https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/public/ recent bookmarks from robertogreco 2026-06-01T04:58:16+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2wk2M2mr0U robertogreco whitesupremacy anitimperialism debt studentdebt americanexceptionalism exceptionalism liberals liberalism briahnajoygray 2026 jaredball politics history slavery enslavement landback colonialism utopia art scifi sciencefiction music poetry film media iloveboosters bootsriley capitalism democrats republicans tuckercarlson medicareforall indigeneity indigenous ai artificialintelligence machinelearning robots startrek populisim islamophobia revolution resistance right farright left identity identitypolitics internationalism americafirst discourse maga donaldtrump us literacy antiwar israel zionism palestine gaza genocide ethniccleansing antiimperialism race racism berniesanders globalsouth antiblackracism change policy marjorietaylorgreene electoralpolitics joebiden segregation kamalaharris antizionism communism anticapitalism socialism mccarthyism blacklists reparations hope audrelorde evolution human humans humanism michaelparenti leftism americanproject imperialism 2016 2020 2024 individualism representation a https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:90816755729e/ 2026-05-11T00:17:35+00:00 https://share.transistor.fm/s/cd365742 robertogreco highered highereducation academia colleges universities 2026 siddharthadeb pankajmishra journalism us india middleeast reporting columbia newschool education elonmusk twitter media dept precarity loans government policy capitalism neoliberalism theory edwardsaid gabo gabrielgarcíamárquez thirdworld globalsouth 1980s 1990s internationalism morality awareness power hegemony ussr sovietunion palestine postcolonialism publishing mainstreammedia spivak gayatrichakravortyspivak criticalthinking endofhistory francisfukuyama henrykissinger niallferguson adjuncts socialsciences philosophy adjunctification susansontag joandidiaon gorevidal nationalism iraq afghanistan 9/11 nytimes kurtvonnegut normanmailer resistance gaza liberals liberalism race racism democrats democracy donaldtrump politics success wealth money materialism professionalism careerism careers factchecking cooption cooptation security iraqwar nyimes corruption incompetence freedom livelihood living howwelive institutions https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:e7be98ba6236/ 2026-04-11T03:11:31+00:00 https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/04/prophetic-possibilities-a-few-words-on-david-w-orr-and-a-healing-vision-for-america/ robertogreco davidorr small local growth 2026 teddymacker us community society slow consumerism consumption presence poetry life living howwelive humanism hope love gratitude speed scale scientism spirituality education technology science conservation agriculture citizenship civics localism politics land willaimcatton prosperity peace peacemakers healing healers restoration storytelling stories well-being wellbeing success careerism human humane humans earth ecology environment beagoodancestor kinship davidsteindl-rast georgesturt togetherness connection ellendavis joannamacy garysnyder wendellberry intelligence culture religion geography time longnow bighere longhere bignow ugliness sustainability unsustainability ecologicalliteracy knowledge wisdom destabilization climate climatechange globalwarming slowknowledge democracy economics economy deniselevertov vaclavhavel randolphseverson civilization modernity ai artificialintelligence power gandhi martinlutherkingjr mlk haroldrobbins henryadams decency reason responsibilit https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:a34ccba6f1d0/ 2026-03-20T08:22:22+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ-Hsh1B2TA robertogreco madelinepeltz us society girlbosses capitalism genz generationz zoomers socialmedia conservatism millennials geny generationy rightwing tpusa turnungpointusa pregnancy values careerism economics labor work snap medicaid gender women employment careers families marketing peterthiel reactionaries heritagefoundation federalistssociety 1950s 2026 homemaking republicans jdvance greatbooks income socialsafetynet tuckercarlson charliekirk aesthetics ballerinafarm softgirls homesteading socialcontract housing healthcare healthinsurance familylife hannahneelemann influencers feminism entrepreneurship inequality personalbranding children policy politics medicareforall catholicism rural maga democrats donaldtrump trumpism backtotheland left marriage childcare familyleave communalism individualism moreperfectunion femininity https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:73d95e1a7eb9/ 2026-02-28T00:01:57+00:00 https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/p/what-holds-america-together robertogreco us culture chrisarnade 2026 americandream midwest work labor individualism rationalism thickculture thinculture immigration prosperity tolerance meaning meaningmaking economy economics manufacturing knowledgework workers careerism well-being wellbeing politics policy https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2fdd2283ccf9/ 2026-01-10T20:10:29+00:00 https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/p/why-are-americans-unhappy robertogrecoIt is easy to forget how astonishing modern life is … at the earthly level. A three-thousand-square-foot home, with central heat and AC, a two-car garage, and a two-acre estate complete with a swimming pool, with weekly festivals, is the life of a past baron or lord, now available, in some form, to most Americans. While Franklin Street in Michigan City is far less idyllic than Westchester suburbia, it would also be a magical place to anybody from the nineteenth century, from baron to lord to