tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.comments2024-01-16T12:22:10.415+00:00We are not the beautifulWe are not the beautifulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comBlogger208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-72629058008151144762023-07-30T20:48:29.436+01:002023-07-30T20:48:29.436+01:00Wish this could be published as an FT Opinion. It ...Wish this could be published as an FT Opinion. It deserves to be<br />kirsty kropotkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06113801016427835652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-34606971966127168922023-03-07T15:07:11.835+00:002023-03-07T15:07:11.835+00:00I read that Dutch historian Niels Boender said las...I read that Dutch historian Niels Boender said last August that public debate about the British Empire was stuck 50 years in the past: https://peacenews.info/node/10517/caroline-elkins-legacy-violence-history-british-empire<br /><br />That is the nature of most political debate nowadays. An idealised past is far more comforting than realityWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-73481845913261818262022-12-21T11:47:20.701+00:002022-12-21T11:47:20.701+00:00The more you learn about the history of this strug...The more you learn about the history of this struggle, the more you realise that the film borrows enormously from Sylvia Pankhurst whilst refusing to explore the fissons she exposed. For example, the deputation to Parliament which opens the film was organized by Sylvia Pankhurst and the participants included – in her words – a 'Poplar laundress' (which you might make an educated guess is the inspiration for Carey Mulligan's character). But not only did the WSPU – in the film represented by a regal looking Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst – not approve of this organising among working class women in the East End of London, it actually EXPELLED her for doing so. On the grounds that working class women, having so much of their plate, were bound to be weaker that their middle class sisters and it wanted everyone to 'march in step'. Hence the East London Federation of the WSPU became the separate East London Federation of the Suffragettes and later the Women's Suffrage Federation, Workers' Suffrage Federation etc. The film really should be dedicated to Sylvia Pankhurst which it would be if the truth weren't so embarrassing We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-39321646260772252012022-09-04T09:04:28.282+01:002022-09-04T09:04:28.282+01:00Putin is 'trying' to 'weaponise gas&#...Putin is 'trying' to 'weaponise gas' by turning off the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany completely. The effect of this has been to *lower* the global price of gas: https://annpettifor.substack.com/p/putin-nord-stream-1-and-pakistans<br />This attempt at 'economic warfare' may work in the long run in it that i drains Germany of reserves of natural gas in the winter but any effect is not through raising the price of natural gas – and thus the cost to everyone of heating their homes – which seems, one can only conclude, to be determined by other forces.<br />We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-46251007797039296332021-12-27T11:04:30.968+00:002021-12-27T11:04:30.968+00:00According to Spears magazine, which describes itse...According to Spears magazine, which describes itself as a "wealth management and luxury lifestyle media brand" the number of billionaires in the world has snowballed since it was founded in 2006. In that year there were, worldwide, fewer than 1,000 billionaires with a combined net worth of just under $3 trillion. Now (according to Forbes magazine) there are 2,755 billionaires with a collective net worth of $13 trillion. Why the huge increase in a period that has seen a financial crisis and anaemic economic growth? The increase undoubtedly has something to do with hyped property prices and inheritance but the policy of Quantitative Easing - which western governments started following in 2008 - must have come into play here. As I say in the blog capitalist forces alone can't have increased billionaire wealth by 300% in 15 years.We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-19088272114008593552021-11-05T14:08:21.283+00:002021-11-05T14:08:21.283+00:00A key point you appear to have omitted is that the...A key point you appear to have omitted is that the real aim of QE is to hold down interest rates by driving up asset prices, since otherwise soaring market interest rates would quickly bankrupt banks, govts, the lot. Hence, as you may have noted, attempts to sell newly acquired central bank assets back to the market (quantitative tightening) tend to result in "panic" selling and more QE instead . This is the clue to understanding why the whole house of cards must ultimately collapse, though such is the conspiracy to keep markets liquid this may not happen in my lifetime! Harry Shutthttps://harryshutt.