Yanis Varoufakis — Utopian science fictions legitimising our current dystopia – 2019 Taylor Lecture, Oxford University

Big! We really need to be talking about this and examining assumptions and presuppositions that act as hidden assumptions. Yanis is a systems thinker.

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Oxford University, kindly invited me to deliver the 2019 Taylor Lecture on 12th February 2019. I chose the topic of Realistic Utopias versus Dystopic Realities – my aim being to highlight the manner in which really-existing capitalism is marketed as a utopian science fiction that has nothing to do with… really-existing capitalism. Behind this elegant utopian mathematical the powers-that-be hide a dismal dystopia that is failing humanity in a variety of ways.…

The emperor has no clothes.

Pure capitalism and pure socialism are both based on utopian thinking. They are ideal rather than real, based on models whose stipulated assumptions are not achievable in the real world given existing conditions. It is questionable whether those conditions could ever be met. 

This doesn't imply, however, that more ideal society as a functional utopia is not achievable by getting from here to closer to there, that is, getting from where we are now to where would like like to be and doing so realistically through iteration and incrementation. This is an evolutionary process in a complex adaptive system characterized by reflexivity and emergence, hence, affected by synergy with the implication of uncertainty. Conversely, trying to impose an ideal structural system constructed from assumptions is folly.

Utopian science fictions legitimising our current dystopia – 2019 Taylor Lecture, Oxford UniversityYanis Varoufakis

David F. Ruccio — Utopia—without classes

Good analysis of utopian versus utopianism. Short and important.

The difference is that between ideal and real. 

If the core assumptions are unrealistic and infeasible, then the consequent conceptual model will be "utopian" in the pejorative sense, and the project unachievable — "pie in the sky." If there is a disconnect between the ideal and the real, then it's utopianism.

If the assumptions are realistic and feasible, then the conceptual model will be "utopian" in the positive sense, and the project is achievable if implemented correctly.

If there is a disconnect between the ideal and the real, then it's utopianism.

Professor Ruccio explores how neoclassical economics and Marxian economics stack up in this regard.

Occasional Links & Commentary
Utopia—without classes
David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Sheldon Richman — My Kind of Candidate...

…would support polycentric law and spontaneous order.

Would require a much higher level of collective consciousness with a much more expanded appreciation of universality than at present.

There is also the issue of getting from here to there.

Conclusion: utopian thinking, akin to magical thinking at this point.

The practical question is how to evolve the requisite level of collective consciousness for spontaneous order based on appreciation of universality. At minimum, it requires a reconfiguration of educational systems, advancing beyond tribalism, etc.

Free Association
My Kind of Candidate...
Sheldon Richman

Chris Dillow — On centrist utopianism

There's a common theme here. It's centrist utopianism - the idea that moderate and feasible tweaks within capitalism can generate big improvements.… 

I say all this as a counterweight to a longstanding prejudice - that centrists and moderates are realistic and hard-headed whilst we leftists are utopian dreamers. Of course, this accusation applies to some on the left - anything is true of someone - but for me the opposite is the case. I'm a Marxist because I'm a pessimist. It is those who think that (actually-existing) capitalism is easily reformable so that inefficiencies and injustices can be eliminated who seem to me to be the dreamers.…

Stumbling and Mumbling
On centrist utopianism
Chris Dillow | Investors Chronicle

Sandy Krolick — Dusha: The Russian Soul and the Collapse of the West

This is a thoughtful article by an American who chooses to live in Siberia. In America, he would be one of those adopting an alternative lifestyle, whom the mainstream calls DFHs, or if they have a pedigree like he does, eccentrics.

Fort Russ
Dusha: The Russian Soul and the Collapse of the West
Sandy Krolick

Born and raised in New York State, Sandy Krolick holds a doctorate in religious studies from University of Virginia, an masters degree from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in NY. 

After a ten-year academic career, with appointments at the University of Virginia, the University of Denver – Daniels College of Business, and the Colorado School of Mines, he spent the next twenty years in the executive ranks at several of Americaʼs largest international companies. Having traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America, as well as parts of Eurasia and Africa, Sandy now lives in Western Siberia with his wife and young child for the past nine years. 

He has taught on cultural criticism and business at Altai State University, the Altai Institute for Law and Economics, and the Linguistic Institute of Altai State Pedagogical University in Barnaul, where he is currently chief specialist for International Cooperation. His publications include the internationally selling novel, Veronika: The Siberianʼs Tale (Islands Press) 2011, The Recovery of Ecstasy: Notebooks from Siberia (Islands Press) 2009, and Gandhi in the Postmodern Age: Issues in War and Peace (CSM Press) 1984.