Green New Deal, Tech Utopia, and Faith

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Photo by George W. Ackerman

Growing a Green New Deal: Agriculture’s Role in Economic Justice and Ecological Sustainability.” Fred Iutzi and Robert Jensen consider the promise and peril of the Green New Deal and warn against “technological fundamentalism.”

The Green New Deal Is What Realistic Environmental Policy Looks Like.” It’s hard to make the case that the Green New Deal is “realistic,” but Jedediah Britton-Purdy tries. He’s right that the federal government already offers massive subsidies to certain kinds of economic activity (the free market isn’t very free), but whether a Green New Deal could actually help small farmers and penalize exploitative industries is by no means certain. People with conservative sensibilities are rightly worried about the potential for crony capitalism and mismanagement to nullify the Green New Deal’s promises to empower “locally-based companies.” Hence Ross Douthat warns about the centralizing tendancies of such programs while praising its bold vision.

An Unflinching Theological Aesthetic.” Steven Knepper reviews James Matthew Wilson’s new poetry collection, concluding “in both form and theme, The Hanging God is a wide-ranging collection by a versatile poet.”

Wendell Berry.” Dr. Paul House and Andrew Russell talk with Will Sorrell about Wendell Berry and work.

A New Breed of Hunters Focuses on the Cooking.” Kim Severson goes hunting with a couple of foodie hipsters.

The Future of Liberalism: Patrick Deneen and Tucker Carlson.” Andrew Petiprin points to Patrick Deneen’s work as a more illuminating and scholarly rendition of Tucker Carlson’s “preppy populism.”

How Tech Utopia Fostered Tyranny.” Jon Askonas charts the way Silicon Valley’s counter-cultural origins led to the creation of tools that empower paternalistic corporations and authoritarian governments:

So far, Big Tech companies have presented issues of incitement, algorithmic radicalization, and “fake news” as merely bumps on the road of progress, glitches and bugs to be patched over. In fact, the problem goes deeper, to fundamental questions of human nature. Tools based on the premise that access to information will only enlighten us and social connectivity will only make us more humane have instead fanned conspiracy theories, information bubbles, and social fracture. A tech movement spurred by visions of libertarian empowerment and progressive uplift has instead fanned a global resurgence of populism and authoritarianism.

Why a Compassionate Baptist Pastor Led a Revolution.” Matthew Loftus narrates the remarkable story of John Chilembwe, an African pastor and armed revolutionary.

John Ruskin: A Prophet for Our Troubled Times.” Philip Hoare takes the occasion of a London exhibit on John Ruskin to remind us why Ruskin, born 200 years ago, remains a necessary thinker and prophet.

The Art of Subtlety in Faith (and Doubt): Our Interview with Meghan O’Gieblyn.” Mockingbird interviews Meghan O’Gieblyn about faith, transhumanism, and the Midwest.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I read the NYT piece on hunters eating their kill with some amusement earlier in the week. Only in New York would the realization that what you shot could also be what you ate…and taste good, be a thing.

    Trophy hunters are few and hard to find. Like most that I know, all my family and friends who hunt also eat what they kill. And, those dishes are often damn good. My 91- year-old father used to cook a wild duck gumbo that would have you weeping with joy. A nephew, who is a devout Pentecostal and works with his hands in manual labor, creates one delicious jambalaya with his venison sausage and ducks. I merely mention his denomination and work to illustrate that good food isn’t the preserve of the coastal elites.

    Articles like this really serve to highlight the disconnect between the bright lights of empire and the rest of the country. Amusing, like I mentioned. And more than a bit telling.

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