China, Shell Houses, and Memory Loss
13-20th April 2025
Hello friends, comrades,
I can feel the tides changing. Things are weird at the moment, the vibes are shifting. (Every week I continue to attempt to cement myself as witchy and prophetic but instead appear unhinged and neurotic. The work continues...)
This week I went for a jaunt through the woods and found some hidden gems, thought a lot about how best to organise society, and got inspired by a few different types of poetry.
Happy reading!
Now That I Think About It
If I had 10 children I’d also send them off into the woods to play. This was the wise decision of Lady Kennedy, the wife of a wealthy sugar cane merchant, who commissioned for multiple structures to be build in her back garden of Dunottar forest. Dunottar forest is an area of woodland near Dunottar castle in Stonehaven and if you visit you can still see some of these landmarks left over from the 19th century.
The most famous of them is the Shell House (or ‘Hoosie’ as the locals call it), a small round sugar loaf of a building, perfectly sized for kids to stand up in and marvel at the shell inlay. It’s hidden behind the crumbling walls of the old gardens and when you stumble upon it it feels like you’re in a fairy glen or a secret garden.
But it doesn’t end there. Lady Kennedy also had a 19th century jacuzzi built into the river running through the valley. Seemingly this was something a lot of fashionable aristocrats had done at the time. When I looked at the bath I kept thinking it was a shame she lived in Scotland, because there must have been about two days a year that she could have sat and enjoyed the water temperature. No doubt her kids would have enjoyed this all year round. I was pretty bummed out I hadn’t brought my swimmers as it was an unseasonably warm day (23 degrees!) and if I’d known about the bath I would have been in there in an instant.
If I ever fulfil my dreams of being a lazy lady of the house then I will definitely get myself a river bathuzzi - but not for my 10 kids. Just for me 🙃
Better Role Models
Scroll. I see a factory in China that makes designer shoes and handbags. Scroll. A Chinese influencer shows me where you can order the same bags for cheap avoiding international trade costs. Scroll. I see a Chinese diplomat, talking about rolling out the red carpet for Keir Starmer. Scroll. An amazing Chinese train network.
Since Donald Trump tarrifed China last week, my social media feed has changed into a Chinese soft power battle ground. Chinese influencers are showing the Western world, especially Americans, the reality of trading with China and exposing all sorts of revelations - particularly the massive markup of luxury goods.
They are also showing how much better off they are as a country (in spite of JD Vance calling them ‘peasants’). China is a mixed economy - the government holds more wealth than most other rich countries but privatised companies still exist. The average Chinese person in the bottom 50% income bracket saw their average income grow 5 times since the 1970s, whereas the average US citizen has seen negative growth in this regard. They have better healthcare and social standards than Americans. Better developments in science, technology and medicine. All this points towards an overall better run country with a higher quality of life for most people. The comments under the videos from American watching seem to have everyone agreeing - this is the way of organising society.
However, what the commenters are forgetting is that as China has become a global superpower, inequality there has risen. China is one of the biggest exploiters of human rights, both in their own country and abroad, and a huge player in the modern colonialistion of Africa. It has a reliance on coal for energy and construction, making it one of the biggest fossil fuel polluters. None of these factors should be seen as aspirational in the modern world.
If we’re wanting to make big changes on a sustainable level we should be looking at countries that do not covet exploitation in order to progress. Scandanavian countries, are consistently hitting environmental targets, improving happiness levels and social mobility, and have mental health record. They do not meddle in modern day slavery. But, as usual, social media seems to be making a meme out of it all and encouraging a worrying false narrative over how societies are run well. I think it’s time we had some new role models.
Art Corner
‘WILSON! WILSON! DONT SPOIL THE ENDING!’ - Tom Hanks
📽️Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michael Gondry) ☆☆☆☆
"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned." - Alexander Pope
(I love Jim Carey!!)
🪶 Whiteys On The Moon (1970, Gil Scott Heron)
The best way to hear this poem is from the man himself.
‘The man just upped my rent last night
Cause whitey's on the moon
No hot water, no toilets, no lights'
But whitey's on the moon’
🚀🚀🚀
Weekly Stats
Times I pushed instead of pulled - 2
Attempts at nailing a Trump impression: daily
Hours watching Marcus the Worm clips: 50+
Daffodils: 1000
‘my suiiitttcaaassseee!’: 4
Cookies: im going to make some, by god i will
Next week on the rickleverse
Should I do some writing on trans rights? Cus honestly ..
Or maybe I’ll write about my experience of going to a private hospital…
Lemme know if you have a preference.
Love,
Rachael
