Zur Erinnerung, dass wir eine reale Herausforderung haben, die alle anderen Herausforderungen leider in den Schatten stellt (und verschärft).

Reminder: tomorrow (Monday 23/3) evening at 20.00, @finchelsteinf.bsky.social will talk about populism, (wannabe) fascism, and democracy at the Aula of Utrecht University, at the invitation of the Visions for the Future project. More details here: www.sg.uu.nl/agenda/2026/...

dag @casmudde.bsky.social @leoniedejonge.bsky.social @sldelange.bsky.social @mrooduijn.bsky.social et. al. - ik heb een verhelderingsvraag over jullie heel belangrijke SRV-analyse, stukroodvlees.nl/de-groei-van... : gegeven hoe jullie "extreem-rechts" definiëren, wat is het verschil met fascisme?

Dit is tactiek. Er is een land dat op dit moment dat heel bewust en daadkrachtig genocide pleegt. Vlaardingerbroek lult natuurlijk uit haar nek als ze zegt dat er genocide wordt gepleegd op Europeanen. Maar ze gebruikt dat woord expres. Vanwege de emotionele lading die er inmiddels aan zit.

Prachtige dag buiten, maar ik ga vandaag een college voorbereiden om dinsdag in Leuven voor de UDDL (=HOVO) te geven. Het onderwerp dat voorgesteld werd: Hoe beschermen we de democratie? Ik heb hier nog nooit eerder college over gegeven, maar dacht: ja, dat wil ik ook wel weten.

Wat we nodig hebben, is op heel korte termijn een "Not Our War" demonstratie.

Wrote a bit on Habermas and my unease with some parts of his thinking (while I admire others): crookedtimber.org/2026/03/18/h...

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Next Monday, we'll have (another) speaker in Utrecht enlightening us on Fascism. Mark your agenda: @finchelsteinf.bsky.social, Monday 23 March, 20:00, Academiegebouw Utrecht. Or online! www.sg.uu.nl/agenda/2026/...

I wrote a piece explaining why @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social was right when he said there shouldn't be any billionaires. In fact, there are SO MANY reasons why this is true, that it's astonishing that some people still think this is a radical position. www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/pro...

Thanks to @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com for a very interesting evening in Utrecht! For those who couldn't join: the recording will be put online on Monday. But you could also just read the book; while the story of Musk(ism) is dark and wild, the book is very well written and insightful.

de auteurs zijn a.s. vrijdag 13/3 te gast bij het Visions for the Future project en Studium Generale UU. Gratis kaartjes voor de lezing 's avonds in de Openbare Bibliotheek van Utrecht hier te krijgen (op=op): www.sg.uu.nl/agenda/2026/...

Herverdeling ten gunste van de vermogenden. Met dank, opnieuw en zoals altijd, aan de VVD. 🤷‍♀️ www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/kab...

"... a patriotic press." 😵‍💫

Excellent discussion by @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com on their book Muskism at the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. The room was packed and dozens of people were standing and sitting on the floor. Luckily we booked a larger room in Utrecht for their talk on Friday :)

Volledig terechte analyse van Wouter Leenders over de Nederlandse belastingvluchtelingen. We moeten als land, met onze wetgeving, het 'freeriding' op de belastingsbijdragen van andere landgenoten niet tolereren - dus laat de belastingvluchtelingen ook nog na vertrek inkomensbelasting betalen!

Stop the bombs! And stand up to Trump and Netanyahu!! secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/...

Elon Musk is niet alleen een redder, clown en slechterik. Hij belichaamt een wereldbeeld: het muskisme. Voorpublicatie uit het gelijknamige boek van @quinnslobodian.com en @bentarnoff.com. www.groene.nl/artikel/teru...

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Biggest takeaway from this Forum: the centrality on skills (reskilling, upskilling) and competitiveness in the talks of EC-speakers at this event. (Parallel sessions with mainly by outsiders, and regularly different from tone). If I were a capitalist, I’d be very happy with this approach.

#EuSocialForum I enjoyed the wealth inequality panel. Great synergy between the contributions by Salvatore Morelli and Aline Muller, and the sociological reflections by Mike Savage, and my philosophical input.

Dit lijkt mij een zeer geschikt onderwerp voor een item op het journaal, een discussie bij de talkshows, of een uitgebreid stuk in de krant. Dit is waarvoor we media in een democratie nodig hebben: om de overheid te controleren, ook op haar contradicties.

If we agree there should be a floor beneath which no one falls, is it unreasonable to ask if there should also be a ceiling? This week, we’re resharing a conversation with @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social on why placing limits at the top matter just as much as protections at the bottom. buff.ly/2CO8ZfS

#EUSocialForum - now the anti-poverty panel!

