Welp, there goes that link again. I think FT is very fond of their paywall. But I have your November 2024 essay to keep me company for a while. I, too, am very fond of PKD--and Ursula K LeGuin, Samuel Delany, Tom Disch, and others of the Dangerous Visions era--and agree that his concerns are our concerns. He could see where we were (really) going.
After all, yes. When everything's said and done--that as well. Still and all, one would think it might be in the interest of an information and opinion-type business to actually make good on their offers of particular samples of said aforementioned information and/or opinion. Just saying. Well, arguing. Providing a sample opinion, maybe.
Oh my goodness, Brother Farrell: out of the ballpark again. The ballpark that the protagonist Julia awoke to when she emerged from the dark reality of The Machine PKD acknowledged in TMMITHC that WE have created in our misbegotten drive for 'progress' and 'the future'.
A future for which this Boomer is as culpable as the next one: "Fuel Injection! Overhead cams! TV everywhere in your pocket!" Jesus. I'm hoping to find a 1930s GE Monitor Top fridge* to go with my 1927 bungalow kitchen, in FURTHER rejection of this madness, even if it does feel too late. (*They’re still out there, still working if you applied a couple drops of 3-in-1 to the motor bearings every year)
I don't want what they want. I don’t want what they want me to want. I further refuse, every day, to just shrug and participate in the Enclosures, Extractions and Enslavements being foisted upon us as 'necessary'. I want Enflourishment for my neighbors and those I love. And those I don't love, too. Although.... from an Irish curse: "May the Lord smite them in their ankles, that I shall know them by their limping".
Brilliant, sir. Many thanks for this extra splash of starch in my collar this morning.
My imagination is not for sale. Social media does not draw all of us into Oz. And there was a little manipulator behind the green curtain. That is why being skeptical about everything is a life survival strategy. Without critical thinking all you are is a Storm Trooper.
I have been saying this for years - PKD was fantastic and it is hard not too see him as an old testament prophet. He certainly felt he was linked to the universe in many odd ways. His later, not published work,(The Exegis) is fascinating if hard to follow. There is also the idea that HG Wells was basically responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb - he dreamed it others made it. As you rightly point out a generation of kids reading Asimov etc would dream of the stars. Dick saw the dark side of that dream the nightmare in which we are now living. (BTW the lovely FT have blocked the link - I guess they want to monetise it)
The link worked for me, thank you. It’s a marvellous article. The book (recommended by you) Undivided by Hahrie Han, is great at describing how people in one community made”solid connections between the communities we live in and the bigger structures of the world” as well as a being a very engaging read. I’ve been reading Dan Pearson’s gardening books and watching his videos, because he’s a great gardener, and because he teaches how to garden in response to specific places. We have active, creative gardening groups all over Nova Scotia and a number of very active field naturalist associations. There are connections being made among all these groups, as well as hunters and anglers, land trusts and farmers. They connect urban and rural communities. They are fun and therapeutic (very necessary right now). Thank you for this reminder that we build new worlds from the ground up.
Thank you for this. A dose of Wendell Berry's Port William stories you bring here: the 'story' I grew up in, mostly, in little Dixon, in N central Illinois. A life I'm now re-assembling on my 7,500 sq ft lot here, just up the hill from Lock 15.on the Mississippi. "Build your utopian future", I'll say to the modernists, "I've got firewood to split and bikes to refurbish."
I’m very impressed with Lock 15. Neat bridge. Have you seen the Falkirk Wheel? It is my favourite engineering project. The Gordie Howe Bridge is very impressive, but the Falkirk Wheel is next level. My father would have loved the Falkirk Wheel.
Oh, my gosh, Jane. It makes our swing bridge look like it was constructed from leftover Erector Set bits and bolts. On the other hand, it was put into service in the 1890's and is still functioning for rail and street use (and my daily use Raleigh 3-speed). I
The old bridge is still an impressive piece of engineering, and the fact that it is still operating is really incredible. I am reading Stewart Brand’s latest book The Maintenance of Everything. He quotes a 2016 report by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers
“The global cost of corrosion is estimated to be US $2.5 trillion a year…
Civilization is in the same precarious position as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on his sailboat Suhaili in the stormy Southern Ocean. His engine rusted solid from just a bit of neglect. Constant vigilance, labor, and ingenuity are required to keep our engines from rusting solid. Our bridges from collapsing, and our pipelines from failing catastrophically. Dealing with corrosion is such a massive and crucial undertaking that the search for new ways to do it never stops.”
