“The use of the misleading term “populism” for everything that is either to the left or to the right of the Clinton-W-Obama consensus implies that the only real, serious and responsible policies are those of that consensus. But it is precisely these policies that are at the origin of the rise of “populism”. So we come to the paradoxical conclusion that to fight “populism” you need to support policies which have led to the rise of “populism” in the first place.”

            –   Branko Milanovic, 03/02/2019

 

Quote day (IN A NEW FORMAT!… Oooooo!!)

America’s subversion of Haiti’s democracy continues

I was brushing up on my knowledge of modern Haiti recently (Yes, I just said that and, No, I don’t have many friends), when I came across this article which really does, along with its URL links, provide an encompassing overview of Haiti’s tragic modern story at the hands of its colonial overlords.

 

Enjoy:

 

America’s subversion of Haiti’s democracy continues – Mark Weisbrot, 2012

“Sure looks a lot like conservatism” by Didier Fassin

Sometimes you just can’t say it better.

For those currently harbouring illusions about Macron or the future of France, here is Didier Fassin’s LRB piece in response to Sophie Pedder’s fawning hagiography “Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation” (The Economist, quelle surprise).

Not unlike his political alter egos – self-proclaimed progressives such as Obama and Trudeau – Macron has proven himself an expert showman and mountebank, an authoritarian and ‘president of the rich’, hiding in plain sight behind identitarian rhetoric and intelligent public relations.

Front National never stood a chance of winning in 2017. Will we be able to say the same in 2022?

Enjoy:

Didier Fassin, ‘Sure looks a lot like Conservatism’