[P]rimitive accumulation plays in Political Economy about the same part as original sin in theology. Adam bit the apple, and thereupon sin fell on the human race. Its origin is supposed to be explained when it is told as an anecdote of the past. In times long gone by there were two sorts of people; one, the diligent, intelligent, and, above all, frugal elite; the other, lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living. The legend of theological original sin tells us certainly how man came to be condemned to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow; but the history of economic original sin reveals to us that there are people to whom this is by no means essential. Never mind! Thus it came to pass that the former sort accumulated wealth, and the latter sort had at last nothing to sell except their own skins. And from this original sin dates the poverty of the great majority that, despite all its labour, has up to now nothing to sell but itself, and the wealth of the few that increases constantly although they have long ceased to work. Such insipid childishness is every day preached to us in the defence of property.
Cool stuff. Right now the early evolution of galaxies right after the Big Bang is a big question mark. The James Webb space telescope has found enough galaxies that are “too” old according to our current models (and assumptions). PBS Spacetime had a very good episode about this 3 weeks ago. Hopefully these simulations help the astronomers develop the galaxy formation models.
I agree with you. It’s still important to demonstrate to working class how billionaires really think of themselves and of society.
Where I live, I see graffiti every day that says “TⒶX THE RICH” complete with the anarchist A. That’s the level of thought among the most “radical” here. Gives me a laugh every time.
In the US especially, there is no direct line from tax revenue to national public spending. The purpose of taxation is to reclaim some of the dollars out of the economy; the national government can print money or take on unlimited debt, as needed, if they want to fund their budget. Taxation is essentially a monetary policy used to manage inflation etc.
At state and local levels, like Mamdani’s NYC which Bezos was talking about, taxation is what funds public programs. Tax revenue that Bezos pays to NYC does actually pay for the schools in NYC. I agree with you that this isn’t the entire solution, from a Marxist angle, but Marxism is also about class struggle. This is part of the class struggle just as much as the struggle for better wages or a shorter working day.
Discussed in a post from yesterday and also in the news mega. Appears more unofficial, but does originate from the Supreme People’s Court, so that bodes well for where things are headed.
If the book isn’t indexed into a table of contents, yeah it can be annoying. Will never beat the power of a proper computer with a keyboard and fast display. Though, I did manage to install emacs on my ereader (and keyboard) which was kinda funny to use, but too laggy to be practical.
High refresh rate combined with low input latency is still a cutting-edge (read: expensive) feature, but I hope economy of scale will change this a bit each year. All the brands are building from the same components pumped out of China; there are other brands like Boox that are a bit cheaper and applying a downward pressure on brands like Remarkable. I own a Supernote, which was a big investment for me, but I was happy with the modular design (including easily replaceable battery) which in theory means I can spread the cost over many years, replacing parts as they wear.
I hope that these devices become cheaper and cheaper. Keep an eye out also for refurbished and open-box sales
A Hallmark store could sell the same America 1776–2026 card in both the Condolences section and the Congratulations section. I can picture the Simpsons and/or Family Guy scene.
There was a stir in Finland’s capital city yesterday during the early morning hours. Fighter jets were scrambled and public transportation was halted due to errant drones approaching the Finnish airspace: Al Jazeera
Now the politicians are talking about the need to improve early-warning capabilities, which tbh might be needed because the information was initially communicated only through news and social media.
It’s sounding like these drones were indeed armed with explosives, and that they came from Ukraine. It is deeply ironic to watch the politicians explain that this danger came from Ukraine after years of full-throated fearmongering about the Russian threat. Are the Baltics ready for years of instability from their south rather than their east?
I haven’t followed the situation outside of Finland, but the article mentions about Latvia:
The situation has led to a full-blown government crisis in Latvia. Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned on Thursday after a coalition partner pulled support.
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