Click here to access article from RT.
It seems that Obama's employers in the ruling class directorate have ordered their chief of US public relations to scurry over to Saudi Arabia and mollify the medieval princes who are worried about the disclosure of the censored 28 pages of the official 9/11 Commission report. The Saudi royalty are famous for sponsoring terrorists and beheading people.
What is surprising to me is that our capitalist masters don't see any contradiction between their government's support of the major trade agreements (TPP and TTIP) which gives corporations the right to sue governments for loss of profits in private tribunals with Obama's latest argument that it is unthinkable for ordinary people to sue governments, and especially the US government, for major crimes.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
New York voting fiasco just the warm-up for the November game
Click here to access article by Greg Palast from Uncommon Thought Journal.
Before the 2000 presidential election I, who will soon be 80 years of age, had never heard of "voting irregularities". Now it seems they are a normal occurrence especially every four years during the presidential elections. I noticed that corporate media with their one-sentence references to the recent "voting irregularities" in NY City also seem to regard such occurrences as normal. (See also this and this for independent reports.)
It appears that when our aggressive capitalist masters fail to get us to vote right (no pun intended), they now resort to wholesale vote tampering. What's next? Cancelling these election circuses? That would certainly save them a lot of money which furnishes the basis of all their power. But then the great hoax of American "democracy" would be finished, and they would have to spend even more on their militarized police forces to keep us in line. So I think we can expect them to keep the show going for the near future.
Before the 2000 presidential election I, who will soon be 80 years of age, had never heard of "voting irregularities". Now it seems they are a normal occurrence especially every four years during the presidential elections. I noticed that corporate media with their one-sentence references to the recent "voting irregularities" in NY City also seem to regard such occurrences as normal. (See also this and this for independent reports.)
It appears that when our aggressive capitalist masters fail to get us to vote right (no pun intended), they now resort to wholesale vote tampering. What's next? Cancelling these election circuses? That would certainly save them a lot of money which furnishes the basis of all their power. But then the great hoax of American "democracy" would be finished, and they would have to spend even more on their militarized police forces to keep us in line. So I think we can expect them to keep the show going for the near future.
The BRICS: Still a Hegemonic, Not Anti-Capitalist Project
Click here to access article by François Houtart from TeleSur.
Many alternative geopolitical analysts have lauded the BRICS countries for promoting a "multi-polar" world which challenges the dominant Empire. According to the author of this article the BRICS differ very little in their behavior from the Empire. Although the BRICS try to pursue independent policies, they are still considerably influenced by the dynamics of capitalist enterprise. So I don't see how we can expect major differences.
Many alternative geopolitical analysts have lauded the BRICS countries for promoting a "multi-polar" world which challenges the dominant Empire. According to the author of this article the BRICS differ very little in their behavior from the Empire. Although the BRICS try to pursue independent policies, they are still considerably influenced by the dynamics of capitalist enterprise. So I don't see how we can expect major differences.
...even if the social and solidarity considerations are introduced in the development of the South-South relations by the BRICS, the logic of growth remains the same. Gosh Jayathi conclude: "Many trade and South-South investment agreements and their consequences, are unfortunately similar to those of North-South relationships, not only for investment protection, but also to guarantee the Intellectual Property Rights."
All this helps to reinforce the destructive character of the dominant model, at a time when many instances, notably international, alert governments and public opinion on the need for a radical change of perspective. To avoid that ecosystems deteriorate irremediably and also considerable human costs through the center-peripheries relations of the BRICS, it is necessary to propose a change of development matrix and finally also to promote the definition of a new paradigm.
The Empire Files: Understanding Marxism and Socialism
Click here if you wish to access an interview conducted with Richard Wolff by Abby Martin posted by TeleSur on YouTube.
I highly recommend the first 29:50 minutes of this 31:18m interview in which Wolff explains the key concepts of socialism as interpreted by Karl Marx. In this major segment he offers with great clarity also an understanding of the criminal nature of capitalism, that capitalism is essentially organized crime.
The last 1:28m are marred by his promotion of Bernie Sanders' self-identification with socialism when in fact his political views are that of social democracy which represents a capitalist fix for all the chaos their system creates for working people. I challenge anyone to find among Sanders' speeches any statements that expresses his wish for public ownership and control of economic enterprises. The latter are the key ingredients of socialism and the direct opposite of capitalism with its fanatic emphasis on individual ownership and control.
Social democracy only adds significant safety nets to capitalism to prevent the worst effects of the frequent capitalist crises on working people. Even the strongest forms of social democracy found in Europe, which were introduced following WWII to appease the widespread popularity of true socialism, is being dismantled due to the competition from transnational corporations that take advantage of global operations.
