New Data Reveals Families Desperate For Cash Assistance To Help Rear Children
“The people want bread!” Executive director of American Compass, Oren Cass, discusses what kind of support American’s want from the government.
“Cancel Culture” War is a Fight Against the Free Market
David is right about private publishers like the firm that publishes Dr. Seuss having the right to publish or not publish whatever they wish. However, I’m not sure I would apply the same “private company” framework to the question of tech companies. In my ideal economy, all economic […]
Biden SLASHES Stimulus Checks For 17 MILLION Americans
So far, Joe sucks even worse than Trump on reparations for the government-induced depression. Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti react to the Biden administration compromising on income qualifications for stimulus checks.
Study Links Nike, Adidas And Apple To Forced Uighur Labor
By Simina Mistreanu, Forbes Nike, Adidas, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are among 83 multinationals that have been linked to forced labor by Uighurs in factories across China, according to a new study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). According to the researchers, Uighurs, a persecuted ethnic minority […]
Syndicalism and the ‘transnational turn’
Reviewed by Lewis Mates, Durham University It has become something of a cliché to observe the remarkable explosion of renewed academic interest in syndicalism in recent years. While the British ‘baby boomers’ sought inspiration and understanding from early twentieth-century syndicalist movements in the context of increasing industrial militancy […]
Immigration Has Winners and Losers
A very balanced treatment of this issue from Michael Lind. As a general rule, I currently find Lind and Joel Kotkin to be the best writers on socioeconomic issues and their relationship to culture. By Michael Lind, Tablet It’s way more complicated than left versus right. olitics often […]
Republican Calls Out ‘The Oligarchy’ — But There’s A Catch
A representative of the right-wing of the ruling class attacks the left-wing of the ruling class.
AOC CALLS OUT Facebook for evading taxes while families are struggling to stay alive
The war between the social democrats and neoliberals needs to escalate. At an Oversight Committee hearing to examine the GAO 2021 High-Risk List, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out companies like Facebook for evading taxes while families are struggling to pay for rent and stay alive.
Can Socialism Innovate? Ben & Brenton vs Todd & Keith
So who won?
Bernie Goes ALL IN To FORCE THE VOTE On 15 Minimum Wage
It’s rather amusing to watch all of these do-gooders begging the ruling class for more crumbs. Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti discuss the progressive push, particularly from Sen. Sanders, to keep the fight to raise the minimum wage alive.
Let’s talk about what Trump missed at CPAC
The last thing either party wants to focus on is bread and butter issues. That’s why they’re doubling down on culture war issues because they hope they can use those as a permanent distraction from issues that actually threaten the class interests of those running both parties.
The Two Middle Classes
By Joel Kotkin, Quillette Politicians across the Western world like to speak fondly of the “middle class” as if it is one large constituency with common interests and aspirations. But, as Karl Marx observed, the middle class has always been divided by sources of wealth and worldview. Today, […]
INSIDE Battle Of RACE AND CLASS Leaving Workers Smeared And Fired At Smith College
More fragmentation. Journalist Zaid Jilani discusses allegations of racial profiling at Smith College and the investigation that followed.
GOP’s Fate Sealed As EVERY MEMBER Votes Against Economic Stimulus
The Republicans seem to have accepted they are destined to be a permanent minority party, and their strategy is to merely play the role of obstructionists. Saagar Enjeti explains how out of touch Republican lawmakers are with the general public, particularly when it comes to the COVID relief […]
Crazy Televangelist Turns HARD LEFT: No More Billionaires, Give The Poor Money!
The new Father Charles Coughlin?
Peter Zeihan – Global Analysis
@Peter Zeihan analyses the recent developments of Covid and geopolitics. @Zeihan on Geopolitics also explores a global geopolitical view of the post-covid world.
The Best Time to Organize Was Yesterday
By David Hines, The American Conservative Conservatives, elected and unelected, need to think proactively about mutual aid. I had a different column or six in the hopper for this week, but then Ted Cruz ran into a buzzsaw of criticism for trying to sneak in a Cancun vacation […]
The Indian Farmers’ Movement 2020–21: Part I: Reclaiming Postcolonial Nationalism from the State
By B. Venkat Mani, TELOS On November 26, 2020, when international borders were still partially closed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, a new democratic and peaceful movement was taking shape in India, led by farmers. They wanted to register their protest against three contentious agricultural reform laws […]
Former Amazon Employee: I Was Fired for Blowing Whistle on COVID Infections
–Chris Smalls, former Amazon employee who has become a leader of the e-commerce labor rights movement, joins David to discuss his activism, time working at Amazon, and much more
Are Cotton, Hawley, Romney SERIOUS About Raising Minimum Wage?
