When Fascism Masquerades as Populism

by Richard Posner from Dissident Voice. 

This is an excellent essay on the devolution of American capitalism, under the influence of neo-liberalist theology, into fascism. 

Capitalism does not empower people; it gives primacy to capital. Like the corporation, money is a legal fiction that allows bankers and financial institutions to create phantom wealth from nothing. It gives rise to privatized banking cartels and to the Federal Reserve which controls the money supply and loans it at interest to the government and to people. In effect, this gives bankers control of the government and our cultural institutions. 

My only quibble is that he seems to have a positive regard for traditional American liberalism. 

This is the agenda of the right-wing extremists of the two major political parties who have ascended to power by adhering to, and promulgating, the theocracy of free market fundamentalism. Traditional liberalism has always acted as a bulwark against this and other regressive ideologies. But now it is politically extinct. Traditional liberalism has given way to the ultra-conservative philosophy of neoliberalism.

Traditional liberalism functioned only to protect the system that laid the golden eggs of wealth and power for the capitalist ruling class. It only offered promises of better economic times for working people, and only delivered on these promises when it felt threatened and needed working people to keep their rule intact. As capitalists increasingly bump up against the limits of resource exhaustion and the threats of an unstable climate, they have only working people left to exploit.

Mortgaging Your Children's Future

Kabul gets its own stimulus package

by Tom Engelhardt from Asia Times Online. 

The Empire has its own stimulus plans that don't require any debate. Read about an example of this going on now in Afghanistan. Meanwhile the ruling class at the Empire's home base are currently planning on cuts to Social Security while local jurisdictions are already slashing public services that result in layoffs of teachers, police, fireman, librarians, social workers, etc. 

While Americans fight bitterly over whether the stimulus package for the domestic economy was too large or too small, few in the US even notice that the American stimulus package in Kabul, Islamabad, Baghdad, and elsewhere in our embattled Raj is going great guns. Embassies the size of pyramids are still being built; military bases to stagger the imagination continue to be constructed; and nowhere, not even in Iraq, is it clear that Washington is committed to packing up its tents, abandoning its billion-dollar monuments, and coming home.

See also an article on the same subject by Nick Turse from TomDispatch.

Corporate Flimflammers in Our Communities and Congress

by Jim Hightower from Common Dreams. 

Great read from the expert on flim-flam artists.

Does the Justice System Actually Dispense Justice ... Or Does It Just Serve the Powers-That-Be, Like the Other Branches of Government?

from Washington's Blog.

You know that Congress and the White House are acting like lapdogs to the powers-that-be. The question is whether the judiciary is really that different.

This brilliant liberal blogger has amassed considerable evidence in this article to support his thesis that the US legal system is another tool of the ruling class. Of course, one doesn't use the term "ruling class" in polite company in the US. You see, this term is associated with Marxism and we all know--especially in the US--that Marxism is evil. US thought control program also bans the  word "capitalism"; instead we are permitted to use terms like "market economy", "private enterprise", "free markets", etc. Thus liberals use euphemisms which like fig-leaves hide the obscenities of capitalism. 

It appears that he regards this phenomenon as recent and confined to institutions of government. He apparently doesn't know, or is unwilling to admit, that the "powers-that-be" have always dominated all institutions--education, mass media, Hollywood films, other mass produced entertainment, etc as well as government.

COICA Could Be Voted Out of Committee This Week--Scary Stuff

by Chris Pratt from Dissident Voice.

If Leahy’s Law becomes law, freedom of expression on the Internet could well become an endangered species. ...This law is being fast tracked, flying under the radar and almost in total darkness. When money is involved it is amazing how fast bipartisan support can be found. This legislation could be out of committee and headed for a full vote in Congress, with almost no input from the public, in just a few weeks. Amazing.

I have only sampled the author's film (which can be viewed from the links supplied in the article), but it looks outstanding.

US scheming to extend Iraq adventure

by Gareth Porter from Asia Times Online. 

The US ruling class is currently trying to plan how it will fool the American public into believing that they are withdrawing completely from Iraq next year. 

The Empire's intentions of staying indefinitely in Iraq and Afghanistan have been known for years by honest journalists after witnessing the expensive, huge military and embassy constructions occurring in these countries. See this (you may need to scroll down to "Security Lies in Securing Bases").

A special envoy from President Barack Obama raised the possibility in a secret meeting with senior Iraqi military and civilian officials in Baghdad on September 23 that his administration would leave more than 15,000 combat troops in Iraq after the 2011 deadline for US withdrawal, according to a senior Iraqi intelligence official familiar with the details of the meeting. 

Mr. Obama's Most Recent "2%" Sellout is his Worst Yet

by Michael Hudson from Credit Writedowns.

The author explains the latest ruling class ploys that their hired pickpocket, Obama, will be using to steal more from working people without their knowing it.

One would not realize that the financial End Time is here from today’s non-confrontational White House happy-talk. Charles Baudelaire quipped that the devil wins at the point where he manages [to] convince the world that he doesn’t exist. We might paraphrase this today by saying that the financial elites win the class war at the point where voters believe it doesn’t exist – and believe that Mr. Obama is trying to help the middle class, not reduce it to debt peonage and a generation of victimhood as the economy settles into debt deflation.

Riot Photos From Greece

from The Daily Bail. 

See photos of the Greek people fighting back against the enforcers of the Greek ruling class. These are photos that US mainstream media such as CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc will not allow you to see. 

See also: "Greek debt position worse than feared" from The Telegraph.

And: "Europe Fears That Debt Crisis Is Ready to Spread" from The NY Times.

Worker-Run Factories in Argentina Continue to Thrive, Boosting the Economy and Influencing Workers in Other Countries

by Marcela Valente from IPS via AlterNet. 

You may have wondered about what happened to the Argentine worker cooperatives that was of so much interest to left-thinking people after the economy collapsed in that country in 2001. This report brings you up to date.

After the late 2001 financial and political meltdown in Argentina, thousands of companies were abandoned by their owners in a sea of debt. But some of them were taken over and reopened by their employees. Today, as the economy continues to grow, these worker-run factories are still going strong.

Meeting decline face-to-face

by Juan Cole from Asia Times Online. 

The author has an excellent grasp of the realpolitik of international capitalist rivalries and the strategies of the US ruling class. Here is a good example of the latter:

Bush and former vice president Dick Cheney thought in terms of expanding American conventional military weapons stockpiles and bases, occupying countries when necessary, and so ensuring that the US would dominate key planetary resources for decades to come. Their world view, however, was mired in mid-20th century power politics.

If they thought they were placing a marker down on another American century, they were actually gambling away the very houses we live in and reducing us to a debtor nation struggling to retain its once commanding superiority in the world economy. In the meantime, the multi-millionaires and billionaires created by neo-liberal policies and tax cuts in the West will be as happy to invest in (and perhaps live in) Asia as in the United States.

Cole's analysis of recent events suggests that that the post-WWII US hegemony is definitely on the decline. To me this is not reassuring. I recall that the inter-capitalist rivalries of the 20th century resulted in the horrors of two world wars followed by numerous small proxy wars between the US and Soviet Union.

Thus, it is now more urgent than ever to prevent a repeat of this scenario and to save our planetary habitat from climate change and resource exhaustion. To do this working people all over the world must take control of their societies away from these sociopathic capitalist elites.

De-legitimizing public education

by Valerie Strauss from The Washington Post.

The writer provides a good service by foreseeing further attacks on public education and the continuing dumbing-down of the American public. But what she offers in addition to this are some valuable hints on how the ruling class controls education through top-down layers of control. She inadvertently provides these hints in steps 3, 4, and 5. This, in outline form, is precisely how the ruling class controls all public service institutions in a capitalist "democracy". 

