Periscope articles and content
The German philosopher Ernst Bloch in his massive tome The Spirit of Utopia, devoted an entire section to what he called ” Little Daydreams”. Overflowing each page are mystical and impressionistic descriptions of phenomena like wishful thinking, social utopias, … Continue reading “Dreamworlds of Debt”
Two thirds of American College graduates graduate in debt. Traditionally, student debt, like a home mortgage, was thought of as “good” debt, a wise investment in the future. The current financial crisis has disrupted that common sense, and … Continue reading “The Banking Model of Education”
Why are we in debt? And, why do we believe we are in debt? It is not a question of whether we are in debt: we are. In recent years, from Turkey to the United Kingdom, credit card debt … Continue reading “The Fetishism of Debt”
It’s important to begin with a reminder of the reasons everybody is talking about debt these days. The threat of “debt crisis” hangs over the world economy. The United States “has been living beyond its means,” Greece “cannot pay its … Continue reading “Debt Dossier”
I feel I am at a bit of a disadvantage since Richard Dienst has said much of what I would wish to say, and much of it, at least slightly better. I agree strongly with his assessment. What these … Continue reading “Comments on the Debt Dossier”
Introduction by Ashley Dawson:In 1970, an adviser to California Governor Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign commented on the state of public education: “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we … Continue reading “Andrew Ross speaks to Occupy Wall Street on Student Debt”
Michael Truscello’s new documentary, Capitalism Is The Crisis: Radical Politics in the Age of Austerity, which is excerpted above, can be viewed in its entirety here. It features commentary by Chris Hedges, Michael Hardt, and many more.
My student debt for a MFA from Bard College is currently $58,412.10. My attempt is to use the internet to get 100,000 people to mail the Sallie Mae corporation (who administers my loans), a check for 58 cents. And that by doing this, the collective activity of these small gestures will not only relieve my debt, but will overwhelm and flood their P.O. box in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Aaron Burr Society is dedicated to exposing the myths of Free Markets and Free Trade with absurdist, conceptual artwork operating in the public sphere.
Jody Zellen is a Los Angeles based artist who works in many media simultaneously making interactive installations, net art, drawings, photographs, public art, as well as artists’ books that explore the urban environment and its representation. She employs media-generated … Continue reading “The Unemployed”
A year and several months ago, I returned to New York from the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. While at the conference, I live blogged events in the many different forums of the conference, and also posted short analytical essays chronicling my reaction to the various interventions unfolding at the conference. Social Text online now presents these different pieces as a unified dossier in order to preserve this important historical moment.
The NYC delegation arrived on a red-eye flight from a stormy Miami early this morning. The delegation, assembled by the Bolivian embassy in NYC based on submitted applications, is an extremely diverse group, including grassroots housing activists, union representatives, media … Continue reading “Arrival”
We arrive in the stadium of the University of Univalle at 8am, walking through a gauntlet of military police, naval police, army officers, cobra special SWAT troops, etc. The bleachers are sparsely populated by Bolivians with their union banners hanging … Continue reading “Inaugural Ceremony for the Conference”
Pachamama o muerte! For the planet or for death!I salute the social movements, unions, government representatives, and many people who have come to Bolivia, the heart of the Americas, to participate in this conference in the defense of pachamama. Copenhagen … Continue reading “Evo Morales's Speech at the Inaugural Ceremony”
Working groups started this morning. As I said in my last post, we missed some of the discussions because of registration. So, I’m picking up halfway through the day of discussions over Action Strategies to deal with the climate crisis. … Continue reading “Action Strategies Working Group, Part 1”
