Testing Theories of American Politics

Leave a comment
When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.
(Gilens & Page, 2014, p.575)

www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B


Further References

Gilens, M., & Page, B. I.. (2014). Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspectives on Politics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1017/S1537592714001595
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Silvio Gesell and the monetary system

Leave a comment

Silvio Gesell (German: [ɡəˈzɛl]; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was a German merchant, theoretical economist, social activist, Georgist, anarchist, libertarian socialist,[1] and founder of Freiwirtschaft. In 1900 he founded the magazine Geld-und Bodenreform (Monetary and Land Reform), but it soon closed for financial reasons. During one of his stays in Argentina, where he lived in a vegetarian commune, Gesell started the magazine Der Physiokrat together with Georg Blumenthal. In 1914, it closed due to censorship.

The Bavarian Soviet Republic, in which he participated, had a violent end and Gesell was detained for several months on a charge of treason, but was acquitted by a Munich court after a speech he gave in his own defence.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Gesell


Further References

Preparata, G. G., & Elliott, J. E.. (2004). Free-economics: The vision of reformer Silvio Gesell. International Journal of Social Economics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1108/03068290410555408
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Onken, W.. (2000). The political economy of Silvio Gesell: A century of activism. American Journal of Economics and Sociology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/1536-7150.00046
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Dillard, D.. (1942). Silvio Gesell’s Monetary Theory of Social Reform. American Economic Review
Blanc, J.. (1998). Free money for social progress: Theory and practice of Gesell’s accelerated money. American Journal of Economics and Sociology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1998.tb03376.x
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Blanc, J.. (2002). Silvio Gesell socialiste proudhonien et reformateur monétaire. In Actes du colloque de la Société Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 1e décembre 2001, « Le crédit, quel intérêt ? »
Ilgmann, C.. (2015). Silvio Gesell: “A strange, unduly neglected” monetary theorist. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/01603477.2015.1099446
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Punceva, M., Rodero, I., Parashar, M., Rana, O. F., & Petri, I.. (2015). Incentivising resource sharing in social clouds. Concurrency Computation

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1002/cpe.3009
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Cognitive liberticide

Leave a comment

Liberticide = “destruction of liberty”.
adjective liberticidal = “destructive of liberty”.
after the French noun combining form liberticide:
liberté, liberty + -i- + -cide, killing.
Latin etymology:
libertas, liberty + caedere, to kill (cf. tyrannicide & regicide).

∴ Ergo: Cognitive liberticide = “the destruction of cognitive liberty”.

bernay

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. "
~ Edward Bernays on the first page of his book entitled "Propaganda" published in 1928.

Bernays was a nephew of Sigmund Freud and applied his ideas about the unconscious mind to mass-psychology. Bernays is allso called the father of public relations and the father of spin.

Manipulating the mind
Download the book as a PDF
Exit full screenEnter Full screen

Julius Cæsar’s “Panem et circenses”

Leave a comment

“Bread and circuses” (or bread and games; from Latin: panem et circenses) is a figure of speech, specifically referring to a superficial means of appeasement. As a metonymic, the phrase is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD — and is used commonly in cultural, particularly political, contexts.

In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace[1] — by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses).

Juvenal, who originated the phrase, used it to decry the selfishness of common people and their neglect of wider concerns.[2][3][4] The phrase implies a population’s erosion or ignorance of civic duty as a priority.[5]

This phrase originates from Rome in Satire X of the Roman satirical poet Juvenal (circa A.D. 100). In context, the Latin panem et circenses (bread and circuses) identifies the only remaining interest of a Roman populace which no longer cares for its historical birthright of political involvement. Here Juvenal displays his contempt for the declining heroism of contemporary Romans, using a range of different themes including lust for power and desire for old age to illustrate his argument.[6] Roman politicians passed laws in 140 B.C. to keep the votes of poorer citizens, by introducing a grain dole: giving out cheap food and entertainment, “bread and circuses”, became the most effective way to rise to power.

Juvenal here makes reference to the Roman practice of providing free wheat to Roman citizens as well as costly circus games and other forms of entertainment as a means of gaining political power. The Annona (grain dole) was begun under the instigation of the popularis politician Gaius Sempronius Gracchus in 123 B.C.; it remained an object of political contention until it was taken under the control of the autocratic Roman emperors.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

See also “qua exstant” 1678


Further References

Sanders, G.. (2012). Panem et circenses: Worship and the spectacle. Culture and Religion

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2012.658419
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Bueno Bravo, I.. (2009). El sacrificio gladiatorio y su vinculación con la guerra en la sociedad mexicana. Gladius

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3989/gladius.2009.219
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Ripoll López, G.. (1990). Panem et circenses. El circo y las carreras de caballos. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Serie I, Prehistoria
Logothetis, G., Matsaridis, A., & Kaimakakis, V.. (2012). The panem et circenses policy of the Regime of the Colonels in Greek sport, 1967-1974. Studies in Physical Culture & Tourism

Hitler’s “Mass Suggestion”

