I loved Sinclair Basic back in the day despite its limitations - it was my gateway drug into software and systems. When I discovered Boriel Basic a few weeks ago it allowed me relive my childhood, and finally finish making a game for the ZX Spectrum (albeit a remake):
Missing the bigger picture? The need for food banks exists precisely because capitalism fails to provide basic necessities to all people despite abundant resources. Celebrating more efficient charitable food distribution sidesteps the question of why such charity is necessary in a wealthy society.
Tim Maughan's award-winning dystopian / utopian sci-fi novel, Infinite Detail is set in Stokes Croft. It's not hard to imagine it one day it becoming the small anarchist post-collapse refuge of the novel.
- http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/infinite-de...
There are a hundred things to do in this little Bristol microcosm, starting with breakfast at Cafe Kino, The Bristolian or the Craft Egg and ending the evening at The People's Republic, The Canteen or The Cube.
- https://secretbristol.com/things-to-do-stokes-croft/
Note: I realise this is an April Fools joke, but I'd make a case for its raw charm and unique cultural heritage being preserved.
It seems appropriate on May the 4th to look into the radical political origins of Star Wars …
* Did Vietnam inspire Star Wars?
* Is America the Empire?
* Is Darth Vader Nixon?
* Is Andor an Anarchist?
* & How does Stalin & the Ewoks fit into all of this?
I kept expecting it to say "Just kidding!" but it didn't.
Being poor just takes one sad accident, one unexpected health problem, the circumstances of birth, bad luck, or a system that undervalues and drives down the value of your labour.
Is it your extensive research into anthropology that leads you to call this a "garbage essay"? Or could it be your resistance to some experts (admittedly not all, but many do agree with Graeber) looking at the evidence and finding that it raises interesting possibilities about hierarchal societies? In "The Dawn Of Everything" Graeber and Wengrow do address alternative views, and why they believe theirs has merit and is better supported by the evidence. So maybe this shorter essay just doesn't fulfil that need for you, and you'd be better off reading the whole book.
Scholars will focus on what they find of interest, and are not exempt from having personal ideologies, but I'd argue that the fact that Graeber acknowledges this (at least in more detailed treatments of the subject) makes him more interesting (and dare I say it reliable) than those who pretend or claim to be completely impartial.
On the other hand many of the objections to Graber and Wengrow (and notable others) conclusions have seemed have come from those who have strong personal biases in favour of hierarchy, negative views of human nature, fundamentalist religious beliefs, or positive views of capitalism. So this gives me good reason to be suspicious of their motives or perspective (especially when they don't acknowledge them, or consider their presumption beyond challenge).
When I wrote this article I would have never expected anyone beyond a few friends to notice it. My blog has been mainly a place for me to think through ideas I'm interested in by writing about them.
I love the book recommendations. I'll share them with our local Utopian book collective. For those interested in positive sci-fi futures ... The club has a blog here - https://justutopias.com/just-utopias-blog/