Two Books that Changed my Mind in 2020
2021 is the year to step away from the screen and burrow down with a few good books as we prepare for a slow start to the new year. Continue reading Two Books that Changed my Mind in 2020
Tag: politics
Identity Politics: Commonality or Common Enemy?
(Image: Patrick Record) From the Trans Rights Movement to the rise of the ‘White Right’, identity has become a powerful force in modern politics. The shift away from broad based party politics to a more tribal system divided along lines of race, gender and sexual orientation is generally described as the rise of Identity Politics. Peter Franklin has also labeled the phenomenon as “Cultural Marxism” – a … Continue reading Identity Politics: Commonality or Common Enemy?
Why Fascism Is So Tempting
(Image: Sky News) Have we forgotten what fascism means? Today calling someone a “fascist” is more an insulting slur than a description of one’s political ideology. In a recent speech historian and author Yuval Noah Harari argued that too often is fascism confused with nationalism. Harari argues that nationalism has been one of the most benevolent ideologies in human history. Nations are communities built up … Continue reading Why Fascism Is So Tempting
Why News And The Internet Don’t Mix
(Image: Steve Cutts) The way in which we consume information determines how we interpret it. In his seminal work “Thinking, Fast and Slow” Daniel Kahneman, Nobel prize winning behavioural psychologist describes how two basic systems govern the way we think. We have a primal ‘system one’ way of thinking which is fast, impulsive and emotional. We also have a ‘system two’ form of thinking which is slow, deliberative … Continue reading Why News And The Internet Don’t Mix
Selfie: How We Became So Self Obsessed
We live in strange times. A generation of selfies and self harm. We create edited online personas of people seemingly living perfect lives. Yet behind the screens insecurity, vanity and depression are the defining characteristics of our culture. People absorb culture like sponges. Every time we open our phones we internalize the competitive game of likes, retweets and follows as we strive to reach the … Continue reading Selfie: How We Became So Self Obsessed
Why Universities Are Just A Corporate Conveyor Belt
A Career Fair is a microcosm. A dizzying snapshot into the absurd world of work. Fake smiles, branded ‘gifts’ and the unnaturally perky trainee enlightening you how his internship last summer really gave him an insight into “the culture of the firm” and explaining how he is now “making a global impact” working with multinationals seeking to “restructure their taxes more efficiently.” The hollow atmosphere and … Continue reading Why Universities Are Just A Corporate Conveyor Belt
Why Satire Isn’t Funny
It’s often promulgated that satire is the great weapon of the powerless against the powerful. Nothing can send the unhinged megalomaniac or deranged despot faster into a toddler tantrum than simply being laughed at. Yet there is growing criticism that today’s mainstream political satire serves to promote rather than undermine the establishment and extremist politicians. By providing the likes of Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Jacob … Continue reading Why Satire Isn’t Funny
Empowered Woman? Who is She?
Author: Khadija Begum I was at a local film fest earlier this week that was screening movies by amateur film makers on gender based violence. During one of the audience discussions, a girl who must not have been older than 13 and an actor in the movie, in a very well-meaning manner asked a question: How do we teach boys/men to deal with the new generation … Continue reading Empowered Woman? Who is She?
Catalonia: Is Independence Worth It?
Author: Anna Pomortseva Puidgemont in Brussels, members of Catalan Parliament under threat of imprisonment and more than 1000 firms transferred from Catalonia to Madrid, has Catalonia declared Independence ? ” 8 segundos de independencia ” – a new proverb for Catalonia, which speaks of a temporary phenomenon. The temporary phenomenon is the time period of independence, when on October 10th Carles Puidgemont signed a declaration … Continue reading Catalonia: Is Independence Worth It?
Fast Food News And Information Obesity
Article was originally published on the Iras Global Observer as part of a new collaboration project between their site and The Conversation Room Be it the colossal shift in our diets towards snacking processed food to the life changing opportunities of international travel arising from commercial aviation, history shows that for better or worse human behaviour and consumption patterns are shaped by new technologies. In 2017, … Continue reading Fast Food News And Information Obesity
