6 ms·

where can we read the other side talking about the future? i cant remember how long since reading a future-looking piece from a leftist intellectual

brakmic 6y ago
It has no time for talking and/or writing long texts, because it's fighting for survival in a world designed by neoliberals.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  and, apparently, a persecution complex. To be fair, when education and information become more universal it may really be that old obsolete conservative precepts are 'under attack', in that, they don't work very well any more. Not trying to be mean; just to rationalize why the theme of being 'under attack' is pervasive.
  - brakmic 6y ago
    And of course, any criticizm of neoliberalism is declared irrational. It's never accepted as being grounded on evidence. Pure neoliberal newspeak: "the problem is you" The ideology of self-optimization.
    - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
      Criticizing education, advances in theory and social science, are indeed irrational. Wishing that the world of 7B people could be the same as a 50-year-gone world of 2B is not the same as 'evidence-based criticism'. Lots of folks say lots of things. Not defending rabid idealists of any stripe. But there is a better way to operate and work, than an old one based on a situation long gone. There sure better be, because things really sucked 50 years ago in lots of ways.
      - brakmic 6y ago
        I can't remember ever written to go back in time. Again, typical neoliberal newspeak. Either you are irrational or reactionary. And your glorified advances in theory and science were...mostly financed with public money. Just look at your smartphone. Try to find something that wasn't financed by the state (in this case the USA, that is, their taxpayers). And I don't mean the design but the most important parts: LCD, Touchscreen, the operating system (Unix came from...where?...Bell Labs), and all the many sensors. Another neoliberal illusion is the "visionary entrepreneur".
        JoeAltmaier 6y ago
        Sorry, was talking about my digression - the persecution complex. Which is real and very evident. And must have a reason (beyond everyone being irrational or reactionary). Sure public money is tangentially involved in everything sciencey, because private industry has a terrible time financing science. But one reason the public finances science, is so industry can grow and thrive and remain competitive. Imagine the other approach: the government 'owns' every innovation and controls industry. Not a pretty situation. Btw Bell Labs, not strictly funded by the public. And no phone runs on Unix today. Never mind 'linux' is spelled sort of the same, they are different animals.
        brakmic 6y ago
        Bell Labs was highly regulated, a state-owned monopoly. You can read more about it in "UNIX: A History and a Memoir" from Brian Kernighan. And of course would Linus Thorvalds have created Linux without having known anything about Unix. LOL. Regarding "innovation" in the industry: it's just another neoliberal fairy tale. An industry that doesn't risk their money in funding research (especially basic research) is neither an industry nor innovative. We need another term for (yet another) neoliberal illusion.
        scottlocklin 6y ago
        > Bell Labs was highly regulated, a state-owned monopoly. I basically agree with what you're saying about neoliberalism, but Bell Labs was never a state owned monopoly, nor was it ever run like one.
brakmic 6y ago
One of the neoliberal illusions many believe in, is that their opponents are leftists.
- dundarious 6y ago
  I think this thread is, in general, engaging in a bit too much name-calling and snark, but I think your point is important. Maybe a little under-developed, but certainly not worth flagging.
- scottlocklin 6y ago
  +1 to this comment; and raspberries at the boob who flagged it. The greatest opponents to neoliberalism are generally considered pretty right wing: Orban, Putin, Brexit, religious groups and tendencies, and lately "incels" and nativist "radical right wing" groupings. That's why they're so consistently demonized by all of neoliberalism's propaganda outlets. Soft socialism and cultural leftism, by contrast, is generally supported by neoliberal power centers like large corporations and your HR department. There are certainly leftists who oppose neoliberalism as well, but the borg cube is better optimized to absorb them. Remember Occupy Wall Street? I miss those guys.

brakmic 6y ago

It has no time for talking and/or writing long texts, because it's fighting for survival in a world designed by neoliberals.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
and, apparently, a persecution complex. To be fair, when education and information become more universal it may really be that old obsolete conservative precepts are 'under attack', in that, they don't work very well any more. Not trying to be mean; just to rationalize why the theme of being 'under attack' is pervasive.
- brakmic 6y ago
  And of course, any criticizm of neoliberalism is declared irrational. It's never accepted as being grounded on evidence. Pure neoliberal newspeak: "the problem is you" The ideology of self-optimization.
  - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
    Criticizing education, advances in theory and social science, are indeed irrational. Wishing that the world of 7B people could be the same as a 50-year-gone world of 2B is not the same as 'evidence-based criticism'. Lots of folks say lots of things. Not defending rabid idealists of any stripe. But there is a better way to operate and work, than an old one based on a situation long gone. There sure better be, because things really sucked 50 years ago in lots of ways.
    - brakmic 6y ago
      I can't remember ever written to go back in time. Again, typical neoliberal newspeak. Either you are irrational or reactionary. And your glorified advances in theory and science were...mostly financed with public money. Just look at your smartphone. Try to find something that wasn't financed by the state (in this case the USA, that is, their taxpayers). And I don't mean the design but the most important parts: LCD, Touchscreen, the operating system (Unix came from...where?...Bell Labs), and all the many sensors. Another neoliberal illusion is the "visionary entrepreneur".
      - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
        Sorry, was talking about my digression - the persecution complex. Which is real and very evident. And must have a reason (beyond everyone being irrational or reactionary). Sure public money is tangentially involved in everything sciencey, because private industry has a terrible time financing science. But one reason the public finances science, is so industry can grow and thrive and remain competitive. Imagine the other approach: the government 'owns' every innovation and controls industry. Not a pretty situation. Btw Bell Labs, not strictly funded by the public. And no phone runs on Unix today. Never mind 'linux' is spelled sort of the same, they are different animals.
        brakmic 6y ago
        Bell Labs was highly regulated, a state-owned monopoly. You can read more about it in "UNIX: A History and a Memoir" from Brian Kernighan. And of course would Linus Thorvalds have created Linux without having known anything about Unix. LOL. Regarding "innovation" in the industry: it's just another neoliberal fairy tale. An industry that doesn't risk their money in funding research (especially basic research) is neither an industry nor innovative. We need another term for (yet another) neoliberal illusion.
        scottlocklin 6y ago
        > Bell Labs was highly regulated, a state-owned monopoly. I basically agree with what you're saying about neoliberalism, but Bell Labs was never a state owned monopoly, nor was it ever run like one.

brakmic 6y ago

One of the neoliberal illusions many believe in, is that their opponents are leftists.

dundarious 6y ago
I think this thread is, in general, engaging in a bit too much name-calling and snark, but I think your point is important. Maybe a little under-developed, but certainly not worth flagging.
scottlocklin 6y ago
+1 to this comment; and raspberries at the boob who flagged it. The greatest opponents to neoliberalism are generally considered pretty right wing: Orban, Putin, Brexit, religious groups and tendencies, and lately "incels" and nativist "radical right wing" groupings. That's why they're so consistently demonized by all of neoliberalism's propaganda outlets. Soft socialism and cultural leftism, by contrast, is generally supported by neoliberal power centers like large corporations and your HR department. There are certainly leftists who oppose neoliberalism as well, but the borg cube is better optimized to absorb them. Remember Occupy Wall Street? I miss those guys.