servant. It is a safe, well maintained place of immense wealth, convenience, opportunity, excitement, with endless diversions. Everyone can now “keep a carriage,” a past symbol of gentility, which drives them from one market to the next, from one fair to the next, including the twelve-floor casino at the end of the street, and access to all sorts of wines, liquors, and ales, from all over the globe. No matter where you live, there are endless diversions you can reach in a few hours by car, accessible to almost every American, that would make Vauxhall Gardens look humdrum by comparison. Such magnificence! Even the destitute, who I spend the majority of my time in the US with, are satiated enough that anyone who works with the homeless knows the primary issue is rarely a lack of food, or clothes, and it is far more common to meet the stubbornly picky rather than hungry. The man living in a tent, who will turn down a free sandwich, because “I prefer toasted sesame rolls”, or the couple living on the streets, who when I was taking them to get McDonald’s, pointed out, “There’s a nice sushi place we really like down the street, what about that?” or the constant vanity with appearance, “I only wear Jordans, you got any of them?” Beggars can be choosers, and they are in the US, and while I have few problems with that, because vanity and dignity don’t die with destitution, it is another indication of just how wealthy we are. Whether our historical wealth has translated into historic happiness, fulfillment, and contentment, is a far less settled question, and one which has launched a thousand think-pieces, books, hot takes, and political fights. The various factions in this debate, some genuine, most opportunistic, are roughly aligned into the following camps: 1. People are wealthy and happy, and any suggestion to the contrary is because you are looking in the wrong place, at the wrong things: (Insert their favorite statistic, anecdote, or quote.) 2. People are indeed unhappy, but that’s not because of economic anxiety; rather they’re deluded by X (insert some political figure, or institution the speaker does not like) into bad vibes, or because they are Y (insert some atavistic failing, like ignorant, racist, etc etc etc.), or both. 3. We might be historically wealthy, but all the wealth is being hoarded by X (corporations, billionaires, Jews, or the trifecta of corporations run by Jewish billionaires), and so the majority of Americans are indeed suffering from economic deprivation, because of bad actors. 4. We are not wealthy, and all the statistics saying that we are, are simply high class lies. 5. And then there are the single issue guys/gals, who jump into this debate, like they do every debate, with the “Everything, including voter anger, can be solved if we fix X”, where X is nuclear power, global warming, YIMBY zoning, the Jones Act, fluoride in water, prison reform, seed oils, high-speed rail, gut health, raw milk, kitten rescue, bicycle lanes, daylight saving time, kittens in bike lanes during daylight savings time, etc etc etc. My own contribution to this has been to say that yes there is genuine and widespread despair in the US1, but the primary reason isn’t economic2, rather it is because human fulfillment requires more than material wealth, which in our quest for more stuff, we have forgotten. People need physical communities, and while the US excels at material wealth, it’s achieved it, especially in the last forty years, at the expense of the aesthetic, communal, stable, and personal, and so the bad vibes are justified. While I still believe that, it is oversimplified, because exactly how we structure our economy does matter, as a recent viral Substack post highlighted. That piece, My Life Is a Lie, largely fell into camp three (we are poor and unhappy), and made the audacious claim that $140,000 is the new poverty line and so the anger of any family making less than that was understandable, and economic. Much of that post, to be blunt, is bullshit, certainly the intentionally provocative claim that any family making less than $140,000 is suffering from economic deprivation. Yet the piece went viral, because the core of its argument is correct — the less troll-ish claim that because of the ad-hoc nature of our government policies, a lot of Americans, especially those who make up what I would call the “aspirational bottom” are being squeezed. They are doing too well to qualify for assistance, but not well enough to be fully self sufficient, at least as we understand that. To be geeky for a second, in particular there’s a region (20 to 50K or so) where a family is treading water because their take-home pay almost flat-lines, just as they reach what should be escape velocity from the social safety net, on their way to reaching the American Dream. (The graph is from a different paper: Work Disincentives) [graph] " This is an important point because the dominant cultural archetype in the US is the self-made entrepreneur — someone who, through hard work, smarts, and dedication, can build that suburban lord’s life, complete with children who will do better than they did. This is the American Dream, and if there is a single idea unifying our country it is this. Again, to reference myself, while I do believe in individual agency, I also believe societies come with strong forces that shape expectations and even shape people’s understanding of a ‘good life.’ That is, society provides citizens playbooks that they are urged to follow which are supposed to end in happily ever after, and ours is that you can become a millionaire on your own terms as long as you hustle hustle hustle — and when that doesn’t happen, it’s very lonely and humiliating, because we as a culture have put all our eggs in that one particular basket. At the expense of community, friendships, and even family. So if you’re working your ass off and yet you keep doing about the same as the family down the street who doesn’t seem to be giving their all, then what the F, man. If we’re going to be the meritocracy we claim to be, you simply can’t do this to those near the bottom pursuing the American dream, who not surprisingly, will justly feel they’ve been sold out, deceived, and/or they themselves have failed, none of which leads to happiness. This is an important point because the dominant cultural archetype in the US is the self-made entrepreneur — someone who, through hard work, smarts, and dedication, can build that suburban lord’s life, complete with children who will do better than they did. This is the American Dream, and if there is a single idea unifying our country it is this. Again, to reference myself, while I do believe in individual agency, I also believe societies come with strong forces that shape expectations and even shape people’s understanding of a ‘good life.’ That is, society provides citizens playbooks that they are urged to follow which are supposed to end in happily ever after, and ours is that you can become a millionaire on your own terms as long as you hustle hustle hustle — and when that doesn’t happen, it’s very lonely and humiliating, because we as a culture have put all our eggs in that one particular basket. At the expense of community, friendships, and even family. So if you’re working your ass off and yet you keep doing about the same as the family down the street who doesn’t seem to be giving their all, then what the F, man. If we’re going to be the meritocracy we claim to be, you simply can’t do this to those near the bottom pursuing the American dream, who not surprisingly, will justly feel they’ve been sold out, deceived, and/or they themselves have failed, none of which leads to happiness. So yes, Americans are materially wealthy and unfulfilled, and the primary problem is cultural—we’ve sacrificed community and meaning to emphasize an archetype built on acquiring as much stuff as possible, but then we have made that unnecessarily hard to do. When you give your citizens a cultural script, built on the material, that promises hard work will lead to success, and then your policy design ensures it doesn’t, people will end up both economically frustrated, as well as spiritually empty, sitting in their living room streaming the latest movie wondering what exactly is the point of life. Or, they will feel they have failed at the material, while also having little else to give them meaning. The dismissive response by pundits to a good economy with frustrated citizens is to say, “the vibes are off”, but the vibes really really matter! Bad vibes are the people saying, I’m playing the game I’m supposed to play, yet it’s not rewarding in the way I’ve been told it would be. So the solution isn’t more stuff, it’s policies that don’t actively punish the people trying to live out the primary cultural script we’ve given them, or we need a change in the script, and I’ve got no idea how to make that happen, or even if we should."]]> us happiness culture chrisanade 2025 wealth society hunger homelessness homeless appearance vanity dignity destitution anxiety economics despair fulfillment aterialism community communities aesthetics economy policy government socialsafetynet americandream expectations hustleculture meritocracy politics workingpoor dependentpoor povery inequality careerism europe china authoritarianism childcare families accumulation success https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:43b0c8379d25/ 2025-10-01T16:28:47+00:00 https://www.theredhandfiles.com/where-do-youstand/ robertogreco nickcave care caring politics unknowing notknowing conservatism temperament morality beauty life living oppression marginalization careerism survival stance doubt certainty uncertainty hivemind herdmentality dogma violence complicity courage spirituality https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:535abe62bae6/ 2025-08-23T18:02:53+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtHCT2AHWeE robertogreco 2025 gaza palestine israel resistance displacement refugees hamas suppression genocide firstintifada 1948 nakaba egypt survival identity journalism ethniccleansing settlercolonialism politics media mediabias bias youth hope memory 2005 2023 2024 ashfaaqcarim osloaccords openairprison concentrationcamps 1995 walls westbank culture billclinton dehumanization ramallah demographics ehudolmert capetown southafrica apartheid jabalia jabaliya policy labor economics humiliation palestinianauthority blockade settlements mahmoudabbas armedresistance georgewbush textbooks education iof idf dismantlement fatah edwardsaid haganah history terrorism uk us mujahideen afghanistan jihad twostatesolution balfourdeclaration tonyblair2011 arabspring starvation muslimbrotherhood 2011 2014 2015 2020 2021 bennygantz mosheya'alon bezalelsmotrich itamarben-gvir benjaminnetanyahu yoavgallant 2018 2019 greatmarchofreturn supremacy muhammadshehada west careerism cowardice germany switzerland netherlands un complicity silence canon marcho https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:4b95c7db3309/ 2025-07-27T21:53:15+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2STLFm4iqI robertogreco westernmarxism marxism 2025 antiimperialism academia highered highereducation colleges universities materialism dialectics nature west history knowledgeproduction antoniogramsci györgylukács lenin vladimirlenin zizek imperialism philosophy theory revolution politics workingclass labor elitism socialism utopia perryanderson domenicolosurdo left empire ussr china perfectionism struggle privilege pmc professionalmanagerialclass