Glossary of Terms: Bo Bonapartism First used in reference to the government established by Louis Bonaparte, who had been elected to the office of presidency in 1848. Three years following, on 2 December, 1851, he staged a coup d'etat against his government, setting up a military dictatorship in its place. Marx soon after wrote a popular pamphlet called the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte "demonstrating how the class struggle in France created circumstances and relationships that made it possible for a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero's part." Bonapartism has been used to describe a government that forms when class rule is not secure and a military, police, and state bureaucracy intervenes to establish order. Further readings: Trotsky, The Rise of Hitler and Destruction of the German Left; and The Workers' State, Thermidor and Bonapartism. Bourgeoisie The class of people in bourgeois society who own the social means of production as their Private Property, i.e., as capital. Bourgeois Democracy V.I.
Top 10 Common Faults In Human Thought Humans The human mind is a wonderful thing. Cognition, the act or process of thinking, enables us to process vast amounts of information quickly. For example, every time your eyes are open, you brain is constantly being bombarded with stimuli. You may be consciously thinking about one specific thing, but you brain is processing thousands of subconscious ideas. The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality, they are not. Reactivity is the tendency of people to act or appear differently when they know that they are being observed. Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant. Interesting Fact: the Rorschach Inkblot test was developed to use pareidolia to tap into people’s mental states. Self-fulfilling Prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy is engaging in behaviors that obtain results that confirm existing attitudes. Interesting Fact: Economic Recessions are self-fulfilling prophecies.
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (French: La Commune de Paris, IPA: [la kɔmyn də paʁi]) was a revolutionary and socialist government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March until 28 May 1871.[3] The killing of two French army generals by soldiers of the Commune's National Guard and the refusal of the Commune to accept the authority of the French government led to its harsh suppression by the regular French Army in "La Semaine sanglante" ("The Bloody Week") beginning on 21 May 1871.[4] Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.[5] Prelude to the Paris Commune[edit] On 2 September 1870, after his unexpected defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War, Emperor Louis Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussian Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. The population of Paris on the eve of Commune[edit] The radicalization of the Paris workers[edit] Radicals and revolutionaries[edit] The defenders of Paris[edit]
10 Websites To Make You Think | The Online Learning Blog from Study2U Supposedly browsing the internet requires more brain power than watching television. Although judging from some of the websites we’ve come across that assumption is cast into doubt. Here’s some of the sites we like that might get your brain to sit up and listen. Ted A conference that started in 1984 bringing together experts in technology, entertainment and design quickly grew into so much more. New Scientist The New Scientist website carries new articles from the magazine as well as the NS archive of over 76,000 pieces. Big Think The Big Think website is a collection of ‘global thought leaders’ who offer their thoughts and analysis on world events and other important developments. Café Scientifque ‘for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology’ Breathing Earth This fantastic website by David Bleja demonstrates CO2 emissions and world population growth in real time on a global map. Arts & Letters Daily How Stuff Works
Economic Manuscripts: Capital Vol. I - Chapter Six Karl Marx. Capital Volume One Chapter Six: The Buying and Selling of Labour-Power The change of value that occurs in the case of money intended to be converted into capital, cannot take place in the money itself, since in its function of means of purchase and of payment, it does no more than realise the price of the commodity it buys or pays for; and, as hard cash, it is value petrified, never varying. [1] Just as little can it originate in the second act of circulation, the re-sale of the commodity, which does no more than transform the article from its bodily form back again into its money-form. The change must, therefore, take place in the commodity bought by the first act, M-C, but not in its value, for equivalents are exchanged, and the commodity is paid for at its full value. We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the change originates in the use-value, as such, of the commodity, i.e., in its consumption. The owner of labour-power is mortal. Footnotes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
How to Think When I applied for my faculty job at the MIT Media Lab, I had to write a teaching statement. One of the things I proposed was to teach a class called “How to Think,” which would focus on how to be creative, thoughtful, and powerful in a world where problems are extremely complex, targets are continuously moving, and our brains often seem like nodes of enormous networks that constantly reconfigure. In the process of thinking about this, I composed 10 rules, which I sometimes share with students. I’ve listed them here, followed by some practical advice on implementation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Two practical notes. The second practical note: I find it really useful to write and draw while talking with someone, composing conversation summaries on pieces of paper or pages of notepads.
