books

Wall Street's Foreign Policy Wizards

Dominic Alexander Counterfire
The Council on Foreign Relations is a supercharged, highly connected establishment think tank. While producing reports and staffing varied policy working-groups, its recommendations are invariably market-based. CFR leaders and members pass through the revolving door of the federal government to high positions of authority, no matter which party holds power. The book under review, Wall Street's Think Tank, charts the council's key links to US imperial policy.

books

Terry Eagleton: Still the most Formidable Critic of Populist Late-Capitalism

Melanie McDonagh New Statesman
Both analytical and droll, Terry Eagleton's Culture explores how culture evolved from rarified sphere to humble practices, and from a bulwark against industrialism's encroaches to present-day capitalism's most profitable export. Eagleton both illuminates culture's collusion with colonialism, nationalism, the decline of religion, the rise of and rule over the "uncultured" masses, as well a means for cultivating social life and social change.

Radical Leisure

Eva Swidler Monthly Review
In the seventy years since organized labor gave up on shorter hours, not only did the length of the U.S. work week bottom out, then begin a steady climb that still continues, but labor force participation rates also rose. Women work for pay at ever-increasing levels; the elderly work until death. Ever-more hours work are siphoned from households, drawing in ever-more people.

Sci-Hub: What It Is and Why It Matters

Marcus Banks American Libraries Magazine
Elsevier is an academic publishing company based in Amsterdam that annually publishes hundreds of thousands of articles to the tune of $2,000,000,000 in revenue. Meanwhile, The European Union has announced that all scientific papers published there and based on publicly funded research will be freely available beginning in 2020.

The Death Gap

Sam Pizzigati OtherWords.org
The richest Americans now live 10-15 years longer than the poorest.

Marx’s Theory of Working-Class Precariousness

R. Jamil Jonna and John Bellamy Foster Monthly Review
The renewed focus, particularly on the left, on precariousness constitutes a recognition of the harsh reality of capitalism, and particularly of today’s globalized monopoly-finance capital. More than a century of Marxian political-economic critique allows us to appreciate the extent to which the conditions that Marx described, focusing on a small corner of Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, are now global, and all the more perilous.

Bernie Sanders Stresses 'Common Good' in Vatican Attack on Capitalism

Stephanie Kirchgaessner The Guardian
Bernie Sanders delivered one of his most sweeping indictments of modern capitalism and unchecked market forces on Friday at an address at the Vatican. He called for a focus on "the common good" as a moral imperative, drawing on the teachings of the Catholic Church for insights into the plight of the most vulnerable members of society.

Capitalist Deserter Pfizer Just Got a Spanking

William Greider The Nation
The Treasury Department is often a limp watchdog when it comes to policing arcane tax dodges, but this time, Treasury grew some fangs by tightening its regulations, which led Pfizer to call off the deal. Pfizer’s loss is a potent win for small-d democracy. It can provide a starting point for reinvigorating reform politics.

Worker Cooperatives Are More Productive Than Normal Companies

Michelle Chen The Nation
When maximizing profits isn't the only goal, companies can actually work better. Under worker-run management structures, co-ops might avoid the usual friction between bosses giving orders from above, and staff misunderstanding or disputing decisions or resisting unfair work burdens from below. Fusing the workforce and management streamlines operations and saves energy otherwise sunk into training and monitoring the workforce.
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