He included this ode by the engineers at the Naval Research Laboratory to the paint on their nuclear submarines, which I love.
“The purpose of the hull is to protect the paint.
The purpose of the reactor is to drive the paint around.
The purpose of the SUBSAFE program is to ensure the paint comes to the surface and will not be lost.
The purpose of the cathodic protection system is to back up the paint.
The purpose of the weapons system is to defend the paint.
The purpose of the Special Hull Treatment is to protect the paint.
The purpose of the Vertical Launch System is to destroy those who would do the paint harm.”
Brand says we never really own anything until we have maintained it. There’s a great section on bicycles.
Firstly, thanks for the insights of your last two sentences: The first will wander into my developing journal for the benefit of my two sons' understanding of their dad, and illumination of why I so appreciate the fussy and somewhat demanding fifty-four-year-old Triumph motorcycle that's my daily transport and time machine; the second will lead me to the second hand book stores looking for Mr. Brand's book.
Your bit on paint could be a whole homily on how it is that we are all vulnerable to the thinnest skin between us; and, well, the asphalt in cyclist's terms. That'll get printed and posted on the fridge and my tools chest.
There is some growing awareness, from the edges around here, that the 'modern' notion of ownership has been corrupted by The Market's need to reverse the 'ownership process'. From home printers to automobiles both humble and exotic, to John Deere ag equipment - you cannot fix and maintain these things yourself, and your only saving from having the thing you assumed you owned from ceasing function from wear and tear or from having the manufacturer brick it remotely is A Subscription! Paid Monthly! And an appointment with the manufacturer's representative with a link to the Web.
It's one significant reason my motorcycle and bicycles are out of the past, and my car, while newer (it's a rust-free '74 Volvo wagon), is still a basic piece of engineering that I'm re-furbing myself in my garage as I gather time, parts and money.
The Government Bridge at Lock and Dam 15, too, was constructed of low-carbon steel I-beams, channels and straps, held together with low-carbon steel rivets, site-forged hot. There are some ongoing issues with its piers, but there's no sign of stress showing at joints or contact points, and I know, because I see it all every day crossing on my old Raleigh 3-speed.
And to maintaining our community infrastructure? Thirty years as small town administrator in communities in NW Illinois and E central Iowa, and in exactly one place, at one time, could the Council be moved to actually generate enough revenue to actually rebuild its worn out streets and related infrastructure. Pretty much everywhere else expected magic rabbits pulled from magic hats, and an assumption that it all just happened by, well, magic. My last (ever) City Council meeting went south when its very entitled citizenry lit into staff (all three of us) when we presented a proposal to repair its twenty-year-old street sweeper to functionality. I literally threw up my hands at adjournment and retired two weeks later.
So, here we are, with only a few at the margins of this last habitation of mine, that understand and have what's termed Collapse Awareness. We've built this massively complex, energy-intensive 'system' that we rely upon, and it isn't sustainable. So, I live a negawatt existence, reducing my impact on the order of things, and look forward to conversations like this. Thanks very much, and happy Sunday.
Thank you. You have covered a great deal of territory, beautifully. Brand’s book is part one in a series on maintenance he is writing online, inviting other maintenance enthusiasts to comment and contribute in a collaborative process. He’s kinder to Elon Musk than I could manage, but he sticks to his technical accomplishments, while glossing over some of the valid concerns about owner control that you brought up. It’s a very affordable ebook, a format that suits his process. He asks
“Is there such a thing as maintenance mind? If so, what are its features, and what is its underlying character? What hinders it? Can it be cultivated? Can it be institutionalized?“.
As you discovered, not everyone has it. He makes a very good case for why it’s worth cultivating. I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on the concrete piers. Be careful on your bikes and motorcycle. We treat “Be careful!” as a sort of talisman in our house whenever we head out on our bikes.
