Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Learning from the Right
In 1989, UC Berkeley published Jerome Himmelstein's study To the Right
about the transformation of American conservatism in the Reagan years
(1980s), that led to the present influence of Christian white
nationalism in the GOP. In a nutshell, they began building a grassroots
movement by taking over local school boards, then local governments, and
eventually state governments. Now, they are influential in both
Congress and the RNC. It didn't happen overnight.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
All or Nothing
Sanders supporters in 2016, like Nader supporters in 2000, conflate integrity with intelligence. If they help defeat Hillary, as Nader supporters did Gore, then white nationalism wins the White House.
Sanders supporters should continue to fight for a social welfare state, but helping put Trump in office won't accomplish that. Learning from the past, they should vote Hillary, then fight her administration, and continue taking over the Democratic Party, building on the foundation of the Sanders campaign.
Sanders supporters accomplished a lot, and they would be remiss to throw it all away. If they set their sights on securing their Democratic Party position at the local and state level, they will acquire greater influence at the national level. Real commitment to implementing social values requires thinking long term.
Sanders supporters should continue to fight for a social welfare state, but helping put Trump in office won't accomplish that. Learning from the past, they should vote Hillary, then fight her administration, and continue taking over the Democratic Party, building on the foundation of the Sanders campaign.
Sanders supporters accomplished a lot, and they would be remiss to throw it all away. If they set their sights on securing their Democratic Party position at the local and state level, they will acquire greater influence at the national level. Real commitment to implementing social values requires thinking long term.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Living in the Ruins
In NoGoZone, Hakim Bey posits the Spectacle as 'the true site of power'. As capitalist societies disintegrate--abandoning "welfare classes" and races, as well as other marginalized groups--the simulacrum of social triage and its corollary no-go zone will come to characterize the specto-state.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Headlines We Love
Monday, July 11, 2016
Materially Misleading
Tricking out advertising as news, or otherwise misleading consumers, is part of the new private equity media. Absent journalists and the journalistic code of ethics, 'journalism' in the 21st Century comprises anything but a robust, independent press.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
U&I
As noted in the June issue of The Atlantic, the tectum--the central control of the human brain that coordinates attention to sensory input--constructs an internal model to keep track, predict and plan. The cerebral cortex--the largest part of the brain--controls attention to peripheral input, memory and abstract reasoning that allows us to think about ourselves and others; what we call awareness, or consciousness.
