Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Game in a Nutshell
Bailouts put the private debts onto the public (tax payer) balance sheet. Now Congress and the White House are poised to finish the job by putting that debt onto the backs of America's most vulnerable people.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sometimes it's Worth Saying the Obvious
It took a while, but now it is generally accepted that the United States of America is a world Empire. There are references to "US Empire" on mainstream magazine covers, numerous books lay out the history in detail and now we even hear references to the US Empire in decline.
What isn't as widely acknowledged, but should be generally accepted is that the United States, and the World for that matter, is in the midst of a class war. Sadly, some of the inertia in the class war resides in common people who perpetuate the notions that 1) government is inherently bad and 2) that if we are going to have taxes at all, then the taxes on the wealthy class should be very low so they can invest and create jobs.
A government of the common people can be a very beneficial thing. Ask someone with Veterans medical care, someone who benefited from the GI Bill who wouldn't have been able to go to college without it, someone with a monthly social security check or someone with medicare. I could go on with the highway system, which some smart people would deride that saying the car corporations pushed the US government to fund the highways and that we should have invested in mass transit instead, but you get the idea; if we the people have a shared vision, we can efficiently and effectively use our government to pool the resources to do it. That great American "can-do" thing. So, future visions of a Utopian anarchism aside, a government of the people, as opposed to "of the corporations", is a good thing.
"But if the government spends the money it will displace it from being spent in private sector and distort the free market." Frankly, the private sector does a fine job of distorting the free market with speculations that have no connection to the real economy and do not provide jobs. The tax cuts for the rich don't just go to buying McMansions and Hummers, that money chases the next speculative bubble and distorts commodity prices in ways that make it impossible for dairy farmers to buy the grains they need. The private sector isn't investing to avoid and manage the next environmental disaster or rehabilitate our crumbling sewers, bridges and other infrastructure. Lots of money chasing the next bubble, but not investing in world class broadband digital infrastructure. Why? Investments in tangible things that affect the real economy are difficult, and many "rich people" want to get richer quicker "in the market", not get their hands dirty with long term investments difficult and risky things like developing new innovations. The magic of the "invisible hand" of wealthy people is more a myth than a reality.
So, it is becoming passe' to say that the Wall Street class caused the problem, were bailed out by middle-class tax payers, are continuing to get tax cuts and the cost is falling on middle class tax payers. We see it in "austerity" plans and "debt control" plans that are taking the form of cuts to programs that help the lower and middle class people, cuts that forestalled investment in infrastructure maintenance, environmental restoration and much more. And we're told that we cannot raise taxes on the wealthy 1% of the people who now hoard 40% of the nation's wealth.
There is a phrase that describes the struggle surrounding this situation and it's "class war."
What isn't as widely acknowledged, but should be generally accepted is that the United States, and the World for that matter, is in the midst of a class war. Sadly, some of the inertia in the class war resides in common people who perpetuate the notions that 1) government is inherently bad and 2) that if we are going to have taxes at all, then the taxes on the wealthy class should be very low so they can invest and create jobs.
A government of the common people can be a very beneficial thing. Ask someone with Veterans medical care, someone who benefited from the GI Bill who wouldn't have been able to go to college without it, someone with a monthly social security check or someone with medicare. I could go on with the highway system, which some smart people would deride that saying the car corporations pushed the US government to fund the highways and that we should have invested in mass transit instead, but you get the idea; if we the people have a shared vision, we can efficiently and effectively use our government to pool the resources to do it. That great American "can-do" thing. So, future visions of a Utopian anarchism aside, a government of the people, as opposed to "of the corporations", is a good thing.
