Category: History - Nowtopian

“Things Are in the Saddle, and Ride Mankind”

So said Ralph Waldo Emerson in the middle of the nineteenth century. As we proceed into the glowering gloom of the coming years, I always find it helpful—if not refreshing exactly—to place things in historic context. But also to recognize that there have been deep systemic paradigm shifts again and again—and those shifts don’t come […]

Forgotten Futures in Seattle

Sunset on the Puget Sound.

Had a sweet trip to Seattle for Adriana’s birthday over Thanksgiving weekend. She won some hockey tickets at a curling bonspiel so we went to see “our” San Jose Sharks beat the Seattle Kraken at the arena now known as “The Climate Pledge,” a name no one I […]

Autocracy Defeats Neoliberalism

Golden Gate Park a few months ago…

I guess it’s oddly appropriate to find myself two hours into the limbo of the jury duty room at San Francisco’s Hall of (In)justice. The clerks have ordered us to remain here several times while apologizing that the courts just aren’t ready for us. Pretty normal […]