We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
"Victoria Johnson's American Eden is the kind of history I love: deeply researched, evocative of its time, and fascinating at every turn. It follows the life of David Hosack, early American doctor, botanist, New Yorker, and bon vivant, whose life touched the famous on both sides of the Atlantic. Hosack was there when Alexander Hamilton took a bullet; Hosack greeted the Marquis de Lafayette on his triumphal return in 1824; Hosack founded North America's first botanic garden on the land where Rockefeller Center now stands in midtown Manhattan. Where others saw real estate and power, Hosack saw the landscape as a pharmocopeia able to bring medicine into the modern age."
― Eric W. Sanderson, author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City
I would like to say I'm sorry for disappearing for so long. Not that I'm essential to the inner workings of Maggie's, but I've seen a few people (specifically Doc Mercury, who pulled me in) simply vanish. I'd prefer to not just disappear. But it's been a strange time for me the past 7 months. I'll share more on that at another time. I am writing specifically because I finished the podcast "Revolutions" which, frankly, is worth the time and effort if you have it. I listened on the train every morning and evening - and then at the gym when there was no train. As it turns out the most interesting revolutions were the French and Russian. Which were also the longest portions, by far.
There was a lot to consume, but it did leave me with many thoughts. Not the least of which is that the U.S. is bordering on its own French Revolution, of sorts. The Woke/Cancel/BLM/CRT crowd are aligned in one thing. Eliminating what they view as injustice and privilege - which is, in essence, the elimination of liberty.
Mikhail Bakunin:
"Liberty, without socialism, is privilege and injustice. But socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality."
The founders of Marxist revolutions were acutely aware that Socialism/Marxism was unworkable. Even Bakunin knew it - though he couched his 'reality' by saying it "might" work with liberty.
The problem is, of course, socialism cannot work with liberty. It's unworkable. Once people can do as they please, the system reverts to a mad form of crony capitalism - basically fascism. If you're not doing what the government wants, what's the point? In a weird way, fascism IS socialism "with" liberty...
And there's the rub. While I do not believe liberty is privilege and injustice (far from it, I do believe liberty is whatever you want it to be and if you fall into the realm of permanent victimhood, then so be it. Don't blame the system, blame your world view and yourself), I understand the nature and value of how a system of liberty makes things better for everyone. Even if some privilege and some injustice sneak in. Because the alternatives are, frankly, far, far worse.
So it's always fun to hear someone say "I'm a trained Marxist." Because Marx left no blueprints. Unlike most other economic systems, which follow some basic laws or guidelines, Marxism has none and never did. It was just an ideal propped up by bland sayings which pulled at heartstrings, morality, and a general feeling of what is "fair" and "just". I like to say that "fair" means different things to different people. There is no "fair". "Fair" is what a 5 year old says when it wants what it wants. "It's not fair."
The sad part is, even as Leftists push for "fair" they are the first to invoke "life isn't fair" as they destroy people along the way.
Ironic, and sad. But Eric Hoffer was wise to all that...
“I know of no one in 1776 that anticipated the kind of federal government that emerged 10 years later,” Wood adds. “Something awful had to happen in those 10 years to explain the Constitution. I find that it’s harder to explain the Constitution than it is to explain the Revolution itself.”
Alexander Joseph Bohen, Sergeant US Army, World War 2 (DOB: 6 APR 1925, Hometown: Brooklyn, NY)
He recalls England, where the Brits hated the Yanks: "Overpaid, over-fed, over-sexed, and over here." A tough guy, took it all in stride in the fight. I recommend.
A lengthy documentary, but it is difficult to stop watching. Very well done. They created a civilization that makes Medieval Europe, 2000 years later, seem like a back woods barbarian place.
As I wrote my piece on Wokism, I stumbled on a quote from Algernon Sidney. Few know that Jefferson mentioned Sidney as a source and/or inspiration for the Declaration of Independence. Here is the quote which resonated with me: "We live in an age that makes truth pass for treason, and as I dare not say anything against it, so the ears of those that are about me will probably be found too tender to hear it. This my trial and condemnation do sufficiently evidence." It can hardly be more true today, as "credible" news sources spread lies masquerading as truth based on nothing other than these sources own claim that they, themselves, are "credible." Credibility is in the information, not the source - and we have precious few truly credible sources of news today.
Sidney was a supporter of the Roundheads during the English Civil War, and a member of the Long Parliament. Despite his opposition to the king and support for the forces opposing him, Cromwell found it necessary to have Sidney removed, as Sidney had become critical of Cromwell's authoritarian nature. His refusal to leave his seat led to Cromwell ordering the parliamentarians removal and Sidney fled England.
I've not been contributing since about September, and I apologize for the long gap. I apologize only because it's rude to disappear without letting people know where you're going and I do my best to avoid being rude. In a nutshell, I've been overwhelmed at work, which is a good thing. After not working for many months, I managed to land a (much lower level) position which is working out very well for me and my long-term prospects have improved dramatically in the last few weeks. Of course, improved opportunity means additional responsibilities. Which means more time at a desk, at least in my current role. At my age (pushing 60), that's something many others cannot say. They're either at or near the pinnacle of your career, or winding it down. As I have done 4 other times in my life, I'm winding up again and feeling great.
One thing I do is try to go for a walk each day for at least an hour. Fresh air and exercise enables me to be nimble of body and mind. I'll listen to history podcasts while I walk, or just think. Recently, after a particularly difficult conversation with a friend who has gone full-on Woke, I chewed the mental cud and began to wonder where all this Wokism is headed.
It suddenly struck me what the essential problem of Wokism and Cancel Culture represent. In the name of creating and expanding opportunity, these people are limiting it severely. I wondered what history would look like if Woke and Cancel mindsets had been in place for a longer time than just the last decade or so. Not that we need another discussion on Wokism, but I felt this was a good mental exercise.
Looking at the Musk Ox video took me to the Laurentide Ice Age, just a few years ago when NYC was under a mile of glacier.
That glacier created the modern Great Lakes, Cape Cod, and Long Island. This was during the Pleistocene, when great mammals occupied North America - Mastodons, Camels, and other critters like Musk Ox. Also, humans from Siberia. Wooly Mammoths in New Jersey. Climate change, for the better.
1928, around Cape Horn. The ship is the Peking, now resting at NYC's South Street Seaport. Grew up on a Massachusetts farm, with the accent. Similar to Vermont.
Very doubtful that it was bubonic plague. It is more likely to have been a combination of European diseases like influenza, smallpox, common cold (a corona virus), etc first brought to the New World by Portuguese fishermen. The natives had no immunity to those things.
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic 
I've not been contributing since about September, and I apologize for the long gap. I apologize only because it's rude to disappear without letting people know where you're going and I do my best to avoid being rude. In a nutshell, I've been overwhelmed at work, which is a good thing. After not working for many months, I managed to land a (much lower level) position which is working out very well for me and my long-term prospects have improved dramatically in the last few weeks. Of course, improved opportunity means additional responsibilities. Which means more time at a desk, at least in my current role. At my age (pushing 60), that's something many others cannot say. They're either at or near the pinnacle of your career, or winding it down. As I have done 4 other times in my life, I'm winding up again and feeling great.