Crises and inequality
Professor Scheidel tells us that the only effective social leveler is all-out war. There is another sort of crisis brewing, short of thermonuclear war (though not without violence), destabilizing the patterns that are producing greater inequality. We are experiencing its effects already: Inequality (as Thomas Piketty predicted) has grown so great and become so obvious … read more »
Consciousness and conspiracy
I just discovered this note written 1-28-1971 as preparation for a lecture in a sociology course I was then teaching at the University of Illinois in Chicago. It still seems relevant — especially for the “bubbles” we all live in. People who share common objective conditions come to develop similar interpretations of the world, and … read more »
I, here, now: Confronting the Trump
We are still recovering from shock of the Trump triumph, as in the days after watching the Twin Towers burn and collapse on September 11 fifteen years ago. (See my notes from those days, link below.) The two events are completely different in other ways, except that each has felt like a blow to the … read more »
Saving the world and other scams
I just received an invitation to this “Summer of Peace.” I then looked into it, because at first glance it seemed similar to Abdennour Bidar’s proposal of local actions to heal the world in Les tisserands, a book I reviewed very favorably. Then I looked at the roster of speakers on this and related pages. … read more »
Capitalism
In reviewing my past reflections on the state of the world, I see I’ve made frequent references to this book: Ellen Meiksins Wood, The Origin of Capitalism (Monthly Review Press, 1999). So that readers may know what I’m referring to, here is my capsule summary from 2000. Elegant & persuasive critique of all theories (including … read more »