Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Monday, May 21, 2018

Normcore

Normcore by Jedediah Purdy

Italy's new government

Italy’s Biggest Problem: The Euro by Matthew C. Klein

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Clinton campaign

From the Jaws of Victory by BRANKO MARCETIC

the religious and the rich

Marx on the opiate of the masses was more complex and sympathetic than the New Atheists or their reputation anyways:
Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
Should religion be taxed away? Should the rich? I've had social media discussions with ardent MMTers and they believe JG will somehow be a better vehicle than a UBI against the rich and against capitalist logic.

John Quiggin says of MMT: 
Unfortunately #MMT is a restatement of standard Keynesianism that readily morphs into pernicious nonsense - no need to tax the rich, just run whatever deficit you feel like. In my experience, "no need to tax the rich" is the big selling point.
The JG advocates go on about how everyone needs to chip in and produce and do "socially necessary" labor.

I lean more towards Keynes who did advocate euthanizing the rentier but also allowed for people to save up money and be competitive over accumulation:
Moreover, dangerous human proclivities can be canalised into comparatively harmless channels by the existence of opportunities for money-making and private wealth, which, if they cannot be satisfied in this way, may find their outlet in cruelty, the reckless pursuit of personal power and authority, and other forms of self-aggrandisement. It is better that a man should tyrannise over his bank balance than over his fellow-citizens; and whilst the former is sometimes denounced as being but a means to the latter, sometimes at least it is an alternative. But it is not necessary for the stimulation of these activities and the satisfaction of these proclivities that the game should be played for such high stakes as at present. Much lower stakes will serve the purpose equally well, as soon as the players are accustomed to them....