Info, news & debate
The ‘democracy problem’
‘The Tyranny of Structurelessness’: some thoughts
The Tyranny of Structurelessness is a seminal essay by Joreen Freeman (above), written in 1970. I read it for the first time recently, but I’ve known about it for many years, and in fact, I lived in an intentional community where it was regularly mentioned, and at least some of us lived by its main …
Why international investors (i.e. ‘the 1%’) couldn’t care less about politics
Bloomberg recently covered a Credit Suisse report on the concerns of international investors in the US, in Europe and in Asia. What they found was very interesting – that their concerns were entirely economic. They just couldn’t care less about politics – and especially who gets elected in which country.
Overview of TTIP, and why Europeans are very unhappy about it
I don’t know who slipped these anti-TTIP posters onto London Underground trains, but respect to them. If you don’t know about TTIP, here’s some basic information.
Rebels vs the Empire: why real life is like Star Wars
My brother is not politically or philosophically motivated, not particularly well read, and doesn’t keep up with current affairs. Most people are like that. Let’s call them ‘the mainstream’, if that’s not disrespectful. I don’t think it is – he’s my brother, after all.
If Corbyn became PM, what would he really be able to achieve in this system?
First, to reiterate something that has been pointed out on this site many times – the corporate empire is global and governments are national, and that fact alone means that national governments are in no position to challenge the corporate sector.
EU Trade Commission suggests removal of corporations’ right to sue governments from TTIP negotiations; US very unhappy
The biggest objection from the European public to the proposed TTIP trade deal (see here if you don’t know about it) is that multinational corporations will be able to sue elected governments (national or local) if it can be shown that legislation reduces corporate profits in any way.
This is what ‘transparency’ means when it comes to TTIP
Hilarious infographic by SumOfUs on what ‘transparency’ means in TTIP negotiations. But of course it isn’t funny at all. We’d like to see an economy of small businesses
10 reasons you should care about TTIP, and what you can do about it
TTIP (the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) is a trade deal between the US and the EU, being carried out right now, in secret, ostensibly to co-ordinate and standardise legislation and to provide clarity, stability and confidence for companies that would like to invest in other countries, and to stimulate growth.
What were your ‘light bulb moments’ in understanding the way the world works? Here are mine
Here’s a rash statement, but I believe it to be true. Most people these days know, either rationally or intuitively, that humanity is heading in the wrong direction. If you ask people whether we’ve seen the back of ecological calamaties, financial collapses, corruption, poverty or war
More details of the ujamaa collective village system in Tanzania (from first-hand experience)
This is an account of my visit to two ujamaa villages in Tanzania in the early 1990s, plus a lot more background information on the system itself. The ujamaa system has since been dismantled after pressure from the World Bank, but at its height, 20 million people out of a total population of 24 million …
10 reasons we need a non-corporate system as well as a sustainable one (and there are many more)
Like all environmental / social change organisations, we’d like humans to live in a sustainable system. But unlike many other organisations, we clearly state that we’d like that system to be non-corporate. What do we mean?
Greece v the Empire; how to understand what’s being done to the Greeks
I’ve been thinking about how to write articles about the fact that we live in a corporate empire – trying to work out a way to present the idea, thinking that it would sound rather silly or extreme to many ears. Then a former World Bank economist (Peter Koenig) says:
Thoughts about the Breaking the Frame gathering and an idea for a potential spin-off
I’ve just returned from the Breaking the Frame gathering – a long weekend at Unstone Grange in Derbyshire. My head is still spinning from the workshops, talks and panels featuring specialists on technology around GM, the military, nuclear power, surveillance, synthetic biology, health, energy, toxics annd climate, plus TTIP, emerging and alternative technologies.
Good luck to Greece, and why you won’t find the real reasons for their crisis in the mainstream media
It’s so ironic that the biggest lesson in how to destroy democracy is being delivered to the world in the birthplace of democracy.
Why I’d like to bring together radical academics and people building a sustainable, non-corporate system on the ground
I’m going to the Breaking the Frame gathering on Thursday, representing Lowimpact.org. The event has been organised by Corporate Watch, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Rising Tide and Luddites200. Dave King of Luddites200 contacted a couple of years ago and I’ve been going along to his ‘politics of technology’ reading group one evening a month since.
What I learnt about US Middle East policy and the international oil market in a kebab shop in Tooting
I learnt something about US foreign policy (or more accurately, corporate foreign policy – this has nothing to do with the American people) in a kebab shop in Tooting – or rather, I didn’t so much learn about the foreign policy as how events that are largely unknown to most British people are common currency for …
Why we need to stop TTIP if we care about the national health services of European countries
As negotiations continue between Europe and the US on the Transatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership (TTIP), concerns are mounting among civil society groups over the implications for public healthcare.
Why Panorama’s GM propaganda was false, there is no food shortage and we don’t need GM to feed the world
Did you see the BBC’s Panorama on monday, promoting the GM (genetic modification) industry? Here are four reasons their message is just pure propaganda on behalf of the corporate sector.
So do MPs deserve a 10% pay rise to £74,000 per annum?
There is an argument [see the Guardian, for example] currently going on about whether Westminster MPs deserve the 10% pay rise that they’ve been awarded, bringing a back-bencher’s salary up to £74,000.
City bans fracking; legislators overturn it and receive $25k each from oil and gas industry. Is this democracy?
A city in Texas voted to ban fracking within its city limits. The ban in Denton passed with around 60% of the vote.