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Robert Reiner

@waylon18.bsky.social

1.5K followers 2.4K following 3.2K posts

Retired criminology professor. Democratic Socialist.Written on political economy of crime, criminal justice and policing 1970s until severe COVID 2021. Last book Social Democratic Criminology. Love old mysteries, Westerns, country music, music 1930-70

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · Feb 19

www.routledge.com/Social-Democ...

Social Democratic Criminology

This book argues that ‘social democratic criminology’ is an important critical perspective which is essential for the analysis of crime and criminal justice and crucial for humane and effective policy...

www.routledge.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 15m

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...
As a boomer I can see where this critique of boomer memoirs is coming from. But I think analysis based on generations is a distraction. The sources of deprivation and insecurity for the majority of subsequent generations lie in greed and folly of elites

Boomer memoirs... the least they could do is say sorry

edition.independent.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3h

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Ideally Labour should not be trapped by financial bullying of bond markets and OBR. Resuscitate Keynes if you can do it you can afford it. Real resource availability is the crucial constraint. Financial orthodoxy primarily favours the wealthy

Rachel Reeves v the OBR: chancellor aims to loosen the watchdog’s grip

Labour embraced the forecaster’s powerful role, but now finds itself scrambling in the face of gloomy projections

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 19h

tribunemag.co.uk/2025/10/labo...
Starmer Labour is betraying so many core principles and committing so many unforced errors
Never supported any other party but sorely tempted now

Labour’s War on Protest

Labour’s plan to criminalise recurring protests strikes at the heart of democratic life, transforming political freedom into a privilege granted by the state.

tribunemag.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 23h

rwer.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...
Arguments for markets creating optimal outcomes presuppose perfect competition, a fair contest between equally placed individuals in which victory goes to the fittest. But once inequality has thus been introduced it becomes perpetual. And now oligarchy is obvious

Weekend read: Democracy and Economics

from Peter Radford Demos kratia People power. This is about economics and its role in undermining democracy. Let’s begin with Martin Wolf. He gives us, in this morning’s Financial Times, an excelle…

rwer.wordpress.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com/p/quarterly-...
The whole is more than the parts. This first draft of history charts the headlong rush to Trumpian tyranny

QUARTERLY REPORT: 90 DAYS THAT MAY WELL HAVE ENDED THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT

A Summary Rough Draft of History of the Summer Quarter of 2025

frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

jacobin.com/2025/10/trum...
Why the Left are against individual acts of violence. Trump’s list of indicia of terrorism fails to understand that Marxist and other socialist critiques of capitalism target structures of oppression not the individuals who carry them, however obnoxious they might be.

Trump Classifies “Anti-Capitalism” as a Political Pre-Crime

Donald Trump’s new security directive labels anti-capitalist beliefs as a predictor of political violence. The irony: left-wing structural analysis actually pushes people away from lone-wolf attacks a...

jacobin.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

The shocking truth about the photograph of the ‘ordinary’ Nazi and its chilling message for us today - The Independent
Excellent article probing an iconic mass murder

Reposted by Robert Reiner

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 1d

From the companies profiting off the administration's dragnet to the hell of Alligator Alcatraz, our reporters trace the brutal rollout of President Donald Trump's police state.

That includes the tiny, inexperienced firm that somehow landed a $1.3 billion detention deal to hold 5,000 human beings.

How a tiny, inexperienced firm landed a $1.3 billion detention deal

To hold 5,000 human beings.

www.motherjones.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

newsroom.observer.co.uk/cr/AQjcjBUQt...
Trump tyranny deepens

Imperator Trumpus

newsroom.observer.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The best thing about Thatcher is that she was not a Thatcherite. She was more intelligent and pragmatic than her acolytes. Nonetheless her policies did the country enormous harm, apart from the wealthy few. Real incomes have stagnated, public services in freefall

Thatcher was born 100 years ago and her reign feels a lifetime away. Why is her effect on the country still so huge? | Martin Kettle

Today’s politicians need to learn that she is not the answer to contemporary problems, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Starmer’s Labour is in thrall to tabloid headlines jumping to the latest Right wing panic. It’s the economy stupid and learn to count remain the wisest political mantras. The trouble is they also remain wedded to Treasury orthodoxy. Remember Keynes and read MMT

Worried about rising bills and getting by? Keir Starmer has the answer: try chewing a flag! | Aditya Chakrabortty

The PM wants to talk about patriotism when the issue that is really affecting people is the cost of living. If he doesn’t wise up, that dissonance will sink him, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrab...

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
How antisemitism has been used as shield against antizionism. Important empirical evidence

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/71213/...
A brilliant balanced scholarly analysis of Israel/Palestine and its origins over the last century.

A state of denial

Netanyahu’s onslaught against Gaza has been genocidal, but Israelis refuse to see it. This has historical parallels—and roots in Israel’s foundation

app.prospectmagazine.co.uk

Reposted by Robert Reiner

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 3d

Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

Badenoch wants to stop ‘rip off’ degrees. Those that might expose the rip off by the rich at the expense of the many

Reposted by Robert Reiner

BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 3d

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Reposted by Robert Reiner

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks, New Yorker

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/10...
The police have never been primarily about law enforcement. They deploy the state’s monopoly of legitimate force, maintaining routine order and propping up hierarchical oppression. When political and moral economy tensions rise class control is foregrounded

Progress towards a police state

As the FT notes this morning: Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy troops to American cities, intensifying a stand-off with Democratic-led states resisting his ...

www.taxresearch.org.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...
The anonymous aspirationist Labour ministers overlook uncomfortable yet vital truths. The wealth of the small affluent elite has grown beyond their wildest aspirations. The majority face economic stagnation and insecurity. Trickledown economics is a con

PM warned ‘anti-aspiration’ policies have ‘crossed a line’

edition.independent.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 4d

www.faircomment.co.uk/p/voice-agen...
Unless Labour really does change it’s adherence to Treasury orthodoxy and adopts a fairer model not pandering to the billionaires its survival chances and the British people’s prospects are bleak

Voice, agency and investment

How alternative economic models can spread wealth and power more equitably

www.faircomment.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 4d

fairnessfoundation.com/voice-agency...
Important discussion of alternative fairer economic models

Voice, agency and investment

How alternative economic models can spread wealth and power more equitably

fairnessfoundation.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 5d

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...
Cry for the old beloved Britain and USA that once stood against tyranny and oppression. Bring back the British Antifa courage of 1940 and 6 June 1944

Labour is making alarming noises about human rights

edition.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Robert Reiner

Krassensteins @krassenstein.bsky.social · 5d

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 5d

Perhaps they could catch a dose of blu flu.

Reposted by Robert Reiner

الكسندرا ميراي @lexialex.bsky.social · 5d

All of these cops could call in sick to make a point. But they don't.

DB Maggi @dbmaggi.bsky.social · 5d

British police now arresting dogs who are against genocide and support Palestine Action.

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