Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Category: Culture (Page 3 of 21)

These are posts on culture from the blog Base and Superstructure. Mostly the focus is on American culture. But there might be a few posts on broader, international issues.

Modified Consensus and Activist Conflict

Activist communities often tread gingerly around conflict. They know it tears activist groups apart, especially personal conflict. It has done so for decades.

Sometimes even political conflict tears activist groups apart. The groups find it difficult to work through disagreement on even ordinary political issues, especially in their first few meetings. Usually groups come together as voluntarily associations of people interested in a few topics, and they don’t have much in the way of long personal history and built-up trust.

Many groups react to all these things by avoiding conflict. They bury the conflict, pretending it doesn’t exist. In the short term, this provides some benefits. But it’s almost always a long term path to nowhere. Let’s talk about better ways to handle conflict, specifically modified consensus as a model.

Many react to this history by avoiding conflict. They bury it – pretend it doesn’t exist. This can help in the short-term. But it’s almost always a long-term path to nowhere. Let’s talk about better ways to handle conflict.

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Nostalgia for the Early Pandemic

Lately I’ve noticed lots of people seem nostalgic for the early pandemic time of spring and summer 2020. Especially young people. You can hear it in how they talk, especially online. I’m not the only person who has noticed this.

But the nostalgia didn’t take the form I might have guessed. People’s lives certainly changed in 2020. Things happened! And then, in many cases, their lives went back to how they were before 2020. Lots of people didn’t like the return to pre-2020. But they weren’t latching onto the features I initially expected.

So, what’s going on here? Why do people seem to miss the quarantine days of March 2020 or the protest and uprising days of June 2020.

Here are some thoughts.

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Starting a Career Journal

Over the last few months, I’ve started a career journal! I did so after reading the book Leaving Academia.

So far, it’s not a lot. I’ve written about the things I like and don’t like about both my current job and past work. I’ve thought and written about the priorities I have for my career. And I’ve written some things about how my career relates to the things I do in my own time and the time I spend with my family and friends.

So far, I don’t think I’ve learned anything world shattering. But I have used it as a reminder to myself of what’s important in my life. And while my career is certainly a factor in all that, it’s not one of the most important things. And that’s OK. Sometimes we need a reminder like that.

For readers: have any of you started a career journal? Thinking about starting a career journal? If so, I’d love to hear how it’s going for you. Drop a comment and let me know!

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Can You Buy The World Series?

As we enter a new baseball season, I’d like to talk about money. Baseball fans always complain about the rich teams spending money and winning all the time. They’ve argued for decades that financial imbalances make the game worse. In the strongest version of these arguments, they claim outright that a team can buy the World Series.

Can they, though? Can a team buy the World Series, or is this just hyperbole? ESPN recently wrote about it with regard to the Mets.

Let’s figure it out.

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How Common Is Long Covid?

covid risk assessment age vaccine

As I recovered from Covid at the end of last year, I researched what I should watch out for in the coming weeks. After all, Long Covid loomed as a possibility. And I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything important.

As a basic piece of pandemic advice, it’s a good one. You should watch out for ongoing or recurring symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, brain fog, GI issues, and so on.

However, I can’t help but notice a disconnect between what I read in the press about Long Covid and what I see in the world around me. The press routinely claims that 10-30% (or 30-50%, or 20-80%) of people infected by Covid go on to develop Long Covid. But when I think about all the people I know who Covid has infected – which is pretty close to everyone I know at this point – waaay less than 10-30% of them have ongoing issues like the ones above.

In short, I do know people who still suffer from Long Covid. And I hope they recover. But they comprise maybe 1-2% (maybe less) of the people I know who have had Covid.

What’s the deal here?

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