Everywhere from Eastern Europe to Argentina, from Seattle to Bombay, anarchist ideas and principles are generating new radical dreams and visions. Often their exponents do not call themselves “anarchists”. There are a host of other names: autonomism, anti-authoritarianism, horizontality, Zapatismo, direct democracy… Still, everywhere one finds the same core principles: decentralization, voluntary association, mutual aid, the network model, and above all, the rejection of any idea that the end justifies the means, let alone that the business of a revolutionary is to seize state power and then begin imposing one’s vision at the point of a gun. Above all, anarchism, as an ethics of practice — the idea of building a new society “within the shell of the old”....A very good read to bring oneself up-to-date on anarchism that is playing such a prominent role in revolutionary activities in this century. The authors are prominent contemporary anarchists who examine the history and roots of anarchism, its present configurations, and projected future.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Anarchism, Or The Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century
Click here to access article by Andrej Grubacic & David Graeber from Eagainst (Greece).
Militarization of the World -- the Case of Iran
Click here to access article by Ismael Hossein-zadeh from Pakistan Defense.
This astute observer of international affairs shines his intellectual light through the fog of US propaganda to provide a clear understanding of how US Empire policies are promoting military-industrial oppressive states all over the world.
This astute observer of international affairs shines his intellectual light through the fog of US propaganda to provide a clear understanding of how US Empire policies are promoting military-industrial oppressive states all over the world.
...President Obama's or Secretary Clinton's or other U.S. policy makers' bellyaching about the rise of the power of the armed forces in Iran represents a case of gross obfuscation, that is, a case of barking up the wrong tree: instead of blaming IRGC they should blame their own imperialistic foreign policies, which nurtures militarization and curtailment of civil liberties not only in Iran but also in many other parts of the world. Indeed, militarization of the world and the resulting proliferation of many (relatively smaller) military-industrial complexes around the globe are unmistakable byproducts of the monstrous U.S. military-industrial complex. The inherent dynamics of this monster as an existentially-driven war juggernaut compels other countries around the world (both "allies" and "enemies") to embark on paths to militarism and authoritarianism.
Spanish workers on the march
Click here to access article by Lee Sustar from Socialist Worker.
The author provides the latest scoop on the class war going on in Spain. Striking Spanish miners have inspired renewed militant demonstrations against the austerity measures, the bank bailouts, and the predatory takeover of newly acquired state assets at bargain-basement prices.
The author provides the latest scoop on the class war going on in Spain. Striking Spanish miners have inspired renewed militant demonstrations against the austerity measures, the bank bailouts, and the predatory takeover of newly acquired state assets at bargain-basement prices.
...as Spain spirals downward, big multinational corporations are poised to grab Spain's main corporate assets, taking advantage of European Union rules that limit state ownership of private corporations. Since the Spanish government, having bailed out big banks, is now part owner of several key companies, it will have to sell its stock in those companies at cut-rate prices.The class war in Europe is clearly heating up.
Botched DEA Raid Exposes How Militarization Terrorizes Communities Around the World
Click here to access article by Sandra Cuffe and Karen Spring from AlterNet.
The authors illuminate the hidden story (from Americans) of the ongoing effort to secure access to raw materials in Central America under the guise of the "War on Drugs". This integration of the military forces of a targeted country with the Empire is the favorite method of US political operatives. In Honduras the integration appears to be complete--no doubt as a result of the major campaign under the Reagan administration to arm and train Honduran mercenaries to attack and destabilize the Sandinista government in nearby Nicaragua in the 1980s.
The authors illuminate the hidden story (from Americans) of the ongoing effort to secure access to raw materials in Central America under the guise of the "War on Drugs". This integration of the military forces of a targeted country with the Empire is the favorite method of US political operatives. In Honduras the integration appears to be complete--no doubt as a result of the major campaign under the Reagan administration to arm and train Honduran mercenaries to attack and destabilize the Sandinista government in nearby Nicaragua in the 1980s.
US geoengineers to spray sun-reflecting chemicals from balloon
Click here to access article by Martin Lukacs from The Guardian.
