Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.
With regard to the possibility of WWIII, Martin reveals the rather stark contrast between the bellicose views of the military section of the US ruling class with the frayed social fabric of the US that would be necessary in fighting even a conventional war with Russia and/or China.
Even though our masters in the ruling capitalist class express some worry about the latter, their addiction to power and profits prevents them from taking the problem very seriously, much less prevents them from any considerations about strengthening the social fabric. Thus, the social fabric will continue to fray while the delusions of our addicted rulers will only increase. This, of course, is a recipe for a disaster. It seems sometimes that only a religious faith in the revolutionary potential of American workers can provide comfort from the prospect of such a disaster, but how realistic is that when so many Americans are dumbed-down with corporate issued news reporting and distracted with mindless entertainment?
I think that the best we can hope for is that there are a sufficient number of ordinary Americans who will keep reminding their masters of their determined opposition through massive demonstrations, hacking into their computers and revealing their criminal secrets, writing about their lies and crimes in alternative media, a refusal to let them divide us by race/ethnicity, and in a thousand ways obstructing and/or, refusing to cooperate with, their policies and actions.
This is probably necessary but not sufficient to save us from a nuclear holocaust. It will likely take more: at the very least, European governments breaking away from the Empire (for example, read this); and the best would be successful revolutionary movements in nations currently within the Empire (for example, read this). Such developments could seriously weaken the Empire to a point in which our masters come to their senses and realize that they cannot win even with their many weapons of mass destruction.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
'Let's Bring In Our Pentagon Spokesman' - Bombing Syria
Click here to access article from Media Lens.
The editor of Media Lens aids us in identifying how "embedded" journalists report (illegal) war news to US citizens by comparing reports by one embedded journalist when he reported on US bombing raids in Syria with his reports of similar Russian raids. To introduce this article, the author reminds of a revealing slip by one Fox news announcer which really defines what embedded war reporting really is.
The editor of Media Lens aids us in identifying how "embedded" journalists report (illegal) war news to US citizens by comparing reports by one embedded journalist when he reported on US bombing raids in Syria with his reports of similar Russian raids. To introduce this article, the author reminds of a revealing slip by one Fox news announcer which really defines what embedded war reporting really is.
TTIP: corporate power grab
Click here if you wish to directly access this series of short videos from Transnational Institute (TNI).
John Hilary, who is associated with War on Want in Britain, explains why we should be opposed to TTIP.
John Hilary, who is associated with War on Want in Britain, explains why we should be opposed to TTIP.
ISDS is a mechanism engraved in (bilateral) investment treaties or an investment chapter of trade agreements which allows multinational corporations to sue governments in ad hoc tribunals. It is an extrajudicial system with special privileges and rights just for one class: Foreign investors, giving them more power relatively to citizens and governments.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Climate change: it’s going to take a revolution
Click here if you wish to directly access this 13:09m video by Suhail Ilyas posted on Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century (rs21) [Britain].
Climate change is real, it’s here and it’s going to get worse. We’ve known about it for decades, and real solutions exist. But the leaders of the world appear determined to do nothing about it. All the signs are that the international COP21 climate talks in Paris this December will produce an agreement to let us burn.
This new video, directed by Suhail Ilyas, looks at how the obstacles to solving the problem are intrinsic to our capitalist system. The growing strength of the climate movement around the world gives us great hope, but it’s going to take a revolution to make the world inhabitable for future generations.
Arguments for revolution
Click here to access article by Jack Farmer from Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century (rs21) [Britain].
It seems to me that the workers of Europe will be the first to make cracks in the capitalist Empire's domination of the world. This appears to be case because they are suffering the worst under the Empire's austerity and neoliberal policies, and economic sanctions against Russia. Added to these frustrations are the Empire's destabilization actions against nearby countries which have resulted in never-ending wars, destruction of entire countries, the rise of fascist groups, and waves of immigrants fleeing from war torn areas. This article from a revolutionary oriented group in Britain is another indication that revolution is once again on the agenda of at least left-wing British workers.
I am especially impressed with Farmer's closing paragraphs:
It seems to me that the workers of Europe will be the first to make cracks in the capitalist Empire's domination of the world. This appears to be case because they are suffering the worst under the Empire's austerity and neoliberal policies, and economic sanctions against Russia. Added to these frustrations are the Empire's destabilization actions against nearby countries which have resulted in never-ending wars, destruction of entire countries, the rise of fascist groups, and waves of immigrants fleeing from war torn areas. This article from a revolutionary oriented group in Britain is another indication that revolution is once again on the agenda of at least left-wing British workers.
I am especially impressed with Farmer's closing paragraphs:
Whatever happens in the coming months, we must build up the social movement that sparked Corbyn’s rise and without which he will be powerless. For a radical left that has spent decades in a defensive posture, there is a big danger that we position ourselves on the sidelines, smugly preaching the impossibility of change within the framework of parliament or capitalism. Instead, we’ve got to be shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone desperate for Labour to deliver change, while arguing that only the growing self-activity of ordinary people can win the change people yearn for. Just like a TV gameshow, you’ve got to be in it to win it.
Revolutionary socialists have a lot to teach – and a lot to learn. We draw inspiration and lessons from history, and especially from the experience of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, but if we allow ourselves to be satisfied with just an unchanging, desiccated “Leninism”, we’re dead. Marxism means learning: learning from each other’s mistakes and successes, learning from the past, learning how to intervene today to ignite people’s self-confidence. We never really graduate from the school of rebellion.
Putting this kind of politics into practice is far more difficult than politics-as-usual, leaving it to the professionals. But changing the world is never going to be easy.
The Anti-Empire Report #140: Are you confused by the Middle East? Here are some things you should know. (But you’ll probably still be confused.)
Click here to access article by William Blum.
I completely endorse 99% of this article. The remaining 1% consists of this paragraph:
As I've said before, Sanders' role for the ruling class is to make nice sounding words that will herd independent sheep back into the corral of the Democratic Party where they can once again be forced down the chute to the capitalist slaughterhouse. Obama performed this task last time, Gore the time before last, Bill Clinton prior to Gore, ad infinitum. Hillary can't do this now because she is too busy demonstrating that she is a tough "broad" for the more patriarchal right-wing voters in the US.
I completely endorse 99% of this article. The remaining 1% consists of this paragraph:
The candidacy of Bernie Sanders, a “democratic socialist”, for the US presidency has produced an unprecedented barrage of discussion in the American media about just what is this thing called “socialism”. Most of the discussion centers around the question of government ownership and control of the economy versus private ownership and control. This is, of course, a very old question; the meat and potatoes of the Cold War ideological competition.I haven't seen any discussion about what socialism really is in American media--if by that he means mainstream media. The elaboration of the concept, if any, is limited to more generous welfare benefits, enhancement of labor protections, and more government spending on public projects. I have seen nothing about public ownership of the economy. This is blasphemy to a capitalist and anyone who affirms such a notion is immediately excommunicated.
As I've said before, Sanders' role for the ruling class is to make nice sounding words that will herd independent sheep back into the corral of the Democratic Party where they can once again be forced down the chute to the capitalist slaughterhouse. Obama performed this task last time, Gore the time before last, Bill Clinton prior to Gore, ad infinitum. Hillary can't do this now because she is too busy demonstrating that she is a tough "broad" for the more patriarchal right-wing voters in the US.
'Ed Snowden of Banking' Refuses to Appear in Swiss Trial
Click here if you wish to directly access this 4:51m interview and transcript with an independent investigative journalist about a banking whistleblower posted on Real News Network.
He's a name you might not have heard of, but you should know: Herve Falciani. He is sometimes called the Ed Snowden of banking. Back in 2008 he committed the most significant theft of data in banking history. The former systems engineer at the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC downloaded details of more than 100,000 potential tax evaders and made the information available to the account holders' national tax agencies. He's been wanted by the Swiss government for seven years and counting.
Here to discuss his case is James Henry. James is a leading economist, attorney, and investigative journalist who has written extensively about global issues.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Russia Can Solve All Economic Problems Itself
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Engdahl introduces an excellent idea to fund Russia's infrastructure after reviewing the recent history which transferred the control of Russian money from the state to an independent central bank at the instigation of Western ideologists. This independent bank poses a barrier to the construction of badly needed infrastructure development in Russia. His idea provides an end-run around this barrier.
Engdahl introduces an excellent idea to fund Russia's infrastructure after reviewing the recent history which transferred the control of Russian money from the state to an independent central bank at the instigation of Western ideologists. This independent bank poses a barrier to the construction of badly needed infrastructure development in Russia. His idea provides an end-run around this barrier.
There is a secret about economic infrastructure investment. Unlike various literal “windmill-building” government subsidized projects in today’s EU or USA, construction of necessary economic infrastructure such as high-speed rails–projects that make the arteries of the national and international economy flow faster and more efficiently–such infrastructure projects bring manifold economic gains to the overall economy. This is the long-forgotten “secret” of infrastructure investment discovered in America during the Great Depression when the government issued bonds to build the huge hydroelectric complex in the Government’s Tennessee Valley Authority and other massive infrastructure projects.
Various USA studies from the 1960’s, back when America still invested in its national infrastructure, found that spending on such vital economic infrastructure repays the state in new tax revenues approximately 11 dollars, or in this case rubles, for every dollar or ruble initially invested. That is the secret of well-conceived infrastructure spending.
Washington Post Confirms: ISIS Supplied Via Turkey, a US Excuse to Seize Syria
Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer Report.
Using primary sources from the Empire's media, Cartalucci reveals the elaborate subterfuge used to support elements in Syria to overthrow the Assad government, and to justify illegal US/coalition attacks on Syrian territory.
Using primary sources from the Empire's media, Cartalucci reveals the elaborate subterfuge used to support elements in Syria to overthrow the Assad government, and to justify illegal US/coalition attacks on Syrian territory.
Halitosis—a capitalist disease
as posted on Occasional Links & Commentary.
