I have long argued that U.S. decline as a hegemonic power began circa 1970 and that a slow decline became a precipitate one during the presidency of George W. Bush. I first started writing about this in 1980 or so. At that time the reaction to this argument, from all political camps, was to reject it as absurd. In the 1990s, quite to the contrary, it was widely believed, again on all sides of the political ...

The overthrow of all intellectual property leaves unanswered the question of how to control the exploitation of the cultural commons by digital capitalists. ...

Geert Wilders is een ‘opperjodenknecht’. Nee, hij is ‘een groot man, met meer ballen dan ons allemaal bij elkaar’. Welkom op het extreem-rechtse internetforum Stormfront. ‘White Pride World Wide’ staat in de linkerbovenhoek. Al jaren woedt hier een felle discussie over de ware aard van Geert Wilders. ‘Gematigde’ stemmen juichen diens politieke successen toe. Maar neonazi’s serveren Wilders af als ‘landverra ...

Worried by the current crisis affecting the Eurozone and many other parts of the world, we also sometimes feel disempowered by our lack of deeper understanding of the mechanisms that have triggered such devastating developments. Some time back, Allegra started to explore the financial world (here),  the current transformations of Universities (here and here) as well as the power and failures of bureaucracie ...

I have just attended the 10th annual Historical Materialism conference in London where I presented a paper (among hundreds of others) and heard the contributions of many others.  But more on that in my next post. ...

The young men and women milling around the halls of the occupied Sofia University know exactly who they seek to emulate. Under the heading “1968”, a banner painted in the bold red and green of the Bulgarian flag unfurls from a second floor window. “Now it’s our time,” the sign declares. ...

Germany, US and UK among the biggest tax heavens in the world. UK: New index reveals UK runs biggest part of global secrecy network This new edition of the Financial Secrecy Index shows that the United Kingdom is the most important global player in the financial secrecy world. While the UK itself ranks only in 21st place, it supports and partly controls a web of secrecy jurisdictions around the world, from ...

The real reasons behind the ERT shutdown, the 300 million the state lost, and who benefits from it. By Apostolis Fotiadis The eviction of the remaining staff from former public television’s (ERT) building last night in Athens was a bitter showdown of an unequal brinkmanship. The picture of handcuffs used as a padlock at building’s gate has already become one of historical value. It is a picture from the fut ...

Organise! magazine looks at the life and work of the great thinker and writer, Albert Camus, and his close relationship with the French and Spanish anarchist movements.   Born in French Algeria into a poor family in 1913, Camus lost his father in the Battle of the Marne in 1916. He was raised by his mother, who worked as a charlady and was illiterate. Winning a scholarship, Camus eventually began a car ...

When asked what Winston Churchill did to help win the Second World War, Labour Party leader Clement Attlee, replied: "He talked about it." The potential words have to inspire people and drive events should not be underestimated but their ability to do harm should not be taken too lightly either. The words we choose can just as easily cultivate division as they can create unity. It is truly regrettable that ...