Myaku Myaku train in the early evening 📸 🚋 🦠
#Osaka #大阪
It could be better for everybody — a review of Limitarianism in just 335 words
📚 Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns is an ethical framework advocating for limiting excess wealth and redistributing to the benefit of wider society. The book builds its case by historically analyzing the rise of inequality over the past 50 years through global neoliberal policy; the social problems that inequality cause or exacerbate; how taking a Limitarian stance could improve things for everyone including the wealthy; and what needs to be done to get there. She starts off the book with her proposal that there be a “political” wealth cap of 10mm $/€/£ per person, and an ethical limit of 1mm $/€/£ per person. Basically, she comes out of the book fighting. Then, throughout the author provides many shocking statistics and refers to many different academic studies. Furthermore, she runs though many of the counter arguments that have been posed to her by the public and the media, naming and taking apart each objection as a trained philosopher should. She brings a lot to the fight, and in the end settles basically on a strong welfare state (I would like to a see an anarchist argument). Altogether is a strong package. It is not the kind of thing you pass to the proverbial conservative uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner table. He will scoff, reject it outright, and recommend Thomas Sowell or some other ghoul. But for people who do not pray to Ludwig von Mises or one of the Mont Pelerin set, but do not necissarly have a strong critical bent or are not as politically aware, it might serve as a good catch-me-up and help them understand why they think we might be in the Bad Timeline. I really appreciate Robeyns’s call at the end for more political engagement by regular people. Our democratic muscles have atrophied in the decades of consumerist atomization. As the classic Graeber quote goes, “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.”
See my short chapter notes on Goodreads or Bookwyrm to get a peek into the details of the book.
Nice review of a beautiful looking book: The Uyghurs: Kashgar before the Catastrophe
Photos are from 1998. Compare with the NYT photo essay from 2019 I linked in a post with some of my photos from 2004. What a place. 😔
Finally finished processing and uploading my Taiwan photos to Flickr. I ended up picking 307 out of 1800 and organizing them into a number of albums. Link below, but I will to write a trip report soon with context.
Fun NBN interview with Richard Jaffe about his book Seeking Sakyamuni, a book I adore. 📚🎙
Interview: newbooksnetwork.com/seeking-s… My chapter notes: www.goodreads.com/review/sh…
Also good to hear @ssiddiqui83’s voice again!
#Buddhism #Japan #history #books #podcast
Started the second volume of The First Law series Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie 📚
When I arrived at Osaka Castle Park Station I was wondering why there were so many people walking around? 🤔 Was it a concert at Osaka Dome? 👩🎤 NOPE! It was the 2024 Craft Gyoza Fest! 🥟🥟🥟 #Osaka #Japan #餃子
Perfect blue sky at Osaka Castle 📸🏯
Listened to the latest ep of CBC Spark on the negative impacts of a culture of productivity, which is a good ep and all, but ends with the shocking announcement that CBC is cancelling Spark after 17 years! 😱
Old school beats from Meth 👐 and look at who tops the list as enemies of music being defeated in this new Droog claymation video: The Algorithm ⚙️ 🎶
Stopped at School Bus before the kids get home for a little writing on the patio in the sun ☕️
Under the tracks 📸
#Osaka #Japan #streetPhotography
If you are in Kansai come out to OWDDM on May 18 when we will be introducing Erin Meyer’s excellent book The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. This in an interactive session.
🤦♂️ OMG why do I do this to myself… it was just a week #travel #photography
Finished The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie 📚
4.5 rounded up. Some plotholes and cliches but excellent narrator sells it. Before even finishing I got the rest of the series. Been a while since I read a rollicking fantasy like this. Definitely reminiscent of Locke Lamora.
Wall art in the alley behind Kyobashi Shotengai #Osaka #StreetArt
Metagov has a $200k grant program for improving interoperability amongst decision making tools. Applications open until May 31st.
Learn more: metagov.github.io/interop/
Email interop@metagov.org with your questions
#governance #interop #grants #research
ISOC has a new hefty research program covering:
- Greening the Internet
- The Internet Economy
- A Trustworthy Internet
- Decolonizing the Internet
Landed at Kansai International Airport. A guy in the lobby asks me for directions. I help him out. He identifies himself as Canadian 🇨🇦 “Hey! I’m Canadian!” 🍁 Canadians helping Canadians, all over the world 🤝
Currently at the airport getting ready to leaveve Taiwan for Japan. It has been a great trip. I have learned a bunch, and had my curiousity piqued even more. If anyone has any recent book recommendations on Taiwanese identity formation in the past decade, please let me know!