Visit my bookstore!
Bookshop.org is a great place to buy books. Here’s a list of books I’ve been reading.
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Author Archives: Matthew Lasar
How far back do “end-of-work” automation predictions go?
I am reading Victor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Page 107 of my edition (2006) says the following: ” . . . progressive automation will probably lead to an enormous increase in the leisure hours available to the average worker. … Continue reading
Posted in technology
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Looking Backward: the coach scene illustrated
As a history lecturer, I have for many years used the coach scene in Edward Bellamy’s utopian novel Looking Backward: 2000-1887 as a way to describe the deep sense of insecurity that Americans lived with during the Gilded Age. I often … Continue reading
The Tyger, by William Blake
“The multiplication of values that buying on margin made possible in a rising market worked with impartial and fearful symmetry when values were on the way down.” David Kennedy, Freedom From Fear, page 38, paragraph two.
Posted in Courses
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Henry the Cat becomes Youtube/Droid X camcorder star
My cat Henry is obviously a little skittish about the smart phone exposure, but she gets back to her nap soon enough (yes; Henry is a she. It’s a long story).
Remembering Coney Island
As a very young child, I was lucky enough to visit Steeplechase Park just before it closed down in 1964.
A very interpretive re-enactment of the Pullman Strike of 1894
Posted in Courses, education
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Rest in Peace
An interesting mural in the SOMA area of San Francisco. Not sure who is being commemorated here.
Posted in murals
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Does (or can) Buddhism make you feel better?
Buddhism scholar and critic Bob Mason takes on the difficult question of whether Buddhism makes you feel better. In fact, wonders Bob, does anything makes you feel better? Continue reading
Bob Mason on why Americans love Buddhism
Why do we Americans dig this Zen Buddhism stuff? Are we superficial? Profound? And what does this have to do with that Wittgenstein philosopher guy? Bob has the answers, but they’re not pretty. [podcast]http://wirevicus.com/bobonbuddhism/bobonbuddhism5sep2009.mp3[/podcast] Previous Bob Mason on Buddhism podcasts … Continue reading