WHAT IS POLITICS?
Politics is one of the only practical disciplines where none of the main concepts have clear, coherent definitions. We define ourselves with terms like "left” and "right" and we believe in things like "democracy," “markets,” "capitalism" and "sociali
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Show overview
WHAT IS POLITICS? has been publishing since 2020, and across the 5 years since has built a catalogue of 19 episodes. Releases follow an irregular cadence.
None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Education show.
There hasn’t been a new episode in the last ninety days; the most recent episode landed 8 months ago. The busiest year was 2020, with 7 episodes published. Published by WorldWideScrotes.
From the publisher
Politics is one of the only practical disciplines where none of the main concepts have clear, coherent definitions. We define ourselves with terms like "left” and "right" and we believe in things like "democracy," “markets,” "capitalism" and "socialism" even though we don’t really know what any of these words actually mean. This series aims to make sense out of the political muddle that we've inherited from media, academia, and from decades of cold war propaganda, so that we can figure what it is that we want when it comes to politics, and how we can achieve it.
Latest Episodes
16 – Dumbundance: can the “Abundance Agenda” fix the eternal housing crisis?
In the book Abundance, left liberal authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson identify unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape as an important factor in why there is a shortage of housing across the USA. Very quickly, billionaires and powerful donors have... Continue Reading →
15 – How Inequality of Wealth and Power are like Obesity and Diabetes
Why are human beings so greedy and why are our societies so hierarchical, if our ancestors were so fiercely egalitarian? What is “human nature” in this regard? A new theory about inequality of wealth and power in human societies.... Continue Reading →
Hello, Fellow Jews! How Lies About Oslo led to the Destruction of Gaza
My message to Jewish supporters of the war in Gaza. (TIMESTAMPS BELOW)   TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE: PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS: KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: TRANSCRIPT BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED VIDEO... Continue Reading →
14 – Why Elites Ruined the Meaning of the Left Right Political Spectrum (and we need it back!)
Market Exit, like many others before him, tells us that the left-right political spectrum is obsolete and does more harm than good. That’s because he doesn’t know what they mean. This video explains: 1. What the political left and right... Continue Reading →
13 – “Nationalism vs. Globalism”: Why is the Populist Right on the Rise?
Why are nationalist / populist / far right candidates and parties getting elected all around the world?  Why isn’t the populist left enjoying the same success? Why does inequality keep getting worse nomatter who gets elected? PAYPAL ONE TIME OR... Continue Reading →
12.1 – The Jews of Europe and the rise of Zionism (secret history of Israel / Palestine, Part I)
This series focuses on those aspects of the origins of the Israel/Palestine conflict that partisans on both sides mutually ignore. This episode examines jewish life in Europe and the conditions leading to the rise of Zionism until the first wave... Continue Reading →
12: From “Never Again” to “There are No Uninvolved Civilians”: The ABC’s of the Israel/Palestine Conflict
Elites use identity, particularly national identity, as a way of advancing their own interests, often against the interests of the populations that they pretend to represent. But before we can understand this, we need an ABC of the conflict, to... Continue Reading →
9.2 – Equity, Equality and Lizard People: When Social Control Masquerades as Social Justice
When ideas and movements that threaten to overturn established hierarchies of power are absorbed into elite institutions like Ivy League universities and for-profit corporations, they get transformed into ideas that support the status quo, while remaining cloaked in the language... Continue Reading →
10.2 The Dawn of Everything: How Graeber & Wengrow’s book sets us up to fail like Occupy Wall Street
In this episode we cover chapter 1 of David Graeber & David Wengrow’s book The Dawn of Everything, entitled Farewell to Humanity’s Childhood; or Why This isn’t a Book About the Origins of Inequality. In doing so, we look at... Continue Reading →
10. David Graeber & David Wengrow’s The “Dawn of Everything”: The Wisdom of Kandiaronk
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... Continue Reading →
9. The Real Cancel Culture is At-Will Employment
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?... Continue Reading →
8. Idealism vs. Materlialism – How History is Made: Haudenosaunee Women / the Suffragettes / the Double V Campaign / The English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 / The Anarchist Revolution in Spain 1936-39
Human beings have free will, but our actions are constrained by material realities.  Understanding how material and practical conditions shape human behaviour can make all the difference between success and catastrophic failure when it comes to the whole spectrum of... Continue Reading →
7. The Origin of Social Hierarchy and Male Dominance: why David Graeber and Jordan Peterson are Wrong
Why are hierarchy and male dominance so prevalent in human societies?  According to anthropologists David Graeber & David Wengrow, it’s because people were “self-consciously experimenting with different social possibilities,” and then we somehow got stuck this way.  Meanwhile according to... Continue Reading →
6. Political Anthropology: When Communism Works
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 state of the human world?  Is hierarchy in our nature?  Are egalitarian societies... Continue Reading →
5. How Do We Know What Left and Right Mean? Who’s who on the left and right: 1789-1917
This episode is for everyone who keeps writing to me to insist that one or the other wrong, incoherent, popular definitions of Left and Right is actually the correct one. How do we know the left and right refer... Continue Reading →
Understanding the News: How Tax Cuts Fuel Police Brutality
Politicians’ dependence on police as a revenue stream, prosecutors’ dependence on police for convictions, and falling tax cuts on the wealthy combine to give police incredible power. This is a key reason why they’re rarely punished, even for the most... Continue Reading →
4. How Political Definitions Shape Reality
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. The definition of government that journalists and academics use makes us blind to... Continue Reading →
3. The Left-Right Political Spectrum is About Class Conflict
Most journalists and Doctor-Professor academics don’t really know what the left-right political spectrum is about, but you will after listening to this episode! FULL TRANSCRIPT tweeter: @WorbsIntoWords help! http://www.patreon.com/whatispolitics video version: https://youtu.be/P3cmjNrXWms https://archive.org/download/03leftrightandyou/03%20-%20LEFT-RIGHT%20AND%20YOU.mp3
2. What is Politics and Why Should I Care? (video)
How can people who don’t have official decision-making power exert their influence over those who do?  A quick overview of some basic political concepts: POLITICS PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE POLITICS POLITIES GOVERNMENT DEMOCRACY AUTOCRACY CONSENSUS POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS ECONOMICS CAPITALISM IDEOLOGY CLASS THE... Continue Reading →