Links: depressing (with bonus link of gorgeous photographs)

[sonia]

First, fantastically gorgeous photographs (although I could do without the flame effects). Olympus and its new gods by Ana Martínez. via firecat.

A couple of Vox articles I'm putting here for future reference.

Life in authoritarian states is mostly boring and tolerable by Thomas Pepinsky, Jan 9, 2017. I would add, boring and tolerable for people with enough privilege, where "enough" can change over time.

The incredibly frustrating reason there’s no Lyme disease vaccine by Brian Resnick, May 30, 2019.

And we also can't have nice things because: we haven't done our homework on coronaviruses, as noted by squirrelitude and siderea, August 17, 2020.

Comments

[the_future_modernes]

WOW those photos are so awesome! Thank you for sharing!

[sonia]

Glad to spread the enjoyment! :-)

[asakiyume]

I've had a lot of the same thoughts about authoritarian states as Pepinsky. A lot of the papers I edit these days are on the relationship between China's local-government officials and the central government, and on how China makes policy happen and how the will of the people gets heard. China's most assuredly authoritarian--and yet most of the things he says about Malaysia hold for China too. (China's heavier handed, though, when it comes to social control.)

Speaking only personally, for me I think more important than whether or not a country is authoritarian is what sense of possibility people have for their own future and the future of the next generation. If you feel trapped, like your life can never get better, that you have no freedom in what you can do and no opportunity--that's bad. And if you feel like you do have opportunities, that you can make something of your life and feel proud of it--that's good. ... I feel like both conditions can exist in both authoritarian and democratic countries.

[sonia]

Thanks for the thoughts. Your second paragraph makes complete sense. And yet. While I don't know enough political theory to argue the point, I believe that resources will probably be distributed more fairly and therefore more people will have a sense of possibility in a democracy than in an authoritarian system. I also think it depends strongly on whom you ask, whether there's a sense of possibility. My body does not believe in benevolent authoritarianism, although my mind easily concedes your point.

[asakiyume]

I don't have enough political theory either! Nor (for which I'm thankful) personal experience. I was so taken with my own idea that I mentioned it to my husband, and he argued that if we were talking about a person's sense of possibility for themself, it also comes down to *personal* differences. So it seems like my notion has a problems.

I didn't mean to imply that I thought that authoritarianism could be benevolent though--I think I was imagining the sense of potential sort of regardless of, or even in spite of, the political structure. Definitely some governments can hinder a sense of opportunity and possibility, but I wasn't thinking that if there *is* a sense of opportunity that that necessarily is because of good actions or intentions on the part of the government. In any case, though, I think my idea had a lot of flaws.

[sonia]

Thanks for the update!