Florence Nightingale, social reformer, statistician (!), and the founder of modern nursing, said, “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.” Her “no excuses” policy seems like a great lesson for everyone, but don’t get me wrong. I know very well there are reasons — systemic reasons — that affect […]
Orientation When I first considered myself a socialist revolutionary in 1970, I was hounded by free marketers’ challenge: “name me one country where socialism works”. These market fundamentalists would then hold up the most strident expectations for socialism: Everyone is exactly equal with no classes. There is an abundance of goods which are conveniently circulated. […]
There actually are people who want to have all the power and wealth in their own hands, and so it is in their interest to make the rest of us believe we have no power, no choice. Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister in the 1980s, had the perfect phrase for it, “TINA — There Is No Alternative.” That is what they would love us to believe.
