Book Review: Why Democracy Failed

Political commentator Allan Milne Lees not only explains why western democracy is failing, he offers a solution:

https://www.tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/blog_details.php?blog_cat_id=21&id=79

#tiereddemocraticgovernance
#medium #politicalphilosophy

From 1789 seating charts to Roman civil wars, a historical look at why the left-right political spectrum is an obsolete trap—and why it’s time for fusion. (A direct result of eleven hours in an emergency ward reading about Napoleon.)

Link in comments.

#history #PoliticalPhilosophy #Napoleon #ancientrome #essay

War Is A Racket

Title: War Is A Racket

Author: Smedley D. Butler

Completed: May 2026 (Full list of books)

Overview: After finishing Gangsters of Capitalism about Smedley Butler, I decided to read through his anti-war book as well. It’s short and easy to read, clearly designed to spread his message rather than engage in philosophical thinking but he does a good job showing how so many companies make lot of money off war without the owners or major shareholders ever being negatively impacted by it. I assume this book helped shape our cultural understanding since these ideas don’t seem shocking now but appear to have been revolutionary when he wrote them. Either way, we’re 100 years later and companies are still making a killing off of war.

Highlights:

• The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits — ah! that is another matter — twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent — the sky is the limit.
• they sold Uncle Sam 35,000,000 pairs of hobnailed service shoes. There were 4,000,000 soldiers. Eight pairs, and more, to a soldier. My regiment during the war had only one pair to a soldier. Some of these shoes probably are still in existence. They were good shoes. But when the war was over Uncle Sam has a matter of 25,000,000 pairs left over. Bought — and paid for. Profits recorded and pocketed.
• Then it was found that we could reduce the cost of wars by taking all the prize money and keeping it, but conscripting [drafting] the soldier anyway. Then soldiers couldn’t bargain for their labor. Everyone else could bargain, but the soldier couldn’t. Napoleon once said, “All men are enamored of decorations . . . they positively hunger for them.” So by developing the Napoleonic system – the medal business – the government learned it could get soldiers for less money, because the boys liked to be decorated. Until the Civil War there were no medals. Then the Congressional Medal of Honor was handed out. It made enlistments easier.
• An allied commission, it may be recalled, came over shortly before the war declaration and called on the President. The President summoned a group of advisers. The head of the commission spoke. Stripped of its diplomatic language, this is what he told the President and his group: “There is no use kidding ourselves any longer. The cause of the allies is lost. We now owe you (American bankers, American munitions makers, American manufacturers, American speculators, American exporters) five or six billion dollars. If we lose (and without the help of the United States we must lose) we, England, France and Italy, cannot pay back this money . . . and Germany won’t. So … “

What would an ideal constitution look like?

https://assemblyproject.blog/2026/05/25/what-would-an-ideal-constitution-look-like/

@icanhazpdf

Asking for a friend! (for real this time)

I'm looking for these two articles:

📄 Reading Jacques Ranciere's 'Ten Theses on Politics': After September 11th
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1353/tae.2003.0015

📄 (De)void of Politics?: A Response to Jacques Ranciere's Ten Theses on Politics
https://doi.org/10.1353/tae.2003.0011

Any help is appreciated! 🧡

#ICanHazPdf #pdf #PoliticalPhilosophy

okay, okay, hear me out. I've just developed an argument connecting Hayek, ai and the communism.

One of the main line of Hayek's critique of communism is that centrally planned economy is doomed to fail because the multitude of market relations is too complex for the human mind to grasp. But proponents of liberalism claim that the computational power of ai is much greater than human could ever have. Therefore, there is a chance that we could have communism if the economy would be planned by a powerful instance of ai.

I don't think techbros see it coming.

#politicalphilosophy #ai #liberalism #capitalism #socialism #techbros

Against Elections by David Van Reybrouck, review and analysis

https://assemblyproject.blog/2026/05/21/against-elections/

Foucault’s work on power matters now more than ever in this era of #interregnum, polycrisis, concentration of political power, and erosion of democracy and civil rights.

"Power is all the more cunning because its basic forms can change in response to our efforts to free ourselves from its grip"

https://aeon.co/essays/why-foucaults-work-on-power-is-more-important-than-ever

#Foucault #literarycritic #power #historyofideas

#politicalphilosophy

Ethics in Ukraine’s Musical War

https://ilyaganpantsura.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/ethics-in-ukraines-musical-war/