In The Idea Of A Christian Society, T. S. Eliot wrote: Was our society, which had always been assured of its superiority and rectitude, so confident of its unexamined premises, assembled round anything more permanent than a congeries of banks, insurance companies and industries, and had it any beliefs more essential than a belief in compoundContinue reading “T. S. Eliot’s ‘Is That All There Is?’”
Tag Archives: corporate propaganda
Ken Englehart’s Exceedingly Lame Argument Against Net Neutrality
Over at the New York Times, Ken Englehart, “a lawyer specializing in communications law, is a senior adviser for StrategyCorp, an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and a senior fellow at the C. D. Howe Institute” offers us an astonishing argument suggesting we not worry about the FCC’s move to repeal Net Neutrality.Continue reading “Ken Englehart’s Exceedingly Lame Argument Against Net Neutrality”
The Defenses Of United Airlines’ Behavior Reveal Some Uncomfortable Truths
There are, roughly, two kinds of defenses offered of United Airlines’ behavior–in DraggingGate–that have been offered thus far. First, the ‘abide by the terms of the contract’ defense. Second, the ‘just shut up and obey orders, and everything will be allright’ defense. On closer inspection, of course, these two turn out to be instantiations ofContinue reading “The Defenses Of United Airlines’ Behavior Reveal Some Uncomfortable Truths”
A Modest Proposal To Cull The Human Herd
Feeding the elderly and the young i.e., the economically unproductive, is a terribly wasteful, irrational enterprise–programs like Meals on Wheels and after-school lunches are but the most glaring instances of this catastrophically misdirected act of charity; acts like these will never produce any tangible, meaningful results like an increase in the Gross Domestic Product orContinue reading “A Modest Proposal To Cull The Human Herd”
Peter Thiel Should Attempt the Anatomically Impossible
A few years ago, I made note of Peter Thiel’s showboating program to give young folks a cool hundred grand if they dropped out of college to pursue their dreams. This scheme, cooked up by a Stanford graduate, a venture capitalist and hedge-fund manager, was in transparent alignment with various neoliberal schemes cooked up to denigrateContinue reading “Peter Thiel Should Attempt the Anatomically Impossible”
Why Faculty Lock-Outs Are Irresponsible And Inappropriate
In response to my post on Sunday making note of the lock-out of faculty at Long Island University (LIU), a Facebook friend wrote on my page: So, I don’t understand. What makes university professors any different than people who work any other job? If you don’t like the pay, or don’t like the working conditions,Continue reading “Why Faculty Lock-Outs Are Irresponsible And Inappropriate”
Long Island University’s Labor Day Gift To The Nation: A Faculty Lock-Out
Some university administrators manage to put up a pretty good front when it comes to maintaining the charade that they care about the education of their students–they dip into their accessible store of mealy mouthed platitudes and dish them out every turn, holding their hands over their hearts as paeans to the virtues of edificationContinue reading “Long Island University’s Labor Day Gift To The Nation: A Faculty Lock-Out”
Martin Shkreli Will Have The Last Laugh
‘We’ hate Martin Shkreli. What’s not to hate? He is rich; he gets rich off the misfortunes of others; he buys pop culture icons, treating them like trophies for decorating his den; he postures on video streams as he talks back to those we think can’t be out-talked; he talks smack on his Twitter feedContinue reading “Martin Shkreli Will Have The Last Laugh”
The ‘Real World’: The Corporate Workplace
Dear Reader, do you know where the ‘real world’ is? Do you live in it? Do you work in it? Corporate recruiters and CEOs can tell you. If you are attending a school or a university of any kind, you do not live in the ‘real world.’ If you are a child, you are notContinue reading “The ‘Real World’: The Corporate Workplace”
Donald Trump And The Art Of The Presidential Deal
Shortly after I arrived in the US in 1987, I began working in my campus cafeteria (at the then minimum wage of $4.25 an hour.) One of my non-student companions at work was a young man who worked on the weekends as a replacement for the weekday staff. He was frivolous and funny and irreverent;Continue reading “Donald Trump And The Art Of The Presidential Deal”
Samir Chopra 