#global transition

[chrissy-kaos]

Fuuuccckkk it's hot today 🥵. Who's inviting me over to go swimming because I can't take much more of this 90+°F. I'm going to melt!

[alwaysbewoke]

[politijohn]

More of this

[fatehbaz]

Nothing in the past, moreover, gave any cause to suspect ginseng’s presence so far away. Or even closer by: since antiquity, for well over a millennium, the ginseng consumed in all of East Asia had come from just one area -- the northeast mountainous lands straddling Manchuria and Korea. No one had found it anywhere else. No one was even thinking, now, to look elsewhere. The [...] [French traveler] Joseph-Francois Lafitau didn’t know this. He had been [...] visiting Quebec on mission business in October of 1715 [...]. He began to search for ginseng. [...] [T]hen one day he spotted it [...]. Ginseng did indeed grow in North America. [...]

Prior to the nuclear disaster in the spring of 2011, few outside Japan could have placed Fukushima on a map of the world. In the geography of ginseng, however, it had long been a significant site. The Edo period domain of Aizu, which was located here, had been the first to try to grow the plant on Japanese soil, and over the course of the following centuries, Fukushima, together with Nagano prefecture, has accounted for the overwhelming majority of ginseng production in the country.

Aizu’s pioneering trials in cultivation began in 1716 – by coincidence, exactly the same year that Lafitau found the plant growing wild in the forests of Canada. [...]

---

Since the 1670s the numbers of people [in Japan] clamoring for access to the drug had swelled enormously, and this demand had to be met entirely through imports. The attempt to cultivate ginseng in Aizu -- and soon after, many other domains -- was a response to a fiscal crisis.

Massive sums of silver were flowing out of the country to pay for ginseng and other drugs [...]. Arai Hakuseki, the chief policy maker [...], calculated that no less than 75% of the country’s gold, and 25% of its silver had drained out of Japan [to pay for imports] [...]. Expenditures for ginseng were particularly egregious [...]: in the half-century between 1670s through the mid-1720s that marked the height of ginseng fever in Japan, officially recorded yearly imports of Korean ginseng through Tsushima sometimes reached as much as four to five thousand kin (approx. 2.4–3 metric tons).

What was to be done? [...] The drain of bullion was unrelenting. [...] [T]he shogunate repeatedly debased its currency, minting coins that bore the same denomination, but contained progressively less silver. Whereas the large silver coin first issued in 1601 had been 80% pure, the version issued in 1695 was only 64% silver, and the 1703 mint just 50%. Naturally enough, ginseng dealers in Korea were indifferent to the quandaries of the Japanese rulers, and insisted on payment as before; they refused the debased coins. The Japanese response speaks volumes about the unique claims of the drug among national priorities: in 1710 (and again in 1736) a special silver coin of the original 80% purity was minted exclusively for use in the ginseng trade. [...]

[T]he project of cultivating ginseng and other medicines in Japan became central to the economic and social strategy of the eighth shogun Yoshimune after he assumed power in 1716. [...]

---

China and Korea were naturally eager to retain their monopolies of this precious commodity, and strictly banned all export of live plants and seeds. They jealously guarded as well against theft of mature roots: contemporary Chinese histories, for example, record that the prisons of Shenjing (present day Shenyang) overflowed with ginseng poaching suspects. So many were caught, indeed, that the legal bureaucracy couldn’t keep up. 

In 1724, the alarming numbers of suspected poachers who died in prison while awaiting trial led to the abandonment of the regular system of trials by judges dispatched from Beijing, and a shift to more expeditious reviews handled by local officials. [...]

Even in 1721. the secret orders that the shogunate sent the domain of Tsushima called for procuring merely three live plants [...]. Two other forays into Korea 1727 succeeded in presenting the shogun with another four and seven plants respectively. Meanwhile, in 1725 a Manchu merchant in Nagasaki named Yu Meiji [...] managed to smuggle in and present three live plants and a hundred seeds. [...]

