In a series of mock lesson plans and a "program of study" Galeano provides an eloquent, passionate, funny and shocking exposé of First World privileges and assumptions. From a master class in "The Impunity of Power" to a seminar on "The Sacred Car"—with tips along the way on "How to Resist Useless Vices" and a declaration of the "The Right to Rave"—he surveys a world unevenly divided between abundance and deprivation, carnival and torture, power and helplessness. We have accepted a "reality" we should reject, he writes, one where poverty kills, people are hungry, machines are more precious than humans, and children work from dark to dark. In the North, we are fed on a diet of artificial need and all made the same by things we own; the South is the galley slave enabling our greed.
Effective Altruism’s Problems Go Beyond Sam Bankman-Fried - Bloomberg
archived 12 Mar 2026 21:01:45 UTC
Ecocivilization: making a world that works for all
""One of the greatest thinkers of our age" (The Guardian) presents a new way of living-one modeled on nature's design instead of capitalism's-for fans of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Doughnut Economics It has often been said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism-and yet that is what the historical moment urgently calls for. Climate change has reached an emergency state, inequality continues to grow, and, for many, the future has never seemed more bleak. Incremental policy improvements are no longer enough-we need a deep transformation of our current civilization to continue to survive. In Ecocivilization, leading thinker Jeremy Lent reimagines the basis of our civilization, and argues for a new global system of living, one based on life-affirming principles modeled after nature's own design. What enfolds is a robust framework incorporating Lent's own expertise, and the lived experiences of those on the ground already putting ecological civilization's core tenants into practice-justice, mutuality, diversity, and symbiosis. From the global economy to universal housing and income, from infrastructure to agriculture, every major aspect of our society could be redesigned to work together as a coherent whole, setting the conditions for all people to flourish. Ecocivilization shows how this future on a regenerated Earth is not only desirable, but entirely feasible"--
The Joy of Becoming Worthless…except to each other — Douglas Rushkoff
My last piece, The Intentional Collapse, seems to have agitated a few people. I know it came off a bit dark. I talked about how the Uber wealthy believe the world as we know it is ending and that there won’t be enough essential resources to go around, so they need to take control of as much money and stuff and land as possible in order to position themselves for the end of days.
Wisdom in a World in Crisis: The Counterintuitive Need to Slow Down and Find Spaciousness - The Great Simplification
In this episode, Nate is rejoined by philosopher and neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist for discussion on how our left-brain dominance obscures our sense of value, especially for abstract qualities such as truth, goodness, and beauty.
Effective Altruism’s Problems Go Beyond Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried made effective altruism a punchline, but its philosophy of maximum do-gooding masks a thriving culture of predatory behavior.
Radical markets: uprooting capitalism and democracy for a just society
Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right? Radical Markets turns this thinking on its head. With a new foreword by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier as well as a new afterword by Eric Posner and Glen Weyl, this provocative book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone. It shows how the emancipatory force of genuinely open, free, and competitive markets can reawaken the dormant nineteenth-century spirit of liberal reform and lead to greater equality, prosperity, and cooperation. Only by radically expanding the scope of markets can we reduce inequality, restore robust economic growth, and resolve political conflicts. But to do that, we must replace our most sacred institutions with truly free and open competition Radical Markets shows how
From risk to flourishing: Seeds for responding to a complex world
Flourishing is the actualization of all beings toward their good -- not only individually but collectively, answering the question of `how do we live well with and for each other?'. In science as in society, the tendency to reduce, segregate, specialize, and settle has precluded embracing the concept of flourishing as a guiding principle. We aim to identify an approach to risk science research that promotes the flourishing of socio-ecological-technological systems (SETS). We discuss the normative role of an orientation toward flourishing for the field of risk science. We explore the possibility that (risk) science could be done in a way that is capable of pointing society toward a different future, one more resilient and more capable of flourishing. Our exploration mirrors the conversational nature of flourishing itself: examine ideologies traditionally believed to be rigidly in opposition and consider what emerges in the space(s) and conversation between them. We call this a dialectical approach. Within this paradigm grounded in conversation, pluralism, and pragmatism, we revisit three longstanding tensions in risk science: physical$|$social, determinism$|$uncertainty, contextuality$|$generality. Although these tensions are not new, revisiting them together through the lens of complexity science, and with explicit attention to the normative commitments that shape risk research, reveals underexplored possibilities for the field. Examining them in conversation with the other allows us to explore the provisional seeds for what might be termed complex risk science: interdependence, responsivity, participation, pluralism, openness, and ongoingness. Enacting the dialectical paradigm towards a risk science for a flourishing world will depend on creating collectives toward complex risk science, supporting them with skillfully governed commons, and centering care in our research.
