Phil Free
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philfree.bsky.social
Phil Free
@philfree.bsky.social
800 followers 800 following 6.8K posts
Politics, economics, planet - I live in Essex, UK.
Posts Replies Media Videos
philfree.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/alexthur...
It's Getting Harder to Seriously Follow International News
North Africa as a case study of limited, problematic coverage.
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“Biologists, physicists & other ‘hard’ scientists accept this measurable real-world feedback & urge the global community to reject the ‘exceptionalist’ & infinite growth hypotheses [&] that free market prices can be an adequate determinant of meaningful value.”
open.substack.com/pub/reeswill...
Is neoliberal economics a science?
or what...?
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
philfree.bsky.social
If disability benefits spending is flat, then welfare spending is probably going down
open.substack.com/pub/inequali...
If disability benefits spending is flat, then welfare spending is probably going down
Some figures to have to hand when looking through tomorrow's Budget
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:25 PM
philfree.bsky.social
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d’Ivoire
www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d’Ivoire
Leaked emails show the details behind talks between Cote d’Ivoire and Israel shepherded by Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
www.dropsitenews.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
philfree.bsky.social
Are We Humans or Homo Economicus? Why Economics Needs to Evolve Beyond Growth #Degrowth #PostGrowth
www.socialeurope.eu/are-we-human...
Are We Humans or Homo Economicus? Why Economics Needs to Evolve Beyond Growth
Economics assumes we behave like chimps, but humans are far more cooperative—and our economic models must catch up.
www.socialeurope.eu
November 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
philfree.bsky.social
Labour’s Sinking Ship
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Labour’s sinking ship
On the eve of what is widely expected to be a truly disastrous Budget for Labour, it's worth having a look at some polling data. This is supplied by Stats for Lefties, based on a Lord Ashcroft poll: ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 25, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
flyingrodent.bsky.social
“A coronation rather than a contest to install him as Labour leader”, you say.
Aubrey Allegretti • @breeallegretti X.com Exc: Allies of Wes Streeting are calling for a coronation rather than a contest to install him as Labour leader, probably after the May elections. Ministers and senior MPs backing the health secretary warned against a lurch to the left and said privately that a rival candidate such as Angela Rayner would be too radical and would face greater pressure to call a snap general election. Streeting says he's loyal to Starmer - and has disavowed briefings in his name against the PM. But his is the name on most MPs' lips as talk about a leadership challenge simmers in the PLP. As one minister said: "It's a problem of No 10's own making. By briefing against Wes and saying Keir would fight any leadership challenge, they've forced colleagues to reconcile themselves with a question they had until that point been ducking."
November 25, 2025 at 12:42 PM
philfree.bsky.social
No Palantir in the NHS & Corporate Watch Reveal the Real Story Behind the Federated Data Platform Rollout
corporatewatch.org/foi-requests...
No Palantir in the NHS and Corporate Watch Reveal the Real Story Behind the Federated Data Platform Rollout - Corporate Watch
Freedom of Information requests by the No Palantir in the NHS campaign and Corporate Watch reveal more failures than successes for the NHS.
corporatewatch.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“The primary animating purpose of the ruling class is the defeat of any & all leftward momentum, any possible hope of redistribution or economic equality.”

The Bullshit Brigade - @scarletred.bsky.social
www.dialecticsofdecline.com/p/the-bullsh...
The Bullshit Brigade
They know what side they're on, why don't you?
www.dialecticsofdecline.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:49 PM
philfree.bsky.social
www.columnblog.com/p/you-can-pr...
You can pre-order my new book, "How To Sell A Genocide" now
100% of royalties go to The Middle East Children's Alliance for Peace
www.columnblog.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
danglinghemmie.bsky.social
it's happening dot gif
November 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM
philfree.bsky.social
What happened to the Jenin Freedom Theatre?
mondoweiss.net/2025/11/what...
What happened to the Jenin Freedom Theater?
The Jenin Freedom Theater, an embodiment of the “cultural resistance” genre of committed art, ceased operations after the Israeli army ethnically cleansed Jenin refugee camp’s residents. The theater i...
mondoweiss.net
November 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
bcmerchant.bsky.social
If 2023 was the year AI slop was embraced by spammers and social media influencers, and 2024 was the year the slop era began in earnest, 2025 was when slop became embedded in our cultural institutions and social spheres.

