Attention Economy


Sunday, February 25, 2018

Sunday Readings

Profile of Germany’s controversial celebrity philosopher - Peter Sloterdijk
“In premodern societies, he argues, vengeance and blood feuds provided ample outlet for these impulses. Later, loyalty to the nation-state performed a similar function, and international Communism managed to direct class rage into utopian projects. But modern capitalism presents a particular problem. “Ever more irritated and isolated individuals find themselves surrounded by impossible offers,” he writes, and, out of this frustrated desire, “an impulse to hate everything emerges.”

The Collapse of Venezuela

Guns and Opioids Are American Scourges Fueled by Availability by SAM QUINONES
“The United States is in the midst of at least two plagues with much in common.
One is gun-fueled mass murder; the other is addiction to opioids — pain pills, heroin, fentanyl.
Both are uniquely American afflictions, killing in alarming numbers. Both are revved in part by commercial interests and in part by the collapse of community in American culture. Both persist because of the erroneous belief that there’s an easy answer to these complicated problems.
Above all, both are about supply”.

Russia and the West

In the battle for a deeply divided Britain, universities are now the front line