...new economic thinking?

( institute for new economic thinking )

...washington for sale?

democracy v. capitalism...

personally, i'm in favor of democracy, which means that the central institutions of society have to be under popular control. now, under capitalism, we can't have democracy by definition. capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level--there's little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. just as i'm opposed to political fascism, i'm opposed to economic fascism. i think that until the major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy// noam chomsky

with most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another// georg christoph lichtenberg

putting the science of happiness into practice...

the study of happiness is experiencing a boom. its practitioners include economists who believe that gross domestic product (GDP) is too limited a tool to measure the success of societies, psychologists and sociologists who feel that their disciplines have focused too much on neuroses and social problems and not enough on determining what kind of activities and policies actually contribute to happier societies, and political leaders who want to know how to make use of their findings. during the 5th international gross national happiness conference, held last week in brazil, happiness proponents from around the world were able to come together and compare notes about the practical application of happiness science// john de graaf, 12.06.09, yes!

...why do so many students hate school?

...it seems an obvious, but ignored question. john dewey said that an educator must take into account the unique differences between each student. each person is different genetically and in terms of past experiences. even when a standard curricula is presented using established pedagogical methods, each students will have a different quality of experience. thus, teaching and curriculum must be designed in ways that allow for such individual differences. for dewey, education also served a broader social purpose, which was to help people become more effective members of democratic society. dewey argued that the one-way delivery style of authoritarian schooling does not provide a good model for life in democratic society. instead, students need educational experiences which enable them to become valued, equal, and responsible members of society. the most common misunderstanding about dewey is that he was simply supporting progressive education. progressive education, according to dewey, was a wild swing in the philosophical pendulum, against traditional education methods. in progressive education, freedom was the rule, with students being relatively unconstrained by the educator. the problem with progressive education, said dewey, is that freedom alone is no solution. learning needs a structure and order, and must be based on a clear theory of experience, not simply the whim of teachers or students//

the big lunch...

the idea was a simple one. what would happen if everyone in the country stopped what they were doing for one moment and sat down and had lunch with their neighbours? the likelihood is that it would at the very least put a smile back on britain’s face – and that importantly, in time, a whole host of good things would flow from the strengthening of communities. sunday 19th july 2009 was the first big lunch and now the seed has been sown we look forward to the event growing year after year. the day saw up to a million people around the UK stop traffic for a few happy hours as neighbours sat down to share a big lunch. thousands of neighbourhoods broke out the bunting for this glorious celebration of community spirit in the biggest collection of open-air parties since the golden jubilee. and they loved it//

information is beautiful...

david mccandless, a london-based designer, has been thinking in technicolor. the billion dollar gram helps you to quickly make sense of the big numbers behind government budgets.

if you’re blown away by these visualization tools, then take a look at this online art exhibition of works created using a programming code called processing—which provides an amazing platform for artists to explore public issues//

demos: everyday democracy...

democracy is facing a crisis, but simply reforming the structures of governance will not lead to democratic renewal. the public needs to take an active part in the renewal process.

everyday democracy means increasing public participation in the formal and informal institutions that shape our daily lives. people should be able to make individual choices in ways that contribute to the common good.

renewing democracy through public participation increases our collective capacity to tackle major problems facing society, such as the pensions shortfall and climate change. many of these problems can be addressed only by changing the way we live our daily lives.

demos is committed to building everyday democracy.

