notes collected
Nils Gilman pinned one tweet: People say adversity reveals character, but I say if you really want to know a man, give hime power. Rosa Luxemburg: “In effect, every legal constitution is the product of a revolution.” Every legal constitution is the product of a revolution. In the history of classes, revolution is the act of political creation, while legislation is the political expression of the life of a society that has already come into being. Work for reform does not contain its own force independent from revolution. During every historic period, work for reforms is carried on only in the direction given to it by the impetus of the last revolution and continues as long as the impulsion from the last revolution continues to make itself felt. Or, to put it more concretely, in each historic period work for reforms is carried on only in the framework of the social form created by the last revolution. Here is the kernel of the problem. It is contrary to history to represent work for reforms as a long-drawn out revolution and revolution as a condensed series of reforms. A social transformation and a legislative reform do not differ according to their duration but according to their content. The secret of historic change through the utilisation of political power resides precisely in the transformation of simple quantitative modification into a new quality, or to speak more concretely, in the passage of an historic period from one given form of society to another. Listen to this from Aldous Huxley. In 1958 he predicted a form of dictatorship that would rely not on force, but propaganda - and addiction. Here are some great notes on physics. It is made by Prof David Tong at University of Cambridge. If you are intrested in theoretical physics. Enjoy it. ...