Category Archives: Political Economy

Materialism (Vers. 2.0, Part 5)

Continuing the discussion of how the materialist worldview has left Western civilization & culture morally adrift, & vulnerable to the forces presently destroying it from within. Continue reading →

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Materialism (Vers. 2.0, Part 4)

Materialism (Vers. 2.0, Part 4) continues the discussion begun in Parts 1 – 3, asking whether any secular moral theories are sufficient to thwart modern tendencies toward relativism, nihilism, and abuses of money and power. Continue reading →

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Materialism (vers 2.0., Part 3)

Our discussion continues: what, precisely, is materialism? It is not simply the pursuit of wealth & material goods. It is a comprehensive worldview. It is important to understand this distinction to understand one of the most basic issues our civilization must eventually face. Continue reading →

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Materialism (Vers 2.0, Part 2)

Materialism (Vers 2.0, Part 2): in “A Free Man’s Worship” (1903) philosopher Bertrand Russell called for a humanist ethic of respect for scientific truth, economic justice, and world peace. How well has this held up? Is its failure just the sign of a civilization’s growing pains, or of something fundamentally wrong with its key assumptions? Continue reading →

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The Deep Establishment

In the title of his recent Adults in the Room: My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017) former Greek foreign minister Yanis Varoufakis introduces this phrase: The Deep Establishment. I like it! The … Continue reading →

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This Blog Is Not a Commodity

Several months back, someone posted a comment that went something like, “You don’t monetize your blog.” Why not? was the implied question, quite in tune with the prevailing neoliberal ideology of the day. I thought about it. I’ll admit, I … Continue reading →

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George Herbert Walker Bush (1924 – 2018)

Today is George Herbert Walker Bush’s funeral. I don’t normally write notices for just-deceased politicians, so this is a departure for me. But something has aroused my curiosity. I posted a very brief notice about his death, along with a … Continue reading →

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Auguste Comte’s Law of Three Stages: What It Is, Why the Third Stage is Dying, What Comes Next. (A Major Statement.)

[Note: this may be the longest blog post I have ever made on this site. The result of several weeks of effort, it may be read as a progress report on what may turn into my life’s work: if I … Continue reading →

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Is Higher Education Undergoing a Long-Term Structural Collapse?

Is higher education in the U.S., and almost surely in the West generally, undergoing a long-term structural collapse? The question sounds histrionic, perhaps even hysterical and would be treated as such in many (most?) mainstream academic circles. But if we … Continue reading →

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Why Marx Now? Part 2

[Author’s Note: I received complaints that Part 1 was too long. “TLDR,” said one person: Too Long Didn’t Read. Part of me is saddened by this. I wonder if essayists such as Albert Jay Nock, or James T. Farrell, or … Continue reading →

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