On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
Lost in the slop layer
How AI has encrusted our culture and social sphere in a sedimentary layer of slop.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:48 PM
philfree.bsky.social
The Trump Administration is Quietly Preparing to Bring Back School Segregation
prospect.org/2025/11/19/t...
The Trump Administration Is Quietly Preparing to Bring Back School Segregation - The American Prospect
It starts with vouchers and the destruction of the Office for Civil Rights.
prospect.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“If Americans want better, cheaper healthcare, they should not vote for the party of mindless cruelty & destruction for its own sake.”

Republicans Will Never Find a Healthcare Replacement
prospect.org/2025/11/18/r...
Republicans Will Never Find a Health Care Replacement - The American Prospect
The GOP is too wedded to free markets and scornful of the welfare state to ever make anything in health care work.
prospect.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
philfree.bsky.social
prospect.org/2025/11/14/s...
The ‘Welfare Queen’ Is Back, but She Never Quite Left - The American Prospect
The stereotype of the welfare queen, typically a single Black mother, was employed to rationalize the pause in SNAP benefits, and it proved effective.
prospect.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
70sbachchan.bsky.social
if you came of age in the 20th century then this really sits you down about how much the Worlds changed in 21st century. no going back….
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bri...
andrewmartin.bsky.social Andrew Martin @andrewmartin.bsky.social · 1d
When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, the UK economy was bigger than China and India combined.
November 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“Condemning ‘populism’ without recognising the growing powerlessness of democratic politics was no solution. Bauman saw narratives about ‘mistakes & deformations’ of otherwise flawless political orders as a source of false comfort, distracting us from… real problems.”
jacobin.com/2025/11/zygm...
Zygmunt Bauman’s Century
Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman was born 100 years ago today. He is best known as the theorist of “liquid modernity,” in which social bonds decline in favor of an atomized individualism.
jacobin.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“But while intended to enhance transparency & accountability… the way the OBR is being used may inadvertently [very deliberately by George Osborne] constrain political imagination, skewing the balance of power between elected politicians & unelected technocrats.”
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Is the Office for Budget Responsibility anti-democratic? | British Politics and Policy at LSE
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) plays a pivotal role in shaping fiscal policy. But, it may also inadvertently constrain political imagination.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
philfree.bsky.social
Revealed: The Real ‘Two-Tier Policing’
novaramedia.com/2025/11/19/r...
Revealed: the Real ‘Two-Tier Policing’ | Novara Media
Exclusive: Data shared with Novara Media shows that peaceful environmental protesters are policed far more heavily than violent far-right agitators. Simon Childs reports.
novaramedia.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
philfree.bsky.social
As drug users, solidarity is key to survival
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
As drug users, solidarity is key to survival
We formed a union to resist the violence of mainstream treatment. Collaboration will be the key to our success
www.opendemocracy.net
November 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Phil Free
adambienkov.bsky.social
BBC board member Robbie Gibb, whose previous jobs have included being Conservative communications director to Theresa May, and helping to set up GB News, tells MPs that he is "hugely impartial"
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
philfree.bsky.social
Red Keir & the Right to Protest
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/red-...
Red Keir and the Right to Protest
Nearly thirty years ago, a young barrister called Keir Starmer defended a group of activists after they damaged armaments destined for a brutal war in Asia. Why is a Starmer-led government now crackin...
tribunemag.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 5:57 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“We like to think ignorance is imposed on us, that we’re victims of broken systems, corrupt politicians, greedy corporations—& we are. But we’re also active participants in our own disinformation diets.”

Why We Choose Not To Know
open.substack.com/pub/rickylan...
Why We Choose Not to Know
Ignorance always has a price
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
philfree.bsky.social
“In ab era of eroding social bonds & loneliness on the rise, we need to reinvest in third spaces that foster real authentic human connection, to each other, or food & our wellbeing. Farmers’ markets are a prime example of this place…”
www.sufficiencywellbeing.com/p/beyond-gro...
Beyond groceries: How farmers markets rebuild community
As a national non-profit, the Canadian Centre for Food & Ecology helps impactful ideas get the attention they deserve.
www.sufficiencywellbeing.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM