To Be And To Last #4
This week, I’m playing with a thematic approach. We’ll tackle movement, innovation, and Uyghur persecution.
Making Movement Enjoyable
In popular culture, parkour is often seen as a high-risk, high-adrenaline activity. And while it can be, parkour is really about control, discipline, and personal growth. Whether or not you’re a traceur yourself, you can learn from this classic parkour manifesto: To Be And To Last.*
In the middle of World War II, a high-ranking general disappeared in the middle of Nazi-occupied Crete. Over a period of weeks, the resistance managed to not only evade capture, but actually successfully smuggled this general off the island and onto a waiting British submarine. Intertwined in this epic tale, you’ll learn new approaches to exercising for life.
Square: $0 to $39B
Apple had a lengthy and expensive approval process to use the doc connector, special chipsets you had to use, royalties on each unit …. By using the microphone jack to circumvent Apple's doc connector rules, we could have a working prototype in a week.
- The Innovation Stack (h/t @JerryCap)
Who are the Uyghurs?
Across the Xinjiang province in China, over one million Uyghurs are interned in “re-education” camps. Why? Primarily for ethnic and religious reasons. With their own culture, history, and language, Uyghur strength has been seen as a threat to united China, and the result has been decades of mounting “re-education” efforts. This has at times resulted in terroristic acts, which have in turn been met with by further escalation.
Uyghur history goes back over a thousand years, including a substantial role within the Mongol Empire (the second largest empire in known history). From 1944-1949, much traditional Uyghur territory organized as the independent Second East Turkestan Republic. They only agreed to join the People’s Republic of China after many senior leaders died in a plane crash, and independence claims persist.
At least publicly, this forced assimilation seems to be having an effect, with journalists reporting Uyghur and Islamic cultural markers being effectively erased from the region over the last decade.
*Yes, this is the inspiration for this weekly’s title.
To Be And To Last: Thinker Nate Desmond’s weekly roundup of long reads, contrarian thoughts, and hidden jewels that aren’t getting enough attention.
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