I’ve made reference lately in my notes and in conversation to the “capitalist mill” as in “grist for the capitalist mill”1. I would give specific examples but the symptoms as they concern me are already topics of all the posts: inability to focus, social division, lack of meaningful productivity, everything getting worse, producing things of value long-since devalued, platforms instead of products, content instead of art…
But sure, it’s probably my fault for not meditating more.
Cozy is having a moment and I’ve fallen for it. It strikes me as the foil to the mill. It seeps contentment, simplicity, a disregard for more.
Cozy lit
I’ve been into hopepunk/solarpunk for a while now, but I randomly picked up Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve picked up More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop but read Bright Green Futures and am reading Accelerated Growth Environment from the amazing Shiraki Press first.
Japan
I’ve been obsessed with Japan for a while now, but Morisaki Bookshop led me down a Jinbōchō rabbit-hole. This was my favorite of the YT videos I watched.
Information diet
The indieweb is the best place to find cozy content, see last post’s links. The fact that this blog has returned to its personal roots isn’t intentional, but not an accident either.
Still, calm, reasonable voices discussing news is required, and I’ve found recent episodes of the Vergecast useful.
Tools for the rebellion
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I just learned that “grist to/for the mill” has a positive connotation – “that everything can be made useful or turned to advantage” – but I’ve never used it that way. Also my name is Miller, so…in theory (historically?) I’m doing the grinding up of here. Not just the grinding. ↩