Pseudo-Leviathans John Gray believes the modern state is a new totalitarian entity promising not freedom but the much lesser good of “meaning” through security and a progressive identity. But the “new Leviathans” are much weaker than he lets on.
After the Death of the Subject, Hatred of the Human The death of the subject was about the loss of human agency. Today we are witnessing the undermining of something recognizably human as such.
Deepening the Void The ruling class has found that “externalizing” their decision making to transnational organizations of various sorts can be a way to evade accountability. It is also a contradictory and self-undermining mode of governance.
Idiocracy, but Sadder We are more educated and informed than any previous generation, but we’re still becoming more idiotic.
The Hangover and Life as a Commodity We have a common and stark expression of what it might feel like to be a commodity, and to have our past dominate our present: a really, really bad hangover.
The Age of Technopopulism? According to Chris Bickerton and Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, the “populism v. technocracy” dichotomy does not help us make sense of contemporary political reality. Indeed, it is their paradoxical fusion—technopopulism—that underlies all democratic politics today.
After Left Populism, Part Two: Pro-Worker Conservatism in the UK The Tories are reorganizing around an anti-woke, pro-worker, and pro-democracy branding. Unlike other instances of pro-worker conservativism, it could be highly successful.