This story about national infrastructure should be salutary. Anything fiddly and hard to deal with has been slid off the shoulders of the private sector back onto the "common-wealth". The "state" has no interest in anyone but the biggest profit-takers.
Tag: politics
A Failing State
Britain is, I believe, a failing state among floundering nations. As the "state" withdraws from sectors of activity it becomes just another firm among many: a big gang, yes, but having no more validity and diminishing loyalty.
We are all buried in Gaza
A reply to should an agency cleaner in the basement by Steve Pottinger https://youtu.be/MrWfdTqSRVc?si=43LveP2Q2iJs9gn3 The poem asserts, in its call for peace, that if a "Prime Minister" or a "Diplomat", or a "presidents mistress" [sic] were buried in Gaza rubble there would be serious work done to make a ceasefire work. The thing is, there … Continue reading We are all buried in Gaza
For a new left?
An idea central to my "political philosophy" these days is that Marxism and neoliberalism, while considered antitheses, each grows from European Enlightenment thinking where hierarchy and teleology are both values and organising principles (principles encode values). Each strives to "better" the world through arranging things in orders and directions. "Growth" in wealth is a common … Continue reading For a new left?
Privatisation
Privatisation, the political economic theme of the '80s and '90s, is often discussed in industrial terms. Coal, steel, automobiles, communications, water, and so on. But, I don't hear the term applied to housing. There was a "sell-off" of public housing, but it wasn't spoken of in terms like the sale of our national housing industry. … Continue reading Privatisation
The war machine’s greed
George Monbiot was speaking over Al's shoulder, of the vandals who are wrecking the earth, and spoke of the energy industries, water and other extractive activities. But I didn't hear him name the "war machine", the defense and security industry, the military-industrial complex or the fin-tech infosys sustaining it all. When the masses are happy … Continue reading The war machine’s greed
Economic productivity
I have been thinking about "economic productivity". Since retiring (at 67), on a personal level and now on a socio-economic level. It is all over the news. "We must get Britain back to work..." But why? It appears that "economic productivity" has come to mean: working to enrich... who? The already wealthy? If that is … Continue reading Economic productivity
Making money off the misery of others
Among the things I got from my father is a phrase he used to guide the way he engaged with the world. You don't make money off the misery of others. This was usually applied by him to to the provision and practice of socialised medicine. But, it extended beyond the health of individuals with a … Continue reading Making money off the misery of others
Reflection in action: professional development study visits
How close to the moment can you get? "Be here now," urges 1960s psychologist Richard Alpert. A mythical Google aspires to a perfect concurrent rendering of this reality: in real-time, in software. How much rewinding can we do before anyone notices the pause for thought? Reflection in action often has the effect of: "Oops! Don't … Continue reading Reflection in action: professional development study visits
Usurpation: the condition of the university?
Usurpation might better be seen as the condition of the university than as a problem for any particular aspect of that complex phenomenon: higher education today. Taking Subramaniam, Perrucci, & Whitlock's (2014) theoretical framework of social and intellectual closure we might see usurpation as - in parts and in places - an ameliorating response to … Continue reading Usurpation: the condition of the university?
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