Last Night to the Flicks.

W.H. Auden

“Bay has set a pattern that can go on poisoning the well as long this stuff turns a profit. It’s not just that he is killing the art of movies – he’s killing the joy of movies as well. His cynical, untouched-by-human-hands approach to filmmaking is that a sucker is born every minute and he’s here to serve. My dream is that this whole tapped-out robo series will transform into a turd and audiences will have the good sense to flush it. That’s an ending for you.”

Sure, other Bonds were silly and cheesy too, but no one did it better (or more dad-like) than, well, Moore. And to be honest, isn’t that what sets Bond apart from other franchises such as Bourne? Aren’t these highly questionable decisions during production what makes these movies so entertaining? And nobody did it better than Sir Roger Moore. Thanks for the laughs, you will be missed.

”I AM a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. And whenever their weakness is exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure. I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. Nor do most people–all the people who believe advertisements, and think in catchwords and spread rumours. The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.” – C.S. Lewis

The dictatorship of the majority can’t just be ignored in situations like this, lazily brushed away with the occasional “that’s the way democracy works”. The outcome may be painful and maybe even blunt, but it most certainly isn’t a glorious expression of the workings of democracy. If anything it’s a testament to the shortcomings of its most brute form, disregarding the wishes of half of the population. The only thing this referendum could ever had hoped to achieve was polarization and resentment. Instead of this sad political spectacle, bereft of all and any democratic imagination and ingenuity, I would argue that the two camps should have gotten together, presented the issues most important to them, explore what points they shared and developed a common, unifying solution (perhaps influenced by a majority ruling). Now, that would have been a glorious expression of how democracy works.

Hunter S. Thompson is probably one of, if not the, most exciting and absolutely bad sh*t crazy author and journalist of all times. A magnificent writer and the creator of gonzo journalism passed away on this day 2005. As a long time contributor to Rolling Stone some of his work can be read (or rather experienced) here.

Biden is always the best part of these things.

Funny, but a bit depressing I must say. Honestly though, I too probably rely more on these “crude information shortcuts” myself than I would like to admit. 

Blackstar

I find this a very interesting read, it’s refreshing with an article that gives a bit more context to this whole issue with ISIS. Often when I read about this situation in Syria and Iraq (mostly in leftist media) one gets the impression that the regions geopolitical history lacks all relevance with exception for the second Iraq War of course. But the removal of Saddam wasn’t the problem, he was. Or as the Economist wrote this last summer: “the Arab spring showed that the stability Mr Bush shattered at such great cost was already doomed”.

So the root cause, if you like, is not some type of “crony capitalism” or some rotten apples here and there, it originates from capital itself and its own, inner functions. From this point of view, mere regulation and redistribution is not enough. What’s needed, instead, is the implementation of anti-capitalist policies. But does that mean we should excuse Shkreli?

Joseph Stiglitz on rent seeking (accumulation by dispossession)

George Orwell

This is a very different approach to mainstream economic thinking. I really like this kind of independent freethinking that Graeber stand for.

Stephen Hawking

Picking up on the religious theme, neuroscientist Sam Harris argues in his 2014 book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion that the self is an illusion created by the brain. I like this theory because of its elegance, and I do have some thoughts around it. Evolutionary, I think it makes total sense. Imagine interacting in complex social situations without a sense of once self, it would be impossible. Having a self is in itself a huge advantage, and it is very much dependent on the physical brain. Just look at how the self is affected by a disease such as dementia, or the personality changes one might suffer after a stroke. Given what we know about this, it makes the idea of an afterlife unthinkable or at the very least pointless.

Voltaire, Candide