Phil Free
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philfree.bsky.social
Phil Free
@philfree.bsky.social
Politics, economics, planet - I live in Essex, UK.
A Book Called Fascism or Genocide That’s Reluctant to Discuss Either
newrepublic.com/article/1980...
A Book Called Fascism or Genocide That’s Reluctant to Discuss Either
Ross Barkan’s engrossing, literary analysis of the 2024 election disappoints with its blinkered vision of U.S. politics.
newrepublic.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:16 PM
The Department of Justice May Not Survive Pam Bondi
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
The Department of Justice May Not Survive Pam Bondi
Her promise to restore integrity to the agency was one she broke on day one.
newrepublic.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Is Kevin Warsh Really the Fed Chair of Trump’s Dreams?
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Is Kevin Warsh Really the Fed Chair of Trump’s Dreams?
Has the president’s pick to run the central bank decided to renounce his previous views? Or does Trump just like fighting with his appointees?
newrepublic.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Michigan Wants to Make Big Oil Pay for Climate Change
newrepublic.com/article/2056...
Michigan Wants to Make Big Oil Pay for Climate Change
They’re trying a novel approach: suing oil companies for antitrust violations based on their work to discourage renewables.
newrepublic.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Chris Kraus & the Art of the Landlord
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Chris Kraus and the Art of the Landlord
Kraus’s novels revolve around real estate and the thorny questions of who owns, who rents, and how it shapes their art.
newrepublic.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:49 PM
“Reading Erpenbeck, you see how we must live through history to see the ruin anew. Or rather: by living through history, we see that every ruin has a ruiner.”

Idle Things
thebaffler.com/latest/idle-...
Idle Things | Robert Rubsam
In “Things That Disappear,” Jenny Erpenbeck grapples with ruins, revealing the virtue of unproductive places and idle things.
thebaffler.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
A journalist in Cuba caught US embassy staff hoovering up insane amounts of gasoline while the island is blocked by the U.S. from importing oil.

The U.S. responded by sanctioning the journalist.

We are doing all this for freedom, of course.
February 15, 2026 at 7:29 PM
“Many neoliberal countries continue to celebrate incremental progress & emphasise market-driven solutions, concealing the real challenges by overstating, sometimes radically, their successes using World Bank data.”
aeon.co/essays/china...
China, the World Bank, and the truth about global poverty | Aeon Essays
The World Bank’s poverty line is inaccurate and out of date – an error that obscures the feebleness of market solutions
aeon.co
February 15, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Green Capitalism in the Americas: False Solutions, Real Threats
www.resilience.org/stories/2025...
Green Capitalism in the Americas: False Solutions, Real Threats
In this special issue of the NACLA Report, we critically examine the rise of green capitalism in the region in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém, Brazil in November.
www.resilience.org
February 15, 2026 at 5:15 PM
“Growth is based on the planned psychological failure of consumption & expanded efforts to recreate it.”

The Macavity of #Degrowth – Waste, the Empire that isn’t there…
www.resilience.org/stories/2025...
The Macavity of Degrowth – Waste, the Empire that isn’t there…
If a theoretical economy relies on the exchange of intended things, a profitable economy relies on the waste produced by the production, distribution and sale of those things.
www.resilience.org
February 15, 2026 at 4:57 PM
“It requires behavioural changes & a more radical overhaul of economies: demand reduction is a crucial part of the mix.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth

Is an energy & resource transition possible with growth?
open.substack.com/pub/hanssteg...
Is an energy and resource transition possible with growth?
I doubt it
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Into the Dark: Fascist Capture of Information & the Unwinding of the Enlightenment
open.substack.com/pub/jaredyat...
Into the Dark: Fascist Capture of Information and the Unwinding of the Enlightenment
There's a reason we're watching science and research and awareness systematically demolished
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Memories of Misrule.
The Late, Great Steve Read, Permaculture Designer and Systems Engineer.
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:19 PM
“These pools of capital produce the very conditions of our disposability—stripping companies into assets & selling them for profit, but more fundamentally, stripping our people of the capacity to inhabit futures that are not already mortgaged to finance capital.”
open.substack.com/pub/radicalt...
Private Equity and the Global South's Subordination
How finance capital turns our futures into investable assets
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:53 PM
“The hospital lacks the fuel & essential spare parts needed to keep the generators going.” #Barbarism

ICU patients’ lives at risk in Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital amid Israel’s war
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...
ICU patients’ lives at risk in Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital amid Israel’s war
The hospital may be forced in the coming hours to ration electricity so that certain wards can be prioritised.
www.aljazeera.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:03 PM
“Dissatisfied with its progress in eliminating Gaza’s people, their mosques, their schools & universities, their cultural institutions, economy & land, Israel & its Christian-Zionist allies like Pompeo have now embarked upon the erasure of memory & martyrdom.”
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...
The next stage of the Gaza genocide has begun
Recent remarks by former US State Secretary Mike Pompeo herald the next phase of Israel’s genocidal project: erasure.
www.aljazeera.com
February 15, 2026 at 1:49 PM
“What is essential in the Global North, then, is not simply #degrowth in the negative, purely quantitative sense, but also in a positive sense: the creation of a society of substantive equality & ecological sustainability.” #PostCapitalism #PostGrowth
monthlyreview.org/articles/eco...
Ecological Marxism in the Anthropocene - Monthly Review
monthlyreview.org
February 15, 2026 at 1:06 PM
“Finally, capitalist, market-based institutions instil a growth imperative which makes climate mitigation exceedingly unlikely to meet the Paris Agreement.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth

The energy commons: A systematic review, paradoxes & ways forward
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The energy commons: A systematic review, paradoxes, and ways forward
The growing literature on energy commons suggests that reimagining energy as a common resource is critical for transitioning away from fossil fuel-bas…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad
www.forever-wars.com/ron-wyden-on...
Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad
No, I don't know what they did. But I have a lot of experience with the senator
www.forever-wars.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:27 PM
The ADL Tried to Appease MAGA. The FBI Cut Ties With Them Anyway
jewishcurrents.org/the-adl-trie...
The ADL Tried to Appease MAGA. The FBI Cut Ties with Them Anyway.
The Jewish defense group—whose partnership with federal law enforcement goes back decades—has never been more isolated.
jewishcurrents.org
February 14, 2026 at 10:58 PM