What would be of greater interest would be to fill in that outline with more details, not only in education, but in all other institutions. That would be the most valuable service to all working people so that they could really understand how their society works in contrast with the rubbish that they are taught in schools, by mass media and Hollywood. But, of course, she wouldn't dare do that because she would be fired and her career in journalism in mainstream media would be finished.

As Glaciers Melt, Science Seeks Data on Rising Seas

by Justin Gillis from The NY Times. 

Of course, registration is required, but you should be registered to this important source--and it's free.

Melting ice is by no means the only sign that the earth is warming. Thermometers on land, in the sea and aboard satellites show warming. Heat waves, flash floods and other extreme weather events are increasing. Plants are blooming earlier, coral reefs are dying and many other changes are afoot that most climate scientists attribute to global warming. 

Growing signs of renewed debt crisis in Europe

by Stefan Steinberg from World Socialist Web Site. 

The rapidly developing European economic crisis is the consequence of a deliberate policy on the part of the European political elite to ensure that the broad masses of the population pay the price for the massive bail-out of the banks following the crash of 2008. Having poured hundreds of billions of euros into the vaults of the banks, European governments are now in the process of imposing vicious austerity policies across the continent, plunging millions into unemployment and poverty.

See also this for latest coverage on the European debt crisis.

A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save it [a book review]

by Jeff Vail from The Oil Drum. 

Because I have not read this book, I cannot comment on the book itself. But what struck me about this review is the use of euphemisms such as "our economic and finance structure", "modern industrial civilization", and "global political economy" in place of a key concept.

VIEWER OFFER: I will send a DVD of an excellent documentary by Jamie Johnson (heir of the founders of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Corp.) entitled, "The One Percent" to anyone who can supply me by 12 noon (Pacific Standard Time) tomorrow (Nov. 15) the key concept that, in my opinion, is missing from this review. 

A much better review is supplied on Amazon's website written by Norman Dyer.

Western media frightened of the “F” word in its Israeli context

by Alan Hart from Redress. 

This article provides some interesting background on the terrorist origins of Israel's Zionist character which according to many inside Israel is taking on the qualities of fascism.

There is a debate in Israel about whether the Zionist state is on the slippery slope to fascism or is already fascist. As far as I am aware the mainstream Western media has not drawn any attention to this.

It was Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics, who, along with 27 other most influential Jews, first warned of the danger of the rise of fascism in Israel.

US diplomatic offensive tightens strategic encirclement of China

by John Chan from World Socialist Web Site. 

This excellent article provides the context that is missing from mainstream media reports of the recent visits by Obama and Hillary Clinton to various countries in the Far East.

President Barack Obama’s visits to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, and Clinton’s trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia, sought to either strengthen existing alliances or create new partnerships for a US-led strategic encirclement of China.

Lessons in QE2 (the 2nd round of flooding the world with US dollars)

The Not So Gradual Degradation Of A Nation

by Sibel Edmonds from Boiling Frogs. 

This whistle-blower extraordinaire describes the growing trend by government officials to subject citizens to humiliating treatment. She is focusing on the intrusive security inspections by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) at airports.

Every single day millions of us are being subjected to the shameful processes of being searched, screened and viewed naked, patted, groped, fondled, poked and stroked by badge-wearing strangers- police under a different name. Every single day. Millions of us, Americans. Being violated. Being degraded. You know exactly what I am talking about. I am taking about me, you, your mother, her brother, his brother’s wife and toddler son, their grandmothers. I am talking about the systematic degradation of our people. I am talking about being raped of our dignity, privacy, and decency. I am talking about a daily systematic rape we actually pay to be subjected to. I am talking about severe violations we elect people to bring upon us. Yes, I am talking about traveling, TSA police, and being reduced to naked and helpless subjects of government police practices.

Venezuelan Workers March for More Participation and More Rights

by Juan Reardon from Venezuelan Analysis. 

Working people in Venezuela are increasingly demanding that the Chavez government push through many needed measures to advance socialism in their country. Many feel that the government's bureaucracy is hampering their efforts and that Chavez too often makes compromises with them and the private sector. Working people feel that more pressure is needed on Chavez to promote more worker control of enterprises in Venezuela. One union leader's statement typifies this sentiment:

“President Chávez, in the last two years especially, has tried to change the economy, the mode of production, and the form of the state. But the problem is if these objectives are not taken up with force, passion, and intelligence by the workers themselves, the bureaucracy within the public administration – the petty bourgeoisie that has control over the important parts of the Venezuelan state – will prevent these objectives from going forward,” affirmed Pedro Eusse in a July 2010 interview.

Our only choice is stand and fight

by John Pilger from Green Left.

This noted journalist of the left reviews post WWII history, the co-opting of labor leaders, and the current dismantling of social democracy in Britain. He writes:

What is happening in Britain is the seizure of an opportunity to destroy the tenuous humanity of the modern state.

It is a coup, a “shock doctrine” as applied to Pinochet’s Chile in the 1970s and Boris Yeltsin’s Russia in the 1990s.

He concludes with a call to action by all working people to fight back as they have been doing in France.

The BA workers, the firefighters, the council workers, the post office workers, the National Health Service workers, the London Underground staff, the teachers, the lecturers, the students can more than match the French if they are resolute and imaginative, forging, with the wider social justice movement — potentially the greatest popular resistance ever.  

Liberal Environmentalists Have Hit a Dead-end

by Ron Horn. 

After reading the latest articles put out by noted climate change/resource exhaustion specialists, it appears to me that they have reached a dead-end. They are looking at the upcoming climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico with despair. Albert Bates in his article entitled, Slouching Towards Cancun, writes:

In Copenhagen, the NGOs had displays and presentation rooms right at the Bella Center, the Ground Zero of the UN meeting. That ended the snowy December day Obama arrived, when, suddenly, NGOs were rationed passes, and then thrown out into the cold, quite literally. This year the host country is starting at the point of last year’s exclusion, dividing the delegate deliberations at the Moon Palace Hotel from the Civil Sector Sideshow at the Cancun Messe, 5 miles away. KlimaForum10, an off-site alternative congress continuing from this past April’s World Peoples' Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, is even farther away, across impassible swamps and pedestrian-inadvisable highways.

Richard Heinberg writes at length about the effects we will see if we continue with "business as usual":

• The depletion of important resources including fossil fuels and minerals;
• The proliferation of environmental impacts arising from both the extraction and use of resources (including the burning of fossil fuels)—leading to snowballing costs from both these impacts themselves and from efforts to avert them and clean them up; and
• Financial disruptions due to the inability of our existing monetary, banking, and investment systems to adjust to both resource scarcity and soaring environmental costs—and their inability (in the context of a shrinking economy) to service the enormous piles of government and private debt that have been generated over the past couple of decades.

They keep presenting basically the same arguments and data that clearly indicate that societies cannot keep on the same growth path that has occurred up to now. Some are beginning to see the futility of merely presenting the same arguments against growth. George Monbiot writes:

How should we respond to the reality we have tried not to see: that in 18 years of promise and bluster nothing has happened? Environmentalists tend to blame themselves for these failures. Perhaps we should have made people feel better about their lives. Or worse. Perhaps we should have done more to foster hope. Or despair. Perhaps we were too fixated on grand visions. Or techno-fixes. Perhaps we got too close to business. Or not close enough. The truth is that there is not and never was a strategy certain of success, as the powers ranged against us have always been stronger than we are.

