The Manifesto

Another reminder, were it needed, that so called ‘philanthrocapitalism’ is not the solution, but exacerbates the problem.  Bill & Melinda ‘helping’ Africa by getting into bed with Monsanto, a truly shameful relationship.  http://tinyurl.com/3ahcxw4

An excellent talk given by Suren Pillay on the xenophobic violence in South Africa, and how we liberals react.  It’s a longish piece but thoroughly worth the read, and asks a few strikingly important questions about the failure of human rights discourse and NGO approaches.  From the talk:  ”The violence towards foreign nationals has become [...]

Athol Fugard, one of the great South African playwrights of the last fifty years, on the failure of contemporary writers to engage with politics and injustice.  http://tinyurl.com/2wgjlo4

Tragically witty summary of the mindset of our illustrious former president.  Sorry, prime minister.  http://tinyurl.com/354tkk5

Interesting article on the recently swooned-over ‘Giving Pledge’, in which a number of the world’s richest individual’s and families have committed significant funds to philanthropic ends.  Lorenzo Fioramonti asks some pertinent questions.  http://tinyurl.com/3xayamo

If I get another recommendation on Facebook to ‘click here to tell David Cameron that climate change needs to be stopped’ I will eat my spinning wheel of death.  Great article on the failure of ‘clicktivism’ from Adbusters.  http://tinyurl.com/28l5exo

Billy Bob Neck is confusing a lot of Americans right now – brilliant stand-up sending up right-wing US thinking, but lots of people haven’t realised it’s satire.  Which is hilarious, unbelievable, and worrying.  http://tinyurl.com/2w8z2sq

Zizek, rarely boring, offers an intriguing take on St Paul.  ”This is the kind of God an authentic left needs: a God who wholly “became man” – a comrade among us, crucified together with two social outcasts – and who not only “doesn’t exist” but also himself knows this, accepting his erasure, entirely passing over [...]

Most discussions of capitalism end up somewhere like this: “Yes, it’s flawed, but it’s all we have – socialism didn’t work.”  Part of what this blog is about is engaging with this very question – in this article Chomsky shines a light on South America, where significant changes are already underway.  http://tinyurl.com/2dlj6ey

This article first appeared in the Rolling Stone a couple of years ago, but is still vital reading – a brilliant expose on how financial markets have helped orchestrate, and made good from, the recent (and previous) crises.  Nothing of how the world works can be adequately understood without grasping the nettle of financial markets, [...]