...how do we make the institutions of day-to-day life more democratic?

democratising engagement...

governments around the world are starting to realise that engaging their citizens more in shaping the decisions that affect their everyday lives improves both legitimacy and the quality of public services. in the UK, addressing the democratic deficit is high on the political agenda. but the current model of consultation does not bring in the diversity of voices and perspectives that would make citizen engagement genuinely democratic. this pamphlet draws on the institute for development studies research project spaces for change, examining international attempts to democratise citizen engagement. the case studies show that genuine, inclusive engagement requires investment to create an enabling environment and to support society’s least vocal and least powerful people to find and use their voices. as other countries lead the effort to involve the public in meaningful conversations about policy, the pamphlet argues that the UK has much to learn from their experience// democratising engagement, 04.29.08, demos

the large private corporation fits oddly into democratic theory and vision. indeed, it does not fit// charles lindblom

from participation to power...

participation is the essence of web 2.0, but it is not true power. however, it can lead to power if we understand its role in the ecosystem of social change and it's used accordingly... connecting and conversing is necessary, but the danger is that we get stuck in conversation. there is such a thing as being too connected. we have cognitive and time limits. web 2.0 can overload us with messages, shrink attention spans, absorb our time, erode focus, and thus disrupt our ability as citizens to find common ground and take action together. it's possible that through web 2.0 we may be, as in the title of cultural critic neil postman’s influential book, amusing ourselves to death. after all, web 2.0 goes by another name - social media. how can this pitfall be avoided? quantitative sociologist harald katzmair believes we must structure our conversations so that they lead to shared perspectives, agendas, and actions. conversations must be transformed into ideas, ideas into prototype solutions, and successful solutions scaled. harald is helping his clients transform conversations in exactly this way. he has designed a stakeholder engagement process in jordan to help farmers share water... one key element is the impact analysis. in one day, an impact analysis workshop transforms the distributed knowledge of diverse stakeholders into a common understanding of the system on which they depend through a structured conversation. importantly, this conversation separates causes from symptoms so that stakeholders have a shared view of where to focus resources to have maximum impact. this becomes the basis for a shared action plan// neal gorenflo, 11.20.09, shareable

...how do you get better citizens?

probably the most common answer is somehow to send people better messages: broadcast shows, ads, news articles, or speeches that are more accurate, complete, informative, and motivating. since most actual messages are delivered by the mass media (and most serious observers from across the spectrum hold the mass media in contempt), another prevalent answer is to criticize or--ideally--to reform the media. i am basically skeptical of this diagnosis and strategy. a large and diverse population can choose among a vast array of media sources, most of which survive by selling advertising. this audience varies a great deal in ideology, and also in knowledge and interest; but the average level of interest in serious public affairs is not high. inevitably, the media fragment, pursue niche audiences, and provide a great deal more entertainment than news. even the most ambitious reform proposal--a kind of BBC for the united states, with a nonpartisan board and lots of public money--would have a limited impact on the whole landscape. (the BBC's flagship "news at ten" draws about 10 percent of the british population.) i know many people who hold fox news responsible for bad aspects of our politics. but i see that channel less as a cause than an outcome of public tastes and values, plus media fragmentation. conservatives who are frustrated by the "liberal media" should feel the same way about their least favorite channels. to put the problem more concretely: i don't think you can send a sufficiently powerful "message" to promote good citizenship (even if your name happens to be barack obama), because you'll be competing with far too many other messages in an astoundingly crowded market driven by pre-existing motivations and tastes. i therefore work on two alternatives: 1) get them while they're young, receptive, and a captive audience. build really engaging, unbiased, motivating, and informative civic education into the school curriculum. my blog posts categorized as advocating civic education and a high school civic curriculum are about that. 2) reform institutions so that hands-on participation by ordinary adults is welcomed and rewarding. the theory is that people who see tangible impact from their own civic engagement (mainly at the local level) will want to be informed and to exchange ideas and perspectives with people different from themselves. my blog posts about deliberation and civic reform are about that// peter levine, 11.23.09, a blog for civic renewal

lobbyists pushed off advisory panels...

hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists are likely to be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the obama administration to curb k street's influence in washington, according to white house officials and lobbying experts. the new policy--issued with little fanfare this fall by the white house ethics counsel--may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from president obama, who also has sought to restrict the ability of lobbyists to get jobs in his administration and to negotiate over stimulus contracts. the initiative is aimed at a system of advisory committees so vast that federal officials don't have exact numbers for its size; the most recent estimates tally nearly 1,000 panels with total membership exceeding 60,000 people. under the policy, which is being phased in over the coming months, none of the more than 13,000 lobbyists in washington would be able to hold seats on the committees, which advise agencies on trade rules, troop levels, environmental regulations, consumer protections and thousands of other government policies// dan eggen, 11.27.09, the washington post

living with less: picturing the recession...