They all point to the effects of the growth model of our economic system, but refuse to name it or even suggest that this system of capitalism is the cause of unrelenting pressure to grow regardless of all the disastrous environmental and human consequences. Heinberg seems to think that economists are to blame:

Economists are merely generalizing from their experience: they can point to decades of steady growth in the recent past, and they simply project that experience into the future.

At least George Monbiot seems to recognize that liberal environmentalists have reached a dead end and need to come up with some new ideas. He concludes his article with this important question and statement:

So what do we do now?

I don't know. These failures have exposed not only familiar political problems, but deep-rooted human weakness. All I know is that we must stop dreaming about an institutional response that will never materialize and start facing a political reality we've sought to avoid.

Yes, I agree! And the political reality is the ruling class that is addicted to profits provided to them under the system of capitalism! 

Academics and others are still too intimated to do this. They fear for their careers if they do. You see, back in the 1950s during the McCarthy period of witch-hunts, there was a great purge in the US of leftists in Hollywood, the unions, educational and media institutions. The effects of this purge is still felt today even though most people don't remember the origin.

Don't blame Joe McCarthy for what happened. He was mentally unstable, but a "useful idiot" to the ruling class at the time. It was only when he began to attack generals in the US Army with his crazy "commie" claims that the ruling class got rid of him.

The Rich Still Love a Good Game Party

by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair.

The author does us a great service by keeping us in touch with our fellow Americans. I'm sure we have much in common with them. So, let's take a peek into their lives today to see what they are up to.

At about this time each year, invitations begin to arrive in upper-class inboxes for what is perhaps the most enduring of all elite social traditions: the seasonal game dinner. In elegant town houses and on sprawling estates alike, grandees are hosting feasts to celebrate the long-standing relationship between the aristocracy and open land.

‘Dancing with Dynamite’: The Future of Latin America’s Leftist Movements

Article by Kari Lydersen from In These Times. (a book review)

In his captivating book Dancing with Dynamite, to be released in September or October, Ben Dangl explores the complicated choreography between unfettered popular struggle and the state institutions that are necessary to a functioning civil society—yet by nature are forces of moderation, compromise and cooperation.

The book's author is rather critical of Kirchner's government in Argentina because it essentially preserved the capitalist system and the Argentine ruling class.

Kirchner effectively demobilized and bought off the middle class…After applying these divisive, demobilizing, and repressive tactics, the government used the simple strategy of patience and attrition while public activism died down. 

On the other hand, did not Kirchner pursue a better course than most capitalists by first refusing and finally renegotiating the IMF and World Bank debts? See this. Should the working class have fought against this government? Things can get rather complicated at times.

A similar situation existed here in the US during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Memories of the Soviet revolution were still fresh in the minds of many people both on the left and right. The US ruling class was nearly hysterical over the event. There was no unemployment in the Soviet Union and they were making rapid strides in developing their economy under central planning. Little was known at the time as to the authoritarian methods used in this command economy. 

Hence the ruling class opted to allow Franklin Roosevelt, a member of the capitalist aristocracy and old wealth section of the class, to lead the government. He introduced a lot of social democratic measures to divert much of the pressure from left wing movements that wanted more radical changes. Many leftists at that time were enthusiastic supporters of FDR. Left historians like the celebrated Howard Zinn admired FDR and was essentially a social democrat.

Roosevelt and the New Deal created jobs for millions of people. And, oh, there were people on the—you know, out there on the fringe who yelled “Socialism!” Didn’t matter. People needed it. If people need something badly, and somebody does something for them, you can throw all the names you want at them, it won’t matter, you see?

                                             **********************
Democracy is social movements. That’s what democracy is. And what history tells us is that when injustices have been remedied, they have not been remedied by the three branches of government. They’ve been remedied by great social movements, which then push and force and pressure and threaten the three branches of government until they finally do something. Really, that’s democracy. 

The Fight to Save Social Security Begins

by Shamus Cooke from Global Research. 

As is revealed in the article, it is not only Social Security that is targeted, but many other attacks on working people are being made ready to be launched. Now that the distractions of the election circus is over, the ruling class will proceed to take away more from working people so that their class can accumulate more wealth. 

With capitalist enterprises pushing on the ecological limits of the Earth, the world economy has taken on the characteristics of a "zero-sum" game. Actually, I believe that we are now seeing the "sum" part of this phenomenon decreasing. The implications of this is that the capitalist ruling classes will be aggressively attacking working people more than ever before. This is what we are witnessing now in many parts of the world due to the economic collapse.

With national elections barely over, Republicans and Democrats unveiled their real political agenda, in the form of Obama's Deficit Reduction Commission. The bi-partisan commission has a nightmare vision for working people that, if implemented, will remold American society to mirror the current ruler of U.S. politics -- the corporations and wealthy.

Climate scientists plan campaign against global warming skeptics

by Neela Banerjee from the Chicago Tribune. 

An analysis by a liberal think tank found that half of the more than 100 new Republican Congress members are skeptics on global warming.
                                                  *******************
The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. Other scientists plan a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

The right-wing of the capitalist ruling class is going after the environment as well as working people in order to extract more profits.

Protests precede Seoul G20 summit

Article & video from Al Jazeera. 

This is typical of how working people greet the world's capitalist leaders wherever they go in the world to meet.

More pictures here.

Chilean Miners: What Was the TV Show Hiding?

by Michel Collon from Dissident Voice. 

Gradually the real story of the mine disaster in Chile is leaking out.

His face appeared constantly on every screen: the Head of State—smiling, focused, concerned for his fellow citizens. But was this idealised image perhaps a little too smooth? Who is the real Sebastián Piñera, elected President in 2009 with 51.61% of the vote?

Strengthening Our Health

by John de Graaf from Solutions. 

I certainly agree with everything in this article. Unfortunately, the author is much too naive to understand that these solutions are not possible in a society that is designed to serve the profit addiction of a few people. 

• America has the most expensive health care system in the world, yet Americans rank 50th in life expectancy, just below Bosnia and above Albania.
• We can fix this system by taking a more holistic approach to good health.
• We should start by improving children’s health by focusing on prenatal care and providing at least three months or more of paid leave to all parents of babies or very young children.
• We can improve our lifestyle by reducing working hours to give Americans more time for exercise, sleep, and healthy eating.
• And we can reduce stress by re-instituting tax policies that narrow the gap between rich and poor and guaranteeing vacation time and paid sick days.

While his recommendations would benefit that vast majority in the US, capitalists would actually lose some of the profit supply that feeds their addiction. Because capitalists rule, they make the rules to serve themselves. 

Until progressives in the US grow up, they will never see any progress. Instead they will encounter an increasing degradation of economic conditions for the vast majority of the population. 

South Africa in 2010: A History That Must Happen

by Trevor Ngwane from the Socialist Project. 

The author describes what has been happening in South Africa after the capitalist ruling class decided it didn't really need apartheid to survive. Capitalists are always very creative in their methods of containing opposition so that their rule can continue without interference.

The Freedom Charter, a document that inspired the struggle in South Africa for decades, stated clearly that the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy would be nationalised in order to benefit everyone. It was not to be, as on the eve of independence, the ANC, the SACP and COSATU, members of the Tripartite Alliance that was to govern the newly independent country, opted for the capitalist route to development. Instead of a struggle against capitalism, a policy of class collaboration between the working class and the capitalist class was adopted. It was in this context that the idea of encouraging the growth of a black ‘patriotic’ bourgeoisie was adopted as state policy in the form of the BEE.