As I’ve said before, some Republicans will increasingly embrace Christian Democrat or national-populist rhetoric as class divisions continue to widen. Team Rising discusses Republican plans for raising the minimum wage.
Biden’s Sleepy Start EXPOSED. NO Checks, NO Minimum Wage, NO Infrastructure
Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti discuss Biden’s failures in the first month of his presidency.
DEBATE! Walter Block vs. Ben Burgis on Libertarianism
This debate was a reminder of why I prefer elite theory and institutional/behavioral economics rather than Marxism or Austrianism.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Our Boring Billionaires
By Micah Meadowcroft, The American Conservative When a Washington Post reporter came digitally knocking looking for comment at Tesla CEO and sometimes-world’s-richest-man Elon Musk’s door, he did the only right thing you can. He blew them off. There are exceptions, of course, and I hope you would consider […]
Texas And The Siren Song Of Low Taxes, Cheap Goods
This segment is a perfect illustration of the unfortunate nature of mainstream discourse concerning economics, where the arguments are framed as pitting plutocratic apologists vs statist regulators and bureaucrats, i.e. the nobles vs the monarchs. And, unfortunately, the few people who understand this usually double as “culture war” […]
Anti-globalization: The Global Fight for Local Autonomy
By Amory Starr and Jason Adams Abstract This paper examines one of the less-discussed modes of anti-globalization, relocalization, or local autonomy. It describes a range of autonomous movements, summarizes their political-economic ideas, and discusses some common social critiques raised in regard to local autonomy. Apologists for the costly […]
DEBATE! Socialism Vs. Libertarianism With Keith Knight
Libertarian YouTuber Keith Knight (https://twitter.com/an_capitalist) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ew…) hosts Ben Burgis for a discussion on the merits of democratic socialism versus the merits of libertarianism.
Coca-Cola accused of telling employees to ‘be LESS WHITE’ in training course by critical race theory peddler DiAngelo
Is it not obvious that this is merely the latest ruling class tool with which to stir up resentment against minorities and/or incite minorities against whites, while encouraging all to ignore the system that is their common enemy? Russia Today Coca-Cola is facing a major backlash for allegedly […]
Is class solidarity possible in a heterogeneous society?
Our general conclusion was no. Todd Lewis is joined by Keith Preston, Logos, and Terminal Philosophy.
Fred Hampton & the Young Patriots
Ben Burgis is joined by podcast host and writer Jason Myles along with producer Forrest Miller in the segment, as they screen a small portion of a film from the Chicago Film Archives showing discussion between members of the Young Patriots group in the mid 1960s along with […]
What Went Wrong In American Labor Movements?
Program Director of Labor Studies at SUNY Empire State College, writer, and author Shaun Richman; Nathan J. Robinson, editor in chief of “Current Affairs”; and producer Forrest Miller join Ben Burgis to begin with a discussion of Nathan’s recent WILDLY UNJUST labor experience (see here: https://youtu.be/J1glhcneBbg) followed by […]
Shaping Jamaica’s economic independence: The role of SEZs
By Ainsley Brown, The Gleaner Economic independence is a stated policy objective of the Government of Jamaica, as it should be. Which well-thinking Jamaican doesn’t want the personal and national freedom and capacity to shape one’s own socio-economic fortunes? But what exactly is economic independence? Let’s first cover […]
WallStreetBets Roaring Kitty DRAGGED Before Congress, Sued For Stock Surge
Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti react to reports that Reddit’s Roaring Kitty is being sued for securities fraud.
The CONSERVATIVE case for 15 dollar minimum wage
I generally have a more favorable view of the UBI as a happy medium as opposed to minimum wage escalation. The latter will be weaponized by large businesses against small businesses, and cause unemployment for the most unskilled workers. My objective is to defend the interests of the […]
Police Guard Dumpster Of Food, Protecting Profits Over People
Fuck the police. Years ago, I used to manage a convenience that was part of a large chain, and I used to give the throwaway food to the homeless junkies and runaway kids living in the neighborhood, which was very much against company policy. Krystal Ball breaks down […]
Unemployed Americans Smuggle Drugs To Survive Covid Economy
Agorism and counter-economics in action. Konkin would be proud.
