This Ugly Civilization

This Ugly Civilization PDF

Author: Harry Elmer Barnes

Publisher:

Published: 2019-09-15

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 9781943687220

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There are three basic themes in Ralph Borsodi's This Ugly Civilization a critique of modern industrial civilization, achieving personal economic independence, and maximizing individual potential. Borsodi advocates a lifestyle of self-reliance and decentralized power, and outlines how it can be realized either by one man or by all. The logical steps are given for moving beyond a "victory garden" so that each of us may cultivate a human-scale existence compatible with nature and the pursuit of the good life.Received with great interest upon release in 1929, This Ugly Civilization offered a course of action for those who were soon facing the Great Depression. The book again found an audience during the rationing and instability of World War II. This Ugly Civilization and Borsodi's subsequent Flight from the City (1933) became "bibles" to many in the successive "back-to-the-land" movements that occur every generation. His ideas gained further momentum among young people looking for answers in the 1960s and 70s. The indefatigable Mildred Loomis, the greatest advocate of Borsodi's work, even garnered the nickname "grandmother of the counterculture." Within another decade, the punk-inspired DIY movement would rail against centralizing authority and encourage the creation of a new culture of self-determination-although such radical ideas were hardly new, as Borsodi's book shows.This Ugly Civilization rejects the reign of quantity over quality in both man and machine, along with the concomitant rise of consumerism and groupthink. Above and beyond mere self-sufficiency, Barsodi champions an appreciation of beauty, uniqueness and craftsmanship over the factory conformity being imposed in every sector of life. He has written a pragmatic, poetic and philosophical work that will speak to every thoughtful nonconformist. It represents an early seed of the Green Revolution that continues to promote health, comfort and independence. It is about living a whole, organic life and developing the potential of the individual, the family and the surrounding community.

Water

Water PDF

Author: Steven Solomon

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2011-01-18

Total Pages: 610

ISBN-13: 0060548312

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Far more than oil, the control of water wealth throughout history has been pivotal to the rise and fall of great powers, the achievements of civilization, the transformations of society's vital habitats, and the quality of ordinary daily lives. Today, freshwater scarcity is one of the twenty-first century's decisive, looming challenges, driving new political, economic, and environmental realities across the globe. In Water, Steven Solomon offers the first-ever narrative portrait of the power struggles, personalities, and breakthroughs that have shaped humanity from antiquity's earliest civilizations through the steam-powered Industrial Revolution and America's century. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Water is a groundbreaking account of man's most critical resource in shaping human destinies, from ancient times to our dawning age of water scarcity.

Temperament

Temperament PDF

Author: Stuart Isacoff

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2003-02-04

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0375703306

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Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes on today’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature, or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role in the controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeks through the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenment philosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musical scale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads us through the battles over that scale, placing them in the context of quarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics and science. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system known as equal temperament called into question beliefs that had lasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filled with original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits of some of the greatest geniuses of all time, Temperament is that rare book that will delight the novice and expert alike.

Flight From the City; an Experiment in Creative Living on the Land

Flight From the City; an Experiment in Creative Living on the Land PDF

Author: Ralph Borsodi

Publisher: Legare Street Press

Published: 2022-10-26

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781015509696

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Ugliness

Ugliness PDF

Author: Gretchen E. Henderson

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2015-12-15

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1780235240

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"'Ugly as sin', 'ugly duckling', 'rear its ugly head'. The word 'ugly' is used freely, yet it is a loaded term: from the simply plain and unsightly to the repulsive and even offensive, definitions slide all over the place. Hovering around 'feared and dreaded', ugliness both repels and fascinates. But the concept of ugliness has a lineage that has long haunted our cultural imagination. Gretchen E. Henderson explores perceptions of ugliness through history, from ancient Roman feasts to medieval grotesque gargoyles, from Mary Shelley's monster cobbled from corpses to the Nazi Exhibition of Degenerate Art. Covering literature, art, music and even Ugly dolls, Henderson reveals how ugliness has long posed a challenge to aesthetics and taste. Henderson digs into the muck of ugliness, moving beyond the traditional philosophic argument or mere opposition to beauty, and emerges with more than a selection of fascinating tidbits. Following ugly bodies and dismantling ugly senses across periods and continents, [this book] draws on a wealth of fields to cross cultures and times, delineating the changing map of ugliness as it charges the public imagination. Illustrated with a range of artefacts, this book offers a refreshing perspective that moves beyond the surface to ask what 'ugly' truly is, even as its meaning continues to shift"--

Ugly Beauty: Jazz in the 21st Century

Ugly Beauty: Jazz in the 21st Century PDF

Author: Philip Freeman

Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Published: 2022-01-28

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1789046335

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What does jazz mean 20 years into the 21st century? Has streaming culture rendered music literally meaningless, thanks to the removal of all context beyond the playlist? Are there any traditions left to explore? Has the destruction of the apprenticeship model (young musicians learning from their elders) changed the music irrevocably? Are any sounds off limits? How far out can you go and still call it jazz? Or should the term be retired? These questions, and many more, are answered in Ugly Beauty, as Phil Freeman digs through his own experiences and conversations with present-day players. Jazz has never seemed as vital as it does right now, and has a genuine role to play in 21st-century culture, particularly in the US and the UK.

The Ugly One

The Ugly One PDF

Author: Leanne Statland Ellis

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 0547640234

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At the height of the Incan empire, a girl called the Ugly One because of a disfiguring scar on her face, seeks to have the scar removed and instead finds a life path as a shaman.