Another apt title could be "How a corporation turned a floor cleaner into a breath freshener".
Another apt title could be "How a corporation turned a floor cleaner into a breath freshener".
Monday, November 2, 2015
How Will We Reach an Ecological Civilization and Who Will Build It?
Click here to access article by Chris Williams from TruthOut. (a must-read article)
In this very thought provoking article Williams examines the many facets of the contradictions of capitalism for a sustainable planet, that is, a planet that can sustain human life. He also examines the many ways that capitalist directors can prolong their system in spite of its increasing deleterious effects. For humanity to save itself from extinction, he recognizes the imperative of a complete transformation of societies by posing and answering this question:
In this very thought provoking article Williams examines the many facets of the contradictions of capitalism for a sustainable planet, that is, a planet that can sustain human life. He also examines the many ways that capitalist directors can prolong their system in spite of its increasing deleterious effects. For humanity to save itself from extinction, he recognizes the imperative of a complete transformation of societies by posing and answering this question:
If we agree that we have entered a new epoch of geological time dominated by the activities of humans, through the actions and social relations engendered by capitalism, then what happens if we manage to overthrow capitalist social relations?And then he argues what such a necessary revolutionary force and their new system would look like:
Ultimately, it is vital that fighters for social emancipation, human freedom and ecological sanity recognize that capitalism represents the annihilation of nature and a functioning and diverse biosphere and, thus, human civilization. A system based on cooperation, genuine bottom-up democracy, long-term planning and production for need, not profit, i.e. ecosocialism, represents the reconciliation of humanity with nature.
The necessary gravedigger
Click here to access article by Kit Klarenberg from CounterFire (Britain).
Klarenberg offers a critical review of Canadian author Mike Lebowitz's new book entitled The Socialist Imperative.
Marxist theorists have always seen the working class as "the necessary gravedigger" of capitalism, and in this review Klarenberg reports that Lebowitz sees this necessity more imperative than ever before:
Klarenberg offers a critical review of Canadian author Mike Lebowitz's new book entitled The Socialist Imperative.
Marxist theorists have always seen the working class as "the necessary gravedigger" of capitalism, and in this review Klarenberg reports that Lebowitz sees this necessity more imperative than ever before:
...as modern capitalism increasingly threatens not only the stability of the environment, but our very species survival, he considers it a more morally crucial objective than ever. In attempting to establish a framework for socialist victory in the twenty-first century, he assesses why previous efforts were unsuccessful, how capitalism came to be embraced – or, at least, tolerated – by the people who would benefit most from a more equitable configuration of society, and advances a modernised vision of collectivist organisation.
'Absolute Crap' But Brilliant: Corporate America's Plan to 'Misbehave Without Reproach
Click here to access article by Jon Queally from Common Dreams.
It appears that our corporate-connected masters are now inserting a clause into consumer contracts to circumvent laws and due process by shunting consumer disputes to more friendly "arbitration panels" instead of courts of law. Notice the similarity here with the Investor-State Dispute Settlement in relation to international trade treaties which places corporations on an equal plane with nation-states and disputes are settled in a business-friendly arbitration tribunal.
It appears that our corporate-connected masters are now inserting a clause into consumer contracts to circumvent laws and due process by shunting consumer disputes to more friendly "arbitration panels" instead of courts of law. Notice the similarity here with the Investor-State Dispute Settlement in relation to international trade treaties which places corporations on an equal plane with nation-states and disputes are settled in a business-friendly arbitration tribunal.
An independent investigation by journalists featured in the New York Times on Sunday offers an in-depth look at the way American corporations have used the inclusion of "arbitration clauses" within consumer contracts to strategically circumvent judicial review of their behavior and immunize themselves from class action lawsuits –"realistically the only tool citizens have to fight illegal or deceitful business practices."
US Threatens UK over Brexit Vote
Click here to access article by "Don Quijones" from Wolf Street.
A referendum scheduled in 2017 in Britain to determine whether they stay in the European Union has provoked a warning from the Empire's trade czar, Michael Froman. This ex-patriot British blogger, who lives in Spain most of the time, sees this as a threat to the Empire's hegemony over Europe.
A referendum scheduled in 2017 in Britain to determine whether they stay in the European Union has provoked a warning from the Empire's trade czar, Michael Froman. This ex-patriot British blogger, who lives in Spain most of the time, sees this as a threat to the Empire's hegemony over Europe.
...the business and political establishment in Brussels, London, and now Washington will stop at nothing to make sure that when the big day comes, the British people, like the Irish before them (second time around, of course), vote the right way.This article provides an excellent followup to another article recently posted by this author entitled "The CIA Connection: How US Spy Chiefs Co-Financed European Federalists".
Introducing Speaker Ryan
by cartoonist Gregory Crawford posted on World News Trust.
I think the photo is of Ayn Rand who has had much influence among fascist members of the US ruling class.
I think the photo is of Ayn Rand who has had much influence among fascist members of the US ruling class.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
America's Unofficial Religion - The War on an Idea
The Real News produced the video below which provides us within 29:10m an excellent history of the war that US capitalists have waged in all their ideological institutions against anyone arguing the notion of public ownership and control of the economy. At the same time they have essentially elevated the economic system of capitalism to that of a religion. Those who question or dissent from this religion are subject to many forms of "excommunication" such as ridicule, ostracism, unemployment, poverty, and killing if necessary.
(On a personal note, as an activist in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s, I knew of Richard Becker, a leader of a leftist party, who spoke at many rallies. Brian Becker, who recounts a lot of socialist history in the video, looks astonishingly identical to him.)
I disagree with Brian Becker with respect to his portrayal of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party's campaign. Our ruling class is simply using Sanders to continue their re-definition of "socialism" as "social democracy" (capitalism with significant welfare and public spending programs)--which they can barely tolerate--in order to divert people's attention away from public ownership and control of the economy. In the context of electoral campaigns they often do this to bring unwitting dissenters and activists, who have difficulty with harsh austerity policies, back into supporting the Democratic Party and its candidates.
Our ruling capitalist directors have so successfully managed to conflate socialism with the nice sounding label of "social democracy" that many Americans today confuse social democracy with socialism. Historically I think this began in the 1930s when Norman Thomas was a perennial candidate of the Socialist Party of America which by the 1930s, due to issues related to the Soviet revolution of 1917, had become largely transformed from a radical anti-capitalist party to a social democratic type of party. Thomas collaborated with, and supported, FDR's attempts to introduce a variety of social welfare and public spending programs.
(On a personal note, as an activist in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s, I knew of Richard Becker, a leader of a leftist party, who spoke at many rallies. Brian Becker, who recounts a lot of socialist history in the video, looks astonishingly identical to him.)
I disagree with Brian Becker with respect to his portrayal of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party's campaign. Our ruling class is simply using Sanders to continue their re-definition of "socialism" as "social democracy" (capitalism with significant welfare and public spending programs)--which they can barely tolerate--in order to divert people's attention away from public ownership and control of the economy. In the context of electoral campaigns they often do this to bring unwitting dissenters and activists, who have difficulty with harsh austerity policies, back into supporting the Democratic Party and its candidates.
Our ruling capitalist directors have so successfully managed to conflate socialism with the nice sounding label of "social democracy" that many Americans today confuse social democracy with socialism. Historically I think this began in the 1930s when Norman Thomas was a perennial candidate of the Socialist Party of America which by the 1930s, due to issues related to the Soviet revolution of 1917, had become largely transformed from a radical anti-capitalist party to a social democratic type of party. Thomas collaborated with, and supported, FDR's attempts to introduce a variety of social welfare and public spending programs.
Rapidly Warming Waters Have Thwarted Efforts to Save the Cod
Click here to access article by Phil McKenna from Inside Climate News.
This report cites another instance of environmental degradation caused by the human invention of capitalism which drives a few individuals (capitalists) to accumulate more wealth and power for themselves while degrading our home--planet Earth. I think if we allow these childish simple-minded people, who unfortunately are our housemates, to keep damaging our Earth-home, nature acting much like a landlord will simply evict all of us via increasingly extreme weather events such as Hurricane Patricia and the profound destabilization of our climate in general. By allowing these immature people to have their way, we will all become homeless (extinct).
This report cites another instance of environmental degradation caused by the human invention of capitalism which drives a few individuals (capitalists) to accumulate more wealth and power for themselves while degrading our home--planet Earth. I think if we allow these childish simple-minded people, who unfortunately are our housemates, to keep damaging our Earth-home, nature acting much like a landlord will simply evict all of us via increasingly extreme weather events such as Hurricane Patricia and the profound destabilization of our climate in general. By allowing these immature people to have their way, we will all become homeless (extinct).
The number of Atlantic cod in the Gulf of Maine has hit an all-time low in recent years despite strong fishing regulations, and scientists now attribute it to rapidly rising water temperatures, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
Sea surface temperatures have increased in the Gulf of Maine faster than almost anywhere else in the world, causing the cold-water species that had already been decimated by centuries of overfishing to reach the verge of collapse.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
The CIA Connection: How US Spy Chiefs Co-Financed European Federalists
Click here to access a very revealing article discovered by "Don Quijones" of Raging Bull-Shit.
It appears that the project of a European Union was largely a secret project promoted by powerful actors in the US and carried out through offices connected with the CIA. This blogger discovered an online report from 2000 written by a top financial analyst, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, which provides declassified evidence for this revelation.
It is now clear that empire builders among the US ruling class following WWII saw the convenience of organized European governing bodies for US post-war domination of Europe. This project together with the Gladio program (also see this for more details), which was designed to contain post-WWII dissent from capitalist rule, managed to integrate most of Europe into a US-led Empire we see today, and included with the package, an army called NATO.
I've been wondering: maybe the Third Reich took control of the world after all--only it flies a US flag instead of a Nazi flag.
