The Monday Mix (24/01/2022)
Hi friends,
Not much to report this week, so I’ll get straight into what I want to share with you.
Chemical Hunger
This is a really interesting, and concerning piece on how chemicals might be impacting the obesity epidemic we’re seeing around the globe. The common consensus is that obesity is mainly the fault of the individual for eating too much. While this will be true in some cases, other factors could be at play.
Seeing as the explosion in obesity coincides with the increased use of chemicals in agriculture and many other sectors, it seems our personal choices might not be as important as the environment we live in.
Meeting an Ex Nazi
A compelling piece on a man meeting an ex-Nazi thirty years on from when they first met. It’s a gripping read, but what shocked me most was just how many former Nazis there were in Germany during the 1990s. I didn’t realise so many were still in public life, and seemingly unrepentant for the atrocities that were caused under the regime.
The Closing of the Conservative Mind
An old, but relevant read on the state of conservative politics. This piece focuses on the British Conservative party who have now been in power for 12 years, but it reflects a wider trend in conservative circles. That they are short on new ideas and no longer hold dear the values they once held.
The key to conservatism is in the name, the impulse to conserve. Around the world, the opposite trend seems to be happening. Conservatives are lurching further to the right and becoming enraptured by ideology than traditional figures on the right would have done.
Book I’m reading - The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall
With the situation in Ukraine escalating, this is a timely read. I read his previous book, Prisoners of Geography, so I’m looking forward to similar eye-opening revelations about the role geography plays in the relations between nation-states.
Quote I’m pondering: “Nothing is wholly obvious without becoming enigmatic. Reality itself is too obvious to be true.” – Jean Baudrillard
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom