Peasant's Revolt

I've been watching historical documentaries lately and one of them was about the peasant's revolt in England in 1381. It's a little disappointing to see how many things haven't changed.

There were some fascinating characters, not least of whom was John Ball, an itinerant priest who was preaching something that sounded very much like the modern tenets of socialism. His most famous rebuttal of the class system was "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" The video above is an hour long, but it features Paul Foot, a famous activist of the mid-to-late 20th century who also happened to belong to the English upper class. He presents the story in an easily understood context. It's well worth listening to. 

Zero

I thought I'd share this because it's one of my favorite short animations. It's a parable about life and one's value to society, simple human dignity, etc. It's worth a look.

Boundaries

Lately I've experienced some boundary violations in real life. I've had to deal with this issue for what seems like most of my life, and I'm even ashamed to admit that my hands aren't clean on this front either. I've been learning, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a little of what I've learned.

Success

Something I don't think we're ever told is that success is a personal thing, not a public thing. You don't have to live up to someone else's expectations of you and you don't need to impress anyone. It's not a contest.

Dutch-English History

I was reading something today about where the English language and the Dutch language diverged. There is still a Dutch dialect which is mutually intelligible with an old form of the English language, Old English.

When did they part ways with each other? It can be pinpointed to the Norman Invasion in 1066.

Old Country

I'm still working on some longer pieces, but they're taking a long time to write. I'm considering breaking them up into a series. One is about the trade products of colonialism and what they evolved into and the other is about the history between England and the Netherlands. There is a lot more to both topics than meets the eye. I find it amazing that the average person in England or the Netherlands doesn't know anything about their shared history when there's so much of it. I didn't know the half of it.

And so, with no further ado I will share a post of old country songs and sometimes covers by more modern bands, like this cover of Big Iron by the Meat Puppets.

Unintended Consequences

One of humanity's greatest weaknesses is an inability to foretell the consequences of their actions. We don't look very far into the past to see what our past mistakes were or even recognize them for the mistakes they were. We also don't look far into the future, so we think very much in the here and now. This has led to some dismal failures in the past. Perhaps this is what is meant by the saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". We start with good intentions, but we don't have all of the information to work with. This leads to unintended consequences.

During China's Great Leap Forward, the party leadership decided that they would tackle four pests and eradicate them forever. Those pests were rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. From 1958 to 1962, China waged war on these four to eliminate hunger and disease. They went into it with the very best of intentions. We're going to focus on the sparrows. The first three pests are pretty self-explanatory after all. 

Tuesday Flotsam

I'm not writing essays because I've got real-life stuff demanding my attention. On the bright side, it looks like I'm starting to get my shit together for the first time in ever. Maybe I shouldn't say that too loudly lest I jinx something.

So anyway, in place of anything deeper I shall once again throw out an assortment of tunes to amuse and distract. It's easier than writing.

Oldies

It's Saturday and I got to thinking about some of the memes back in the old days. Like this.

Trailer Houses

BBC - Why Do So Many Americans Live In Mobile Homes?

America has a population of about 350 million. Of those, around 20 million people live in mobile homes. I have lived in a mobile home for about 2003-2010 because it was the best housing I could afford at the time. I thought it deserved a mention in the discussion of American culture.

Satanic Panic

Yesterday I was reminded of a period in American history that I'd just as soon forget, but perhaps it's important to examine it and understand what it says about us. 

In the 1970's and 80's in America we went through what I can only call a period of mass psychosis where we were seeing the devil around every corner. Christian fundamentalists and people with dark imaginations came together in the worst possible way to create "satanic panic". Everything the fundamentalists didn't like was suddenly automatically associated with devil worship. Heavy metal, Stephen King novels, ouija boards, Dungeons & Dragons, black clothing, Halloween and on and on.

Saturday Tunes

I'm working on a long post about the products of colonialism and doing some research. This takes time. In the meantime I shall post music to entertain and distract...

Pretty

I got to thinking about how people get hung up on attractiveness and how insecure that makes us. There's this idea that life would be better if only we were prettier or richer or dressed better. People spend an unbelievable amount of money every year to make themselves more attractive. Hair color, diet products, makeup, plastic surgery, clothes, fake tanning, hair plugs, teeth bleaching, and on and on and on.