The question arises: Why did the Great Recession happen?  My answer is poleconomic i.e., that it was due to…

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When I see videos like this:

...it makes me think about the borders between academia and politics. Specifically, I'm thinking about anthropology. I don't think that anthropology can be defined in any one way, and I certainly don't think that the discipline (in its many manifestations) is some sort of political party. I don't think that's what…

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Those in power almost always want to stay in power and they have the official means to manipulate the system in ways that underwrites the status quo.  Let’s take an example from the Arab Spring in Egypt.  As reported on Al Jazzera, the ruling military tribunal in Egypt released details about the districts and rules governing the upcoming 2011 parliamentary elections.  They way they decided to map out the districts and write the governing rules of each favored the election of…

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In my book, The Creation of Political Domination: From the Paleolithic to the Present I present scores of history and ethnographic cases describing how aspiring men fabricated symbolic representations to rise to power and attempt to stay there by controlling the flow of information.  This process of fabrication began with the advent of a storable-stealable-surplus roughly in the early years of the Neolithic and continues today. 

In this short article I want to outline the way…

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     In history and many ethnographic treatises we see office-holders and their subordinate officials seeking to create upward flows of tribute.  They essentially used five means to produce rents: (1) They inexorably moved to control a portion of primary producers’ output.  (2) They also conquered neighboring communities to transform them into tribute-paying clients.  (3) Another tactic was to control artisans and the production of prestige items.  (4) A further device was to control traders…

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In my writings on political economy I have often used the term poleconomic to highlight the fact that politics (the use of power) is never unconnected to those with economic clout.  They are two sides of a coin.  Persons with political power are usually either wealthy or in bed with the rich; and those with lots of money almost always try to influence those with political power.  The majority of citizens stand on the sidelines.

 

The situation in our present globalized…

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The Republicans and the Tea Party nuts claim that we should not raise taxes on corporations or rich individuals because they are “job creators.”  That is a crock of you-know-what!  Under the Bush Administration and subsequently the rich and big corporations have not been heavily taxed and many corporations and rich individuals cleverly avoid paying the taxes they are supposed to pay.  Under these conditions, according to Tea Party and their Republican lackeys, the rich should have been freed…

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I find Graeber's thoughts on ideology and government regulations interesting. Although he doesn't mention Libertarians (aka: anarcho-capitalists) he does touch on a fundamental contradiction in so-called Libertarian thought. The Libertarians and the Tea Party movement insist that the government is an institution that undermines the rights of individuals. Anarchists would agree. However, Libertarians and "Teabaggers" don't recognize the fact that in order for private property to exist there must… Continue