Despite its modest volume, this botanical piracy eventually did the trick. By 1738, transplanted plants yielded enough seeds that the shogunate could share them with enterprising domains. [...] Ginseng eventually became so plentiful that in 1790 the government announced the complete liberalization of cultivation and sales: anyone was now free to grow or sell it.

---

By the late eighteenth century, then, the geography of ginseng looked dramatically different from a century earlier.

This precious root, which had long been restricted to a small corner of the northeast Asian continent, had not only been found growing naturally and in abundance in distant North America, but had also been successfully transplanted and was now flourishing in the neighboring island of Japan. […]

---

Colonial Americans, for their part, had developed their own new addiction: an unquenchable thirst for tea. […] This implacable need could have posed a serious problem. [...] [I]ts regular consumption was a costly habit.

Which is why the local discovery of ginseng was a true godsend.

When the Empress of China sailed to Canton in 1784 as the first ship to trade under the flag of the newly independent United States, it was this coveted root that furnished the overwhelming bulk of sales. Though other goods formed part of early Sino-American commerce – Chinese porcelain and silk, for example, and American pelts – the essential core of trade was the exchange of American ginseng for Chinese tea. [...]

---

Yoshimune’s transplantation project had succeeded to the point that Japan actually became a ginseng exporter. As early as 1765, Zhao Xuemin’s Supplement to the compedium of material medica would note the recent popularity of Japanese ginseng in China. Unlike the “French” ginseng from Canada, which cooled the body, Zhao explained, the “Asian” ginseng (dongyang shen) from Japan, like the native [Korean/Chinese] variety, tended to warm. Local habitats still mattered in the reconfigured geography of ginseng. [...]

What is place? What is time? The history of ginseng in the long eighteenth century is the story of an ever-shifting alchemical web. [...] Thanks to the English craving for tea, ginseng, which two centuries earlier had threatened to bankrupt Japan, now figured to become a major source of national wealth [for Japan] .

---

Text by: Shigehisa Kuriyama. “The Geography of Ginseng and the Strange Alchemy of Needs.” In: The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century, edited by Yota Batsaki, Sarah Burke Cahalan, and Anatole Tchikine. 2017. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[omegaphilosophia]

Theories of The Philosophy of Peace

The philosophy of peace is a complex field that explores the nature of peace, its principles, and the conditions required to achieve it. Here are some prominent theories and perspectives within the philosophy of peace:

Pacifism: Pacifism is a foundational theory of peace, emphasizing non-violence and the rejection of war as a means of resolving conflicts. It includes various subcategories, such as absolute pacifism (opposition to all forms of violence) and conditional pacifism (accepting non-violent resistance but opposing armed conflict).

Just War Theory: This theory, rooted in ethical philosophy, provides a framework for determining when wars can be morally justifiable. It sets criteria for the initiation and conduct of wars and emphasizes proportionality and the protection of non-combatants.

Positive Peace: Positive peace goes beyond the absence of war and focuses on the presence of conditions that contribute to a just and sustainable peace. It considers socio-economic equity, social justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability as essential components of lasting peace.

Conflict Resolution Theories: These theories aim to resolve conflicts through non-violent means. They include negotiation, mediation, diplomacy, and alternative dispute resolution methods. The works of scholars like Johan Galtung and his "positive and negative peace" concept contribute to this field.

Cosmopolitanism: Cosmopolitanism promotes a global perspective that transcends national boundaries. It suggests that a sense of shared humanity can lead to a more peaceful world by emphasizing global citizenship and cooperation among nations.

Feminist Peace Theory: Feminist perspectives on peace challenge traditional notions of masculinity and warfare. They argue for the inclusion of women's voices in peace processes and highlight the links between gender equality, security, and peace.

Transitional Justice: This theory focuses on addressing the legacies of conflict and human rights abuses in post-conflict societies. It explores mechanisms for accountability, truth-telling, reconciliation, and reparations to establish a foundation for lasting peace.

Human Rights-Based Approaches: These approaches assert that peace and human rights are intertwined. They emphasize the protection of individual rights as a prerequisite for achieving and maintaining peace.

Gandhian Philosophy: Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's principles of non-violence and civil disobedience, this philosophy advocates for peaceful resistance as a means to challenge injustice and oppressive regimes.

