In this clip from Laurie Johnson’s presentation in the last session of the Maurin Academy’s Agricultural Biotechnology series, the problem of automation for people who need jobs the world over is discussed. The impact on ideological movements, especially right-wing nationalism, is featured in the last half of the clip. … More Retool for What? The Dark Side of Automation (Maurin Academy)
Christian nationalism–the reasons it is wrong but also the possible reasons why it exists. Looking at the Old Testament as a source of iconic, archetypal and enduring truths is discussed as an alternative to the narrative of the US as the new Israel. If people remain captive to Empire, why? Is it partly because they truly have been displaced and are tempted by cooptation? Is it due to their fear of the wilderness and the freedom it represents? … More Christian Nationalism as Stockholm syndrome (Brueggemann 5)
The first part of John Maynard Keynes’ 1919 book “The Economic Consequences of the Peace” attempts to remind the victors of WWI that the economies of Europe were deeply intertwined and especially driven by the economic powerhouse that was pre-War Germany. In doing so, he makes it clear that a “Carthaginian Peace” is unwise. He … More Interdependence is a Bitch: The WWI Lesson of Precarity Not Learned (Keynes 3)
This is a segment from the first session of the Summer Seminar on Distributism (2021), part of an hour and a half long session on the origins of Distributism in Aristotle’s Politics and various Catholic encyclicals (the one mainly mentioned here is Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII, 1891, in the wake of the Industrial Revolution). Distributism is a line of thought that opposes both capitalism and socialism/communism as equally materialistic and destructive of freedom and proposes a third way–more widespread ownership of private property. It is separable from religion, because it is primarily a proposal about how to deal with property, but this session covers its roots in Ancient Greek and Christian thought. … More Can You Be Both Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Communist? (Seminar 1-Rerum Novarum)
This episode deals with some of the ideas from the concluding chapters of Guy Standing’s book The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class–A Politics of Inferno and A Politics of Paradise. He warns that without major changes we will be facing more and more interest in what he calls neofascism, or the populist and nationalist right. In the last chapter he outlines some solutions, the most discussed being a universal basic income. I spend time on that, but also on the guilt trip societies put on precariat workers, as though it is all their fault. A huge government apparatus exists to encourage the existence of a lot of precarious workers to provide cheap just in time labor, and a huge apparatus exists that employs thousands, if not millions, in administering paternalistic and judgmental programs to the “poor.” When you think about it, that’s sick, and a basic income sounds rational by comparison. … More Basic Income vs. Gaslighting the Precariat (Podcast)
Guy Standing’s chapter on “tertiary time” in his book The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class” deals with some important (and very recognizable) evils of our current work environment. The loss of control over our time is the main theme, and the harm that comes from this is sometimes very obvious and sometimes not at all. This video deals with the hidden cost of maintaining what it takes to work in the precariat, including time to maintain themselves and the personal equipment they use, and dealing with constantly changing schedules which means they have to constantly think about how to take care of children and elderly. Hidden traps having to do with taxes and contracts make it harder for the precariat to ever leave their condition. … More Multitasking Ourselves to Death (Precariat 6-Video)
In this video, I discuss Ch. 4 of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, which is on migration. Many in developed countries with large numbers of migrant laborers blame these laborers for taking jobs and reducing their economic prospects. Looking deeper, though, we see that they are there because globalized economic interests want the ultimate flexible and vulnerable labor pool and governments make sure they get them. Many leaders and parties talk about wanting their citizens to have good jobs but their actions and the results of their policies say otherwise. Ultimately no one wins in the current system, certainly not illegal migrants living in serfdom to survive. To get to the heart of the problem, we have to look at who/what benefits from large numbers of legal and illegal migrants. … More Migrants and Underemployment in Context: What’s Really Going On? (Precariat 5-Audio)
In this video, I discuss Ch. 4 of Guy Standing’s The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, which is on migration. Many in developed countries with large numbers of migrant laborers blame these laborers for taking jobs and reducing their economic prospects. Looking deeper, though, we see that they are there because globalized economic interests want the ultimate flexible and vulnerable labor pool and governments make sure they get them. Many leaders and parties talk about wanting their citizens to have good jobs but their actions and the results of their policies say otherwise. Ultimately no one wins in the current system, certainly not illegal migrants living in serfdom to survive. To get to the heart of the problem, we have to look at who/what benefits from large numbers of legal and illegal migrants. … More Migrants and Underemployment in Context: What’s Really Going On? (Precariat 5-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)
Political Philosophy 