participatory theory: an overview...

the theory of participatory democracy is built round the central assertion that individuals and their institutions cannot be considered in isolation from one another. the existence of representative institutions at national level is not sufficient for democracy; for maximum participation by all the people at that level socialisation, or 'social training,' for democracy must take place in other spheres in order that the necessary individual attitudes and psychological qualities can be developed. this development takes place through the process of participation itself. the major function of participation in the theory of participatory democracy is therefore an educative one, educative in the very widest sense, including both the psychological aspect and the gaining of practice in democratic skills and procedures. thus there is no special problem about the stability of a participatory system; it is self-sustaining through the educative impact of the participatory process. participation develops and fosters the very qualities necessary for it; the more individuals participate the better able they become to do so. subsidiary hypotheses about participation are that it has an integrative effect and that it aids the acceptance of collective decisions.

therefore, for a democratic polity to exist it is necessary for a participatory society to exist, i.e. a society where all political systems have been democratised and socialisation through participation can take place in all areas. the most important area is industry; most individuals spend a great deal of their lifetime at work and the business of the workplace provides an education in the management of collective affairs that it is difficult to parallel elsewhere. the second aspect of the theory of participatory democracy is that spheres such as industry should be seen as political systems in their own right, offering areas of participation additional to the national level. if individuals are to exercise the maximum amount of control over their own lives and environment then authority structures in these areas must be so organised that they can participate in decision making. a further reason for the central place of industry in the theory relates to the substantive measure of economic equality required to give the individual the independence and security necessary for (equal) participation; the democratising of industrial authority structures, abolishing the permanent distinction between 'managers' and 'men' would mean a large step toward meeting this condition// carole pateman, participation and democratic theory

the public mind...

( illusions of news )

mondragón...

what has 120 different companies, 42,000 worker-owners, 43 schools, one college, does more than 4.8 billion dollars of business annually in manufacturing, services, retail and wholesale distribution, administers more than $5 billion in financial assets, and has a business model that is based on workers' self-management and the principles of the catholic social doctrine? answer: the mondragón cooperatives. in 1941, a bishop sent a young priest to teach in a vocational school in spain's basque country. in addition to the technical curriculum, young father jose maria arizmediarrieta taught the social doctrine of the catholic church to his students. some of the students began a small cooperative that built kerosene stoves. in 1959, they started what we would today call a credit union. today, the associated mondragón cooperatives manufacture automobile parts, electronic components, valves, taps, appliances. they have a full line of retail outlets offering consumer products, food, appliances, and a wholesale food business catering to restaurants. their bank has more than 100 branches, they offer a full range of insurance, and take care of their own social security and health insurance programs. they are not only holding their own within the "globalizing" economy, they are expanding. this is one of the success stories of people who take the church's social doctrine seriously, in particular, the teachings regarding (1) the dignity of the human person and his or her labour, (2) social solidarity and (3) the primacy of labour over capital. in most for profit businesses, labour is hired at the service of capital. for mondragón, capital is something they rent to benefit the worker-owners// okc catholic worker

easy and effective group action...

whether you're raising money, organizing people, or trying to influence change: if you can't do it alone, you can do it on the point. watch more examples//

chomsky on hardtalk, 11.03.09...

the economic revolution is already happening...

america is in the midst of a new revolution. but this revolution is quiet, incremental, nonviolent, and traveling beneath the mainstream media's radar. the new american revolution challenges the current notions of dog-eat-dog capitalism—through the building of a parallel economic system that shares, cooperates, empowers, and benefits fellow workers and community members. over the past few decades, thousands of alternatives to the standard, top-down corporate model have sprouted up—worker-owned companies and cooperatives, neighborhood corporations and trusts, community-owned technology centers and municipally owned enterprises. in fact, today, involvement in these alternative models of business outnumber union membership as the means by which private-sector workers and community members are taking economics into their own hands. author and political scientist gar alperovitz talks about it with maria armoudian// 10.07.09, alternet

a healthy outlook on life...

