To be mesmerized is to be fascinated, obsessed, and so attentive to something that you appear to be under a spell. Of the words in the English language, “mesmerized” has a relatively recent origin. In fact, it was produced s a result of a fascinating (mesmerizing?) type of pseudoscience that was popular in the 18th …
Continue reading “Mesmerism: the Man, the Word, the Pseudoscience”
Last week we discussed how the Black Death in Europe changed the balance of power in the feudal society. As this long-running system crumbled, the merchant class began to accumulate greater and greater wealth and power. It was this increase in merchant power that led to the push to discover new trading routes in order …
Continue reading “Rise of the Modern World System: Part III”
Last week we introduced World Systems Theory, which characterizes our modern world as a collection of core (highly developed) countries that exploit semiperipheral (medium development) and peripheral (developing) countries. See my previous post for more details about this system. This week we begin the story of how such a system came about. Our story begins …
We live in a world that is economically interconnected on every level. When you buy a your morning cup of coffee or buy a new shirt online, chances are that the materials used to produce that finished product came from geographic regions in many different parts of the world. Depending on your community or country’s …
Sometimes you will hear the United States described as a “center-right” nation. At other times, you may come across the notion that the country is best described as “in the center,” meaning ideologically in between the two major political parties. The labels of “center” and “center-right,” however, are entirely inaccurate in describing the American populace. …
Continue reading “The Myth of the Center and the Center-Right: Analyzing a Few Political Labels”
Just a brief note about a cool story from a warm state (although it wasn’t too warm a few weeks ago when there were iguanas falling from the trees: https://time.com/5091036/frozen-iguanas-florida/ ). If you grew up in the 2000s, as I did, then you may have read the book “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen for school. Essentially, …
Whenever a bold vision to update our crumbling infrastructure or break free from our disastrous reliance on fossil fuels is proposed, there is always pessimism expressed by the majority of politicians about the feasibility of such a plan. The first question, of course, is “how would we pay for it,” a question that is never …
Continue reading “The Interstate Highway System: History of a Grand Infrastructure Project”
When considering humanity’s effects on our planet, it always seems like there is a serious impact coming from a relatively unexpected sector. One human activity that is an unexpectedly high source of greenhouse gas emissions is the production of concrete. Cement is the main ingredient in concrete, and its manufacturing process produces a substantial amount …
Continue reading “Concrete from Algae: A Greener Foundation”
In the realm of business and economics, it is easy to get lost in the numerous terms used to describe firms of various types. This blog examines a particular type of company, the worker-owned cooperative, explains what such an organization looks like, and shows why we need them now more than ever. In order to …
Social movements of all kinds start out with the best of intentions. Their founding members have bold, transformative visions for society, and call for radical change on multiple fronts. Too often, however, these social movements become absorbed into the dominant economic, political, and social system. This integration of social movements into mainstream, “acceptable” society is …
Continue reading “What is Cooptation (of Social Movements)?”
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