Ben Bernanke: The Chauncey Gardiner of Central Banking

The democratic republic of the Congo (DR Congo) after reaching the completion point

by Victor Nzuzi from CADTM. 

Western elites use the same strategy to plunder the resources of 3rd world countries all over the world. Basically it is this: Sponsor and corrupt local leaders, bribe them into accepting huge loans from the World Bank, IMF, or Western banks, use the money to serve Western corporations, to pay for more corruption of local war lords, arm local war lords to fight each other to create chaos, use Western aid agencies and sometimes Hollywood celebrities to provide good public relations to cover the above crimes.

The problem with liberal organizations such as CADTM is that they want to treat symptoms such as cancer with aspirin to relieve the pain instead of curing the underlying disease of economic imperialism. Or to change the metaphor, their mission is to train wolves to become vegetarians so that they stop preying on sheep. Capitalism is a system for wolves, for human predators.

Worrying signs from Venezuela to Ecuador – Latin America loses precious time

by Sergio Ferrari from CADTM.

Eric Toussaint (Belgian historian) in an interview with Sergio Ferrari gives his perspectives on political developments in Latin America.

Latin America seems to be going through a democratic springtime threatened by growing clouds. More specifically because of the “risk of accumulating frustrations. These processes and experiments, these strategic programmes and alternatives that are not yet implemented – such as ALBA and the Bank of the South – can lead to fresh frustration”.

“The events in Ecuador at the end of September, the latest elections in Venezuela, the huge popular expectations that have been shelved in Brazil over the past eight years, the coup in Honduras last year, the election of the right-wing candidate Sebastián Piñera to the Chilean presidency, are signals that cannot fail to raise concern,’...."

US declares financial war on world [10:54m video]

This is an interview with Michael Hudson on RT (Russia Today) in which he presents his perspective on how the US has used its world currency (resulting from WWII) to dominate economic relations with other countries. This arrangement, according to Hudson, has reached its limits and will soon come to an end--and he explains why. He sees the current G-20 summit in Korea as a turning point in the US hegemony of world economic affairs.

Banks to Cash-In Again on New Fed Plan [2 videos]

This is a two part interview with Yves Smith (of Naked Capitalism website) from Real News Network. Paul Jay does an excellent interview to draw out Smith's understanding of this latest creation of money by the Fed (QE2). Smith has had an extensive career in the financial services industry and knows a lot about the system. She has not yet reached the point of rejecting the system itself, rather she still believes that Wall Street or some group of people are ruining the system. She is an honest, knowledgeable person who wants to save it.

Part 1 (12:28m) 

Part 2 (11:41m) 

UK students protest university fees

from Al Jazeera.

Tens of thousands of students are protesting against plans by the British government to raise university tuition fees [and cuts to education funding], smashing windows and lighting fires in London, the capital.

Also, a video report from MSNBC:

 

Two Animated Videos that Illustrate the Contradictions of Capitalism

The Ultimate Roller Coaster Ride: A Brief History of Fossil Fuels [5:39m]
by Richard Heinberg from the Post Carbon Institute. 

This should be subtitled "A brief History of Fossil Fuels and Capitalism". But, of course, it is taboo in the religion of capitalism to name the system.


The Economics of Happiness [trailer]
by the International Society for Ecology and Culture.

At least in this trailer of a film currently being produced, the spokespeople talk about the problems with the "system", nevertheless the producers of the film frame the problem as one of "regulation".

The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.

 

The E-Waste Issue Versus Profits

‘The Story of Stuff’ 2.0: An E-Waste Sequel [7:47m video & article]

The essence is that the same people who have brought you notebook computers that can download a novel in two minutes or cellphones that can locate the nearest French restaurant could certainly do a better job designing products that a) use safer materials and b) can be upgraded rather than thrown away.

So we citizens are being asked to force corporations to do the right thing, the thing which cuts into their profits which is why they exist. No mention is made of the system which places the private accumulation of wealth as its highest priority. Citizens who are facing unemployment, often foreclosures on their homes, cutbacks in education and all public services are also being asked to take up another struggle to keep the overpowering juggernaut of capitalist enterprises from destroying their health and environment.  WHY NOT TARGET THE SYSTEM?

Also, check this out:
Lessons Learned on an E-Waste Odyssey from the NY Times.

...you have to be pretty motivated to recycle e-waste. You have to be willing to drive the stuff somewhere -– often at a designated hour -– or to pay someone to take it away, for starters. ...But, like many of you, there is a limit to the effort and money I am able to devote to throwing stuff away.

Obama Lawyers Defend "Kill Lists"

by William Fisher from IPS. 

"The full contours of the government's position would allow the executive unreviewable authority to target and kill any U.S. citizen it deems a suspect of terrorism anywhere," CCR attorney Pardiss Kebriae told IPS.

"As the government would have it, while non-citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay can challenge the deprivation of their liberty by the United States, a U.S. citizen could not challenge an impending deprivation of his life by his own government."

It seems that the ruling class will use the cover words "terrorism" or "terrorist" to violate all human and civil rights, to justify invasions of other countries and violations of international laws. The preparations for a police state to protect capitalist rule continues at the center of the Empire.

Obama's Peace Dividend: War Profiteering in the land of Gandhi

by Chris Floyd from Empire Burlesque. 

The author contrasts Obama's recent trip to India, where he was peddling more weapon sales, to comments from Arundhati Roy whose report suggests that many of these weapons will likely be used by the oppressive Indian military against the people of Kashmir and other areas of India.

The Nobel Peace Laureate Barack Obama, who in his prize-claiming speech boldly claimed the mantle of Mahatma Gandhi, is now visiting India. And why has he made this pilgrimage to the homeland of his spiritual mentor? Has he come to drink more deeply of the wellsprings of satyagraha, to steep himself more thoroughly in the Gandhian principles of courageous, active, non-violent resistance to evil, to the Mahatma's ceaseless dedication to the poor and the outcast?

No: he has come to seal the deal on the sixth largest sale of war weapons in the history of the United States: $5 billion for the bristling, burgeoning Indian military, currently waging war on millions of its own people in Kashmir and the poverty-devastated state of central India, where the despair is so deep that suicide among the poor is epidemic.

Becoming An Empathic Civilization [10:40m animated video]

by Jeremy Rifkin. 

The author uses his animated presentation to illustrate new scientific evidence which supports the notion that empathy is an important feature of human nature. Capitalism views human nature as mostly motivated by selfishness, aggressiveness, need to dominate others; and at other times when describing working people capitalist defenders often emphasize laziness and heartlessness.  Rifkin's exposition argues that capitalism has tended to distort innate human nature that has often resulted in the expression of negative traits.

A pandemic made by capitalism

by Joe Allen (a diabetic) from Socialist Worker.

...the unhealthiest places in the United States--Logan County, West Virginia. With a population of 36,000 people in 2008, the Centers for Disease Control put the estimated rate of diabetes in Logan County at 14.8 percent, the highest in the U.S.

Here, the causes were much clearer. Among them are the 36 fast food restaurants in Logan County--one for every 1,000 residents. Obesity and diabetes go hand in hand. Some have proclaimed Logan County the "diabetes capital" of the U.S., but there are counties in Mississippi that are in nearly as bad a shape.

For more information on how industrial food is making Americans sick, I highly recommend that you read the book by Michael Pollan entitled, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. After reading this book, you will never look at food the same way again.

Pushed to the brink by disaster and war

by Saadia Toor from Socialist Worker. 

From my understanding of Pakistan's politics and their relation to the war in Afghanistan based on a number of reliable sources, I think that this article offers considerable insight into this tragic region. 

