Several factors have been blamed for the rise in crimes against women in India. Some say it’s connected to the skewed sex ratio that has resulted from families selectively aborting female foetuses. This, and India’s “cultural prohibition against dating”, means that there are a multitude of sexually repressed young men roaming around, many of whom, …
In fascist regimes the leader seeks alliances with giant corporations, as long as they obey him, and in return they avoid democratic accountability and can continue growing. Maybe you can guess where I might be going with this? In the last few years the US has virtually ignored the anti-trust laws that helped the country …
Continue reading ‘Extreme economic concentration creates the conditions ripe for dictatorship.’ »
“Il vecchio mondo sta morendo. Quello nuovo tarda a comparire. E in questo chiaroscuro nascono i mostri.“ Antonio Gramsci “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters.” (Thanks to Dan Dolan, a reader of this blog, for this apposite quotation) Upheaval seems to be …
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 B.C. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquillity, freedom from fear (“ataraxia”) and absence from bodily pain (“aponia”). This combination of states is held to constitute happiness in …
Continue reading ‘A brief rundown on Epicureanism for those new to it’ »
Those reporters have such nerve! Last month, a BBC reporter in London asked Jeff Fairburn, the CEO of Britain’s largest homebuilder and the nation’s highest-paid corporate chief exec, about the $98-million “performance” bonus the 52-year-old had pocketed earlier this year. A peeved Fairburn called the reporter’s question “really unfortunate” and abruptly walked out of the …
Continue reading ‘A subsidised CEO takes aim at an impertinent media’ »
