- The idea of hiking was not a thing until relatively recently;
- How Trump is stifling free speech;
- Brief items about hurricanes and methane;
- Nice Brucker 6 performance by Myung-Whun Chung.
First, a think piece for today. About how the things we take for granted today have not always been so.
Washington Post, opinion by Dominic Pino, today: A hike through the woods feels natural. It’s anything but, subtitled “The industrial revolution provided the impetus, the income and the time to do it.”
A few weeks ago, I went on a hike with some friends in the mountains in Colorado. The weather was perfect, the lakes and trees were gorgeous and we even saw a moose.
As I took in the views and breathed the fresh air, I also appreciated what has made hiking possible: industrialization. Hiking is often seen as a natural activity, but there’s nothing natural about it, and almost nobody did it before the industrial revolution.
Commenting as I read. I can anticipate some of this. Before the Industrial Revolution (and mostly before the past century), there were no mechanisms for even daily transportation. No planes, trains, cars. Maybe you had a horse. In town, maybe you took a horse-drawn cab. But otherwise, people walked everywhere. And here we go:
Before the industrial revolution, the great outdoors was most people’s workplace. They were out there from dawn to dusk in all kinds of weather, doing grueling manual labor, or else they starved. It was only the richest of the rich who could stay inside and partake in such hedonistic extravagances as eating a varied diet or learning how to read. Today we can enjoy the great outdoors because we do it on our own terms.
And this next is significant. This is the kind of understanding of how ancient ways of living in an unknown world gave rise to so many myths, and misapprehensions about the world.
But back then, wandering around outside could be dangerous. The medieval Norse word skóggangr, a formal punishment for very serious crimes, translates to “going to the woods.” People who received that sentence were cut off from Norse society, leaving them with nowhere to go but the forest, where they eventually died.
Fear of the woods is also evident in old fairy tales, where the forest was commonly portrayed as a scary place because the rules of society didn’t apply there. Now, with the professional management of park services and the aid of mass-produced gear, people can enjoy a break from society even with small children in tow.
And this point, which I anticipated:
As for walking, for most of human history, it wasn’t recreation. It was the primary mode of transportation. The idea of walking purely for pleasure began as a Romantic-era reaction to the beginning of industrialization, with its sooty smokestacks and unventilated indoor workplaces.
But that still wasn’t anything like hiking as we know it today. Walking in the woods didn’t really take off until it could be done with pre-marked paths, backpacks full of snacks and comfortable clothes and hiking boots made from synthetic materials in factories in Asia.
The irony.
Nowadays, countless Americans get in their personal cars to drive to the airport to fly across the country to rent another car to drive partway up a mountain to go for a walk. Only in a rich, industrialized society can people afford to do that.
And that’s because, these days, we have so much more free time. Concluding:
As the weather cools and the leaves change color, take in the beauty of Earth while getting some exercise if you’re able. Just don’t be under the illusion that you’re rebelling against modernity. Hiking is fun only because of the industrial revolution.
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Front page today. How do he and his supporters pretend they honor the Constitution?
NY Times, news analysis by Jim Rutenberg and Maggie Haberman, today: How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech, subtitled “President Trump has harnessed agencies across the government to curtail press freedoms, a sweeping campaign that free speech advocates say will have lasting effects.”
My take: Well, because by MAGA definition everything Trump says is right and true, so anyone saying “Oh wait, actually the Constitution says…” must be wrong and therefore deserved to be suppressed.
(Some of this goes back to the Patriot Act passed after 9/11, to make that tie.)
The Justice Department has sent F.B.I. agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas and, in at least one case, flashed a warrant to seize devices. The Pentagon has fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and blocked access to other journalists who refused to sign pledges that would limit their reporting.
Regulatory agencies are using their powers to pressure media organizations over their content. The administration has stripped funding from public television and radio. Angry over stories he does not like, President Trump has sued major news organizations and the White House has taken control of the previously independent press pool that tracks the president, deciding which outlets can participate.
Almost 20 months into Mr. Trump’s second term, his long-running media clashes have grown into a sweeping campaign to control speech in America that stands out for applying so many levers, so fast, all at once.
Driven by personal pique, fury over leaks and a determination to shape the political narrative to his advantage, Mr. Trump is deploying the might of the federal government and filing personal lawsuits — targeting not just journalists and liberal critics, but also comedians and talk show hosts, and the corporate entities behind them.
What the defenders say.
To the president and his allies, he is simply demanding accountability for what he casts as biased, unfair and sometimes inaccurate coverage and criticism — an effort that has been welcomed by longtime conservative press critics like those at the Media Research Center.
Again, pointing out that Trump is wrong is “biased reporting.”
Free speech advocates say the president’s intent is apparent: to punish, intimidate and silence dissenters.
“There’s not a week that goes by where they’re not taking a new step to curtail press freedom in the country,” said Clayton Weimers, the executive director of the North America division of Reporters Without Borders. “We have measured a substantial diminishment of press freedoms.”
When challenged in court, the president and the administration have frequently lost, confronted with strongly worded rulings from judges affirming First Amendment rights.
And Trump’s tactics go back decades. Long article.
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Short items about the current administration.
- JMG, today: White House Credits Trump With Preventing Hurricanes
- These people are imbeciles.
- JMG, today: EPA To Loosen Restrictions On Methane Pollution
- Of course they are. It’s all about short-term gains at the expense of existential threats.
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Another clean (no ads), multi-perspective video of a major symphony: Bruckner’s 6th. Myung-Whun Chung.
A brief, deep, introspective passage begins at 19:35. Though this performance takes it a tad slower than most others. It happens again just after 27:00. These are the passages that make me pause…
