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Islam and Capitalism

Rodinson argues that both in its traditions and history Islam was no more and no less able to control borrowing, lending, interest rates, merchant entrepreneurs than any other religious program; the stereotypes of Islamic submission to God's will, or Islamic belief in predetermination, have played little part either in the acquisition of Islamic wealth or in its administration. Islam was frequently a way ruling classes had of keeping their power, and Rodinson suggests that this is as likely to be true now as it has been historically. Maxime Rodinson explains the mysterious Near East
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The Money Laundering Capital of the World

Taken together with its partly controlled territories overseas, Britain is instrumental in the worldwide concealment of cash and assets. It is, as a member of the ruling Conservative Party  said  last week, “the money laundering capital of the world.” And the City of London, its gilded financial center, is at the system’s core. The City of London is hiding the world’s stolen money
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Rudyard Kipling

Take up the White Man’s burden– Send forth the best ye breed– Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives’ need; On fluttered folk and wild– Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child. – Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” Kipling and British imperialism
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There Are Good Muslims And Bad Muslims

The good Muslims are those we can do business with. Related "The UK's National Crime Agency would not comment on any current investigation but told the BBC that organised crime syndicates laundered hundreds of billions of pounds a year through London, mainly through complicated company structures." The tentacles of the Italian mafia
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Philanthropy Is a Scam

“‘The world still has plenty of superrich people. Indeed, overall, the superrich are likely to emerge from the crisis in better financial shape than anyone else.’ Therefore, crucially, ‘the reservoir of wealth to fund philanthrocapitalism is still there.’ This self-fulfilling cycle—capitalism creates wealth, and thereby inequality, and thereby the conditions for the rich to spend surplus money on helping the poor, without ever alleviating poverty—dates back (Bishop points out) to the Renaissance, when both capitalism and philanthropy were born.” Charitable giving among the super-rich has one goal, and it isn't to change the world
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Dune and the ‘Arab World’

“Without knowing the fate of Arrakis and Paul, the current  Dune  appears no different from  Lawrence of Arabia  (1962): the story of a proud if uncivilised people born in a coarse if rich terrain who await a white messiah to grant them the peace and freedom that colonising forces have long denied. While the  Dune  saga starts as an allegory for colonisation, it ends as a warning against man-made ecological development and the danger of inherited myths.” Interstellar epic avoids Middle East cliches
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A Saudi-British Comedy?

“A Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United is close to being agreed.  Approval from the Premier League could possibly come in the next 24 hours after a consortium proved the Saudi state would not have control of the club.  Instead the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is set to provide 80% of funds for the £300m deal, will be seen as separate to the state and therefore allow the takeover to pass the Premier League owners' and directors' test.” — the BBC “The  Public Investment Fund  is the  sovereign wealth fund  of  Saudi Arabia . It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion.  It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia. It has been characterized as among the least transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world. In 2016, the  Wall Street Journal  noted that none of the fund's investments were named.” —...
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