Revolutionary Spirit In May 1968, the Situationist-inspired Paris riots set off a chain reaction of refusal against consumer capitalism. First students, then workers, then professors, nurses, doctors, bus drivers and a piecemeal league of artists and anarchists took to the streets. They erected barricades, fought with police, occupied offices, factories, railway depots, theaters and university campuses, sang songs, issued manifestoes, sprayed slogans like “Live Without Dead Time” and “Down with the Spectacular-Commodity Culture” all over Paris. But the moment passed. But now the embers of insurgency are beginning to smolder again. Young people in the West are pissed off as they stare into an increasingly empty and precarious future. The recent food riots may also be a harbinger of things to come. This year, or maybe next, our neoliberal world order will explode like a million fireworks against the night sky and we shouldn't doubt or fear, but celebrate, because one dream is ending and another being born.
The Horrors of Public Education “School sucks.” Most students will agree, and many have voiced their disgust concerning this abomination we call public education. They spite the good students who obey like little sheep, frown at imposed conformity, and laugh at the hypocritical nature of the system. The same will be done here, but there is a big difference between these defiant students and me, the author. It’s enough to make you sick. I’m not writing this article because of envy or spite against system-indoctrinated valedictorians, nor am I trying to put blame on my school for all my academic failures. I’m writing this article because the system itself is messed up. What is taught is random, useless, and meaningless In class, too much time is wasted on useless topics. In an effort to be multicultural and eclectic, class curricula have become shallow and disorganized in their effort to teach students a global viewpoint. Most school subjects themselves aren’t even real knowledge. Much of school is wasted time Defy
13 Business Books That Will Blow Your Mind Having never taken a business class in college I find that I read and listen to a lot of business books to round out my education. The books usually aren't "How to Manage Your Cash Flow" but rather get me to rethink the way I run my business, which--despite no business classes or diploma--continues to be in business 13 plus years after I started it. In that time, here are 13 of the books that had the biggest impact on how I run my business (in no particular order): Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink: If you supervise anyone in your business, this book is a must read. It shows that what science knows about motivation, business isn't putting into practice. The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham: I wanted to have at least one book that was dedicated to small business and the entrepreneurial spirit.
Buy Nothing Day + Buy Nothing Christmas “Today, humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet.” – Fawzi Ibrahim Until we challenge the entrenched values of capitalism – that the economy must always keep growing, that consumer wants must always be satisfied, that immediate gratification is imperative – we’re not going able to fix the gigantic psycho-financial-eco crisis of our times. The journey toward a sane sustainable future begins with a single step. Buy Nothing Day is legendary for instigating this type of personal transformation … as you suddenly remember what real living is all about … you sense an upsurge of radical empowerment and feel a strange magic creeping back into your life. Join millions of us in over 60 countries on November 29/30 and see what it feels like. And why not get playful while you’re at it!?
FBI: If We Told You, You Might Sue Often when the government tries to suppress information about its surveillance programs, it cites national-security concerns. But not always. In 2008, a few years after the Bush administration's warrantless-wiretapping program was revealed for the first time by the New York Times, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act. In 2009, we also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn more about the government's interpretation and implementation of the FISA Amendments Act. Two weeks ago, as part of our FOIA lawsuit over those documents, the government gave us several declarations attempting to justify the redaction of the documents. There you have it. Life Without Money Is it possible to live comfortably in today’s American culture without money or a job? The thought of living without money conjures up images of homeless people in rags pushing their junk-filled shopping carts around the dirty centers of cities, sleeping under bridges and begging for food. Yes, some people do live this way, but it’s hardly desirable. John (not his real name) has lived a nearly moneyless life for the past seven years, yet he enjoys a freedom that others, slaving at their jobs, only dream of. Liz (not her real name either) owns a house that she rents out. These are just two examples of people living in America on little or no monetary income yet they are far from suffering. Air and Water The first needs are for clean air to breathe and for clean water to drink. Food The next need is for food. 1. 2. 3. 4. Clothing A tremendous amount of clothing can be found for little or no money. Shelter You don’t have to live in a cardboard box to have free shelter.
How To Become A Hacker Copyright © 2001 Eric S. Raymond As editor of the Jargon File and author of a few other well-known documents of similar nature, I often get email requests from enthusiastic network newbies asking (in effect) "how can I learn to be a wizardly hacker?". Back in 1996 I noticed that there didn't seem to be any other FAQs or web documents that addressed this vital question, so I started this one. A lot of hackers now consider it definitive, and I suppose that means it is. If you are reading a snapshot of this document offline, the current version lives at Note: there is a list of Frequently Asked Questions at the end of this document. Numerous translations of this document are available: ArabicBelorussianBulgarianChinese, Czech. The five-dots-in-nine-squares diagram that decorates this document is called a glider. If you find this document valuable, please support me on Patreon or SubscribeStar. If you want to be a hacker, keep reading. 1. 2. 3.
I, Revolution Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. In all revolutions, the agents of change – usually a small core of fired-up individuals – reach a personal point of reckoning where to do nothing becomes harder than to step forward. Then come the televised actions, the rebellions on campus, the random acts of defiance in high schools, supermarkets, malls, workplaces. A mass of support accrues. And finally the revolution ignites. The biggest impediment to revolution is a personal one: our own deep-seated feelings of cynicism and impotence. We don’t need a million activists to jumpstart this revolution. What will you do? Part: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 Right-click to download the full audio version of "A Brief History of Revolution"
A Culture of Fear - Jonathan M. Finegold Catalan Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Soviet foreign spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov warned the United States, "We have done the most terrible thing to you that we could possibly have done. We have deprived you of an enemy." For nearly half a century, the elusive threat posed by the Soviet Union formed the basis of American foreign and domestic policy. Much of the United States' political and economic development was in fact a product of the government's exploitation of a supposed Soviet menace. Gerasimov recognized that the fall of communist Russia denied the American government the ability to exploit the fear of Marxism to its own benefit. The United States has a long history of exploiting fear for the purpose of legitimizing its growth. As Gerasimov suggested, the fall of the Soviet Union left the US government without a justification for its existence. Unfortunately, this situation did not last long. The Great Depression and World War II Anticommunism and the Cold War Terror Jonathan M.
No Money Man: The thrifty adventures of Mark Boyle Mark Boyle hasn't spent any money for the last 14 months. He lives in a small camper, makes or scavenges everything he uses on a day-to-day basis, and actually lives a pretty good life. Before making the big move to living without money, he made a list of all the things he uses and consumes and then figured out how to get by without buying. He was pragmatic about his adventure — you can't make solar panels from scratch, so he bought a set that provide him with enough power to light and run his laptop (another nod to pragmatism). He takes solar showers, does his business in a homemade outhouse, and brushes his teeth with dried crushed-up fish bone and fennel seeds. Swing over to the Guardian UK to watch a great video showing how he does it. (Quick!