Joshua Greene’s Moral Tribes — Emotion, Reason, and the Gap between Us and Them is a mixture of political philosophy, evolutionary psychology, and ethics. The cool thing is that Greene is a clear thinker and superb writer, so the book is accessible to the educated layperson. The central question of the book is: In a […]
Philosophy
The Anti-Wisdom of Eckhart Tolle
Many spiritual teachers and pundits say things similar to what Eckhart Tolle said: “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but [always] your thoughts about it.” In other words, suffering comes from yourself, not from your perceived enemies. While it’s true that much suffering is self-made, it’s a gross and perverse exaggeration to […]
Scott Crow is in Olympia for a few days
Activist, anarchist, writer, organizer – Scott Crow – is going to be in Olympia for a few speaking engagements over the next few days. He will be at South Puget Sound Community College on Oct 25th at noon, Room 102, Building 26 Then he will be at Last Word Books on Friday, Oct 26th at […]
Chomsky on Anarchism
For folks with an open mind who want to know more about anarchism: Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Marxism & Hope for the Future Noam Chomsky is widely known for his critique of U.S foreign policy, and for his work as a linguist. Less well known is his ongoing support for libertarian socialist objectives. […]
Open Societies versus Closed Societies
Let’s assume that a person really wanted to understand a foreign philosophy, a different way of setting up a society. If that was the case, I would recommend listening to Suzanne Guerlac talk about the philosophy of Henri Bergson. This is a dense program, but Suzanne is articulate and the interviewer asks probing intelligent questions, […]
Austin's Picks: Is Class Struggle Anarchism
Austin K sent this link along in an email this morning. It’s a couple of years old, but it’s still worth sharing and reading. The links go to interesting websites if you have an open mind about politics, which is to say, that you can imagine political positions that are broader than the republican and […]
Austin's Picks: Autonomy Alliance
“It’s a scary time to be involved with radical class struggle. But was it ever any other way?” Austin Kelly suggests you scan this one from LibCom.org: An interview conducted with two members of St Louis libertarian group, Autonomy Alliance. While in St. Louis, I was lucky enough to stay with […]
The State is a Condition
“The State is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of behaviour; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently toward one another…” Gustav Landauer Have to pack and set up the Really Really Free Market in Olympia. Contracting other relationships, behaving differently toward one another? Can we really destroy […]
Why I Don't Trust "Isms": Chris Hedges Versus The Black Bloc
Originally published by CounterPunch – Editor Jeffery St Clair http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/07/hedges-vs-the-black-bloc-round-two/ by MARK TAYLOR-CANFIELD A recent article by Chris Hedges is once again causing heated arguments among activists in the Occupy Wall Street movement. “Black Bloc: The Cancer in Occupy,” was published in his syndicated Truthdig.com column back in February, but folks are now talking about […]