Alinternet reflections: Recent Episodes
Alinta Pilkington
Reflections on society, drawn from philosophical thinking about current day politics, science and spirituality
Limbic Capitalism is a term coined by historian David Courtwright in his 2021 book the Age of Addiction which refers to the coordinated and predatorial way big corporate, complicit governments and criminal organisations target or pleasure seeking limbic system to generate an addiction to their product, thereby maximising both sales and profits.
With our limited time left can we consider Capitalism as a vehicle for putting the planet at the centre of our agendas?
Located at the foot of the Snowy Mountains, Corryong's Acres and Acres co-op found a way to restore food relief to a town devastated by the Black Summer bushfires
Corowa is a small town nestled on the border of Australia's New South Wales and Victoria. For 10 years it has been servicing it's community, providing safety, food security and democracy to it's residents. This podcast is a deep dive into its origin story and values.
Truth. Is it objective? Or can we only ever grapple with it in its subjectivities? That is, is truth shaped by own experiences and position within the world? Is, what is truth to us, simply the paradigm or discourse that we operate within? And if so, how do we challenge or change what it is that is accepted as truth?
How degrowth can provide the solution to environmental and social problems, when guided by participatory action methodologies
A research report on three co-ops in Sydney and how they are disrupting cruel and wasteful processes of big supermarkets with market share
Forces like Neoliberalistic Capitalism and the constant pursuit of surplus capital are transforming our cities into elite playgrounds. Community-owned co-ops might hold the solution in taking it back
What is caring? How do we give care, take care, live in care - all whilst living in love and not fear?
Mum: an abuser who takes sick pleasure at the torment of others. Dad: a coloniser, who likes to force his will (among other things) on those weaker than him. Parents: no longer. How shall they be punished? Think creatively!
How to conquer your bad habits this year. Tools for having self-discipline, as well as self-compassion, learning how to hold yourself to account whilst holding space for yourself. New year, new year, new gamified habit system
A tasting plate of epiphanies - from work and play, to rhythm and melodies to adhering to principles and spontaneously making meaning. Happy 2022 everybody, may the next year be as rich as your imagination.
Emily Ratajkowski, in sharing her experiences of growing up as a model with all of its personal and professional complexies, invites us to examine concepts of ownership, sexuality, identity, security and power.
Is caring based in attachment or acceptance? In letting go or in resisting? In wanting to preserve or in accepting destruction? And how can we use this concept of our ethic of care in approaching saving the planet?
Can we ever be part of the great Earth metabolism? And by doing so would we fill the void first created by seeing ourselves as separate?
Planetary and mental resilience are linked – we need to heal ourselves to heal the world. Climate change has traumatised us and our industrialised ways of living speak of dissociations with our natural world. Healing ourselves mentally and emotionally is the best way to save the planet.
An examination of the mechanics and philosophy behind how we manifest energy into our reality and how we can bring the world into a higher vibrational state.
An examination of the fear-based dynamics of western society and a guide on how to bust through our collective neuroses with love. Adult content warning.
What is the value of values and how do we ensure that those who volunteer to protect values are properly valued in return?
This podcast examines the cognitive skills needed for living a sustainable life aligned and in-flow with a natural environment. Distinction-making capabilities helps us learn skills, practice music, think and tolerate one another.
Waste and exploitation are intimately connected and contained within our cultural DNA. How do we imagine new, grassroots and decentralised ways of tackling them and discovering a better, fairer and more connected future?
How to stop being who you think you are and find your own path (spoiler alert: involves jumping)
How practicing kindness, rapport and gratitude can transform communication and change the world - one relationship at a time.
This blog examines the relationship between linguistics and systems of memory, including schema (gestalt) building via language; Theory of Mind (ToM) and its relationship to learning how to articulate and communicate at an early age; Semantic, Episodic and Procedural memory systems and the role of short vs long term memory. (All material sourced from University of Sydney Psychology Degree).
In this podcast I discuss the reasons for and traditions in psychology over the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries. Are our current knowledge paradigms still relevant or just relentless white noise?
A short story examining the transmission of toxic masculinity down through generations and how this can shape and break lives.
What can Japan's decision to leave the International Whaling Commission in 2018 tell us about the state of international environmental politics, and how could the solution lie in increased localisation?
A short story written in 2005 about what the social implications would be of discovering the secret to immortality. Would it be just another weapon of class division? Themes of class struggle, religion, relationships, economics and environmental ethics are all explored in this short feature article style vignette.
Should materialism be the end-goal of humanity?
A simple solution to complex problems: a simple life.
It's joys, it's impacts, mental health, crime, it's history in Australian society and whether a criminalisation or harm minimisation approach work best for regulating its use in society.
Ramblings on the breaking up of communities and rise of industry; and the impact that both these forces have had on individual potential and values.
My life since 2011 has been rocked and defined by climate change and a growing awareness of the challenges that face all human societies. My personal journey involves starting degrees in Communications, Psychology, and the Environment, and finding first psychosis and then clarity.
How does language shape thought? The shape of the book; orality vs literacy; jargon (standardisation of language) vs meaning-making (and use of rhetoric); and how their mastery enables deep learning and brings mindfulness are all explored in this series of short essays.
Carbon emissions, deforestation, plastic waste. What follows is a collation of international environmental law essays which examine how the composition of state-based economies frame a collective inability to solve global 'wicked' problems. The beginnings of an examination of how use-based (instead of materials-based) economies could bear the solution.
An analysis of Steffen et al's paradigm shifting 'Planetary Boundaries' framework, first published in 2015. What does it mean for Earth, how does it communicate this message and is it already too late for change?
Could it be contained in an app? Is there a different way for society to share knowledge and gain skills then being forced through a series of institutions at great financial and time-based cost? I have an idea, and I think it's a good one.
What could our collective future look like? How do we get there? My 2022 Master's thesis seeks to tackle these questions by facilitating a spectrum of different people with different backgrounds and perspectives to collectively daydream a new way of existing.
In 2019 Oil Giant Equinor got approval to begin drilling the Great Australian Bight - one of the last pristine marine ecosystems on Earth. This was despite overwhelming opposition from people-powered protests and NGOs. This audio-essay examines the stakeholders, timelines and outcomes of this case - and looks at solutions in how we can protect our precious ecosystems from further future destruction.
Assorted writings surrounding modern day justice and how to practice it with regards to the environment
I spent the Summer of 2012 in Paris as a waitress. These are my thoughts on the experience.
What rights does nature have and how can we use this rights framework to save the earth from our own destruction?
A collation of short essays on the colonised indigenous experience, and imaginations of pathways into a different future
If we restored indigenous ways and stopped suppressing them, our environment and our own peoples.
Is our whole society built on violence? If the way we practice justice is also violent, how do we transform it to deliver restorative climate justice?
Centralisation is the mechanism by which governments and multinationals are able to coerce citizen decision-making. Could decentralisation be the solution for how to disrupt these power structures and peacefully take back control?
Why can't humanity change to adapt to the challenges of climate change? This podcast explores our sense of species exceptionalism, the rights of living systems, the potential impacts of climate change and the need and orthodoxy behind changing a paradigm.