Link to an article by Angie Schmitt:
“Self-Driving Cars Are Coming. Will They Serve Profit or the Public?”
Tag: Economics
Don Fitz – Birth of the Cuban Polyclinic
Link to an article by Don Fitz:
“Birth of the Cuban Polyclinic”
Bonus links: Cuban Health Care: The ongoing Revolution and “Dossier No. 25: People’s Polyclinics: The Initiative of the Telugu Communist Movement”
Kalundi Serumaga – On Reinventing Europe: An Open Letter to Mr George Soros
Link to an article/letter by Kalundi Serumaga:
“On Reinventing Europe: An Open Letter to Mr George Soros”
This pieces raises many excellent points. But it is also worth pointing out some questionable aspects of its theoretical framework and recommendations. First, while the article characterizes the essence of Europe as Bonapartism, it does so by applying philosophical standards that originated in Europe, or at least drew from European precedents. While it may well be fair to call the current hegemonic ideology of Europe (and elsewhere) Bonapartist, to treat all of Europe as monolithic and without counter-currents seems rather reductionist. Second, the “tasks for EU civil society” include “2. Find out what your countries truly owe, and make them pay it back” This is basically both a politics of victimhood and an expression of ressentiment. Frantz Fanon once wrote, “The colonized man is an envious man.” That seems accurate in this context, but as a statement of limitation of vision. The last chapter of Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks explicitly rejected Serumaga’s approach, and that is a big part of why Fanon is a stronger theoretical reference point than what is expressed in Serumaga’s article. Lastly, the article concludes by saying, “It is time for the North to (once again, after Ancient Egypt) learn from the South.” This is a dubious offhand assertion of identity politics, yet again in the service of the valorization of victimhood status and ressentiment. It is problematic mainly because, in a cynical way, “[w]e thus enter a cruel world of brutal power games masked as a noble struggle of victims against oppression.”
Yanis Varoufakis – How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails
Link to a video of a speech by Yanis Varoufakis:
“How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails”
Bonus Link: Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism
Alyssa Battistoni – Jobs Guarantee or Universal Basic Income? Why Not Both?
Link to an article by Alyssa Battistoni:
Russell Mokhiber – Les Bernal on Predatory Gambling in the USA
Link to an interview conducted by Russell Mokhiber:
“Les Bernal on Predatory Gambling in the USA”
Bonus link: Stop Predatory Gambling
Subcomandante Marcos – The Fourth World War Has Begun
Link to an article by Subcomandante Marcos:
“The Fourth World War Has Begun”
Bonus link: Late Capitalism
Erin Thompson – Minority Lawyers Hanging From Their Own Bootstraps
Link to an article by Erin Thompson:
“Minority Lawyers Hanging From Their Own Bootstraps: How Law Schools Fail Those Who Seek Justice”
Bonus links: The Trouble With Diversity and …And the Poor Get Prison and “The Decline of the Peoplelaw Sector” and “The Echo Chamber: A Small Group of Lawyers and Its Outsized Influence at the U.S. Supreme Court”
Thomas Fazi & Giacomo Bracci – Sacrificing at the Altar of the Euro
Link to an article by Thomas Fazi & Giacomo Bracci:
“Sacrificing at the Altar of the Euro”
Bonus link: “Modern Money Green Economics for a New Era”