It appears that the project of a European Union was largely a secret project promoted by powerful actors in the US and carried out through offices connected with the CIA. This blogger discovered an online report from 2000 written by a top financial analyst, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, which provides declassified evidence for this revelation.
It is now clear that empire builders among the US ruling class following WWII saw the convenience of organized European governing bodies for US post-war domination of Europe. This project together with the Gladio program (also see this for more details), which was designed to contain post-WWII dissent from capitalist rule, managed to integrate most of Europe into a US-led Empire we see today, and included with the package, an army called NATO.
I've been wondering: maybe the Third Reich took control of the world after all--only it flies a US flag instead of a Nazi flag.
Israel partisans bully campuses – Blum & Feinstein threaten pro-Palestinian students
Click here to access article by Philip Giraldi from The Council for the National Interest.
The ruling capitalist class's interest in supporting fortress Israel in the Mideast together with fascist oriented American Jews are combining to harass pro-Palestinian students on many campuses. This denial of free speech, especially on campuses, must not be tolerated. Giraldi offers some sound advice in the last paragraph to deal with this growing problem.
The ruling capitalist class's interest in supporting fortress Israel in the Mideast together with fascist oriented American Jews are combining to harass pro-Palestinian students on many campuses. This denial of free speech, especially on campuses, must not be tolerated. Giraldi offers some sound advice in the last paragraph to deal with this growing problem.
China Turns Tables on US-Backed Agitators
Click here to access article by Ulson Gunnar from New Eastern Outlook.
Nations are beginning to be successful in coping with the Empire's use of NGOs to ostensibly promote human rights while their real agenda is sowing chaos and destabilization of countries. Read the article to find out how China is doing this.
Nations are beginning to be successful in coping with the Empire's use of NGOs to ostensibly promote human rights while their real agenda is sowing chaos and destabilization of countries. Read the article to find out how China is doing this.
Why Do We Have Wars, Mummy?
The following political graphic was borrowed from Raging Bull-Shit.
One point which is not made clear in this graphic is that people who "win" in a capitalist system are psychopathic/sociopathic almost by definition. This is because capitalism divides societies into basically two segments: "owners" and workers, and their interests are diametrically opposed. The owners and controllers of our money and our economy (capitalists) are motivated strictly by their own selfish interests, and basically these interests consist of more wealth and power which they obtain by essentially renting workers to create wealth. Ownership of the media and rigorous control over all information is necessary to insure that workers are misinformed about wars, ignorant of how capitalism really works, and show up each day to create more wealth and power for the capitalist elite. Even worse, they use pro-war propaganda to motivate workers to join their armies and kill others in order so that they can steal and control other nations' workers and resources.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Offshoring the Economy: Why the US is on the Road to the Third World
Click here to access article by Paul Craig Roberts from CounterPunch.
Roberts belongs to a circle composed of a large number of critics who are best identified as national capitalists. The members of this group, like Protestants, belong to a number of sub-denominations: liberals, social-democrats (Richard Wolf, Naomi Klein, and Bernie Sanders), traditional conservatives (PC Roberts, Pat Buchanan, and Ron Paul), and many independent critics of neoliberal capitalism as manifested today in the US Empire. They all share in their dislike for what capitalism has become in the 21st century and want to return to nationalist capitalism that came to rule the world in the 20th century.
Thus Roberts in this essay doesn't seem to understand that powerful capitalists in the Empire have changed the form of capitalism forever to a globalist form known as neoliberalism under their command. The latter, to secure and advance their interests for every greater wealth and power, are at war with any independent nations who refuse to submit to their command and their application of neoliberalism. This new globalized capitalism is creating ever greater concentrations of wealth and power for ever fewer trans-national capitalists while also creating greater numbers of poor and powerless people in the areas of the world under their command. Borders are being breached for their commercial operations and their movement while those for the control of workers and ordinary people are being erected everywhere in the Empire.
Roberts, like many other critics, seems to think that we can revert to a nationally based capitalism, and they are upset at the direction it is going. Using the provisions of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement clauses of the new trade treaties (TTIP, TPP, & TISA), Empire capitalists have been planning in secret negotiations to subordinate governments of individual nations to the power of transnational capitalist legal tribunals.
With his narrow focus on the US, Roberts seems oblivious to the growing world problem: increasing numbers of poor and powerless people everywhere in the world controlled by shrinking numbers of powerful and wealthy trans-national capitalists. In other words, the First World and the Third World will exist everywhere in the world. Instead, with his old-fashioned nationalist view, he narrowly focuses on the effects here in the US. He apparently wants, and believes is possible, a return to nationally based capitalism. He, like many other critics, simply does not understand that the concentration of wealth and power is an inevitable result of capitalist dynamics, and Empire capitalists are not going to allow national borders to stand in their way.
Only politically conscious workers can prevent this from happening, and prevent the many anti-social effects of capitalism by replacing the system with one that serves all the people everywhere.
Roberts belongs to a circle composed of a large number of critics who are best identified as national capitalists. The members of this group, like Protestants, belong to a number of sub-denominations: liberals, social-democrats (Richard Wolf, Naomi Klein, and Bernie Sanders), traditional conservatives (PC Roberts, Pat Buchanan, and Ron Paul), and many independent critics of neoliberal capitalism as manifested today in the US Empire. They all share in their dislike for what capitalism has become in the 21st century and want to return to nationalist capitalism that came to rule the world in the 20th century.
Thus Roberts in this essay doesn't seem to understand that powerful capitalists in the Empire have changed the form of capitalism forever to a globalist form known as neoliberalism under their command. The latter, to secure and advance their interests for every greater wealth and power, are at war with any independent nations who refuse to submit to their command and their application of neoliberalism. This new globalized capitalism is creating ever greater concentrations of wealth and power for ever fewer trans-national capitalists while also creating greater numbers of poor and powerless people in the areas of the world under their command. Borders are being breached for their commercial operations and their movement while those for the control of workers and ordinary people are being erected everywhere in the Empire.
Roberts, like many other critics, seems to think that we can revert to a nationally based capitalism, and they are upset at the direction it is going. Using the provisions of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement clauses of the new trade treaties (TTIP, TPP, & TISA), Empire capitalists have been planning in secret negotiations to subordinate governments of individual nations to the power of transnational capitalist legal tribunals.
With his narrow focus on the US, Roberts seems oblivious to the growing world problem: increasing numbers of poor and powerless people everywhere in the world controlled by shrinking numbers of powerful and wealthy trans-national capitalists. In other words, the First World and the Third World will exist everywhere in the world. Instead, with his old-fashioned nationalist view, he narrowly focuses on the effects here in the US. He apparently wants, and believes is possible, a return to nationally based capitalism. He, like many other critics, simply does not understand that the concentration of wealth and power is an inevitable result of capitalist dynamics, and Empire capitalists are not going to allow national borders to stand in their way.
Only politically conscious workers can prevent this from happening, and prevent the many anti-social effects of capitalism by replacing the system with one that serves all the people everywhere.
Neocon House Speaker Paul Ryan. Gutting Social Programs, More Spending for Wars
Click here to access article by Stephen Lendman from Global Research.
Ryan’s ascendency lurches Washington further to the right. His neocon credentials are scary. He wants more spending for wars and militarism, less for social programs. ....
He rants about ‘keeping America strong,” supports its heavy intervention hand anywhere it wishes, serving US interests at the expense of all others.
Author Jeff J. Brown interviewed by Dan Yaseen on KFCF FM88.1, Fresno, California
Click here to access this nearly 30 minute interview with Brown, an American who lives and works in China and offers Chinese views and his own on various issues.
Join Jeff and Dan on KFCF FM88.1 in Fresno, California, for an insightful and informative conversation about China, Russia, the United States and the rise of the Anti-West Alliance, to do battle against Western empire and colonialism. It is happening before our very eyes, but you would never know it in the West’s mainstream media. This interview will provide you with history changing news events that are either buried or completely distorted behind the Great Western Firewall.
U.S. Democracy Recalled
by cartoonist Jen Sorensen from her website.
This illustrates how most people in the US have been thoroughly indoctrinated in beliefs about the existence of "democracy" in the US. Here they sense that it is flawed, but they fail to realize how fake it actually is, and has always been--except to a lesser degree.
This illustrates how most people in the US have been thoroughly indoctrinated in beliefs about the existence of "democracy" in the US. Here they sense that it is flawed, but they fail to realize how fake it actually is, and has always been--except to a lesser degree.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Nature, Capitalism, Crisis
Click here to access a 55 minute interview conducted by Sasha Lilley of KPFA, a listener sponsored radio station in Berkeley, CA, with an environmental economist and radical scholar Jason Moore.
Humans seem to be at war with nature -- epitomized by the system of capitalism, which plunders as it grows. But what if we understood the realm of Nature as not separate from the human realm of Society? Radical scholar Jason Moore suggests that we need to embed our critique of capitalism within the web of life on earth – so as best to oppose it.Moore also goes on to develop the thesis that we must examine how the development of capitalism plays an integral role in organizing and altering nature on our planet Earth, and is now approaching nature's limits and causing all kinds of crises.
Trident Juncture and the No To NATO Movement
Click here to access article by Christopher Black from New Eastern Outlook.
The very notable international human rights attorney draws our attention to the ongoing aggressive military events perpetrated by Empire directors very near Russia's borders. This reportage is almost completely missing from mainstream news sources, particularly from TV news programs. Instead the latter news reports, which most ordinary Americans follow for news of the world, are filled with trivia, entertainment, celebrities, scandals, election debates among candidates sponsored by the ruling class, and with a little anti-Russian and anti-Chinese slanted coverage thrown in. This type of corporate media coverage is a deliberate strategy designed by ruling capitalist class directors to keep ordinary people distracted and dumbed-down as to the directors' war crimes, preparations, and provocations that are carried out under the banners of the US and NATO.
Black in this article attempts to fill us in on an important missing segment: a major military exercise now going on in the Baltic states under NATO's direction. He carefully examines the texts and subtexts of official reports about this exercise and finds that it is a very aggressive, provocative project aimed like a dagger at Russia.
