Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy

First posted January 18, 2017 Venu Madhav Govindu & Deepak Malghan In November 1933, following his fast against a separate electorate on caste lines and the subsequent political settlement known as the Poona Pact, (Mohandas Karamchand) Gandhi embarked on a year-long nationwide campaign against untouchability. Thanks to his extensive travels across the country, he got… Read More Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy

Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist? Chris Hedges interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin

First posted August 04, 2015 Sheldon Wolin is one of the most highly respected political thinkers in Western academia. He is emeritus professor at Princeton, now aged 93. Wolin was a bomber pilot in the Pacific region with the USAF during the Second World War. He is known for coining the term inverted totalitarianism. His most… Read More Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist? Chris Hedges interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin

Robert Kurz: The destructive origins of capitalism. The ‘military revolution’ in 16th century Europe

First posted February 16, 2018 There are innumerable versions of the birth of the modern era. Historians do not even agree about the date of this event. Some make modernity begin in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the so-called Renaissance (a concept invented in the 19th century by Jules Michelet, as the French historian… Read More Robert Kurz: The destructive origins of capitalism. The ‘military revolution’ in 16th century Europe

Chris Hedges: The Politicians Who Destroyed Our Democracy Want Us to Vote for Them To Save It

Freedom for millions of enraged Americans has become the freedom to hate, the freedom to use words like “nigger,” “kike,” “spic,” “chink,” “raghead” and “fag;” the freedom to physically assault Muslims, undocumented workers, women, African-Americans, homosexuals and anyone who dares criticize their Christian fascism; the freedom to celebrate historical movements and figures that the college-educated… Read More Chris Hedges: The Politicians Who Destroyed Our Democracy Want Us to Vote for Them To Save It

Apocalypse in the rear-view mirror

Magdalena Taube Krystian Woznicki The planet, as authoritarian capitalism’s plaything, is subject to real-world economic-ecological downward spirals. And yet exorbitant space exploration projects continue to build escapist dreams on extractivism. And the threat of nuclear war continues to push at the limits of tenuous environmental stability. Earthrise reloaded When the Tesla Gigafactory opened in Brandenburg, Elon… Read More Apocalypse in the rear-view mirror

Digital culture wars

Understanding the far right’s online powerbase Millions of people are consuming, repeating and disseminating far-right ‘culture war’ material online, but if you do not seek out that content and are not served it by algorithms, you may never know it was there. Ben Little: People have used the term ‘culture wars’ for a long time, especially… Read More Digital culture wars

The Courts have been the Last Bastion of Sanity in Polarized America, but what if they Go MAGA too?

By Andy Kroll ( Tomdispatch.cm ) – For about a week in the summer of 2018, I caught an early-morning train from Washington, D.C., to the Albert V. Bryan federal courthouse in the suburb of Alexandria. Located a short drive from George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, that courthouse serves the Eastern District of Virginia.… Read More The Courts have been the Last Bastion of Sanity in Polarized America, but what if they Go MAGA too?

The US is on a knife-edge. The enemy for Trump’s Republicans is democracy itself

Jonathan Freedland s in all the best horror movies, at first glance everything looks normal. It’s a classic scene of the American autumn: campaign rallies outside community centres, battle buses emblazoned with candidates’ smiling faces, kids wearing badges and holding up signs, while TV screens fill with debates, punditry and an endless loop of focus-grouped… Read More The US is on a knife-edge. The enemy for Trump’s Republicans is democracy itself