Global Governance: Global governance theories explore the role of international institutions, such as the United Nations, in promoting peace and stability at the global level. They propose mechanisms for collective decision-making and conflict resolution.

Conflict Transformation: This approach views conflicts as opportunities for positive change and transformation. It seeks to address the underlying causes of conflicts and create conditions for lasting peace by changing the dynamics between parties involved.

Ethical and Religious Perspectives: Many ethical and religious traditions offer insights into the philosophy of peace. These perspectives often emphasize values such as compassion, forgiveness, and the importance of community in achieving peace.

These are just a few of the theories and perspectives within the philosophy of peace. Each theory contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of peace, the conditions necessary for its realization, and the ethical considerations involved in striving for a more peaceful world.

[ms-hells-bells]

Have you seen the creepy video about Dalai Lama straight up kissing a boy? I hate men and religion so much

i am guessing it's that asian elder generation gap, some of the stuff the old folks in some countries there are like 'this is acceptable' is wild. but that doesn't make it okay, preventing the normalisation of violating children's boundaries as adults is so important in preventing sexual abuse.

but i don't think it was a case of intentional predation. kissing on the mouth in some cultures does not have sexual connotations. i have complicated feelings. many tibetans can be blinded because they see this man as a literal holy figure, and men have used that shield in many cultures and religions to abuse children. it is also easy to become highly defensive when it feels like the world is judging your cultural practices, right or wrong. but also, it is suspicious that this video blew up months after it was posted online, and it blew up shortly after the dalai lama announced a mongolian AMERICAN boy as the reincarnation of a buddhist figure, which was extremely strategic, because the last new figure the dalai lama announced was immediately abducted by the ccp and basically never seen again.

here's an article that shows the more tibetan side. though this doesn't change that 1. i'm anti religion and 2. i am anti men, or any adult, violating the boundaries of children just because they can. i think that's the case, even when much of the time, due to culture, the touching is not considered sexual in nature by either the adults or children (when they have grown up). bodily autonomy is key in raising a healthy, patriarchy, and hierarchy free community.

[gendzl]

idk if I ever mentioned this here but the prince of egypt is literally the thing that kickstarted my conversion to judaism. I was sitting in my living room watching it on netflix and suddenly I was weeping and googling "can you convert to judaism"

[palestinalibre]

.

[hotmess-exe]

aight enough bragging about how my first stand up set was about breast cancer, time to write new stuff and get back on stage

[tanadrin]

unlearning economics makes a pretty good point in one of his videos: european colonialism didn’t have to absolutely devastate countries like india to cause long-term problems; simply forcibly reorienting areas under their control toward exports that Europe needed, and depressing local growth by a percentage point or two caused a massive divergence over time; under Britain the Indian economy and population continued to grow, but more slowly and with more famines, and that’s enough to produce starkly different outcomes by the time decolonization gets going full swing in the 1950s and 60s.

free trade policies foisted on developing countries requesting aid by the IMF and regional arrangements like French control of monetary policy in ECOWAS countries continued to favor the needs of developed trade partners over the local economy, so it’s not like the situation has been free and clear since these countries won their political independence. and of course the disparity in geopolitical influence produced by starkly different levels of wealth, and efforts by former colonizing countries to try to keep ex-colonies politically aligned with their interests, compounds the problem by weakening their negotiating position internationally and contributing to political instability.

[notabled-noodle]

poll: what country are you from and did you have to earn a pen licence in primary school?

[sharkface]

if i made pokemon swsh i would have made leon transgender

Well if you think about it they never once said he wasn't...

[whimsycore]

I straight up cannot stand bitches who will complain about thier western country on the internet but then end it like “at least it’s not the US 🤪” like you’re killing your own progress by adding that because people are gonna see it and think “it’s not that bad” so they don’t fight for better and you straight up don’t have to mention the US when it’s your government messing up as well.

[kimkimberhelen]

'The Turning Point' explores the destruction of the environment, climate change, and species extinction from different perspectives.

[androgynouspaperyouth]

Metro North