The very notable international human rights attorney draws our attention to the ongoing aggressive military events perpetrated by Empire directors very near Russia's borders. This reportage is almost completely missing from mainstream news sources, particularly from TV news programs. Instead the latter news reports, which most ordinary Americans follow for news of the world, are filled with trivia, entertainment, celebrities, scandals, election debates among candidates sponsored by the ruling class, and with a little anti-Russian and anti-Chinese slanted coverage thrown in. This type of corporate media coverage is a deliberate strategy designed by ruling capitalist class directors to keep ordinary people distracted and dumbed-down as to the directors' war crimes, preparations, and provocations that are carried out under the banners of the US and NATO.
Black in this article attempts to fill us in on an important missing segment: a major military exercise now going on in the Baltic states under NATO's direction. He carefully examines the texts and subtexts of official reports about this exercise and finds that it is a very aggressive, provocative project aimed like a dagger at Russia.
The NATO war machine is now engaged in its biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War. Exercise Trident Juncture began on September 28 and continues through to November 6 with exercises taking place in all NATO countries but with major field operations taking place in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The exercises, involving 35,000 personnel, over 200 aircraft and 50 warships is taking place as the confrontation between the United States of American and its dependencies in the NATO war alliance on the one hand and Russia and its allies on the other continues to develop in a very alarming way on two fronts, Syria and Ukraine.
Debtors’ prisons fill up in deep South
Click here to access article by Minnie Bruce Pratt from Workers World.
Jailing someone for debt who is too poor to pay is a civil rights violation under the 1966 U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is also illegal under the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Bearden vs. Georgia.
But though debtor’s prisons are not allowed de jure — by law — they are on the rise de facto.
Soaring heat and humidity pose deadly threat
Click here to access article by Tim Radford from Climate News Network.
New research indicates that the thermometer may climb to what meteorologists call a “wet bulb temperature” of 35°C [95°F] − the temperature of human skin. At this point, people in the region would be unable to keep cool, and after prolonged exposure, even young, healthy, fit people could die.
There is no record that such temperatures have been reached anywhere in the world in human history. But the scientific report in Nature Climate Change suggests that under the “business as usual scenario” − whereby no steps are taken to address climate change, and the expanding the use of coal, oil and natural gas dumps ever greater quantities carbon dioxide in the atmosphere − then such conditions could occur once every decade or so before 2100.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
TTIP: Might is Right
The 49:16 video via YouTube embedded below was produced by an independent Dutch media organization called VPRO. It illustrates the concrete realities of the clause inserted in all the new neoliberal trade treaties called Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) by focusing on the effects witnessed in Canada under the NAFTA agreement. As the introduction to this video states:
In order to understand the potential consequences of this, VPRO Backlight traveled to Canada, which became one of the most sued countries in the world after it entered into a trade agreement with the US. American companies now summon the Canadian government to appear before an arbitration tribunal if they feel that Canadian rules aren't in compliance with the free trade agreement Nafta. Despite democratic decisions against fracking under Canada's most important river, the Saint Lawrence, the Canadian government was sued for millions of dollars by the oil and shale gas company Lone Pine.
Work harder to be born into the right family
Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder.
Dolack starts out with statistics showing the growing disparities of income and some references to the advantage of being born into wealthy families. But soon he makes a much more original contribution to this phenomenon of inequality: he supplies solid data indicating that one's nation of birth is even a more powerful factor separating the rich from the poor in the world. To put it another way, the rich take even greater advantage of the power and wealth of already rich and power nations into which they are born than they do using the advantages of family wealth. Thus, the title could have been more aptly stated as "Work harder to be born into the right nation as well as the right family".
This, of course, reflects the factor of imperialism in today's world as a driving force to concentrate wealth in fewer hands and creating poverty in ever increasing numbers of the world's poor. In the 21st century we see the effects of this phenomenon on dramatic display with the operations of the US-led Empire and its hyper aggressive military and economic policies to gain control over populations, markets, cheap labor, and resources throughout many areas of the world.
Dolack starts out with statistics showing the growing disparities of income and some references to the advantage of being born into wealthy families. But soon he makes a much more original contribution to this phenomenon of inequality: he supplies solid data indicating that one's nation of birth is even a more powerful factor separating the rich from the poor in the world. To put it another way, the rich take even greater advantage of the power and wealth of already rich and power nations into which they are born than they do using the advantages of family wealth. Thus, the title could have been more aptly stated as "Work harder to be born into the right nation as well as the right family".
This, of course, reflects the factor of imperialism in today's world as a driving force to concentrate wealth in fewer hands and creating poverty in ever increasing numbers of the world's poor. In the 21st century we see the effects of this phenomenon on dramatic display with the operations of the US-led Empire and its hyper aggressive military and economic policies to gain control over populations, markets, cheap labor, and resources throughout many areas of the world.
Indonesians should be able to talk about 1965 massacres without fear of censorship
Click here to access article by Vannessa Hearman, Lecturer in Indonesian Studies, University of Sydney, from The Conversation.
This article written by an academic in Australia and published in an online journal supported by capitalist funding sources illustrates how many people are mis-educated and indoctrinated to serve capitalist propaganda interests. In the article Hearman exposes her complete naïveté with regard to one of history's most horrendous crimes against humanity. There has been a concerted effort since this 1965 event to cover it up by Western academic institutions and media because it exposes the roles of US and British subversive forces to extend their control over the newly independent country of Indonesia following WWII.
If you are not informed about this historic crime and the Empire's involvement in it, I direct your attention to some brief articles here, here, and here, or a longer series of three published in Ramparts Magazine in 1970 accessed here, here, and here.
This article written by an academic in Australia and published in an online journal supported by capitalist funding sources illustrates how many people are mis-educated and indoctrinated to serve capitalist propaganda interests. In the article Hearman exposes her complete naïveté with regard to one of history's most horrendous crimes against humanity. There has been a concerted effort since this 1965 event to cover it up by Western academic institutions and media because it exposes the roles of US and British subversive forces to extend their control over the newly independent country of Indonesia following WWII.
If you are not informed about this historic crime and the Empire's involvement in it, I direct your attention to some brief articles here, here, and here, or a longer series of three published in Ramparts Magazine in 1970 accessed here, here, and here.
Climate changes can kick in below 2°C limit
Click here to access article by Tim Radford from Uncommon Thought Journal.
Weather is what happens, climate is what people grow to expect from the weather. So climate change, driven by global warming as a consequence of rising carbon dioxide levels, in response to more than a century of fossil fuel combustion, could be – for many people – gradual, imperceptible and difficult to identify immediately.
But Sybren Drijfhout, of the University of Southampton in the UK and his collaborators in France, the Netherlands and Germany, are not so sure.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government
Click here to access a review of Talbot's new book by Edward Curtin from Global Research (based in Canada).
After WWII they then used the naive President Truman, whose main claim to success was as an operator of a department store in Missouri, to ensconce themselves in a new secret organization that soon became the CIA. This is where Talbot's exposé comes in to tell the story of the gradual takeover of our government by these authoritarian capitalists, while Curtin in this review fails to provide the more important larger history by focusing on "evil-doers" such as Dulles. This constrained focus is necessary in order to avoid issues of fascism and the fake democracy-themed distractions we now see played out over our TV sets.
Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair. So, read the review and the book to see what you think. Also, check out this recent post regarding the book, its author, and my commentary.
His ideological obsession in countering the Soviet Union in the Cold War knew no bounds. Talbot reports that private citizen Dulles funded espionage activities with treasure looted from Jewish families; that he set up, together with Frank Wisner and others, his own espionage unit deep within the State Department – the Office of Policy Coordination; that he was instrumental in the rise of Richard Nixon to political prominence. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s he was hard at work constructing the infrastructure of the CIA and a powerful secret government that would outlast him.Unfortunately Curtin emphasizes Dulles's antisemitism in the first half of this review and in the last half provides a rather narrow focus on the machinations and well-grounded suspicions of Dulles that Talbot revealed in his book. Missing from Curtin's review is a larger picture of how Dulles represented dark fascist forces in the US which, having failed with a government coup in 1933 (read Jules Archer's The Plot to Seize the White House), buried themselves under the label of isolationism to impede any efforts by the Roosevelt administration to counter the growing forces of fascist capitalism that overran Europe.
Once he finagled his way into the position of CIA Director under Eisenhower, “the CIA would become avast kingdom, the most powerful and least supervised agency in government …. More in keeping with an expanding empire than with a vibrant democracy.”
After WWII they then used the naive President Truman, whose main claim to success was as an operator of a department store in Missouri, to ensconce themselves in a new secret organization that soon became the CIA. This is where Talbot's exposé comes in to tell the story of the gradual takeover of our government by these authoritarian capitalists, while Curtin in this review fails to provide the more important larger history by focusing on "evil-doers" such as Dulles. This constrained focus is necessary in order to avoid issues of fascism and the fake democracy-themed distractions we now see played out over our TV sets.
Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair. So, read the review and the book to see what you think. Also, check out this recent post regarding the book, its author, and my commentary.
In Iceland bankers are not Holy Cows and that is good for the country
Click here to access article by Asad Zaman from Real-World Economics Review Blog.
Occasionally one finds in small countries, where capitalist elites haven't yet taken full control of these countries, unusual patterns of genuine accountability of leaders to their societies at large. Iceland appears to be one such example.
Occasionally one finds in small countries, where capitalist elites haven't yet taken full control of these countries, unusual patterns of genuine accountability of leaders to their societies at large. Iceland appears to be one such example.
In a story not reported on at all by any Western mainstream media source, Iceland just sentenced another five high level bankers to prison for directly contributing to the collapse of the country’s economy in 2008.
This brings the total to 26 bankers now behind bars in Iceland, with most being CEOs of large financial institutions, rather than low level traders.
