The phenomenon is a wholesale suspicion of the principle of representation itself
by Thomas Osborne / December 13, 2016
"Two and a half millennia ago, the Greek historian Thucydides described the features of populism in his account of the demagogue Cleon in democratic Athens. Cleon was a tub-thumping anti-establishment figure, deeply distrustful of those (such as Pericles) whom he regarded as the comfortable elite. Cleon appealed to the moral superiority of ordinary people over the wiles of professional politicians, the virtues of common sense over specialised knowledge. Cleon accused everyone else of demagoguery and manipulation while indulging liberally in those vices himself. Populists like Cleon tend to emphasize getting things done rather than just talking (Donald Trump: “We have to do it, folks. We have to build a wall!”). They see themselves as doers rather than as thinkers or idle, liberal chatterers."
The collection and analysis of data is changing the way economies operate. Are these changes so fundamental that they can be said to have led to the emergence of a new form of capitalism – surveillance capitalism? If people’s behaviour is made increasingly transparent, do we become a society in which trust is no longer necessary? Are individuals a mere appendage to the digital machine, objects of new mechanisms which reward and punish according to the determinations of private capital? How is social cohesion affected when people become dispensable as a labour force, while their data continues to provide function as a source of value in lucrative new markets that trade in predictions of human behaviour? How should we understand the new quality of power that arises from these unprecedented conditions? What kind of society does it aim to create? And what ramifications will these developments have for the principles of liberal democracy? Will privacy law and anti-trust law be enough? How can we tame what we do not yet understand?
The Panthers' Capitol 'invasion' all came about as a result of an American racial divide that existed 50 years ago and in some measure continues today.
Resumé of Leggett's lecture by Nafeez Ahmed (June 2018) "Late last year, Dr. Jeremy Leggett — solar energy entrepreneur, former oil man and government advisor — gave an eye-opening talk where he for the first time laid out his vision for two possible futures facing human civilisation. Speaking at an event hosted by Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, he told a gripped audience that the world had approached a major convergence point in which our choices would rapidly close off either one of these possible futures. One scenario heralds the promise of a successful transition to a new, more evolved kind of civilisation. Another scenario warns of a future plunged increasingly into scarcity, despotic chaos and conflict."
he EU has failed its citizens. It runs amok directed by Germany’s ossified and frail leader Angela Merkel, and a political class that primarily values its own entitlement.
The Market Police from Boston Review. In the neoliberal project, state power is needed to enforce market relations. But because democratic politics can demand broader economic planning, the site of that power must be hidden from politics.
As Facebook and Twitter are purging alternative media outlets, a neoconservative operative at a US government-funded think tank says more censorship is on its way. Max Blumenthal and Jeb Sprague discuss how scaremongering over Russia and China is being exploited to silence dissent on social media
NRK Joakim Reigstad Norden-korrespondent
rapporterer fra Lappeenranta, Finland
Publisert 9. feb.
Eija Piispanen ombestemte seg da hun hørte at presidentkandidat Alexander Stubb vil tillate lagring og transport av atomvåpen i Finland. Nå går stemmen hennes til motkandidaten.
Russia Post: April 20, 2024
In this essay, journalist Leonid Ragozin argues that calls for “decolonizing” Russia play into the hands of the Kremlin’s anti-Western propaganda by evoking the fear of civil war – the same fear that makes Russians tacitly support Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
Om Russia Post: "Welcome to Russia.Post, an expert journalism platform of The Russia Program at the George Washington University that seeks to lift the new Iron Curtain and shed light on developments inside Russia. We aim to become a digital hub where Russian humanities and civil society-related issues can be debated in a pluralistic atmosphere. We put the spotlight on Russian voices, in dialogue with international experts, to discuss the future of Russia and its place in the world. Russia.Post also envisions itself as a platform for educating a broader audience on Russian society in all its complexity and diversity, with the belief that cultural exchange and mutual understanding remain as important as ever."