They have ordered their scientists, whom they haven't believed regarding the inevitability of global warming, to run experiments on the planet. Yes, in their madness they think that they can control nature as well as working people! Shall we sit idly by to find out where their madness takes us? Could it be that the world's One Percents are so intoxicated with the drugs of power and wealth that they should be institutionalized? Stay tuned, or better yet, stay active.
Experiment in New Mexico will try to establish the possibility of cooling the planet by dispersing sulphate aerosolsThis is a clear indication that the world's One Percent have recognized that they can't "have their cake and eat it too", that is, that they can't have their growth addictive system of capitalism and a stable ecosystem. Because they are addicted to the system that lays their golden eggs, they deal with this contradiction like any typical delusional addict would do: refuse to give up their addiction and pretend that they can control the ecosystem. So, on they go with reckless determination to fiddle with the ecosystem with their puny geo-engineering toys.
They have ordered their scientists, whom they haven't believed regarding the inevitability of global warming, to run experiments on the planet. Yes, in their madness they think that they can control nature as well as working people! Shall we sit idly by to find out where their madness takes us? Could it be that the world's One Percents are so intoxicated with the drugs of power and wealth that they should be institutionalized? Stay tuned, or better yet, stay active.
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Lure of Obedience
Click here to access article by Mat Little from New Compass.
There are so many insights offered and inspired by this article which re-examines the classic Milgram experiment of 1961. It is well worth reading all the way to the end.
It appears that nowadays, people are more obedient than ever. Some critics have referred to America as a nation of sheep or American people as "sheeples" (see this and this).
Although I might argue with his reading of labor history (my view is that workers' attitudes started to change toward conformity after WWII), it generally seems to confirm what this author argues: this inclination on the part of Americans to be obedient to authority has markedly increased over time.
I was particularly inspired by an idea after reading this author's observation:
One thing I've noticed about mainstream media news reporting is the huge focus on deviant behavior, the more deviant the better. They want the public to feel that there are many among us who are inherently evil, that human nature is defective. Thus, it follows that force and discipline are often required to keep people civilized and well behaved. Hence, the need for powerful police forces to protect "decent" citizens, and the need for a huge prison system and onerous punishments. Also, such reporting keeps people suspicious and distrustful of each other which works against cooperative and organizing efforts.
Moreover, this view of deviant behavior diverts attention away from social factors that support deviant behavior: social injustice, poverty, strong materialist values propagated by media, police brutality, poor educational opportunities, etc., all of which are promoted by the capitalist ruling class. Hence, it is not "society [that] promotes the ideology that a person’s actions stem from their character", it is the ruling One Percent.
There are so many insights offered and inspired by this article which re-examines the classic Milgram experiment of 1961. It is well worth reading all the way to the end.
It appears that nowadays, people are more obedient than ever. Some critics have referred to America as a nation of sheep or American people as "sheeples" (see this and this).
Although I might argue with his reading of labor history (my view is that workers' attitudes started to change toward conformity after WWII), it generally seems to confirm what this author argues: this inclination on the part of Americans to be obedient to authority has markedly increased over time.
Liberal capitalism was under greatest threat in the nineteenth century when the Left espoused the concept of “wage-slavery”, the idea that when a person is compelled under pressure of need, to rent themselves to a company and give away all control over what they do, their position was similar to that of a chattel slave. Then working people powerfully contested obedience and employers had to enforce it. Today obedience is, to a large extent, voluntary and the values of liberal capitalism are internalised. We are bound, by ideological bonds that can be broken, to our roles. We are, as the title of a recent book put it, “willing slaves.”How can this be explained? Well, I certainly don't feel capable of offering a definitive answer, except to say that this entire blog has been trying to offer explanations for this phenomenon for the past two and one-half years. Postings I've submitted have emphasized the growing control of ideological institutions--education and media--to dumb down citizens, to weaken critical thinking skills. (See this, this, and this.)
I was particularly inspired by an idea after reading this author's observation:
Noam Chomsky has distinguished between people who, for good or ill, are moral agents and institutions, “structures of power” that are basically amoral. But this distinction between people and institutions is hard to accept because, as Milgram says, society promotes the ideology that a person’s actions stem from their character. Bad outcomes are the result of bad people. [my emphasis]One weakness in any critical thinking about political topics is to use abstractions like "society" or "nation" when attributing actions or causes in relation to political events. This is a favorite method used by indoctrinated academics who are encouraged to obscure social-political issues so that a penetrating class analysis is prevented. This diverts attention away from looking at society realistically as riven by conflict due to the class structure. Class interests are often not the same--frequently they are in conflict. Only by looking at the above apparent contradiction, pointed out by Chomsky, from a class perspective can one arrive at a realistic understanding.
