The Monday Mix (23/05/2022)
Hey friends,
Not much to report this week, so I’ll get straight into what I want to share with you this week.
Serious Money
A fascinating piece on the wealthy neighbourhoods of London and how they have changed various areas in the city. Despite being English, I’ve only visited London a few times, something I need to rectify. Yet, wherever you are in the country, you know that the majority of the money in the UK is sucked into London and this piece tells you where it goes.
One of the most shocking parts of this story is that the builders working on the wealthy owners of houses who build multiple basements in their properties, leave the machine that bores out the ground and cover it over with cement instead of fetching it out and inconveniencing the rest of the neighbourhood!
An indictment of the disparity between the super-wealthy and the rest of us.
Accidental Invention of The Illuminati Conspiracy
The Illuminati is one of the biggest conspiracies of recent times. That a shadowy elite behind the scenes is really in charge and our political leaders are mere puppets who are told what to do. Of course, the conspiracy is overblown, there is no Illuminati, and recent events should highlight how little control politicians have over events never mind an elite behind the scenes.
This is a really good piece and highlights how a conspiracy can gain ground and become a big part of popular culture despite having no basis in reality.
Philosopher of the Apocalypse
Technology has changed the world, of that there is no doubt. But perhaps the technology that changed the world the most is the atom bomb. Before the development of the bomb, we did not have the capacity to eradicate swathes of life in an instant.
Now, we live with this possibility in the background, lingering over our shoulders whether we realise it or not. It’s not just the bomb, technology such as social media has led to anyone being able to broadcast their opinion not just to their close social circle but to anyone who cares to listen. It’s only recently we’ve realised the toxic effects of this technology, and social media in general.
This is an interesting piece on the negative effects of technology and where it might be leading us.
Book I’m reading - The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction by Robert McMahon
I studied parts of the Cold War in school, but I never looked at the period as a whole. This is a brilliant little book that goes over the Cold War in brief, but with enough detail to give you a good starting point to develop further. I highly recommend the Oxford Very Short Introductions Series. I’ve read a few books on topics such as the Ice Age and Information and learnt a lot despite the books only being just over 100 pages long
Quote I’m pondering: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom