We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend today: Tuesday, January 26, 2021

... behind the scenes, the Oxford team reneged on their promise, signing an exclusive deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, who made no commitment to selling the lifesaving vaccine at a low price. Even less well-known is that the decision was taken at the behest of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. “We went to Oxford and said, ‘Hey, you’re doing brilliant work,’” Gates said, “But…you really need to team up.” The 65-year-old tech tycoon is a strong proponent of patents and spends much of his time shaping global health policy. 
James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, a nonprofit that works to expand access to medical technology, said that “Gates has staked out this outsized role in the vaccine world…He has an ideological belief that the intellectual property system is a wonderful mechanism that is necessary for innovation and prosperity.” 
The decision to put profit before people is likely to have a devastating impact on the Global South.
  • Hillary Clinton set to produce TV show about female Kurdish fighters by Alex MacDonald from Middle East Eye (based in London). My reaction: Is this a sign of things to come: renewed efforts by the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire to re-engage in Syria now that Joe Biden, another Deep State acolyte, is in office? I think--yes. I view propaganda as one of the best signals that point to changes in Empire policies. The directors of the Empire regard manipulation of views, especially targeting the American audience, as a primary means to reach their objectives. The fact that this high-profile representative of the ruling class has joined an effort using identity politics as a weapon to encourage a renewed effort to conquer Syria is an important omen of one objective of the Empire's foreign policy.
I see Cunningham's accurate portrayal of the new Sec. of State as another indication that the US is returning to the more "sophisticated" capitalist ruling class faction that has ruled American during the past 75 years except during the recent brief Trump regime. It is a difference of style and some substance between the older fascism of Trump and the return to the more sophisticated style and substance of neofascism that is used by the main ruling class.
Neofascism uses a more updated version of propaganda and psychological operations than did the older authoritarian style epitomized by the Nazis which used crude propaganda and censorship. The main faction of the capitalist ruling class regarded Trump and his followers as rank amateurs and an unfortunate accident. Now they will return to the more sophisticated methods of neofascism (fascism 2.0) and to their objective to establish a new world order under their control (see also a longer, detailed history of past efforts at establishing a capitalist "new world order").
... much has changed .... The structure of the U.S. economy now is unrecognisably different to the myth of U.S. capitalism: Asset markets have been severed from their true returns, and soar away – unconstrained from any anchor in cash earnings; price discovery, via market interaction, no longer exists; markets are not free, but Treasury managed; enterprise capitalism has morphed into monopolistic oligarchism; innovation and small businesses have been crushed; fewer Americans work for younger companies; inequality is rampant; money printing and debt are no longer limited by any prudent considerations – but rather as an exciting MMT ‘opportunity’ ahead; and interest rates no longer act as the mechanism by which capital is directed to its most effective and productive, use. Big changes, all.
... if it is revealed that the thing we call “terrorism”, is something other than a naturally occurring, self-organized phenomenon, but rather something which only exists due to vast support from western political agencies, then a very different conclusion must be arrived at which may be disturbing for some.
  • US-backed Billionaire Hides Behind Class Warfare Rhetoric by Brian Berletic from his weblog Land Destroyer Report. My reaction: Simply amazing that the supporters of a billionaire family would turn reality on its head! Berletic is convincing in this view regarding Thailand's politics due to his establishment of a record of authentic journalism on other geopolitical subjects.
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