One thing I've noticed about mainstream media news reporting is the huge focus on deviant behavior, the more deviant the better. They want the public to feel that there are many among us who are inherently evil, that human nature is defective. Thus, it follows that force and discipline are often required to keep people civilized and well behaved. Hence, the need for powerful police forces to protect "decent" citizens, and the need for a huge prison system and onerous punishments. Also, such reporting keeps people suspicious and distrustful of each other which works against cooperative and organizing efforts.
Moreover, this view of deviant behavior diverts attention away from social factors that support deviant behavior: social injustice, poverty, strong materialist values propagated by media, police brutality, poor educational opportunities, etc., all of which are promoted by the capitalist ruling class. Hence, it is not "society [that] promotes the ideology that a person’s actions stem from their character", it is the ruling One Percent.
Kucinich Explains “LIBOR”
Click here to access posting source, video by Dennis Kucinich from Transcend Media Service.
What has happened with Ohio Rep. Kucinich illustrates how the ruling class deals with a liberal who has been a bit too critical of US ruling class policies ranging from foreign wars to labor issues to gay rights. He was gerrymandered out of Congress earlier this spring. (See this.) It is another method that political operatives of the One Percent use to control who serves in political offices, especially when all their other methods have failed to screen out such "troublemakers" during the election process before taking office.
In this excellent video post he demonstrates his populist bent by explaining to the 99 Percent the latest method that financial elites use to game the capitalist system for their benefit and usually to the huge disadvantage to the rest of the economy--that means us. Neither the corporate media or public education provides explanations of how financial institutions function, the various financial terms, the obscure financial instruments the One Percent uses that end up wrecking the economy and leaving taxpayers (mostly workers) with their gambling debts, and even the private nature of the Federal Reserve. Many "educated" people think that the latter is a governmental institution.
What has happened with Ohio Rep. Kucinich illustrates how the ruling class deals with a liberal who has been a bit too critical of US ruling class policies ranging from foreign wars to labor issues to gay rights. He was gerrymandered out of Congress earlier this spring. (See this.) It is another method that political operatives of the One Percent use to control who serves in political offices, especially when all their other methods have failed to screen out such "troublemakers" during the election process before taking office.
In this excellent video post he demonstrates his populist bent by explaining to the 99 Percent the latest method that financial elites use to game the capitalist system for their benefit and usually to the huge disadvantage to the rest of the economy--that means us. Neither the corporate media or public education provides explanations of how financial institutions function, the various financial terms, the obscure financial instruments the One Percent uses that end up wrecking the economy and leaving taxpayers (mostly workers) with their gambling debts, and even the private nature of the Federal Reserve. Many "educated" people think that the latter is a governmental institution.
Is OWS in your DNA?
Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.
The author uses an encounter with someone taken in by a mainstream media "news" report to introduce some powerful truths and ideas.
The author uses an encounter with someone taken in by a mainstream media "news" report to introduce some powerful truths and ideas.
Listen, You Can Hear the Sound of Direct Democracy, or Orchestroles
Click here to access article by Cindy Milstein from Occupy Wall Street.
The author provides a vivid description of the new spirit of resistance inspired by direct democracy and the self-organizing power of the ongoing Occupy movement in Montreal and Quebec.
The author provides a vivid description of the new spirit of resistance inspired by direct democracy and the self-organizing power of the ongoing Occupy movement in Montreal and Quebec.
LISTEN. That’s what direct democracy sounds like. A whole lot of listening, to each other, and what we need, desire, and feel good about doing. Maybe that goes a long way to explaining why neither tactics, strategies, or aspirations go stale. People here in Montreal, in building toward and moving forward with this student-social strike, have made use of and/or are creating deliberate spaces for listening, from assemblies to the wake-up calls of casseroles and now orchestroles.