It swings 90 degrees to allow barge freight on the Mississippi multiple times a day. Which also provides a 15 - 20 minute respite while they pass. Thanks for the astonishing images of the Falkirk contrivance!
Interesting that your substack appeared on the same day as this, https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/ive-seen-things-you-people-wouldnt-believe/ A brief excerpt, "While the term Science Fiction is a century old, it must be acknowledged that the creative impulse to imagine worlds other than those inhabited by human beings certainly dates back much further. It has always been present within the tradition of Western literature.[3] In the history of astral travel, the credit must go to Lucian of Samosata, who as early as the 2nd century A.D. recounted the journey of Menippus to the moon in the dialogue Icaromenippus or The Man Above the Clouds. Other great authors followed his example. We recall Astolfo’s flight on the Hippogriff in Orlando Furioso by the Italian Ludovico Ariosto (1516); The Man in the Moone by the English Anglican bishop Francis Godwin (1638); and Cyrano de Bergerac’s The Other World, or Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon. To expand and enrich this list, we can add Thomas More with Utopia (1516), Margaret Cavendish with The Blazing World (1666), and Jonathan Swift with Gulliver’s Travels (1726). These are often works in which metaphorical tension or satirical intent prevail. Gulliver’s Travels is a clear example of the intent to satirize society and politics.
The forerunner of the scientist-turned-fiction writer was the German Johannes Kepler, who wrote Somnium, the first example of scientifically accurate fantasy fiction. In fact, the imperial astronomer, in writing his work about the journeys of the inhabitants of the Moon to Earth, made a point of applying and adhering to the scientific knowledge available in his time. Another alien is the protagonist of a work of noble literary pedigree: Micromega, the extraterrestrial philosopher whom Voltaire describes in the story of the same name, traveling on planet Earth alongside a colleague from Saturn.
According to Isaac Asimov, creator of the Three Laws of Robotics,[4] science fiction can truly be said to have emerged only after the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century; for this reason, according to the English novelist and essayist Brian Aldiss, the first author recognizable as a science fiction writer in the modern sense is Mary Shelley, from whose pen the character of Frankenstein, emerged, a character who has been the subject of yet another film adaptation in recent months. The story of the creature brought to life by Dr. Frankenstein is, in fact, an application of the studies on galvanism being conducted at that time, which provided the scientific foundation from which the young English writer drew inspiration to write her masterpiece.
On our journey through the precursors of science fiction literature, a special place should be reserved for two 19th-century authors who gave us some of the most frequently revisited topoi in the decades that followed: the Frenchman Jules Verne, with his journeys above, below and beyond the Earth’s crust, and the Englishman Herbert George Wells, who, with The War of the Worlds (1898), The Invisible Man (1897), and The Time Machine (1895), set the standard for every story involving an alien invasion, a mad scientist, or time travel..."
I'm adding much of your recommendations here to my list for the next trip to the second hand book and coffee shop. On my vintage Raleigh 3-speed. Wearing my Luddite button on my suspender strap. I'm approached at gatherings with the same caution as for someone showing signs of the measles, by the way. Thanks for this insightful work-up.
PKD's story The Survey Team is one of my favorites and one I recall every time I hear EM pontificate about space travel.
Benjamin Labatut is another writer--a very good one-- whose works quote PKD and who ponders the nature of reality. And he continues to circle this question from the historical perspective of the fascist/nazi fantasies.
Welp, there goes that link again. I think FT is very fond of their paywall. But I have your November 2024 essay to keep me company for a while. I, too, am very fond of PKD--and Ursula K LeGuin, Samuel Delany, Tom Disch, and others of the Dangerous Visions era--and agree that his concerns are our concerns. He could see where we were (really) going.
The FT is, after all, a business, not a charity!
After all, yes. When everything's said and done--that as well. Still and all, one would think it might be in the interest of an information and opinion-type business to actually make good on their offers of particular samples of said aforementioned information and/or opinion. Just saying. Well, arguing. Providing a sample opinion, maybe.
