MetaFilter posts tagged with socialism and politics

George Soros on the Way Forward

kliuless — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:42:21 -0800

Soros lectures
You can slog through the video, but I preferred the transcripts 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 + to me, it started off rather abstract* (admittedly on his part) and slow (covered ground; note soros tag) and doesn't really get interesting until 3 -- "The event that forced me to thoroughly reconsider the concept of open society was the re-election of President Bush..." [altho he can get a bit arrogant ("even I, who discovered—or invented—reflexivity, failed to recognize...")] -- and gets better from there... so i'd skip to that if you're so inclined :P kinda previously... and btw, as a bonus, also see... - Why Do We Hate? - What Makes a Nation Rich? - How Much Is Enough? - What the U.S. Long Bond Market Is Telling Us (cf.) - The G20 in 2050 (viz.) - Rare earth: The New Great Game [1,2,3,4,5,6] --- *in fleshing out his concept of reflexivity he goes thru (among other things and in other words) descriptive vs. prescriptive (or normative) theories, instrumental rationality and empiricism, false thinking and truthiness, the law of unintended consequences, &c. so if you're into that sort of stuff... have at it!

The Adaptive Value of Human Institutions:* Building a Better (Secular) 'Religion'

kliuless — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:42:14 -0800

Keynes & Marx thought "that productivity would grow sufficiently to allow our needs to be met with very little labour," and that humankind's biggest preoccupation in the future would be leading lives of comfortable (or comparative) leisure. Obviously, that has not yet come to pass. But why?** Yochai Benkler (previously), for one, is working on it... *just saw jared diamond on the evolution of religion (and was inspired ;) **e.g., one could say the social utility of the enclosure movement has reached its limit (or a local logical maximum) and that the means of (re)production might now be (self-)organised not by the state and/or market per se, but (at long last!) by a conscious collective cultural aesthetic :P

You don't even have to be a Marxist to enjoy it

cthuljew — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:55:08 -0800

Everything you ever wanted to read about left-wing political theory but were afraid to look up. Well, left-wing politics and a few other topics besides. Use the two drop-down menus at the top of the page.

Obama vs. Marx

homunculus — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:12:20 -0800

Despite The Republican Talking Points, There's A Difference Between Obama And Marx: One Of Them's Not A Socialist. [Via]

Greatest Achievements of American Socialism

homunculus — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:40:43 -0800

Great achievements in American socialism: A slide show of two dozen excellent things the federal government bought with your money.

The Iron Heel

finite — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:17:03 -0800

The Iron Heel, published a century ago this year, is a novel by Jack London about socialist revolution in the United States. It is set mostly between 1912 and 1932, with a foreword and numerous footnotes written from the point of view of a historian who has just discovered the manuscript some 700 years later. Here is an excerpt (which is printed on the back cover of some editions) from chapter five:

"This, then, is our answer. We have no words to waste on you. When you reach out your vaunted strong hands for our palaces and purpled ease, we will show you what strength is. In roar of shell and shrapnel and in whine of machine-guns will our answer be couched. We will grind you revolutionists down under our heel, and we shall walk upon your faces. The world is ours, we are its lords, and ours it shall remain. As for the host of labor, it has been in the dirt since history began, and I read history aright. And in the dirt it shall remain so long as I and mine and those that come after us have the power. There is the word. It is the king of words--Power. Not God, not Mammon, but Power. Pour it over your tongue till it tingles with it. Power."

Mythbusting Canadian Health Care

homunculus — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:11:03 -0800

Mythbusting Canadian Health Care, Part I. Part II: Debunking the Free Marketeers. [Via Orcinus.]

LNSGP

knapah — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 16:02:30 -0800

The Nazis are back and this time they're green! I can't seem to tell if it's real or not... which is kind of worrying.[Via memepool]

Painting with Marxism

plep — Sat, 24 May 2003 15:54:51 -0800

Painting with Marxism. A gallery of socialist realism and the Mexican muralists, with a nice links section (such as the Chisholm Gallery's Russian, Spanish Civil War and Cuban posters. More at the Art of Marxism. (The children's literature page is quite intriguing).

Utopian Socialism as the Basis of Contemporary Anti-Americanism

Pseudoephedrine — Wed, 04 Dec 2002 22:12:49 -0800

Utopian Socialism as the Basis of Contemporary anti-Americanism Lee Harris argues in this article that contemporary Marxist movements have abandoned the politically realist methodology that Marx claimed as the basis of "scientific" socialist thought, and have substituted an ad hoc utopianism. Based on this latter belief, they have unwisely shifted the target of their criticism from specific American policies to America the nation itself.

trismegisto — Sun, 30 Jun 2002 07:44:10 -0800

interference in bolivian elections by usa (why if he is unlikely to win?) The US Ambassador to Bolivia has told the Bolivian people not to vote for the indigenous Indian candidate for the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales Ayma. If he is elected next Sunday, the USA will suspend economic aid and will review its agreements.

why?.. he is unlikely to win, this will surely give him a boost in the polls instead