bushbear's recent activity
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Comment on Memory System | Ambient Swim | Liquid DnB, Jungle, Breakcore (2026) in ~music
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Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies
bushbear Link ParentIt all depends on how you want to travel. Iv never flown with my bike but I know its a hassle coz different airlines have different rules for bike. The one constant is you pay extra for a bike. I...It all depends on how you want to travel. Iv never flown with my bike but I know its a hassle coz different airlines have different rules for bike. The one constant is you pay extra for a bike.
I have a British passport so I can basically go anywhere without an issue. In saying that visas are the same as when you fly into a country. You apply and make sure you have enough time to cycle the country on the allotted time. The thing with cycle touring is that you can do it any way you want. Its your trip and you plan it your way.
I think the best way to learn about this is to watch some videos. I'll link some of the recent videos iv watched.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
bushbear Link ParentThey have also removed wealth from the continent. I recently heard a statistic that for every dollar sent to Africa the global north extracts $7 or something along those lines. I'm not sure what...They have also removed wealth from the continent. I recently heard a statistic that for every dollar sent to Africa the global north extracts $7 or something along those lines.
I'm not sure what your point is but if its that the global north has invested trillions into Africa so they should be developed then you are not looking deeper into the issue. You are assuming that money went to projects that solely benefit people but that most likely went to building infrastructure to continue exploiting the natural resources of the continent and funding authoritarian regimes.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
bushbear Link ParentOk so Im talking about tribes in the context of several centuries ago not more modern times. Also they didn't know they were gonna be colonised so why would they prepare for that. Again as I said...That's kind of the problem, no? Without economic development, you don't get food security, running water, vaccines, hospitals, electricity. It also leaves you vulnerable to being preyed upon by other countries, like European colonizers. Capitalism or not, I find it hard to justify any arguments that you shouldn't at least develop economically and technologically until everyone can meet the lower tiers of Maslow's pyramid.
Valuing social coherence so much that you'd prefer to drag down members who overachieve is the issue. It's not a good thing. It perpetuates itself, but not only continues human misery from a lack of resources, but leaves you weak when stronger neighbors come knocking.
Ok so Im talking about tribes in the context of several centuries ago not more modern times. Also they didn't know they were gonna be colonised so why would they prepare for that. Again as I said they most likely did not pull people down so that they were immiserated. Thats not how a kinship society works.
Seems overly defeatist. That's what the global north would want African countries to think - that they're doomed forever. Then they can stripe mine the country of resources forever.
Its by design. The world bank and IMF have structured African economies in such a way that they cannot develop. Its one of the big plays by neoliberalism. So no matter how much positive thinking you wanna throw down Africa will most likely stay as is for a long time. I would love to see Africa prosper but like I said earlier it was never decolonised. They just shifted to corporations doing the dirty work.
Southeast asia was also colonialized and suffers many scars, but countries like Vietnam and Thailand have made huge strides in quality of life. China went through a colonial control, a civil war, and an imperial invasion with casualty numbers that make the Western theater of WW2 look like a cake walk, and it's now a technological powerhouse that scares the US.
China's GDP per capita in 1960 was $90. What would become Ghana's GDP per capita was $192.
These are geographically different places. Just because parts of Asia are flourishing doesnt mean all of Asia is. Just like there are parts of Africa that are doing well and parts that aren't. At this point I actually think you are trolling because that was a wild statement to make.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
bushbear Link ParentOk I dunno what you want me to say here. I am not a social anthropologist who specialised in Kinship societies from the sahel. Im going to go out on a limb and say maybe the indigenous peoples of...Ok I dunno what you want me to say here. I am not a social anthropologist who specialised in Kinship societies from the sahel. Im going to go out on a limb and say maybe the indigenous peoples of the region didn't place as much value on economic development as much as social development hence the way they structured their society and had these kinship rituals. All Im saying is that they had a way of doing things that im assuming worked for a long time. Sure life wasn't easy and im sure when they had a funeral they didn't eat through their entire food stocks. This is also only one aspect that shouldnt be taken in isolation. They would have had exchange system with other tribes and various other practises that insured they didn't die out.
To reply to your last point. I think things could be better but that is not going to happen because it isn't in the global norths interest for that to happen. How Europe underdeveloped Africa is on my reading list.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
bushbear Link ParentOk I will try reply to all three comments here. I am aware of the financial situation in Africa,since I am from there,which was by design by imperialist powers. Im not saying that people should...Ok I will try reply to all three comments here.
