theyoungradical

New York, NY - There are three main frames people use to understand why the world is the way it is. Each has truth in it, and each can be found among intellectuals as well as ordinary folks. A fourth way has a more underground existence, and is rarely seen as the key to the big picture.

The first frame is economics. Why do things happen the way they do? The answer is to be found in who profits, or it is dictated by the laws of the free market or the dynamics of capitalism.

Another frame concerns ideas and ideology. What matters in the world is what people believe, for it is these beliefs which inspire their action.

A third sees the contemporary world as shaped by histories of imperialism and the division of the world between the West and the rest.

Much of what is said about politics around the world fall into these three frames, whether the conversation is happening in a seminar room, a government office or in the corner market.

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(Source: servant, via aljazeera)