capitalism

  • Neoliberalism: The Operating System of the Society of Control

    Neoliberalism, emerging as a reaction against Keynesian policies, transforms social life through market logic, individual responsibility, and state facilitation of capital. It prioritizes deregulation, privatization, and austerity, reframing citizens as entrepreneurial actors. In Texas, neoliberal policies since the 1990s have… Continue reading

    Neoliberalism: The Operating System of the Society of Control
  • Targeting for erasure

    The Christofascists are building up to lead a violent program against QUILTBAG Folx. Continue reading

    Targeting for erasure
  • The fast fascist creep

    It amazes me that 80 years on from the end of World War II, I still must share with my students to show them quotes like this. Look! It is happening around them and they do NOT pay attention… The… Continue reading

    The fast fascist creep
  • I asked Google Bard to explain…

    Google Bard helps folks understand how all social media and tech companies get SO VERY MUCH free labor from all those who use it. Continue reading

    I asked Google Bard to explain…
  • Always some other’s fault

    Rather than deal with our own inadequacies, Americans seek some other to blame. Continue reading

  • On Tech: When Amazon flexes its power

    To Amazon and its defenders, this feels unfair. Amazon is just doing what stores have always done — just better. This question about whether technology superpowers can play fair by the tried and true rules is a central legal, economic… Continue reading

    On Tech: When Amazon flexes its power
  • On Bullshit Jobs – RSA

    According to a 2015 YouGov poll, 37% of the UK population believe their job makes no meaningful contribution to the world. And despite the time-saving advances promised by technology, we’re now working longer hours than ever. How has this situation… Continue reading

    On Bullshit Jobs – RSA
  • 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… Continue reading

    The High Priests of Capitalism
  • The “Well-Off” Worker and the Global Capitalist Rewards System

    I would disagree with this article a little bit. The diverse means of compensation given the “well-off” worker–paid sick leave, paid vacation, healthcare, pension plan, etc–are not really privileges. But maybe we should think of them as privileges because quasi-job-security has a… Continue reading

    The “Well-Off” Worker and the Global Capitalist Rewards System
  • Ursula K. Le Guin: We can Envision Better than Capitalism

    “We live in capitalism,” said Le Guin, “Its power seems inescapable… So did the divine right of kings.”   Continue reading

    Ursula K. Le Guin: We can Envision Better than Capitalism
  • Down with Activism; Up with Revolution

    …we imagine that we are revolutionaries when we are nothing more than temporary rebels.  Activism is far from revolution, and the left at the centres of capitalism is dominated by activists and activist groups––NOT revolutionaries and revolutionary movements.  The most popular and predictable… Continue reading

  • Cotton and Capitalism: The Tapestry of Domination

    The truth is that no one knows what “the history of capitalism” is because its history is just now being written. But if there is any indication of what it might look like, it appears in Sven Beckert’s remarkable and… Continue reading

  • It Is Expensive to Be Poor – Barbara Ehrenreich – The Atlantic

    The Great Recession should have put the victim-blaming theory of poverty to rest. In the space of only a few months, millions of people entered the ranks of the officially poor—not only laid-off blue-collar workers, but also downsized tech workers,… Continue reading

    It Is Expensive to Be Poor – Barbara Ehrenreich – The Atlantic
  • Capitalism vs. Democracy – NYTimes.com

    Thomas Piketty’s new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” described by one French newspaper as a “a political and theoretical bulldozer,” defies left and right orthodoxy by arguing that worsening inequality is an inevitable outcome of free market capitalism.Piketty, a… Continue reading

    Capitalism vs. Democracy – NYTimes.com
  • Supremely Smug Plutocrats vs. the Supreme Pontiff

    My claim: The wealthiest Plutocrats within the 1% use religion and its morality to support their estate as the most powerful. Toward that end, such men and women will often weigh in on issues that they do not care so… Continue reading

    Supremely Smug Plutocrats vs. the Supreme Pontiff
  • “Democracy”, Crisis, and Control

    Ted Asregadoo speaks with U.C. Santa Barbara sociology professor, William I. Robinson, about the crisis of global capitalism and social democratic ways to address the financial, ecological, and social crises wrought by this system. Related articles Society of Control (keithwaynebrown.com)… Continue reading

    “Democracy”, Crisis, and Control
  • Maybe There is Something Wrong with our Notion of Paradise

    Slavoj Žižek, one of the more public philosophers of our day, considers the difference between revolution and reformation. On which cusp do we find ourselves today? He identifies two traps that must be avoided in order to answer the question… Continue reading

    Maybe There is Something Wrong with our Notion of Paradise
  • How Capitalism Creates The Welfare State « The Dish

    The two concepts are usually seen in complete opposition in our political discourse. The more capitalism and wealth, the familiar argument goes, the better able we are to do without a safety net for the poor, elderly, sick and young.… Continue reading