i don’t think of meaning and happiness. life has no meaning and searching for it is silly. we should spend our time reducing suffering of others we share this planet with, both people and animals. if we can, we should make the world less harsh, and encourage exploration and science because we are a curious people. happiness comes and goes and we know what makes us happy and if we can, we should do those things. there is no value in misery. death does not give me meaning. that makes no sense to me. this frantic search for meaning leaves me cold. the reframing of religion as spiritual, does likewise. there is no god, there is no meaning. and yet, i reach out to people all the time to try and help reduce their pain. i am compelled to do so. people tell me my life is meaningful. no, my acts have meaning for those i help, and while that is good, it does not mean i have a meaningful life. i am alive and that is what is important. and then i will be dead. and that will be that. nothing is “alloted” to us. that assumes an “allotor” which isn’t the case. it’s hard to accept at first that this is all there is, and the only meaning is what you make, but once you do, it’s liberating. i’ve really enjoyed this journey. it’s been great to be here and i hope the end is peaceful and wanted when it comes, but don’t we all// a.r., 11.03.09, new york times

elinor ostrom: the latest nobel winner in econ...

ostrom’s scholarship over the past three decades has demonstrated that self-organized communities of “commoners” are quite capable of managing finite natural resources without destroying them. the problem with the “tragedy” narrative, ostrom realized, is that it does not describe the actualities of real commons. functioning commons have boundaries that limit access, social rules, and punishment for “free riders.” against the growing tide of pro-market fervor in the 1980s, ostrom realized that all institutions did not need to emulate the market and its imperatives for growth, centralization and efficiency. communities can self-organize themselves to develop their own rules and social norms to allocate resources. they can devise their own oversight methods and sanctions to protect the commons. there can be multiple centers of stewardship, an idea that she and her husband, political scientist vincent ostrom, dubbed “polycentricity”// david bollier, 10.13.09, on the commons

the commons...

( on the commons )

the new science of temptation...

the authors suggest that (their) findings demonstrate the human capacity to, at least temporarily, achieve a state of “moral grace” – a state devoid of selfish temptation. but what good does this state serve? why would we be averse, or even indifferent, to cheating when we could benefit from it? perhaps because our automatic responses have evolved in social environments where self-interested behavior in the short-term has not always lead to personal gains over the long-term. gaining a reputation as a cheat would be a one-way ticket to ostracism. having intuitions sensitive to equity and the needs of others would promote the formation and maintenance of cooperative relationships that would ultimately be of benefit to the individual. greene and paxton’s findings fit nicely with this idea, as well as past research showing that many of our intuitions regarding equity/fairness actually promote prosocial behavior, and we overcome them at our peril. this is not only because of the positive social consequences they confer, but also because the cognitive processes we use to overcome them can be susceptible to bias, motivated reasoning, justification and rationalization// piercarlo valdesolo, 11.03.09, scientific american

democracy: america's oldest spectator sport...

the challenge: redesigning our institutions...

perhaps the erosion of democratic vitality is an inevitable result of complexity and size. perhaps we should expect no more than limited popular constraint on the activities of government through regular, weakly competitive elections. perhaps the era of the “affirmative democratic state” – the state which plays a creative and active role in solving problems in response to popular demands – is over, and a retreat to privatism and political passivity is the unavoidable price of “progress.” but perhaps the problem has more to do with the specific design of our institutions than with the tasks they face as such. if so, then a fundamental challenge for the left is to develop transformative democratic strategies that can advance our traditional values – egalitarian social justice, individual liberty combined with popular control over collective decisions, community and solidarity, and the flourishing of individuals in ways which enable them to realize their potentials// fung & wright, deepening democracy

the warning...