Oh my goodness, Brother Farrell: out of the ballpark again. The ballpark that the protagonist Julia awoke to when she emerged from the dark reality of The Machine PKD acknowledged in TMMITHC that WE have created in our misbegotten drive for 'progress' and 'the future'.
A future for which this Boomer is as culpable as the next one: "Fuel Injection! Overhead cams! TV everywhere in your pocket!" Jesus. I'm hoping to find a 1930s GE Monitor Top fridge* to go with my 1927 bungalow kitchen, in FURTHER rejection of this madness, even if it does feel too late. (*They’re still out there, still working if you applied a couple drops of 3-in-1 to the motor bearings every year)
I don't want what they want. I don’t want what they want me to want. I further refuse, every day, to just shrug and participate in the Enclosures, Extractions and Enslavements being foisted upon us as 'necessary'. I want Enflourishment for my neighbors and those I love. And those I don't love, too. Although.... from an Irish curse: "May the Lord smite them in their ankles, that I shall know them by their limping".
Brilliant, sir. Many thanks for this extra splash of starch in my collar this morning.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from Lock 15
My imagination is not for sale. Social media does not draw all of us into Oz. And there was a little manipulator behind the green curtain. That is why being skeptical about everything is a life survival strategy. Without critical thinking all you are is a Storm Trooper.
or a drone.
Or MAGA.
I have been saying this for years - PKD was fantastic and it is hard not too see him as an old testament prophet. He certainly felt he was linked to the universe in many odd ways. His later, not published work,(The Exegis) is fascinating if hard to follow. There is also the idea that HG Wells was basically responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb - he dreamed it others made it. As you rightly point out a generation of kids reading Asimov etc would dream of the stars. Dick saw the dark side of that dream the nightmare in which we are now living. (BTW the lovely FT have blocked the link - I guess they want to monetise it)
Brilliant and the FT piece with DW.
And he didn’t even make it to June 1982 to see Blade Runner with a paying audience.
The link worked for me, thank you. It’s a marvellous article. The book (recommended by you) Undivided by Hahrie Han, is great at describing how people in one community made”solid connections between the communities we live in and the bigger structures of the world” as well as a being a very engaging read. I’ve been reading Dan Pearson’s gardening books and watching his videos, because he’s a great gardener, and because he teaches how to garden in response to specific places. We have active, creative gardening groups all over Nova Scotia and a number of very active field naturalist associations. There are connections being made among all these groups, as well as hunters and anglers, land trusts and farmers. They connect urban and rural communities. They are fun and therapeutic (very necessary right now). Thank you for this reminder that we build new worlds from the ground up.
Thank you for this. A dose of Wendell Berry's Port William stories you bring here: the 'story' I grew up in, mostly, in little Dixon, in N central Illinois. A life I'm now re-assembling on my 7,500 sq ft lot here, just up the hill from Lock 15.on the Mississippi. "Build your utopian future", I'll say to the modernists, "I've got firewood to split and bikes to refurbish."
Tim
I’m very impressed with Lock 15. Neat bridge. Have you seen the Falkirk Wheel? It is my favourite engineering project. The Gordie Howe Bridge is very impressive, but the Falkirk Wheel is next level. My father would have loved the Falkirk Wheel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel
Oh, my gosh, Jane. It makes our swing bridge look like it was constructed from leftover Erector Set bits and bolts. On the other hand, it was put into service in the 1890's and is still functioning for rail and street use (and my daily use Raleigh 3-speed). I
The old bridge is still an impressive piece of engineering, and the fact that it is still operating is really incredible. I am reading Stewart Brand’s latest book The Maintenance of Everything. He quotes a 2016 report by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers
“The global cost of corrosion is estimated to be US $2.5 trillion a year…
Civilization is in the same precarious position as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on his sailboat Suhaili in the stormy Southern Ocean. His engine rusted solid from just a bit of neglect. Constant vigilance, labor, and ingenuity are required to keep our engines from rusting solid. Our bridges from collapsing, and our pipelines from failing catastrophically. Dealing with corrosion is such a massive and crucial undertaking that the search for new ways to do it never stops.”
