“You talkin’ to me”

Taxi Driver at 50: Martin Scorsese’s film remains a troubling reflection of our times - a forlorn portrait of a society coming apart at the seams.

“There are a lot of Travis Bickles, especially right now.”

"They’re all talking to each other on the internet. When I first wrote about him, he was talking to nobody. He really was, at that point, the Underground Man. Now he’s the Internet Man."

"It is a sobering thought."
>>
https://theconversation.com/taxi-driver-at-50-martin-scorseses-film-remains-a-troubling-reflection-of-our-times-261662
#ressentiment #violence #discontent #masculinity #rage #racism #misogyny #EconomicDecline #loss #ranking #valorisation #ImperialistViolence #inequality #progress #regression #WesternModernity #SocialAcceleration #film #internet #PublicSphere #OnEdge

Israel’s GDP contracts by 3.5% in Q2 2025, the largest decline since 2023. 📉🇮🇱 The war with Iran has significantly impacted the economy. #IsraelEconomy #GDP #IranWar #EconomicDecline #CentralBureauOfStatistics

https://kokcha.news/6608/sharp-decline-in-israels-economy-gdp-contracts-by-3-5-in-q2-2025/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Three countries. One warning.
The UK, Canada, and Australia are all showing signs of managed decline — where rising housing costs, gutted industries, and overloaded infrastructure are pushing societies to the brink.
This video explores how the same political choices have led to collapsing systems, and why Australia is next.

#housingcrisis #economicdecline #australia #uk #canada #infrastructure #manageddecline #auspol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXggyMcqe78

Read this if you want to understand why the US has declined and the challenges of turning it around - and why Trumpist nationalism will only make it worse.

https://policytensor.substack.com/p/notes-on-us-china-policy

#US #EconomicDecline #China #trade #productivity #inequality

"None of this is new. But I am wearier today because three developments have all but destroyed the idea of the #EU as an effective force for good within and beyond Europe."
[...]These are not the musings of a Euroskeptic who thinks that European democracy is impossible because a European demos is impossible. It is the lamentation of a Europeanist who believes that a European demos is entirely possible but that the EU has moved in the opposite direction. We have watched Europe’s rapid economic decline and its democratic (and ethical) deficits develop in parallel."

https://archive.is/LuXrp

#destroyedEU #deficits #economicDecline