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terrygrundy

@terrygrundy@mas.to

Teacher, Citizen, Urbanist, Friend

Terry Grundy teaches university-level courses on ethics, social justice, and intellectual history. A passionate lover of great cities, he’s a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Fabian Society, Humanists International, the American Humanist Association, the Cambridge Union Society, and the Royal Over-Seas League.

Avatar: A targe argent. On a cross engrailed gules between four lions passant guardant gules five martlets or.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

terrygrundy , to random
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In the evening garden, an unexpected and elegant blossom opens.

2. Mirabile! The pure white, fuzzy mound is a cat! She lefts her head to examine the one who has disturbed her nap.

rbreich , to random
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With a heat wave shattering temperature records across the country, let me just say that history will not look fondly on those who put fossil fuel profits above saving the planet.

terrygrundy ,
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@rbreich Putting it mildly. At the rate they’re savaging the planet, one wonders if there will be anyone left alive to document their crimes.

terrygrundy , to random
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At the Palácio da Bolsa, Porto

terrygrundy , to random
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They came. Many, many never returned.

terrygrundy , to random
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kris_inwood , to Archaeodons group
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Kinship matters! Pierre Benz, Pedro Araujo & coauthors use social network, kinship & sequence analysis to identify strategies used by some ancien régime elite families to preserve power in 20th century Switzerland. Other families lost influence, some lost & regained it. New & OA in SSH
https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2024.6
@economics @demography @socialscience @sociology @politicalscience @geography @anthropology @econhist @devecon @archaeodons

terrygrundy ,
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@kris_inwood @archaeodons @economics @demography @geography @politicalscience @econhist @devecon @anthropology @socialscience @sociology Fascinating

terrygrundy , to random
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Why I am a democratic socialist—and thanks to @breadandcircuses for sharing the article.

Trashing the planet and hiding the money isn’t a perversion of capitalism. It is capitalism | George Monbiot | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/06/offshoring-wealth-capitalism-pandora-papers

breadandcircuses , to random
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Now THIS is the ultimate in capitalist greenwashing.

A series of three photos stacked one on top of another. First photo shows a vacant lot in a town with a very large tree growing in the center of the lot, and with a big truck and workers cutting the tree down. Second photo shows the same vacant lot with the tree removed and with outdoor advertising signs now up in its place. Third photo shows a closer view of one of the billboards in the vacant lot. It's a picture of a little boy, hugging a tree. (The writing on the billboard is too small to read clearly.) Captions on the photos say: "The tree is cut down to open space for outdoor signs of a kid hugging a tree."
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    • + breadandcircuses, Npars01, alice
    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses 🤯

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    There’s a whole lot that I don’t like about modern civilization. Vaccines, however, are an unqualified success.

    ➡️ https://theconversation.com/154-million-lives-saved-in-50-years-5-charts-on-the-global-success-of-vaccines-229707

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses Amen!

    rbreich , to random
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    When an old, dear friend passes https://robertreich.substack.com/p/when-an-old-dear-friend-passes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

    terrygrundy ,
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    @rbreich I’m very sorry for your loss. What a fine man whom you remember beautifully!

    terrygrundy , to random
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    The opportunism of cats. The sheepishness of sheep.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    Dutch photographer Wil van der Velde gives us this pleasing shot of a sort of window-hugging espalier.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    #SilentSunday

    terrygrundy , to random
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    This charming little arched window is in Bistrita, Romania. Since the lights are crown glass bullseye, I have a hunch that it’s 17th century.

    rbreich , to random
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    Happy May Day!

    Solidarity with every worker standing up to corporate exploitation and organizing for a living wage, dignified working conditions, and robust benefits.

    If the past few years have shown us anything, it's that workers are fed up and ready to build power.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @rbreich We can only hope!

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    To keep us distracted from what’s really going on in the world, our rulers constantly provide more and more circuses — a new Marvel superhero movie, the latest celebrity scandal of the week, a huge sale at Amazon — because if everyone was paying attention to genuine reality, the whole capitalist charade might just collapse.

    But guess what: Earth's climate and environment pay no heed to such circuses. Instead, they respond directly to real physical inputs, the continual burning of fossil fuels, the ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the enormous heat being trapped and absorbed...

    March 2024 was the hottest on record and the tenth straight month of historic heat, with sea surface temperatures also hitting a "shocking" new high.

    It is the latest red flag in a year already marked by climate extremes and rising greenhouse gas emissions, spurring fresh calls for more rapid action to limit global warming.

    Every month since June 2023 has beaten its own "hottest ever" tag – and March 2024 was no exception.

    The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that March globally was 1.68ºC hotter than an average March between the years 1850-1900, the reference period for the pre-industrial era.

    Huge swathes of the planet endured above-average temperatures, from parts of Africa to Greenland, South America, and Antarctica.

    March was not only the tenth consecutive month to break its own heat record, but capped the hottest 12-month period on the books – 1.58ºC above pre-industrial averages.

