Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Detox Blues, Part Four
(At this point in the story, my wife has just gotten out of detox and we’re both high, driving down the highway. I just cut someone off on the road, accidently, but he’s after us now.) The guy was on us again, like maggots on garbage. Coming real close and looking real grim, when I…
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Faktum Hotels Supplies the Homeless Experience
Faktum Hotels offers a unique experience: sleeping on the streets. With beautiful, high-resolution photos of scenic cityscapes, one might mistake Faktum Hotels for an upscale evening of Michelin Star cuisine and high ceilings. Located in Gothenburg, Sweden, their rooms are advertised as romantic getaways with historic surroundings, posh art, and a borderline pretentious appreciation for…
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An Interview with Vandana Shiva
AMY GOODMAN: We continue our conversation on this International Women’s Day with world-renowned feminist, activist, thinker from India, Dr. Vandana Shiva. India witnessed nationwide protests earlier this year following the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi in December. The rape brought attention to other instances of sexual violence in India,…
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SCOTUS and Gay Marriage
Boston’s Government Center was exceptionally colorful and loud on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, when large groups of people from all over united in favor of same sex marriage. A rainbow flag was raised in Government Center as a sign of support for this cause. The rally was held in recognition of the Supreme Court hearing…
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Prison Book Program Drive
A few steps away from where John and John Quincy Adams are spending their eternal rest with their respective spouses, a hive of activity takes place in order to get books into the hands of prisoners across the country. This is the mission of the Prison Book Program, in service to the incarcerated for over…
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Support for Massachusetts Immigration Reform
‘When local law enforcement is used to deport innocent people, it is not only wrong but it has got to stop!’ Reverend Norm Faramelli’s words were met with a rousing cheer from a rally of more than one hundred people who had gathered on the steps of Boston’s Senate House on Wednesday, March 20th, 2013,…
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Ditching Rape Culture for Good
Usually when I’m angry about something, my first instinct is to write. And while I’m furious about what happened to that 16-year-old girl in Ohio, I’m hesitant to lend more ink to the topic, because every additional word adds to the explosive media gossip-fest this has become. But if we’re going to stop having more…
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Brooklyn Is Burning
This morning I woke up in a curfew O God, I was a prisoner, too, yeah! Could not recognize the faces standing over me They were all dressed in uniforms of brutality. . . . [T]hats why we gonna’ be burnin’ and a-lootin’ tonight —Bob Marley, “Burnin’ and Lootin’” Can protestors be patriots? Can looters…
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Inequality Is Hurting Us All
Inequality hurts us all. Imagine if you could go back 45 years to 1968. That year, after three decades of creative policy from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal through President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, the United States was one of the world’s most equal nations. Now imagine that instead of falling into the…
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Now the Work of Movements Begins
Since the November election much attention has been paid by the pundit class to the mechanics of the campaigns, to the techniques of microtargeting potential voters, the effectiveness of get-out-the-vote efforts. The media analysts will fill the hours on the cable news networks, proffering post-election chestnuts about the accuracy of polls, or about either candidate’s…
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