FASCISM OR FREEDOM? When most people think of an authoritarian state, it brings to mind scenes like the ecstatic battalions of Sturmabteilung and Schultzstaffel in the swastika-bedecked Luitpoldarena of the Nuremberg rallies (consider the Fuhrer’s exhortations of Nazi folk nationalism) or the pale Russian crowds lining the streets of MoscowRead More
Can we restore normality – law and order – in the face of civil unrest that’s polarizing America? In other words, as Sam Harris asks in episode 207 of the Making Sense podcast: “Can we pull back from the brink?” to restore normality or is this the start of the culture wars?Read More
Boris Johnson and his government have failed to tackle coronavirus but, despite public criticism, the agenda of the Boris cabal is nothing to do with public service. Their objectives are deregulation, authoritarian power consolidation and the unparalleled profit from a coordinated program of public-private partnership grift. Why should it matter if half the country wastes time arguing the toss about what Boris should do, how the PM should care for the people? Naive fools.Read More
It’s often said that Judeo-Christian religion, whether or not you believe in the God part, has been an absolute force for good; that it’s the basis of Western culture, morality and science. Is this true, or is this codswallop?Read More
Conspiracy theories have always existed, filling the unsettling gaps in knowledge of the world with comfortably self-congratulatory explanation. Like nationalism, the conspiracy theory is a mechanism for controlling the non-conformists. This type of thinking has a growing influence on real power structures (e.g. elections). Society is putting its future at risk by allowing these mechanisms to run wild for short-term political gain. But can we ever regulate the groupthink?Read More
Democrat Blue or Republican Red? Both were appropriated post-FDR by rival factions of corporate and lineage big capital, to ringfence key voter demographics. The false dichotomy is designed to divide and rule the American people, so entrenched power can exploit the many and reward the few without regulation or restriction. What about the ideal ‘anyone can become President’? Do we need to Make America – Americans – Great Again?Read More
It’s 2019 and, like it or not, the stories that’ve been the heritage of human culture are breaking down. The disintegration has been spasmodic. slow enough to go unnoticed (if one tries hard enough). But the corrosion is an organic inertia that won’t stop unless we stop it. Why does this matter? Read on to find out…Read More
The bubble burst in the Financial Crisis of 2008. This was a global moment of vulnerability for big capital and entrenched political power. It could have resolved in an accountable financial system, had governments been less under the thumb of corporate and banking power. What emerged from 2009 was the opposite of accountable…Read More
Lying around listening to podcasts, casually browsing the web and flicking through Twitter. It is vaguely engaging. It’s pleasantly numb. Is this what it feels to have a terminal illness of the mind?Read More