Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Inequality worsens the spread of Coronavirus

Can the Arab uprisings move towards a successful revolution?

The Science of (Not) Ending Global Poverty

Europe and the Class Divide

Former President of Ecuador Raphael Correa:  "Clearly what happened in Bolivia was a coup." I am puzzeled though when he said there was no corruption in the United States or that he loved the the U.S. What does loving an imperialist and very unequal country mean? A country that is rife with  justice at home and it is policing global injustice!

When a senior editor of a right-wing magazine argues for "taxing the better off" and "more public provision", it says something about the unease of the (international) ruling class. Counting the cost of neoliberalism in Chile

Tax justice now!

A powerful, but oft-ignored factor underlying the frustrations of Hong Kong’s people is inequality . And, contrary to the prevailing pro-democracy narrative, the failure of Hong Kong’s autonomous government to address the problem stems from the electoral politics to which the protesters are so committed. Hong Kong - the least affordable city on earth; where the inequality ratio is among the highest. A capitalist enclave left over by British imperialism. Via Michael Roberts "The cosiness between Hong Kong’s tycoons and government – both locally and extending to Beijing – a nexus blamed by many of the city’s street protesters today as the major cause of their woes: one of the developed world’s widest income gaps in the least affordable housing market on earth ." The fortunes of Hong Kong’s 75 wealthiest billionaires – estimated at US$224 billion in 2013 – made up nearly 82 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product, according to Wealth-X’s Billionaire Census. By l

Britain “The scorn which the angry young men hurled at the establishment was a class resentment but one devoid of any class consciousness,” feminist Lynne Segal writes perceptively in  Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy . In the decades that followed, shaped by race riots, feminism, Thatcherism, the miners’ strike and the collapse of heavy industry and trade unionism, working-class solidarity appeared to fracture. The rise of what’s now called identity politics began. From the the Blitz to Brexit "While in 1931 10% of married women  were in work, that rose sharply to 21% in 1951 and 47% in 1972 It is interesting to draw a c omparison here . If in an industrial power like Britain, an Empire, with 200 years of capitalist development, women became half of the workforce only in early 1970s, how should one analyse the condition of women in Africa and the Middle East? Why Arab women, for example, do not in total terms make half of the workforce? Does that have somethi

A very engaging review The students were  furious . For the first week of class, they read the polemical first chapter, which argues that human rights are not eternal universal truths, but rather a set of political claims that emerged in the 1970s amid a crisis of the moral authority of communism. They simply would not believe that their own highest ideals dated not to the Bible or “the golden rule” but to the age of disco. As it turned out, the students had a preconceived notion of what it meant to have their preconceived notions challenged, and it did not include historicizing their own moral commitments. This provoked reflection about what historicizing something means and how legitimacy for moral claims is constructed. The Inequality of "Human Rights"

Extremism Three men own more wealth than half of the poorest Americans

Summary: An argument for better taxation to reduce inequality. A couple of arguments refuting myths. However, there is no word about exploitation, the real source of inequality, which is also, paradoxically, the source of human advance. The argument that huge inequality is a consequence of bad taxation is a myth that the author reiterates. Inequality already takes place and is reproduced through property ownership and during the relations of production, i.e. before taxation itself. Consent and acquiescence play a role in accepting inequality. Agreed. And that is the power of ideology to legitimate inequality and gloss over exploitation. "The idea that rising inequality is inevitable begins to look like a convenient myth, one that allows us to avoid thinking about another possibility: that through our electoral choices and decisions in daily life we have supported rising inequality, or at least acquiesced in it. Admittedly, that assumes we know about it. Surveys in the UK an

At the end of the academic year at an elite institution, One student studying Development does not know where inequality comes from. Nor is she provided in the course with an alternative to what she called "dependency" of the underdeveloped countries or the Gates Foundation work. A student burst in laughter upon hearing "social justice" in a sentence. Then she said: it is impossible to have social justice. A student from France voted for Emmanuel Macron, and still supports him, because he hoped that he would legalise marijuana. A student from another elite college came to class full of excitment after she attended a lecture by the King of Spain. She confidently said that the King "was giving them tools to change the world."

Universal Basic Income doesn't work

" South Africa has a general election tomorrow, 25 years since the end of apartheid and six years since the death of Nelson Mandela. In those 25 years, the aspirations and hopes of most black South Africans (90% of the 58m South Africans) and, for that matter, many white South Africans, have been disappointed. In those 25 years, the majority have not seen any startling improvement in their living standards, education, health and public services." The dashing of a dream

Britain Typical of a liberal approach, there is no link between inequality and exploitation.  Where does inequality come from? Fear, Lies and Distraction

"None of the welfare benefits and financial packages on display today existed a decade ago. In fact, in earlier times the people in Qom used to equate being a student of religious studies, or  talabegi , with poverty and low quality of life. But this image and even self-presentation has been radically overturned in the past decade. Simultaneously, the state has been following neoliberal policies for the vast majority of society by privatizing universities and schools, deregulating labor laws, suppressing unions and cutting public budgets, while it has fashioned a welfare state in Qom for a few would-be its loyal subjects." Protesting Clerical Welfarism in Iran's Pious City

The crocodile tears of private jetters Davos: climate and inequality

The local and the globa l Göran Therborn employs a very interesting approach. I recommend the following articles: - Class in the 21st Century (2012) - New Masses (2014) - Age of Progress? (2016) - Dynamics of Inequality (2017) Note: you may not find free access to all of the articles unless you have a subscription.

Social progress in England 40% of young adults cannot afford to buy one of the cheapest homes in their local areas. 35% of 25-34 years olds own a house, down from 55% in 1998. "Inequality and exploitation are good. They give an incentive to people to work harder and harder if they want to buy a home. If they don't it is either them to blame, or that's life, we can't do anything about! After all, the untouchables, the capitalists and the landlords, are the wealth creators!"