There is a foul stench emanating from planet earth. The noxious smell emanates from a single destructive paradigm. That festering greed is known as capitalism. On a single planet with finite resources, the philosophy of capitalism is terminal for the planet and all who reside on it.
Something is Rotten – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Category: Food for Thought
Above is yet another example of Tony Abbott’s approach to ‘expert respectability’ $500,000 for ‘no advice’ in 2 years. Perception is all that counts. (ODT)
It was, declared The Australian’s resident theologian Greg Sheridan, “a pivotal moment in modern Australian history”. Was Sheridan referring to the arrival of the First Fleet, perhaps? The end of transportation? The celebration of federation? The landing at Gallipoli? The victory in the Coral Sea?
No, none of the above – something far more important: the Australian National University’s decision to end negotiations to establish a partnership with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation. According to Sheridan, the university’s decision means that intellectual freedom at our universities is now imperilled.
This is hyperbole beyond the wildest imagination of even Gerard Henderson, but it shows just how seriously our national newspaper and its right-wing commentariat is fighting its culture wars. What was originally a minor controversy in academia has been blown up into a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. The Monthly
Western Civilization IS being taught at ANU, however, donor bribery such as the Ramsay Centre’s attempt isn’t being given the privilege to run its own tertiary course under the auspices of the ANU. The Ramsay Centre is trying to buy interloper rights to their own specifications taking them outside the bounds of what it is the ANU represents. Tony Abbott is on the board of the Ramsay Centre trying to do what he did with Dr Bjorn Lomborg’s Copenhagen Center (which has nothing to do with Denmark) to try to bribe Australian Universities to take on board and give legitimacy to his personal political bias on anti- Climate Change. All he was trying to do is provide respectability for a failing argument that was already being debated anyway. He failed and here he is repeating the same stunt. (ODT)
When one of his carefully selected directors, Tony Abbott, said the Ramsay Centre would be not only about Western civilisation but in favour of it and would have a say over curriculum design and staff appointments, he was merely following the script.
But of course the influence was supposed to be covert, not trumpeted in Quadrant – the idea was that the proposed centre could be justified within the umbrella of academic independence and autonomy, when in fact it could not. The Monthly
If we speak of liberalism, or neoliberalism, in today’s society, it’s usually in a negative sense. And that is remarkable, because liberalism was originally intended to ‘liberalize’ the citizen, that is, to free him from the ruling elite. How then did modern liberalism become a new instrument of oppression? And why is it time to take a new look at this prevailing system?
For centuries the U.S. has preached that it believes in democracy, freedom and self-determination, but its actions towards other countries speak louder than words. Internationally the U.S. is a predator and a bully. It subjugates small countries, corrupts them by backing right-wing dictators, and enables death squads to commit mass murder of all suspected dissidents. During the First Cold War leftists, anti-colonialists, nationalists and intellectuals were called “communists” and imprisoned, tortured and executed. Now they are called “terrorists”.
Is the political zeitgeist an old spectre up for some new haunting? Or are the times more like a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “the combination of inequality and low wage growth is fuelling discontent. Time to sing a new song.”
In days gone past, they used to slice open an animal’s belly and study the shape of its spilled entrails to find out. But we could just keep an eye on the news.
Here are my seven signs of the neoliberal apocalypse:
via Seven signs of the neoliberal apocalypse | Van Badham | Opinion | The Guardian
Tom Orren continues his three-part series on how the laws of economics could help us create a fair society, nation and world.
“They label movements for LGBT rights as ‘Marxist’ in the hopes that this will frighten people into voting against things like gay marriage,” McCarthy says.
A still image from a YouTube video that falsely claims that concepts such as social justice and feminism, among others, …
A still image from a YouTube video that falsely claims that concepts such as social justice and feminism, among others, are “cultural Marxism.” Photo: Youtube/EuropeanUnity565“This is a clever rhetorical strategy, if dishonest or, charitably, simply deeply confused.”
McCarthy makes a firm distinction between Marxist theorists originating in the 20th century and today’s concept of “cultural Marxism”.
An alt-right meme referencing ‘cultural Marxism’, a debunked concept that flourishes online. The wording co-opts fears …
An alt-right meme referencing ‘cultural Marxism’, a debunked concept that flourishes online. The wording co-opts fears about demographic change in the world today. Photo: Supplied
via Cultural Marxism – the ultimate post-factual dog whistle
By Kyran O’Dwyer In terms of the changes facing modern society, the process of change by erosion presents as the greatest threat, in my opinion. We have had an erosion of trust in our public officials, caused by their all too frequent abuses of the very trust upon which they are reliant. We have had…
Source: Where is our democracy heading? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The federal govt. (i.e., the taxpayers) is buying a mountain of cheese because dairy farmers are not very good at planning for the future.
Source: Government Subsidy of Dairy Farmers Harms Consumers, Taxpayers | National Review
Every day we hear grim and grimmer news that suggests we are passing through the winter of the world. Everywhere man is tormented, the globe reels from multitudes of suffering and horror, and, worst, we no longer know with confidence what our answer might be. And yet we understand that the time approaches when an answer must be made or a terrible reckoning will be ours. Perhaps this is what BuzzFeed meant when it featured an article with the title ‘Ten Shitty Alternatives to Drinking Yourself to Death’.
Source: Does writing matter?: Richard Flanagan delivers the inaugural Boisbouvier Lecture | The Monthly
It’s a win-win: restaurants reduce their food waste and diners get deliciousness.
Source: An App For Ordering Cheap Leftover Food From Restaurants And Bakeries | Co.Exist | ideas + impact
On July 28, London’s Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, aka “the Old Bailey,” announced the conviction of Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary on charges of “inviting …
Source: War: The Islamic State and Western Politicians Against the Rest of Us
Review of Jeff Halper’s Book Halper’s new book sheds light on the arms industry, arguing that Israel is now the go-to nation for armies and police forces around the world. For 18 years Jeff H…