A Critique of Progressive Proposals for “Economic Reform”
The Nina Turner meme below summarizes what contemporary “progressives” typically favor when it comes to economic reform. These kinds of ideas are going to be increasingly pervasive and, likely, popular in the future for two reasons: 1) widening class divisions and growing poverty; 2) the rising cultural hegemony […]
Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools
This is a pretty interesting bio documentary on Williams. On the major social and political issues of our time, Walter Williams is one of America’s most important and provocative thinkers. He is black, yet he opposes affirmative action. He believes that the Civil Rights Act was a major […]
The worst-governed state now turns to indoctrination
How exactly is this any different from religious indoctrination in parochial schools or Communist indoctrination in former Soviet schools? By George F. Will, Washington Post The worst-governed state — Illinois had triple the population loss of the state with the second-highest out-migration between 2010 and 2020 — is […]
Class Reductionism: Ben Burgis Vs. Vaush
Ben Burgis debates controversial YouTuber Vaush (https://twitter.com/VaushV) about class reductionism. Vaush is a proponent of libertarian socialism, 2nd Amendment rights, LGBTQ rights, violent revolution, online debate, and a range of other things.
No Privacy, No Property: The World in 2030 According to the WEF
By Anthony P. Mueller, Mises Institute The World Economic Forum (WEF) was founded fifty years ago. It has gained more and more prominence over the decades and has become one of the leading platforms of futuristic thinking and planning. As a meeting place of the global elite, the […]
Are Democrats Better for the Economy?
No, but they’re not “worse,” either. That’s what David Leonhardt claims in a recent New York Times article. Gene Epstein joins me to dismantle this comic-book story. Listen here.
America 2021: “Woke Capitalism” and Its Enemies
By Keith Preston Between the time that Donald Trump entered the Republican primaries in 2015 to the moment of the January 6, 2021 supposed “coup attempt,” the specter of “fascism” has been raised by critics of Trumpism. Analogies to the failed Weimar liberal-capitalist regime of the pre-Nazi era […]
The Illusion of Escapism in “Araby”
By Ally Marie McLean Araby” by James Joyce explores the feelings associated with the pursuit of illusory escapism from a life of drudgery. The protagonist, an unnamed Dublin schoolboy at the turn of the century, takes little pleasure from his daily life. He finds a distraction from the […]
Idaho House Votes to Encourage Holding Physical Gold and Silver to Protect State Reserves
By J.P. Cortez Boise, Idaho (February 11, 2021) — The Idaho State House today overwhelmingly approved a bill which enables the State Treasurer to protect state reserve funds from inflation and financial risk by holding physical gold and silver. State representatives voted 51-19 to pass House Bill 7, […]
Was ECONOMIC ANXIETY A Factor In Capitol Riots? New Study Says Yes.
In the summer of 2020, the urban lumpenproletariat struck. Then, in January 2021, the rural/suburban lumpenproletariat and sinking middle struck. Krystal Ball analyzes the ongoing debate between racism and economic anxiety.
Artificial General Intelligence and Creative Economy
By Konstantinos I Kotis Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a way of making software think intelligently, in a similar way the intelligent humans think. AI attempts not just to understand an intelligent entity, and the way it perceives understands, predicts, and manipulates a world far larger and more complicated […]
Thought capitalism couldn’t get worse? Meet the workplace ‘spiritual consultants’
As if the fusion of capitalism and wokeness wasn’t bad enough, now corporations are becoming actual cults. By Jessa Crispin, The Guardian Do you feel lost? Like your life has been drained of meaning or purpose? During your work day, do you wander from task to task in […]
Dystopian Cyber Cities Run By CORPORATIONS Coming Soon
There are positives and negatives associated with this. On one hand, this is kind of like a revival of company towns. On the other hand, they help fuel startup societies.
A majority of the people arrested for Capitol riot had a history of financial trouble
Over ten years ago, I predicted the sinking middle class would be part of the basis of future insurgent movements. I generally got the socioeconomic and demographic factors right, although the political realignment along system/anti-system lines I was hoping for never happened. Instead, the Red and Blue Tribes […]
DEBUNKING Corporate Myths About $15 Minimum Wage
Another regrettable discussion of “economic reform” that ignores the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of laws and policies that collectively have the effect of distributing wealth upward and creating the ruling class.
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