It's clear that US's relationship with Pakistan is modeled after their typical relationships with the countries of Latin America in the 1970s and 1980's--the use of corruption to control the nation's military in order to control the nation. This practice continues today especially in the smaller countries like Honduras and Guatemala. In Pakistan it appears that the control is working both ways between the US and Pakistan's military. It is the people of this region that suffer the consequences.

The author describes in some detail, which has been mostly ignored in US media, the recent devastating floods that has exacerbated the misery of Pakistanis. The author provides an excellent context to understand the poor response by their government to provide aid relief to the victims.

In reality, the crisis is so enormous that no state would have been able to rise to the challenge. And the Pakistani state, for various reasons, was even less prepared to respond to the crisis.

The Pakistani state today is a state hollowed out by neoliberal reforms as a result of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank conditionalities. These conditionalities came as a part of aid agreements brokered by successive military governments. The result is that Pakistan has become a cash cow for imperialist and domestic vested interests.

The IMF has sucked billions out of the country in the form of loan repayments. The aid has gone directly into the pockets of the ruling elite, especially the military establishment. As a result, the state as a result lacked the basic infrastructure to respond to this crisis in the appropriate fashion.

Also, see Christian Parenti's excellent, intense documentary entitled, "Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi", which supports the views of this author regarding the relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan's military.

The Money Party Deficit Reduction Scam and Social Security

by Michael Collins from The Economic Populist.

In this piece the author provides the details of the looting of Social Security and current plans to slash retirement pensions. 

Yes, the ruling class has also been borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund that all working people pay into all their lives for their retirement pensions. The Fund which in the past decades has collected large surpluses, will now need those surpluses to fund worker pensions of those retiring in the coming decades. But the ruling class doesn't want to raise taxes on itself to pay back what they owe the Fund.

President Obama announced the new National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform on February 18 to address astronomical federal budget deficits. There has been considerable speculation that this commission will target current and future benefits for Social Security recipients to achieve its goals.

Why would this be the case? We need look no further than the treatment of major retirement funds over the past 20 years to get the answer. When the mob needed cash, it looted the Teamsters retirement fund. When large corporations or government entities get in trouble, they effectively borrow from their employee retirement funds by delaying required payments or otherwise gaming the programs.

Debacle of America's Democratic Party, Demise of the Left-Center Left, A Worldwide Trend

by James Petras from Global Research.

The author provides a good overview of recent economic events in Western capitalist countries in an attempt to draw out their implications for political trends. Europe's social democratic type of capitalism and US's more anemic version, what Petras refers to as governments supported by center/left-left collusions with the capitalist ruling classes, is being completely discredited. The left-wing union and political leadership that are tied to this structure have failed to act effectively, leaving angry ordinary people to fend for themselves. This has encouraged right-wing, fascist leaning political forces to step up their policies. 

This drama is only in its first act and nobody knows how it is going to play out. Will aggressive leadership and organizations arise from the many millions of struggling workers? Or will we see working people resigned to be sheep for the capitalist sheepherders who intend to lead them into ever smaller pens and ultimately the slaughterhouse. Will working people allow this barbaric system to destroy the environment that sustains human and other life forms? One thing appears certain--the old social democratic left is dead. Maybe that was a necessary step before working people wake up and take matters into their own hands.

The Left-Center Left regimes are paying a high electoral price for sacrificing the working class in order to save the bankers: Obama’s recent electoral defeat is only a forerunner of future losses for the Spanish, Greek, Portuguese Socialists and other L-CL regimes. Their austerity policies have led them to ‘fall between two chairs’: They alienate workers and strengthen the capitalist class, which already has its own “natural” conservative capitalist parties. The “hard right” everywhere is advancing, sensing the debacle of the center-left as an opportunity to deepen and widen the frontal assault on labor rights, social welfare and any semblance of legal protection.

One million march in eighth national protest against Sarkozy’s pension law

by Antoine Lerougetel from World Socialist Web Site. 

It is very encouraging to see the French people continuing their fight against their right-wing government's plans for more social spending cuts. 

Over 1 million people marched Saturday in the eighth national day of action against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension cuts.

     Amiens: The banner reads: "Solidarity between generations"
 





















This on-the-scene report of the French protests appears to support Petras' thesis that the left politicos and union leaders are impeding the fightback. See also this analysis.

A Ghost Agreement

by George Monbiot from his blog. 

People who write articles like this simply do not understand, or refuse to understand, the fundamental contradictions between the dynamics of capitalism and ecology.

When they meet to consider the gradual collapse of the natural world, they send their office cleaners and defer the hard choices for another ten years, while the media doesn’t even notice that they have failed to produce a written agreement. 

"They" and the "media" are one and the same--just different components of the capitalist system.

Time to end war against the earth

by Vandana Shiva from The Age (Australia). 

When we think of wars in our times, our minds turn to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the bigger war is the war against the planet. This war has its roots in an economy that fails to respect ecological and ethical limits - limits to inequality, limits to injustice, limits to greed and economic concentration.

A handful of corporations and of powerful countries seeks to control the earth's resources and transform the planet into a supermarket in which everything is for sale. They want to sell our water, genes, cells, organs, knowledge, cultures and future.

Of course, the Earth will survive, but we humans and many other species will likely not.

Where is the Venezuelan Revolution going?

by Alan Woods from In Defense of Marxism. 

The is a fairly lengthy, highly intelligent critique of the progress of the Venezuelan Revolution. Alan Woods has spent a lot of time in Venezuela and is a friend of that revolution. But he, too, is becoming rather skeptical of, and concerned about, its continued progress toward removing the scourge of capitalism from the country. 

If we wish to understand the reasons why people who support the Revolution abstain in elections (and this is a vital question for the future of the Revolution), we must begin here. When a Bolivarian worker sees that his wage is not enough to last to the end of the month, and that prices are rising, whereas the rich are getting richer, he begins to lose confidence in the Revolution. This is the fundamental question that needs to be addressed.

The main problem I have with Marxists is that, although they always talk about democratic control, they too often in practice tend toward an elitist orientation, a "vanguard" type of leadership. I am much more of an anarchist in having all power based in small geographically organized groups. (See the "alternatives" in the upper right-hand corner of this blog.) Marxists have their place along with other politically informed people in a revolution as intellectuals whose ideas can influence actions, but the actions must stem from, and be controlled by, the base.

Because intellectuals and highly trained people have served such an important role to support capitalist enterprises, they, as a class, tend almost unconsciously to feel that they should be in charge of revolutions and society. It's almost like they feel a modern version of "Divine Right" to rule.

The Grassroots of Resilience

by Kate Bodi from Culture Change. 

This is really two inter-related articles.

This report starts with the U.S. and concludes with a presentation by a witness to Argentina's financial collapse and community-based response a decade ago.

And both relate to community organizing in this time of growing economic distress. The Argentine experience (the 2nd article) offers lots of ideas and is particularly interesting.

Murdoch drums up “war” where propaganda collides with truth

by Stuart Littlewood from Redress. 

The author provides an antidote to Rupert Murdoch's rhetorical ass-kissing of a Zionist organization.

Stuart Littlewood analyses Rupert Murdoch’s speech to the US Zionist hate peddling Anti-Defamation League, in which the media magnate regurgitated Israel’s propaganda lines. He argues that Murdoch’s imaginary “war against the Jews” is “merely the flashpoint where propaganda lies finally collide with the sickening truth about Israel”.

It's a sad truth that Murdoch's Fox News media organization has a tremendous propaganda role in shaping ordinary American opinions about the Empire's wars in Eurasia, the economic collapse, and neo-liberalism.