The wet side of Greenland
Click here to access article by Neven from Arctic Sea Ice Blog.
This blogger has put together some dramatic data and on-the-scene videos, like the one below, to show that the melting of the ice sheet in Greenland is accelerating and the resulting local effects of this melting. (You will need to learn a new term--albedo: a measure of reflectivity.) This scene in Greenland is occurring with increasing frequency as a result of diminishing albedo of the ice sheet.
This blogger has put together some dramatic data and on-the-scene videos, like the one below, to show that the melting of the ice sheet in Greenland is accelerating and the resulting local effects of this melting. (You will need to learn a new term--albedo: a measure of reflectivity.) This scene in Greenland is occurring with increasing frequency as a result of diminishing albedo of the ice sheet.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
NOAA releases comprehensive 2011 State of the Climate report
Click here to access article by Matt Daniel from EarthSky.
Yes, it's true (see this) as the author states...
Unfortunately, most environmental advocates are placing emphasis on "mitigating" the effects of climate change through measures that will ameliorate the damage and increase coping methods after the damage has occurred. (See this) Thus, they are encouraging people to simply accept the inevitability of extreme weather, and learn ways to cope with, and mitigate the effects of it. They somehow fantasize that during this effort they will come to accept human activity as a cause and do something more effective--whatever that is.
Unless things change dramatically, there is still a long way to go before most people see that the most powerful factor driving human ecology-destroying activity is the basic organizing system of capitalism which requires growth for its existence. And, to be sure, the world's ruling One Percents will do their best to make sure people don't make this critical connection.
Bottom line: NOAA released the State of the Climate 2011 report that was compiled by 378 scientists from 48 countries around the world. The report shows human fingerprints identified in more than two dozen climate indicators examined by climate scientists.I spent some time examining various parts of this NOAA report, and I can't find any indication in the report that the scientists linked human activity with the overwhelming evidence they present of dramatic climate changes that have occurred and will likely accelerate in the future. The report provides tons of data, all of which indicates climate change, but not linkage to human activity. (Here is a good place to see the highlights of the report.)
Yes, it's true (see this) as the author states...
...the vast majority of climate scientists believe humans are influencing climate change in the recent decades. Even after looking at natural cycles – such as solar cycles and volcanoes – it appears that something else is influencing our climate. Studies have shown again and again that the vast majority of climate scientists believe we humans are the something else: human activities, specifically the increase in greenhouse gases, are causing Earth to warm.However, it is much more important what the public believes, and what they believe is to a considerable extent influenced by the information they receive from the One Percent's mainstream media. Recent evidence suggests--no doubt because of numerous recent extreme weather events and related catastrophes (widespread forest fires)--that public attitudes are shifting from climate change denial to acceptance. A recent poll suggests that a majority of the public are beginning to not only believe that climate change is real and poses a serious threat, but they also are vaguely linking it to human activity. In spite of these recent changes, major media continues to ignore nearly all references to climate change in their news reports.
Unfortunately, most environmental advocates are placing emphasis on "mitigating" the effects of climate change through measures that will ameliorate the damage and increase coping methods after the damage has occurred. (See this) Thus, they are encouraging people to simply accept the inevitability of extreme weather, and learn ways to cope with, and mitigate the effects of it. They somehow fantasize that during this effort they will come to accept human activity as a cause and do something more effective--whatever that is.
Unless things change dramatically, there is still a long way to go before most people see that the most powerful factor driving human ecology-destroying activity is the basic organizing system of capitalism which requires growth for its existence. And, to be sure, the world's ruling One Percents will do their best to make sure people don't make this critical connection.
Evidence that Oil Limits are Leading to Declining Economic Growth
Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from her blog, Our Finite World.
Unless we are able to change the system of the One Percent that is destroying our world into something that is sustainable and socially just, all of us in the 99 Percent will descend into a nightmarish world where the rich One Percent live in zones behind heavily fortified walls and barbed-wire fences surrounded by the rest of us existing in squalor. If you want to see the future under capitalism, see the Mexican film called "La Zona". Israel and its relationship with the Palestinian territories offers another model of such a future:crossing through checkpoints, being stopped to prove that one has permission to be where they are, and general police harassment and humiliation.
