William Sundwick

Deep Meaning of Politics

If we concede that world systems consist of people (as well as other things in nature), we have to acknowledge that politics, and politicians, are here to stay.

Aren’t We All Rentiers?

When we own capital, and then charge people to use it, but don’t give it to them, we become rentiers, to use the economic term invented by David Ricardo

AI: What’s Really Happening Here?

I’m not really an AI doomer, but I thought I might put in a word for control of these new technologies, and for THE PUBLIC INTEREST, not just the tech industry!

Bureaucratic Decay

Things do fall apart over time, even organizations — bureaucratic decay of all kinds of organizations can be forestalled with some planning and energy, but perhaps not prevented entirely …

Are “Leaders” Really So Special?

Leadership may or may not require certain skills, may or may not be contingent on the nature of the group to be led, or may simply be an emergent property of the organization — but whatever constitutes leadership should be available to all!

Liberalism: Its Death Is Greatly Exaggerated

Liberalism has been the main founcation of all Western societies for some 350 years — surely, its problems today can’t be so great as to be its death knell!

Class War?

Much has changed in the world since Marx and Engels published their Communist Manifesto, but somehow it still resonates with many of us. Why?

What Are They Afraid Of?

We can’t all be righteously cosmopolitan, but at least we should temper our discomfort with alien cultures by tossing aside the feeling that our culture is “superior” to theirs …

How Pathetic Have I Become?

I’m beginning to feel old … aging’s effects are becoming more noticeable. Yet, apparently it could be a lot worse. Many in my generation know this already …

General Motors, the Model 20th Century Corporation?

Alfred P. Sloan’s Vision … and Legacy In the beginning, there was Henry Ford. His two brilliant ideas: the Model T (standardization for the masses) and the River Rouge assembly line (mass production of that standard product, now known as “Fordism”) – both symbolize the start, early in the 20th century, of a technological economyContinue reading “General Motors, the Model 20th Century Corporation?”