Author Archives: greg

How Fantasies Support Late Capitalism

Posted on February 1, 2023 by greg

The market is an anxious social fantasy, supporting the purported natural order in the economic realm. ‘Late capitalism,’ in its current usage, is a catchall phrase for the indignities and absurdities of our contemporary economy, with its yawning inequality and … Continue reading →

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On Achieving Sustainability Goals: Leave No One Behind

Posted on January 15, 2023 by greg

The three main dimensions of sustainability are: social, economic, and environment. At its core, social sustainability means the aspects of sustainability that relate to people. Simply said, it’s about ensuring that humans have what they need, now and in the … Continue reading →

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Shaping Norms: a Response to Populism and Loneliness

Posted on January 1, 2023 by greg

Social belonging will become a growing issue for western democracies, an emerging “epidemic of loneliness” – some draw the connection between this creeping crisis of social belonging and the rise of populism, stating that lonely individuals are a vulnerable target … Continue reading →

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Balancing Inequality and Competition: the Ideal Social Contract

Posted on December 1, 2022 by greg

Freedom is good, but security is better. That’s what Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) believed. He made his point by imagining what it would be like to live without government, laws, or society. In this ‘State of Nature’ you could do whatever … Continue reading →

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Why We Need to Preserve Political Norms

Posted on November 1, 2022 by greg

As we have seen, political norms might be a fragile bulwark against a demagogue, but they also reflect a commitment to a set of shared rules and values that is an important indicator of the health of our politics. Without that … Continue reading →

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Postmodern Deconstruction of the Cruelty of Late Capitalism

Posted on September 15, 2022 by greg

Postmodernism is the idea that individuals have both the intelligence and the right to decide for themselves what truth is. In the past, truth was a clearly defined fact that was generally accepted by each generation. Postmodern individuals see the … Continue reading →

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Political Nihilism and Narcissism in Today’s Politics

Posted on September 1, 2022 by greg

A nihilist believes that life is meaningless and the only known truth is the existence of the self. For Nietzsche, there is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it. Penetrating the façades buttressing convictions, … Continue reading →

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Seeking the Road to Social Change

Posted on August 1, 2022 by greg

When Servius Tullius, king from 578 to 535 BC, reformed the tribal system of Rome, giving the vote to men who had not been members of the three original tribes, he increased the number of tribes and assigned people to … Continue reading →

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A Response to the Oppression of Top-Down Systems

Posted on July 1, 2022 by greg

The Roman Empire came into contact with cultures and religious beliefs of major cultures, and was happy to assimilate any deities they encountered. Rome passed from a Republic to Imperial System when Julius Caesar declared himself Emperor. The Senate disapproved, … Continue reading →

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Misinformation: A Tool Used by Cults (and Anti-vaxxers) to Control People

Posted on June 1, 2022 by greg

A cult is a group of people who organize around a strong authority figure. Cults, like many other groups, attempt to expand their influence for the purposes of power or money. No one joins a cult; they are recruited by … Continue reading →

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