( about a woman's failed campaign to regulate the derivatives market, whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008 )

report: income inequality and poverty rising in most o.e.c.d. countries...

the gap between rich and poor has grown in more than three-quarters of OECD countries over the past two decades, according to a new OECD report. OECD’s growing unequal? finds that the economic growth of recent decades has benefitted the rich more than the poor. in some countries, such as canada, finland, germany, italy, norway and the united states, the gap also increased between the rich and the middle-class. countries with a wide distribution of income tend to have more widespread income poverty. also, social mobility is lower in countries with high inequality, such as italy, the uk and the us, and higher in the nordic countries where income is distributed more evenly// 10.21.08, OECD

how a group of b.c. anarchists inspired democracy in russia...

...only then did i understand why this exiled but proudly russian sect of socialist anarchists had the influence on yakovlev that it did. the doukhobors were a living rebuttal to the theory that russia requires a strongman. yakovlev must have seen them as an example of the way russians might have lived, had they not been stifled by the corruption and inefficiency of the communist party. in a series of mountain valleys in the BC interior, the future architect of perestroika encountered a community of proudly russian people who convinced him that his countrymen could thrive in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy. indeed, in his memoirs, yakovlev had written: they are amazing people — hard-working, open, courteous . . . they believe with complete sincerity that only moral principles will save mankind from moral collapse . . . these stubborn people, though at times naïve in their misconceptions, have sustained through all their ordeals an uncompromising attitude toward deception, hypocrisy, and violence, along with an unbending rejection of militarism// christopher shulgan, june 2008, the walrus

rob on l.a. ink...

( fighting sickness has never been sicker )

zizek on democracy now...

chomsky: hopes and prospects...

the americas, both north and south, have been in motion with elections and political shifts that chomsky explores here with his characteristic independence and insight. "popular activism has repeatedly brought about substantial gains in freedom and justice," he writes. "the authentic hope of the obama campaign is that the 'grass roots army' organized to take instructions from the leader might 'break free' and return to 'old ways of doing politics,' by direct participation in action." in latin america, bolivia and haiti in particular, chomsky shows how direct participation in action has put into practice a different model of democracy. we have much to learn from these struggles, which could portend more far-reaching, badly needed changes//

e.f. schumacher: on the edge of the forest...

the real utopias project...

"real utopia" seems like a contradiction in terms. utopias are fantasies, morally inspired designs for social life unconstrained by realistic considerations of human psychology and social feasibility. realists eschew such fantasies. what is needed are hard-nosed proposals for pragmatically improving our institutions. instead of indulging in utopian dreams we must accommodate to practical realities. the real utopias project embraces this tension between dreams and practice. it is founded on the belief that what is pragmatically possible is not fixed independently of our imaginations, but is itself shaped by our visions. we now live in a world in which these radical visions are mocked rather than taken seriously. along with the post-modernist rejection of "grand narratives", there is an ideological rejection of grand designs, even by those still on the left of the political spectrum. this need not mean an abandonment of deeply egalitarian emancipatory values, but it does reflect a cynicism about the human capacity to realize those values on a substantial scale. this cynicism, in turn, weakens progressive political forces in general. the real utopias project is an attempt at countering this cynicism by sustaining and deepening serious discussion of radical alternatives to existing institutions. the objective is to focus on specific proposals for the fundamental redesign of basic social institutions rather than on either general, abstract formulations of grand designs, or on small reforms of existing practices//

charlie rose interviews david graeber...

( graeber is an anthropologist/anarchist )

the demise of the dollar...

in the most profound financial change in recent middle east history, gulf arabs are planning–along with china, russia, japan and france–to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the japanese yen and chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the gulf co-operation council, including saudi arabia, abu dhabi, kuwait and qatar. secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in russia, china, japan and brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars... "these plans will change the face of international financial transactions," one chinese banker said. "america and britain must be very worried. you will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate."// robert fisk, 10.06.09, the independent

sincere gentleman's sentiments here...