Most of those jailed will serve terms of two to five years, according to a report by Iceland Magazine, which notes that three executives at Landsbankinn and two at KaupĂľing, along with one prominent investor, have been prosecuted.
Monday, October 26, 2015
"One very simple, but radical, idea: to democratise Europe." An interview with Yanis Varoufakis
Click here to access this interview from Open Democracy (based in Britain but European in outlook).
The interview with the former Greek leader as well as the online source, Open Democracy, encapsulates what I believe is representing a stunted version of "radical" thought often found in online media today. This radical thought is essentially a product of the tenuous status of middle class people in an advanced capitalist world in which the need for middle class people is diminishing because of the increasing sophistication of technological innovations all of which were created by workers but have become "owned" and controlled by capitalists.
Efficiency of production has always been a driving force among capitalists in order to achieve greater profits and power. We have now arrived at such advanced technologies that the need for managers, miscellaneous professional staffs, government bureaucrats, etc have been considerably reduced. The middle class is threatened by this, and thus we have many people like Varoufakis who are reacting to this stress by making various proposals dressed up in "democratic" clothing to try to cope with this déclassé threat. I think that this is the case with Varoufakis in spite of one line, a paraphrase of lines from past genuine revolutionaries, thrown into the interview by him to give his views a veneer of radical respectability:
And this:
You will see other examples of a capitalist perspective if you peruse other articles on Open Democracy's website.
The interview with the former Greek leader as well as the online source, Open Democracy, encapsulates what I believe is representing a stunted version of "radical" thought often found in online media today. This radical thought is essentially a product of the tenuous status of middle class people in an advanced capitalist world in which the need for middle class people is diminishing because of the increasing sophistication of technological innovations all of which were created by workers but have become "owned" and controlled by capitalists.
Efficiency of production has always been a driving force among capitalists in order to achieve greater profits and power. We have now arrived at such advanced technologies that the need for managers, miscellaneous professional staffs, government bureaucrats, etc have been considerably reduced. The middle class is threatened by this, and thus we have many people like Varoufakis who are reacting to this stress by making various proposals dressed up in "democratic" clothing to try to cope with this déclassé threat. I think that this is the case with Varoufakis in spite of one line, a paraphrase of lines from past genuine revolutionaries, thrown into the interview by him to give his views a veneer of radical respectability:
There are ways you can imagine intervening immediately in the European crisis today to stabilise European capitalism in order to be able to begin discussing political projects for democratising it. It is either that or barbarism. [my emphasis]I argue this because of many other statements he made in the interview that betrays a capitalist perspective such as this:
A state emerges as a result of the political need for a mechanism, a collective action mechanism, that ameliorates class conflict and group conflict.This is a decidedly a capitalist perspective on the role of a state. It only acts as a mediator of intra-capitalist class conflicts. The capitalist state functions to constrain and contain opposition from workers and to co-opt essential middle-class workers by giving them various perks, privileges, and higher pay. A state is a creature created by capitalists who took over the control of territories under the former ruling class consisting of monarchs and aristocracies who gained control through the use of violence.
And this:
By definition, the state, even if it is not democratic, as in China for instance, nevertheless is a purely political process for the purpose of stabilising social conflicts.This statement implies that Europe has enjoyed authentic democracy. And, the state does not function to stabilize social conflicts. It functions to contain it for the benefit of the ruling capitalist class.
You will see other examples of a capitalist perspective if you peruse other articles on Open Democracy's website.
This is not a democracy: Behind the Deep State that Obama, Hillary or Trump couldn’t control
Click here to access article by Patrick L. Smith from Salon.
There are two ways to consider the White House’s announcement last week that, no, American troops will no longer withdraw from Afghanistan as previously planned. You can look back over President Obama’s record in such matters or you can face forward and think about what this decision means, or implies, or suggests —or maybe all three—about the next president’s conduct of foreign policy.I've only had an opportunity to scan this article, but it appears to offer at least a mild recognition that a "deep state" is really in control over all important decisions, particularly with regard to foreign policies, affecting our nation. I completely agree with the following:
I do not like what I see in either direction. What anyone who looks carefully and consciously can discern in Obama’s seven years in office are limits. These are imposed in part by inherited circumstances, but let us set these aside for now, appalling as they are. My concern is with the limits imposed by the entrenched power of our permanent government, otherwise known as the “deep state.”
I put this question to David Talbot in a telephone exchange Tuesday. Talbot (who founded Salon 20 years ago) has just published “The Devil’s Chessboard,” an account of the deep state focused on the crucial role of Allen Dulles as it emerged in the 1950s. Dulles directed the CIA from 1953 until President Kennedy fired him in 1961. It is Talbot’s contention that elements of the deep state, probably including Dulles, were responsible for Kennedy’s assassination two years later.
“Presidents have to be thoroughly vetted before getting to the White House,” Talbot replied. “Kennedy was probably the last president not thoroughly approved by the deep state."
The Importance of the Official 9/11 Myth
Click here to access article by Kevin Ryan from blog Dig Within.
People sometimes wonder why is it important to investigate the alleged hijackers and others officially accused of committing the 9/11 crimes. After all, the accused 19 hijackers could not have accomplished most of what happened. The answer is that the official accounts are important because they are part of the crimes. Identifying and examining the people who created the official 9/11 myth helps to reveal the ones who were responsible overall.
The people who actually committed the crimes of September 11th didn’t intend to just hijack planes and take down the buildings—they intended to blame others.
Genies and Genocide: Syria, Israel, Russia and Much Oil
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
The geopolitical stakes in the Middle East have just gotten higher by an order of magnitude. Take a little-known Newark, New Jersey oil company, the contested Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, add a reported major oil discovery there just as Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria goes into high gear, shake it vigorously and we have a potential detonator for World War III.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
TTIP is an Geoeconomic Tool against Russia
Click here to access article by Steven MacMillan from New Eastern Outlook.
(Note: This article really consists of two essays with the headline emphasizing the first. I regard the second essay by the above title as far more important. You will need to scroll down a bit to find it.)
MacMillan finds evidence that TTIP, one of the latest secret trade pacts (includes also TPP & TISA), is being crafted not only to promote more corporate dominance over the governments of the Empire, but is strategically directed against Russia which insists upon independence from the Empire. The directors of the latter simply cannot tolerate such independence. Like all fascist forms of capitalist regimes they can only accept subservience . I think a similar argument can be made for TPP with regard to China.
(Note: This article really consists of two essays with the headline emphasizing the first. I regard the second essay by the above title as far more important. You will need to scroll down a bit to find it.)
MacMillan finds evidence that TTIP, one of the latest secret trade pacts (includes also TPP & TISA), is being crafted not only to promote more corporate dominance over the governments of the Empire, but is strategically directed against Russia which insists upon independence from the Empire. The directors of the latter simply cannot tolerate such independence. Like all fascist forms of capitalist regimes they can only accept subservience . I think a similar argument can be made for TPP with regard to China.
Hillary Clinton: We Lied. The Aim Of Our War On Libya Was Regime Change
Click here to access article by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.
Sometimes employees of the Empire's directorate forget about the latter's propaganda and inadvertently tell the truth. Not to worry--no corporate media will take notice of this slip-up and broadcast it. What is interesting is that a person well connected to the Council on Foreign Relations, a major Empire think tank, noticed her slip-up.
Bernhard concludes by asking this question:
Sometimes employees of the Empire's directorate forget about the latter's propaganda and inadvertently tell the truth. Not to worry--no corporate media will take notice of this slip-up and broadcast it. What is interesting is that a person well connected to the Council on Foreign Relations, a major Empire think tank, noticed her slip-up.
Bernhard concludes by asking this question:
If there are any competent opponents to her candidacy for president they should pick up on this and use it to destroy her: "You want a president that is lying to you about going to war?Well, I think they are all demonstrating competence by knowing when to keep their mouths shut in order to preserve the lies of the Empire. On the other hand, her Empire handlers might be concerned about her slip-ups, but then they know that everyone of influence will cover for her.
Flannery's climate 'Third Way' well intended, but dodges the problem
Click here to access article by Phil Shannon from Green Left Weekly.
Shannon reviews a recently published book by Tim Flannery in which the author describes several promising techno-fixes to the excessive pumping of carbon into the atmosphere and oceans by capitalist engines of production for profit. He concludes his review with these statements:
Shannon reviews a recently published book by Tim Flannery in which the author describes several promising techno-fixes to the excessive pumping of carbon into the atmosphere and oceans by capitalist engines of production for profit. He concludes his review with these statements:
By not scaring the sacrosanct GDP horses, by not challenging the capitalist god of economic growth, Flannery obscures the link between global warming and the capitalist economic system that has given rise to it. ....
Flannery's “Third Way” is the grand, and risky, illusion of geo-engineering, albeit shorn of its dangerously wilder fantasies, that will keep capitalism humming all the way up to environmental Armageddon.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
The Saker interviews Cynthia McKinney
Click here to access this very fascinating interview from "The Saker's" website A bird's eye view of the Vineyard.
I have not had time before my deadline to read this entire interview, but it appears so very rich in insights about recent American history. She warns us:
I have not had time before my deadline to read this entire interview, but it appears so very rich in insights about recent American history. She warns us:
Despite all of the negative things that have happened to me, I still believe that the people in the U.S. can create positive transformational change for themselves that will also be good for the rest of the world. What I don’t know is if they will seize the opportunity to do so, while it is still possible. Sharpening the technologies of death and applying them at home as well as abroad shapes the tenor of the times. I fear that the democratic space for such positive change is drastically and rapidly closing.
F*** a Wage, Take Over the Business: A How-To with Economist Richard Wolff
Click here to access an interview conducted by Andrew Smolski with Richard Wolff posted on CounterPunch.
I've never been much of a fan of Wolff, and the views he expresses about Marxism doesn't change my mind very much. They are essentially "Marxism 101", so rudimentary that they gloss over so much of the development of capitalism. It is a primitive populist version designed to appeal to people with little education. Thus, when applied to the real contemporary world, this conceptualization will run into all kinds of problems.