rehtoric resistance neofascism fascism emancipation liberation praxis dialecticalmaterialism classstruggle nato ukraine iran democracy rights humanitarianism humanity performance petitbourgeois purism carlofino matteonepi revisionism gabrielrockhill class academics anticommunism rulingclass politicaleconomy science culturalanalysis culture social reason empiricism usevalue exchangevalue discourse careerism capitlaism music theoryindustry bourgeois secondinternational internationalism easternmarxism globalsouth laboraristocracy colonialism colonization exploitation intellectuals inte https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:2caf248f1930/ 2025-06-12T23:26:02+00:00 https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/journalists-and-their-shadows-w-patrick robertogreco journalism media chrishedges patricklawrence 2025 ajliebling coldwar capitalism corporations corporatism mainstreammedia thenation noamchomsly ralphnader johndewey context history causality agency responsibility russiagate iraqwar ukraine tedpostol andrewbacevich margaretflowers healthcare power heritagefoundation cia americanenterpriseinstitute economics politics policy abm billionaires inequality elite elitism us ifstone cwrightmills josephalsop complicity professionalization walterlippmann press hlmencken publiuc 1920s professionalclass workingclass 1975 gaza 9/11 ussr communism sovietunion arnoldtoynbee johnwinthrop arifleischer society jillabramson nytimes harrrytruman judymiller dickcheney scooterlibby iraw middleeast richardperle al-qaeda carljung manufacturingconsent manufacturedconsent nationalism racism cambodia sydneyschanberg metrodesk aberosenthal arthurmiller deathofasalesman psychology descartes sartre jean-paulsartre wapo washingtonpost time ideology imperialism empire malaysia korea indonesia https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8745515ed9c9/ 2025-06-12T19:10:18+00:00 https://rojospinks.substack.com/p/everyone-i-know-is-worried-about robertogreco rosiespinks 2025 security unschooling deschooling careers mutualaid childcare insecurity labor work community destabilization parenting insulation linkedin ethics values morality morals douglasrushkoff billionaires elites elitism society environment careerism lifestyle lifestyles well-being wellbeing alternative economics plants resume cv freelance jonathansmall collapse howwelive living life us uk precarity jobs https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:95a12ced0863/ 2025-06-04T18:13:43+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4IQz8Ff-A0 robertogreco chrishedges hasanpiker 2025 gaza palestine genocide ethniccleansing israel zionism antizionism us politics fascism donaldtrump media journalism massmedia legacymedia joesacco erasure displacement disposession history mattmiller joebiden warcrimes nytimes power press cynicism morality careerism socialmedia claudinegay liberaldemocracy democracy antisemitism falsenarrative highered highereducation harvard columbia academia colleges universities princeton nyu stevenpinker democrats republicans left leftism liberals liberalism protest protests iraqwar russiagate weaponsofmassdestruction wmd encampments cyhirsh abughraib nordstreampipeline dictatorship judaism sheldonadelson miriamadelson firstamendment zionismmccarthyism pluralism inclusiveness inclusion inclusivity authoritarianism narrative mccarthyism zionistmccarthyism jewishvoiceforpeace joshhawley ethnonationalism settlercolonialism colonialism colonization humanitarianlaw genocideconvention whitesupremacy supremacy benjaminnetanyahu arabjews avishlaim vikt https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f01c3ab0e858/ 2025-04-30T00:20:56+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWC9GlznUhk robertogreco 2025 makc stevensalaita jaredware us imperialism palestine gaza israel society power violence oppression dispossession genocide ethniccleansing academia highered highereducation colleges universities education war surveillance zionism antizionism repression donaldtrump civilrights civilliberties freespeech academicfreedom institutions liberation freedom aoc alexandriaocasio-cortez bds boycott diverstment sanctions democrats liberalism liberals resistance avoidance westbank occupation settlercolonialism colonialism colonization zionsim fear ideology haiti hawaii kashmir socialization discourse suppression criticalthinking ferguson protest protesting injustice race racism history edwardsiad fredhampton impunity capitalism inequality socialjustice corporations corporatism management administration celebrities politicians electorpolitics markruffalo kneecap self-preservation consequences careerism conformity complicity precarity solidarity individualism socialism pragmatism compliance rulingclass immiseration ant https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3c2d3b9566bc/ 2024-12-13T21:51:12+00:00 https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/you-cant-rebrand-a-class-war robertogreco hamiltonnolan class classwar classwarfare left us politics economics donaldtrump linakhan ftc albertsons kroger mergers acquisitions law legal joemanchin kyrstensinema nclb labor work workers democrats republicans policy jenniferabbruzzo elonmusk spacex sec taxes taxation inequality populism regulatorycapture regulation careerism medicareforall healthcare health medicine radicalism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:141c4028d50a/ 2024-11-15T17:00:31+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDj2dUIQcA robertogreco chrishedges 2024 institutions elections briahnajoygray kamalaharris donaldtrump oligarchy joebiden us society greenpart cornelwest joerogan media mainstreammedia politics democracy fascism israel palestine genocide ethniccleansing left leftism resistance