Some years ago I wrote a book based on the theme that women are better designed for the modern world than men. (Visit this page for a free copy.) Men were well-suited for the hunter-gatherer societies we evolved into, but then civilization appeared and we have come a long way
Continue readingTag: political science
Writings of J. Todd Ring: On The Use & Abuse Of History
A typical account of history is presented in the video linked below, and here are some reflections on it, and on the general practice, or malpractice, of professional historians, and scholars and intellectuals broadly. As Noam Chomsky has said, the major media portray themselves as free and unbiased media, but
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Dealing With Lemmings, and The Delusional
“Never underestimate the power of denial.” – American Beauty” Cowards can never be moral.” – Gandhi “The world is a dangerous place, not because evil people do terrible things, but because millions of people let them.” – Einstein “Just because you bury your head in the sand, doesn’t mean the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What side are you on? And are you sure?
I have always been, and always will be, on the side of the anti-fascists and anti-authoritarians. At present, in 2021, that represents about 30% of the people. That may sound like a small minority, until you realize that represents more than 500 million people in the Western world, in North
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Puritan-Capitalism: Money As The Measure Of All Things
The mechanistic materialist world view, which the West, beginning with Europe, adopted a mere 400 years ago, and then exported through economic, financial, military and cultural colonialism and neocolonialism to the rest of the world, has been nothing short of a cultural, sociological, political, economic, ecological, spiritual, public health and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: If You Are Going To Vote, Read This
Things are changing rapidly in the world, but as of this moment, we can say a few things about the major political parties of the Western world, with reasonable certainty. It is now undeniable, that by their actions, the major parties of the Western world, including the Democratic party of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Last Empire
It is the illusion of powerlessness among the people which upholds every empire – for a time. But the illusion eventually wears off. No empire lasts forever. Every empire falls in the end. This last, and hopefully final empire, which I would call the global neofeudal corporate oligarchy, or corporate
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Sociology Of Delusion
Automation is going to eliminate most jobs. That could spell tyranny and neofeudalism, and the birth of a highly stratified society, where the priviledged few live in material comfort, the power elite live as global feudal lords and god-kings, and the vast majority are deemed useless and discarded, or rounded
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Global Co-op Movement: The Better Way – and, The Way Ahead
I used to think that co-ops were a nice idea, very practical, a nice little niche for a few people around the margins and the periphery, with strong ideals, doing practical, valuable things. But I, must admit, in this regard, I was quite ignorant, until just this year. The co-op
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reclaiming Democracy In Canada – And Around The World
In the 1960s, there was a cultural awakening which spread rapidly around the world, and Chomsky is right in calling it both a cultural awakening, and also, an outbreak of democracy. The civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, the gay rights movement, the native rights movement, the anti-war and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Narcissism & Independence
The fourth of July….I realize only now, that is today’s date, as I finish writing this short reflection. How fitting. Independence Day. Now, let us talk about where real independence comes from. * The real pandemic, or one of the many that afflicts the modern world, is mass narcissistic regression
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Decentralization Or Collapse
To halt the decline of our civilization and stop our race toward ecological, economic and social collapse, we must sow and create a paradigm shift, a shift in the dominant world view, a shift in consciousness. That requires consciousness raising, media activism, and education. But we also need a fundamental
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Knowledge vs Opinion, Enlightenment vs Delusion
As Plato said, everyone has opinions, but few have knowledge. It is important that we keep that in the back of our minds, if not the fore. Two levels, there are, in everything: there is the question of how to live, and how to construct a society that is just,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Decline, Decay, Death and Rebirth of Democracy and Freedom
The two greatest threats to democracy and freedom in the West, or to peace, justice, equality, or even a viable future for humanity, are without question, the currently reigning de facto world government of neofeudal corporate oligarchy, also known as neoliberalism, and the fascist order which it is rapidly
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Women in politics: women political staffers in Australia and Canada #nlpoli
Feodor Nagovsky and Matthew Kerby, “Political Staff and the Gendered Division of Political Labour in Canada,” Parliamentary Affairs, 24 August 2018. Summary: While there is considerable research on elected legislators in a variety of contexts, the academic knowledge about their advisors is very limited. This is surprising, given a considerable
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Rich people rule!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/08/rich-people-rule/ Filed under: Class, Democracy, Political Science, The State
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Norwegian voting patterns are a warning to leftwing parties elsewhere
Henning Finseraas and Kåre Vernby Low levels of citizen participation in politics have long been seen as a serious democratic problem, and a possible relationship between turnout and election outcomes is a prominent topic of discussion in political science. The most frequent claim is that left-of-centre parties benefit from higher levels of
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Wrestling with Democracy
Wrestling with Democracy is an ambitious, historical examination of the changes in voting systems across a large number of Western liberal democracies over the course of the twentieth century that argues that ‘most major voting system reforms in the twentieth-century west have been intimately linked to larger social struggles over
Continue readingbastard.logic: Has Centralization of Power to the PMO Put Canadian Democracy on Life Support?
Don Lenihan has a must-read column up today, on how centralization of power to the Prime Minister’s office over the past several decades has atrophied the connection Canadians — especially youth — had with our government, and what he believes this could mean for Canada’s system of democracy: In the early 1970s,
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Sick parade #nlpoli
When you are home with a cold, there’s not much to do besides doze and read. And when you are a political nerd at home with a cold, what better prezzie could there be than the papers presented at the Midwest Political Science Association? Not much, is the answer, except
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