"But if the government spends the money it will displace it from being spent in private sector and distort the free market." Frankly, the private sector does a fine job of distorting the free market with speculations that have no connection to the real economy and do not provide jobs. The tax cuts for the rich don't just go to buying McMansions and Hummers, that money chases the next speculative bubble and distorts commodity prices in ways that make it impossible for dairy farmers to buy the grains they need. The private sector isn't investing to avoid and manage the next environmental disaster or rehabilitate our crumbling sewers, bridges and other infrastructure. Lots of money chasing the next bubble, but not investing in world class broadband digital infrastructure. Why? Investments in tangible things that affect the real economy are difficult, and many "rich people" want to get richer quicker "in the market", not get their hands dirty with long term investments difficult and risky things like developing new innovations. The magic of the "invisible hand" of wealthy people is more a myth than a reality.
So, it is becoming passe' to say that the Wall Street class caused the problem, were bailed out by middle-class tax payers, are continuing to get tax cuts and the cost is falling on middle class tax payers. We see it in "austerity" plans and "debt control" plans that are taking the form of cuts to programs that help the lower and middle class people, cuts that forestalled investment in infrastructure maintenance, environmental restoration and much more. And we're told that we cannot raise taxes on the wealthy 1% of the people who now hoard 40% of the nation's wealth.
There is a phrase that describes the struggle surrounding this situation and it's "class war."
Friday, December 10, 2010
Refrigerator Child Poetry in Late 2010
I found the following written in refrigerator magnets on our fridge. I'm pretty sure it was written solely by our 10-year old daughter.
Fortunately, she's a happy, intelligent, creative kid who, like most her age, doesn't listen very well.
American peace harass apparatus influence death bomb against argue triumph knife enlist war chief president oppose law blood
Fortunately, she's a happy, intelligent, creative kid who, like most her age, doesn't listen very well.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
GDAE Podcast - Episode 28
What Motivates Political Action?- Corporate Power: Supreme Court sides with Coal Mine Profits over People.
- Prosecute Bush: The Chilcot Inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war, a window into a US inquiry.
- MUSIC: Francisco Herrera mixed with poetry, "Casas de Carton"...
- The Psychology of Motivating Action: Is "more" always better? Research suggests that isn't the case.
- Experimental psychology: The Gaza Strip test case.
- Hope: A key ingredient in a person's decision to join a cause.
Play Episode 28 from this page:
Click to Download Episode 28.
Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo
GDAE Podcast Episode 27 January 19, 2010
GDAE Podcast Episode 26 January 19, 2010
GDAE Podcast Episode 25 January 19, 2010
GDAE Podcast Episode 24 December 31, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 23 November 29, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 22 November 11, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 21 October 18, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 20 October 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 19 September 27, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 18 September 16, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 17 August 31, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 16 July 30, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 15 June 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 14 June 10, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 13 May 22, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 12May 5, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wikipedia on the "Establishment"
According to Wikipedia:The Establishment is a term used to refer to the traditional ruling class elite and the structures of society that they control.
Through these "structures of society that they control," they control society itself... or at least have more control than the rest of us. Thus, if we want to change society, and the establishment does not want those changes, we have a conflict. Here in lies the motivation for this blog's title "government jobs."
Because the establishment class is closely associated with wealth, that "conflict" to which I refer naturally includes a conflict among classes. It is taboo to speak of class conflict (class war) in the United States. This is due, in part, to an establishment that has helped perpetuate a myth that classes don't exist in the US. We are led to believe that, even if income and wealth differ among Americans, this is simply part of the American Dream playing out with different timing for different people. We are told that such differences are petty and that we are all bound together as Americans with a common "national interest."
Ah, but that "national interest" differs for different wealth classes. Here's an example. The US families that have benefited from United Fruit's corporate exploitation in Central America had the "national interest" of suppressing the democratic dreams of peasants in those countries. Their "national interest"was to support the local establishment that would use their power to keep foreign corporate taxes low, allow damage to the environment, maintain exploitative labor laws and allow the US military to participate in crushing the aspirations of the peasant class of those countries. Ironically, the grunts in the US military were typically themselves drawn from the lower class of our country. Hence the phrase "rich man's war."
I could go on, but won't. Read MORE on Wikipedia's take on "the Establishment."
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