unions organizing morality activism church churches spirituality community labor work capitalism feudalism journalism press celebrities noamchomsky gaza lebanon corporations corporatism democrats republicans berniesanders hillaryclinton barackobama jillstein ralphnader socialism marxism sheldonwolin hierarchy totalitarianism privateequity kkr harvesting finance simonandschuster elonmusk taxation taxes deregulation stevebannon norms decorum civility michelmoore robertreich billclinton demagogues cults cultofpersonality angeladavis voting credibility workers 1996 nafta layoffs unemployment workingclass betrayal 1994 reform kshamasawant civilrightsmovement pressure liberalism liberals neoliberals religion belief war jordanpeterson marxists christianright zionism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:52b4b2226784/ 2024-05-08T00:18:07+00:00 https://stevesalaita.com/our-your-pitiful-ethics-a-response-to-zadie-smiths-shibboleth/ robertogreco stevensalaita zadiesmith palestine israel politics 2024 neutrality violence statusquo protest liberalism zionism racism cynicism ignorance careerism bootlicking peace clarity ethics rhetoric genocide ethniccleansing colleges universities highereducation highered academia elitism gaza thenewyorker https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:034b221f09e3/ 2024-03-14T18:34:25+00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegzTvPT6xY robertogreco stevensalaita millennialsarekillingcapitalism 2024 academia highered highereducation palestine israel colleges universities zionism capitalism anxiety quiet socialpressure socialfunctions cliques labor work antizionism solitude grace jaredware oppression repression censorship principles solidarity media circumspection rulingclass brandequity radicalism orthodoxy careerism socialmedia compromises medialiteracy gatekeeping tastemakers activism scholars scholarship promotion education socialcapital cliquishness decolonization kinship community ostracism exposure mainstreammedia transactionalrelationships aspirations branding personalbranding audience ideas discussion debate networking values transactional conversation organizing presence onlinepresence internet online culture algorithms attention consumerism 2014 2017 ulteriormotives motivation politics workplacepolitics workplace left socialdemocrats exploitation sensationalism snitching snitches busdriving schoolbus children language immigrants us unemployment https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:7dcf0578ec40/ 2024-03-13T01:46:37+00:00 https://stevesalaita.com/the-customs-of-obedience-in-academe/ robertogreco stevensalaita 2024 academia israel labor obedience disobedience highered highereducation zionism antizionism palestine faculty academicfreedom virtue compliance conformity collegiality civility unions punishment rewards criticism careerism careers community administration institutions controversy avoidance cowardice inclusion kinship probity citizenship rulingclass dickdurbin socialmedia hierarchy hierarchies antagonism ostracism class consumerism cooperation devotion dispossession power structuresofpower censorship repression freespeech freedomofspeech ideology liberalism adminstrativebloat socialtransformation inequality society solidarity struggle resistance activism capitalism gatekeeping civilliberties liberation insurgency electoralism access infamy ethics hiring coercion inquiry objectivity acculturation productivity loyalty classloyalty groupthink criticalthinking liberals policebrutality paleoconservatives behavior cohesion algorithms unionbusting work funding employment bds divestment imperialism co https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:5143f043eeb0/ 2023-01-21T22:04:57+00:00 https://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/wendell-berry-the-work-of-local-culture/ robertogrecowendellberry rural education local slow small unschooling deschooling centralization decentralization 2011 farming democracy community communities power storytelling professionalization professionals standardization standards extractivism extraction exploitation elitism culture society urban urbanization suburbs suburbia homogenization entertainment distraction belonging purpose environment land soil memory enrichment knowledge highered highereducation academia canon insurance corporations corporatism corporatization mutualaid sales advertising economics consumerism consumption gdp sustainability pollution degradation money poverty generations parenting media television tv classics bible shakespeare williamwordsworth kinship institutions institutionalization schools schooling publicschools indocrtrination children careerism professionalism careers place home meritocracy conservation environmentalism green ecology landscape garbage methods agesegregation government salaries income love memories collectivism ch https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:46a2ab19fd3d/ 2022-04-08T18:18:16+00:00 https://newpol.org/adolph-reed-sanders-coates-and-reparations/ robertogreco reparations berniesanders ta-nehisicoates solidarity 2016 left capitalism socialism elections professionalmanagerialclass atonement alum deraymckesson marissajohnson redistribution class adolphreedjr careerism politics economics race racism dei diversity corporatism neoliberalism ronkarenga kimberlycrenshaw charlesogletree fredhampton martinlutherkingjr mlk molefiketeasante oppression inequality elijahmuhammad teachforamerica tfa royinnis floydmckissick brucerauner kenwarren pmc https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f53ae909a124/ 2020-04-29T02:49:58+00:00 https://conversations.e-flux.com/t/sreshta-rit-premnath-critique-as-unlearning/5722 robertogrecoSara Danius: You speak of the necessity of unlearning one’s