The Monday Mix (29/11/2021)
Hi friends,
This week has taken a cold turn here in the UK, with snow falling and a storm battering large parts of the country. A few trees were uprooted near where I live, roof tiles shattered and fences were blown away.
Just another winter in England! And that’s until it gets colder, starts raining and we get flooding.
Anyway, apart from the sometimes atrocious weather, I do like this time of the year, especially as Christmas gets closer. I don’t know why but there’s just something about Christmas I really enjoy. We’re a few weeks away yet, but I’m already looking forward to it!
Here’s what I want to share with you this week.
Is Society Coming Apart?
This is a fascinating essay looking at the history of neoliberalism and whether the pandemic has led to the conclusion that there is such a thing as society. This was one of Mrs Thatcher’s most famous statements, that there was no such thing as society.
I’m no fan of hers and I think we can say she was wrong on this account, as our experiences of the past two years have shown. Society is very much a thing and does not just comprise of individuals working for their own benefit. Perhaps one of the main things to come out of the pandemic will be a great emphasis on society and how much we need each other rather than the further atomisation of ties between us all.
The Antidote to Civilisational Collapse
An interview with my favourite documentary maker Adam Curtis. This was conducted in 2018 after the release of his 2016 documentary, HyperNormalisation and before his most recent work, Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
Curtis is an intriguing figure and if you’ve watched any of his films, you’ll know what I mean. His thoughts in this article are interesting and still hold true today. While some of his views may come from leftfield, he does have some interesting takes on the issues of the day.
Evil Corp
Most people think of hackers as people who live in their parent’s basements, barely see the sun and spend almost every waking hour huddled over a computer. While there may be some truth to this, it’s also true there’s a lot of money to be made in hacking.
One such group of hackers, with the somewhat self-fulfilling name of Evil Corp, have taken this to an extreme. This group of Russian hackers has made millions from their hacking efforts. What’s more, it appears they have the tacit support of the Russian government too. This story, where journalists try to track the figures who are wanted by the FBI down, is an incredible read.
Book I’m reading - Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera
If you want to know more about how the British Empire still affects the UK to this day and the wider impact it had on the world, this is the book to read. I’ve just started it and I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far. As someone who studied history, it’s amazing how much I learnt about my own country while reading this book.
Quote I’m pondering: “Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.” – Karl Popper
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom