The Post-Partisan Emporium

 The first article can be found here ... The Secret of the Sages John Michael Greer Two weeks ago we talked about the way that life throughout the modern industrial world has fallen into the grip of lenocracy—that is, a system in which pimping of one kind or another is the most common feature of economic life, or in less idiosyncratic language, a system in which every economic exchange is exploited by interests that contribute nothing to the transaction but must be paid off before the transaction can take place.  Lenocracy is a feature of all complex human societies, for much the same reason that every animal species has parasites:  whenever freeloading on someone else’s labor and resources instead of doing the work yourself is an option, someone or something will be found to fill that niche. A handful of bloodsucking leeches. I’ll let you figure out why I’ve included this picture. Yet societies vary in the amount of lenocracy they tolerate. In particular, when markets are relatively f

  Civility, Still, in this Serene Spot LINH DINH My room at DC Homestay is the best I’ve had since mid 2018. I have air conditioning, a fridge, a TV I don’t watch, a two-burner stove, an electric kettle, a good sized table and a smaller one just outside my door, where I’m sitting. At least three types of birds are chirping among the trees, plants and flowers right behind me. That seemingly unchanging ocean is a five minute walk away. For all this, I’m paying just six million dongs [$246.20] a month, plus electricity. Twice a week, a cleaning lady comes in. I had tried to get out just before 6AM, but the gate was uncharacteristically locked. Guests arriving with motorbikes can be paranoid. Thus trapped in this garden of eden, I must check my longing for all those thrills and sufferings percolating just outside. I have access to a swimming pool, at the end of which there’s Michelangelo’s David. Behind him is a mural of the Italian coast. It’s not quite Cinque Terre, but picturesque enoug