Steve Biko was a smart guy. And as far as the apartheid regime in South Africa was concerned, a dangerous one. Here's an excerpt from an essay called Fear - An Important Determinant in South African Politics. My premise has always been that black people should not at any one stage be surprised at some... Continue Reading →
You hear anyone saying “oh, I was wrong”? No, me neither. #climate #BorisJohnson #Israel
In the last couple of weeks we've seen big big protests in Israel about the direction of travel of the state. We've had another IPCC summary report (number 6 in the franchise - the body count ever higher, the deaths more elaborate) and just yesterday Boris Johnson in front of the Privileges Committee. What all... Continue Reading →
Is #climate really a “comms issue”? Really? Srsly?
There's another new report out, this time based on a survey of 2000 adults (1) that tacitly pins the blame for climate inertia on various forms of 'denial' and delayism. You can read about it on the excellent edie.net website here. I could be wrong, but these sorts surveys and reports seem to get done... Continue Reading →
How the power plays – of radio stations, compulsory mourning and seeing the water we are swimming in.
2022 09 09 0930 hours mobile from gym to house having listened to Absolute Radio playing maudlin wrist-slasher music and hushed announcements. Now this is a commercial station but clearly they've taken a lead and there is a bunch of "approved music" you can play at times like these. And it's moments like these you... Continue Reading →
Meso-aggressions: sassy, feisty, “proles can read? well done you” etc.
Very quickly - People like me (white, middle class, cishet male, all the other privileges) usually don't get - long-term - how exhausting it is to be constantly reminded of your place in the "pecking order" (blah blah Aristotle Great Chain of Being etc). The word "sassy" - aimed at young black women. The word... Continue Reading →
Things we can’t see, don’t have the language for, that MATTER (the mechanics of social movement organisations etc etc)
We can't, usually, 'see' carbon dioxide. But we know it is there. Since the 1950s very very accurate measures of its concentration in the atmosphere have been kept (thanks to Uncle Sam and his military industrial complex). While dickheads - to use the technical academic term - like ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott scoff at "invisible... Continue Reading →
Smart but so very very stupid at the same time: Dunning-Kruger among would-be leaders
I've just read Melissa Benn's excellent novel of "New Labour" - "One of Us" (more soon). That - combined with Rishi Sunak's response in the "leadership" "debate" to what he would do about climate change (recycling, wasting less, innovation) has got me to thinking about the question of, well, how our "leaders" are so catastrophically... Continue Reading →
Neologism of the decade: nihiliberalism
(or should that be nihilogism of the decade?) There's this and this bit of an interview with the late Mark Fisher. "Now we are faced with nihiliberalism rather than neoliberalism. The phrases justifying neoliberalism are mechanistically repeated, but there’s no real conviction in it anymore." Hat-tip to @Dant_Lane for bringing this to my attention. Basically,... Continue Reading →
Big Brother is talking to you…
States don't just create external boundaries. As per Cesaire, the technologies are being brought into the metropole.
Destroy our sense-making – of Cassandras, rotten apples and more
One of the easiest ways to win is to confuse your opponents so much that they simply don't even know they are in a fight. Saves time and treasure if you can do this, obviously. I could go on and ON about Gramsci this, hegemony that, blah de blah. Let's go for a couple of... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 