He included this ode by the engineers at the Naval Research Laboratory to the paint on their nuclear submarines, which I love.
“The purpose of the hull is to protect the paint.
The purpose of the reactor is to drive the paint around.
The purpose of the SUBSAFE program is to ensure the paint comes to the surface and will not be lost.
The purpose of the cathodic protection system is to back up the paint.
The purpose of the weapons system is to defend the paint.
The purpose of the Special Hull Treatment is to protect the paint.
The purpose of the Vertical Launch System is to destroy those who would do the paint harm.”
Brand says we never really own anything until we have maintained it. There’s a great section on bicycles.
Dear Jane,
Firstly, thanks for the insights of your last two sentences: The first will wander into my developing journal for the benefit of my two sons' understanding of their dad, and illumination of why I so appreciate the fussy and somewhat demanding fifty-four-year-old Triumph motorcycle that's my daily transport and time machine; the second will lead me to the second hand book stores looking for Mr. Brand's book.
Your bit on paint could be a whole homily on how it is that we are all vulnerable to the thinnest skin between us; and, well, the asphalt in cyclist's terms. That'll get printed and posted on the fridge and my tools chest.
There is some growing awareness, from the edges around here, that the 'modern' notion of ownership has been corrupted by The Market's need to reverse the 'ownership process'. From home printers to automobiles both humble and exotic, to John Deere ag equipment - you cannot fix and maintain these things yourself, and your only saving from having the thing you assumed you owned from ceasing function from wear and tear or from having the manufacturer brick it remotely is A Subscription! Paid Monthly! And an appointment with the manufacturer's representative with a link to the Web.
It's one significant reason my motorcycle and bicycles are out of the past, and my car, while newer (it's a rust-free '74 Volvo wagon), is still a basic piece of engineering that I'm re-furbing myself in my garage as I gather time, parts and money.
The Government Bridge at Lock and Dam 15, too, was constructed of low-carbon steel I-beams, channels and straps, held together with low-carbon steel rivets, site-forged hot. There are some ongoing issues with its piers, but there's no sign of stress showing at joints or contact points, and I know, because I see it all every day crossing on my old Raleigh 3-speed.
And to maintaining our community infrastructure? Thirty years as small town administrator in communities in NW Illinois and E central Iowa, and in exactly one place, at one time, could the Council be moved to actually generate enough revenue to actually rebuild its worn out streets and related infrastructure. Pretty much everywhere else expected magic rabbits pulled from magic hats, and an assumption that it all just happened by, well, magic. My last (ever) City Council meeting went south when its very entitled citizenry lit into staff (all three of us) when we presented a proposal to repair its twenty-year-old street sweeper to functionality. I literally threw up my hands at adjournment and retired two weeks later.
So, here we are, with only a few at the margins of this last habitation of mine, that understand and have what's termed Collapse Awareness. We've built this massively complex, energy-intensive 'system' that we rely upon, and it isn't sustainable. So, I live a negawatt existence, reducing my impact on the order of things, and look forward to conversations like this. Thanks very much, and happy Sunday.
Tim
Thank you. You have covered a great deal of territory, beautifully. Brand’s book is part one in a series on maintenance he is writing online, inviting other maintenance enthusiasts to comment and contribute in a collaborative process. He’s kinder to Elon Musk than I could manage, but he sticks to his technical accomplishments, while glossing over some of the valid concerns about owner control that you brought up. It’s a very affordable ebook, a format that suits his process. He asks
“Is there such a thing as maintenance mind? If so, what are its features, and what is its underlying character? What hinders it? Can it be cultivated? Can it be institutionalized?“.
As you discovered, not everyone has it. He makes a very good case for why it’s worth cultivating. I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on the concrete piers. Be careful on your bikes and motorcycle. We treat “Be careful!” as a sort of talisman in our house whenever we head out on our bikes.
It swings 90 degrees to allow barge freight on the Mississippi multiple times a day. Which also provides a 15 - 20 minute respite while they pass. Thanks for the astonishing images of the Falkirk contrivance!
