Joss Sheldon's Blog
August 29, 2020
3. WORKPLACE DEMOCRACY (IN UNDER 1000 WORDS)
In the final blog to be released alongside his new book, “ DEMOCRACY: A User’s Guide ”, Joss Sheldon takes a look at democracy in the workplace…
“It’s the company’s policy”.
Have you ever heard those four gnarly words? You know it’s stupid. Your boss knows it’s stupid. But what can you do? Some out-of-touch bigwig in head office has decided this is the way things must be done, and there is nothing you or your boss can do about it.
For me, it came whilst working as a barman in chain pub. We were made ...
August 25, 2020
2. DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION (IN UNDER 1000 WORDS)
In the second of three blogs released alongside his new book, “ DEMOCRACY: A User’s Guide ”, Joss Sheldon takes a look at the democratic schools...
Education!
It has the force to do so much good — to inform and inspire, encourage people to think for themselves, and prepare youngsters for adulthood. It should, at its very best, help citizens to become active participants in fully-functioning democracies — able to access information, tell fact from fiction, and make good decisions at the ballot box.
Un...
August 23, 2020
1. THE HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY (IN UNDER 1000 WORDS)
In the first of three blogs released alongside his new book, “ DEMOCRACY: A User’s Guide ”, Joss Sheldon takes a turbo-charged tour through the history of democracy…
In the beginning, we were all hunter-gatherers. Living in bands of twenty or thirty souls, it was hard for a single individual to lord it over the group like some sort of king or dictator. Though individuals tried, they lacked the means to secure their rule. Advanced weaponry, organised armies and private property had not yet been inve...
July 12, 2019
Thank-you Scott. I appreciate your support! :-)
Thank-you Scott. I appreciate your support! :-)
September 2, 2018
3. ALL INDIVIDUALITY MUST CONFORM
Blog 3 of 3 in the INDIVIDUTOPIA series.
Margaret Thatcher once said, “There is no such things as society”.
The second half of this statement is not so well known. Thatcher would go on to claim that instead of there being a society, there were only “Individual men and women”.
This ideological belief has dominated the political mainstream ever since…
On the one hand, we’ve seen a deliberate attack on the things which unite us within society; unions have been crushed, welfare has been demonised, an...
August 29, 2018
2. THE “SELF-MADE” DELUSION
Blog 2 of 3 in the INDIVIDUTOPIA series.
You will have probably have heard of entrepreneurs who, blowing their own trumpet, describe themselves as “Self-made”, or perhaps “Self-sufficient”.
Alan Sugar is the king when it comes to making such statements. The millionaire presenter of The Apprentice regularly describes himself as “Self-made”. He once told Best You Magazine he was “Determined… to be self-sufficient.” He believes his sons, who work in his family’s business, will always suffer from a...
August 25, 2018
1. FREE-MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM GONE MAD
Blog 1 of 3 in the INDIVIDUTOPIA series.
We live in a neoliberal era. And neoliberalism, in case you’re unaware, is dangerously ideological.
This belief states that the private sector is always efficient, even when it is not. The public sector is never efficient, even when it is. Greed is always good, even when it isn’t. And the state shouldn’t interfere with the market, even when it should.
This fanatical faith in the free-market is based on the assumption that if we allow businesses to do thei...
FREE-MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM GONE MAD
Blog 1 of 3 in the INDIVIDUTOPIA series.
We live in a neoliberal era. And neoliberalism, in case you’re unaware, is dangerously ideological.
This belief states that the private sector is always efficient, even when it is not. The public sector is never efficient, even when it is. Greed is always good, even when it isn’t. And the state shouldn’t interfere with the market, even when it should.
This fanatical faith in the free-market is based on the assumption that if we allow businesses to do thei...
October 10, 2017
3. The Magic Money Tree
Blog 3/3 in the ‘History of Money’ series
So far in this series, we have seen how metal money was imposed on societies by states, and how it was replaced with paper and wooden money . In this blog, we shall see how that paper money evolved into electronic money, created by private banks…
The tally stick, and the paper money which evolved from it, could be created by any individual at any time. If that person was deemed trustworthy, it was accepted as currency, backed by the s...
October 9, 2017
2. The evolution of money: From gold coins, to tally sticks, to paper notes
Blog 2/3 in the ‘History of Money’ series
In my last blog, which covered the early history of money , we saw how gold and silver coins were imposed on people by states, via taxation and conquest. In this blog, we shall see what happened when those states failed…
The Romans brought their currency to Britain when they colonised the island. When they retreated, in 410AD, the British people were so accustomed to Roman coins that...
