Fast change of mind

Lately the mindbrain has been occupied with local, social and logistical ‘stuff’. Quiet time has not, therefore, been set aside to convert the informational churn into potentially interesting and useful gobbits of knowledge.

That said, over the last few weeks I have read three books that are being justifiably hyped for the way they dissect out and shine a spotlight, or is it a microscope?, on neo-liberalism and freemarket fundamentalism. All three books are fastidiously researched, presented in a user friendly way, and make the case for more social democratic ways of thinking and doing.

A gobbit of knowledge seems to emerge:

In the 60s and early 70s those few advocates for free-market fundamentalism were thought to be unhinged academic geeks and nerds. Then there was the Thatcherite embrace of the concept; so greed was good, the only measure of success was profit, and the income disparity gap widened: but some of the wealth would trickle down to the workers so that they might better cope with austerity.

SO - in less than 20 years the idea went from the lunatic fringe to a status quo for which there is no alternative. Game set and match. Changing minds is easy.

The three books:

• Chang, Ha-Joon (2010). 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism . Penguin Books Ltd.
• Jones, Owen (2014. The Establishment: And how they get away with it. Penguin Books Ltd.
• Klein, Naomi (2014). This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Penguin Books Ltd