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-23450474618972659442021-09-15T15:19:21.404+01:002021-09-15T15:19:21.404+01:00This emphasis on personal responsibility rather th...This emphasis on personal responsibility rather than that of the organisation was brought home to me when reading about BP under the leadership of Lord John Browne. When in charge of BP Browne introduced dozens of rules, such as no talking on the phone when operating equipment, no coffee cups without lids, no climbing staircases without holding the handrail, that were all about personal safety and placed the burden on the individual to observe them. At the same time, more costly process safeguards, like the upkeep of wells or piplines, was neglected or cut. A few years later the huge Deepwater Horizon spill happened. The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon disaster said that BP's focus on "individual worker occupational safety but not on process safety" was a root cause of the accident (from the 'New Corporation' by Joel Bakan)<br />This is symptomatic of a culture that lays everything on the individual but lets the organsation off scott freeWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-10846286513936047442021-08-15T18:32:57.925+01:002021-08-15T18:32:57.925+01:00Great insights Mat! Brilliant postGreat insights Mat! Brilliant postKirstenhttps://simply-radical.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-64677818079462498672021-08-15T18:30:47.203+01:002021-08-15T18:30:47.203+01:00Absolutely brilliant Mat! Worth several rereads. T...Absolutely brilliant Mat! Worth several rereads. Thanks for the insights!kirsty kropotkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06113801016427835652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-34127156172349769272021-07-08T15:20:01.002+01:002021-07-08T15:20:01.002+01:00According to Rutger Bregman, in ‘Humankind: A Hope...According to Rutger Bregman, in ‘Humankind: A Hopeful History’, “only 56% of his [Milgram’s] subjects believed they were actually inflicting pain on the learner”. This is quite misleading. It comes from a table in Gina Perry’s book ‘Behind the Shock Machine’ which in itself is a reinterpretation of a table in Milgram’s ‘Obedience to Authority’. What the table says is that, in a follow-up questionnaire, 56.1% of Milgram’s subjects said they *fully* believed the learner was getting painful shocks. Another 24% believed the learner was *probably* getting the shocks, although they had some doubts. Milgram added the two together and asserted that “three quarters of the subjects … by their own testimony acted under the belief that they were administering painful shocks.” Perry says this is wrong and that you can only say that 56% fully believed the experiment was real; hence Bregman’s claim. But I think, in practical terms, Milgram is right. The disbelief hypothesis rests on the idea that subjects go on delivering ostensibly excruciating electric shocks because they are convinced no-one is really being hurt, so it doesn’t matter and they do what they are told to do. However, to follow this line of action, you have to be pretty sure that the shocks aren’t real, not merely have some doubts in the back of your mind. If you aren’t fairly sure, you wouldn’t, in my opinion, run the risk of someone really being hurt or even killed through your actions. So it is accurate to infer that three quarters of the subjects *acted under the belief* that they were administering painful shocks. In reality, the ‘seeing through the hoax’ scenario only applies to the subjects who said they probably believed the learner wasn’t getting any shocks, or were certain they weren’t – 15.8%. Or maybe even just to those who were certain it was a set-up, a mere 2.4%.<br />ML<br />We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-81843268993450158302020-12-19T09:54:27.724+00:002020-12-19T09:54:27.724+00:00The role of the media in the Iraq War is perfectly...The role of the media in the Iraq War is perfectly illustrated by a 2013 opinion poll which found that 59% of the British public believed fewer than 10,000 Iraqis died as a result of the war: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/poll-deaths-iraq-ignored-media <br />& https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/western-foreign-policy-and-dangerous-ignorance-gap<br /><br />As the article linked to above demonstrates the true casualty rate was between 650,000 and over 1 million by 2007, 1.45 million by 2011 and around 2.4 million by 2018.