2022-12-26

• Reading: [[Less is More]]. Very good.
  • Nominally it’s about [[degrowth]] but it’s starting off with a chapter about the [[Anthropocene]], and then a chapter on the origins of [[Capitalism]].
  • Describing the process of [[Enclosure]], [[colonialism]] and [[Primitive accumulation]].
  • Particularly interesting is the description of a move from a [[Relational ontology]] (as also mentioned in [[Free, Fair and Alive]]!) to [[dualism]].
  • [[Francis Bacon]] and [[René Descartes]] are given dishonourable mentions with a lot to answer for in Hickel’s account.
  • Bacon kicking off the idea that man is separate from nature. Descartes idea’s of mind/body split being use to justify the domination over people’s bodies.
  • Goes into much more depth and nuance but the idea generally being church, state and capital were very keen to separate man from nature and mind from body, allowing living things (both nature and humans) to be view simply as living things to be exploited.
  • Also a desire to separate [[commoner]]s from land, both physically and in spirit. they felt common people able to live off the land were a threat.