In this post we will examine evidence regarding declining economic growth and discuss additional reasons why such a long-term decline in real GDP might be expected.She provides abundant evidence that declining economic growth lies in the future. However, she doesn't explore the implications of this which portend a future characterized by a descent into barbarism if the ruling One Percents and their self-serving system of capitalism is allowed to continue. Many people in various parts of the world are already experiencing this. Ask Iraqis, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Afghans, refugees eking out an existence in foreign lands, and the homeless everywhere.
Unless we are able to change the system of the One Percent that is destroying our world into something that is sustainable and socially just, all of us in the 99 Percent will descend into a nightmarish world where the rich One Percent live in zones behind heavily fortified walls and barbed-wire fences surrounded by the rest of us existing in squalor. If you want to see the future under capitalism, see the Mexican film called "La Zona". Israel and its relationship with the Palestinian territories offers another model of such a future:crossing through checkpoints, being stopped to prove that one has permission to be where they are, and general police harassment and humiliation.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Everything They’re Telling Us About Syria….is False?
Click here to access article by Russ Baker from WhoWhatWhy.
Despite the fact that mainstream mind manipulators, also known as mainstream media operators, have been producing a daily avalanche of news reports on Syrian atrocities (always attributed to the Syrian government) and US electioneering, the main reports that the public are following are those related to the domestic economy. Worse for the propagandists, the public appears uninterested, and even opposed to engaging in more foreign wars. (See this, this, and this.)
No doubt the One Percent directors of mainstream media are desperately trying to distract attention away from a banker engineered economic collapse that has had such dire consequences for so many people. (See this, this, and this.) Also, they are hoping to prepare the American public to go along with another "humanitarian" war in the Mid-East.
The author of this article critically examines recent media propaganda and manages to sift out some truth using his investigative journalistic skills. He concludes his examination with this statement:
Despite the fact that mainstream mind manipulators, also known as mainstream media operators, have been producing a daily avalanche of news reports on Syrian atrocities (always attributed to the Syrian government) and US electioneering, the main reports that the public are following are those related to the domestic economy. Worse for the propagandists, the public appears uninterested, and even opposed to engaging in more foreign wars. (See this, this, and this.)
No doubt the One Percent directors of mainstream media are desperately trying to distract attention away from a banker engineered economic collapse that has had such dire consequences for so many people. (See this, this, and this.) Also, they are hoping to prepare the American public to go along with another "humanitarian" war in the Mid-East.
The author of this article critically examines recent media propaganda and manages to sift out some truth using his investigative journalistic skills. He concludes his examination with this statement:
There’s a growing body of evidence that we Americans are being lied to by our government, with nary a peep from the people’s representatives in the press. That’s one development, sadly, that really is not news.Surely, he is not naive enough to believe that the American people have "representatives" in the media that have any influence over what is broadcast or printed! And zounds!--To think that our government would lie to us! (sarcasm)
War By Other Means: Attacking Iran Through Sanctions
Click here to access article by Conn Hallinan from CounterPunch.
The Empire is aggressively pursuing world domination everywhere, but I think the hubris of these imperial directors is nowhere more evident than the economic attacks on Iran which has played by all international rules. The constant threats of invasion by Israel and Zionist war-hawks in the US government have absolutely no legitimate justification. It's merely the old, barbaric law of the jungle.
This author provides a rather complete list of all the ways that the Empire and its surrogates are attacking Iran and the effects of these attacks on Iran.
The Empire is aggressively pursuing world domination everywhere, but I think the hubris of these imperial directors is nowhere more evident than the economic attacks on Iran which has played by all international rules. The constant threats of invasion by Israel and Zionist war-hawks in the US government have absolutely no legitimate justification. It's merely the old, barbaric law of the jungle.
This author provides a rather complete list of all the ways that the Empire and its surrogates are attacking Iran and the effects of these attacks on Iran.
Now that the talks with Iran on its nuclear program appear to be on the ropes, are we on the road to war? The Israelis threaten it almost weekly, and the Obama administration has reportedly drawn up an attack plan. But in a sense, we are already at war with Iran.
Fantasties and (Possible) Realities: The Meaning of Mondragon
Click here to access article by Bernard Marszalek from CounterPunch.
