Some brief updates professional, personal, and otherwise.
My review of Joseph Stiglitz’s book People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism For an Age of Discontent was recently published in the journal Poverty and Public Policy. Here’s an excerpt:
In sum, Stiglitz is right about the need for collective action, that libertarian neoliberalism is not the answer, that more democracy is needed, and that if implemented, his policy reform that would be an improvement over the current state of affairs in the United States. But he overestimates the ability of American representative democracy to achieve his goals and, despite countless century‐old worker‐owned firms and labor movements around the world, PPP gives little voice for anticapitalist collective action that is untrusting of parliamentary politics.
It’s fun reviewing books like these as an anarcho-syndicalist (there’s frankly not a lot of material being produced like this in mainstream journals.)
I was recently interviewed for the podcast The New Evangelicals where I talk about Christianity and economics, which should be released soon. (I didn’t sleep very well the previous night and wasn’t entirely prepared for that specific topic; so keep that in mind as you listen to my meanderings and fragmented thoughts.)
I was also interviewed for a graduate student project at a very right-wing seminary on the subject of complementarianism. I don’t think it will be released to the public (unfortunately, though I could be wrong), but the final study should be, in one form or another, which I will try to remember mentioning in a future update, in case that tickles your tummy.
Two essays were rejected in a row for my column in the Rapid City Journal. It’s kind of significant just in that I haven’t had a rejection in this venue since I began writing over a year ago. The two pieces were more opinionated than usual, and more political than economic. The anti-CRT laws and nationalism of Kristi Noem is also very difficult to write about with any tone of dignity or decency, because there is nothing dignified or decent about going full-on fascist and punishing professors and academics just for reading and writing books. (Cf. the words of this military General, which were some of the most level-headed thoughts I’ve ever heard from an American military officer in my life.) I hope to be a regular contributor to something like Common Dreams or TruthOut someday, though that probably won’t happen.
There is a high probability that two books will be released in the next year or two based off of major articles I’ve published, one one theology and evolution, another on the varieties of reformed theology. I’m not active in those spaces much any more, but I want the material to get revised and updated, and published, before things get stale.
I also submitted two book proposals for projects I’m very excited about, both more on contemporary cultural and economic issues, though, given my poor track record of getting contracts (or any response at all from publishers because of how few twitter followers I have), I have little confidence about.
On a more somber tone, I learned a few hours ago about a malignant growth on our best friend’s clavicle area. A full diagnosis isn’t finished but appointments to Mayo have been scheduled. It’s not devastating at this point, but, well, everyone has their cancer story or cancer-friend story, and I guess it’s time for ours. I’m praying treatment will be effective.
On the upside, yesterday, we swam at Pactola, the most transcendent, majestic, picturesque lake I’m aware of. And best of all, after visiting the “witch tree” on the other side and swimming back, a much-needed thunderstorm rolled in with waves of rain on the lake and shores. I hadn’t been on the lake during a storm before, and our area was experiencing a drought, and having just finished our swim across the lake before sharp lightning, it was a particularly marvelous experience.