Leave a comment

 The mass meeting is necessary if only for the reason that in it the individual, who is becoming an adherent of a new movement feels lonely and is easily seized with the fear of being alone, receives for the first time the pictures of a greater community, something that has a strengthening and encouraging effect on most people…. If he steps for the first time out of his small workshop or out of the big enterprise, in which he feels very small, into the mass meeting and is now surrounded by thousands and thousands of people with the same conviction … he himself succumbs to the magic influence of what we call mass suggestion…
(Adolf Hitler, from Mein Kampf)

Hitler on “social Darwinism”:

Hitler had

gotten into the habit of throwing pieces of bread or hard crusts to the little mice which spent their time in the small room, and then of watching these droll little animals romp and scuffle for these few delicacies.” (Mein Kampf)

Peer-reviewed articles

Peters, T.. (2020). The Struggle for Cognitive Liberty: Retrofitting the Self in Activist Theology. Theology and Science

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2020.1786219
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Sommaggio, P., Mazzocca, M., Gerola, A., & Ferro, F.. (2017). Cognitive Liberty. A first step towards a human neuro-rights declaration. BioLaw Journal

Plain numerical DOI: 10.15168/blj.v0i3.255
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Weissenbacher, A.. (2018). Defending cognitive liberty in an age of moral engineering. Theology and Science

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2018.1488476
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Sommaggio, P., & Mazzocca, M.. (2020). Cognitive liberty and human rights. In Neuroscience and Law: Complicated Crossings and New Perspectives

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-38840-9_6
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Ienca, M.. (2017). The Right to Cognitive Liberty. Scientific American

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0817-10
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Ienca, M., & Andorno, R.. (2017). Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology. Life Sciences, Society and Policy

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Walsh, C.. (2010). Drugs and human rights: Private palliatives, sacramental freedoms and cognitive liberty. International Journal of Human Rights

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/13642980802704270
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Kraft, C. J., & Giordano, J.. (2017). Integrating brain science and law: Neuroscientific evidence and legal perspectives on protecting individual liberties. Frontiers in Neuroscience

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00621
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Rainey, S., Martin, S., Christen, A., Mégevand, P., & Fourneret, E.. (2020). Brain Recording, Mind-Reading, and Neurotechnology: Ethical Issues from Consumer Devices to Brain-Based Speech Decoding. Science and Engineering Ethics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s11948-020-00218-0
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Ienca, M., & Andorno, R.. (2021). Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and Neurotechnology. Analisis Filosofico

Plain numerical DOI: 10.36446/AF.2021.386
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Wolpe, P. R.. (2017). Neuroprivacy and cognitive liberty. In The Routledge Handbook of Neuroethics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.4324/9781315708652
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Walsh, C.. (2014). Beyond religious freedom: Psychedelics and cognitive liberty. In Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-40957-8_11
DOI URL
directSciHub download

White, A. E.. (2010). The lie of fMRI: An examination of the ethics of a market in lie detection using functional magnetic resonance imaging. HEC Forum

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s10730-010-9141-6
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Xu, H., & Dinev, T.. (2012). The security-liberty balance: Individuals’ attitudes towards internet government surveillance. Electronic Government

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1504/EG.2012.044778
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Davies, W.. (2017). Elite Power under Advanced Neoliberalism. Theory, Culture & Society

, 34(5–6), 227–250.
Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/0263276417715072
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Foster, J. B., & Holleman, H.. (2010). The Financial Power Elite. Monthly Review

, 62(1), 1.
Plain numerical DOI: 10.14452/MR-062-01-2010-05_1
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Iyer, R., Koleva, S., Graham, J., Ditto, P., & Haidt, J.. (2012). Understanding libertarian morality: The psychological dispositions of self-identified libertarians. PLoS ONE

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042366
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Boire, R.. (2000). On Cognitive Liberty. In Journal of Cognitive Liberties

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2013.753820
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Ienca, M., & Andorno, R.. (2017). Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology. Life Sciences, Society and Policy

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Shanker, S. G.. (2009). Three concepts of liberty. In After Cognitivism: A Reassessment of Cognitive Science and Philosophy

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9992-2_13
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Rindermann, H.. (2012). Intellectual classes, technological progress and economic development: The rise of cognitive capitalism. Personality and Individual Differences

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.001
DOI URL
directSciHub download

SENTENTIA, W.. (2006). Neuroethical Considerations: Cognitive Liberty and Converging Technologies for Improving Human Cognition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1196/annals.1305.014
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Desai, A. C.. (2011). Libertarian Paternalism, Externalities, and the “Spirit of Liberty”: How Thaler and Sunstein Are Nudging Us toward an “Overlapping Consensus”. Law and Social Inquiry, 36(1), 263–295.

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-4469.2010.01231.x
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Pustilnik, A. C.. (2012). Neurotechnologies at the intersection of criminal procedure and constitutional law. In The Constitution and the Future of Criminal Justice in America

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139108034.011
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Why do the lambs remain silent?

