Shit! I just wrote a whole reply and it disappeared!!
What I said was how great this piece was. I agree with Abdulrahman about the Dalrymple book on the East India. He lives in India, is really embedded in the culture and history, and is a great intellectual and a cool writer. His grasp of the EIC and its legacies (and the fact that there have to be a number of those across the globe, some very different to each other, is a fascinating thought). Do have a look at it.
I love what you say about small, grass roots organisations being at their most effective when connected to their own place and community, and precisely NOT needing scaling up because that would water down that power and its connections.
And, the point you make re more and different stories and narratives and thoughts to challenge the fabrication of inevitability is uplifting. I’m not saying it’s easy…and the narrative is quite the downer…if it were the situation would be different…but it does seem to me to be one way, and a really valuable and creative way, of binding back the threads of life that can be so easily snipped away while tryin to build a better world.
Once again, thanks for such a great piece. Now…I’m going to hit post before this disappears for ever…
I knew about the EIC for years but until I read William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy, I really had no idea how massive and how horrific its history was. I think the book mentions that at one point, EIC composed 20% of the global GDP. Just one company. It’s unfathomable.
You reminded me of posting that wonderful passage I had marked in the book, describing an army procession that extended over 6 miles. I’ll find the book next week when I get back to NYC, inshallah.
Thank you so much for bringing this back to our attention. I love the idea of revising a past essay. It's something I haven't tried yet and your modeling gives me occasion to explore the idea more deeply. There's so much here that I didn't know. These dots that were never connected for me in any meaningful way. Although I understand why, it's still baffling to acknowledge how much of the history we both learn and teach are tied to myth-making on behalf of the powerful.
"It is the purest kind of evil to smile and hand out some cash while snipping the threads that link us to life." Friend. Thank you for this piece and your audio as well. Feeling ALL of it as I move.
I really like your thought about the need for a different form of "we," to replace what some call the "royal we." We need a word that expresses a collective that can take action (or something in that ball park).
So powerful and needed. So many of the stories of the American revolution are shocking to my adult ears. Armed citizens, riots in the street, neighbors turning on neighbors. I learn something new every time I read your posts 🙏🏽 and I leave feeling inspired to keep imagining a better world into being.
These are gut wrenching times for this earth and you’re correct about how rattling it is for our children carrying such a torch to light the way forward
So powerful. I'm glad you rereleased this! It's critical to lift up this narrative and challenge what passes for success and progress.
PS Extra love for the bookends of the soundtrack with the dirt-bearing dump-truck heading to and from your neighbour's new development. Real estate...!
Shit! I just wrote a whole reply and it disappeared!!
What I said was how great this piece was. I agree with Abdulrahman about the Dalrymple book on the East India. He lives in India, is really embedded in the culture and history, and is a great intellectual and a cool writer. His grasp of the EIC and its legacies (and the fact that there have to be a number of those across the globe, some very different to each other, is a fascinating thought). Do have a look at it.
I love what you say about small, grass roots organisations being at their most effective when connected to their own place and community, and precisely NOT needing scaling up because that would water down that power and its connections.
And, the point you make re more and different stories and narratives and thoughts to challenge the fabrication of inevitability is uplifting. I’m not saying it’s easy…and the narrative is quite the downer…if it were the situation would be different…but it does seem to me to be one way, and a really valuable and creative way, of binding back the threads of life that can be so easily snipped away while tryin to build a better world.
Once again, thanks for such a great piece. Now…I’m going to hit post before this disappears for ever…
What a great read! Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for reposting this Antonia.
I knew about the EIC for years but until I read William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy, I really had no idea how massive and how horrific its history was. I think the book mentions that at one point, EIC composed 20% of the global GDP. Just one company. It’s unfathomable.
You reminded me of posting that wonderful passage I had marked in the book, describing an army procession that extended over 6 miles. I’ll find the book next week when I get back to NYC, inshallah.
Thank you so much for bringing this back to our attention. I love the idea of revising a past essay. It's something I haven't tried yet and your modeling gives me occasion to explore the idea more deeply. There's so much here that I didn't know. These dots that were never connected for me in any meaningful way. Although I understand why, it's still baffling to acknowledge how much of the history we both learn and teach are tied to myth-making on behalf of the powerful.
"It is the purest kind of evil to smile and hand out some cash while snipping the threads that link us to life." Friend. Thank you for this piece and your audio as well. Feeling ALL of it as I move.
I really like your thought about the need for a different form of "we," to replace what some call the "royal we." We need a word that expresses a collective that can take action (or something in that ball park).
So powerful and needed. So many of the stories of the American revolution are shocking to my adult ears. Armed citizens, riots in the street, neighbors turning on neighbors. I learn something new every time I read your posts 🙏🏽 and I leave feeling inspired to keep imagining a better world into being.
I’ve been on substack over a year (if memory serves). Just made this my first restack.
Fire in the belly is needed .
These are gut wrenching times for this earth and you’re correct about how rattling it is for our children carrying such a torch to light the way forward
Thanks for this. A powerful read.
So powerful. I'm glad you rereleased this! It's critical to lift up this narrative and challenge what passes for success and progress.
PS Extra love for the bookends of the soundtrack with the dirt-bearing dump-truck heading to and from your neighbour's new development. Real estate...!