Category: Control
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Dyadic not dualistic
It’s difficult to break out of the Western habitude of dualism. But it is especially important to make the effort when thinking of the Chinese notion of Yin Yang. Rather than another form of dualism in the history of philosophy, it teaches the insight of dynamic equilibrium. After a short break,…
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Overcoming Duopoly
We need communities of solidarity to elect leaders at all levels that can work toward a constitutional amendment to change how elections are run and districts are drawn. This will create the conditions for debilitating winner-take-all and for demonstrating the USA’s diverse voter make up.
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Lonely Nation, Touch Starved People
Americans exist in a sociocultural habitat where touching is discouraged. Yet we are primates, embodied beings evolved to live through, with, and in our senses. And tactility or touching as a sense makes us feel connected–to each other, to our inner selves, to our world. Below, a great podcast that…
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Coordination, Subordination, and Exordination
Yesterday in our class, the discussion led me to talk for a little bit about a distinction originally made by Marcuse, I believe, regarding soft versus hard totalitarianism. I extended this description out to all manner of group structures that lead to implicit or explicit domination. Thinking about it last night,…
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The Struggle between Monopoly and Cosmopolitanism
The Cynics were the first people to recognize that monopolitanism was a dangerous mindset which often leads to parochialism, moralism, xenophobia, narrow mindedness, etc. In its stead, they taught cosmopolitanism, or seeing yourself as belonging to the entirety of the cosmos rather than a local political and cultural structure. In…
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Leaving Conservatism Behind | Dissent Magazine
For me, separating myself from what I now consider a naive move toward Reaganism happened in the late 1980’s when Iran-Contra allowed me to realize it was all just the same old song-and-dance. My anarcho-cynicism evolved over the course of the next decade as I saw very little redeemable about…
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The High Priests of Capitalism
Richard D. Wolff takes some time to describe how traditional intellectuals and economic theorists keep the superstructure mostly clear of those who disagree. Highly placed economic theorists usually evaluate the system prevailing in their societies very positively and construct celebratory theories about it. Those theorists are the high priests of…
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becoming assimilated
I am not sure that any society which has had a long history of racism, misogyny, or homophobia–and now transphobia–is really one to which I should be running to assimilate.
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manufacturing resentment
Analysts puzzle over why young Americans forgo things like banks and marriage and houses, and come up with answers like “preference for urban locations with lots of entertainment and lifestyle choices.” Indeed, terms like “preference” and “choice” still dominate media coverage of millennials. But if anything holds this tenuously defined…
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The #perfect is the enemy of the #good
Sitting around with the first occupiers of Zuccotti Park on the first anniversary of Occupy, I listened to one lovely young man talking about the rage that his peers, particularly his gender, often have. But, he added, fury is not a tactic or a strategy, though it might sometimes provide…
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Heterotopia of Facebook
Michel Foucault first introduced the notion of heterotopia in the preface of his 1966 book Les Mots et les Choses (translated in 1970 as The Order of Things), and further developed the concept in his famous lecture ‘Of Other Spaces’ (1967). There he says of heterotopias, “There also exist –…
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Jesse Williams: “We’re Done Watching Whiteness Use and Abuse Us”
Actor Jesse Williams is best known for his role on the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy.” On Sunday night, he earned a standing ovation when he addressed the BET Awards. As he accepted the Humanitarian Award, Williams paid homage to police shooting victims, including Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner and…
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BREAKING: Supreme Court Just Ruled that Domestic Abusers Can’t Have Guns | Mother Jones
In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that reckless domestic assaults can be considered misdemeanor crimes to restrict gun ownership. The decision comes as a major victory for women’s rights and domestic violence advocacy groups. Source: BREAKING: Supreme Court Just Ruled that Domestic Abusers Can’t Have Guns…
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SCOTUS decision reverses extreme Texas Law against Abortion Rights
Today’s decision will allow all Texas clinics currently open to remain operational, paving the way for more clinics to reopen in the future. Moreover, the 5-3 decision sets a national precedent that will curtail how far all states can go to restrict abortion. By striking down HB2 — one of the…
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Forward motion learning
This tendency extends to video as well, as experiments with video lectures and even Discovery Channel shows have shown. Increasing the tempo of a recording seems to stave off boredom and help people stay engaged. “With the slower pace, my attention span actually wavered, and I focused on too much…
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