    FULL STORY -- https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/04/09/global-temperatures-hit-record-highs-for-tenth-consecutive-month-in-march_6667824_114.html

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses Word

    terrygrundy , to random
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    Vietnamese photographer Khánh Phan gives us this lovely 2022 shot, “Spring in Bac Ha”.

    KhánhPhan

    terrygrundy , to random
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    “I write not as I speak, I speak not as I think, I think not as I ought to think, and so it goes into the deepest darkness.” ~ Franz Kafka, to his sister Ottla

    rbreich , to random
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    Between a new federal rule that will make 4 million more Americans eligible for overtime pay, the FTC voting to ban "noncompete agreements," and the DOT expanding protections for airline passengers, there's been a lot of good news for workers and consumers in the last 24 hours.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @rbreich Now, if only the popular “news” media would run the stories. 🧐

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    Corporate America says…

    “Please celebrate Earth Day🌲🙏🌎 and then GO SHOPPING! Buy more cheap disposable plastic products!!”

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses We weep.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    #SilentSunday

    terrygrundy OP ,
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    @Krisss Yes, Kris: the Charles Bridge.

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    How many people alive today have read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair? Less than 1%, probably.

    How many people have seen "Our Daily Bread" from 1934, or similarly subversive movies? Less than 1%, probably.

    How many people have read "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn? Less than 1%, probably.

    Almost everyone is traveling blind.

    The education we receive and the cultural literacy we are allowed has been carefully crafted and controlled to serve the interests of our capitalist masters.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses Yes, quite true.

    breadandcircuses , (edited ) to random
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    I’m back.

    I actually arrived home more than 24 hours ago, but was so exhausted from traveling (and so sleep-deprived) that I wasn’t prepared to post anything yet on Mastodon. Anyway, I caught up on my rest, took care of a mountain of laundry (after wearing the same clothes multiple times on the trip), went shopping to replenish the pantry and refrigerator, and now I’m ready to say a few words…

    My journey was to Mexico, specifically to Mazatlán, in order to witness the recent total solar eclipse. I’d never seen one before in my life and figured this might be my last chance. I also chose to take a train trip through Mexico’s extraordinary las Barrancas del Cobre — aka Copper Canyon — with multiple overnight stops and hikes along the way.

    Although I’ll admit to feeling some guilt about commercial air travel, given the obvious conflict with my passionate stance in favor of the climate and environment, I consoled myself with the knowledge that this was only the second time in six years I have flown anywhere. And while I was in Mexico, I deliberately took buses or trains whenever possible, avoiding extra flights.

    Anyway, it was a wonderful trip.

    The eclipse itself was nearly indescribable, since it is like nothing evolution has prepared us to see. I mean, the experience is completely outside the range of normal human expectations. To look up at the sky in midday and see the sun obliterated, blacked out by a disc in front of it… stunning. Shocking. Breathtaking. Spectacular. Unforgettable.

    And Copper Canyon is also a wonder, a marvel. Of course in good conscience I can’t recommend leisure travel, but if you ever have legitimate reasons to be in Mexico and can fit that in as a side tour, it’s absolutely worth the time and the cost.

    I’ll have much more to say on my usual topics over the next few days and weeks. Still catching up on everything that’s been going on in the world after being mostly out of touch for the last little while. That was quite a refreshing change, I must say. Soon, though, it’s back to work!

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses A great experience — thanks for the report!

    terrygrundy , to random
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    “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky…”

    ElleGray , to random
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    your identity in a capitalist society

    terrygrundy ,
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    @ElleGray Ha—exactly!

    terrygrundy , to random
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    #SilentSunday

    terrygrundy , to random
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    SUBURBAN SPRAWL

    MikeDunnAuthor , to random
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    terrygrundy ,
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    @MikeDunnAuthor <sigh>

    futurebird , to random
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    Another all too barren spring in NYC. There should be so many insects, so many ants, so many tiny creatures filling the parks, hitting the windshields of cars.

    Remember when bugs used to hit the windshields of cars because the air was so full of life?

    I guess most people think this is 'improvement' but they are wrong. There is a campaign to put the American bumblebee on the endangered species list!

    We are living in an eerie lifeless netherworld and I don't know why more can't see it!

    terrygrundy ,
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    @futurebird 😢

    terrygrundy , to random
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    A colour illustration of the deep and verdant Green Wood.
    A stanza from a poem entitled “The Green Man in the Garden” by Charles Causley.: Leave your house and leave your land And throw away the key, And never look behind, he creaked And come and live with me.

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    FYI — I’m going to be traveling over the next couple of weeks, leaving early Tuesday morning (April 2) and not returning home until around April 17 or 18. Along the way I’m likely to be offline most days, with little to no Internet access, so I’m not planning to post regularly to my B&C account during that time, if at all.

    Keep up the good fight while I’m gone!

    ✊
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    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses Travel safely and enjoy the trip!

    terrygrundy , to random
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    “This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle!… I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, “Life Without Principle”

    rbreich , to random
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    Don’t let them fool you. RFK, Jr. received his funding from big Republican donors.

    Steve Bannon urged him to run!

    Why? Because he’s there to play spoiler.

