Why do it? I keep thinking about the differences in how people account for value. One dichotomy that comes up is people that want to talk and think about other people, and people that want to talk and think about ideas, without reference to people. I remember once, on a trip to Italy, I was … Continue reading What’s the Profit (কি লাভ)?
Tag: capitalism
The ABC of Contemporary Capital by David Harvey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVtHfFRStSk 1 of 13 Presentations on the ideas of Marxism. "As a part of this course, I’m sharing rough drafts of pieces of a manuscript I am working on, a sort of textbook on Marx’s political economy. I’m experimenting with crowd sourcing the revision process." http://davidharvey.org/2022/01/new-course-the-abc-of-contemporary-capital/ I've talked about Hypothes.is for annotating in the past. I … Continue reading The ABC of Contemporary Capital by David Harvey
Thinking Different About This Rigged Game
040204-N-3122S-004 Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Ariz. (Feb.4, 2004) Ð An aerial image of the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) located on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. AMARC is responsible for the storage and maintaining of aircraft for future redeployment, parts, or proper disposal following retirement by the military. U.S. Navy … Continue reading Thinking Different About This Rigged Game
Geriatric and/or Managerial Socialism
"Letting firms fail, and share prices fall to their market level, also provides younger generations with the same opportunities that we, Gen X and boomers, were given: a chance to buy Amazon at 50x (vs. 100x) earnings and Brooklyn real estate at $300 (vs. $1,000) per square foot. Just as we pretend our service men … Continue reading Geriatric and/or Managerial Socialism
The Limits of Growth
"Whether we find ourselves amidst the vast terrain of the commercial internet; in our libraries, archives and museums; or between the parks, public housing facilities and utility infrastructures of our cities, thinking beyond growth as an end in itself requires attending to maintenance and care: who deserves it, who performs it, and to what end. … Continue reading The Limits of Growth
Conversations on Political Economy
Capitalist: Capitalism provides for the most efficient allocation of resources, wealth creation and individual choice. It's the best economic system we've got. State Socialist: There are other values than efficiency, prosperity and choice. Capitalism tends toward oligarchy and monopoly. As industries concentrate and gain economies of scale, wealth creation is concentrated for the benefit of … Continue reading Conversations on Political Economy
Capitalism vs. Price Gouging
Open Question: When does capitalism become price gouging? Strikes me that price gouging is during acute events where people with means cannot buy what they want, i.e., the price mechanism breaks badly enough that it impacts society-at-large rather than a minority. But, so long as it's impacts a minority or is an plausibly deniable externality, … Continue reading Capitalism vs. Price Gouging
So Can We Have It All? — Mark Blyth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOGc6XZwVxA Part of a series from McMaster University’s recent Summer School in Capitalism, Democratic Solidarity, and Institutional Design.
Against Hustle
"Even Thomas Merton — a mid-twentieth century activist monk who lived at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, and whom Odell holds up as a model of informed, participatory refusal — might have difficulty following the same path today. My mom lives a couple hours away from the Abbey of Gethsemani and when we went … Continue reading Against Hustle
Walgreens Tests New Smart Coolers
"Walgreens is piloting a new line of “smart coolers”—fridges equipped with cameras that scan shoppers’ faces and make inferences on their age and gender. On January 14, the company announced its first trial at a store in Chicago in January, and plans to equip stores in New York and San Francisco with the tech.Demographic information … Continue reading Walgreens Tests New Smart Coolers
If You’re Over 50, Chances Are the Decision to Leave a Job Won’t Be Yours — ProPublica
"Through 2016, our analysis found that between the time older workers enter the study and when they leave paid employment, 56 percent are laid off at least once or leave jobs under such financially damaging circumstances that it’s likely they were pushed out rather than choosing to go voluntarily...When you add in those forced to … Continue reading If You’re Over 50, Chances Are the Decision to Leave a Job Won’t Be Yours — ProPublica
Empty Realm
Therefore, both the factory line and the movie theater are sites of discipline, and within each capital stamps our minds with the indelible mark of sameness. The relentless monotony of the latest sitcom, same as the old sitcom, is the monotony of the office (this identity realizes its apotheosis in video games, where after work … Continue reading Empty Realm
Alone in the Jungle
"Capitalism will deplete you, while letting you think you have the means to improve your lot. Indeed, it will attempt to force its therapy on you... Anxiety, and especially depression, as the late social critic Mark Fisher noted, often have social causes, but we are led to believe that we suffer individually and must struggle … Continue reading Alone in the Jungle
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