( shadrach kabango )

yochai benkler on the new open-source economics...

hamas accepts palestinian state in '67 borders...

the head of the hamas government in the gaza strip has told united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon that the group supports any steps leading to the creation of a palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, according to the palestinian news agency ramattan. the letter--written by ismail haniyeh on tuesday to coincide with a UN conference currently underway in new york--stated that, "we would never thwart efforts to create an independent palestinian state with borders [from] june 4, 1967, with jerusalem as its capital." the missive also comes as barack obama prepared to meet with benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas for his first mideast summit as US president// yoav segev, 09.22.09, haaretz

reinventing public consultation...

( another way from MASS LBP )

sarkozy to press for tobin tax...

french president nicolas sarkozy will urge fellow G20 leaders to introduce a special tax to reduce risky behaviour by banks, the BBC has learned. mr. sarkozy wants a levy known as a tobin tax to be applied to every financial transaction. the move is aimed at cutting excessively speculative trades and encouraging long-term decision-making. but senior EU officials told the BBC that the chances of getting a global agreement were "less than minimal"// 09.19.09, bbc news

US proposes net neutrality rules...

the US has proposed new rules that would require internet firms to respect the principle of network neutrality. the head of the federal communications commission (FCC) said that "all web traffic should be treated equally." the new rules are intended to prevent firms throttling bandwidth-sapping web traffic such as streaming video.// 09.21.09, bbc news

rip: a remix manifesto...

( examining the rules that govern creativity )

hybrid life...

look at the genome of a sea squirt and you'll get a nasty surprise. half of its genes have a straightforward evolutionary history. in fairness, so does the other half. trouble is, the two histories are completely different. it seems that sea squirts do not, as we had thought, sit among the chordates, on the same evolutionary line as humans and other vertebrates. instead, they are the result of what happens when you fuse an ancient chordate with the ancestor of a sea urchin. the fusion of two distinct evolutionary lines is not supposed to work. according to received biological wisdom, any chimeras that result are meant to be evolutionary dead ends. not for the first time, received wisdom appears to be wrong. "there was a view that hybridisation was bad, and 'pure' species were good," says james mallet of university college london. the truth is, hybridisation is like mutation--mostly it's bad, but occasionally it throws out something that meets a need. "natural selection can use whatever inherited variation comes its way," mallet says. biologists are now coming round to the idea that much of nature is not a product of neat family lines, but a messy mass of cross links. that may be how, for instance, genetic instructions can turn something like a caterpillar into something completely different: a butterfly// michael brooks, 09.02.09, new scientist

a por la décima...

( real madrid 5 - 2 zurich )

crazy collabo: cudi/ratatat/mgmt...

( right-click save as )

the golden rule of politics...

( a sobering look @ western 'democracy' )

until industrial feudalism is replaced by industrial democracy, politics will be the shadow cast on society by big business// john dewey

...how did economists get it so wrong?

as i see it, the economics profession went astray because economists, as a group, mistook beauty, clad in impressive-looking mathematics, for truth. until the great depression, most economists clung to a vision of capitalism as a perfect or nearly perfect system. that vision wasn’t sustainable in the face of mass unemployment, but as memories of the depression faded, economists fell back in love with the old, idealized vision of an economy in which rational individuals interact in perfect markets, this time gussied up with fancy equations. the renewed romance with the idealized market was, to be sure, partly a response to shifting political winds, partly a response to financial incentives. but while sabbaticals at the hoover institution and job opportunities on wall street are nothing to sneeze at, the central cause of the profession’s failure was the desire for an all-encompassing, intellectually elegant approach that also gave economists a chance to show off their mathematical prowess.

unfortunately, this romanticized and sanitized vision of the economy led most economists to ignore all the things that can go wrong. they turned a blind eye to the limitations of human rationality that often lead to bubbles and busts; to the problems of institutions that run amok; to the imperfections of market—especially financial markets—that can cause the economy’s operating system to undergo sudden, unpredictable crashes; and to the dangers created when regulators don’t believe in regulation// paul krugman, 09.02.09, new york times

arranca la liga 09/10...

