(pinned) living in interesting times

In this space, and online in general, I mostly talk about computers — as well as tabletop games, cats, dogs, baking, and other comparatively trivial topics.

At the same time, in the US we are currently living through a time where the government is increasingly attacking the people of this country, imprisoning people without cause, and ignoring the Constitution. Worldwide, others are dealing with the consequences this as well, not to mention the rise of the far right in their own countries.

I don’t actively talk about this a ton online — not because I don’t care, but because being politically loud on the Internet is not where I really feel I can be effective at that kind of change. But at the same time, it feels wrong not to acknowledge the reality we live in.

Among other things, I donate heavily to organizations that do good work and match my values. For a list of orgs that I’d encourage you to support, click through to the rest of the post. For more computer and pet content, go ahead and scroll down!

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Quoting Toby Buckle

But millions of people did not, in fact, go to bed reluctant liberals and wake up fascists. Rather, many who were never liberal to begin with, who never liked liberals, and whose coexistence with liberals was always temporary, strategic, and contingent, decided that they were no longer willing to live alongside us. From this perspective, the problem is catastrophic, but at least conceptualizable. Fascism is terrifying, but terrestrial.

From Toby Buckle, Liberalism Did Not Fail, Conservatism Did in Liberal Currents.

The Practicing Stoic, by Ward Farnsworth

Over the years I’ve read a number of different books on stoic philosophy, including some of the “modern Stoic influencers” like Ryan Holiday as well as a few translations of older philosophers like Marcus Aurelius. While I’d hardly call myself a follower of the philosophy, I do think it includes some helpful ideas, and it’s occasionally been a useful lens for dealing with some problem I’ve been dealing with.

I struggled with both sets of writing, however, for different reasons. The modern writers often made me roll my eyes, often clearly pitching at entrepreneurs and CEOs, and billing an ancient philosophy as a life hack. The work of the ancients, I found more interesting, but difficult to contextualize and navigate.

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