People who are true revolutionaries do not mix up these concepts, but people who have pursued careers in politics (Sanders) and in academia (Wolff) do often mix them up. They do this because their careers demand it, or to put it another way, the capitalist overseers of their careers demand it. It is the only way they can express opinions that are favorable to socialism and maintain their careers.
I highly recommend the first 29:50 minutes of this 31:18m interview in which Wolff explains the key concepts of socialism as interpreted by Karl Marx. In this major segment he offers with great clarity also an understanding of the criminal nature of capitalism, that capitalism is essentially organized crime.
The last 1:28m are marred by his promotion of Bernie Sanders' self-identification with socialism when in fact his political views are that of social democracy which represents a capitalist fix for all the chaos their system creates for working people. I challenge anyone to find among Sanders' speeches any statements that expresses his wish for public ownership and control of economic enterprises. The latter are the key ingredients of socialism and the direct opposite of capitalism with its fanatic emphasis on individual ownership and control.
Social democracy only adds significant safety nets to capitalism to prevent the worst effects of the frequent capitalist crises on working people. Even the strongest forms of social democracy found in Europe, which were introduced following WWII to appease the widespread popularity of true socialism, is being dismantled due to the competition from transnational corporations that take advantage of global operations.
People who are true revolutionaries do not mix up these concepts, but people who have pursued careers in politics (Sanders) and in academia (Wolff) do often mix them up. They do this because their careers demand it, or to put it another way, the capitalist overseers of their careers demand it. It is the only way they can express opinions that are favorable to socialism and maintain their careers.
Press Release: 1.5°C vs 2°C global warming – new study shows why half a degree matters
Click here to access article from European Geosciences Union.
However, none of this matters to capitalists who are addicted to power and profits that is delivered to them by their system. I wonder how long the rest of us are going to let these drug addicts and their delivery system destroy the Earth's habitat that can support human life.
European researchers have found substantially different climate change impacts for a global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C by 2100, the two temperature limits included in the Paris climate agreement. The additional 0.5°C would mean a 10-cm-higher global sea-level rise by 2100, longer heat waves, and would result in virtually all tropical coral reefs being at risk.It appears that the Great Barrier Reef off Australia is already in trouble judging by this report from the Independent entitled "Great Barrier Reef: Half of natural wonder is ‘dead or dying’ and it is on the brink of extinction, scientists say".
However, none of this matters to capitalists who are addicted to power and profits that is delivered to them by their system. I wonder how long the rest of us are going to let these drug addicts and their delivery system destroy the Earth's habitat that can support human life.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Breaks and broken
Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review Blog.
Combining his own research with that of Oxfam, this economist concludes the following:
The meaning of property has been extended far beyond the common notion of personal property into the "ownership" of things ranging from tools and machines that workers use in their daily productive activities to ideas and to life forms (DNA) created by scientists. With these rights of property capitalists justify their right of appropriation of all profits from economic enterprises that use such property, and nearly absolute control over how, when, and where the enterprises operate.
To provide cover for this exploitative relationship and to make it more appealing to workers, the capitalist ruling classes often lay on their legal structure a rather thin veneer of civil rights for its citizens, sponsor political elections to simulate a "democracy", and provide minimal social safety nets. But the reality is this: one must have money to assert these civil rights effectively, capitalists exercise total control over the election machinery, and the safety nets are limited--they are only designed to contain major dissent (this is why they were expanded in the Great Depression). These are only the key features. To be a true ruling class, they had to take control over not only the government, but all institutions of society--media, education, entertainment, etc.
The capitalist class when threatened often resort to an iron fist type of authoritarian rule (often depicted as "fascism") that have these basic features: a dictatorship or centralized rule, extreme promotion and protection of private property especially of major capitalists, a suspension of all civil liberties, and a visceral hatred and violent crackdown of any anti-capitalist political movements.
Combining his own research with that of Oxfam, this economist concludes the following:
Those breaks indicate that not only is the U.S. tax system broken; so, too, is the political system.His data also adds more ammunition to the charge that the US government is ruled by a class that is aligned with the interests of corporations that are owned by people known as a capitalist class. This class lives off of the profits from productive activities that workers engage in while working in these corporation. Capitalists do not produce or create anything themselves. They justify this exploitative relationship with workers because of their devotion to property rights which they have built into a cornerstone of their legal system that supports capitalist class rule.
Except, of course, for U.S. corporations.
The meaning of property has been extended far beyond the common notion of personal property into the "ownership" of things ranging from tools and machines that workers use in their daily productive activities to ideas and to life forms (DNA) created by scientists. With these rights of property capitalists justify their right of appropriation of all profits from economic enterprises that use such property, and nearly absolute control over how, when, and where the enterprises operate.
