Category Archives: Overview

222. The new right based on old

Anger at the system, common on boththe left and right needs to be udnerstood or James Zogby writes There is a social movement stirring on the far right of American politics and it bodes ill for our future. If we do not start to address this troubling anger now, we could end up in the

188. Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation

This is a great description of the social side of economics. Seems to pertain to today. This from Wikipedia. The Great Transformation is a book by Karl Polanyi, a Hungarian political economist. First published in 1944, it deals with the social and political upheavals that took place in England during the rise of the market

162. temperature summary

This too is very good. Global warming is changing the world we know and love. But in fact, the Earth’s climate has changed many times – especially in the last two million years, when a series of ice ages has wreaked havoc worldwide. We need to understand the past to have any chance of understanding

161. earth : a good summary

The Earth – For Physicists John Baez June 26, 2009 via earth .

107.on value vs. money

Continuing from the article referenced in 102 The economic metaphor came to be applied to every aspect of modern life, especially the areas where it simply didn’t belong. In fields such as education, equality of opportunity, health, employees’ rights, the social contract and culture, the first conversation to happen should be about values; then you

89. science and religion reframe

what if Obama is destined to be the one to be forced to run a garrison state? Alternatives? A broad adoption of science as a system of real meaning in dealing with the whole world, including the mysteries. Science must allow itself to be seen not as an alternative to religion, but a stage in

67.The crisis overdetermines all of world politics

The problem is that the current situation is a continuation of the conditions  and dynamics that caused WWI  and WWII It is not a short cycle crisis. The financial crisis is coinciding with and aggravating a general crisis of overproduction. The paralysis of credit is gradually reducing economic activity. The crisis has spread to the whole world. Its scale is comparable with that of 1929, but unlike in 1929, the crisis

48. Jarred Diamond on Religion

Hot topic, as for example Roberto Unger is giving the Tanner lectures on religion at Stanford this week. Diamond is here in video.

36. David Brooks – psychology

good place to look at alternative theories, in todays NYT he writes (referencing Simon Johnson’s The Quiet Coup referenced here earlier) We can agree on that reform. Still, one has to choose a guiding theory. To my mind, we didn’t get into this crisis because inbred oligarchs grabbed power. We got into it because arrogant

17. soros on peripheral world

To the point. Peripheral care should be the central concern By George Soros Published: March 22 2009 18:21 | Last updated: March 22 2009 18:21 The forthcoming Group of 20 meeting is a make-or-break event. Unless it comes up with practical measures to support the less developed countries, which are even more vulnerable than the