Chain Links No. 6: Springing forward as the empire declines
Dancing flickers, learning from the Mayans, the magic of morels, and more.
It’s been a long, cool spring here in the Midwestern US, for which we are grateful. Many years, it can move from the season of winter oblivion directly to hell’s half acre in a mere weekend.
It’s tough to spring forward when everywhere around you, things seem to be moving… backward. We hear as much via word on the street these days: Businesses closing, layoffs continuing, people struggling with health issues and depression. There’s a general sense that life could be returning back to normal after four years of confusion and isolation, but it’s just… not.
The below roundup from the Substack annals is designed to perk you up with hopeful tips about morels and honey garlic as much as provide key insights into the fact that, as the meme goes, we live in a… society.
Restacks
My brother and his girlfriend visited recently to show her kids our flock of backyard homestead chicks, and they came bearing a truly wonderful gift: a bag of freshly foraged morels. Serendipitously, I happened upon this piece from
and learned a few new things about these tasty fruiting bodies.
If I had to pick a favorite bird, it would be the Northern flicker, which frequents our backyard to dig meals out of the cracks in the sidewalk path. The yellow-shafted one is particularly arresting, with its inside coat of golden feathers that display during flight. So when I happened upon
’s tribute in , he had my attention.
I’m a loyal
reader and have been a writerly fan of since linking to his excellent long-form pieces in Rolling Stone when I was an editor for Crosscut. This interview provides an entirely different take on the so-called “white rural rage” we’re all supposed to fear and loathe, according to mainstream media. It cut close to home for me, since these smearing “journalists” are literally talking about my friends and family when they paint with such a broad brush. But that’s not all: A strategy of mass layoffs accompanied by stock buybacks is truly to blame for the state of rural America, and this is also, I believe, what’s happening in the entertainment industry and at the heart of what I experienced as a small business owner last year. Definitely worth your time and attention.
Wayback Stacks
’s adorable family at lifts my spirits with practical tips and “day in the life” videos that reveal what rural homesteading is really like. Even if her enviable row of copper pots and that lovely wood stove feel far removed from your apartment balcony, you can easily dip into the farming life with simple recipes like this one.
If elite hubris chaps your hide, sign up for some delicious, sarcastic mockery in this gem of a piece from
of .
As a counterpoint to the ridiculous NYT piece referenced above, I give you
’s compelling argument for what we might learn from another civilization’s collapse: the Mayans.
Which of these stories most stands out to you, and why?
If any of these stories moved you to subscribe to the Substacks above, I'd love to hear which one and why!
Quite a dig of articles shared here!!
The Leo Leopold interview by @Matt Taibbi was fascinating. Seems that with respect to his book addressing the populism issues, Leopold cut his teeth on the layoffs of union workers at Oberlin during COVID. Here's some added background of the story... Oberlin had been sued for libel by a Gibsons Bakery that the institution and its students smeared as racist for not allowing student shoplifting to occur. That suit went from 2017 to 2022 as it wound its way through the courts. Oberlin might have been casting about for $36 million in savings to cover their loss in the suit as appeals courts refused to save them from themselves. Very possibly union food service workers bore the cost of Oberlin's expectation that Gibsons Bakery should have been more tolerant of shoplifting, as well as their subsequent and persistent efforts to put that family bakery out of business.
Similarly the costs of insane corporate administrative policies are being borne by the more productive workers. In addition to entertainment and related industries we see it in in manufacturing, transportation, distribution and healthcare, as the effort to fund top heavy administration and save money at the production end leads to punishment of laid off workers, misery for the remaining workers, and overall unsafe conditions.