Revolution and Uniting the People: Bernie Sanders, Thomas Jefferson and FDR I would say that Bernie Sanders is not only a good candidate for US President, and beyond that, the only serious candidate for the people, since he is the only one who is not t…
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: The Paris Attacks In Contex
Propaganda, hysteria, ultra-violence and imperialism, as usual “A people unaware of its myths is likely to continue living by them.” – Richard Slotkin I have been too horrified by the predictably violent and insane reaction of the Western pow…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Will Ferrell does a mock music video of gangster rap – and it’s a scathingly hilarious critique of the genre
A musical commentary, followed by social and political analysis, followed by hilarious spoof rap videos, and more This is scathingly funny. Will Ferrell does a mock music video of macho gangster rap. Man, how I despise that music. As Rage Against the Machine said, “So-called rap’s a fraud.” Worse, most
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: New Leadership Urgently Needed For The US, Canada and Britain
Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr., Tommy Douglas and Tony Benn were President of the US, and Prime Ministers of Canada and Britain, respectively. The world would certainly be a far better, more just, freer, more peaceful, and safer place. But we do not. In all three of these “leading”
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: New Leadership Urgently Needed For The US, Canada and Britain
Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr., Tommy Douglas and Tony Benn were President of the US, and Prime Ministers of Canada and Britain, respectively. The world would certainly be a far better, more just, freer, more peaceful, and safer place. But we do not. In all three of these “leading”
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: An Analysis Of The 2015 Election In Canada
Well, the Liberals won. And hallelujah, and praise be to the Lord. Of course it is good that the Harper Conservatives are out. But let’s not get carried away. We have a lot of work to do. Because, as bad as the Harper government may have been, and was, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: An Analysis Of The 2015 Election In Canada
Well, the Liberals won. And hallelujah, and praise be to the Lord. Of course it is good that the Harper Conservatives are out. But let’s not get carried away. We have a lot of work to do. Because, as bad as the Harper government may have been, and was, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Election 2015 and Strategic Voting: Madness, or Practical Necessity?
An economic and political analysis of Canada, neoliberalism, and the world Get a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of wine, and settle in – this is not sound-bite commentary. We are going to dig deep. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” – Ralph Waldo
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Election 2015 and Strategic Voting: Madness, or Practical Necessity?
An economic and political analysis of Canada, neoliberalism, and the world Get a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of wine, and settle in – this is not sound-bite commentary. We are going to dig deep. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” – Ralph Waldo
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canadian and US Federal Elections – 2015, 2016: A summary of the prospects and possible outcomes
Revolution, reform, stagnation – or worse? It is sometimes difficult to say what would be best for a given nation at a given time in history. There are things that would be desirable, of course, or which seem desirable, and things that are quite clearly, urgently needed – but in
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canadian and US Federal Elections – 2015, 2016: A summary of the prospects and possible outcomes
Revolution, reform, stagnation – or worse? It is sometimes difficult to say what would be best for a given nation at a given time in history. There are things that would be desirable, of course, or which seem desirable, and things that are quite clearly, urgently needed – but in
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Naomi Klein on Neoliberalism, the Shock Doctrine and Disaster Capitalism
Normally I post only essays that I have written on my blog, but this deserves to be an exception to the rule. This is a true Must-Watch. Naomi Klein clarifies the history of neoliberalism and the current state of the world in a few short minutes. 100,000 protests a year
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: ISIS and Terrorism – A Reality Check
“The responsibility of intellectuals is to speak the truth and expose lies.” – Noam Chomsky “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell According to a February 2015 Gallup poll, Americans consider the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — abbreviated as
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bernie Sanders? This man deserves to win – and he just might.
Bernie Sanders? This man deserves to win – and he just might. He should also read my book, Enlightened Democracy: Visions For A New Millennium. We’re very much on the same page, in most regards, except that I tend to contextualize things with a broader and longer term vision, and a
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bernie Sanders would win – if US elections weren’t controlled by big money….. But he just might win anyway, and he is well on his way
The Independent Senator from Vermont, and US Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, is riding a fast-growing wave of popular support across the United States. Sanders is getting ten times the turn-out for rallies as any other candidate, and the momentum continues to build. Bernie Sanders is getting higher turn-outs to rallies
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Free Trade, CETA, TPP, and the US and Canadian Federal Elections: Some Critical Perspective
The following is critical to understand – for the people of Canada, the US, Europe and the world: “free trade” deals such those already signed (NAFTA), and those being pushed through with great secrecy now (CETA, TTIP and TPP), are agreements which grant supra-national powers to transnational corporations, powers over
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Danger and Delusion: From ISIS to Ebola
There are very real dangers in the world, but let’s not lose all perspective. Perspective is everything. Don’t believe the hype. It must be stated directly: the majority of people have wildly irrational, and frankly delusional modes of thinking when it comes to risk assessment. And of course, pre-formed, unreflective
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Advertising, bondage and consumerism
I turn off the mute on the radio, to check if the nauseating ads are finished and we can get back to the music, and I hear, “New York steak…” – so I mute it again immediately; and I think: Advertising = the intensification and multiplication of human wants and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Balance: Solitude and engagement, stillness and action
“When I observe the ruts in a road, I inclined to think, how much deeper the ruts in the mind.” – Henry David Thoreau “If necessary, let us forgo one bridge over the river, go round a little there, and throw at least one span over the greater gulf of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The rise of Bitcoin: and the challenge to the global domination of big money
The following article was written on October 25. I wanted to read it over once more before publishing it, then got busy with other things and forgot about it. In the roughly six weeks that have passed since the writing of this article, the Bitcoin prices have gone from roughly
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