“Things Just Go On” – More Theses on Doomscrolling
“That things just go on is the catastrophe” – Walter Benjamin. One of the risks of declaring victory is the possibility that your declaration will prove to have been premature. … Continue reading
A Hell of a Year – Reflections on 2020
“I do not believe that things will turn out well, but the idea that they might is of decisive importance.” – Max Horkheimer 2020 was a hell of a year. … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Eighth Week
Freedom is not a concept that can be easily defined. But I am sure that there must be more to freedom than shopping. * You who enjoy the parks while … Continue reading
A Failure of the Imagination – COVID-19 and Catastrophe
“I have published these words in order to prevent them from becoming true. If we do not stubbornly keep in mind the strong probability of the disaster, and if we … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventh Week
Before you face the new week pause and remember the horrors of the previous week. By this week’s end last week’s many tragedies will be forgotten displaced by new woeful … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Third Week
It is not that the days of the week have (truly) lost all sense of meaning. But that the anxiety and loathing we once felt regarding Monday is now applicable … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Second Week
Needing the air, I briefly stepped outside. Fearing the others needing the air, I swiftly stepped inside. * If I had children I would tell them not to be frightened. … Continue reading
What studying disasters has taught me about COVID-19
“Civilization, the orderly world in which we live, is frail. We are skating on thin ice.” – Zygmunt Bauman. For the last several years, when people have asked me … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The First Week
It is said that during the plague the bard wrote King Lear. Perhaps, but how many did not live to see it performed? * When they said “go out” I … Continue reading
The End of the World?
Except this star there is nothing, I thought, and it Is a wasteland. It is our only refuge and this Is what it looks like. – Brecht 1. First, … Continue reading
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