Month: September 2015

Our universities shouldn’t allow “social enterprises” to attend volunteering fairs. | Thoughts after an encounter with a suspect company looking for free labour from my fellow students.

September 29, 2015

“At this year’s volunteering fair, although they may have been present in previous years, I noticed one organisation that stood out above the rest. Not because of how great their work is, but because I was disgusted by what this organisation purportedly was. […] They seem to be a social enterprise meaning they aim to produce “social profits” rather than acting like a typical business but what they were offering Plymouth students seemed predatory to me. […] Of course, maybe their representative did a terrible job at explaining what RIO does but it seemed to me that they were there to prey on the naivety of students with good intentions- they were simply after some free labour.” … More Our universities shouldn’t allow “social enterprises” to attend volunteering fairs. | Thoughts after an encounter with a suspect company looking for free labour from my fellow students.

Personal Thoughts | September 2015 | BPS talk on Out-of-Body-Experiences; cherry-picking from religion; the arrogance of nu-atheist academics

September 22, 2015

“Blackmore is a hard determinist, or fatalist, meaning she believes that every action, including human action, has some cause going back to the start of the universe, which also means free will does not exist. Perhaps I was unable, in the short time I had, to explain my compatibilist position, which I believe follows from dialectical monism; however it seemed disingenuous for someone with academic authority to assert nomological determinism (fatalism) so confidently.” … More Personal Thoughts | September 2015 | BPS talk on Out-of-Body-Experiences; cherry-picking from religion; the arrogance of nu-atheist academics

On the Non-Existence of Norway (idolised Western way of life)

September 18, 2015

“Zižek’s main point, reduced in the article title to “The Non-existence of Norway”. We could go as far as to say this point is really about the non-existence of the idolised Western way of life but Zižek is specifically referring to how many refugees are not simply aiming for Europe, but Scandinavia- idealised by left-liberals for being a haven of tolerance and demonised by right-conservatives for precisely the same reason. While Norway may be a more-than-averagely tolerant and more-than-averagely equal society, it cannot, like any other Western country, profess to have overcome all the inherent contradictions and problems of capitalism while remaining part of that global system.” … More On the Non-Existence of Norway (idolised Western way of life)

Critique of “US is an Oligarchy?” Part 3: Oligarchy and Public Policy

September 13, 2015

“The kinds of policy that would benefit a potential class of oligarchs is easily thought of when considering that their wealth is based on inequality. Policies that allow them to maintain their vastly unequal share of wealth also allow them to keep their vastly unequal share of political power. 3 main policy themes would be in the interests of an oligarchical class to manipulate- international economic policy, monetary policy and tax policy. This evidence shows that these policies currently and historically favour potential oligarchs- the solution is redistribution of wealth, and therefore redistribution of power.” … More Critique of “US is an Oligarchy?” Part 3: Oligarchy and Public Policy

On Makhaevism: Knowledge Capitalists and Authority-Discourses

September 6, 2015

“Jan Machajski’s big idea, Makhaevism recognised that simplified Marxist classifications of intellectuals as proletarian ignored the privilege they had due to them possessing an unfair monopoly on knowledge. An anarchist, he encouraged relentless questioning of authority. Foucault showed how knowledge discourses with public authority anonymously dominate individuals and legitimise governments. The solution to the problem of the knowledge capitalists is free education for all.” … More On Makhaevism: Knowledge Capitalists and Authority-Discourses

Critique of “US is an Oligarchy?” Part 2: The US case

September 2, 2015

“The following evidence could be quite shocking. These amounts of money are incomprehensible to mere plebs like us. Consider that every citizen has an individual power profile based on the power resources he or she can deploy. The power share of the top tenth of 1 percent of US households may well be sufficient to dominate politics on key issues of most intense interest to that group. They are bound together by material self-interest and political clout, not by social ties.” … More Critique of “US is an Oligarchy?” Part 2: The US case