WHAT IS POLITICS?

16.1 – A Realistic Solution to the Forever Housing Crisis (make it happen!)

In this episode we outline:  How to build enough affordable housing for everyone using an existing housing model that’s proven to work. How to pay for it. How to convert existing market rate housing into affordable housing. How we can accomplish all of this even within current neoliberal economic constraints. THIS IS NOT AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE, IT’S A REAL POLICY PLAN, MAKE IT HAPPEN! Art by Khosro Berahmandi Khosro Berahmandi Instagram Khosro Berahmandi website TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE (I do not monetize my channel, and increasingly depend on donations to do this!): PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT: (coming soon) VIDEO VERSION RSS FEED tweeter ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE Gary Stevenson – Why Is Housing So Expensive?  Gary Stevenson – Inequality is Driving Everything Gary Stevenson – Why the Rich Get Richer Gary Stevenson – The Covid Inflation Crisis Explained Gary Stevenson – How Covid Makes the Rich Richer 0:00 Hello fellow kids / Introduction 2:32 Khosro Berahmandi’s $435, 2 bedroom apartment 4:08 The no-equity cooperative 8:12 Why aren’t there more cooperatives? 9:58 Financing cooptopia 10:41 Problems of taxation 13:04 Problems of borrowing 13:51 Problems of printing money 14:53 How to overcome these problems  18:00 The problem with public housing 19:15 How to deal with inflated land costs 20:19 Densification vs building new neighbourhoods 21:27 How to phase out rental housing 22:40 Gremlin children of landlords 24:25 A massive boon to the economy 25:33 Freeing landlords from rent dependency 25:54 Rent control 26:59 Try a test run in your city! 28:03 Do dis now! 28:30 In the meantime / gimme https://archive.org/download/khosro-coops/16.1%20-%20KHOSRO%20COOPS.mp3

12.3 The Great Land Theft (secret history of Israel / Palestine pt. 3)

In this chapter of Secret History of Israel/Palestine, we look how the small urban elite stole much of region’s land from it’s rightful peasant owners, turning them from an independent tribal peasantry, into a class of impoverished, indebted tenants on their own land.   These events set the stage for much of the conflict to come between Zionists and the majority fellahin class.   We also look at the 19th century origins of Palestinian identity, and early stirrings of proto Arab nationalism.   TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE: PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT  BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED VIDEO VERSION (includes high entertainment val-u memes) RSS FEED tweeter: @worbsintowords ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE 0:00 Hello fellow kids 1:59 The Tanzimat: the great 19thC reform programme 3:29 Political reform: disenfranchisement of the fellahin 7:21 Land reform: theft of the fellahin’s land 10:00 My horse!  My money! 14:35 From tribal peasants and sheikhs to capitalist tenants and landlords 18:37 The underlying philosophy of “What is Politics?” 20:16 The Nobility, Clergy, Bourgeoisie, Financier and Professional classes, all rolled into one 22:17 Patrons and clients in unequal societies 32:21 Who were the Ay’an? 38:08 The middle class 39:25 19th century Palestine as a backwater in decline 46:51 Palestinian identity 52:59 National identity vs political consciousness 56:234 Palestinian identity continued 59:12 South Syrians? 1:00:33 The 19th Century origin of Palestinian identity among urban classes and Christians 1:06:41 Democratic reform and the 1876 constitution 1:07:47 Islamic arguments for democracy 1:09:21 Abdülhamid II shuts down the parliament and constitution 1:10:37 Proto-Arab-nationalism 1:11:54 Next time on Secret History of Israel/Palestine 1:12:48 Gimme, seeya! https://archive.org/download/12.3-tanzimat/12.3%20-%20TANZIMAT.mp3

12.2 Fellahin and Bedouin in the Ottoman Empire (secret history of Israel / Palestine pt. 2)

Who were the people of Palestine and what were their lives about in the late 19th century, before the first Zionists began arriving from Europe in the 1880s?   This episode focuses on the fellahin – the peasants of Palestine who comprised 70% of its population in the late 19th century, who are the first to clash with Zionist immigrants, and who later bore the brunt of the 1948 war which established the modern state of Israel.     We also look at the Bedouin, whose social structure and culture are the archetype for fellahin culture, and who were the founders of Arab civilization as a whole.   This is the 2nd in a multipart series about the “secret” or hidden origins of the Israel/Palestine conflict, focusing on episodes of history that both Israeli and Palestinian nationalist historians and partisans ignore and overlook because they don’t fit into either nationalist narrative. TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE: PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT BIBLIOGRAPHY VIDEO VERSION (includes high entertainment hi val-u images and memes) RSS FEED tweeter: @worbsintowords ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE cover image: 19th century tatreez / embroidery on a dress from an unspecified village between Hebron and Jaffa 0:00 Hello fellow kids 1:53 Diaper Warning 3:25 Secret History? 6:51 Why focus on peasants and Bedouin? 10:59 Origins of Palestine 13:48 Origins of the Palestinians 14:45 Ottoman Palestine 15:48 Europe and the Ottoman Empire 26:35 The Millet System 30:27 Ottoman social structure 31:33 Intro to the fellahin 36:00 Tribes vs the state: Bedouin social organization 46:05 Material roots of Bedouin culture 57:44 Advantages/disadvantages of tribal organization 59:16 Urban vs Rural religion 1:01:13 Fellahin social organization 1:10:20 Fellahin attachment to land 1:15:01 Male dominance 1:26:22 Slavery  1:27:51 19thC population pressure 1:31:38 Communal land vs. economics 101 vs. Papa Smurf 1:47:13 Village religion 1:52:16 Village sectarian relations 1:55:17 Next time on Secret History of Israel/Palestine https://archive.org/download/12.2-palestine-before-zionism/12.2%20-%20PALESTINE%20BEFORE%20ZIONISM.mp3

16 – Dumbundance: can the “Abundance Agenda” fix the eternal housing crisis?

In the book Abundance, left liberal authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson identify unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape as an important factor in why there is a shortage of housing across the USA. Very quickly, billionaires and powerful donors have rallied to fund American politicians who campaign on an “Abundance Agenda”. Why is big money so excited about Abundance?  What will happen if the “Abudance Agenda” that they’re funding is adopted by the U.S. Democratic party? 00:00 Introduction 01:39 Bloodbundance: the analogy 07:50 IRL 08:47 The Abundance book thesis 11:03 Who’s supporting the “Abundance agenda”? 12:06 Why zillionaires support the “Abundance agenda” trojan horsery 15:50 Neoliberalism vs Welfare Capitalism vs. Fascism 19:40 Divide and conquer, blame democracy 22:41 The “Abundance agenda” in action: California 27:16 Next time on What is Politics TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE: PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT BIBLIOGRAPHY / RELEVANT READING VIDEO VERSION (includes high entertainment val-u memes) RSS FEED tweeter: @worbsintowords ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE https://archive.org/download/dumbubdance-01/DUMBUBDANCE%2001.mp3

15 – How Inequality of Wealth and Power are like Obesity and Diabetes

Why are human beings so greedy and why are our societies so hierarchical, if our ancestors were so fiercely egalitarian?    What is “human nature” in this regard? A new theory about inequality of wealth and power in human societies. TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE: PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED (coming soon) VIDEO VERSION (includes high entertainment val-u memes) RSS FEED tweeter: @worbsintowords ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE https://archive.org/download/14-diabetes-and-dominance-hierarchy/14%20-%20DIABETES%20AND%20DOMINANCE%20HIERARCHY.mp3