I am aware of the financial situation in Africa,since I am from there,which was by design by imperialist powers. Im not saying that people should not at any point aspire to have more wealth and live a nice life. My point was that Kinship societies functioned fine(not perfectly) before our modern day economic systems were forced onto the people of the continent. The fact that they invest so much money into these funerals in this modern day is not the greatest but this is a tradition that has been co opted/corrupted by capitalism. Before that came around I imagine they would throw lavish feast in the same vein as the Potlach of North America but that doesn't cut it in our modern times so here we are with funerals that bankrupt families.
Iv not studied much social anthropology but whenever I have, iv noticed that many traditions from the before times generally don't gel with how we operate today. These rituals seem almost alien because they are woven into the fabric of their society and make sense to the people practicing it. I find it sad that what was once a death ritual that would most likely bring together a village is now been bloated to something that is barely recogniseable from its origin.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
bushbear LinkThis was really interesting but I can't help but think he was going out of his way to not mention capitalism at all. Sure kinship societies probably have their issues but while reading this I...This was really interesting but I can't help but think he was going out of his way to not mention capitalism at all. Sure kinship societies probably have their issues but while reading this I couldn't help but think that the clear problem here is that everyone in these modern kinship societies is viewing it through a capitalist lense.
The idea that nobody gathers more wealth than anyone else is perfectly fine in a society that doesn't also have currency or follow the principles of capitalism. It keeps everyone fairly equal within the community. The rituals they have then spread the wealth and everyone is happy. It's not a perfect system but it worked for a long time. Sure hording your hard earned funbucks so that your lazy cousin doesn't do anything and just wants hand outs from you makes sense because the kinship model has been dismantled by modern financial and social systems.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #9: How optimistic are you about the future? (Results) in ~talk
bushbear Link ParentNo I suppose that isn't the only trade off but it's not exactly uncommon to be in a room full of people and everyone is on their phone. I never got a smartphone until 2018 and I remember when...No I suppose that isn't the only trade off but it's not exactly uncommon to be in a room full of people and everyone is on their phone. I never got a smartphone until 2018 and I remember when working in a pub there would be a group of people sitting at a table and they would all be on their phones.
The example was more a broad strokes pointing to technology and how it has to a certain degree separated us from the natural world.
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Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies
bushbear LinkI picked up cycling again during covid and never looked back. I mainly cycle as a way to get around but iv joined cycle groups for social rides in the past. I have also done a few tours through...I picked up cycling again during covid and never looked back. I mainly cycle as a way to get around but iv joined cycle groups for social rides in the past.
I have also done a few tours through Europe and I'm currently thinking about doing a longer one to Asia next year. I have read a bunch of cycle travel books and have come to the conclusion that cycling can be a very political act. I think or also the best way to experience the world when travelling.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #9: How optimistic are you about the future? (Results) in ~talk
bushbear Link Parenthmmm as much as I agree with some of your points I do feel that the hole argument that we are so much better off today is sometimes lacking nuance. Sure things are vastly better now than say even...hmmm as much as I agree with some of your points I do feel that the hole argument that we are so much better off today is sometimes lacking nuance. Sure things are vastly better now than say even 200 to 300 years ago. We have so much to be thankful for and we should really appreciate our world more but I imagine that their are probably more people who wouldn't agree with us because of how absolutely shit their version of the world is. I think a large portion of the global south live in a hugely different world to us and their understanding of whats good would look very different to ours.
I also think that we are able to look back on the world and say "yes things are much better now" because we perceive some of the technological advancements we have as essential to our way of life. I'm not talking about sanitation,medicine and other truly life altering ways of living. Digital technology is probably not that essential to our way of life and I say that as I type away on my laptop while surfing the web like a cool cat. Would a peasant from the middle ages want a mobile phone if the trade off was rarely ever going outside and seeing your friends in person? They might accurately judge that to be a bad trade off and reject the phone because they recognise the real value of human contact. This is just one example.
So while we do live in the best time in human history, personally I think the period between the 80s and mid 00s was the best time for middle class white people, our values are very different from the humans before us and what we consider essential is most likely far from what was considered essential back in time. I voted somewhat pessimistic for this poll because I am coming from an environmental background and I think we are gonna really screw the pooch on this in our future but there is enough positive movement in mitigating real disaster.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #9: How optimistic are you about the future? (Results) in ~talk
bushbear Link ParentI think its been cyberpunk for a while but without the aesthetic.I think its been cyberpunk for a while but without the aesthetic.
