Hello Recompilers,
Well, it’s a funny time to be alive. Some of us are stuck working at home, an awful lot of us are unemployed, and an awful lot of people are at the frontlines of this crisis, whether serving the sick or serving those who are trying not to get themselves or others sick. But community support and mutual aid projects are well underway and personally I’m blown away by watching so much of the world come together so that we can keep the most vulnerable people in our society safe.
Reading:
We have mutual aid networks. They’re everywhere now. Here’s a list. When the existing economic model is failing us, it doesn’t mean we can’t take care of one another, directly. I never thought I’d see the day when a US politician would quote the anarchist thinker Peter Kropotkin, but here we are.
We have online education and entertainment. Musicians and theaters are moving to livestream format, and many many places are making their services free since so many people are in hard economic times right now. Others are still charging, because they themselves are facing hard economic times. Here’s a pole class you can take from home, for example.
Not everyone is acting in good faith, unfortunately. Particularly, the most powerful people are treating this as an opportunity to grab more power. Lowe’s was trying to take advantage of the crisis to boost profits while their competitors were more concerned with public health. Amazon has been refusing to close facilities when employees get the virus, leading to walkouts in NY and Spain. And multiple US politicians are under investigation for selling off their stock just before the crash.
Listening:
Worst Year Ever: The Reasonable Person’s Guide to Prepping
I spent several hours this week starting to write down a leftist/anarchist/progressive’s introduction to prepping, but I should have realized someone more experienced had already put one together. This podcast goes over the basics of why prepping can be a pro-social thing instead of an antisocial thing and frames it in the context of the current crisis. Highly recommended.
Conference Talk of the Week:
This talk is part of our “Favorite Talks” YouTube Playlist. Check it out and subscribe!
Look What You MIDI Me Do!
Rachel White at JSConf Hawaii 2020 talks about all the things you can do with MIDI controllers.
Opportunities:
Recompiler is hiring editors and designers.
Do you know an upcoming conference or CFP that should be included in this newsletter? Email leads to info@recompilermag.com.
This newsletter compiled by Margaret Killjoy (@magpiekilljoy). Margaret is an author, activist, and musician based in Appalachia. Her most recent book series is the Danielle Cain novella series, which starts with The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion.
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