On March 27 I will begin an adventure with Heygo, a platform developed for live tours that is expanding into other content. My first topic will be What Would Machiavelli Do? Check out that and a lot of cool tours (which helps out tour guides who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic) by searching for Heygo! … More WWMD? New Talk
If you yearn for more Machiavelli (the old vid, not so good production-wise, on Machiavelli remains my most popular vid) then you’re in luck, because I will be using a new platform to occasionally give short talks with lots of Q & A–Heygo.com. This platform has been mainly for live tours, but they’re opening up … More What Would Machiavelli Do–On Heygo?
Guy Standing, author of The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class answers this question this way: because there just aren’t enough stable, well paying jobs in the new economy. In this video I discuss some of the realities of university education today, especially the trend towards trying to sell education as a commodity with a promise of being qualified for specific jobs. The watering down of education is a serious concern of Standing. This education saddles students with debt, can’t necessarily deliver the job they were trained for, and meantime has not encouraged them to think critically and creatively but to keep their heads down and do what’s required, even if it’s not at all what they wanted. The Precariat is therefore deprived of a key element in achieving some sort of political influence and the ability to push back–a good education. … More Why is My University Degree Not Enough? (4-Audio)
Guy Standing, author of The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class answers this question this way: because there just aren’t enough stable, well paying jobs in the new economy. In this video I discuss some of the realities of university education today, especially the trend towards trying to sell education as a commodity with a promise of being qualified for specific jobs. The watering down of education is a serious concern of Standing. This education saddles students with debt, can’t necessarily deliver the job they were trained for, and meantime has not encouraged them to think critically and creatively but to keep their heads down and do what’s required, even if it’s not at all what they wanted. The Precariat is therefore deprived of a key element in achieving some sort of political influence and the ability to push back–a good education. … More Why is My University Degree Not Enough? (4-Video)
This is a piece of writing that is hard to find but really should be read by people interested in the critique of liberalism. It contrasts ancient and modern (bourgeois) virtue in a fairly quick trip across the history of political thought. Hopefully posting it here will get it in front of more eyes, because … More Martin Diamond, Ethics and Politics: The American Way
I discuss some of the many important points made in Ch. 2 of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, entitled “Why the Precariat is Growing.” Standing details what happened in OECD countries when emerging market countries started to out-compete them in terms of production and availability of low-cost labor. He shows how globalization, smoothed by government policies, led to the ultimate “flexible” labor force, with subsequent insecurity and strain on individuals, families and communities. Being ultimately flexible means not having any hope for a career, not identifying with an employer, and not being rewarded for the development of skills, among many other effects. People are most often blamed (and blame themselves) for their difficulty in finding a good job, but the deck is stacked against them like never before, and Standing does not think there is any way to turn back the clock. … More Why Can’t I Find a Good Job? (Guy Standing, The Precariat 3-Audio)
I discuss some of the many important points made in Ch. 2 of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, entitled “Why the Precariat is Growing.” Standing details what happened in OECD countries when emerging market countries started to out-compete them in terms of production and availability of low-cost labor. He shows how globalization, smoothed by government policies, led to the ultimate “flexible” labor force, with subsequent insecurity and strain on individuals, families and communities. Being ultimately flexible means not having any hope for a career, not identifying with an employer, and not being rewarded for the development of skills, among many other effects. People are most often blamed (and blame themselves) for their difficulty in finding a good job, but the deck is stacked against them like never before, and Standing does not think there is any way to turn back the clock. … More Why Can’t I Find a Good Job? (Guy Standing, The Precariat 3-Video)
In the first chapter of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, we learn his definition of the precariat and how this class fits into the overall class picture. Flexibility (any time, anywhere, any job, for any length of time) turns out to be a prominent feature of the precariat experience. With no incentive to identify with their work, they are anxious and alienated, and especially since they are not a unified class, they are susceptible to propaganda that seeks to point the finger at other vulnerable groups, blaming them rather than the economic system that is using them as “human capital.” … More ‘Just in Time’ Humans? The Precariat (Guy Standing, 2-Audio)
In the first chapter of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, we learn his definition of the precariat and how this class fits into the overall class picture. Flexibility (any time, anywhere, any job, for any length of time) turns out to be a prominent feature of the precariat experience. With no incentive to identify with their work, they are anxious and alienated, and especially since they are not a unified class, they are susceptible to propaganda that seeks to point the finger at other vulnerable groups, blaming them rather than the economic system that is using them as “human capital.” … More ‘Just in Time’ Humans? The Precariat (Guy Standing, 2)
After all, when we’re reading theory, surely we’re not looking for that golden unicorn–the one thinker who can give us the answers to everything already formed. Surely we’re reading theory because that comprehensive answer is still lacking, and we’re trying our best to put the comprehensive answer together. No one has yet provided the comprehensive answer, and maybe no one ever will, but one thing I know is, that unicorn has yet to be born. … More How to Read Theory
