All posts tagged: utopian

Growing up in a utopian commune – and the dangers that came with it; Marina Hyde on the Trump-Musk interview; and the power of embracing selfishness – podcast | Life and style

Growing up in a utopian commune – and the dangers that came with it; Marina Hyde on the Trump-Musk interview; and the power of embracing selfishness – podcast | Life and style

Published by skeptic

Susanna Crossman describes her childhood in a utopian commune where children ran wild – and the trouble that came with that freedom; Marina Hyde assesses Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s glitch-ridden chat; and Moya Sarner reveals the life-changing power of selfishness, with the help of a simple phrase. How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

The demise of Twitter: how a ‘utopian vision’ for social media became a ‘toxic mess’ | X

The demise of Twitter: how a ‘utopian vision’ for social media became a ‘toxic mess’ | X

Published by skeptic

If anything is emblematic of the demise of Twitter, it is the rise and stall of the account of Oprah Winfrey. Oprah joined the platform in 2009, tweeting for the first time live from her wildly popular TV show: “HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY.” It was “a breakthrough moment” for the platform, says Axel Bruns, professor in the digital media research centre at Queensland University of Technology. “That really was the moment where numbers absolutely took off.” These days, Oprah still has an account on the now-renamed X, with 41.7m followers. But since November 2022, a month after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site was finalised, she has posted just once – in January 2023, when she told Chelsea Clinton she was “still laughing out LoUD for real ????” over Clinton accidentally wearing two different black shoes to an event. Debates about X have reignited in the last week, as the Australian government has taken the platform to court in an effort to get it to remove a …

Who Were the Utopian Socialists?

Who Were the Utopian Socialists?

Published by skeptic

  Utopian socialism, exemplified in the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Robert Owen, and Charles Fourier represents the first current of modern socialist thought. These visionary thinkers offered sharp early critiques of modern capitalism, imagined more socially just ideal societies, and served as inspiration for future generations of budding socialists and social reformers. However, at the same time, their ideas were often dismissed as unrealistic, fanciful, and detached from the material conditions of society. This disregard for the specificities of class politics and political struggle earned them the label “utopian” in a pejorative sense.   Henri de Saint-Simon Henri de Saint-Simon, founder of New Christianity, Source: Wikimedia Commons   Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), born into a wealthy Parisian noble family, was profoundly shaped by the French Revolution. However, his socialism was confined to the realms of philosophy and theology as opposed to pragmatic action. Saint-Simon’s doctrine saw society’s great antagonism as the struggle between productive “workers” (which included merchants, industrialists, and bankers), and parasitic “idlers” – the old privileged classes and those who lived off their …

Bird’s eye view of proposed Bay Area utopian community

Bird’s eye view of proposed Bay Area utopian community

Published by skeptic

Tech billionaire backers of a sweeping proposal to build an idealistic community from the ground up in the Bay Area released an aerial view of the project’s plans for tens of thousands of homes surrounded by open space, trails and using renewable energy sources. In the photo and an accompanying ad released Wednesday, California Forever showcased the community’s proximity to the broader Bay Area, while touting that the Solano County project would convert unused farmland into “walkable middle class neighborhoods with homes we can afford.” The new material comes as California Forever is gathering signatures for a ballot initiative in Solano County that would amend zoning codes to allow the project to be built on agricultural land. With 13,000 valid signatures, the ballot measure titled the East Solano Homes, Jobs, and Clean Energy Initiative would go before voters in November. Backers of the project include Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader who is chief executive of California Forever; LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman; venture capitalist Marc Andreessen; and Patrick and John Collison, who founded the …

In Guatemala, New Utopian Neighborhood? Or a Testament to Inequality?

In Guatemala, New Utopian Neighborhood? Or a Testament to Inequality?

Published by Sam

Try going for a stroll in much of Guatemala City: It is a pedestrian’s nightmare. Motorcycles speed down crowded sidewalks. Rifle-grasping guards squint at each passerby, sizing up potential assailants. Smoke-belching buses barrel through stop signs. But tucked within the chaotic capital’s crazy-quilt sprawl, there is a dreamlike haven where none of that exists. In the City of Cayalá, a utopian domain created by one of Guatemala’s richest families, the streets are quiet and orderly, the stores are upscale and the homes attainable — if only to families from the country’s small, moneyed elite, or foreigners, like the American diplomats stationed at the huge newly built United States embassy nearby. Evoking the feel of a serene Mediterranean town, Cayalá features milky white buildings with red-tile roofs, a colossal civic hall with Tuscan columns, cafes and high-priced restaurants, colonnade-lined plazas and walkable, stone-paved boulevards. All of this is open to the public — except for the gated sections where about 2,000 families live. “In 20 years, Cayalá will be just like La Rambla,” said Andrés García …

Let it all out! Tears for Fears inspire ‘utopian’ dance show | Stage

Published by Sam

‘All around me are familiar faces / worn-out places, worn-out faces” goes the song, and a man on stage in a voluminous skirt jerks his body with the beat as Mad World fills the auditorium. LoveTrain2020 is the new show from Marseille-based Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat, set entirely to the music of Tears for Fears. Not the usual soundtrack for contemporary dance, but if Birmingham Royal Ballet can dance to Black Sabbath (not to mention Arthur Pita’s Björk Ballet, or Marco Goecke’s Tori Amos dance piece) then why not? Gat, 54, never owned a Tears for Fears album when he was growing up near Tel Aviv in the 1980s as a shaggy-haired surf-mad teen. “I was listening to a lot of progressive rock, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Jethro Tull,” he tells me in the green room after a show in Bruges. “But everybody knows this music, everywhere we go.” Choreographing for 30 years, Gat is best known for works set to classical music and jazz (he studied music and originally planned to be a conductor). He’s …