Morning, folks.
I highly recommend the Cold Turkey app if ever you need a break. I blocked myself from CoSo for a week to stop doomscrolling while dealing with other stressors. I think a lot of us were disheartened by the state of the silo recently--but as J notes, that's on us to manage like the adults we are!
For those who missed it, I wrote last week on Ed Murrow. His pluralist ideals informed a life of service, and set a standard for us all.
Hope you've been well.
https://mlclark.substack.com/p/wires-and-lights-in-a-box-media-lessons
Thanks, J! I hope you've had a good week and start to May, too.
@MLClark welcome back!
Thanks backsaw! Hope you've been well.
@MLClark just fine. Restoring some land, day job is a bit uncertain so I'm reflecting on what I might want to do next. So far I've got: drink coffee, read. Feel like that should be paid work.
Oh, fantastic. What are you reading today? Grim ol' news, or something beautiful?
@MLClark I only read news I can effect, e.g. write my reps, send a box. Actively avoid the torrents of catastrophes; don't need reminding our species is a hot mess.
What's on your docket? You seem to get through a lot of text!
Reading Shogun (again) and this stack next:
I was just thinking yesterday that I hadn't seen you post in a bit.
I'm due for an unplug myself.
Highly recommended!
The internet is not the world, but our bodies don't know that, so they react to conflict here the same as if we were bracing for real-world conflict. And all that does is feed the addiction cycle. Doubleplusungood for mental health and wellness.
That said, I did miss many people here!
Hope you've been taking good care of yourself for the last while. 💜
Reading "On Future Hoarding"... It brings to mind a video I watched recently.
It's about La Rinconada in Peru, which is probably the largest city on earth. It's a mining town, where mining is utterly destroying the land... and it's a place that's essentially lawless. Only the most desperate come to do brutal work. Accidents, robberies, and murders are common.
It had me thinking: How do you write dystopian fiction, when this is the reality for many?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJuTM7TJ9J0&list=LL&index=26
TYGHE YOU ARE READING MY MIND.
I am writing a story this very moment about a person trying to advance eco-justice in a small pueblo where official miners went on strike out of safety concerns, which only gave a local cartel leverage to take over the town and further its illegal mining operations.
It's inspired by real events last year, and green energy extraction economies.
So... I'm working on that answer as we speak. 😂 But I gotta tell you, finding a positive ending is tough!
Sometimes it's a matter of scale. When you can't have a positive ending for the larger story--it's possible for one character.
Exactly that. I need find Aleja a little slice of justice in her pueblo - and will do my best to make it credible.
Honestly, though, the news events last year here, when Clan del Golfo took over small mining towns and exploited existing complaints with the government to further their own tyranny, far exceeds the nuance of many a fictional dystopia I've seen over the years in books, film, & TV. The real world is *so* much heavier than the fruits of even our grimmest imaginations.
I don't know if @corlin and others are still working on their own pieces, but I have this story in mind for submission to Grist's Imagine 2200 contest - so if anyone else wants to try their hand at pragmatically empowering near-future fiction, please have at it, too!
#WritingCommunity
https://grist.org/climate-fiction/imagine-2200-contest-submissions/
@MLClark @tyghebright
Working the story, here boss.
And I will be ever so delighted to read it, if fortunate. :)
And thank you for sharing this link and taking the time to read the piece! I'm glad it resonated. We live in strange bubbles in a vastly hurting world.
@MLClark Welcome back. Hopefully things out there are calming down for you.