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Comment on Elon Musk net worth estimated at $1.1 trillion in ~finance
bushbear Link ParentLet's hope some of the other players will flip the board and go outside to play with a ball or something.Let's hope some of the other players will flip the board and go outside to play with a ball or something.
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Comment on Elon Musk net worth estimated at $1.1 trillion in ~finance
bushbear Link ParentI think you touched on a point I was just thinking about while reading this. At what point does he have so much "wealth" that it becomes a no issue of sorts. So we can barely fathom a trillion so...I think you touched on a point I was just thinking about while reading this. At what point does he have so much "wealth" that it becomes a no issue of sorts. So we can barely fathom a trillion so at some point its just an abstract amount that actually has no meaning and then has no value in our world.
This is way too deep for 8am
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
bushbear Link Parentlooks cool. I dig the style it has and i might register to try see whats going on. thanks for the linklooks cool. I dig the style it has and i might register to try see whats going on. thanks for the link
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Comment on Has anyone else seen a LOT of dead birds on the side of the road this year? in ~enviro
bushbear Link ParentIt is starting to get a bit comical that you are giving no real info on where about you are. Judging from your posts I can confidently say you are on this planet and judging by this post I want to...It is starting to get a bit comical that you are giving no real info on where about you are. Judging from your posts I can confidently say you are on this planet and judging by this post I want to say the southern hemisphere.
I dont think @secretfire was trying to insult you but again considering the nature of this topic it would help to maybe locate yourself to a region smaller than half the planet so that maybe we could collect the data points gathered here and see if there might be a reason for this phenomena that you have noticed.
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Comment on Has anyone else seen a LOT of dead birds on the side of the road this year? in ~enviro
bushbear Link ParentI had to stop my morning doom scroll of the internet and go look this up. There are a lot of articles over the last year or so about this. Scary stuffI had to stop my morning doom scroll of the internet and go look this up. There are a lot of articles over the last year or so about this. Scary stuff
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Comment on Do we want to stop all crime? in ~society
bushbear LinkFirstly what is crime to you? There are plenty of crimes that most people would consider crimes and an equal amount that are considered business as usual thanks to capitalist ideals. Shoplifting...Firstly what is crime to you? There are plenty of crimes that most people would consider crimes and an equal amount that are considered business as usual thanks to capitalist ideals. Shoplifting is one such example.
My quick thoughts on this topic is that we can discuss governance, the state, social policy and all that fun stuff but I feel like in this context crime represents a sort of freedom and resistance to a powerful entity that wants to oppress you. This is my quick draw response to this. I will have to chew on this thought experiment for a while to give a more thought out and reasoned reply.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
bushbear LinkIv been listening to Boris a lot recently. I saw them at Roadburn in April where they performed a collection of song from the album Pink. I dont think it was a full play through. I also watched...Iv been listening to Boris a lot recently. I saw them at Roadburn in April where they performed a collection of song from the album Pink. I dont think it was a full play through. I also watched about half of their full play through of the album Flood which is a drone album so I suppose I missed out on the grand ending but I was moving onto more upbeat things.
SO after that I figured I should once again try and delve into their immense discography which ranges from heavy rock to drone to hardcore to sludge to pop and you get the idea. I think if you have an open mind to music then you can find a Boris album that will resonate with you. I chose their more upbeat guitar stuff to begin with.
Heavy Rocks 2002
Akuma no Uta
NoThese three albums cover heavy rock, sludgy guitar and hardcore and have been a joy to listen to. Im not sure which Boris sound im gonna try out next but Im leaning to more of the experimental noisy stuff as im feeling like it might be a noise rock month of listening coming up.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
bushbear Link ParentSo is it a trilogy or can you satisfyingly end the story without reading the 3rd book?So is it a trilogy or can you satisfyingly end the story without reading the 3rd book?
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Comment on Oscar Isaac | Closet Picks in ~movies
bushbear Link Parentdamn I need to find a marijuana somewhere now before watching this.damn I need to find a marijuana somewhere now before watching this.
Iv seen this playlist floating about on youtube because while I was writing essays for uni I would chuck on some sort of EDM for background noise so now Im getting tons of these recommended.
My personal favorite is this one
https://youtu.be/KF_BpxMKlCE?si=L7HvIBIcHjrEBRws