Notices by Patrick Gillam (patrickgillam@mastodon.online)

Funny how I was news-obsessed as the train was heading toward the cliff, but now that it’s gone over, I have to look away.

#news #disaster

@aral

This raises a question I would like to ask a medievalist: Do lords tolerate kings because the nobility needs a monarchy? It’s as if they recognize the need for an umpire or something.

Related: The Founding Fathers were as lords in their way, and created a government they could dominate. (I’m thinking of the Senate in particular.) Many of today’s lords, the billionaires, treat government as a beneficent king, dispensing favors and overlooking the lord’s crimes.

@aral

Would the situation be the same if we were talking about mere liberalism, sans the “neo”?

I asked this question before reading the trenchant posts above that address various sides of the liberalism-versus-neoliberalism distinction, but the question still holds. Thanks, all.

@abolisyonista

If “degrowth” means “sustainable,” can we find a better word? Like “defund” (the police), it misleads.

Capitalism—and economies in general—have two paths: the extractive, exploitative path and the sustainable, mutually beneficial path. One is obviously better.

Regardless, I appreciate the original post. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re living in 1914 Europe, and the powers that be are not resisting the forces that are going to destroy them.