1,623
1.6K
Apr 20, 2022
04/22
Apr 20, 2022
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WorldWideScrotes
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In this episode we cover the rest of chapter 3 of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s book The Dawn of Everything, and we investigate the authors’ claims that: The seasonal social structures of the traditional Nambikwara, Lakota and Kwakiutl were the result of conscious choice, grand theatre, play and expedience. That rich ice age burials were examples of ritually celebrated “freaks”rather than examples of hierarchy - but that they were also somehow examples of hierarchy at the same time...
Topics: anthropology, david graeber, nuer, lakota, inuit, kwakiutl, kwakwak'wakw
1,414
1.4K
Feb 21, 2022
02/22
Feb 21, 2022
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WorldWideScrotes
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In this episode we cover chapter 3 of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s book The Dawn of Everything, and we investigate the authors’ claims that human inequality has no origins based on archeology from upper paleolithic europe. In doing so we also look at the difference between dominance hierarchy and democratic hierarchy, and what the necessary criteria are in order to establish a a dominance hierarchy. We also discover that Graeber & Wengrow actually have no arguments for why human...
Topics: dominance hierarchy, palaeolithic, paleolithic, hunter-gatherers, egalitarian origins, david...
1,568
1.6K
Dec 16, 2021
12/21
Dec 16, 2021
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WorldWideScrotes
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In this episode we cover chapter 1 of The Dawn of Everything, which is entitled Farewell to Humanity’s Childhood; or Why This isn’t a Book About the Origins of Inequality. In doing so, we look at: How the book’s underlying thesis: that human social structure is ultimately a matter of choice and experimentation, is fundamentally incoherent, and how this idea sets us up for future dramatic political failures, similar to those of Occupy Wall Street or the Great Peasant’s Revolt of 1381....
Topics: David Graeber, David Wengrow, anthropology, occupy wall street, 1381, anarchsim, socialism,...
1,642
1.6K
Oct 26, 2021
10/21
Oct 26, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
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In this episode we read and critique the conclusion of Chapter 2 of Dawn of Everything , “Wicked Liberty: The Indigenous Critique and the Myth of the Noble Savage”, (previously released in French in 2019 as La Sagesse de Kandiaronk.) Given that the conclusion of the chapter is a tirade against the concept of “equality” we first examine what the word equality means in a political context, and what the term “egalitarian society” implies, followed by an examination of the history of...
Topics: david graeber, david wengrow, the dawn of everything, anthropology, politics, hunter-gatherers,...
1,851
1.9K
Sep 30, 2021
09/21
Sep 30, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
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A critical reading of "The Wisdom of Kandiaronk, The Indigenous Critique, the Myth of Progress and the Birth of the Left" from David Graeber & David Wengrow's upcoming book The Dawn of Everything. In this chapter Graeber & Wengrow argue that: The European Enlightenment was heavily influenced by Native American critiques of European culture. That European intellectuals reacted against this by developing the theory of "stages of human progress" from egalitarian...
Topics: Anthropology, David Graeber, David Wengrow, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hierarchy, Equality, Occupy Wall...
931
931
Aug 9, 2021
08/21
Aug 9, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
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What would happen if you could end sexism overnight by giving everyone a magic pink pill? A thought experiment about political strategy, with a real "pink pill" example from post-revolutionary rural China. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio podcast in your mobile app, or else search for “worbs” on your podcast app. Full transcripts available on the episode pages. What Is Politics Video Channel (video version of...
Topics: politics, gender, feminism, anthropology, china, sexism, patriarchy, class reductionism, race...
1,324
1.3K
Jul 19, 2021
07/21
Jul 19, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
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Interview with Arnold Schroeder of Fight Like an Animal , a wonderful and endessly fascinating show that looks through 20 years of experience of hardcore climate activism, at why left political movements are so weak and ineffective and how to change that, and which covers everything from history, to political psychology, to anthropology, psychiatry, animal behaviour, religious cults, and much more. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio...
Topics: activism, politics, socialism, anarchism, environment, law, fight like an animal
706
706
Jul 14, 2021
07/21
Jul 14, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
audio
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The terms "cancel culture" and "political correctness" are used to delegitimize ideas like gender equality and racial equality by conflating them with toxic dominance behaviour practiced by up-and-coming elites in the guise of egalitarian goals. In this segment, by seeking to properly define these terms, we look at: The Class Filter: how ideas that are a threat to power historically get mutated into tools of power once they pass through elite institutions, in this case Ivy...
Topics: politics, cancel culture, socialism, right-wing, left-wing, elites, academia, what is politics
712
712
Jun 6, 2021
06/21
Jun 6, 2021
by
WorldWideScrotes
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The foundation of “cancel culture” and “political correctness” is the wage labour employment contract. ARTICLES QUOTED: Corey Robin, Chris Bertram and Alex Gourevitch 2012 - Life at Work , Crooked Timber Amanda Hess 2013 - How Sexy Should A Worker Be? The Plight of the Babe in the American Workplace , Slate Yvonne Abraham 2015 - Tom Brady has more rights than most American workers , Boston Globe PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio...
