I made another "Looting the Ivory Tower" video. I intend to make a bunch more. Suggestions welcome. https://twitter.com/marcsrhudson/status/1624331409799237632
Dancing around the issue – of metaphors of hope(lessness)
We think in metaphors (or I do and people around me seem to), but those metaphors can take us to bad places and (therefore) need to be interrogated, and challenged. So, as the old study showed, if you frame crime as evilness you get one lot of policy proposals being popular, if you frame it... Continue Reading →
On failing to solve the January 4th 2023 problem….
Well, back in mid-2019 I wrote this Here's an excerpt January 4th 2023 is a Wednesday. There’s probably going to be a scrutiny committee meeting or two of Manchester City Council on that day. Back-bench councillors will gather to hear presentations from officers and Executive Members, and pick over reports. (In a perfect world Manchester City... Continue Reading →
“Little” lives – Johnson, Eliot, Chomsky vs that Nietzsche guy. #SocialMovements #SlaveMorality
So, have been thinking (for once) about failure, the meaning of it all etc There's that great essay by Samuel Johnson "What Have Ye Done?" which ends (spoilers, obvs) From this mistaken notion of human greatness it proceeds, that many who pretend to have made great advances in wisdom so loudly declare that they despise... Continue Reading →
What are the complementary assets of a successful* social movement organisation?
A page on this site, about "complementary assets" has had a lot of hits in the last 24 hours. Don't know why, but it's enough of a pretext to write something. I'll say what CA are, what a social movement organisation "is", why we should care about it, what the CAs of one would be... Continue Reading →
What’s BUGging me today? #MovementPathologies
tl;dr The 'Bottom-Up' Grift (BUG) is the spinning of a line - for profit and/attention - that the true path to utopia is via 'bottom up' activity. This post defines the BUG, explains how to spot it, where it comes from, what to do about it. The Grift Making a career out of saying "we... Continue Reading →
What went wrong? Why we didn’t act on climate when we still could have done owt meaningful?
Just tweeted the following microrant - It is extraordinary. Unlike ppl who organised in far harder conditions, where dissent (or just BEING) could easily get you killed, #climate activists in the "West", with freedom of speech, assembly, information, "the science" etc etc have been not just outspent, but outplayed 1/2outthought, outfought, outACTED. Emissions keep climbing.... Continue Reading →
Carbon Capture and Storage – what I think I think (today)
tl;dr - my views on Carbon Capture and Storage have evolved and will probably continue to do so. I have written something for the Conversation which many will see as another tired greenie attack on the suite of technologies that fly under that banner of "CCS". My actual views, I like to believe, are a... Continue Reading →
Hudson’s law of nugatory plenaries
Plenary, n. meeting or session attended by all participants at a conference or assembly. ("working parties would report back to the plenary with recommendations") Nugatory adj. of no value or importance. Let's say, for the sake of a making a seemingly robust argument (i.e. one with numbers and percentages) that the likelihood of you getting... Continue Reading →
“Soz, Virginia, there is no Sanity Clause” (given that it’s almost Atheistmas)
DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.Some of my little friends say there is no Sanity Clause,and therefore humans are going to destroy the conditions for their continued existence before they can stop themselves. And that I will die young.Papa says, ‘If you see someone say "WE ARE DUN" it’s so.’Please tell me the truth;... Continue Reading →
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