His views would be much more relevant to capitalism if he were writing in the 1930s. Wolff writes like an historian who loves actors who played major roles on the stage of world history and as he attempts to bask in their glory. Hence he writes frequently about someone (Marx) in the 19th century who first noticed and understood capitalism as it existed in all its stark contradictions at that time. As a student of the development of capitalism, this is a very good place to start to understand it; but it is not adequate to understand capitalism as it functions in today's world. Moreover, he grossly distorts Marxism by arguing that a political system can be separated from an economic system while implying that what we have today is a real democratic political system. Look at these sample paragraph to see what I am referring to:
I've never been much of a fan of Wolff, and the views he expresses about Marxism doesn't change my mind very much. They are essentially "Marxism 101", so rudimentary that they gloss over so much of the development of capitalism. It is a primitive populist version designed to appeal to people with little education. Thus, when applied to the real contemporary world, this conceptualization will run into all kinds of problems.
His views would be much more relevant to capitalism if he were writing in the 1930s. Wolff writes like an historian who loves actors who played major roles on the stage of world history and as he attempts to bask in their glory. Hence he writes frequently about someone (Marx) in the 19th century who first noticed and understood capitalism as it existed in all its stark contradictions at that time. As a student of the development of capitalism, this is a very good place to start to understand it; but it is not adequate to understand capitalism as it functions in today's world. Moreover, he grossly distorts Marxism by arguing that a political system can be separated from an economic system while implying that what we have today is a real democratic political system. Look at these sample paragraph to see what I am referring to:
Because in our system, the majority of the people prevail in the political arena. The majority of votes, roughly speaking, wins! That creates the following terrifying danger for the people at top. Sooner or later people are going to understand in our system that the damage you suffer in the capitalist economy can be offset or reversed if you use your majority in the political system. You can use the fact that the mass of workers, utterly disenfranchised economically, can use politics to undue the effects.
.... We need system change! .... And one way to do that, the way I would prefer, is to overcome the contradiction by finally making the economic system democratic so it isn’t at odds with a political system that is at least trying to be democratic.
They Profit, We Die: The Perils of Chemical-Intensive Agriculture
Click here to access article by Colin Todhunter from CounterPunch.
Our food system is in big trouble. It’s in big trouble because the global agritech/agribusiness sector is poisoning it, us and the environment with its pesticides, herbicides, GMOs and various other chemical inputs. ....
This was only made possible and continues to be made possible because of lavish funds, slick PR, compliant politicians and scientists and the undermining and capture of regulatory and policy decision-making bodies that supposedly serve the public interest.
They Profit, We Die: Toxic Agriculture And The Poisoning Of Soils, Human Health And The Environment
Click here to access article by Colin Todhunter from East by Northwest. (Note: I am re-posting this article, which I originally posted on the 21st, because of recent comments added by Todhunter and this blogger which adds considerable interest to the issue of capitalism and writing about all the issues related to the system. Please feel free to join in.)
Once again Todhunter shows how the profit gatherers will use any means, even chemically infested foods, to reap their profits and power. Unfortunately, he like many other critics, who almost daily attack the inevitable effects caused by capitalist activities, fail to target the system which not only permits such anti-social practices, but actually promotes them. It's as if these critics also believed the chief propagandists of the capitalist class, people like Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that development of human societies has achieved it final perfect expression in Western capitalist societies and will become the model for all others to follow after the older cultures and religions succumb to the West's influence. The West, of course, embodies "democracy", human rights, material abundance, and all other virtues. Although they don't buy into the virtuous West, they seem to have succumbed to the theme that "there is no alternative".
I'm referring to such astute critics as Eric Draitser, Tony Cartalucci, F. William Engdahl, Pepe Escobar, and Colin Todhunter (I'm not sure about Michael Hudson) who fail to examine the underlying dynamics of capitalism which produce the war crimes and corporate crimes they critique in their writings. Instead they limit their criticisms to what are only symptoms of the ongoing activities of this antisocial, class based system. They are very much like some imaginary medical practitioners who limit their treatment of cancer by attacking painful symptoms with mere painkillers. About the only prescription they advocate to treat the awful things that are happening in today's world is a "multipolar (capitalist) world".
Todhunter doesn't even do that. He apparently feels that he can shout about the evils of corporate methods of farming and producing food and be heard over the noise produced by the huge megaphones of corporate controlled media in order to influence people to vote for suitable governors in elections controlled by capitalists.
I really dislike criticizing people like the above named critics, all of whose articles I love reading and posting. But the discussion simply must move beyond their critiques of symptoms to the underlying cause of so much of the misery suffered by humanity. Otherwise I think it is inevitable that humans will disappear from the Earth either from catastrophic nuclear wars or climate destabilization.
Once again Todhunter shows how the profit gatherers will use any means, even chemically infested foods, to reap their profits and power. Unfortunately, he like many other critics, who almost daily attack the inevitable effects caused by capitalist activities, fail to target the system which not only permits such anti-social practices, but actually promotes them. It's as if these critics also believed the chief propagandists of the capitalist class, people like Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that development of human societies has achieved it final perfect expression in Western capitalist societies and will become the model for all others to follow after the older cultures and religions succumb to the West's influence. The West, of course, embodies "democracy", human rights, material abundance, and all other virtues. Although they don't buy into the virtuous West, they seem to have succumbed to the theme that "there is no alternative".
I'm referring to such astute critics as Eric Draitser, Tony Cartalucci, F. William Engdahl, Pepe Escobar, and Colin Todhunter (I'm not sure about Michael Hudson) who fail to examine the underlying dynamics of capitalism which produce the war crimes and corporate crimes they critique in their writings. Instead they limit their criticisms to what are only symptoms of the ongoing activities of this antisocial, class based system. They are very much like some imaginary medical practitioners who limit their treatment of cancer by attacking painful symptoms with mere painkillers. About the only prescription they advocate to treat the awful things that are happening in today's world is a "multipolar (capitalist) world".
Todhunter doesn't even do that. He apparently feels that he can shout about the evils of corporate methods of farming and producing food and be heard over the noise produced by the huge megaphones of corporate controlled media in order to influence people to vote for suitable governors in elections controlled by capitalists.
I really dislike criticizing people like the above named critics, all of whose articles I love reading and posting. But the discussion simply must move beyond their critiques of symptoms to the underlying cause of so much of the misery suffered by humanity. Otherwise I think it is inevitable that humans will disappear from the Earth either from catastrophic nuclear wars or climate destabilization.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Welcome to a New Planet: Climate Change “Tipping Points” and the Fate of the Earth
Click here to access article by Michael T. Klare from TomDispatch. (Note: Should you wish to skip Engelhardt's introduction, you will need to scroll down to the article.)
Not so long ago, it was science fiction. Now, it’s hard science -- and that should frighten us all. The latest reports from the prestigious and sober Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) make increasingly hair-raising reading, suggesting that the planet is approaching possible moments of irreversible damage in a fashion and at a speed that had not been anticipated.The only problem is...we humans won't be around to "welcome" this new planet. The natural forces which govern our universe will disappear us humans because we have been just another species that failed to adapt by living in harmony with the natural forces. Instead we worshiped the power and wealth of a tiny group of humans called capitalists who led us off the cliffs of never-ending wars and climate destabilization.
Scientists have long worried that climate change will not continue to advance in a “linear” fashion, with the planet getting a little bit hotter most years. Instead, they fear, humanity could someday experience “non-linear” climate shifts (also known as “singularities” or “tipping points”) after which there would be sudden and irreversible change of a catastrophic nature.
Dirty Hands on Dirty Deals: TTIP and COP21 Shaped by Same Big Business Interests
Click here to access article by "Don Quijones" from Raging Bull-Shit.
This British author who resides mostly in Barcelona, Spain provides an excellent introduction to a much longer report from Corporate Europe Observatory.
Just today we learn of the latest monstrous hurricane off Mexico's western shore.
Next it is headed for Texas and nearby areas:
This British author who resides mostly in Barcelona, Spain provides an excellent introduction to a much longer report from Corporate Europe Observatory.
Everybody who cares about issues of sustainability and human coexistence with the natural environmental is being told to invest all their hopes and energies in December’s COP21 summit. Finally the people of the world are coming together to mend their ways and build a cleaner, more sustainable planet Earth. At least that’s the pretext.As our capitalist masters pretend to protect us from the threat of climate destabilization, they keep on squeezing out their profits from the Earth and its workers while polluting the atmosphere blanketing the Earth and the oceans. They do this because they are addicted to profits and power. The big question is: how much longer are we going to allow this tiny group of drug addicts to continue with their profitable activities while the climate becomes increasingly unstable and prone to extremes of weather. I can just hear one of these addicts respond: "So what? We can just move to another planet after we wreck this one."
But what if it’s all bullshit?
Just today we learn of the latest monstrous hurricane off Mexico's western shore.
Next it is headed for Texas and nearby areas:
Once this system moves inland, mid-level moisture and energy from it may get pulled into the south-central U.S. This may add more fuel to a heavy rain and flooding threat in Texas and nearby states this weekend.
Commodifying the Oceans
Click here to access a 55 minute interview conducted by Sasha Lilley of KPFA, a listener sponsored radio station in Berkeley, California, with environmental sociologist Stefano Longo. Longo is a co-author with Rebecca Clausen, and Brett Clark, of a recently published book entitled The Tragedy of the Commodity: Oceans, Fisheries, and Aquaculture.
The oceans are in turmoil, but unfortunately most of it is out of sight and therefore out of mind. Environmental sociologist Stefano Longo explores the multiple threats to the oceans, from overfishing to coral reef collapse to ocean acidification. He weighs in on whether the notion of the “tragedy of the commons” is sufficient to explain the roots of the crisis.Longo challenges conventional explanations for the demise of fish populations, that this is consumer driven or caused by commonly held properties (“tragedy of the commons”), by arguing for another explanation: the capitalist system drives production in order to produce profits.
