I think I hold the same position as Graeber, I was just keeping it simple.
For example that's partially why I said "all" tribes. I agree that it didn't happen linearly, and agriculture wasn't adopted by all groups at the same time. As Marx pointed out late in his life, many tribes had instead adopted a proto-communism that didn't derive from a local implosion of the capitalist order. However the exploitative form of material relations has nonetheless become dominant over the course of millennia. It is obsessed with subjugation and highly normalized. Therefore I think preventing its instances of origination would have led to the development of very different civilizations.
At the advent of agriculture and the transition away from pastoralism and nomadism, I wish that all tribes had enforced a collectivist mentality regarding possessions instead of allowing chains of inequality that have lashed out for millennia.
I think inequality is one of those things that is really difficult to erase once it has already been normalized. It allows for accumulation of power, and then uses that power to fight against the fragmented opposition to itself. I think there would have been so much less suffering if that issue had been nipped in the bud back at the start of "civilization."
In an ideal world I would love to, but in this world I prefer strict anonymity. At least for now. I hope that's okay. There are a lot of details beyond geographic location that I also restrict.
This is a line I drew for my own well-being after multiple encounters with unstable people IRL and on social media. It's not worth the worry for me.
With that said, I encourage others to ask questions if they want more specifics on anything. I'll either answer or explain why I don't want to. I would also be comfortable comparing/contrasting in more detail if other users were participating in similar conversations.
I've started harvesting from my garden (started from scratch ~2 years ago) and I've gotten some nice specimens, but yields were low. Some plants didn't make it to harvest, some didn't mature enough, and some didn't fruit. My soil started with almost no nutrition and I'm doing this on a - quite frankly - very cheap budget; I haven't done another soil test but it's pretty clear I need to further improve the soil. I'll run another test, grab some fertilizers and spread them out hopefully later this year.
I'm looking to adapt the soil to the plants but also the plants to the soil to some extent, so I've been keeping an eye out on what grows without much soil improvement. There's definitely a few. More did well with the vegetative stage than the flowering stage (due presumably to a lack of phosphorous).
The things I'm growing in pots are generally doing pretty well, but they require a lot of watering (the whole garden does - without a reservoir system, if running water goes out people's gardens will soon follow).
I tend to give things a little more shade these days than I would have when I was younger. Maybe I'm being counter-productive but it seems like I see more sunburn and drying out here/now. At some point I should take measurements but I don't have time right now.
The weather was harsh at times for the spring/summer seasons. I have above average windbreaks and eliminated standing water so I didn't lose too many plants.
I've had a lot of opportunist "weeds" crop up in areas of disturbed soil. They do very well at all stages haha. I let some grow for awhile to let them improve the soil in various ways, and then pulled anything non-native.
I've had lots of baby trees popping up, too. I keep mowing to a minimum. I let some stay, move others, and generally avoid getting rid of them as much as I can. But there's a lot. I might have to start a business selling them lol. Anyway, there are reasons that people turn to famine foods in famine - because they're the only thing that grows. A pretty simple concept, but probably not something we usually think about while mowing.
I'm not looking forward to moving pots in/out with the seasons changing. I also have propagations to tend to, and need to prepare more.
Not a bad season overall. I have some seed lineages I'm excited to continue. Modern conveniences make all of this possible, at least without other infrastructure prepped. Certain weather instabilities have definitely been a hassle although nothing was too extreme so far this year. Let's see long how that lasts.
Now if only we valued nature itself, or our continued ability to appreciate either.
Culture is not a static system. Elements may be destined to be counter-rational for now, but a better of awareness could also destine us for a more fair and effective system in the future. Just because something hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that determinism dictates it never will.
Permanently Deleted
If you want to start growing plants inside and plan to move them outside, do yourself a favor and invest in a proper light timer. I've been surprised by how many supposedly non-photoperiod plants can really struggle with a sudden day period mismatch.
Also be mindful of getting plants too warm and then moving them to a cooler outdoor environment, as that really messes up their seasonality. (That's probably common sense but I thought I might as well point it out.)
That's not what the paper says is the problem.
As the argument of population control is one I think not at all worth having for many of reasons, such as, you just canāt do much about it!
I've often argued a similar line. This topic is notorious for bringing out bad-faith posters trying to shape the narrative. Sometimes it seems hardly worth discussing to me as well. Especially among redditors which is what I was used to for many years. But to not be able to discuss it at all is too much for me as a mod, especially when those who would take advantage of us discuss it freely.
And it will become reality easy enough if it becomes mandatory and thatās sad enough.
My concern is that there are still different ways that this can all go down, and that we aren't charting towards handling the crisis in a wise and humane manner. We're basically blindly following capitalists into the void. And acting "naively" (following systemic biases) is not moral or ethical in our position. People are already dying of exposure today, in our local communities and around the world. It is the most disadvantaged that suffers most and it will continue to be that way unless something is changed.
But I guess if we find ourselves truly not welcome here anymore than it seems we would just have to move with you guys.
Whatever works best for everyone involved.
"If you see monkeys that are weak... please try to hoist a bucket of water by rope for them to drink," a wildlife preservation group said.
Bears that are struggling to hibernate due to abnormally warm weather in Russia's Amur region are wandering around in a daze, having suppressed their metabolism in preparation for winter.
Floods, freezes and heatwaves threaten seed production as farmers scramble to produce strains that resist climate chaos
The article interviews various individuals involved with raising seed crops for small-to-medium operations. Chaotic weather patterns have had a major impact on their seed production. The article notes that it takes longer to produce seeds for many plants than it takes to produce food from them, and that weather conditions must remain appropriate through their entire life cycle. It briefly discusses adapting plants through hybridization and open-pollination to make them more resilient against growing threats.
Mods are AWOL. Is this collapse?
Post your observations here.
Start your comment with "Location: [insert location]" or the bot will get angry - any nonsense location will do.
