Tag Archive | "imperialism"
A review before the exam
Actually, this review is too late for the many people who have already endured economic collapse. As any of those folks can tell the rest of us, we do not want to receive the lesson after the exam. I’ve written all this before, but I have not recently provided a concise summary. This essay provides [...]
Continue reading...Greatest hits
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Three years and 185 essays into the blogosphere, I’ve decided it’s time for a “greatest hits” essay. The best part, for you: It’s only a line or two per essay, and I’ve selected from only a dozen essays. The best part, for me: I get to pick ‘em. They’re in chronological order. Feel free to [...]
Continue reading...Cleaning up
Friday, August 6, 2010
My office, that is. I was asked to move out of my office the same month one of my articles graced the cover of the premier journal in my field Although faculty members are fleeing my department like fleas from a drowning dog, the interim department head needs my office. It’s the only faculty office [...]
Continue reading...The risks of fiddling
Thursday, July 22, 2010
American Empire provides bread, circuses, and all the toys we (think we) need, stolen from other countries and future generations. I can understand why people are reluctant to abandon the empire. In exchange for inhabiting a cubicle, you get to harvest the fruits of empire while avoiding any steps toward self reliance. You get to [...]
Continue reading...Strike one … you’re out?
Monday, July 5, 2010
Bad Company’s Shooting Star blares over the PA system. Don’t you know, yeah, yeah The hour is late as the game enters the top of the ninth inning. The home team has held the Industrialists scoreless, and leads by a single run. If the Industrialists score, the home team will bring out the bats. Don’t [...]
Continue reading...The agenda revisited
Saturday, June 19, 2010
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. (Arthur Schopenhauer, one of my philosophical heroes) ______________________ Based on recent comments in this space, and also in my email in-box, I am compelled to provide an updated overview of my proposed agenda [...]
Continue reading...Teetering
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The industrial economy, that is. On the brink, yet again. The real economy — not the born-again exuberance in the world’s stock markets — is stalling as the effects of easy money wear off. Indeed, investor fund flows haven’t been this bad since Lehmann Brothers collapsed in the autumn of 2008. The IMF says risks [...]
Continue reading...Dispatches from Central Absurdistan
Monday, June 7, 2010
1. In yet another reason to keep those shows on the air, reality TV breeds new body ideals. 2. It’ll take a lot of rats to clothe plus-size models in the latest fashion accessory. 3. Encouraging us to keep the weight on, the American Heart Association endorses Nintendo’s Wii. Please put aside your shovel and [...]
Continue reading...We didn’t start the fire
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Actually, to counter singer/songwriter Billy Joel, we did start this FIRE. Not you and me, of course, but our culture. The U.S. industrial economy is all about Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate. The FIRE is about to run its course, extinguished by the absence of fuel in each of those interconnected sectors. The financial sector [...]
Continue reading...What works, maybe: individual options
Monday, April 26, 2010
Like global climate change, peak oil represents a predicament, not a problem. There is no politically viable solution to either of these great challenges. Political solutions require economic growth, forever, and therefore no significant sacrifice on the behalf of the electorate. Further, the industrial economy is underlain by the assumption of growth: The industrial economy [...]
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Monday, August 16, 2010
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