- by Aeon Video
Reading
- by Bryan Norton
- by Alec Stubbs
Unlike anthropologists … economists simply invent the primitive societies we study, a practice which frees us from limiting ourselves to societies which can be physically visited as sparing us the discomforts of long stays among savages. This method of society-invention is the source of the utopian character of economics; and of the mix of distrust […]
In the not-too-distant past, many Marxist philosophers were weighed down by a shared despair. Capitalism, they feared, had become so totalizing, so all-consuming, that there was no longer any possibility of overthrowing it. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it,” Karl Marx famously wrote in 1845, […]
The post “It’s hard to read this book and deny its power” – WASHINGTON POST review of TECHNOFEUDALISM appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.
It is a public holiday in Australia today for some reason and I had to do a lot of travelling back and forth to airports etc. So my blog will reappear on Wednesday as usual. I will soon announce something that I think will be of interest to the regular readers.
A meme is spreading: capitalism is dead. We’re toiling around in its carcass. Nothing appears as it seems in this zombie state of affairs. But why didn’t we notice? There’s confusion all over. Climate, Covid, Ukraine, Gaza. Is history accelerating, or, rather the opposite, stagnating, even regressing? In his latest book Techno Feudalism, Yanis Varoufakis states that […]
The post TECHNOFEUDALISM reviewed by Geert Lovink appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.
Does Australia really want to become entangled in a war (Cold or Hot) between the US and China motivated by the clash of the world’s two super cloud fiefs?
The post Does Australia know what it is getting into viz. the US-China New Cold War? GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA podcast appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.
In this age of self-referential bubbles, of performative mutual demonisation and of siloed ideological camps that make debate impossible, it was a breath of fresh air to spot two reviews of my TECHNOFEUDALISM by conservative publications: The Washington Free Beacon and The European Conservative. Disagreeing agreeably must surely be a major improvement to unreasoned, mutually […]
The post Two reviews of TECHNOFEUDALISM by Conservative Publications ‘Free Beacon’ & ‘The European Conservative’ appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.
This food timeline started as a way to explore the revolution in Australian food that has occurred during the baby-boomers’ lifetime, but has since expanded to include more about the previous decades (and century) as well. Also included are overseas events and trends that had an impact here. The entries are brief, but there are lots of links if you want more information.
In a bid to join the booming right wing media market, Otto English reveals his secret Big Woke hitlist
“Get it over with quick” Via the Daily Beast: REP. TIM WALBERG (R-Mich.) said during a town hall meeting last week that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza “should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” in reference to the United States using atomic bombs on Japan, which happened at the end of World War II. Walberg said: “Get it over quick.” According to The Detroit News, Walberg’s office said that his comments about nuclear strikes were a metaphor to “support Israel’s swift elimination of Hamas.” The town hall took place in Dundee Village Hall on Monday, with video footage from the event posted on YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, as HuffPost points out. Some of his comments can be heard on the social media footage while he is not seen on camera. Walberg made the remarks after dismissing the idea of delivering more humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Palestinian territory, where half of the population is at “imminent” risk of famine. “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,” he said.
Mark Esper says he won’t vote for Trump and every crazy thing he does make it more likely he’ll vote for Biden: Donald Trump’s former Secretary of Defense revealed on Friday that he will not be voting for his former boss, who announced he had fired him in a tweet. On Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the host asked Mark Esper whether he would be voting for Joe Biden in the 2024 election. “I’m definitely not voting for Trump, but I’m not there yet,” he replied. When Maher pressed him, Esper doubled-down. “There’s no way I’ll vote for Trump, but every day that Trump does something crazy, the door to voting for Biden opens a little bit more, and that’s where I’m at,” Esper said. Shortly after the 2020 presidential elections, Trump tweeted that Esper had been “terminated,” and would be replaced by Christopher C. Miller.
In politics, as in medicine, a cure based on a false diagnosis is almost always worthless, often worsening the condition that is supposed to be healed. The United States, today, suffers from a plethora of public ills. Most of them can be traced to the militarism and imperialism that have led to the near-collapse of our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, none of the remedies proposed so far by American politicians or analysts addresses the root causes of the problem. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, released on April 26, 2007, some 78% of Americans believe their country to be headed in the wrong direction. Only 22% think the Bush administration’s policies make sense, the lowest... Read more
Source: Evil Empire appeared first on TomDispatch.com.
Sadly, it’s been a poor day for the media. On Face the nation today Mike Turner spewed the right’s propaganda that the Biden administration banned religious symbols on the Easter eggs for the White House egg roll, proclaiming that it was denying the religious freedom of the children. In fact: This came up with McCaul when he was asked if Trump selling Bibles for profit was appropriate and he claimed he hasn’t seen it so he didn’t have anything to say about it. Then he started in on the Easter eggs. Insane. This one isn’t getting much push back either: Does this all seem just a little bit desperate to you? I think so. But if the media doesn’t point out that these people are blaming Biden for being sacrilegious when these policies were in place under every administration, including under their God Trump, then a fair number of normie voters will think it’s true. They need to inform people when these Republicans lie. I know that’s a tall order but it’s their job.
A bracing response to right wing critics From the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: A more-than-occasional arrival in the email these days is a question expressed two ways, one with dripping condescension and the other with courtesy: Why don’t our opinion platforms treat Donald Trump and other politicians exactly the same way. Some phrase it differently, asking why we demean the former president’s supporters in describing his behavior as monstrous, insurrectionist and authoritarian. I feel for those who write. They believe in Trump and want their local news source to recognize what they see in him. The angry writers denounce me for ignoring what they call the Biden family crime syndicate and criminality far beyond that of Trump. They quote news sources of no credibility as proof the mainstream media ignores evidence that Biden, not Trump, is the criminal dictator. The courteous writers don’t go down that road. They politely ask how we can discount the passions and beliefs of the many people who believe in Trump. This is a tough column to write, because I don’t want to demean or insult those who write me in good faith.
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – March 31, 2024
by Tony Wikrent
Strategic Political Economy
There Are Four Postelection Scenarios, and Not One Is Good
Brynn Tannehill, March 22, 2024 [The New Republic]
Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are
‘If you are not outraged by injustice, you lose touch with your own humanity.’ A ‘Gaza Plea for a Common Humanity’ was presented in the Australian Federal Parliament on Thursday morning March 28. Most MPs had disappeared for Easter, but too much was at stake to cancel a Plea that addressed the hell of Gaza, Continue reading »
In February PETA sprang into action to rescue a pigeon held in India which had been accused of spying for China. They secured its release. In March five pairs of socks were found in a factory in Malaysia with the word ‘Allah’ printed on them. A team of 40 policemen carried out checks at the Continue reading »
Has there ever been a more important time for peacemaking with a universal consciousness? In Interior Castle St. Teresa of Avila writes from her prayers about the different ways the divine speaks to us. She differentiates three ways: Firstly, those times when the divine is perceived through our senses – what we might see and Continue reading »
I see humanity as at the mouth of a very long, very dark tunnel. And right at the end of that tunnel, there’s a little star that’s hope. And it’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel folding our arms and hoping that the star will come. I travel around the world 300 Continue reading »
It’s well past time that Australia’s English language requirements for working holiday visas was addressed and applied consistently for young people in all countries. Australia has two types of visas for backpackers – young people who want to combine a holiday with work in Australia. The Working Holiday Maker visa (sub-class 417) and the Work Continue reading »