Late last year I published a series of notes around the theme of ‘what time is it?’ (first note, second note, third note), reckoning with the sense of confusion and change we are feeling and experiencing. This culminated in a presentation I shared asking the accompanying question, ‘where are we?’, in which I tried to offer somewhat of a synthesis. has recently shared a lecture he gave in November 2024 on ‘Polycrisis and the Fraying of U.S.

A new year, but the challenges and dilemmas tumble forward with us. An important theme in my notes last year was the sense that we are disorientated and that there is a pressing need to reorientate ourselves. How to do so when we are so lost and confused? The sky is dark, it is unclear which way is north, how to orientate?

The last few notes have been framed around the question of ‘what time is it?’ (first note, second note, third note). Another question I have been asking alongside it is, ‘where are we’? Together these prompts speak to the sense of confusion and disorientation that prevails as events race ahead of our capacity to comprehend and assign meaning to them.

Intentionally or not, as the year ends, I’ve been engaging in some summative notes framed around ‘knowing the time’ (first note, second note). The plan is to finish working through some of these ideas before shōgatsu in Japan, a special time when this place goes quiet and stops for a few days. And for whatever reason, it appears there has been a recent uptick in subscribers.

In a recent note, I reflected on the need - and difficulty - of ‘knowing the time’. One is struck by the sense of disorientation that prevails, as events tumble ahead of our capacity to comprehend them. The demand is for content and quick takes, and so we are immediately told why an election outcome was to be expected, why the fall of a regime was a matter of time.

Ivan Illich, The Rivers North of the Future (c. 1997): - Paul Virilio, Crepuscular Dawn (2002): - Oliver Sacks, ‘The Machine Stops’ (c. 2015): - Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985): - Thomas Pynchon, ‘Is it O.K. to be a Luddite?’ (1984): - Norbert Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings (1950):

The calendar suggests it is late autumn in Japan, but it feels like proper autumn weather has only recently begun here. Two years ago I wrote a note on ‘polycrisis in autumn’, now a time to return to those themes. Scrambled seasons continue, mirroring the scrambling of politics, markets and minds. It is almost like these phenomena are connected.

Despite having done a lot of research on democracy, I have not written much about it here. Given that we are reaching the climax of a big year of elections, I thought it would be useful to share some of my conclusions on democracy and its enduring value. To understand what an existential crisis for modern democracy looks like, we should turn to early 1941.

Despite being based in Japan, I tend not to write directly about it as much as I plan to. I keep meaning to address this, but have been distracted with other topics. Given that the country is in the news following the weekend’s election, I thought it might be useful to offer some reflections and context.

The prior note contained images from Francisco Goya’s etchings, The Disasters of War . The less obvious context for it is that I am currently doing some thinking and writing alongside the Spanish painter. Given my recent note on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, I was happy to come across a sketch of the famed knight-errant by Goya.

Hannah Arendt, On Violence : Simone Weil, The Iliad, or The Poem of Force : Svetlana Alexievich, Boys in Zinc : Susie Linfield, The Cruel Radiance : Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas : - Prints from Francisco Goya, The Disasters of War .