This last one sent me down the rabbit hole of solar ovens, and eventually to the conclusion that a windshield sun shade would make a good enough solar oven in a pinch.
Superb essay. I wish you'd listed the Great Leap Forward in the modern list even though you mentioned it earlier in the piece, given its scale and how much of a manmade "unforced error" it was.
In fact, it looks like a typical OCR error. I've just consulted two separate scans of "Down and out …" and they both read "luke-warm".
Another example: one of the first hits on Google for "luke-wann" is from the Madera Tribune of 20 December 1963. The Google search result gives you "luke-wann" but if you actually visit the site (https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19631220.2.48&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------) and read the newspaper article ("Arthaydians Hold Yule Party"), it says "luke-warm".
Fascinating stuff. One thing it brought to mind which you didn't mention (maybe beyond the scope of this piece) was the seed bank in Leningrad. Apparently many of the scientists who worked on it starved to death themselves during the siege of Leningrad. The Soviets didn't support the project particularly well institutionally or even ideologically, even disappearing some of the scientists working there to the gulags as enemies of the state which to me makes the willpower of those who starved to preserve the seed bank all the more impressive.
> they also underscore, for us, how vital the materialist view became to challenging entrenched opinions about hunger as something that might be left to its own devices because it was natural. If people starved to death, according to medical men, they did so not in accordance with natural laws, but in breach of them. If, therefore, social policy was to be driven by perceptions of nature’s teachings, it stood to reason that, like the body, the state should be seeking to avoid starvation rather than form an unholy alliance with its fictive inevitability.
What is the broader thesis to which this alludes? Is it meant that materialism caused a shift in public policy from "avoiding starvation" to "avoiding hunger"? There seems to be an implication of a "revolution in affairs" narrative, but the excerpt is insufficient for me to discern the intended antecedent and consequent. In particular, not forming an unholy alliance with the fictive inevitability of starvation reads as a _pre-materialist_ view, contra the preceeding "to live is to be starving" line of thought, which is presented as novel materialism.
The broader turn seems to be part of the general shift towards a scientific-sociological view of human affairs, rather than a religious-moral one. The book is incredibly interesting and detailed, I'm happy to send a pdf copy if you're curious?
Not the original commenter, but I'm an interested party if you have a pdf link or file! Unfortunately I don't have the 90-odd bucks to spare on a physical copy myself.
First Google search “Luke-wann water" is an older, phonetic or dialect spelling of lukewarm water. It describes water that is tepid, neither hot nor cold. The term appears in historical texts, recipes, and literature—such as in George Orwell's book Down and Out in Paris and London to describe a feeling of physical weakness”
Jeff Kaufman has some useful links:
Storing Food
https://www.jefftk.com/p/storing-food
Your Supplies Probably Won't Be Stolen in a [Short] Disaster
https://www.jefftk.com/p/your-supplies-probably-wont-be-stolen-in-a-disaster
Gelatinizing Starch in an Emergency
https://www.jefftk.com/p/gelatinizing-starch-in-an-emergency
This last one sent me down the rabbit hole of solar ovens, and eventually to the conclusion that a windshield sun shade would make a good enough solar oven in a pinch.
Knowing that we’re entering into an era of climate change with this history is terrifying
Superb essay. I wish you'd listed the Great Leap Forward in the modern list even though you mentioned it earlier in the piece, given its scale and how much of a manmade "unforced error" it was.
In fact, it looks like a typical OCR error. I've just consulted two separate scans of "Down and out …" and they both read "luke-warm".
Another example: one of the first hits on Google for "luke-wann" is from the Madera Tribune of 20 December 1963. The Google search result gives you "luke-wann" but if you actually visit the site (https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19631220.2.48&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------) and read the newspaper article ("Arthaydians Hold Yule Party"), it says "luke-warm".
Interesting! I just assumed it was an older version of that phrase
Jokes about the first person to eat an oyster are the mark of a rich society.
Fascinating stuff. One thing it brought to mind which you didn't mention (maybe beyond the scope of this piece) was the seed bank in Leningrad. Apparently many of the scientists who worked on it starved to death themselves during the siege of Leningrad. The Soviets didn't support the project particularly well institutionally or even ideologically, even disappearing some of the scientists working there to the gulags as enemies of the state which to me makes the willpower of those who starved to preserve the seed bank all the more impressive.
I did briefly mention it, but it does deserve its own study, what an incredible story. V v impressive feat of willpower
Great piece.
fascinating and disturbing
A most excellent read sir !
Thank you.
> they also underscore, for us, how vital the materialist view became to challenging entrenched opinions about hunger as something that might be left to its own devices because it was natural. If people starved to death, according to medical men, they did so not in accordance with natural laws, but in breach of them. If, therefore, social policy was to be driven by perceptions of nature’s teachings, it stood to reason that, like the body, the state should be seeking to avoid starvation rather than form an unholy alliance with its fictive inevitability.
What is the broader thesis to which this alludes? Is it meant that materialism caused a shift in public policy from "avoiding starvation" to "avoiding hunger"? There seems to be an implication of a "revolution in affairs" narrative, but the excerpt is insufficient for me to discern the intended antecedent and consequent. In particular, not forming an unholy alliance with the fictive inevitability of starvation reads as a _pre-materialist_ view, contra the preceeding "to live is to be starving" line of thought, which is presented as novel materialism.
The broader turn seems to be part of the general shift towards a scientific-sociological view of human affairs, rather than a religious-moral one. The book is incredibly interesting and detailed, I'm happy to send a pdf copy if you're curious?
Not the original commenter, but I'm an interested party if you have a pdf link or file! Unfortunately I don't have the 90-odd bucks to spare on a physical copy myself.
I am curious, yes, if you please.
Great, horrifying piece. I’d add the Derg Famine of 1983–5 which may have killed 300,000–1.2 million people in Ethiopia to the modern list.
An excellent, if extremely harrowing, essay. May your larder be well-stocked, my friend!
Incredible essay. Sharing around with my friends and family
very interesting but perhaps you should actually read your quotations. Example: Orwell “luke-wann!!! water”
First Google search “Luke-wann water" is an older, phonetic or dialect spelling of lukewarm water. It describes water that is tepid, neither hot nor cold. The term appears in historical texts, recipes, and literature—such as in George Orwell's book Down and Out in Paris and London to describe a feeling of physical weakness”