( real madrid 3 - 2 deportivo )

the expectations raised following madrid's big spending summer should be thoroughly tested in the most highly-anticipated la liga season in recent memory. after the last-minute departure of arjen robben, this is my starting XI:

casillas

ramos, albiol, pepe, marcelo

lass, xabi

ronaldo, kaka, granero

benzema

here's hoping that 'el ingeniero' pellegrini can successfully fit together all the pieces of his expensively assembled squad//

a grand bargain over evolution...

the “war” between science and religion is notable for the amount of civil disobedience on both sides. most scientists and most religious believers refuse to be drafted into the fight. still, the war continues, and it’s not just a sideshow. i bring good news! these two warring groups have more in common than they realize. and, no, it isn’t just that they’re both wrong. it’s that they’re wrong for the same reason. oddly, an underestimation of natural selection’s creative power clouds the vision not just of the intensely religious but also of the militantly atheistic. if both groups were to truly accept that power, the landscape might look different// robert wright, 08.22.09, new york times

the news is public...

NowPublic is a participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. in twelve short months, the company has become one of the fastest growing news organizations with thousands of reporters in over 140 countries. during hurricane katrina, NowPublic had more reporters in the affected area than most news organizations have on their entire staff. in 2005, NowPublic became a recognized leader in the emerging field of citizen journalism. by harnessing the wisdom of crowds and tapping into the news creating potential of the hundreds of millions of internet users, bloggers and photography enthusiasts, NowPublic is changing the way news is made and distributed//

radiohead & philosophy...

ready to take your obsession with the best band in the world to unhealthy new heights of fandom and neurosis? radiohead and philosophy: fitter happier more deductive is a new collection of essays and insight into radiohead's cultural and philosophical relevance to today's world. if you ever wondered what karl marx and albert camus have to do with a boundary-pushing alt rock band, this book might answer your questions//

...the caring capitalist?

some call it anarchist socialism, some cutting edge capitalism. at brazilian manufacturer semco, the workers have sacked the boss and run the company themselves. at the lavish reception, one of two receptionists meet and greet the great and mighty. but no-one really ever knows which one it will be at any given time. "'we are not sure which one will be there, because they set their own schedule" explains IT worker boss joao neto. there are hammocks to help workers think in comfort, and departments can choose their own furniture. even salaries are set by the employees themselves, and bosses are just as likely to tell you to ask for more money than less. but although it sounds like a workers dream, the rest of the department keeps an eagle eye on lazy employees: "there is peer pressure for bad behaviour. if you're here just to profit from other people's efforts, you're not wanted". the easy going atmosphere has paid dividends--annual profits at semco are up to US$ 160 million these days, from $4 million when owner ricardo semler took over 25 years ago. now he has turned his attention to teaching--without the teachers. like semco, pupils at lumiar primary school in sao paulo dictate the rules. viva la revolución?

consumerism is 'eating the future...'

after the second world war, american economists and the government of the day decided to revive economic activity by creating a culture in which people were encouraged to accumulate and show off material wealth, to the point where it defined their status in society and their self-image. william rees quotes economist victor lebow as saying in 1955: "our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. we need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate." in today's world, such rhetoric seems beyond belief. yet the consumer spree carries on regardless, and few of us are aware that we're still willing slaves to a completely artificial injunction to consume, and to define ourselves by what we consume// andy coghlan, 08.07.09, new scientist

putting an end to palin-style capitalism...

i almost feel like we've been given a last chance, some kind of a reprieve. i try not to be apocalyptic, but the global warming science i read is scary. this economic crisis, as awful as it is, pulled us back from that ecological precipice that we were about to drive over with sarah palin and gave us a tiny bit of time and space to change course. and i think it's significant that when the crisis hit, there was almost a sense of relief, as if people knew they were living beyond their means and had gotten caught. we suddenly had permission to do things together other than shop, and that spoke to something deep// naomi klein, 07.31.09, znet

...damn you, octavius!

what it means to be human...

