Introduction: Land Use Regimes Very Different From Ours (Ep 0)

On why white-passing people could attend to importing better cultural norms

A few years ago I read a book that I couldn't unread:

It expresses, in irrefutable detail, that when confronted with a particular 'social challenge', different communities solve a given problem in different ways.

Notably, some of those ways seem dramatically less onerous and result in less harm than other of those ways.

The USA, and westernism as a whole, prizes certain forms of the written word, and since most of us speak English, these systems combine to give a myopic view of certain bits of social infrastructure, lending a sense of permanence and comprehensiveness to certain institutions.

This substack is dedicated to highlighting at least some of the ways that other regimes of land use policies might lead to generally nice outcomes for most of the affected people, for less money and time than it takes in the USA.

Also, land use policies in the USA were chosen, explicitly for purposes of social control. but because of how politically dicey this strategy can, there were sometimes layers of misdirection piled atop the policies.

So, as we go, we'll talk about seemingly arcane land use policies, how to identify propaganda, and the role of authoritarianism in enforcing political authority.

If I am successful, you'll begin to see the city you live in and places you travel to and through differently than you do now, and be equipped to make different decisions in very certain and narrow and uncommon situations.

Best/worst, a little version of me might live in your head, rent-free, and we'll all laugh about it. As long as this little version of me is a voice of gentleness and encouraging you to advocate for yourself, we'll all be happy.