Art? What is it and what’s it for? These eternal questions kept coming up on our very artsy visit to London last week, where we took in:   Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam at the British Museum; Dickens & London at the Museum of London; the play “The Pitmen Painters” at the Duchess Theatre on Drury Lane, and even a visit to ancient Stonehenge. (2012/02/27)

The first question is: How much democracy can capitalism tolerate?  We saw the limits in Florida in the last presidential election — when the wrong candidate had the votes, capital found a way to unelect him. …

The other question is: How much capitalism can democracy tolerate?  …  (2002.04.23)