Pages

Friday, June 08, 2007

Link Love

On account of Capitalist Propaganda 101 (uh, the Economics class I have to take before September), which I've recently added on top of my already stressful full time job, my posts have been short and sporadic. I just don't have time to craft many long and well-thought out posts. So, bear with me for the next month or so. Meanwhile, here's some good readin':

Thinking Girl's Feminism Friday - domestic goddess series, part 1: Nobody Likes a Blatant Simulacrum: Betty Crocker as a Marketing Technique, Guest Blogged by Shannon

My New Crush about Nassim Taleb and the perils of prediction. It doesn't seem to be loading right now, so you might need to try Google's Cache.

The Corporate Climate Coup by David Noble, and the accompanying controversy. How exactly does science fit into progressive politics and activism?

"Liberal" Types and Official Enemies via Thought, Interrupted by Typos.

The 39th Carnival of Feminism

Finally, More Interesting Stuff to Read from my feedreader - updated daily

That should keep you busy for a while. :)

5 comments:

TomCat said...

RJ, you may be pleasantly surprised. Economics 101 is where I first learned to see through capitalist propaganda. By 103, I was writing about how corporations externalize costs with government assistance.

Red Jenny said...

bah. It makes me cranky. ;)

KC said...

Economics was the most important course that I ever took in undergrad. It was the only balance an Arts students gets to the leftist idealism of poli sci/sociology/etc. profs. It showed me that the world--and in particular the path to any 'just society' where the poor get what they need--isn't as clear as it might seem. Beating back the self interest of the "bourgeoise" is only half the battle. Then you have to figure out how to create an economy that works. I wouldn't be so dismissive of it as "capitalist propaganda".

Red Jenny said...

I'll admit it is useful to learn more about the assumptions that our economy is built on (know your enemy, as they say ;). It's not all terrible, but the underlying ideology is pretty irritating. If I hear another comment about how bad government intervention in the economy is I think I'll barf.

Also, the way Economics is treated by our society is completely different from, say, sociology or any other social science. Economics is almost fetishized while the other social sciences are given very little respect. Do we have a minister of sociology?

The truth is, I'm mainly complaining because I'm very stressed out: working full time and then to have to add this course on top of that. 14 hour days plus studying all weekend is much harder than it used to be! Mostly, I'm just whining :P

Part of me enjoys the class, when I think about it as an abstracted mathematical puzzle.

TomCat said...

I understand, RJ. Two pounds of sand in one pound bag. I found the fight between Mill and Malthus fascinating. Then there's Marx, whose ideas were as thoroughly distorted by his later followers, as those of Adam Smith.