Excerpts from an essay

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

I thought this may be interesting to some, it's an unedited excerpt of an essay I've just written. The section here deals with Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist's, view on the types of capital we humans possess. The purpose is to convey some of the idea why "equality of opportunity" generally isn't that, that some people are born more equal than others. The context is from an essay attempting to explain why we see students from isolated parts of the country performing poorly in terms of access to post compulsory education.

( beware, the academic this is aimed at is a post modernist of the highest order, and this has been written accordingly )

This is how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

A little bit of gender, money, authenticity

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

So yes, this is going to be personal. But then again, everything is personal when you are a person.

The other night I was hanging out with my gf and two of her friends--who happen to be a gay couple. Very nice people.** As we were leaving I saw The Portable Marx on their bookshelf and asked to borrow it; they lent it to me with a "if that doesn't come back, I really won't mind" so I now have a new book to work through; and I will be posting snippits here and there of it, since I fear that Marx is much misunderstood. (I'm lookin at you Steve&co)

But Marx isn't what I want to talk about today.( Read more... )

Mine Your Own Business

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

I watched Mine Your Own Business, a documentary by Moving Picture Institute, which has caused a lot of controversy since it was aired for the first time in 2007. The IMDB film description says:


"Mine Your Own Business, a film produced by New Bera Media in association with the Moving Picture Institute, looks at the dark side of environmentalism.

It talks to some of the world's poorest people about how western environmentalists are campaigning to keep them in poverty because they think their way of life is quaint. It is the first documentary to ask hard questions of the environmental movement.

A wonderful insight into the arrogance of western environmentalism and it's attempts to socially engineer third world cultures.

You will hear much ado from those sheep who worship the new religion of environmentalism but this film takes you into the lives of those who suffer the effects of the "religion of the privileged"

You may love it or hate it..but either way, this documentary will make you feel something!"

( My take on the issue )