Posts Tagged ‘revolution’
Our New Economy Of Guard Labor
Monday, 20 May 2013 08:00
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revolution

Via the Baffler, David Graeber on the possibilities of revolution and the increase in “guard labor”:

Under no conditions can alternatives, or anyone proposing alternatives, be seen to experience success. This helps explain the almost unimaginable investment in “security systems” of one sort or another: military…intelligence agencies, militarized police…a massive media industry. Mostly these systems do not so much attack dissidents directly as contribute to a pervasive climate of fear, jingoistic conformity, life insecurity, and simple despair that makes any thought of changing the world seem an idle fantasy. (Read more…)

Yet these security systems are also extremely expensive. Some economists estimate that a quarter of the American population is now engaged in “guard labor” of one sort or another—defending property, supervising work, or otherwise keeping their fellow Americans in line. Economically, most of this disciplinary apparatus is pure deadweight.

In fact, most of the economic innovations of the last thirty years make more sense politically than economically. Eliminating guaranteed life employment for precarious contracts doesn’t really create a more effective workforce, but it is extraordinarily effective in destroying unions and otherwise depoliticizing labor. The same can be said of endlessly increasing working hours. No one has much time for political activity if they’re working sixty-hour weeks.

It does often seem that, whenever there is a choice between one option that makes capitalism seem the only possible economic system, and another that would actually make capitalism a more viable economic system, neoliberalism means always choosing the former. To be more precise: imagination, desire, individual creativity were to be contained strictly in the domain of consumerism, or perhaps in the virtual realities of the Internet. In all other realms they were to be strictly banished.

We are talking about the imposition of an apparatus of hopelessness, designed to squelch any sense of an alternative future. Yet as a result of putting virtually all their efforts in one political basket, we are left in the bizarre situation of watching the capitalist system crumbling before our very eyes, at just the moment everyone had finally concluded no other system would be possible.

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Paradigm Shift in Education: Krishnamurti on the Educator, RAW on Ignorance, Gato on the System, and Hamming on Learning
Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:54
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via chycho

education-significance-life-j-krishnamurti-paperback-cover-art

The root cause of society’s ills is how we deal with education. Deep down we all know this, but for decades we have barely lifted a finger to address it. The main reason for this inaction is because most of us are ourselves products of this defective system. (Read more…) We have been programed for obedience, turned into self-absorbed apathetic beings that submit to authority and fear dissent.

We are bombarded with propaganda that wants us to believe in the economy. That if everyone had a job and the economy was growing at whatever rate our centralized governments had set, then all would be well. There are two problems with this mindset. First, our crony cannibalistic economic system will never reach this zenith. Second, it’s a lie; a better economy is not the solution to our woes. What is, is educating our children to become integrated beings, free of envy and materialism. Unfortunately, our present education system is not set up to achieve this task, not yet anyway, but it’s coming, and it will change everything.

There is a war going on for the hearts and minds of our children – for the control of the future. Our present education system is collapsing and numerous parties are vying over who will be the dominant player during this revolution, hence the faction in control of the new system. From billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates to politicians, governments, traditional and charter schools, massive open online courses, homeschoolers, teachers, unions, and parents, everyone is joining the fray.

No matter what the final outcome, the simple fact is that a centralized system should never again be allowed to dominate education in our society. We are diverse and social creatures and require intimate and personal stimulation to grow, learn, question, and create. To be educated we need engagement; to be fulfilled we need to be triggered – we need educators that engage students – to challenge, inspire, and motivate.

As for how we can achieve this task? The answers have been available for decades, we just haven’t acted on them. Below you will find some examples of what needs to be done.

What follows are excerpts from Jiddu Krishnamurti’s “Education and The Significance of Life” (pdf), as well as lectures from three playlists: Robert Anton Wilson’s first segment as he “Explains Everything; Or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance” (links to torrent on The Pirate Bay), John Taylor Gatto’s first hour interview regarding the “Ultimate History Lesson”, and Richard Hamming’s opening lecture on “Learning to Learn”.

The works complement each other quite well and are well worth exploring, especially for educators and parents:

Continued at: chycho

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Poll: Three in Ten US Voters Say “Armed Revolution Might be Necessary”
Thursday, 02 May 2013 15:30
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Sprit_of_'76.2Jillian Rayfield writes at Salon:

A new survey of voters by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that 29 percent agree with the statement,  “In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties” – including 18 percent of Democrats, 27 percent of Independents and 44 percent of Republicans.

From the survey:

Only 38 percent of Americans who believe a revolution might be necessary support additional gun control legislation, compared with 62 percent of those who don’t think an armed revolt will be needed. (Read more…) “The differences in views of gun legislation are really a function of differences in what people believe guns are for,” said Cassino. “If you truly believe an armed revolution is possible in the near future, you need weapons and you’re going to be wary about government efforts to take them away.”

The poll also found that 25 percent of those surveyed “think that facts about the shootings at Sandy Hook elementary last year are being hidden.” 11 percent are unsure.

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