably suspended my Patreon payments till my injuries heal up a bit and I can work again.
Apologies.Dr D. I don’t wanna get nit-picky but using the word – facts – like it means something has more weight if it surrounded by words inferring common sense. Which in your case is quite often – this time not so much.
Humans are not causing a “sixth mass extinction” is just a sentence.Before I was born, Europeans removed the largest subtropical rainforest on planet earth from the east coast of Australia to plant sugar cane. One plant replaced the many. So as I read this mans words I smiled internally with the humble word “bullshit” bubbling up in my mind. Certainly I feel that there is a lot of hysteria about climate change and things can turn around very quickly indeed in natural systems. But as a permaculture business owner and practitioner of 30 years I know that digging in this soil takes work with slow results (Hardwood climax trees take so long to grow) and has caused an sc joint rupture and a right shoulder reconstruction. I farm like I mean it and my body, not yet 50 is a vessel of pain.
I don’t need opinions so I won’t defend much longer against them but I have a 28 year old intern/student coming on friday and I will not be throwing around assumptions like those you posted. Just sayin’.
The author says “Wood fuel is far worse for people and wildlife than fossil fuels”. I would love to know how that is. I mean it may be true but I want to know the #facts because it sounds alot like lies and #AntiLogos and #Against Reality.
It. Literally. Makes. No. Sense. But hey I’m a regular dumb shit that just works with his body and I am not being sarcastic when I ask for facts and information around this – the rest well – I kinda agree with most of it.Bosco – the analysis of future socioeconomic trends you laid out is why I still hover here at TAE – you may think of taking over Nicole’s former role now she seems a bit off message. I think holding onto the land has a lot to do with keeping stakeholders invested – In the case of my children it goes like this “This carport is so huge because one day your mother and I will infill the sides with straw bales and windows and live in it and who ever takes the nice house we live in now will have access to over 100 fruit and nut trees, no bills except council rates and the bit we pay the motor cycle gang and all you see for free. There is just one catch – you gotta look after us. Also we are grooming some young local families to build in a body corporate structure on our land with shared water and fuel supply (timber)
I believe with love, trust and solid communication it can be done.
