#society (78 links)
- Self-segregation: how a personalized world is dividing Americans theguardian.com
Self segregation: ‘what Facebook does do is mirror a trend that’s been unfolding in the US for the last 20 years’.Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters I t’s a…
- Is It Just Me, Or Is the World Going Crazy? markmanson.net
In the attention economy, people are rewarded for extremism. They are rewarded for indulging their worst biases and stoking other people’s worst fears. They are rewarded for portraying the world as a place that is burning to the ground, whether it’s because of gay marriage, or police violence, or Islamic terrorism, or low interest rates. The internet has generated a platform where apocalyptic beliefs are celebrated and spread, and moderation and reason is something that becomes too arduous and boring to stand.
- The austerity delusion | Paul Krugman theguardian.com
So we need supermarkets. The problem is, we really don’t need the kind of supermarkets we’ve got. By giving too small a set of companies a free run at too much of the retail food economy, we have put at risk our future food security. We used to be well over 70% self-sufficient in food in the UK. Now it’s below 60%, and when you look at the proportion of food we consume that’s produced here, it’s 50%.
- The hidden costs of renting in modern Britain opendemocracy.net
- Tech's tunnel vision (Phil Gyford’s website) gyford.com
Trying to imagine a tech conference that would embody an alternative viewpoint — a more “socialist / social democratic” alternative — actually seems like a good way in. I don’t have to imagine a whole new society and economic model, but only try to imagine what kinds of topics might be talked about at a conference along those lines. Some topics I quickly wrote down...
Ultimately, MOOCs are not by themselves a mechanism for development but require certain levels of education and technology. They are reaching millions of people around the world, but to truly revolutionise access, improvements in the broader education and technology ecosystem are vital.
I think there is an equally diffuse malaise today - waiting for a new kind of journalism to bring it into focus. Like with McClure's it won't be just a catalogue of shocking facts - it will be an imaginative leap that pulls all the scandals together and shows how they are part of some new system of power that we don't fully comprehend.
Thatcherism left Britain politically, economically and regionally divided, a state that was meant to be proud that it stood for something in the world again, even as Thatcherism warned that the state was the enemy of freedom and not to be relied upon. No one could bring in change of the shape, speed and size that Thatcher did, and not expect any flaws or problems to emerge. To say that she's responsible for the country's recent triumphs, but not for any of its woes, defies all logic.
- The New Atlantis » The Ambiguous Utopia of Iain M. Banks thenewatlantis.com
- The Power of Proxy Activism davidbrin.com
Proxy Power is the uniquely convenient -- but seldom discussed -- ability of a modern person to participate in activism... helping to change or improve the world... by the simple expedience of joining some group that is vigorously pursuing that part of your personal agenda. In other words, you add both your membership dues and the political impact of your membership, in order to get behind people who are striving to save the world for you.
A beginning, not an end.
- Ross Andersen – Humanity's deep future aeonmagazine.com
‘I am finding it increasingly plausible that existential risk is the biggest moral issue in the world,’ he told me. ‘Even if it hasn’t gone mainstream yet.’
- Ken MacLeod – Socialism and transhumanism aeonmagazine.com
- The Best | Dustin Curtis dcurt.is
It’s better to have a few fantastic things designed for you than to have many untrustworthy things poorly designed to please everyone.
- America the Anxious - NYTimes.com opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com
While the British way can be drainingly negative, The American approach to happiness can spur a debilitating anxiety. The initial sense of promise and hope is seductive, but it soon gives way to a nagging slow-burn feeling of inadequacy. Am I happy? Happy enough? As happy as everyone else? Could I be doing more about it? Even basic contentment feels like failure when pitched against capital-H Happiness. The goal is so elusive and hard to define, it’s impossible to pinpoint when it’s even been achieved — a recipe for neurosis.
- Why the super-rich love the UK | Society | The Guardian guardian.co.uk
- Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 211, William Gibson theparisreview.org
IfYouOnly: The people behind TV show The Wire explain why they are waging a war against the war on drugs: http://is.gd/AB9fvx (@TIME, 2008)
- Bread and Circuses: The State of Web App Startups « jolieodell.wordpress.com
I would like to propose that technologists apply their ample skill to solving the real problems of humanity, not just the perceived problems of their very privileged social set. And for my good friends at several of the aforementioned startups, I challenge you to find a way to solve a social or human problem with your app.
Enables social entrepreneurs, socially-minded people and socially-driven organisations to share, shape and use social insight to generate greater positive impact in the real world.
Those of us older than 25 can't imagine a life without e-mail. For the Facebook generation, it's hard to imagine a life of only e-mail, much less a life before it.
- Change.org change.org
A social network for hundreds of social causes and over 1 million nonprofit organizations.
"I'll tell you where they are. They're at home, tuning in to root for the next "American idol." They're plugged into their iPods, utterly self-involved and disconnected from what lies just outside their doors. They're spending 25 hours a week playing vide