Shadow Sovereigns - How Global Corporations are seizing power
Author Susan George is president of the Transnational Institute which is a leading organization that has been exposing for a long time the growing power of transnational corporations.
Renowned scholar activist Susan George introduces her new book, Shadow Sovereigns - How Global Corporations are seizing power.
She explains how corporations have taken over all branches of the government as well as international governance, in particular through trade treaties such as the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Ecomodernism is Anti-Progress – A View from Asia
Click here to access article by Chandran Nair from Degrowth (based in Germany).
The author takes on the widely publicized myth that technological progress will enable capitalists to both eat the Earth's cake and have it too. Capitalists have apparently employed well educated and indoctrinated middle class people across the world to spread this propaganda. One such international group, who call themselves "ecomodernists", are actively promoting it. Nair argues that it is simply a myth.
The author takes on the widely publicized myth that technological progress will enable capitalists to both eat the Earth's cake and have it too. Capitalists have apparently employed well educated and indoctrinated middle class people across the world to spread this propaganda. One such international group, who call themselves "ecomodernists", are actively promoting it. Nair argues that it is simply a myth.
Eco-modernists must recognise a simple fact – that simply calling for the decoupling of human activity from environmental impact will not in itself drive technological change to finds solutions. One can only hope that they do not also simply believe that the developers of technology are committed to finding these solutions, because they are driven by some altruistic motives or a higher calling. That is not how the world of technology and investments work. It will need a whole new way of organizing ourselves around the reality of a resource constrained world. And that requires a new socio-economic and political narrative about sustainability, individual rights, freedoms and the role of the state, much of which will fly in the face of current day western led narratives about capitalism, free markets and democracy. ....Unfortunately, Nair seems to think that the world's capitalist governors and their subservient populations can do the right thing simply by being informed by Nair and others that "ecomodernism" is a myth. He accuses ecomodernists of being naĂŻve, but I think that he has topped them when he makes such an argument. His argument "defies logic and the prevailing evidence" which is much more abundant than the myth being spread by these people.
A new economic model must therefore account for three major adjustments: First, it must accept limits to growth in a resource constraint world and thus ensure that resources are priced to reflect their true cost. Second, the economy needs to be subservient to maintaining the vitality of the resource base, and not the other way around, as it is now. Third, an effective economy for the 21st century must weigh collective welfare over individual rights. But how do we get there?
Black Lives Matter: The Real War On Terror
Click here to access article by Ashoka Jegroo from TeleSur.
...the police terror imposed on the oppressed within the U.S. is intricately tied up with state terror imposed on the oppressed around the world. One cannot decry the 1985 bombing of the Black radical group MOVE by Philadelphia cops and then approve of the U.S. bombing people in Afghanistan and Yemen today, and vice versa. These shared oppressions and their connected histories demand that the struggle against U.S. state terror be further internationalized. Steps have been made to connect Black Lives Matter with the struggle of the Palestinians and with the victims of state violence in Ayotzinapa, Mexico. This needs to continue and expand to other oppressed peoples. The protests must also continue too. But the harsh repression of Black Lives Matter by local and federal authorities, along with the lack of substantial progress made, shows that more radical tactics will have to be employed.
Harper's gone. Trudeau is in. The struggle continues.
Click here to access article from No One Is Illegal-Toronto.
Although Canadians voted for a lessor evil in their recent elections, the author of this article advises against any complacency.
Although Canadians voted for a lessor evil in their recent elections, the author of this article advises against any complacency.
While many rejoice at the end of the Harper government, we also know that the new Liberal government must be met with radical, collective, strategic organizations, and mobilizations if we are to improve the lives of our communities.
The Liberal Party has governed Canada for about half of Canada’s existence, and is responsible for half of the grave injustices we now face, including but not limited to the coup in Haiti, cuts to the national housing plan, and the creation of the temporary foreign worker program and the Canada Border Services Agency. Thus it is clear to us that this new change in government will not result in the collective transformation we require.
Hitler on Syria
My thanks to "The Saker" for alerting me to this (slightly altered) film clip put together by "Dom Rice". It is truly hilarious! It is a perfect piece of satire because it contains so much truth.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Monopoly capital
Click here to access article from occasional links & commentary.
...monopoly capitalists don’t strive to increase their accumulation to the maximum extent possible. Instead, large portions of the surplus they are able to appropriate from their workers and otherwise capture with their monopoly pricing power is used to acquire other portions of capital (through mergers and acquisitions), to engage in lobbying and funding its desired political candidates, to pay dividends to stockholders, and to pay enormous incomes to corporate executives and other members of the “professional-managerial” class who produce some of the conditions of existence of monopoly capital.It is the middle class who mostly benefit from employment by the ruling capitalist class to maintain the latter's system. Much of capitalist profits go to propagate their propaganda in media, education, and even entertainment, and to sponsor elections and candidates so that the American people are fooled into believing that they live under a legitimate type of democratic governance.
“Unconscionable and indefensible” – U.S. 10-year offer to LDCs for pharmaceutical patent waiver
Click here to access article by Sangeeta Shashikant from Third World Network.
The United States’ offer to least developed countries of a 10-year transition period to grant pharmaceutical patents is “unconscionable and indefensible”, according to six influential US non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
In a letter dated 19 October to President Barack Obama, the NGOs conveyed this strong criticism in view of the public health and other developmental challenges facing least developed countries (LDCs).
The letter states, “We fail to understand why the US, alone, continues to oppose LDCs’ demand – a legally sound and justified request for a pharmaceutical transition period for as long as they remain LDCs”.
Stern warns that humanity is at climate crossroads
Click here to access article by Kieran Cooke from Climate News Network.
Professor Nicholas Stern warns: “Whatever way we look at it, the action we need to take is immense.”As the UN Climate Conference in Paris starting on November 30th approaches, I've notice Obama making noises about environmental concerns. I like Stern's warning about a tipping point, but I am not at all optimistic about any significant reductions in carbon pollution of our atmosphere from these talks. I saw what happened in 2009 in Copenhagen, and I know that only a dramatic cut in production of useless things and a major plan to equably distribute needed things simply is not compatible with the requirements of capitalism. So we can have capitalism or we can have a biosphere that can sustain human life, but we can't have both. Guess which option our masters will choose?
If governments delay taking decisive measures to halt greenhouse gas emissions, he is convinced that a tipping point on climate will be reached. “In Paris, we need recognition of what we need to do − and how radical that change will be.”
The VA, Another American War We Don’t Talk About
Click here to access article by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor at Veterans Today.
This author depicts the way our capitalist masters "support our troops"--or don't.
This author depicts the way our capitalist masters "support our troops"--or don't.
As a 100% combat disabled veteran and editor of the largest military and veterans new site, I have spent years dealing with abuses and fraud at the VA. The body count for the VA itself is actually higher than any war, they kill more American veterans than wars have ever killed of our military. If only I were making this up, and I am not.
For those who are unaware, there is a pecking order at the VA. Only those who are 100% disabled, something the hierarchy makes it almost impossible to qualify for, get all available treatments. Processing a compensation claim for a totally disabled veteran can take years. Mine took 12 years, the oldest I have worked on has taken 43 years. Many take 25 years. In most cases, the veteran dies while waiting for appeals.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
US, allies responsible for Syria’s destruction: Ex-intelligence linguist
Click here to access 2:13m video and associated article from Press TV.
Chalk up another victim for the serial war criminal enterprise known as the US Empire. Scott Rickard expresses clearly what most Americans hate to admit, but most informed people already know.
Should you have any doubts about this, just read the latest information about another recent US war crime furnished by independent sleuth and blogger Bernhard from Moon of Alabama in an article entitled "Why Is The U.S. Silently Bombing Syria's Electricity Network?".
We learn from Red Pill Times the latest news from Syria in their article entitled "Battle for Aleppo begins. Syrian army ready to take on Obama’s Al Qaeda terrorists forces". We also learn from this article how dangerous the situation is with the US bombing anything which supports the Syrian government while Russia is bombing those who are attacking the government.
12:33 PM addendum: For an excellent hour long discussion of what is happening in Syria and nearby areas from the perspective of the US Empire, Russia, and China and perceptive insights about the US's deep state, I highly recommend that you listen to the following. However, what they overlook is the capitalist structure, the 800-pound gorilla in the room, which has created this monster of a deep state.
Chalk up another victim for the serial war criminal enterprise known as the US Empire. Scott Rickard expresses clearly what most Americans hate to admit, but most informed people already know.
Should you have any doubts about this, just read the latest information about another recent US war crime furnished by independent sleuth and blogger Bernhard from Moon of Alabama in an article entitled "Why Is The U.S. Silently Bombing Syria's Electricity Network?".
We learn from Red Pill Times the latest news from Syria in their article entitled "Battle for Aleppo begins. Syrian army ready to take on Obama’s Al Qaeda terrorists forces". We also learn from this article how dangerous the situation is with the US bombing anything which supports the Syrian government while Russia is bombing those who are attacking the government.
12:33 PM addendum: For an excellent hour long discussion of what is happening in Syria and nearby areas from the perspective of the US Empire, Russia, and China and perceptive insights about the US's deep state, I highly recommend that you listen to the following. However, what they overlook is the capitalist structure, the 800-pound gorilla in the room, which has created this monster of a deep state.
Major No to GMO by Majority of EU States
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Monsanto and the GMO agribusiness cartel have suffered a major new defeat as two-thirds of the 28 EU member states have opted for a full ban on GMO crops according to the terms of new Brussels rules allowing national decision on the toxic agro-technology. The bans across the EU greatly expand the EU acreage off-limits to GMO from the previous somewhat chaotic EU procedures.
Jerusalem chaos is a warning of things to come
Click here to access article by Jonathan Cook from his blog the View from Nazareth.
