More on November 9 (somehow I can't stop)

Well, this blog is NOT going to be "all Communism all the time," promise. There are lots of other things I want to write about. But not only we've been in the famous 20th anniversary, I just picked up Zizek's latest book "In Defense of Lost Causes." So I'm in the mood. Plus, after procrastinating so much with this blog, I have some accumulated backlog of stuff to say. I'm not done with Zizek yet so I won't comment on the book right now. That'll come.

One good thing about Nov. 9 is that it relates in many ways to the spirit of this blog. After the collapse of communism, it seemed that all of a sudden the only plausible view of society was a combination of free market capitalism and democracy. One of my goals is to ask questions about both. Criticisms of capitalism are a dime a dozen. But we are all democrats, including me. Sure, no right thinking person has now any stomach to propose a return of totalitarian dictatorship. But as social scientists we have the duty to be inquisitive about everything, even about ideas we like. So, one of the things I want to get started here is a reflection about democracy and its connections to markets. 

Before I put my ideas in order, I want to discuss facts as much as I know them, and some of their implications. That'll take a while so check the upcoming posts.