Proletariat The proletariat (/ˌproʊlɪˈtɛəriːət/ from Latin proletarius) is a term used to describe the class of wage-earners (especially industrial workers) in a capitalist society whose only possession of significant material value is their labour-power (their ability to work);[1] a member of such a class is a proletarian. Usage in Roman law[edit] As defined in the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the proletarii constituted a social class of Roman citizens owning little or no property. Although included in one of the five support centuriae of the Comitia Centuriata, proletarii were largely deprived of their voting rights due to their low social status caused by their lack of "even the minimum property required for the lowest class"[4] and a class-based hierarchy of the Comitia Centuriata. Usage in Marxist theory[edit] A 1911 Industrial Worker publication advocating industrial unionism based on a critique of capitalism. See also[edit] Reference notes[edit] Further reading[edit] External links[edit]
Dictatorship of the proletariat In Marxist socio-political thought, the dictatorship of the proletariat refers to a state in which the proletariat, or the working class, has control of political power.[1][2][3] The term, coined by Joseph Weydemeyer, was adopted by the founders of Marxism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in the 19th century. It was expected that the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) would use military force to remain in power whenever the proletariat attempted to replace it, and therefore the proletariat would have to respond with violence of its own.[4][5] Both Marx and Engels argued that the short-lived Paris Commune, which ran the French capital for three months before being repressed, was an example of the dictatorship of the proletariat. In the 20th century, the October Revolution in Russia overthrew the provisional government and initiated the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which would become a founding member of the Soviet Union Theoretical approaches[edit]
Class conflict Class conflict, frequently referred to as class warfare or class struggle, is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests and desires between people of different classes. The view that the class struggle provides the lever for radical social change for the majority is central to the work of Karl Marx and the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. However, the discovery of the existence of class struggle is not the product of their theories; their theories can instead be seen as a response to the existence of class struggles. Usage In the past the term Class conflict was a term used mostly by socialists, who define a class by its relationship to the means of production — such as factories, land and machinery. The anarchist Mikhail Bakunin argued that the class struggle of the working class, peasantry and poor had the potential to lead to a social revolution involving the overthrow of ruling elites, and the creation of libertarian socialism. Arab Spring
Dialectic Dialectic (also dialectics and the dialectical method) is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to European and Indian philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues. The dialectical method is discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matter guided by reasoned arguments.[1] The term dialectics is not synonymous with the term debate. The Sophists taught aretē (Greek: ἀρετή, quality, excellence) as the highest value, and the determinant of one's actions in life. Socrates favoured truth as the highest value, proposing that it could be discovered through reason and logic in discussion: ergo, dialectic. Principles It is also possible that the rejection of the participants' presuppositions is resisted, which then might generate a second-order controversy.[7] Western dialectical forms
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a political ideology combining Marxism (the scientific socialist concepts theorised by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) and Leninism (Vladimir Lenin's theoretical expansions of Marxism which include anti-imperialism, democratic centralism, and Vanguardist party-building principles).[1] Marxism–Leninism was the official ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and of the Communist International (1919–43), making it the guiding ideology of the world communist movement. As such, it is the most prominent ideology associated with communism. The ultimate goal of Marxism–Leninism is the development of socialism into the full realisation of communism, a classless social system with common ownership of the means of production and with full social equality of all members of society. The phrase "Marxism–Leninism" was introduced by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s to distinguish the new synthesis of Marxism with the theories of Lenin. Values Etymology Historical Current usage
Single-party state A single-party state, one-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of state in which a single political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system that, unlike the single-party state, allows (at least nominally) democratic multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning the elections. Concept[edit] Members of China's Kuomintang shortly after the end of World War II; with the Kuomintang sun flag beside the flag of the Republic of China (now encompassing Taiwan) that has the Kuomintang symbol in the blazon. Single-party states are justified for a number of reasons. Examples[edit] Countries by their form of government. See also[edit] Notes[edit]
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba ( i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( )), is an island country in the Caribbean. The island of Cuba was inhabited by numerous Mesoamerican tribes prior to the landing of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, who claimed it for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, and with over 11 million inhabitants, is the second-most populous after Hispaniola, albeit with a much lower population density than most nations in the region. Cuba ranks high in metrics of health and education, with a high Human Development Index of 0.780 as of 2013. Etymology[edit] History[edit] Prehistory[edit] Sketch of a Taíno woman, also known as the Arawak by the Spanish. Cuba was inhabited by American Indian people known as the Taíno, also called Arawak by the Spanish, and Guanajatabey and Ciboney people before the arrival of the Spanish. Spanish colonization and rule (1492-1898)[edit]
Edward James Edward William Frank James (1907–1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage[edit] Edward James had four older sisters: Audrey, Millicent, Xandra, and Silvia. He was educated at Lockers Park School,[7] then briefly at Eton, then at Le Rosey in Switzerland, and finally at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a contemporary of Evelyn Waugh and Harold Acton. When his father died in 1912 he inherited the 8,000-acre (32 km2) West Dean House estate in Sussex, held in trust until he came of age. He was also left a large sum in trust when his uncle John Arthur James died in 1917.[8] St Andrew's West Dean, West Sussex, UK Surrealism[edit] James is best known as a passionate and early supporter of Surrealism, a movement that was born from the political uncertainty and upheaval between the wars. James appeared in two famous surrealist paintings, both by Magritte: Each suggests an alienated person. New Mexico[edit] Las Pozas[edit] West Dean[edit]