In my 2022 post on Soylent Green, I traced how the film’s revelation, “Soylent Green is people,” dramatically literalized overpopulation as self‑consumption, a horror that lingers because it feels both absurd and, from an ecological perspective, plausible. That image was a cultural zygote: mutating into other forms of demographic dread across decades. In 2025, weContinue reading “The Demographic Shadow”
Tag Archives: Mao
War on Excellence
My oldest boy goes to college this September, he will be a freshman at the University of Oregon. He was not excited. He would rather bypass the next four years, just get a job and start earning. I am empathetic. But I also know college remains a critical rite of passage to show on theContinue reading “War on Excellence”
Equity and Thought Reform
I was subjected to some Maoist-light re-education at work. Telling me all about my implicit biases and teaching me all about equity.[1] It came replete with some illustrations. I loathe this image since it makes a direct visual reference to The Giving Tree – one of my favorite books from childhood. I wondered about copyrightContinue reading “Equity and Thought Reform”
Protective Arts 