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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Is mass charisma the Achilles heel of humanity?

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Is mass charisma the Achilles heel of humanity?
The sight of Putin seeking to rally his 'supporters' at Moscow’s Luzhynik Stadium is nothing new: the use of mass charisma as a tool for controlling people goes back millennia, and remains a major challenge for those who believe in individual liberty. This week we look at how the technique, recognised by German sociologist and political economist Max Weber as one of three tools of political domination, is used to inject a subconscious herd mentality into humanity and how, at a personal level, it can be controlled. Accompanying music is 'Russian Dance' by Joey Pecoraro

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Trade Imbalances in a MAD world

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Trade Imbalances in a MAD world
The existential threat of mutually assured destruction has kept the world safe from nuclear weapons for the past sixty years but, now that balance is being challenged by a combination of insanity and ignorance, it this just leaves us with economic action. Let's make sure that the trade policy of the free world is adjusted accordingly. Music accompanying this episode is from 'Mad World' by Jennifer Ann.

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The Awful Legacy of Carbon

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The Awful Legacy of Carbon
For the past fifty years, nearly all major conflicts have been driven by economic power granted to tyrants by our dependency on fossil fuels. We must now recognise the awful footprint it has left in terms of human suffering, as well as climate change. The huge rise in fossil fuel prices will bring substantial dividends to those who look for opportunities to invest in the new ways of powering the economy, and could kick-start moves to a safer and cleaner world.

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Fear and Greed

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Fear and Greed
Our commentary for w/c 28 February: as Peter Kropotkin predicted over 100 years ago, the communist legacy of centralised dictatorship has left the Russian leadership in a total moral vacuum, steered by fear and greed; and now, noting their nuclear warning, also with a degree of insanity. By a strange co-incidence, two programmes broadcast by the BBC on the day the war started point the way to a brighter future, if we can steer our path through the current tragedy engulfing Ukraine.

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