#EUSocialForum Vincent Kompany speaking about the importance of equal opportunities, and how his [white] mother, who worked for the public employemnt agency, warned him and his siblings that they would have to work double to get the same opportunities, compared with white kids.

#EUsocialforum The moderator says "there are 800 people in this room, and more in the spillovers". There are 5 women's toilets in this building. If that says something about the organisational capacities of the EU, we are in deep trouble.

#EUSocialForum Roxana Mînzatu, Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, European Commission: why are we doing this work? Her response: to empower people in Europe. [interesting because it's a value not mentioned in many EU docs. But what does it mean for her?]

EU Employment and Social Forum reporting continued in another thread :)

Ah, lets talk about the barriers they call 'implicit tariffs'. These are not seldomly national rules for 'decent work'... www.mejudice.nl/artikelen/de...

'Sozialer Marktwirtschaft'. Klassiek CDU. Waar komt dat vandaan, wie ontwierp dat concept? #BetrouwbareBronnen over Alfred Müller-Armack. art19.com/shows/betrou...

Von der Leyen at the opening of the EU social forum, quoting Adenauer: “The economy is there to serve the people, not the people the economy”.

as part of a program for Lent, St. John's Norwood Episcopal Church (Maryland, USA) is hosting a conversation with me this Sunday, 10 AM local time - in the Parish church but also online. Check out the other work they are doing on economic justice for Lent. stjohnsnorwood.org/uneven-ground/

Ab heute gibt es dieses Buch auch als Taschenbuch! Das freut mich sehr, denn Hardcover ist ein Format, das viele Menschen nicht mögen (ich selbst mag es auch nicht...)

“The least we can do here is to break the silence … You are not alone, we are not alone, we will not be alone.” listen to Emin Alper’s acceptance speech at Berlinale on the meaning of solidarity

Hup, Boban Braspenning! #Cabaret #Ongelijkheid #bedrijfsopvolgingsregeling #BOR #limitarisme (had ik overigens niet zien aankomen toen ik de laudatio voor zijn afstuderen schreef. Wel de gedrevenheid en zijn sterke bullshit-detectie-radar, maar niet het cabaret). www.trouw.nl/cultuur-medi...

A British woman who got detained by ICE declared "....that ICE officers are paid a bonus every time they detain someone. “Individual ICE agents get money per head that they detain – the guards told me that”." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... Clearly, it's not safe to travel to the US.

full & developing list of MUSKISM events here: www.bentarnoff.com/muskism/#eve...

And now something completely different.

Yes, indeed. But perhaps someone at the WaPo is not quite getting it.

On Friday 13 March, the Visions for the Future Project and Studium Generale Utrecht will be hosting Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff in Utrecht's City Library. They will talk about their book MUSKISM. Tickets are free: www.sg.uu.nl/agenda/2026/...

@stuartgwhite.bsky.social starting his talk at Utrecht University. He will talk about building a fair foundation for living well.

The other night, my husband asked me why I keep reading about the Epstein files. I told him because it shows the systematic lack of any accountability of the ultrawealthy. Criminals living in excess luxury, for whom the law doesn't count. Read the Patriotic Millionaires on the Epstein files👇

no surprise at all, but the deep worry how we are going to end this clusterf*@k so that we can return a decent world to our children.

De schande van Nederland. "... zo’n 445.000 mensen door ziekte of handicap niet kunnen werken, maar geen recht hebben op een passende arbeidsongeschiktheidsuitkering. Van hen ontvangen 245.000 mensen geen enkele financiële ondersteuning; nog eens 200.000 zijn aangewezen op de bijstand."

There is a special place in Hell for this sort of women. Just reading some of the FBI-docs -- and then imagining the scenario that the Billionaire fascist class can get away with this, is so infuriating. Here's one - an FBI list of those sharing information: www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

Bondi crashes out over Epstein: "The Dow is over 50,000 dollars! I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader as I hear, Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000, and the Nasdaq smashing records. That's what we should be talking about."

Next week Tuesday (at 20.00 CET) Stuart White (Oxford) will give a public talk on the topic 'What is a Fair Economy?" Next, I will give a short reflection, before there is a Q&A with Professor White. Free entry, places on a first-come, first-served basis. It is also possible to watch online.

The Rise of Oligarchy in one graph.

The Epstein files: a gold mine for sociologists uncovering the structures of the global elites, especially those not caring about what is moral or legal, and what is not. www.justice.gov/epstein

He's getting really close... 2026 may well be the year the world sees its first trillionaire. A trillionaire is someone who owes 1.000.000.000.000 dollar. Or, the equivalent of one million very nice flats/houses, each worth one million dollars.