So, I watched Season 1 of the TV show Severance not long ago. I’ll have much more to say about the show later. But for now, a quote from one of the characters jumped out to me.
Category: Culture (Page 5 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.
So, I managed to make it nearly 3 years into the pandemic without catching Covid. I even began to think that maybe I was one of those “super-immune” people who never get it despite being exposed repeatedly. The press loves to write about these (mostly hypothetical) people.
However, it wasn’t to be. I dodged the original virus and all the early variants. But I wasn’t able to avoid Omicron forever, though I made it a year into it. I tested positive for Covid in early December after developing mild respiratory symptoms.
Here’s how it went: I had mild respiratory symptoms for a few days. Mostly a scratchy and slightly sore throat and some phlegm. As my respiratory symptoms cleared up, some less pleasant GI symptoms started developing. Those were a real hassle for a few days, and then they hung around in a lesser form for another week or two. I also had a couple of weird and random symptoms that popped up briefly and then never returned. And I tested positive on rapid tests for about 2 weeks.
I fully recovered a few days before Christmas.
All in all, I’d say it wasn’t a fun experience and I wouldn’t recommend it. But I’d also say it was far from the “sickest I’ve ever been,” which is how I’ve heard many people describe it. It was more weird than troubling. I assume that being vaccinated and boosted twice (once with the original and once with the bivalent vaccine) helped a fair bit.
Anyway, that’s my Covid experience. I hope it’s the first and final time I get it. While I’ll surely continue following Covid politics, I don’t intend to write about it again. Unless we see new and particularly noteworthy developments.
I’ve spent the last few months getting into the History of Rome and History of Byzantium podcasts. And along with Mike Duncan, Robin Pierson, and their listeners, I’ve been asking myself: when did the Roman Empire fall?
The traditional view says it fell in 476 CE. But in recent decades, historians have put more emphasis on a ‘continuity and change’ narrative than on a ‘decline and fall’ narrative. Well, which is it? Did the Roman Empire fall in 476 CE? Earlier than that? Or did it live on much longer? Maybe it lasted all the way until the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453?
Leftists often bicker over how to use Twitter. Is it an essential communication tool allowing us to break out of the mainstream media monopoly on thought and opinion? Or is it a travesty and driver of conflict in our movements?
In truth, it’s both of those things. Or at least it can be. But I’d like to point out a better way of thinking about Twitter.
In short, Twitter is like a chat in a big, boozy bar. It can be a source of news or information. And it can lead to valuable insights. But it’s also often messy and destructive. And it’s full of clowns who start fights for no good reason. You can participate in it, but maintain a healthy, robust skepticism.
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So, you’ve joined DSA. You attended your first meeting the other day. And like any right-thinking socialist at their first DSA meeting, you identified your politics as ‘to the left of the DSA.’ Now you’re sitting around thinking, ‘why doesn’t DSA have a real socialist caucus?’
Good think you clicked this blog post, my friend, because you’re in luck. I’m going to explain the 5 steps to start a DSA caucus. Read on and enjoy!