( world science festival )

( kick it over )

health care hypocrisy...

about the only lesson barack obama has learned from the hillary and bill health insurance debacle of 1993-1994 is to leave michelle obama out of his current drive to get something-anything-through the congress labeled "reform." otherwise, he is making the same mistakes of blurring his proposal, catering to right-wing democrats and corporatist republicans, who want an even mushier "reform" scam, and cutting deals with the drug, hospital, and health insurance industries. his political opponents become bolder with each day as they see his party base in congress weakening, his polls dropping, and a confused public being saturated with unrebutted propaganda by the insatiable profiteering, subsidized health care giants// ralph nader, 07.26.09, ICH

...the most trusted name in news?

a recent time online poll asked, "now that walter cronkite has passed on, who is america's most trusted newscaster?" i don't think the results will surprise anyone//

c.b.c. to launch current canada...

CBC and current media are planning to reshape the way canadians consume media with the announcement of a partnership to launch current canada, a cross-platform media company uniquely focused on engaging young adult audiences through participatory and interactive initiatives on tv and on the web. can't believe i just found out about this. where do i sign up?

lost in democracy...

( the kingdom of bhutan )

the only true aim of politics is to give free play to man's natural creativity, and to deaden, whenever they manifest themselves, the forces of acquisition, power and convention that jeopardise individual responsibility and freedom// bertrand russell

against the market economy...

what is wrong with markets? i will discuss four reasons you should reject markets if you want to build a socialist economy—four reasons markets are not the harmless coordinating mechanism that guarantees efficiency some would have us believe, but instead a powerful social institution that undermines everything socialism stands for while generating a great deal of inefficiency as well. i will argue that (1) markets distribute the burdens and benefits of economic cooperation unfairly, (2) markets undermine solidarity and promote egotistical attitudes and behavior, and (3) markets fail to provide economic democracy and subvert political democracy as well. finally, contrary to what most economists will tell you, i will explain why (4) markets do not allocate scarce productive resources efficiently// robin hahnel, 01.08, monthly review

living utopia...

( otro mundo es posible )

...u.s. support for overthrow?

although obama and secretary of state hilary clinton have made comments condemning the ouster of zelaya, the US government has thus far refused to legally recognize the coup as a "coup," maintained diplomatic ties with the illegitimate coup government in honduras and continued to send millions of dollars in aid//

the wisdom of incentives...

barry schwartz, a professor who studies the link between economics and psychology, has been thinking about wisdom. in a recent TED talk on the subject, he weighed the effectiveness of rules and incentives in society. while it would seem to make sense that the more incentives we give people to do something, the more likely they are to do it, schwartz argues that isn’t always the case. he cited a swiss study wherein citizens were asked if they’d be willing to have a necessary nuclear waste dump located near their homes. asking the same question with the inclusion of a financial incentive produced surprising results. as schwartz says, “the introduction of the incentive gets it so instead of asking, ‘what is my responsibility?’ all we ask is, ‘what serves my interests?’”//

maverick...

first published in brazil in 1988 as turning the tables, this book was the all-time best-selling nonfiction book in brazil's history. semler, the 34-year-old CEO, or "counselor," of semco, a brazilian manufacturing firm, describes how he turned his successful company into a "natural business" in which employees hire and evaluate their bosses, dress however they want, participate in major decisions, and share in 22 percent of the profits. semler believes that semco is different from most companies that have participatory management because employees are given the power to make decisions--even ones, with which the CEO wouldn't normally agree. the key message is to free workers from traditional management by rigid control, associated with an extrinsic reward system, to self-control with self-ethical value, associated with intrinsic reward//

new shad vid...

( compromise )

sam harris on the defense of religion...

7, 13, 18, 25...

( religion gap )

beach day @ port stan...