learning and unlearning one’s privileges, and you have also said that one must “learn to speak in such a way that the masses will not regard it as bullshit.” Speaking from your own experience as teacher, professor, and intellectual, how do you suggest we approach this project? Spivak: […] I understand all my work as being in a sort of stream of learning how to unlearn and what to unlearn, because my positions are growing and changing so much; since I don’t really work from within an expertise, I have to really be on my feet learning new things all the time, and as I learn these new things, my positions change. It’s a bit embarrassing, but they do. Initially, if I remember right, when I started talking about “unlearning one’s learning,” I was really thinking more about how to behave as a subject of knowledge within the institution of neocolonial learning. I also thought about how to behave as a woman subject of knowledge—I am not even saying feminist—obliquely placed within access to the subjectship of learning […] I’m having to actually give a lot of time to just sort of hanging out with women who are as out of touch with what one normally thinks of as the possibility of ethics, as can be. And, you see, I can’t imagine myself there as someone who is going to write anything, because if I do that, then my relationship to the entire situation changes. […] Just as one doesn’t romanticize, one also doesn’t investigate, because one is trying to learn outside of the traditional instruments of learning, and also with the persistently asked question, “What is it to learn, what does it mean to learn?” In that situation, the suspension of learning […]2 I am drawn first of all to Spivak’s humble acknowledgement that she “doesn’t work from within an expertise” and that her ongoing learning results in a constantly shifting ground. Art educators in the age of the “post-medium condition,” as Rosalind Krauss called it, find themselves in a similar position. To doubt one’s own expertise and speak that doubt within the framework of a critique is to cleave a space for unlearning. Within the American education system, where students often rely on a teacher’s authority, making oneself vulnerable or performing uncertainty perturbs students. If a teacher is not the authority, then why should the student be paying good money for an education? Within the art school, the absence of specialization is replaced with referential knowledge. We point students to art practices that have been validated by the capitalist institutions of power (galleries, collectors, and art fairs) and produce an aspirational logic for their motivations. Rather than orienting a student’s desires towards an already available structure of power, how do we prolong the “suspension of learning” that Spivak speaks about, in the anticipation of something else, something other? The monetization of the private university likewise creates a peculiar set of problems. Expensive private universities draw students who belong to a social class that is able to pay for such an education. While faculty are the dominant class within the university, their salaries—especially adjunct salaries—place them in a social class well below that of many of their students. This presents a set of contradictory power relations within the classroom. In order to unlearn privilege, we must create a space within the critique to articulate and recognize the power relations that structure the student-teacher relation. Making power and privilege visible is a step towards unlearning it. Rancière provides Joseph Jacotot, his “ignorant schoolmaster,” as an example of someone dismantling the explicative order that separates teacher and student. He says that “One could learn by oneself and without a master explicator when one wanted to, propelled by one’s own desire or by the constraint of the situation.”3 While reimagining the purpose of the critique as creating the conditions of possibility for learning—rather than teaching—Rancière doesn’t go far enough. The first problem we encounter is that possibility has no ethical orientation and it falls upon someone—perhaps the teacher—to orient the possibilities of a student by providing the right information, by asking the right questions, by offering the kind of productive resistance against which a student tests and shapes their thinking. The aim of critique would be to teach the student how to critique and act as a counter-resistance to the teacher. In critique as unlearning the teacher and student create a space of debate wherein both positions have the potential to change. The second problem is that Jacotot does not make visible the class relations, race, and gender relations that structure his position as a teacher. Withdrawing and allowing learning to take its own self-directed course is not a strategy that confronts this problem; rather, it must once again be articulated, made visible, and actively unlearned. We must return to the student’s valid question about the kind of uncertain academy that I’m imagining: “Why must I pay for unlearning?” Rather than asking what job or professional validation they will gain from their education, how do we help students focus on self-actualization—becoming better people who are able to explore the world with open curiosity, ask critical questions of their experiences, and seek answers beyond what is acceptable or prescribed? Certainly the cost of higher education in this country gets in the way of these core questions. How do we help art students unlearn a functionalist notion of education, in exchange for a critical and ethically oriented one that is capable of imagining and actively creating a society beyond the capitalist art world? In the absence of an autonomous sphere from which to speak, or towards