This is how the ruling class manages anger:

The Becoming of Social Democracy in Venezuela

by Rosa Tristan from Venezuela Analysis. 

I am posting this today mostly because the author provides a very good, concise explanation of the concept of "social democracy". You see, here in the US the political IQ of the average person is very low. And because of this, it is very difficult to have an intelligent conversation regarding political issues with my fellow Americans. 

No, this is not because Americans are stupid because they eat engineered foods made from genetically modified corn with which US agri-businesses feed them. It is because capitalist organs of indoctrination--mainstream media and education--have deliberately confused political concepts. You see, they know that if American were ever able to really understand how their society is governed, they would immediately overthrow capitalism. 

Most Western capitalist ruling classes have chosen the methods of indoctrination to induce obedience to the existing order rather than the use of a police state regime. However, if such methods are unsuccessful, they would never hesitate to resort to using fascist governments and police state methods as they did in Germany, Italy, and Spain in the 1930s. The infrastructure for a police state has already been largely completed in the US in case it is needed. (See this, this, this, and this.) 

So, please read how the concept of "social democracy" has manifested itself in Venezuelan history. (You will be tested on it.)

Is the Gulf of Mexico safe?

by Dahr Jamail from Al Jazeera. 

Experts, fishermen and residents disagree with federal agencies' claims that the Gulf and its seafood are safe.

I expect that ten years from now mainstream media will be quietly reporting a high incidence of cancers, birth defects, and other strange diseases in the Gulf region. Following these reports you will see experts saying that more research is needed to find the causes.

Nationalise the banks to save the future

by Peter Boyle from Green Left. 

Look at what the left in Australia has learned about privately owned banks:

Under capitalism, competition leads naturally to greater concentration of ownership and market domination. And the objective of each competing capitalist enterprise, in engaging in such competition, is to increase its profits.

The obscene inequalities that have arisen through this process are just one issue. The bigger problem is that these giant banks — unashamedly running on the principle of insatiable profit greed — are using the collective savings of our society (and bad debts the public may one day be expected to “socialise”) in a totally irresponsible way.

Instead of directing these funds to the urgently needed transition to renewable energy, to public transport, health, housing and education, they are directed to expanding dirty coal and other fossil fuel industries, to enriching mining magnates, and to destructive speculative ventures.

Our society cannot afford to have these decisions carried out on the basis of what makes the big four the most profit. This is why, as socialists, we say: nationalise the banks and democratically run them in the community interest.

 

 

Two Articles on Using the Internet for Organizing

There has been a fair amount of internet discussion lately about the uses of the internet for organizing action campaigns. Here are two useful articles: 

A Response to Mark Engler's 'The Limits of Internet Organizing' by Jamie McClelland
The author makes some very important points in this response to an earlier article by Engler.

This mass movement of the world's population to the Internet, in a quest to communicate and connect with others, hasn't been missed by the corporate class. Facebook, Twitter and others, are investing millions of dollars in an effort to profit from this movement, control the Internet so it can more predictably produce profits, and restrain it's open and democratic nature.

Engel's piece not only fails to address this dynamic, but he dangerously equates the Internet with these corporations, depoliticizing the Internet as if it were just a hammer. Unlike a tool, the Internet is a fast-developing universe of political struggle. We are engaged in constantly shifting battles over whether or not the software that will increasingly control our lives should be free and open or owned by a for-profit company; who should control and have access to our data; whether our communications should be accessible to our governments; whether our ability to communicate is a right or a privilege.

Organizing in the Internet Age by Mark Engler
In this more recent article Engler provides a review of the discussion about the use of the internet for organizing and other constructive purposes, clarifies concepts related to organizing, and provides examples to illustrate the concepts.

Time for a New Theory of Money

by Ellen Brown from Yes! Magazine.  

The author provides some of the best writing on money matters for the ordinary person to comprehend. This vital subject, so long obscured by capitalist oriented academics, is necessary to understand if our economies are ever going to function for the benefit of all in an ecologically sustainable way.

Once we design and implement plans for a money management system, the next important step is to provide for the democratic planning of what is produced by the economy. Thus loans would be approved by democratically controlled bodies to insure that they went only to enterprises that added real value to society without harming the environment.

Are Cruel Years Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?

by William Loren Katz from CounterPunch. [Scroll down to article.]

The author provides a realistic view about the "good old days" that libertarians and capitalists of various types often refer to. And are these "good old days" coming back? The author says that "we should get cracking" if we are to prevent them from returning.

If al-Qa'ida Really Want to Hit the West, They Can

by Patrick Cockburn from CounterPunch. [You will need to scroll down to the article.]

The author provides a good antidote to the latest al-Qaida threats propagated by mainstream media. The latter must keep the populace in a state of fear to distract them from the devastating public funding cuts that are coming.

The most enraging moment for any correspondent writing about Iraq, Afghanistan or Yemen is to turn on the television and see some "talking head" pontificating about the conflicts. The self-declared expert is always glib, self-assured and irredeemably ignorant about what is going on. They are usually supportive of whatever line the government, American or British, is trying to sell. There is no health check on their credentials. Bookers who engage them for appearances on TV and radio never seem to run a simple check on their knowledge by asking when they were last in the country they claim to know so much about.

Enjoy the Rich-Bashing While it Lasts

by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair.  [my remarks are mostly sarcasm]

The author provides our Saturday offering of information about the one percent of our fellow Americans who rule over us, sponsor our elections, and screen the information about the world that we receive from their media. It is important that we understand all their concerns and issues. 

In this article the author sees bashing the rich as a temporary, election kind of phenomenon that will, once again, pass now that the elections are over. I'm sure this periodic display must, at the very least, hurt the feelings of the one percent, and may even frighten many who fear that the "unwashed" hordes will come to their neighborhoods to take away their toys and even harm them.

With regard to hurting the feelings of the rich, I didn't see much of that here in Washington State where I live. People were given the rare opportunity to tax the rich with an income tax for those with incomes over $200,000, and they voted it down . 

Apparently people here are more respectful of the rich and don't wish to offend them. It seems that the people of Washington State would much rather layoff teachers, firemen, close libraries, and cut back on services to the poor.

On a more serious note, I am most appreciative of this author whose 2007 documentary entitled, "The One Percent", I saw last night. Although Mr. Johnson is no flaming radical, he is a decent member of this exclusive club, and as such, he was able to gain access to many prominent members of his class to ascertain their views on the growing gap between the rich and the poor. This is a must-see film. I got the film through that company that mails them to subscribers.

Election Reactions:

My own: oh hum (yawn), another theatrical performance put on by the ruling class to create the illusion among the "little people" that they have a choice and live in a "democracy".

"Outrage, Misguided" by Noam Chomsky from In These Times.

...there are...lessons to keep in mind as we register the consequences of another election cycle. No shortage of tasks waits for those who seek to present an alternative to misguided rage and indignation, helping to organize the countless disaffected and to lead the way to a better future.

"Dissatisfied Mind: Flickers of Hope in a Deadly Political Cycle" by Chris Floyd from his blog.

What is less heartening, of course, is the fact that the American electorate never quite grasps the obvious, glaring, brutal fact that neither of these factions is ever going to change the system one iota if they can help it; they are the system, they are its servants, its enablers, its en-actors.

"Obama, Republicans prepare for joint assault on American workers" by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.

Obama concluded [his press conference remarks] with...“The reason we’ve got a unparalleled standard of living in the history of the world is because we’ve got a free market that is dynamic and entrepreneurial, and that free market has to be nurtured and cultivated.”

