Sublime
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It is a foundational assumption of our economic system that humans are at base somewhat nasty and selfish creatures, basing their decisions on cynical, egoistic calculation rather than altruism or co-operation; in which case, the best we can hope for are more sophisticated internal and external controls on our supposedly innate drive towards accumu
... See moreDavid Graeber • The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
Foucault is the most explicit about the ever-present danger of oppressive systems: My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do. So, my position leads not to apathy but to a hyper-and pessimistic activism. I think that
... See moreHelen Pluckrose • Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody
acknowledging the Citizen in ourselves is often easier said than done. It bucks the prevailing wisdom that would have us believe that humans are lazy, greedy, self-centred, and apathetic; that we can’t be trusted to do anything but mess things up further. It risks being judged naïve or unrealistic. And once embraced, the Citizen also mandates that
... See moreJon Alexander • Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us
“the thick mesh of social interactions and public goods has been reduced to a minimum, with nothing except authority and obedience binding the citizens to the state.”
Ethan Zuckerman • Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them
by the use of force but by people honouring their moral commitments, their voluntary undertaking to God that what He commanded, they would do.
Jonathan Sacks • Studies in Spirituality (Covenant & Conversation Book 9)
every.to • Twitter as a City-State
Only if my freedom respects yours can we create a non-tragic human world.
Jonathan Sacks • To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
in a last cynical surrender to the logic of corporatism, we assume the posture and behaviors of corporations in the hope of restoring our lost agency and security. But the vehicles to which we gain access in this way are always just retail facsimiles of the real ones. Instead of becoming true landowners we become mortgage holders. Instead of guidin
... See moreDouglas Rushkoff • Life Inc.
cold-blooded need for control.