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⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-04)
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A shorter gemlog for rambly things.
The new year is here, and by now the euphoria of the holiday season has begun to dissipate as we all get back to work and the normal routine of our lives. I think everyone's happy that 2020 is over; it was not a good year; it was in fact a *no good very bad* year. In truth I'm not convinced that 2021 will be much better, given that we're still dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, some of which (e.g. mass evictions) have only recently begun to hit, while others (e.g. "long COVID") will continue to play out for years, if not decades. And there's lots of other things to be delighted about, such as the slow train-wreck of Brexit (which is *exactly* as much of a train wreck as the experts predicted, except there's not even the delight of being able to say "I told you so"), or the emergence of new and more contagious strains of the coronavirus.
So, as much as I am glad that 2020 is Officially Over, it's not like I'm facing 2021 with particularly high hopes. Perhaps this time, disappointment will be pleasant, and I'll find it all turns out better than expected.
It was a coup attempt, supported by a mass of insurrectionists and domestic terrorists. I look forward to the inquiry. In the meanwhile there remains the question of how to deal with the radicalised mass of supporters, and more generally, how to undercut the social and economic conditions that lend themselves to radicalisation.
On an entirely separate and unrelated note, I wrote a short essay last November regarding Arendt's views on complicity. I figured she would have interesting things to say -- if you're not familiar with her, she's well known not just for her work on totalitarianism but also for coining the expression "the banality of evil" while covering the Eichmann trial. I've finally uploaded it.
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