The Greek word hamartia is often translated as “missing the mark.” It is often associated with an error in logic. It is a mistake or a misstep arising from a misunderstanding. It is a weakness or a failing rather than overt malice. In classic Greek myth it refers to a character flaw which leads to the hero’s downfall. […]
Job Mortgages? No Thanks!
This Guardian article proposes the “solution” of job mortgages, one of the worst proposals for dealing with the displacement of workers caused by the rise of the robots that I have ever heard of. As usual, the error lies in still thinking within the capitalist integument and attempting to preserve existing class structure. Here’s an […]
Mike Wallace Interviews Erich Fromm, 1958
Erich Fromm discusses the state of alienation imposed by the capitalist system and the potential for a more human existence.
A Two-Minute Video on the Subject of Alienation
From BBC Radio 4 via YouTube
Ordinary People Caught in NSA Dragnet
Published on Sunday, July 06, 2014 by Common Dreams Report: 9 out 10 Caught in NSA Dragnet Are ‘Ordinary People’ Washington Post reveals unprecedented look at how ‘voyeuristic’ spy agency manages private communications it collects by Jon Queally, staff writer New reporting by the Washington Post based on materials leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden […]
Stingray
It can’t be true, can it? Seems like more of an urban legend, the psychological by-product of living in a society newly exposed as a surveillance state. Are local police across the country really sweeping up the cellphone calls of hundreds of innocent citizens, and hiding the fact, not only from the public but even […]
A New Slave-Owners War
It is not widely known that toward the end of his life Marx expressed the view that a violent proletarian revolution to overthrow the capitalist system would not be necessary in every country. In countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, for example, Marx believed the workers could come […]
Thomas E. Woods Jr. on the Economics of the Police State
Even the Mises Institute is worried about the militarization of the police force.
Radley Balko on The Rise of the Warrior Cop
Edward Snowden and Citizenfour
On June 9th 2013 Edward Snowden revealed himself to be the man responsible for leaking classified information from the National Security Agency to the news media. The rest of the story should be pretty familiar to everybody by now (although this clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver suggests otherwise). If you are one of the […]