Politics is one of the only practical disciplines where none of the main concepts have clear, coherent definitions. We define ourselves with terms like "left” and "right" and we believe in things like "democracy," “markets,” "capitalism" and "socialism" even though we don’t really know what any of these words actually mean. This series aims to make sense out of the political muddle that we've inherited from media, academia, and from decades of cold war propaganda, so that we can figure what it…
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Why did social liberalism become widespread again, after thousands of years of socially conservative tribes, monarchies and empires? How did democratic states re-emerge after thousands of years of the state being primarily a tool to help ruling classes steal grain... Continue Reading →
This segment outlines the role that bargaining power plays in: 1. how social classes and economic hierarchy emerged around the world in cultures that initially had tribes made up of equal families 2. how authoritarian kings and emperors emerged, where... Continue Reading →
How did human societies go from socially liberal, gender equal band societies to male dominated, gerontocratic, socially conservative tribal societies? Why did some societies maintain gender equality despite adopting gerontocracy and tribalism? Part 2 of a 4 part series tracking... Continue Reading →
Can we stop our civilization from collapsing into more and more inequality and less and less democracy? Are our only choices to be ruled by an owner class of infantile, out of touch zillionaire lunatics, or else an intellectual class... Continue Reading →
Why was Noam Chomsky – scourge of the american elite – BFFs with Jeffrey Epstein, the personification of the worst aspects of that elite? Why was Chomsky giving Epstein advice on how to deal with attacks against him in... Continue Reading →
As inequality gets worse and worse, hostility for elites is at all time highs, and huge majorities of voters want higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy to pay for social programs, all the conditions are perfect for the left to be... Continue Reading →
Today, free markets are championed as the foundation of capitalism, while socialists argue that free markets cause growing inequality and exploitation of the working classes, and thus need to be constrained by the state, or else abolished entirely. But in... Continue Reading →
In this episode we outline: How to build enough affordable housing for everyone using an existing housing model that’s proven to work. How to pay for it. How to convert existing market rate housing into affordable housing. How we can... Continue Reading →
In this chapter of Secret History of Israel/Palestine, we look how the small urban elite stole much of region’s land from it’s rightful peasant owners, turning them from an independent tribal peasantry, into a class of impoverished, indebted tenants on... Continue Reading →
Who were the people of Palestine and what were their lives about in the late 19th century, before the first Zionists began arriving from Europe in the 1880s? This episode focuses on the fellahin – the peasants of Palestine... Continue Reading →