What “unparalleled standard of living” is Obama talking about? American workers who are facing levels of poverty, unemployment and social misery unprecedented in three-quarters of a century might respond with an impolite gesture.

"America is now officially for sale" by Johann Hari from The Independent.

The laws and policies of the legislature of the United States of America are now effectively on e-Bay, for sale to the highest bidder. Are you a Wall Street boss who wants to party like it’s 2007? Are you a Big Coal baron who wants to burn, baby, burn? Are you an insurance company that wants to be able to kick sick people off your rolls?

Federal Reserve Rains Money On Corporate America -- But Main Street Left High And Dry

by Shahien Nasiripour from Huffington Post. 

The author provides a lot of details on the current and recent operations of the Fed, and how it benefits its own class of people and the corporate engines that drive US capitalism. 

Sitting atop a record $1.8 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, non-financial U.S. firms are awash in wealth, Fed data show. Relative to their short-term liabilities, U.S. corporations haven't been this flush since 1956. By that same measure, their balance sheets are twice as strong as they were just 15 years ago.

Dismantling the Iraqi State, Destroying an Entire Country

by Dirk Adriaensens from Global Research. 

This is a comprehensive, well-documented report on the destruction of Iraq that the author presented to the United Nations. I don't necessarily recommend that you read it all--it is very difficult reading, especially for any decent American. (I confess that I only skimmed it.) But I think it a good idea to bookmark or tag it to keep it as a reference.  Crimes against humanity must not be forgotten even when it is the ruling class of one's own country that has committed the crimes.

If you would like to know more about the most infamous war criminal of the US, listen to this former CIA officer's interview with Press TV. (6:34m video)

The new barbarism: Keeping science out of politics

by Andrew Leonard from Salon. 

Although the author sees the obvious intent of the most aggressive section of the capitalist class, he is only able to identify them as "climate skeptics". The fact that they are all funded either directly or indirectly by carbon spewing and polluting industries doesn't enter into his otherwise fine report. (See this, this, this, and this.)

Climate skeptics reach a new low. Their goal: Don't let scientists influence policy, period. 

People employed by mainstream media, and I classify Salon as mainstream, are unable to identify the real, underlying, systemic causes of the attack on science. The ruling capitalist class will never let anything to get in the way of their pursuit of profits, the most powerful addiction of all, that will lead humanity, unless we stop it, to its ultimate destruction.

The author is correct in stating that the attack on science is the new barbarism. What he misses is that the system itself is barbaric because it will never allow truth, destruction of habitat, or destruction of humanity to keep the capitalist class from enjoying its addiction.

How to beat the media in the climate street fight

by Simon L. Lewis from Nature News. 

This scientist recalls his battle with mainstream media over reports that incorrectly used his statements to support climate change skepticism. He therefore asks... 

So what should scientists do when reporting quality falls off a cliff? Earlier this year, I was seriously misrepresented by a newspaper and thrown into a political storm. Rather than take it lying down, I set the record straight. It has been an odd journey, and I think there are lessons for how we scientists should deal with the media.

He then provides the details of his battle with the media and then offers suggestions to scientists on how to handle media reporters in the future.

Do your research. What is the reporter's track record? Anticipate that every sentence you say or write may be dissected and interpreted in the least charitable manner possible. And if things go wrong, seek advice from public-relations experts, and where necessary, media lawyers.

How many scientists have time to do that? And I don't think in the end one can ever defeat corporate media's role in reporting events that suits the interests of the ruling capitalist class. It seems to me that the only real solution is to boycott those media corporations who violate journalistic standards and report only to those who abide by them.

The Midterm Election Further Demonstrates The Need for Revolution

by David DeGraw from Amped Status. 

It is encouraging to encounter fellow Americans like David DeGraw who are "connecting the dots" on the way the system of capitalism works, and the way it doesn't work for the vast majority. And he is also learning from painful personal experience that opposing the system doesn't pay well. However he hasn't yet quite got to the point of blaming the system itself--he points the finger at the "economic elite". He keeps referring to the mythical "Founding Fathers" and thinks that everything they did was wonderful and that this current economic elite is the problem. He writes:

The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep. . . and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class. [A part of American mythology is that everyone who is not rich is in the "middle class".]

This is where I part company from him. The system of capitalism which our "Founding Fathers" established in this country was always an exploitative system, even worse then than now for most people--slaves, indentured workers, landless farmers, and other laborers (Native Americans were regarded as "savages" and sitting on land that the elites were planning to steal). The Founding Fathers were the economic elite of their time. There were no working people represented at the founding of the US Constitution. (Read the classic study by Charles A. Beard.)

The system has always been good at exploiting people and the environment to profit the few, and over the centuries a lot of this wealth has trickled down to the many. But along with the growing standard of living has come numerous and devastating wars caused by rival capitalists to gain control of markets and resources. 

Beginning in the 1970's what has been changing for ordinary Americans is that they no longer occupy a privileged position by being located in the most powerful capitalist country. Technology has enabled capitalists to go global. Thus US capitalists no longer need or want American workers except to fight their wars. A career in the military (if it doesn't kill you) is now the best way for an average American to obtain a good living, free medical services, early retirement, and a good pension.

However, the article provides excellent material for raising the anemic American political consciousness to action:

...it’s time for YOU to lead. It’s time for YOU to get involved. Build your own army. Once you start paying attention and put in some time to do the research, you will clearly see for yourself that both parties are working against your interests. You will also see how critical the situation is and realize that you can no longer be passive and expect to keep living a healthy and secure lifestyle. We are going to be tested in ways we have never been tested before. We cannot get away with being apolitical anymore. It’s time for us to pay attention, to become directly involved in the decision-making processes that guide our life. I know this is something that most people don’t enjoy and don’t want to do, but the consequences of our inaction will be much worse than anything we have ever experienced.

What Marx Got Right

by Alex Knight from The End of Capitalism. 

The author takes a critical look at Marx's contribution to the understanding of history and the development of capitalism, points out the errors, and preserves the gems.

For example, his concept of "superstructure" or the ideological component of class rule is a gem:

Hegemony is a highly relevant idea to our situation today, especially in the United States where the population is thoroughly indoctrinated with the mythology [superstructure] of capitalism – seeing the system as positive and liberating, rather than violent and destructive as it actually is. However, if the base of the American economy continues to deteriorate as it has, Marx would suggest the superstructure is sure to follow, and a revolutionary change is perhaps not far around the corner.

 

Anti-Communism 101: Hijacking History

by William Blum from Foreign Policy Journal. 

Real information is so thoroughly repressed or distorted in the US that we Americans often must wait for the passage of time to find out what really happened. The author of this piece provides some very interesting revelations and corrections to the US propaganda version of history regarding Greece, Brazil, and the Cold War. 

The cases of Brazil and Greece were of course just two of many leftist governments overthrown, as well as revolutionary movements suppressed, by the United States during the Cold War on the grounds that America had a moral right and obligation to defeat the evil of Soviet communism that was — we were told — instigating these forces. It was always a myth.

The ruling capitalist class always hides its goal of accumulating more wealth under various themes such as Manifest Destiny, fighting communism, protecting the "free" world, War on Drugs, and War on Terror.

 

France says No

by Serge Halimi from Le Monde diplomatique. 

If capitalism is to survive, society will have to pay the price: endless evaluations [mis-translation? maybe "price increases"], more competition between workers, exhaustion and bitterness.

The Impotence of Elections

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts from Global Research. 

When a former member of the Reagan administration writes stuff like this, you know things are getting serious.

