The Operating System
Description
What do we mean when we talk about "the State"? Multiple polls show a growing disillusionment with the State and representative government as vehicles for progressive change, and particularly as means to tame capitalism, let alone as a basis for seeing beyond it. In a quick and readable format, Eric Laursen proposes thinking about the State in an entirely new way-not simply as government or legal institutions, but as humanity's analog to a computer operating system-opening up a new interpretation of the system of governance that emerged in Europe five-hundred years ago and now drives almost every aspect of human society. He also demonstrates powerfully why humanity's life-and-death challenges-including racism, climate change, and rising economic exploitation-cannot be addressed as long as the State continues to exercise dominion.
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Person
Eric Laursen is an independent journalist, historian, and activist. He is the author of The People's Pension and The Duty to Stand Aside. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including In These Times, The Nation, The Village Voice, Counterpunch, The Arkansas Review, and Z Magazine. He lives in Buckland, Massachusetts.
Content
-Foreword
-Introduction: Renewing the Critique of the State
1: Iraq, COVID-19, and the State
2: Characteristics of the Operating System
3: Why Are We Against the State?
4: Shaking Off the State
-Conclusion: Reform vs. Revolution