Leave a comment
On democracy, psychology, and the ruling elite’s methods for managing public
opinion as well as public indignation
Mausfeld_Whydothelambsremainsilent_2015

The enemies of freedom

Leave a comment

Aldous Huxley – Brave new world

Leave a comment

Anthropocene epoch

Leave a comment

QR code linking this URL

Anthropocene

The Anthropocene is a proposed epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on the Earth‘s geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.[1][2][3][4][5]

As of August 2016, neither the International Commission on Stratigraphy nor the International Union of Geological Sciences has yet officially approved the term as a recognized subdivision of geological time,[3][6][7] although the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), voted to proceed towards a formal golden spike (GSSP) proposal to define the Anthropocene epoch in the Geologic Time Scale and presented the recommendation to the International Geological Congress on 29 August 2016.[8]

Various different start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the Trinity test in 1945. As of February 2018, the ratification process continues and thus a date remains to be decided definitively, but the latter date has been more favored than others.

The most recent period of the Anthropocene has been referred to by several authors as the Great Acceleration during which the socioeconomic and earth system trends are increasing dramatically, especially after the Second World War. For instance, the Geological Society termed the year 1945 as The Great Acceleration.[9]

 


Further References

Dirzo, R., Young, H. S., Galetti, M., Ceballos, G., Isaac, N. J. B., & Collen, B.. (2014). Defaunation in the Anthropocene. Science

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1126/science.1251817
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R.. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[614:TAAHNO]2.0.CO;2
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Lewis, S. L., & Maslin, M. A.. (2015). Defining the Anthropocene. Nature

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1038/nature14258
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C., Summerhayes, C., & Williams, M.. (2018). The Anthropocene. Geology Today

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/gto.12244
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Crutzen, P. J.. (2006). The anthropocene. In Earth System Science in the Anthropocene

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/3-540-26590-2_3
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Douglas, I.. (2018). Ecosystems and Human Well-Being. In Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-809665-9.09206-5
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Hughes, T. P., Barnes, M. L., Bellwood, D. R., Cinner, J. E., Cumming, G. S., Jackson, J. B. C., … Scheffer, M.. (2017). Coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Nature

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1038/nature22901
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Steffen, W., Grinevald, J., Crutzen, P., & Mcneill, J.. (2011). The anthropocene: Conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0327
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Smith, B. D., & Zeder, M. A.. (2013). The onset of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2013.05.001
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Helmus, M. R., Mahler, D. L., & Losos, J. B.. (2014). Island biogeography of the Anthropocene. Nature

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1038/nature13739
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Malhi, Y., Gardner, T. A., Goldsmith, G. R., Silman, M. R., & Zelazowski, P.. (2014). Tropical Forests in the Anthropocene. SSRN

doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-030713-155141

Corlett, R. T.. (2015). The Anthropocene concept in ecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.10.007
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Paul J. Crutzen, & Eugene F. Stoermer. (2000). The “Anthropocene”. Global Change Newsletter

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2007.01564.x
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Van Loon, A. F., Gleeson, T., Clark, J., Van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Stahl, K., Hannaford, J., … Van Lanen, H. A. J.. (2016). Drought in the Anthropocene. Nature Geoscience

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2646
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Lorimer, J.. (2012). Multinatural geographies for the Anthropocene. Progress in Human Geography

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/0309132511435352
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Biermann, F., Abbott, K., Andresen, S., Bäckstrand, K., Bernstein, S., Betsill, M. M., … Zondervan, R.. (2012). Navigating the anthropocene: Improving earth system governance. Science

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1126/science.1217255
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J. A. N., Williams, M., Steffen, W., & Crutzen, P.. (2010). The new world of the anthropocene. Environmental Science and Technology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1021/es903118j
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Waters, C. N., Zalasiewicz, J., Summerhayes, C., Barnosky, A. D., Poirier, C., Gałuszka, A., … Wolfe, A. P.. (2016). The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1126/science.aad2622
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Haywood, A., & Ellis, M.. (2011). The anthropocene: A new epoch of geological time?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0339
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C. N., Ivar do Sul, J. A., Corcoran, P. L., Barnosky, A. D., Cearreta, A., … Yonan, Y.. (2016). The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2016.01.002
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C. N., Williams, M., Barnosky, A. D., Cearreta, A., Crutzen, P., … Oreskes, N.. (2015). When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal. Quaternary International

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.11.045
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Lewis, S. L., & Maslin, M. A.. (2018). Welcome to the anthropocene. IPPR Progressive Review

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1111/newe.12101
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Smith, A., Barry, T. L., Coe, A. L., Bown, P. R., … Stone, P.. (2008). Are we now living in the Anthropocene. GSA Today

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1130/GSAT01802A.1
DOI URL
directSciHub download

SANDERSON, E. W., JAITEH, M., LEVY, M. A., REDFORD, K. H., WANNEBO, A. V., & WOOLMER, G.. (2002). The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild. BioScience

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052[0891:THFATL]2.0.CO;2
DOI URL
directSciHub download

Verburg, P. H., Crossman, N., Ellis, E. C., Heinimann, A., Hostert, P., Mertz, O., … Zhen, L.. (2015). Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system: A global land project perspective. Anthropocene

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2015.09.004
DOI URL
directSciHub download