SECCLO Community

Paraphrasing from Joost de Vries in De Groene:

We could say that the West only has a democratic tradition if we ignore the years between the time of Greek city states and the American revolution of 1776.

And isn’t it strange that we in Northwestern Europe tend to associate more with a Roman general who transcribed their military campaigns than the Germanic tribes they conquered—who were our actual ancestors.

Furthermore, none of the values and freedoms we like to call Western are inherently, endemically Western; every form of self-government has also appeared somewhere else in the world.

See https://www.groene.nl/artikel/avant-gardisten-van-de-beschaving

I thoroughly enjoy the way Dan Wang writes about food:

I can describe Yunnan cuisine only through dishes special to me. I think of pickled bamboo shoots, gently fried, lending their funky sourness to fish soups. I think of ham, sometimes steamed on its own, sometimes sautéd with some chili peppers, sometimes dropped in the pot to enliven a broth. I think of whole stems of flowers, tossed with vinegar in salad. I think of various types of rice noodles, in thick strings like Udon or as thumb-sized slices, which are more supple-bodied and offer greater chewiness than noodles made of wheat. I think of simple farm cheeses—a rare find in Chinese culinary traditions—steamed with slices of ham. I think of spicy pickles, indiscriminately sharpening the flavors of noodle soups or a vegetable dish, say a quick fry of lotus root. I think of yellow strips of pea pudding, tossed in chili oil, vinegar, and some bean sprouts. I think of a simple lunch of rice cakes fried with ham, eggs, and chives. I think of stewed beef garnished with handfuls of fresh mint, of mashed potatoes that do not drown in butter but are suffused with salty pickles, and of simple pans of soup that have up to a half-dozen types of dark, leafy greens.

From https://danwang.co/2022-letter/

@jack Looking good! I also baked some batches a few days ago! Channeling that Nordic spirit :)