A good friend recently pointed me at a very good (imo, ymmv obvs) article "education for democratic resilience." It's full of quotable bits but for now Imma riff on this - "I believe one reason is that too few Americans understand the nuts-and-bolts of associations. An initial meeting often draws many concerned people, who may... Continue Reading →
“Leaning in” – it’s easier, after all…
There's a new book called Fascist Yoga, which I am probably not going to read, but I am probably glad that it exists. Meanwhile
The real deal – votes, jobs and demopatriarchy
When the Great Barrier Reef of Australia wasn’t obviously dead - 10 to 15 years ago - there were fierce battles between various factions of Queensland (and global) business sectors over what needed to happen. The mining industry, under scrutiny not just for the emissions from all the coal burnt but also the danger posed... Continue Reading →
False consciousness, left and right (a limerick)
Limericks, quatrains and haiku are coming. For, well, reasons. The Kool-Aid some gladly imbibeAs the price of joining the tribeThey might be left blindedThey're not all that mindedSo deep is their ache for a "vibe" (clean limericks are such a letdown!) Marc Hudson, who has never ever believed something ridiculous because it was conveient or... Continue Reading →
Taylor Swift, cathexis, Zizek and (oof) black boxes
I came to the podcast Ordinary Unhappiness very recently while on a Wilfred Bion binge (blog post abt that stuck in development hell). The shtick seems to be that three very well-informed-on-psychoanalysis young(ish) East Coast Americans (two seem married, to each other I mean) will have a topic (Bion and groups, the 1967 film The... Continue Reading →
That’s infotainment
So much for daily posts. I have (almost) daily thoughts, but don't find the time (motivation) to put fingers to keyboard, even with a voice recorder and transcription software. It seems, tbh, a bit pointless and narcissistic (this never stopped me before, but I am no spring chicken; as the t-shirt goes "it's weird being... Continue Reading →
Memory holes and popular culture; middle-brow geography and what is ignored
When we try to educate ourselves about The World, we can easily be misled by popular accounts, either because the author is trying to pull a fast one, or just because well things get 'forgotten. I don't know what the solution is, besides reading loads and remembering most of it? And who has the time?... Continue Reading →
Saying the quiet part out loud: when lobbyists gloat about having captured the state…
You're not supposed to say the quiet part out loud. It makes it harder for everyone to pretend that the policy-making is not sock-puppetry for the rich (1). The latest example of this is a Canadian having to quit (2) because he boasted to an audience that 'We've been given opportunities to write entire briefing... Continue Reading →
The absence of R/reform: a personal take on the election hustings in Stone
About a hundred people (1) gathered last night to hear from five people who want to be the Member of Parliament representing Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge . The five present were Dannie Braine, Green Party Alexander Bramham, Social Democratic Party Jacqueline Anne Brown Labour Sam Harper-Wallis Liberal Democrat Gavin Williamson, Conservative and Unionist Party [I... Continue Reading →
Michael Connelly’s Rene Ballard and the issue attention cycle. No, seriously
Sometimes I write about how popular culture either directly - see this one about punk singer-songwriter TV Smith - or indirectly is 'about' how the world works/policymaking. Recently I've been bingeing on the "Rene Ballard books by Michael Connelly (better known for his Harry Bosch and Micky Haller novels - Ballard is in the same... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 