200. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OURSELVES? - Ethical Digital Hygiene
Read More“why do I get news headlines sent to my phone?“
- CHRISTMAS BREAK 2024 -
It’s Christmas. No new posts until January 2025. See you in the new year!
199. DOES SANTA EXIST? - A Christmas Inquiry
Read More“I pointed out that while their ‘evidence’ certainly seemed to point to the idea that none of them were being given gifts from Santa - at least not on the Christmases in question - it did not completely remove the possibility that Santa Claus might still exist…“
- No Post Today -
Sorry guys - been absolutely swamped this week, and ill, and so took the sanity-saving decision not to bosh out a PU just to meet my own deadline. I hope to post something later in the week though…
198. NOT DEALING WITH TRAUMA - Why We Need to do Some Work Before Returning to Normal
Read More“And now normal is what happens when we live so long in denial about our generational wounds that they fester and metastasise into something ugly and, possibly, untreatable.”
197. ASSISTED DYING - A Reasonable Adjustment to Make
Read More“one could even call it a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure one’s universal ability to end one’s own life is not unfairly denied to people just because of a physical disability (a protected characteristic under UK law). Not allowing assisted suicide is discriminatory to those of us without the physical capability for killing ourselves.“
196. ARGUMENTS DON'T WORK - And I Won't Be Able to Convince You
Read More“I have been thinking about arguments. And the more I do, the more I think they don’t actually convince anyone of anything.“
195. RECKONING WITH THE ELECTION - Reflections on a Soul-Crushing Week
Read More“Either I’d got Trump wrong, or I’d got the morality of my fellow citizens wrong? And neither explanation was particularly comforting.“
194. SHOULD THE STATE CARE ABOUT PRIVATE SCHOOLS? - On the Meaning of Independence
Read More“the conversation around VAT on independent schools being a conversation purely based around money, costs and affordability, instead of it being a serious public conversation around education and what a good education should look like is a conversation that fails to address what really ails the current state school system and what the advantages of going to, or working in, the independent sector actually are. “
- OCTOBER HALF TERM 2024 -
Now I’m back to regular weekly posting again that also means regular breaks when school is not in session. So October half term means there’s no new PU this week. Enjoy scaring yourself with some Halloween fun or, if that’s not your thing, you can always check out our archives.
See you next week…
193. THE WRONG CHOICE - Why Voting for Trump is More Than Just A Choice I Disagree With
Read More“Sometimes, when given a completely free choice, to choose any other way but one can be so self-sabotaging that there really is no choice at all. The 2024 US election is one such case. Whoever wins, we lose, but if Trump wins, what we lose is so significant we may never be able to win again.“
192. BAND PRAXIS - Punk and the Anarchist Squint
Band Praxis - Punk and the Anarchist Squint by DaN McKee (taken from The Anarchism and Punk Book Project’s Book 2 - DIY or Die: Do it Yourself, Do it Together & Punk Anarchism)
Read MoreBLACK HISTORY MONTH HISTORY ON PU
Read More"No new post this week. Instead, I thought it might be worth flagging several PU posts I’ve written from our archives inspired by, or relevant to, Black History Month which we celebrate here in the UK during October..."
191. WRESTLING WITH DONALD TRUMP - Why We Ignore The Wrestling Connection at Our Peril
Read More"Trump is undoubtedly a monster. Trump is a massive threat to the kind of democracy that all Americans should hold dear. But he is using the playbook of professional wrestling to win the White House once again and is therefore a monster we are responsible for keeping alive so long as we continue to not take the influence of professional wrestling on politics seriously."
190. TWO STUDENTS, BOTH ALIKE IN DIGNITY - On The Illusion of Individual Exam Success
Read More"Does a grade truly reflect the work and ability of a student, or is it merely a result of a context and circumstance over which the student is powerless?"
189. THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE - Still Haunting AI
Read More"if these AI machines were conscious then we would effectively be using them as our slaves; they do not have a choice in the matter and are also not getting paid. This raises important questions on the morality of the use of AI" A student writes on AI and slavery...
188. GRENFELL - On Individual versus Collective Responsibility
Read More"The Grenfell Inquiry blamed everyone for the tragedy that took 72 lives, but if everyone is responsible, is anyone responsible?"
187. SHOUT OUT TO CHILDLESS CAT PEOPLE - Why I Still Don't Want Kids
Read More"In the wake of this summer’s comments from Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, about ‘childless cat ladies’ (and as a US citizen who is registered to vote in November and will be voting for Kamala Harris…who actually does have step-children) I thought it might be worth reviewing the sound reasons for my own decision not to have children and defending the decision of others who have done likewise..."
186. TO LOVE AND HATE PHILOSOPHY - What is really needed to think deeply?
Read More"Philosophy is all about fine distinctions, and it is a fundamental error to conflate philosophy itself itself with its professional cousin. There is no logical reason the philosophy produced by a primary school student cannot reach conclusions just as profound and perception-changing as the philosophy produced by a professional academic."
185. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - On Why This Anarchist Votes
Read More“It is because I am an anarchist, that I will still be voting within a system I don’t believe in for whatever limited, but vital, changes I can bring within that system, to make life better for those it oppresses the most…“