    Democrats shouldn’t fall for it. A vote for RFK, Jr. is a vote to help Trump win, plain and simple.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @rbreich Spread the word.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    Like the movements of a dance—
    The births and deaths of beings,
    Vaporous as clouds.
    A lifetime: flash of lightening in the sky,
    Torrent rushing down a mountain chasm.

    A torrent of water rushes down a mountain channel, filled with boulders.

    jeffowski , to random
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    terrygrundy ,
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    @jeffowski Wonderful!

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    In the usual course of events, Earth’s climate fluctuates naturally. Driven by subtle shifts in solar energy and the slightly wobbling tilt of our planet in space, Earth will experience periodic ice ages followed by interglacials (warmer times when the ice retreats). These changes normally operate over thousands of years.

    But now something else has happened. Something new.

    In an insanely dangerous gambit, capitalist industrialists decided to extract and burn hundreds of billions of tons of coal, oil, and gas. They counted on this to make them rich and powerful, which it did. What they didn’t count on — or didn’t care about — was the destructive impact it would have on Earth’s climate and environment.

    The last time the average global temperature changed dramatically, when it heated up overall by about 3° Celsius, was at the end of the most recent ice age. This was a big shift and had a huge effect on the biosphere, driving many plant and animal species to extinction while allowing others to thrive. But that’s just how it goes. That’s what happens naturally.

    The difference between then and now is that the previous 3°C temperature rise took place over a span of about 10,000 years. In geological terms, that’s considered fast.

    Today, however, thanks to greedy murdering capitalist bastards, we are in the midst of a rapid heating event unlike anything ever seen in the whole history of Earth. The planet is heating so fast that species have no chance to respond or adjust. It’s so fast that scientists have no way of knowing how soon it will end or what all the consequences could be.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses is doing us a great favour by exposing the causal connection of capitalist avarice to the tragic, unchecked global climate crisis that we’re facing. I strongly urge you to subscribe to his feed and, in fact, to go to his profile and read as many of his postings as you can.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    There are countless photos of mad King Ludwig’s Schloss Neuschwanstein—most in the nature of travel & tourism posters—but few that give a sense of how carefully and brilliantly it was sited in the magnificent surrounding landscape.

    terrygrundy OP ,
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    @breadandcircuses I certainly understand—but note that, by this logic, we would have to reject many, if not most, of the world’s grand edifices. But whether or not, here they are. I suppose it’s a good thing that so many of them (like Neuschwanstein) now are simply museum pieces, open to mere plebs like us.

    terrygrundy , to random
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    In case you were wondering about the plan…

    https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-17-2024?publication_id=20533&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share&triggerShare=true&r=dvvss

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    terrygrundy ,
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    @TobiWanKenobi @TheNurseIsIn @breadandcircuses @UncensoredNews @tobeB

    Thanks, B&C! Actually, Mastodonians ought to pay far more attention to your posts than to mine. You’re giving us survival information. I hope we take it onboard and act in it.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @TobiWanKenobi @TheNurseIsIn @breadandcircuses @UncensoredNews @tobeB

    Thanks, B&C! Actually, Mastodonians ought to pay far more attention to your posts than to mine. You’re giving us survival information. I hope we take it onboard and act on it.

    johnrakestraw , to bookstodon group
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    Blog post: Rachel Cohen's "A Chance Meeting: American Encounters" is a wonderful book offering vignettes of meetings between individuals who helped to shape American culture. Mark Twain and Willa Cather, William James and Gertrude Stein, and others. The conversations are interesting in themselves; they also have me thinking about how encounters with people and books have shaped the person I've become.

    https://johnrakestraw.com/post/chance-meetings-and-the-forming-of-an-identity/

    @bookstodon

    terrygrundy ,
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    @bookstodon @johnrakestraw Excellent!

    terrygrundy , to random
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    Snark to be sure, but still…

    rbreich , to random
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    Billionaires have seen their fortunes surge by $2 trillion+ since the Trump tax cuts.

    What's the GOP doing about it? Doubling down. They're trying to permanently extend provisions of the law that disproportionately benefit the rich.

    It’s crystal clear who they work for.

    terrygrundy ,
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    @rbreich Indeed, it is.

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses “Enjoying” would not quite be the word but I always learn and my alarm is renewed. The problem is how to avoid fatalism and despair.

    breadandcircuses , to random
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    Strange, isn't it, that the values of real people — the things most of us truly care about — are not reflected at ALL in the values of our hegemonic capitalist consumerist culture...

    terrygrundy ,
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    @breadandcircuses “Man’s greatest wealth is to live on little with contented mind; for little is never lacking.” ~ Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura)

    ninokadic , to AcademicChatter group
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    Am I the only one who unequivocally thinks that philosophy has made progress? Perhaps I have a different definition of what progress means, but surely I can't be the only one?

    The number of theories and arguments that philosophers uncovered, as well as the clarity and breadth of their analyses, is certainly progress.

    @philosophy @academicchatter

    terrygrundy ,
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    @ninokadic @PhilSciProf @twsh @philosophy @academicchatter

    I suppose there’s some consonance with Ockham’s Razor.

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