In contrast to many aficionados of Mondragon, the author provides a much more sober assessment of the possible contributions that Mondragon and other cooperatives can make in building a new economy and society.
In contrast to many aficionados of Mondragon, the author provides a much more sober assessment of the possible contributions that Mondragon and other cooperatives can make in building a new economy and society.
As co-ops demonstrate, beyond their everyday work, their organizational abilities to create financial institutions, develop co-op educational projects, secure land and buildings through land trusts and develop housing, healthcare and recreational facilities, they enhance their economic resilience, and in doing so, demonstrate to other groups ways of forging durability through bottom-up alliances. The cooperatives, in other words, might act as catalyzing agents for the grassroots economy, not to lead it, but to contribute their organizational expertise to the larger alternative economy.
Preview of Selected Interviews
Click here to access the interviews and an appeal for support to complete film project by Keith Harmon Snow.
Snow is one of a handful of independent journalists specializing in central African affairs. Because of this and the exploitative interests of Western corporations, Western mainstream media's coverage has been characterized by disinformation and omissions of atrocities by Western backed forces there. Snow is doing everything he can to provide accurate information. We must help him.
Snow is one of a handful of independent journalists specializing in central African affairs. Because of this and the exploitative interests of Western corporations, Western mainstream media's coverage has been characterized by disinformation and omissions of atrocities by Western backed forces there. Snow is doing everything he can to provide accurate information. We must help him.
Posted below is our first promotional video created to provide some explanation about our independent documentary film and book project currently titled -- Witchdoctors of Watutsiland. Learn more about the Witchdoctors President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Hyppolite Kanambe (alias Joseph Kabila) of the Congo. These are the great manipulators, backed by the West, whose crimes are whitewashed by western public relations agencies paid millions by these regimes. Facilitating the western plunder and occupation of Central Africa, they are responsible in large part for over ten million people dead since the U.S.-backed invasion of 1996. Of course, these are the black African faces of western occupation.
Friday, July 13, 2012
The Weaponization of Economic Theory
Click here to access the source of this excerpt by Michael Hudson from his blog.
The first sections of the article, "The Weaponization of Economic Theory", provides his speculations on how the dilemmas of the current world economic crisis are going to play out. What really bothered me in the early sections was his apparent acceptance of private control over the issuance of money in the form of debt--the most pernicious of all capitalist practices! What I believe is more useful is the last section of the essay which I am reproducing below in its entirety.
He imposes a classic economic liberal framework on the issues, and seems to suggest that present events are the result of abandoning those early beliefs. I think that this is clearly wrong as Marx and Marxists have argued over the past 150 years. This early ideology of capitalism was designed to dismantle feudal institutions and all the restrictions they imposed on privately run commercial enterprises whose sole objective was a sociopathic one of private wealth accumulation.
The other side of the coin of capitalism is power. Together with the accumulation of wealth is the accumulation of power. The system requires endless growth--no one disputes that--thus, wealth and power both grow. The endgame of capitalism is the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few people as we are seeing today. Because the system is now running up against resource and ecological limits of our finite planet, the extraction of wealth from industrial growth is becoming increasingly difficult and is threatening to destabilize the entire ecosystem of the Earth. Hence, capitalists see that the most favorable method to increase their wealth is through debt peonage: placing entire populations in debt and working mostly to pay interest to the ruling capitalist class. Because of their huge accumulation of wealth and power, they exhibit the most arrogant attitudes in their determination to accomplish this.
The first sections of the article, "The Weaponization of Economic Theory", provides his speculations on how the dilemmas of the current world economic crisis are going to play out. What really bothered me in the early sections was his apparent acceptance of private control over the issuance of money in the form of debt--the most pernicious of all capitalist practices! What I believe is more useful is the last section of the essay which I am reproducing below in its entirety.
He imposes a classic economic liberal framework on the issues, and seems to suggest that present events are the result of abandoning those early beliefs. I think that this is clearly wrong as Marx and Marxists have argued over the past 150 years. This early ideology of capitalism was designed to dismantle feudal institutions and all the restrictions they imposed on privately run commercial enterprises whose sole objective was a sociopathic one of private wealth accumulation.
