March 13, 2016, Revised March 14, 2016. By Jonathan Michael Feldman A New York Times editorial published on March 12, 2016 faults Sanders for claiming that a political revolution is either desirable or operational.  They write: “revolutions are typically bottom-up, not top-down events.” They also note: “there are not enough elected office holders in Congress…

Continue readingDeconstructing The New York Times on “The Bernie Sanders Revolution”

By Jonathan Michael Feldman April 28, 2016 The Logic of Subversion:  Capitalism, Fascism, and Democracy Some parts of the Left or apparent Left have used the term “Fifth Column” to describe their activities.  The term is used on a Facebook page to describe one such group.  While social media may not have a large impact…

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February 7, 2016 By Jon Rynn Bernie Sanders has stirred the passion of many voters by concentrating on the problem of growing income inequality. Inequality, he points out, leads to stagnating and declining income for most people. The higher income for the top 1% completely distorts the political system. With more power for Wall Street…

Continue readingWill the 2016 Election Really Save the Middle Class?: The Real Cause of Income Inequality

COMBINE MORALITY, ECONOMICS AND POLITICS WHEN IT COMES TO THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND ARMS EXPORTS IN SWEDEN Will the narrow framing of the debate over the potential renewal agreement between Sweden and Saudi Arabia lead to a defeat for those opposed to arms exports?  To avoid defeat of those opposed to renewal and to broaden…

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Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin Perpetual growth under present circumstances threatens the ecosystem. The current system of energy usage is unsustainable. Zero growth in a depression threatens to create a permanent class of unemployed and underemployed persons, however. Debts and imports can rob wealth, but simply cutting deficits without generating wealth and growth…

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By Jonathan Michael Feldman Don’t Just Cut the Defense Budget With Laissez-Faire Economic Policy Progressive and left leading economists have proposed military budget cutbacks,  increased taxes and closing loop holes as ways to reduce the deficit.  The problem with the first proposal is that it often is not accompanied by proposals to create civilian alternatives…

Continue readingWhy Not Falling Off the Fiscal Cliff Requires Conversion

By Brian D’Agostino What I find remarkable about the recent “fiscal cliff” debate in the United States, which is now morphing into the “debt ceiling” debate, is the absence of America’s bloated and obsolete war economy from the discussion, even as vitally needed programs are on the chopping block.  For two months, right wing Republicans…

Continue readingCongress coddles military while neglecting Sandy victims and violence prevention

By Jonathan M. Feldman, Stockholm University, May 24, 2013. Kjöller Argument 1: Upploppen blir ett Rorschachtest, en bläckplump där allt från Sverigedemokrater till anarkister tycker sig kunna läsa in just det som bekräftar den egna verklighetsbilden… Analysis of Argument 1: The claim is that people from the far right to the far left will interpret…

Continue readingA Deconstruction of Hanne Kjöller’s article, ”Upplopp: Husby som ett Rorschachtest,” Dagens Nyheter, May 24, 2013. Accessible at: http://www.dn.se/ledare/signerat/upplopp-husby-som-ett-rorschachtest.

 By Jonathan Michael Feldman, November 25, 2015, Modified November 26, 2015. Party Leaders Valorize the Politics of Scarcity On Swedish television (SVT) yesterday we saw a series of party leaders speak. One key point was when the Green Party Leader Gustav Fridolin said that Europe must do its duty by taking in more refugees (their…

Continue readingThe Politics of Scarcity: New Code Words for Swedish Politics