Topics: politics, cancel culture, employment, capitalism, what is politics
1,158
1.2K
Mar 18, 2021
03/21
Mar 18, 2021
by
What is Politics?
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Human beings have free will, but our actions are constrained by material and practical realities. Understanding how material and practical conditions influence human behaviour makes the difference between success and catastrophic failure when it comes to the whole spectrum of political action, from private sector negotiation, to crafting legislation and making revolution. In this episode we look at: The relationship between economic activity and the high status of women in traditional...
Topics: political anthropology, materialism, idealism, anarchism, 1381
1,628
1.6K
Nov 25, 2020
11/20
Nov 25, 2020
by
What is Politics?
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Why are political hierarchy and male dominance so prevalent in human societies? David Graeber thinks it's because people were doing bong rips and experimenting with different social possibilities and then got stuck this way. Jordan Peterson thinks it's human/lobster nature. Fortunately for humanity, both of them are wrong. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio podcast in your mobile app, or else search for “worbs” on your podcast...
Topics: political anthropology, hunter-gatherers, egalitarianism, socialism, anarchism, hierarchy,...
1,008
1.0K
Sep 9, 2020
09/20
Sep 9, 2020
by
worldwidescrotes
audio
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Everywhere we look, past and present we see hierarchical societies where some people have more wealth, more power, and more rights than others. Was this always the case? Is hierarchy in our nature? Are egalitarian societies possible for human beings? If so, under what conditions? And is freedom compatible with equality? Suggested readings: Hierarchy in the Forest, by Christopher Boehm, 1999 The Dobe Ju/’Hoansi, by Richard Lee 1984/2012 Eating Christmas in the Kalahari , by...
Topics: anthropology, politics, political anthropology, hunter-gatherers, equality, hierarchy, human...
819
819
Sep 9, 2020
09/20
Sep 9, 2020
by
worldwidescrotes
audio
eye 819
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This episode is an exercise for everyone who keeps writing to me to insist that one or the other wrong definitions of Left and Right is actually correct. We look at who was on the left and on the right in three different time periods: 1. - The early French revolution in 1789, which is what the whole Left Right analogy is based on. 2. - The 3 rd republic in France 1870-1940 where seating in the National Assembly was arranged on a Left-Right spectrum, analogous to the...
Topics: politics, history, left, right, left-right political spectrum, french revolution, socialism,...
666
666
Jun 8, 2020
06/20
Jun 8, 2020
by
WorldWideScrotes
audio
eye 666
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Why protesters against police brutality have more bargaining power than they realize, and why police normally get away with murder. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio podcast in your mobile app, or else search for “worbs” on your podcast app. Full transcripts and bibliographoes available on the episode pages. What Is Politics Video Channel Vvideo version of this and all episodes available here, plus other stuff Audio Podcast...
Topics: Protesters, Police brutality
861
861
May 30, 2020
05/20
May 30, 2020
by
worldwidescrotes
audio
eye 861
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Definitions of political terms affect what we see and don't see in the world around us, and turn us into effective or ineffective communicators and political actors. Popular definitions of left and right popularized during the cold war and currently propagated by media and academia (the state vs. the market, big vs. small government, liberty vs. equality), frame the world in right-wing terms, while the historical definition (hierarchy vs. equality) frames the world in left wing terms. Competing...
Topics: politics, media, left-right political spectrum, government, racism, linguistic relativity
1,079
1.1K
Mar 28, 2020
03/20
Mar 28, 2020
audio
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Ordinary people, journalists and academics alike constantly use the terms left and right without knowing actually mean. This episode clears up the mess, and explains what these terms really mean, why we know what they really mean, and how the right and wrong definitions shape the way we see the world. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio podcast in your mobile app, or else search for “worbs” on your podcast app. Full transcripts and...
Topics: politics, left, right, education, political literacy
1,121
1.1K
Dec 6, 2019
12/19
Dec 6, 2019
by
WorldWideScrotes
audio
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Political terms are almost 100% pure worbs - words that everyone uses, without knowing what they mean. That's why Jabba the Hutt is sucking our brains out of a straw. PLEASE SHARE THIS SERIES! Audio Podcast click the link on your device to open the audio podcast in your mobile app, or else search for “worbs” on your podcast app. Full transcripts and bibliographoes available on the episode pages. What Is Politics Video Channel Vvideo version of this and all episodes available...
Topics: What Is Politics, Worbs, definition, capitalism, socialism, bernie sanders, Rand paul, alan...
1,001
1.0K
Jul 12, 2019
07/19
Jul 12, 2019
by
WorldWideScrotes
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How can people who don't have official decision-making power exert their influence over those who do? Concepts introduced and defined in this episode: POLITICS PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE POLITICS POLITIES GOVERNMENT DEMOCRACY AUTOCRACY CONSENSUS POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS ECONOMICS CAPITALISM IDEOLOGY CLASS THE MARKET BARGAINING POWER CONTRACTS Also available as a podcast on iTunes and Spotify Next episode: WHAT IS THE LEFT-RIGHT POLITICAL SPECTRUM, AND WHY SHOULD I CARE? help!...
Topics: what is politics, politics, capitalism, socialism, economics, political theory