The steady erosion of Fatah and Hamas’ authority during the post-Oslo years, as the Palestinian factions proved incapable of protecting their people from the structural violence of the occupation, has driven Palestine’s orphaned children to the streets, armed with stones.
The growing hopelessness and sense of abandonment have led a few so-called “lone wolves” to vent their fury on Israelis with improvised weapons such as knives, screwdrivers and cars. These attacks have attracted the most publicity, becoming the equivalent of the second intifada’s suicide bomber. But they serve chiefly as a barometer of Palestinian despair.
If They Can Afford To Buy Elections...
by "larryldye" and borrowed from imgflip.
The cartoonist doesn't seem to realize that corporations buy candidates for both parties and sponsor elections in order to reduce their taxes and for many other self-serving reasons. They sponsor elections to fool people into thinking that they have real choices and are participating in some kind of democracy. This is much more cost effective than using a police state apparatus to enforce their will.
But, just in case people wise up, they have constructed a police state (the Patriot Acts, 24/7 surveillance, militarized police forces, etc) that is ready to quash any resistance. You see, they don't take any chances to allow for change. The worst nightmare they have is that the people will kill the goose that lays their golden eggs of profits and power--capitalism!
The cartoonist doesn't seem to realize that corporations buy candidates for both parties and sponsor elections in order to reduce their taxes and for many other self-serving reasons. They sponsor elections to fool people into thinking that they have real choices and are participating in some kind of democracy. This is much more cost effective than using a police state apparatus to enforce their will.
But, just in case people wise up, they have constructed a police state (the Patriot Acts, 24/7 surveillance, militarized police forces, etc) that is ready to quash any resistance. You see, they don't take any chances to allow for change. The worst nightmare they have is that the people will kill the goose that lays their golden eggs of profits and power--capitalism!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Capitalism and technology and Stephen Hawking
Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review Blog.
Hawking provides an insightful answer to a question relating to issues of technological unemployment in this brief article.
Hawking provides an insightful answer to a question relating to issues of technological unemployment in this brief article.
US Pacific Hegemony vs. a Rising China
Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook.
The author reviews the sordid history of Western capitalists as they plundered Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a context for understanding what China is doing today to defend itself. All this ends up arguing for a multipolar world where peace and happiness reigns just like what we experienced toward the middle of the 20th century when the Anglo-American Empire, the fascist countries, and Russia constituted another multipolar world.
The author reviews the sordid history of Western capitalists as they plundered Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a context for understanding what China is doing today to defend itself. All this ends up arguing for a multipolar world where peace and happiness reigns just like what we experienced toward the middle of the 20th century when the Anglo-American Empire, the fascist countries, and Russia constituted another multipolar world.
Three Rich Treasury Secretaries Laugh It Up Over Income Inequality
Click here to access article by Zack Carter and Ben Walsh from the Huffington Post.
This article is a little late in that it predates my one month posting rule, but it is so good at exposing the attitudes of people who really rule over our country.
The article and video pertains to an excerpt from a longer discussion, entitled "The Global Economy: A Conversation with Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin”, sponsored by the Milken Institute held in April of this year at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.
This article is a little late in that it predates my one month posting rule, but it is so good at exposing the attitudes of people who really rule over our country.
The article and video pertains to an excerpt from a longer discussion, entitled "The Global Economy: A Conversation with Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin”, sponsored by the Milken Institute held in April of this year at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.
Can’t Anyone Fix This?
Click here to access article by James Howard Kunstler from World News Trust.
Please forgive me for running this article which is dripping with cynicism. You see, I, like you, have good days and bad days. Today I am having the latter. But don't worry, most days I try to be optimistic about the prospects for humans to take control of their lives, their societies, and change things for the better. There is one paragraph in the article that rang so true with me, and I couldn't resist posting the entire article.
Please forgive me for running this article which is dripping with cynicism. You see, I, like you, have good days and bad days. Today I am having the latter. But don't worry, most days I try to be optimistic about the prospects for humans to take control of their lives, their societies, and change things for the better. There is one paragraph in the article that rang so true with me, and I couldn't resist posting the entire article.
What perhaps ought to be more alarming is the way that the two major parties are lining up to be a men’s party and a woman’s party, a perfect acting-out of psychological archetypes in a society churning out millions of lost souls year-by-year. The American people apparently want a Daddy to fix all the broken systems and they want a Mommy to reassure them that everything will be all right. Hillary, of course, wants to be both, but her problem is that a lot of voters won’t accept her as either.Do you get the feeling that our capitalist masters are playing the Americans for fools? And are we?
Israel Receives $3.1B In US Aid While The Middle East’s Poor Struggle To Survive
Click here to access article by Kit O'Connell from Mint Press News.
...while the Middle East struggles through a historic refugee crisis, Israel is using U.S. taxpayer money to fuel its war crimes against Palestine and oppression of refugees.The $3.1 billion dollar figure is aid already given to Israel in 2015. From today's report in World Socialist Web Site we learn:
General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, flew to Tel Aviv Sunday to discuss a 10-year military aid package worth some $3.7 billion a year. The pledge of increased American military support came in the midst of an increasingly brutal Israeli crackdown on Palestinians within both the occupied territories and Israel itself.Of course, the poor in the US would also like to have a piece of this money, particularly the elderly like me: I struggle to live on $1100/month Social Security benefits. Our schools, teachers, and highways, bridges, etc. could also use this money,
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Russia’s Awesome Responsibility
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Let me be clear about my posting of this essay--I think it is abominable! But because Engdahl has written many articles that helped us clarify various geopolitical issues--and I have posted many--I am posting this piece because he is so influential as an alternative geopolitical analyst from the usual capitalist funded analysts. This morning I debated on whether to waste my time on it or to attack it. What I ultimately decided was to rather briefly point to the most obvious flaws in his arguments.
He states near the end of the essay (which I think should have been placed near the beginning) a rather self-serving observation which, of course, does point to a little more than a grain of truth:
He repeats what I have heard said by those whose obvious motivation was to undermine Russian history and to create cynicism among activists. These history mischief-makers allege one incident as historical fact without presenting any reference to credible evidence, and then use it to generalize about the entire Russian revolution! In this piece Engdahl even omits the alleged historical fact, but simply points to the generalization, without any supporting documentation.
If true, this can be easily explained by what has been frequently observed among capitalists: they use their money to try to co-opt antagonists in order to eventually control them. Often they succeed, but they certainly failed with the Russian revolutionaries. So, Engdahl appears to use what is essentially a rumor to generalize that "Wall Street and the City of London financed Leon Trotsky, Lenin, and the Bolshevik Revolution". Is this an illustration of a "deep study of history"?!!
Now for those of you who are new to this website, please do not infer from my above commentary to conclude that everything that Engdahl argues is wrong, or that I dislike Putin's and Russia's policies and actions in Syria. No one likes a bully, and the US (ruling class directorate) has not only been acting like a bully, no, much worse than that--like a serial war criminal. This time the bully is having his comeuppance.
Let me be clear about my posting of this essay--I think it is abominable! But because Engdahl has written many articles that helped us clarify various geopolitical issues--and I have posted many--I am posting this piece because he is so influential as an alternative geopolitical analyst from the usual capitalist funded analysts. This morning I debated on whether to waste my time on it or to attack it. What I ultimately decided was to rather briefly point to the most obvious flaws in his arguments.
He states near the end of the essay (which I think should have been placed near the beginning) a rather self-serving observation which, of course, does point to a little more than a grain of truth:
A deep study of history then can tell us volumes about what forces Russia, Germany and the world face today.The only problem with this aphorism is that their are many histories and certainly not all of them are true primarily because most of them have been written by the powerful, and secondarily because of the limitations of any one historian. Only people, who can use a reasonable amount of independent judgement and agree on historical facts, can judge whether any given historical fact is true. And I think his understanding of history as expressed in this piece is riddled with inaccuracies. Thus, his conclusion based on this flawed history cannot be trusted, or at least not be taken at face value. The conclusion he, like many well indoctrinated middle class intellectuals, is essentially arguing is that a multipolar capitalist world will bring peace, social justice, and prosperity to all.
He repeats what I have heard said by those whose obvious motivation was to undermine Russian history and to create cynicism among activists. These history mischief-makers allege one incident as historical fact without presenting any reference to credible evidence, and then use it to generalize about the entire Russian revolution! In this piece Engdahl even omits the alleged historical fact, but simply points to the generalization, without any supporting documentation.
Wall Street and the City of London financed Leon Trotsky, Lenin, and the Bolshevik Revolution essentially as they did Boris Yeltsin after 1990, to open up Russia for looting and balkanization by favored western companies.I suspect that this undocumented generalization is derived from the above mentioned alleged historical fact that I have heard repeated numerous times, from people whose motives I questioned, is that various rich capitalists, often the Rockefellers, paid expenses for Lenin and Trotsky to return to Russia to foment revolution. But then, consider this: it is an indisputable fact that around 13 capitalist nations invaded Russia immediately following their revolution and many of these nations also funded the White armies opposing the Bolsheviks. So how can the repeated allegations about funding the trip expenses of Russian revolutionary leaders or Wall Street, etc funding their revolution be reconciled with this historical fact?
If true, this can be easily explained by what has been frequently observed among capitalists: they use their money to try to co-opt antagonists in order to eventually control them. Often they succeed, but they certainly failed with the Russian revolutionaries. So, Engdahl appears to use what is essentially a rumor to generalize that "Wall Street and the City of London financed Leon Trotsky, Lenin, and the Bolshevik Revolution". Is this an illustration of a "deep study of history"?!!
Now for those of you who are new to this website, please do not infer from my above commentary to conclude that everything that Engdahl argues is wrong, or that I dislike Putin's and Russia's policies and actions in Syria. No one likes a bully, and the US (ruling class directorate) has not only been acting like a bully, no, much worse than that--like a serial war criminal. This time the bully is having his comeuppance.
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