Still, the vast majority of Americans are confused, misdirected, distracted, and ignorant of their own interests. For example, in my own State of Washington, after a well-funded media barrage urging a "no" vote, the citizens, like sheep going to their slaughter, rejected a ballot measure to establish a State income tax only for people earning over $200,000! Meanwhile their schools, public and social services are being severely slashed. Once again, when given the rare opportunity to vote on something meaningful, they voted against their own interests!

The Fraud Started At the Very Top: With Government Leaders

from Washington's Blog. 

Another fine blog article except for the headline which is very misleading. In the article the author writes:

....the fraud started at the very top with Greenspan, Bush, Paulson, Negraponte, Bernanke, Geithner, Rubin, Summers and all of the rest of the boys.

All of these people, except for Bush (Jr) and Negraponte derive their power and influence directly from the major banks and Wall Street. It is extremely misleading to characterize them as "government" leaders. The fact that such people move in and out of government positions does not alter the fact that their power in based in the financial institutions--Goldman Sachs is most prominent.

Economists: The Unholy Priests of the Banksters

by Gabriel Donohoe from his blog Fools Crow's Blog. 

While I try to untangle the webs of mystery created by bankers over money matters, I always try to stick to well qualified sources of information. This writer does not appear to meet that test. However, based on my current studies of money matters and the influence of Stephen Zarlenga on his views, I feel that he knows a lot about the subject. Moreover, in contrast to most writers on this bankster-obscured subject, he writes in a language that ordinary people can understand. 

Since 97% of the money in the world is created from debt, any loans paid off decreases the amount of money in circulation. And when no further loans are given, the circulating money stock falls dramatically, adversely affecting businesses and the economy at large. This intentional reduction of the money supply leads to widespread business failures, high unemployment, foreclosures on property, and severe hardship within the community. On the other hand, great wealth is transferred from defaulting borrowers to the banksters. It is an act of gross criminality and systematic fraud.

The Phantom Left

by Chris Hedges from TruthDig. 

The author looks at the recent two Washington Mall performances put on by media celebrities to manage the increasing anger of people who are suffering from the bankster engineered economic collapse. He notes that both groups, the right-wing and the liberals (I wish Hedges would stop describing them as a class), used their performances to attack a phantom radical left. What is the significance of these performances?

They both were performed because the capitalist ruling class fears any radical left forming in reaction to the current economic crisis. Because of the economic collapse, there is bound to be criticisms of, and attacks on, the capitalist system. They were both performed precisely to prevent this from happening. They were both designed to head off any discussion of alternatives to business as usual under capitalism. This is all a part of the ruling class' "manufacturing consent" program.

The modern spectacle...is a potent tool for pacification and depoliticization. It is a “permanent opium war” which stupefies its viewers and disconnects them from the forces that control their lives. The spectacle diverts anger toward phantoms and away from the perpetrators of exploitation and injustice. It manufactures feelings of euphoria. It allows participants to confuse the spectacle itself with political action.

Also, check out William Blum's observations about Jon Stewart's Mall performance.

Capitalism and the Curse of Energy Efficiency

by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York from Monthly Review. 

There are many who argue that increasing efficiencies can greatly contribute to the effort at controlling resource exhaustion. The article explores this thesis and provides evidence to show that under capitalism it only results in more production which leads to more resource exhaustion. 

...there are those who maintain that we should “live high now and let the future take care of itself.” To choose this course, though, is to court planetary disaster. The only real answer for humanity (including future generations) and the earth as a whole is to alter the social relations of production, to create a system in which efficiency is no longer a curse—a higher system in which equality, human development, community, and sustainability are the explicit goals.

Rising Seas and the Groundwater Equatio

by Felicity Barringer from The NY Times.

As Richard Heinberg wrote, it's "peak everything", and that includes water. This article examines the unsustainable rate at which water is being pumped from aquifers throughout the world to irrigate crops.

A Parent's Nightmare

by Sara Mullen from the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The nightmare that this couple experienced is due to the recent decades of civil rights reverses directed by the capitalist ruling class of the US. 

I think it began with the killing of the Kent State University students for protesting against the war in Vietnam. No one was charged with any crime or even disciplined. The anti-war movement and the rest of the country was shocked by the incident. The mainstream media tried to manage the damage by offering rationalizations. But, nevertheless, the government of the ruling class got away with it without suffering much damage. This, I believe, emboldened them. 

After the war was over, the right-wing fringe organized and went on the offensive against all the  outrageous (to them) anti-war, pot-smoking generation of civil rights and anti-war activists. Under Nixon they launched the "War on Drugs" which resulted in relaxed search and seizure policies and dramatic increases in arrests and imprisonment of citizens. Then they managed to get the Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan, elected to bust unions and increase police enforcement policies under the "War on Drugs". As a result by 2005 the US had the highest percentage in the world of its citizens in prison.  

The election of George Bush, Jr. brought the "War of Terror" and the Patriot Acts which further curtailed civil liberties and led to increased surveillance of citizens and human rights abuses that in their most extreme form permitted renditions of citizens to overseas detention centers where they were tortured (see this and this). The end result of the right-wing campaign has been the virtual shredding of civil rights under the Constitution. All of these actions has made it permissible for the Pennsylvania county agency and the police to come to this couple's home and snatch away their newborn baby. 

US: myth of the two party system

by Cindy Sheehan from Al Jazeera.

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Specialist Casey A. Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Since then, she has been an activist for peace and human rights.

The author speculates on what policies would have been pursued if McCain had been elected President instead of Obama in order to tease out the differences between the two US parties. What do you think she found?

Fraud Caused the 1930s Depression and the Current Financial Crisis

from Washington's Blog.

Learn some history of the Great Depression and how capitalist frauds created it. You see, the system fosters fraud. It has caused the lurching from one economic crisis to another from its beginning. The current economic crisis is only the latest in a long history of such crises.

Industrial capitalism had its origins in the UK with the increasing mechanization of production and use of water power, then accelerated by the invention of steam powered engines which could process large quantities of wool. The owners of the land discovered they could make a lot more money by raising sheep than collecting rents and other income from small farmers. Hence they drove the small farmers off the land and forced them to emigrate to their colonies (The Enclosure Movement, read also The Great Transformation by Polanyi). 

Capitalist ruling classes continued to expand their enterprises by the invasions of other lands to establish their colonies. In the 20th century the system has resulted in the horrific wars fought by the capitalist ruling classes for the control of resources and markets. Now in the 21ist century the same ruling classes are targeting their own populations to extract more wealth. 

If we don't change it, we will continue to go from one economic crisis to another--and worst of all, it will finally destroy the environment that sustains human life. We have no choice except to fight for our survival as a human race. 

Scotland: Not if people fight back, but how

by Colin Fox from Green Left. 

The author knows that we must fight the cutbacks, just doesn't know yet how. In any case, he does make a very good case for fighting back. Because the causes are the same everywhere, the cuts are coming to all areas of the Empire. Once working people understand the causes and the necessity to fight back, they will figure out what to do. 

...those who caused the crisis are forcing those who didn’t to pay for it. That’s the blatant injustice at the heart of this debate. It is a con, a “Con-Dem con”.

The rich and all their kept politicians now insist on two “fundamental truths”. First that there is no alternative to inflicting lacerating cuts in our vital public services like health, education, transport, housing and care if we are to reduce our debts.

The second is equally false — that “we are all in this together”.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized [11:10m video]

by Jonathan Jarvis from The Crisis of Credit (on Vimeo). 

Although this is not a current post, I found the video to be an excellent portrayal of the credit crisis, precipitated by the mortgage meltdown, that may help you to understand what happened.