Systems: How the Ultra-Wealthy Think About Money - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
Why The Rich Think The Poor Are Lazy
Lo and behold, the bourgeois gaslighting machine! - Lemmy
This thread is an exemplary case of how “we” (that is, liberal-minded minions uncritically parroting the talking points of the bourgeoisie) inhibit any social and class consciousness from sprouting in the proletarian mind. The original post, titled “Nothing worth having in life comes easily”, goes as such: >Yes it does. Yes it fucking does. For SOME people. >Some people were born into rich families. Money is worth having, and money came easily to them. >[…] >Some people are born white. Not being discriminated against must be nice. >I could go on. You get the fucking point. >Why do people on Reddit keep repeating this blatantly false platitude? There are countless of examples of people in this world who didn’t have to work for shit, yet many things came easily to them. As you might expect, the comments went on the offense to discredit OP’s sentiments, in different manners. The first category of comments involves invoking “life” as some natural order of things which is beyond human control, ergo it must be accepted. >I get what you mean life is unfair sometimes. >Life sucks and then we die. >Life is 100% unfair. Full stop. Get used to it. This defeatist attitude just dissuades any doubts in one’s mind regarding the viability of the current system. The second category includes comments that deny any exteriority to OP’s sentiments and focus on their own personal ailments: >Some people get so fixated on being victims of society that they seem to give away their own power to change their lives. >This post is somewhat delusional. Highly suggest to not compare your insides to other people’s outsides or you’ll always come away with a distorted perception. There are so many false assumptions in here I don’t know where to start but if you wanna pity yourself and put others on pedestals - knock yourself out. >Being mad and jealous, letting negative emotions permeate through every facet of your mind will make it better. Keep going. They’re basically saying: “the world is fine, the problem is you; and you should feel bad for feeling otherwise.” The third category involves comments that dilute the importance of wealth and socioeconomic status: >Every privilege you mentioned comes with its own set of problems. >It might not seem like it, but everybody has the same amount of issues as everyone else. >Dating, money, and privilege aren’t the meaning of life. An obvious case of blatantly gaslighting people struggling to survive when they realize the unfairness of capitalism. And an honourable mentions goes to those talking down white supremacy and systemic racism! >Agreed except for the white comment. Every race gets discriminated against, just in different ways. >Oh good more hatred of White people this will surely solve this loser’s personal problems. >Oh, if you are born white don’t worry, there will be plenty of people who will discriminate against you. One of the major political parties sanctions it. It’s socially acceptable. There’s plenty of people like you. You get the point. >Well white people get discriminated against and this is all very victim mentality based. There are many other arguments, but you get the point. They all share the same motive: the annihilation of any hint of social consciousness. It is tragic because, more often than not, it is the oppressed who are gaslighting themselves and not the bourgeois and capitalists. The latter outsource even the labor of propagating their foul logic and arguments to the proletariat.
Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression
This groundbreaking collection explores the profound power of Social Reproduction Theory to deepen our understanding of everyday life under capitalism. While many Marxists tend to focus on the productive economy, this book focuses on issues such as child care, health care, education, family life and the roles of gender, race and sexuality, all of which are central to understanding the relationship between economic exploitation and social oppression. In this book, leading writers such as Lise Vogel, Nancy Fraser, David McNally and Susan Ferguson reveal the ways in which daily and generational reproductive labour, found in households, schools, hospitals and prisons, also sustains the drive for accumulation. Presenting a more sophisticated alternative to intersectionality, these essays provide ideas which have important strategic implications for anti-capitalists, anti-racists and feminists attempting to find a path through the seemingly ever more complex world we live in.
Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, …
James Scott taught us what's wrong with seeing like a s…
Wisdom in a World in Crisis: The Counterintuitive Need to Slow Down and Find Spaciousness with Iain McGilchrist