"The only extended conversation I ever had with police officers on the subject of puppets, on the other hand, was carried out while was handcuffed- which if nothing else makes it very difficult to take notes." - David Graeber *On the phenomenology of giant puppets*

"Our feelings of helplessness stem from the fact that for thirty years the tools of persuasion and coercion have been mobilized to wage an ideological war for capitalism, rather than to create conditions for capitalism to remain viable." -David Graeber

From *The ultimate hidden truth of our the world: David Graeber
From discussion between Piketty and Graeber.

THOMAS PIKETTY: "I am not sure that we are on the eve of a collapse of the system, at least not from a purely economic viewpoint. A lot depends on political reactions and on the ability of the elites to persuade the rest of the population that the present situation is acceptable."

4 times a year, Boston's Lucy Parsons Center puts out a zine.

look who they featured this time around-- right next to Mr David Graeber

"Talking about rational efficiency becomes a way of avoiding talking about what the efficiency is actually for."
~ David Graeber, 2015, The Utopia of Rules
#DavidGraeber #freemarket

"WB & IMF are two of the powerful organisations in the world, the police & general authorities were willing to shut down their parties & make them miserable just so 2000 anarchists can have a really bad day.

More I think about it, That one incident represents key to ruling class strategies. It is critical that people who organise do not have the feeling of agency and fun"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4fQEn15NgI

If I gotta hang out in a seedy motel, I might as well read Debt : the first 5000 years, by David Graeber.

If you trust the historian #DavidGraeber, there is in fact nothing new with what’s happening in the USA right now.

In prehistoric times, a city did not form as ways of fighting war, but ended as one.

Egalitarian communities formed cities and made them successfull. When they become too successfull, they are eventually conquered by more primitive, but warring tribes.

This triggers decay, as the egalitarians start to leave and the city falls in a few hundred years, and is finally abandoned.

"Everyone is familiar with the sorts of jobs whose purpose is difficult to discern: HR consultants, PR researchers, communications coordinators, financial strategists, logistics managers. The list is endless."
#DavidGraeber
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/06/punching-the-clock/

Via @DGI ICYMI his website contains a complete curriculum for high school and college students regarding #bullshitjobs

"Normally, when you challenge the conventional wisdom—that the current economic and political system is the only possible one—the first reaction you are likely to get is a demand for a detailed architectural blueprint of how an alternative system would work, down to the nature of its financial instruments, energy supplies, and policies of sewer maintenance.

Historically, this is ridiculous. When has social change ever happened according to someone’s blueprint? "

Part III hittin' in a timely way, right about now. This #davidgraeber collection of essays and writings is being devoured via audiobook rn in my kitchen while I make jelly thumbprint cookies. Highly recommend both the book and the cookies. #amreading #anarchism #revolution #books #resistance #wekeepussafe

The article I linked in my recent posts on news bias at the BBC are yet another symptom of the Professional-Managerial Class. Which the late David Graeber excoriated in his article on the way they're wrecking academia;

https://davidgraeber.org/papers/anthropology-and-the-rise-of-the-professional-managerial-class/

The idea that "management" is a particular set of skills - transferable from retail stores, to newsrooms, to airlines, to governments - is a dangerous nonsense. One that is rapidly driving human societies towards a cliff.

(1/?)

Lovely tribute to the late David Graeber by Rebecca Solnit, from her foreword to a new collection of his writing.

"David’s recurrent rallying cry as both a scholar and an activist was: “It does not have to be this way.” Where academia can be cool and guarded, pulling away from direct engagement, he was warm and enthusiastic, wanting to see ideas lead to actions that could change the world"

#DavidGraeber #Anarchism #Politics #Anthropology

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/07/david-graeber-optimistic-anarchist-rebecca-solnit?CMP=firstedition_email

"Everywhere, the #centrists argument that the left must abandon its principles to fight #fascism and that the only choice is between corporate (#corporatists) #bureaucrats and #Nazis has resulted in the Nazis being strengthened. This is a failed formula every time." -#DavidGraeber

via @DarthBuddha GoogleTranslated.