which to direct production, teachers must take seriously Fred Moten’s call to be in but not of the university.4 We must not and cannot dissolve the academy, but we can use it as an “undercommons” that opens other spaces within, beneath, and beside it. To conclude, I would suggest simply that in order for this reorientation to occur, teachers themselves must be focused on self-actualization rather than careerism. Teachers who themselves instrumentalize critical theory rather than asking the kinds of questions that might unground their own position perpetuate this problem. A reactive withdrawal from the questions posed by critical theory into the romantic non-position of art-for-art’s-sake is not the answer either. This would be, to extrapolate from Spivak, a suspension of unlearning rather than her recommendation that we must suspend learning. We must, as teachers, internalize the kinds of questions raised by critical theory and use the studio critique as an occasion to perform its resultant ungrounding and create the conditions of possibility for unlearning.”]]> 2016 criticism learning howwelearn howweteach teaching structure postcolonialism feminism criticaltheory unschooling deschooling andrealiu artiststatements populism uncertainty notknowing knowing understanding gayatrispivak 1993 unlearning expertise amateurs amateurism experts knowledge rosalindkrauss education highered highereducation us art logic josephjacotot ignorantschoolmaster critique fredmoten universities colleges careerism sreshtaritpremnath jacquesrancière saradanius gayatrichakravortyspivak spivak rancière https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8792e1c41ef3/ 2018-11-29T05:28:09+00:00 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/sheryl-sandberg-harvard-business-school-leadership robertogreco harvard harvardbusinessschool ethics sherylsandberg facebook 2018 business careerism morality hbs via:nicoleslaw leadership billclinton mba mbas harvardbusinessrevie hbr duffmcdonald competition competitiveness winning decisionmaking billgeorge larrysummers abrahamzaleznik johnleboutillier jeffskilling bowenmccoy michelanteby norms values capitalism neoliberalism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:3e076666d1d5/ 2017-04-29T19:05:03+00:00 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/arts/design/vito-acconci-dead-performance-artist.html robertogreco vitoacconci 2017 names naming art artists public architecture design careers careerism body bodies multitudes modernism change environment https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:9f0cf40b2a13/ 2016-05-01T00:19:28+00:00 http://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/330T/350kPEEEstevaVsFreiretable.pdf robertogreco gustavoesteva madhuprakash danastuchul liberation pedagogy pedagogyoftheoppressed wendellberry solidarity care love caring carlossalinas neoliberalism teaching howweteach education conscientization liberationtheology charity service servicelearning economics oppression capitalism mediators leadership evangelization yvonnedion-buffalo johnmohawk legibility decolonization colonialism karlmarx ivanillich technology literacy illegibility oraltradition plato text writing memory communication justice modernism class inequality humility zapatistas comandantemarcos parochialism globalphilia resistance canon gandhi grassroots hope individuality newness sophistication specialization professionalization dislocation evolution careerism alienation self-knowledge schooling schools progress power victimization slow small zapatismo paulofreire charities philanthropy emilianozapata chiapas mexico autonomy anarchism indigenous indigeneity ezln bankingmodelofeducation https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:c5bf045a166f/ 2015-03-25T08:37:12+00:00 http://randallszott.org/2015/03/24/the-best-art-criticism-shouldnt-even-talk-about-art-steve-cottingham-opens-the-door-but-cant-walk-through/ robertogrecoArt criticism is in crisis because we have a problem with professionalization. We are steeped in the vernacular of capitalism, and we are afraid to leave it. Our world is rife with administration, mimicking the bureaucratic processes of the corporations so many of us profess to hate. We are content to let our artistry cease as soon we begin writing proposals, drafting business letters, and carefully collating our résumés. We push limits and subvert expectations everywhere except on the back-end, that realm which increasingly dominates artistic practices. Too often, we seek to industrialize our passions. We simultaneously demand creative and financial nourishment from what my grandmother’s friend once dismissively called “a hobby.” Art critics laud artwork that resists capitalist pressures, but rarely does the criticism equally embody the form of this resistance. I have also talked incessantly about monetizing passions and what that, along with adopting a language and culture of work implies for such passions. So, I would offer the same advice to art critics, that Kaprow offered to artists: “Once the task of the artist was to make good art [criticism]; now it is to avoid making art [criticism] of any kind.” Or: “Artists [art critics] of the world, drop out! You have nothing to lose but your professions!” And finally: “…the idea of art cannot easily be gotten rid of (even if one wisely never utter the word). But it is possible to slyly shift the whole un-artistic operation away from where the arts customarily congregate, to become, for instance, an account executive, an ecologist, a stunt rider, a politician, a beach bum. In these different capacities…[art] would operate indirectly as a stored code that, instead of programming a specific course of behavior, would facilitate an attitude of deliberate playfulness toward all professionalizing activities well beyond art.” So rather than being art critics, become unart critics. Congregate in those uncustomary places, use your creative/critical/empathetic/poetic/agitational powers in every nook and cranny – sometimes, if you insist, in the mausoleum of art , but don’t be “afraid to leave it” either because I “can’t imagine a more thrilling place to be.”"]]