Kondratiev wave

Kondratiev wave

History rhymes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_XswHm514w

Vive La Resistance!

93-year old hero of the French Resistance to the Nazis has a best-seller in France.

PARIS -- As a hero of the French Resistance, Stéphane Hessel was in exile with Charles de Gaulle in London, imprisoned in concentration camps, waterboarded in Nazi torture sessions and saved from hanging by swapping identities with an inmate who had died of typhus.

Now, at 93, he is the author of a best seller that has become a publishing phenomenon in France. It is not the story of his life (he wrote his autobiography years ago), but a thin, impressionistic pamphlet called "Indignez-Vous!," held together by two staples and released by a two-person publishing house run out of the attic of their home. It urges young people to revive the ideal of resistance to the Nazis by peacefully resisting the "international dictatorship of the financial markets" and defending the "values of modern democracy."

In particular Mr. Hessel protests France’s treatment of illegal immigrants, the influence on the media by the rich, cuts to the social welfare system, French educational reforms and, most strongly, Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

"When something outrages you, as Nazism did me, that is when you become a militant, strong and engaged," he writes. "You join the movement of history, and the great current of history continues to flow only thanks to each and every one of us"

Since its publication in October "Indignez-Vous!" has sold almost 1.5 million copies in France and has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Greek. Editions are planned in Slovenian, Korean, Japanese, Swedish and other languages. In the United States, The Nation magazine published the entire English text last month.

Though this world's essentially an absurd place to be living in
It doesn't call for (bubble withdrawal)

It said human existence is pointless
As acts of rebellious solidarity
Can bring sense in this world

La Resistance!

Stereolab has new album out even though they are on hiatus

"A Missing Macroeconomic Playbook?" by Brad DeLong

John Stuart Mill was thus explicitly refuting the older French economist Jean-Baptiste Say. Say had been well-embarked on a career in politics and government in the new French Republic of the early 1790s: special assistant to Gironde Party Secretary of the Treasury Clavier. But then Clavier fell: purged, arrested, imprisoned, and executed by Robespierre's "Mountain" faction. Somehow Say escaped the wreck with not just his life but his liberty and some property as well, and set out to pursue happiness by withdrawing from politics to write treatises on economic theory. In 1821 Say published his Letters to Mr. Malthus, in which he argued that the very idea of a "general glut" was self-contradictory, for the very fact that commodities had been produced meant that there was sufficient demand in aggregate to buy them:

(via Yglesias)

From Wikipedia:

The Mountain (French: La Montagne) refers in the context of the history of the French Revolution to a political group, whose members, called Montagnards, sat on the highest benches in the Assembly. The term, which was first used during the session of the Legislative Assembly, did not come into general use until 1793.

At the opening of the National Convention the Montagnard group comprised men of very diverse shades of opinion, and such cohesion as it subsequently acquired was due rather to the opposition of its leaders to the Girondist leaders than to any fundamental hostility between the two groups. The chief point of distinction was that the Girondists were mainly theorists and thinkers, whereas the Mountain consisted almost entirely of uncompromising men of action.

During their struggle with the Girondists, the Montagnards gained the upper hand in the Jacobin Club, and for a time "Jacobin" and "Montagnard" were synonymous terms. The Mountain was successively under the sway of such men as Marat, Danton, and Robespierre.

"Mountain" by Stereolab


"The Mountain" by the Heartless Bastards

A few days ago, I wrote that Stereolab would be my pick for favorite band, if I had to choose under duress.

So by coincidence, a couple of days later they note at their website with characteristcally good-spirited humor that they'll be taking a "Hiatus/Sabbatical/Pause/Intermission/Breather."

Dear All,

As we recently made #51 with Emperor Tomato Ketchup in the Amazon 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of all Time we feel that our work is done for the moment.

We have had to cancel the last two shows that we were scheduled to play, apologies to all that had bought tickets, and there are no plans to record new tracks.

Duophonic are working on the release of Chemical Chords 2, we also have plans for a new Switched On and remastering of the back catalogue.

We are are all going to have a bit of a rest now after nearly 19 years and work on a few other projects.

The website will still be updated and disks released but there won't be any new Stereolab product for a while.

100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time

In the earlier post, I listed their influences such as Krautrock. But really they are sort of sui generis. Or a new synthesis. Imagine humanity survives another 500-1000 years and evolves slightly. It avoids environmental cataclysm and economic catastrophe and nuclear war. Sterolab would be this future humanity's American idol winner or teen sensation like the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus transported back in time.

"No Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Onion's Gateways to Geekery: krautrock

If forced to choose, I'd have to pick Stereolab as my favorite band. They were influenced by krautrock, lounge, '60s pop, and the Velvet Underground. In interviews they always mention the Beach Boys as a favorite which always makes me laugh for some reason.