Local power. Creating vs. complaining. Creating & consuming. Getting out more. Focusing outward. Baby steps. Curiosity FTW.
“Liberty is not license to do whatever you want to do.
It is the freedom to do what you ought to do.”
-Unknown
1. “The ripple effects of local economic empowerment.”
Issue 321 – Kai Brach – (Dense Discovery)
The introductory essay to this issue discusses the topic of “extractivism”, the concept that, to over-simplify, wealth is being “extracted” from local communities and individuals to the benefit of large corporations and by extension the billionaires that own/run them. It’s a popular and important theme, of late.
Of course we have the power to change it. One example is a small Australian community.
When their only petrol station was about to close, residents pooled together money to form a community-owned company. Twenty years later, their service station not only provides essential services but returns profits directly to local shareholders and community projects.
What came immediately to mind is the equivalent in the news and online publishing industry. Independent, and local replacements for “corporate news” have the potential to significantly improve the lives of the people they serve.
Do this: Buy independent/local if you can, especially when it comes to news and information.
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2. “Creating is harder than criticizing.”
We Don’t Need More Cynics. We Need More Builders. – Joan Westenberg – (Blog)
A good analysis of cynicism, and how it harms both society and the individual.
Every time we default to assuming the worst, we pay in missed opportunities, reduced social trust, and diminished creative capacity. These costs compound over time, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in which cynical expectations shape cynical realities.
The alternative is a word I just learned and love: meliorism. We have the power to improve things. It requires more work (and more thought) than simply pointing out everything that’s wrong.
Do this: Practice pragmatic meliorism.
3. “Create, Consume, and Connect”
My Creative Mistakes (and what to do instead) – Kevin Kolbe – (Blog)
I discovered Kolbe’s YouTube channel focused on helping the over-50 crowd learn to create content on YouTube. He also has good entrepreneurial insights that apply to all.
Consuming is about learning, stretching, expanding your world. Not about being the expert but about seeing more than your world. ⚠️ CAUTION: don’t consume so much that you don’t create anything!
That last caution is relevant. We live in a culture of consumption. I don’t mean consumerism-based consumption, though of course that’s a thing. When it comes to content consumption we’ll often spend the majority of our time taking things in, without anything to really show for it. Creating can mean many different things to different people, but what matters is that you do something with the knowledge you accumulate.
Do this: Do something with your accumulated knowledge.
4. “People feel uncomfortable in the world today”
The Anti-Social Century (gift link) – Derek Thompson – (The Atlantic)
This is a lengthy article with so much meat in it I have a hard time picking what should be noted here. Take that as my recommendation to read the entire thing.
We’ve heard a lot about the loneliness epidemic of late, but there’s something much more substantive at play. While the knee-jerk reaction is to blame devices and social media, or the enforced isolation of the COVID pandemic, the issue’s roots can be traced much further back than any of those, even to the introduction of the automobile and the popularity of television.
The entire economy has reoriented itself to allow Americans to stay within their four walls.
We’ve become frightened of other people, and now live in a world that increasingly allows us to remain “safe” and isolated.
As I said, the article goes into many aspects of this in much more detail. It’s well worth a read.
Do this: Get out more often. With people.
5. “If we want to be better people we have to focus on others, not ourselves”
Social Development > Self-Development – Elle Griffin – (The Elysian)
This article is mostly about how an over emphasis of self development — heavy emphasis on the self — might not be helping us as much as we think. Think of it as an over-focus on self-development at the cost of social development. Thinking of others might be a more helpful path.
The road to inner peace is actually outer peace. It’s focusing on others.
It seemed serendipitous that I ran across this after the preceding takeaway, since they’re very closely related in many ways.
Do this: Help others.
6. “Life is mostly made of tiny pains in the ass”
The Tiniest Mission – David Cain – (Raptitude)
I was journaling the other morning about mindfulness and how it’s really just paying attention. I then ran across this essay which, while it takes pains to avoid the baggage of the term, advocates reframing some of the smallest, simplest things we do as “missions” to be accomplished.
Your job is just to watch this work unfold to its satisfying conclusion.
In other words, pay attention to the small and mundane. In doing so these “tiny pains in the ass” become a series of small accomplishments that can make you feel less rushed and more accomplished.
Do this: Pay attention.
7. “Much more pleasant than yelling”
Curiosity vs. Furiosity – A.J. Jacobs – (Experimental Living)
Jacobs introduces us to a short list of phrases he reviews each morning to set the tone for his day. The one that he expands on here is “Get curious, not furious.”
We are more flexible thinkers when we are not furious, as some research has shown. And this curiosity approach is more likely to change peoples’ minds.
It’s something I try to remind myself of, not just when I’m on the verge of anger, but for just about any WTF moment in my life.
Another phrase that I particularly appreciated: “Your brain does not have your best interests at heart.”
Do this: Stay curious, my friend.
Random links
- The Death of the Hero: Why We Need Captain America to Punch Hitler Again
- From immortality to ugly people: 100-year-old predictions about 2025
- RedNote’s Surge Shows the Hypocrisy Tearing the Internet Apart
What I’m reading
In progress:
- It’s Easier Than You Think – Sylvia Boorstein (re-read)
- The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century – Steven Pinker (audio)
A full list of my common sources is on the sources page, and I list the books I’ve read on my Reading List page.
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-Leo
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