> randallszott 2015 art artcriticism criticism professionalization unart stevecottingham capitalism work hobbies artleisure leisurearts resistance bureaucracy careerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:8d04970fadd6/ 2015-01-12T21:20:24+00:00 http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117615/problem-grit-kipp-and-character-based-education robertogreco education grit kipp 2014 jeffreyaaronsnyder psychology angeladuckworth virtue kindness ethics values schooling schooliness careerism charactereducation amorality individualism civics https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:de0611800688/ 2014-12-12T04:48:28+00:00 https://twitter.com/jomc/status/452904946221219841 robertogreco careerism joannemcneil via:litherland 2014 attribution acknowledgement erasure https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:a70377c01f49/ 2014-09-26T05:36:53+00:00 http://www.theonion.com/articles/humanity-surprised-it-still-hasnt-figured-out-bett,36361/ robertogreco power humor satire theonion 2014 careerism authority abuse https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f1a9c98c6379/ 2014-08-18T23:16:31+00:00 http://gawker.com/against-editors-1623198702 robertogreco journalism writing editing administration middlemanagement administrativebloat teaching management leadership careers careerism 2014 hamiltonnoland thisisaboutteaching education https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:b0943065e973/ 2014-07-11T22:26:09+00:00 http://online.wsj.com/articles/what-corporate-climbers-can-teach-us-1404862389 robertogreco personality careerism ambition corporatism 2014 psychology sociopaths behavior manipulation narcissism impulsivity antagonism attention status https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1f14286d0b47/ 2013-12-30T16:56:39+00:00 http://www.bigspaceship.com/bsscom2013/wp-content/themes/bss/assets/pdf/BigSpaceship_OurManual_Digital.pdf robertogreco bigspaceship organizations manifesto 2013 howwework horizontality culture business hierarchies hierarchy autonomy change adaptability small humans humanism design language openstudioproject tcsnmy sharing teaching learning making howweteach howwelearn lcproject meetings professionalism collaboration critique careerism camaraderie agency trust community manifestos https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:1d13e0d4a794/ 2013-01-05T00:51:01+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/george-saunders-just-wrote-the-best-book-youll-read-this-year.html?pagewanted=all robertogreco struggle progress suicide davidfosterwallace canon understanding kindness living life thinking open openminded dignity character integrity ideals morality humans human fallibility aynrand capitalism careerism compassion junotdíaz humanism writing economics empathy georgesaunders 2012 wisdom storytelling https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:589b5f41f909/ 2012-04-09T20:29:25+00:00 http://badatsports.com/2010/episode-253-nils-norman/ robertogreco dogooderism academia careerism culture readerbrothers lauraowens making authenticity values trust productivity production productionvalue local deschooling unschooling communities dinnerparties supperclubs formalization access creativepractice contradiction mfa lowresidencymfa purpose posterstudio soprah situationist culturalspace privatespaces publicspace institutionalization bohemia bohemians cityasclassroom cities gentrification josefstrau stephandillemuth economics neoliberalism richardflorida socialpractice denmark chicago site-specificprojects roskildecommune collaboration arteducation education 2010 artproduction nilsnorman colinward explodingschool artists interviews art mfas https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:09d20716111d/ 2012-02-13T06:49:41+00:00 http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/some-advice-for-young-people robertogreco advice people workpolitics careerism 2012 careerists choiresicha https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:71eda8c7dfef/ 2011-02-22T13:00:29+00:00 http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=ec0af280d3 robertogreco careerism careers principles cv besomebody dosomething do doing vision purpose learning adaptability conformity unschooling deschooling education racetonowhere well-being philosophy meaning tcsnmy truth truth-seeking identity measurement progress life wisdom johnboyd wellbeing https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:f409776467d4/ 2010-12-25T17:42:04+00:00 http://ayjay.tumblr.com/post/2381336277/all-of-the-disciplines-are-increasingly robertogreco wendellberry commercialism professionalism local localism property careers careerism disciplines industrialism industrialization multidisciplinary interdisciplinary crossdisciplinary isolationism https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:753ed88d6fe5/ 2009-05-26T04:34:49+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?pagewanted=all robertogreco education learning well-being life cv making doing crisis highereducation colleges universities middlemanagement matthewcrawford alternative careers unschooling deschooling careerism society class failure moralhazard credentials gradschool degrees meaning happiness fulfillment economics mechanics macroeconomics philosophy wellbeing https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/b:fcb6efb42d7e/