The other side of the coin of capitalism is power. Together with the accumulation of wealth is the accumulation of power. The system requires endless growth--no one disputes that--thus, wealth and power both grow. The endgame of capitalism is the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few people as we are seeing today. Because the system is now running up against resource and ecological limits of our finite planet, the extraction of wealth from industrial growth is becoming increasingly difficult and is threatening to destabilize the entire ecosystem of the Earth. Hence, capitalists see that the most favorable method to increase their wealth is through debt peonage: placing entire populations in debt and working mostly to pay interest to the ruling capitalist class. Because of their huge accumulation of wealth and power, they exhibit the most arrogant attitudes in their determination to accomplish this.
The neoliberal challenge
The term “neoliberalism” misrepresents and even inverts the classical liberal idea of free markets. It is a weaponization of economic theory, kidnapping the original liberal ethic that sought to defend against special privilege and unearned income. To classical economists, a free market meant one free of unearned income, defined as land rent, natural resource rent, monopoly rent and rent-extracting privilege. But to neoliberals a free market is one free from taxes or regulation of such rentier income, and indeed gives it tax favoritism over wages and profits.
Neoliberalism and neo-conservatism are complementary doctrines of power and autocracy combined with deregulation and dismantling of democratic law. The aim is to replace government power as used to protect the people with an oligarchic power to oppress the people.
Today, the neoliberal aim is to cripple government power, enabling a free-for-all for the financial sector. Protecting civil freedoms are also heavily signposted, but the high price of legal representation is a barrier for most. A doctrine primarily of the financial sector, the aim is to un-tax banks and financial institutions and their major customers: real estate and monopolies.
Neoliberalism is a doctrine of central planning, which is to be shifted from governments to the more highly centralized financial centers. This requires disabling public power to regulate and tax banking and finance. As a transition, ideological deregulators such as Alan Greenspan and Tim Geithner have been appointed to the key regulatory positions in the United States.
The result is a doctrine of financial war not only against labor but also against industry and government. Gaining the financial power to indebt economies at increasing speed, the banking and financial sector is siphoning resources away from the real economy. Its business plan is not based on employing labor to expand output, but simply to transfer as much of the existing flow of revenue as possible into its own hands, by capitalizing all such revenue into interest payments, on loans collateralized and pledged to creditors.
The effect is no more democratic than the Roman democracy, which arranged voting by “centuries” headed by the largest landowners – essentially an acre-per-vote, to make an analogy. In the U.S. case, votes are bought not by land as such, but by dollars – mainly from the financial sector. In the end, to be sure, most dollars come from rent extraction.
The result must be economic polarization, above all between creditors and debtors as in Rome. So the end stage of neoliberalism threatens a Dark Age of poverty/immiseration – most characteristically, one of debt peonage. And just as Rome’s creditor class and its predatory imperial expansion brought down the Roman Empire and reduced it to mere subsistence, so the combination of neoliberalism and neo-conservatism today seeks to globalize itself, spreading austerity even as it brings technological progress to sovereign debtors.
U.S. Gave Tens of Billions to Libor-Manipulating Banks … Even AFTER Learning about the Manipulation
Click here to access article from Washington's Blog.
The problem I find with this blog is that the author tends to throw so much detail at you that one's loses sight of the forest because of all the trees (details). He seems more intent upon revealing sensational scandals than on creating understanding of how the system of financial capitalism has grown into the powerful monster that it is today.
The major problem which has been at the center of capitalist rule is the function of private bankers, especially those lodged in central banks, to control the creation of money. Added to that are all the ways (derivative financial instruments) they have to get around any existing regulations which are weak at best. These instruments are used as gambling devices to enrich the One Percents when they win their bets; and when they lose, we of the 99 Percent are stuck with the debts. Added to this mix is the huge concentration of wealth they have accumulated that enables the banking elite to subvert any public initiatives through government to support an economy in the public interest, and to control the information the public receives.
In recent years there has been some laudable attempts and successes by sections of the One Percent to obtain information on the government bailouts and the role of the Federal Reserve. I'm thinking of Sen. Bernie Sanders' effort to force the Fed to undergo a partial audit, Bloomberg's effort under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose the banks the Fed has been loaning money to at very low interest, and the amounts. Currently Sen. Ron Paul's bill for a major audit of the Fed is winding its way through Congress.
