Use anything and anyone to gain and maintain power. That is the Machiavellian philosophy which rules the minds of the power elite, both East and West, as Howard Zinn has indicated as well. Public health, human well-being, conscience, principles, morals, freedom, democracy, other high ideals, have nothing to do with
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: The Central Challenge Of Our Time
What is the central challenge of our time? It is not what most people think it is. It is not race or gender, or climate change, or the environment broadly, or issues of war and peace, or poverty, or justice, or equality, or fighting terrorism, crime or violence, WMDs and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Collapse of Modern Civilization
More than 150 years ago Thoreau commented, “Our sills are all rotten.” He was right. It is for that reason that Western, and Westernized, “modern” “civilization” is collapsing. This could be cataclysmic, of course, (as in, an ecological holocaust), or relatively peaceful, (akin to the Maya abandoning their great cities
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Importing From China: A Virus? Or A Totalitarian Model Of Elite Control?
Someone prescient once said, “Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little security, deserve neither, and will lose both.” We would do well to remember those words now. And we are most definitely in the process of losing both, as we speak. But maybe we aspire to be
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Fantasy and Indoctrination: Rough notes on a few fantasy novels: part two
Here are two more fantasy books that I could not get through. That makes three in a row. And to think, I had a love affair with Terry Brookes’ Shannara series! (I read something like 20 Shannara novels in a row, and loved all of them, other than the last
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reflections On Stillness & Action
We need stillness and action – both, and urgently so. This should be becoming perfectly clear. I’ve travelled through 20 countries, but still I find stillness the greatest adventure, and most rewarding, enriching journey of all. Going to the mountain top is exceedingly worthwhile, but going deep within is what
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Degeneration, Collapse, and Rebirth
What we are facing is systemic degeneration: ecologically, culturally, spiritually, intellectually, psychologically, socially, and biologically in terms of degenerating health and shortening life spans. This is the slow-motion collapse of a civilization. What is needed is not to self-medicate or mask the symptoms, or to manage the symptoms of degeneration,
Continue readingI’m Not a Socialist, Just a Discerning Citizen
If I bundled all my views on various issues, the bundle would probably be labelled social democrat. I am certainly a democrat, but I don’t think of myself as tied to any particular political philosophy, socialist or anything else. I am as much an atheist politically as I am religiously.
Continue readingScripturient: Musings on leadership
What makes a good leader? Or a bad one, for that matter? That’s a long-standing debate that reaches back into history.* Of late I’ve been reading about and pondering the characteristics of leadership. Some people are promoted, elected or appointed to positions of authority. This makes them leaders by definition
Continue readingScripturient: Channelling John Stuart Mill
In the opening few pages of his essay On Liberty, John Stuart Mill warned about the “tyranny of the prevailing opinion.” Anyone familiar with the mob mentality than can erupt on social media, its potential for divisiveness and the platform’s inherent weakness to be manipulated by outside forces (such as
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Desmond Cole, the Toronto Star and Another Existential Crisis for Professional Journalism
DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. I see this as a two-fold issue; firstly, actions and secondly, words. I’ll consider both briefly and then elaborate on my concerns. Actions There is no point in rehashing here the now well-known details of what lead to Desmond
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Columbus is no hero of mine
Italian-North Americans — especially those of us with roots in the Mezzogiorno (and I include the Ciociaria and Abbruzzo here) — don’t need a Genoese genocidal rapist as our hero. It’s time to eliminate Columbus Day. It’s time for #IndigenousPeoplesDay Some good reading and watching: ‘All Indians Are Dead?’ At Least
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Political Economy of The Sharing Economy
Introduction Today, getting a lift to the store is as easy as loading an application on a digital device and summoning a roving car to one’s door. It is fast, cheap and, many argue, less onerous than ownership. The so-called sharing economy is on the…
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Notes on the Political Economy of the Hydro One Privatization or: Why Isn’t The Ontario Business Sector Paying Its Fair Share For Infrastructure?
Ontario’s provincial government faces a massive public infrastructure deficit. The province’s own numbers estimate the deficit at “tens of billions of dollars.” Among the high profile components of this deficit is transportation infrastructure. In response, the government says it has invested billions of dollars into transportation infrastructure since 2003. Ontario’s Liberal provincial government is
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: A Brief Note On #Elxn42 And Moving Toward A New Left
This much is clear: with the NDP’s federal collapse last night, the neoliberal Third Way experiment can clearly be declared a failure. But now what? Now, to build ─ not rebuild on a broken foundation. But also this: pillory me as a post-structuralist if you must, but I’m not here for
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bernie Sanders: socialism, anarchism, corporatism and democracy
I support Senator Bernie Sanders in his candidacy to become the next US president. I would very much like to see him win, and I think he very may well. Now, some people will say, but Bernie Sanders is a self-declared democratic socialist. I see no problem with that. And
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bernie Sanders: socialism, anarchism, corporatism and democracy
I support Senator Bernie Sanders in his candidacy to become the next US president. I would very much like to see him win, and I think he very may well. Now, some people will say, but Bernie Sanders is a self-declared democratic socialist. I see no problem with that. And
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: A few thoughts on empathy in human beings, and other living creatures
Empathy is natural in human beings, as Jeremy Rifkin has pointed out – and with strong backing by recent scientific findings. Some human beings have more and some less; and some are sociopaths – roughly 1% (and usually, the ones who gravitate to positions of wealth and power, unsurprisingly) –
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Civil Obedience
“Laws control the lesser man… Right conduct controls the greater one.” – Mark Twain Never be obedient. Obedience is for dogs. No offence to dogs – I love dogs, and dogs are very admirable, as well as lovable, and there is much that we can learn from dogs. But we
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Reflections on McChesney: Problematics of Media Self-Regulation
FULL DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. News media goes where many cannot or will not. It infiltrates the halls of power, the courtrooms, protest sites, war zones and scenes of tragedy. It is, unquestionably, the source of much of the information used to
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