David Michael Newstead's Blog, page 11

Leap Year

Float

David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving

Think of everything,

Think of nothing,

Deconstructed self,

The passage of time,

The wide, unceasing passage of time,

Beyond fears,

Beyond memories,

Alone with your mind,

Outside your mind,

Beyond it,

And yourself,

And everything ever known,

Or conceived of,

It all falls away,

In the end,

It fell away years ago.

Things I’ve Found in Used Books

The Typewriter Inheritance

This is fine.

Books Books Books

The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity.

Israel Regardie

Eugene Debs in 2024

David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving

In college, it was the kind of thing that was only ever mentioned in passing. A kind of progressive anecdote. In 1920, socialist Eugene Debs received a million votes in the presidential election even though he was in prison. Then, this interesting fact would fit neatly into a conversation about the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World) and the legacy of American populism a century ago. We leafed through our copies of Howard Zinn, but history still felt distant at the time and almost mythical. In the 2020s, however, history isn’t some far off place anymore. It feels like its banging on our front doors and breaking through the screens of every device we own.

So then, I return to the subject of Eugene Debs. Debs was an American socialist leader and a perennial candidate for president, usually receiving vote totals in the hundreds of thousands. But it wasn’t these activities or his labor organizing that ultimately got him sent to federal prison. His outspoken opposition to the First World War violated the draconian clauses of the Sedition Act of 1918. So, Debs was arrested in 1918, tried, and sentenced to ten years of jailtime. His attempts to overturn his conviction at the Supreme Court failed and he was imprisoned in April 1919 in Atlanta. Eugene Debs was in his mid-60s at the time.

For many people, this civil libertarian nightmare was just a sideshow to the main event: the 1920 presidential election. Today, we remember Warren G. Harding’s “Return to Normalcy” and little else about this race. In it, Debs campaigned from his prison cell through letters and articles, receiving over 900,000 votes or 3.41 of the popular vote. Harding, the Republican, won in a landslide, defeating Democrat James Cox (forefather of Cox Communications). The Sedition Act was soon after repealed in December 1920 and President Harding commuted Debs’ sentence on Christmas 1921. In 1926, he died at age 70, then emerged as a left-wing folk hero in the years that followed.

Today, Eugene Debs and his style of populism stand in bizarre contrast to the populism of 2024. World War One era laws still cast a long shadow thanks to the Espionage Act of 1917. And presidential candidates campaigning from prison might not be the political novelty they once were. The only question that remains is, will there ever be a return to normalcy? Or is that where these particular historical parallels end?

JSTOR Daily: A Million Americans Once Voted for an Incarcerated Socialist

The Quotable Woody Guthrie #1

I don’t care how good your good old days was for you. They’re not good enough for me.

The Outer Limits of the 1990s

David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving

With shorter days and cold weather upon us, streaming more just seems inevitable in winter. But during a gap between current shows, I recently found myself rewatching an old favorite from the 1990s. The Outer Limits wasn’t always good, but sometimes even its flaws could be entertaining. Once upon a time, these graphics were considered impressive. The intro music alone used to terrify me. I remember the first episode I ever saw featured Leonard Nimoy as a robot’s defense attorney in a murder trial. That was memorable for me in 1995 and it’s sort of funny to go back and watch it now. Anyway, on one rainy weekend, I rediscovered the series, which is now free on YouTube (or something called MGM+). Then, I sifted through enough content until I found the episodes truly worth revisiting. Here they are. Enjoy!

The Deprogrammers (S2, E16) – Personally, I consider this one to be the best episode in the series. It stars Brent Spiner from Star Trek: The Next Generation and focuses on humans desperately trying to resist the powerful aliens who have conquered the Earth. The story is interesting and I always love to think about what it means to be human. Watch Here

Stream of Consciousness (S3, E5) – Stream of Consciousness is the kind of cautionary tale about technology that this whole series relied on. As everything in the world gets connected and digitized, what is lost along the way? The episode is definitely more relevant now since global connectivity is ubiquitous in a way that people in 1997 could only dream of. It’s still cheesy, but there’s substance somewhere in there. Watch Here

Dark Rain (S3, E6) – Dark Rain is in the spirit of The Handmaid’s Tale and Children of Men. What if people stopped having babies and how would society react? And perhaps, its depiction of the militarized control of pregnant women is a little too plausible today. Watch Here

The Haven (S5, E15) – I often think about the themes of this episode and its more socially significant than one might expect. In it, everyone lives by themselves, doesn’t know their neighbors, and uses a voice activated virtual assistant to do things. The isolation and societal breakdown that follows is worth watching and considering in the modern world. Even if that’s just for the episode’s runtime. Watch Here

New Years

Santa is Coming #3