As a result of these efforts, a lot of information as been obtained and bloggers such as the author of this blog have published many bits and pieces of it, all of which paints a picture of tremendous fraud and corruption. However, because the financial elites wield so much overwhelming power, very little of this information makes its way into mainstream media; and when it does, it is framed in such a way as to minimize damage. The public at large remains largely ignorant of the scale of corruption, how it has destroyed the economy for ordinary people and resulted in the gutting of all kinds of public services. The current election mud-slinging and the disinformation campaign related to the Syrian crisis provides mountains of distractions that mainstream media uses to prevent ordinary citizens from understanding the more serious issues.
The problem I find with this blog is that the author tends to throw so much detail at you that one's loses sight of the forest because of all the trees (details). He seems more intent upon revealing sensational scandals than on creating understanding of how the system of financial capitalism has grown into the powerful monster that it is today.
The major problem which has been at the center of capitalist rule is the function of private bankers, especially those lodged in central banks, to control the creation of money. Added to that are all the ways (derivative financial instruments) they have to get around any existing regulations which are weak at best. These instruments are used as gambling devices to enrich the One Percents when they win their bets; and when they lose, we of the 99 Percent are stuck with the debts. Added to this mix is the huge concentration of wealth they have accumulated that enables the banking elite to subvert any public initiatives through government to support an economy in the public interest, and to control the information the public receives.
In recent years there has been some laudable attempts and successes by sections of the One Percent to obtain information on the government bailouts and the role of the Federal Reserve. I'm thinking of Sen. Bernie Sanders' effort to force the Fed to undergo a partial audit, Bloomberg's effort under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose the banks the Fed has been loaning money to at very low interest, and the amounts. Currently Sen. Ron Paul's bill for a major audit of the Fed is winding its way through Congress.
As a result of these efforts, a lot of information as been obtained and bloggers such as the author of this blog have published many bits and pieces of it, all of which paints a picture of tremendous fraud and corruption. However, because the financial elites wield so much overwhelming power, very little of this information makes its way into mainstream media; and when it does, it is framed in such a way as to minimize damage. The public at large remains largely ignorant of the scale of corruption, how it has destroyed the economy for ordinary people and resulted in the gutting of all kinds of public services. The current election mud-slinging and the disinformation campaign related to the Syrian crisis provides mountains of distractions that mainstream media uses to prevent ordinary citizens from understanding the more serious issues.
Bill to Stop Modern Day Slavery under Government Contracts
Click here to access article by Devon Chaffee from American Civil Liberties Union.
Here is another example of how political operatives of the One Percent have no compunctions about engaging in any kind of exploitation that they can get away with to serve the Empire.
Here is another example of how political operatives of the One Percent have no compunctions about engaging in any kind of exploitation that they can get away with to serve the Empire.
Last month the ACLU released a joint report with Yale Law School, Victims of Complacency, that documents the ongoing trafficking, forced labor and abuse of foreign workers hired through U.S. government contracts to work in support of U.S. military and diplomatic missions abroad.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Evolving Beliefs [51:00m audio]
Click here to access audio presentation from KPFA radio, Berkeley, CA. (Note: KPFA is a listener supported radio station.)
Program host Sasha Lilley interviews anthropologist and author AgustĂn Fuentes on the broad topic of human nature.
Program host Sasha Lilley interviews anthropologist and author AgustĂn Fuentes on the broad topic of human nature.
Conventional wisdom has it that humans are monogamous, aggressive, and innately warlike. But what if we're as much wired to be polygamous, peaceful, and egalitarian? Drawing on his own work with primates, anthropologist AgustĂn Fuentes discusses a number of myths about sexual differences, monogamy, aggression, and race -- all justified by misconceptions about evolution and biology.Although barely hinted at in the interview, it is clear to me that many of the current myths about human nature have been shaped by the ruling capitalist class. As you listen to this excellent interview, I suggest that you consider how these myths serve ruling class interests. For example, the way the Katrina disaster was reported by mainstream media and what researchers found later. As the Sasha Lilley summarized in one part of the interview, "culture provides a context in which ideas are examined, discarded or embraced." Culture is largely shaped by the ruling class.
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