<br /><br />Minimisation by a factor of well over 100We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-71698358074555966672020-11-18T11:54:47.549+00:002020-11-18T11:54:47.549+00:00A ‘green industrial revolution’ will be announced,...A ‘green industrial revolution’ will be announced, aiming to create jobs and reskill millions of people<br /><br />On cue: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-outlines-his-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution-for-250000-jobsWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-92055755805900770872020-09-01T10:52:53.563+01:002020-09-01T10:52:53.563+01:00It's been gradual over the last few years. Kin...It's been gradual over the last few years. Kings Cross were making theirs free at the end of last year. I think it's part a general easing of crude examples of exploitation (also water bils) that happened after the 2017 GE. Or possibly it was the moaning by Michael Owen that did it: https://twitter.com/themichaelowen/status/429644669233135616?lang=enWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-6692319526882995582020-08-31T19:41:42.796+01:002020-08-31T19:41:42.796+01:00When did it become free to use loos at train stati...When did it become free to use loos at train stations? I need to get out more. Good article.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17645823239374542720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-59560252681310379542020-05-14T08:12:12.457+01:002020-05-14T08:12:12.457+01:00According to the United Nations Conference on Trad...According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) world trade is set to fall by a record 27% in the 2nd quarter of this year. Commodity prices, e.g. fuel, metals, food, which developing countries rely on as exports, fell by 20% in March: https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=2369<br /><br />This is a disaster in the makingWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-22428796489675719012020-05-06T08:02:26.998+01:002020-05-06T08:02:26.998+01:00From the Independent: 'Plan to use private fir...From the Independent: 'Plan to use private firm at centre of outsourcing scandal to run contact tracing attacked' <br /><br />https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-tests-contact-tracing-serco-g4s-private-firm-a9497371.html<br /><br />From from succumbing to 'socialism' the coronavirus crisis is proving boon to large private companies that the government favours. These are definitely 'exciting times' for shareholdersWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-1967313606986328492020-04-28T08:32:22.538+01:002020-04-28T08:32:22.538+01:00The Bank of England has doubled the size of its co...The Bank of England has doubled the size of its corporate bond buying programme, following in the footsteps of the American Federal Reserve: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-boe/bank-of-england-doubles-size-of-corporate-bond-purchase-program-idUSKBN21K2LO<br /><br />Beneficiaries include Wal-Mart, Thames Water, McDonalds, Deutsche Bahn (they run trains), Sky, Apple, Unilever etc, https://t.co/NNuRWkWNAD?amp=1We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-59430987409030168312020-04-25T10:43:51.729+01:002020-04-25T10:43:51.729+01:00So far our 'version of communism' has seen...So far our 'version of communism' has seen the chairman of bus firm, First Group, celebrating 'exciting times' for shareholders: https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-appalled-at-bus-and-rail-giant-firstgroup-plans/ and the govt awarding the contract for coronavirus testing to accountancy firm Deloitte which it then can't do properly: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/23/hospitals-sound-alarm-over-privately-run-test-centre-in-surrey<br /><br />We're clearly only a small step away from purging the country of the bourgeoisie as a class<br /> We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-18249959637333651872020-01-08T13:14:30.446+00:002020-01-08T13:14:30.446+00:00According a report from 'Carbon Brief' ...According a report from 'Carbon Brief' 'limiting warming to below 1.5C starting in 2019, without net-negative emissions, would require a 15% cut each year through to 2040.': <br /><br />https://www.carbonbrief.org/unep-1-5c-climate-target-slipping-out-of-reach?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=GapReportTwitterVid112019<br /><br />1.5C warming is the limit set by the IPCC which, if it is not abided by, will result in massive crop failures, sea level rise, reduction of fresh water, droughts and huge refugee flows. <br /><br />There is no chance of reducing emissions by 15% a year without changing fundamentally the system of global trade which is absolutely inherent to the hyper-globalised capitalist system not totally dominant in the world.<br /><br />The only possibility of doing so lies in a huge economic downturn following by radical - i.e. system-changing - economic transformation.<br /><br />In other words, post-capitalismWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-66230512250382657282019-12-22T10:47:58.851+00:002019-12-22T10:47:58.851+00:00It's evident that this flat-lining of social m...It's evident that this flat-lining of social mobility is not confined to the UK. The 2019 Human Development Report (from the UN Development Programme) argues that many street protests around the world now are driven by the feeling that the economy is rigged in favour of the powerful and many people are trapped in low-wage, dead-end lives. <br /><br />"What people perhaps 30, 40 years ago were led to believe and often saw around them," says a UNDP administrator, "was that if you worked hard, you could escape poverty." Yet in many countries today, he says upward social mobility is "simply not occurring" anymore.