Tim
Link’s dead :)
Interesting that your substack appeared on the same day as this, https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/ive-seen-things-you-people-wouldnt-believe/ A brief excerpt, "While the term Science Fiction is a century old, it must be acknowledged that the creative impulse to imagine worlds other than those inhabited by human beings certainly dates back much further. It has always been present within the tradition of Western literature.[3] In the history of astral travel, the credit must go to Lucian of Samosata, who as early as the 2nd century A.D. recounted the journey of Menippus to the moon in the dialogue Icaromenippus or The Man Above the Clouds. Other great authors followed his example. We recall Astolfo’s flight on the Hippogriff in Orlando Furioso by the Italian Ludovico Ariosto (1516); The Man in the Moone by the English Anglican bishop Francis Godwin (1638); and Cyrano de Bergerac’s The Other World, or Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon. To expand and enrich this list, we can add Thomas More with Utopia (1516), Margaret Cavendish with The Blazing World (1666), and Jonathan Swift with Gulliver’s Travels (1726). These are often works in which metaphorical tension or satirical intent prevail. Gulliver’s Travels is a clear example of the intent to satirize society and politics.
The forerunner of the scientist-turned-fiction writer was the German Johannes Kepler, who wrote Somnium, the first example of scientifically accurate fantasy fiction. In fact, the imperial astronomer, in writing his work about the journeys of the inhabitants of the Moon to Earth, made a point of applying and adhering to the scientific knowledge available in his time. Another alien is the protagonist of a work of noble literary pedigree: Micromega, the extraterrestrial philosopher whom Voltaire describes in the story of the same name, traveling on planet Earth alongside a colleague from Saturn.
According to Isaac Asimov, creator of the Three Laws of Robotics,[4] science fiction can truly be said to have emerged only after the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century; for this reason, according to the English novelist and essayist Brian Aldiss, the first author recognizable as a science fiction writer in the modern sense is Mary Shelley, from whose pen the character of Frankenstein, emerged, a character who has been the subject of yet another film adaptation in recent months. The story of the creature brought to life by Dr. Frankenstein is, in fact, an application of the studies on galvanism being conducted at that time, which provided the scientific foundation from which the young English writer drew inspiration to write her masterpiece.
On our journey through the precursors of science fiction literature, a special place should be reserved for two 19th-century authors who gave us some of the most frequently revisited topoi in the decades that followed: the Frenchman Jules Verne, with his journeys above, below and beyond the Earth’s crust, and the Englishman Herbert George Wells, who, with The War of the Worlds (1898), The Invisible Man (1897), and The Time Machine (1895), set the standard for every story involving an alien invasion, a mad scientist, or time travel..."
I'm adding much of your recommendations here to my list for the next trip to the second hand book and coffee shop. On my vintage Raleigh 3-speed. Wearing my Luddite button on my suspender strap. I'm approached at gatherings with the same caution as for someone showing signs of the measles, by the way. Thanks for this insightful work-up.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from Lock 15
It said the link has been used too many times! A good problem? But a problem nonetheless for those of us who want to read the piece :)
Link has expired. (3 am, PST). It was working at 2:45am
Worked for me PDT 7 am
I kept trying, and it worked about 10 minutes later, probably due to the link being refreshed by the author. It was worth reading the FT piece.
I am a painter. Thank you very much for this piece. Link has expired.
The gift link is again expired, alas. This, however, should get people past the paywall: https://archive.ph/Mn1Z0
Henry and Dan: thank you both very much. You have distilled the spirit (or anti-spirit) of the age.
Amazing how E.M. time travelled to get a product placement for the Cybertruck in that "Bladerunner" scene, isn't it?
On the subject of fictional machines turning on us...here's Stephen King in the trailer to his film "Maximum Overdrive":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IniwjSfs4fs
Time to wake up from all dreamtimes, and take a walk in the sunlight.
PKD's story The Survey Team is one of my favorites and one I recall every time I hear EM pontificate about space travel.
Benjamin Labatut is another writer--a very good one-- whose works quote PKD and who ponders the nature of reality. And he continues to circle this question from the historical perspective of the fascist/nazi fantasies.
Timely.
Just tried link - expired. Yes who would want to live on Mars.
that link to FT no longer works: used too many time.