Ah yep that triggered the full memory for me...it was a book called Tikki Tikki Tempo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo
Oh man this is stirring up some memories from early grade school about an English version of this that we used to sing about a boy with a long name and his younger brother.
I always wondered if that was just the moral of the story: don't give your children long names. Which my parents did to me 😡
The Federation is built on principles that run counter to Maoism in important respects like allowing differences of opinion and anti-authoritarianism.
Do you know what the "mass line" concept by Mao is?
Earth and the Federation was communism. Admittedly an idealist version of it, came about because it was voted in by enlightened voters. But even then the Bell Riots showed that it was capitalism that caused conditions to arise in which the oppressed rose up against the failures of capitalism, and finally end it.
Not sure if you specifically meant something about Mao, but at least be aware of this. It's the most basic theory of communism that capitalism fails, turns into barbarism, and the working class have no option but to revolt to resolve the crisis.
I think of it in terms of levels building on top of each other, or circles enveloping each other; also how I evaluate interviewees and new hires:
- Finishes the task, but needs handholding
- Finishes the task, figuring it out from docs, guides, and internet
- Finishes the task, proactively trying to make sure it doesn't return again as a bug or failing QA
- Finishes the task, designing things in a way so that devs don't need to put in extra effort in the future
In short, learning how to do something right, but also alternative strategies, how to pick the best option, and finally make sure you always end up with the right choice, or automatically do so, by design.
It's at core a matter of experience, but taking on new opportunities and reading up helps to accelerate that.
I'll check it out! Thanks for the rec
And about the Indian stories, I think you'll find a rhythmic pattern. Maybe the translations can ruin it, I can't confirm or deny this.
I think you're right, I'm probably missing out on certain contexts and linguistic play reading the English translations. It adds to the melancholy in a way though, knowing there's more beneath the surface of the words I can only barely grasp
This might already be well-known but Avery Brooks also directed some episodes! Like Far Beyond the Stars, one of the best episodes
I'm reading the Kathasaritsagara now! Reading those kind of collections of tales makes me feel like I'm living among the ancient/medieval villagers of India, an interesting perspective shift to say the least
It's only relevant for some specific religions. It's not particularly important for most people who have or will exist.
Honestly I see it in actual historians too. Texts always have something along the lines of "yes, the [insert non-European civilization] had _, but only Europeans went far enough to _"
Shit like how ancient civilizations had invented calculus, calculated pi to several digits, observed the cosmos, etc. but it's only the ancient Greeks who contributed to history apparently. Seems unprofessional as hell. It's not that dissimilar to white supremacists who say " everyone practiced slavery, but only Europeans abolished it"
It's often linked to some geographic or cultural uniqueness of Europe, like how they didn't have famines or shit and so they were able to be creative about nature that wasn't chaotic and devastating.
I feel like I'm losing my mind there, a lot of people struggling to comprehend a diet where "protein" isn't a category, made from animals or plants otherwise.
Btw Impossible burger etc. are not vegan, they do animal testing: https://impossiblefoods.com/blog/the-agonizing-dilemma-of-animal-testing
CW animal testing
> But we were confronted with an agonizing dilemma: We knew from our research that heme is absolutely essential to the sensory experience meat lovers crave. Replacing animals in the diets of meat lovers would absolutely require heme. So without the rat testing, our mission and the future of billions of animals whose future depends on its success was thwarted. We chose the least objectionable of the two choices available to us. We used the minimum number of rats necessary for statistically valid results.
Yay capitalism lets us have our treats, and only a few animals had to suffer! !brainworms
Absolutely true, social media presence is hardly the material conditions necessary for a revolution. The structures to be replaced run deeper than which website you use
Then the left should continue to build decentralized alternatives. Dual power is the only practical solution for when institutions are captured by reactionaries to suppress the left.
Freedom of speech is about not being censored by the government, not private citizens hosting a platform for a spectrum of opinions.
Compare it to something like freedom of religion: should private citizens engage in a spectrum of religious rituals, including violent rituals of extreme cults?
The issue isn't how enthusiastic individual private citizens are about the freedoms granted to them from the government. Someone may truly enjoy yelling "fire" in public buildings, but the effect on the public is what causes concern.
Should you censor a person for this? That's another debate, but I'm just explaining where the concern, assuming you have concern, should be placed.
A guilty pleasure of mine are these videos by a powerlifter who pretends to be a janitor: https://www.youtube.com/@vladimirfitness. Some of the bamboozled are pretty humble by it actually, which is nice to see.
I like lifting, used to run a lot, and I meditate. Those "highs" are much cleaner and healthier than anything else. I hope to be in a parade like this one day: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/soviet-gym-teachers-1956/
Yeah I'm not saying those two are the same things. However I read some articles where tribal people and villagers claimed to be shot on sight for wandering into parks, then tortured for protesting this.
My point was just that the sentiment for forest rangers in the US or elsewhere doesn't necessarily apply to India. The forest department might be more like the Bureau of Indian Affairs in some cases
Corruption? Indian rangers are basically police. They're uniformed and armed, and apparently have orders to kill. ACAB
I was in a car once when the driver accidentally went into a restricted forest area, and he just gave the guards a bribe to let us out without punishment. They're presumably better than the actual police generally, but in the tribal areas they can be just as bad.
Is there a base case or do the layers of irony go on to infinity?
Person: says something
Another person: this other person has no nuance
Yet another person: this other person has no nuance, ironically
Yet another person: this other person has no nuance, ironically
(ad infinitum)
Maybe this is just dialectics, although a little snarky