<br /><br />https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/09/786315267/theres-a-new-kind-of-inequality-and-it-s-not-about-income?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&t=1577012085303We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-23757206387681720622019-12-03T09:58:22.819+00:002019-12-03T09:58:22.819+00:00In case people don't trust or can't read t...In case people don't trust or can't read the Telegraph, here is the New European on Ed Davey suggesting he could back Johnson in return for a 'people's vote': https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/liberal-democrat-deputy-leader-doesn-t-rule-out-tory-coalition-1-6386523<br /><br />In a 2nd referendum you have to have Leave option, obviously, and it matters what the Leave option is, because it could winWe are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-82995092793802919322019-09-20T08:14:10.228+01:002019-09-20T08:14:10.228+01:00Thanks Mat – this needed saying. What seems to be ...Thanks Mat – this needed saying. What seems to be missing is the fact much of the Leave vote in the referendum was actually a protest against austerity (certainly in my own case). This seems in line with a similar influence on the Scottish referendum in 2014 and Corbyn’s landslide in Labour's 2015 leadership election.Harry Shutthttps://harryshutt.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-59803536862695344032019-06-26T15:15:15.017+01:002019-06-26T15:15:15.017+01:00Infant mortality (deaths of babies under 1) has wo...Infant mortality (deaths of babies under 1) has worsened in Britain for the 3rd year in a row -https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/24/britain-life-expectancy-health-gap-rich-poor-tory-leadership<br /><br />As the author points out, rising infant mortality was a sign the Soviet Union was in deep trouble.<br /><br />Do we apply the same thinking to our own society?We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-45628772949664548482019-06-06T15:45:04.758+01:002019-06-06T15:45:04.758+01:00I came across something from climate scientist Kev...I came across something from climate scientist Kevin Anderson. He says that, in order to have any chance of staying under 2 degrees' warming, rich countries have to cut emissions aggressively (by 10% a year) and poor countries can grow until 2025, then start downsizing economic activity. It's obvious that rich countries aren't doing that, but there is no economic model I'm aware of for poor countries to reduce emissions while simultaneously reducing poverty. There's no reason for poor countries to eschew poverty reduction because there is a morally better path and nor should we expect them to. And 2025 is obviously just 6 years away. The problem is that only model to hand is to grow economically and use some of the resources to improve people's living conditions.We are not the beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469463466277712732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332582469324010500.post-66090028059243323772018-09-11T09:35:43.669+01:002018-09-11T09:35:43.669+01:00Experts and patriots are enraged:
The crazies sec...Experts and patriots are enraged:<br /><br />The crazies secretly maneuvered more wealth into their pockets<br /><br />In the last year, than they did in the last 185 years!<br /><br />Meaning the top 1% now own as much wealth as half the world<br /><br />Just 5 years ago the filthy rich were 388.<br /><br />As of January 2016 there’s only 62 people who own<br /><br />HALF the world!<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.mobilethemesworld.com/2018/09/05/cbs-best-financial-survival-product/" rel="nofollow">>>Watch shocking video<<</a></b><br /><br />No living soul can spend that much money in a lifetime…<br /><br />And when people sits on money,<br /><br />The economy stalls.<br /><br />And that’s how it all begins:<br /><br />What’s coming in the next 6 months or less<br /><br />Will give a new definition to the infamous “economic crisis”<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.mobilethemesworld.com/2018/09/05/cbs-best-financial-survival-product/" rel="nofollow">>>Access U.S. Dollar Exposed!<<</a></b><br /><br />Are you prepared to be broke…<br /><br />Homeless…<br /><br />Jobless…<br /><br />HUNGRY?<br /><br />Or can you turn the game around:<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.mobilethemesworld.com/2018/09/05/cbs-best-financial-survival-product/" rel="nofollow">>>Profit from the dollar crisis: watch video<<</a></b><br /><br />[Mr Mark Fidelman]Adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09309351897827851976noreply@blogger.com