To provide cover for this exploitative relationship and to make it more appealing to workers, the capitalist ruling classes often lay on their legal structure a rather thin veneer of civil rights for its citizens, sponsor political elections to simulate a "democracy", and provide minimal social safety nets. But the reality is this: one must have money to assert these civil rights effectively, capitalists exercise total control over the election machinery, and the safety nets are limited--they are only designed to contain major dissent (this is why they were expanded in the Great Depression). These are only the key features. To be a true ruling class, they had to take control over not only the government, but all institutions of society--media, education, entertainment, etc.
The capitalist class when threatened often resort to an iron fist type of authoritarian rule (often depicted as "fascism") that have these basic features: a dictatorship or centralized rule, extreme promotion and protection of private property especially of major capitalists, a suspension of all civil liberties, and a visceral hatred and violent crackdown of any anti-capitalist political movements.
Military spending is the capitalist world’s fuel
Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder.
...why is U.S. military spending so high? It’s because the repeated use of force is what is necessary to maintain the capitalist system. As top dog in the world capitalist system, it’s up the to the U.S. to do what is necessary to keep itself, and its multi-national corporations, in the driver’s seat. That has been a successful project. U.S.-based multi-nationals hold the world’s highest share in 18 of 25 broad industrial sectors, according to an analysis in New Left Review, and often by commanding margins — U.S. multi-nationals hold at least a 40 percent global share in 10 of those sectors.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Exit from the Megamachine [a 'best post']
Click here to access article by Fabian Scheidler from degrowth.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time this morning to comment on this excellent post. However my reaction is probably not needed because the essay can stand on its own. It sums up so much that is true about today's world and the system of capitalism that is destroying it, and written by someone who has a clear understanding of it.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time this morning to comment on this excellent post. However my reaction is probably not needed because the essay can stand on its own. It sums up so much that is true about today's world and the system of capitalism that is destroying it, and written by someone who has a clear understanding of it.
In the twenty-first century, however, the five-hundred year-long expansion of the megamachine is reaching insurmountable limits. On the one hand the accumulation-machine is stuttering: the huge numbers of poor people across the globe and the crumbling middle classes do not have the money to keep buying a growing production at profitable prices. This is why the economy is shifting to finance speculations that erupt in ever deeper crashes, further destabilizing economies as well as states.
World’s largest Earth science organization to continue accepting ExxonMobil sponsorship despite calls from 250+ geoscientists
Click here to access article by Geoffrey Supran, Ploy Achakulwisut, Ben Scandella, and Britta Voss from Skeptical Science.
Last week, the President of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) - the world’s largest association of Earth scientists - announced the AGU Board’s decision to continue accepting sponsorship from ExxonMobil, despite calls for an end to this relationship from more than 250 geoscientists owing to ExxonMobil’s past and present climate science disinformation.This is another illustration among many of the overwhelming power of major corporations in today's world. When capitalist power can triumph over the conservative discipline of scientific inquiry, then we are all in trouble.
Democracy Sleepwalking
Click here to access article by Arun Gupta from CounterPunch.
Although he initially identifies the protest march near the capitol as organized by Democracy Awakening, the author subsequently also identifies it with another liberal group called Spring Awakening whose members apparently joined in.
Although he initially identifies the protest march near the capitol as organized by Democracy Awakening, the author subsequently also identifies it with another liberal group called Spring Awakening whose members apparently joined in.
The Nation branded Democracy Awakening and Democracy Spring “the most important protest of the 2016 election.” But despite more than half a year of organizing, 300 endorsing organizations, and millions of dollars spent directly or in staff time, organizers could muster barely a thousand people for an outdoor rally on a gorgeous spring day.Could such events represent the "last hurrah" for liberal activism? Hopefully this signals a deeper, more relevant, and more revolutionary movement that will take their place.
The gathering was a throwback to soporific pre-Occupy Wall Street protests.
Little remains of the liberal world, however. With the precarity of most unions and the rule of the oligarchy, the political space for liberals has been almost completely eliminated. They seem to understand they need to take risks if they hope to counter the strength of capital and the right. But Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening show half-hearted measures won’t work. Only by embracing the uncertainty and unpredictability genuine movements unleash, can they have any hope of outmaneuvering the ruling class.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Review: ‘The Measure of a Man,’ a Tale of a Man’s Lost Labor
Click here to access article by Manohla Dargis from The NY Times.
Here is a film featuring a main character that many of us can identify with. Bush's "ownership society" played out to enrich the One Percent, bankrupted the banks which were subsequently bailed out by us, causing unemployment to skyrocket and since then has disappeared many off the unemployment rolls and others onto low paid future-less jobs. This film is about a character who is in the latter situation.
This is a tragic story about a worker that has been repeated many millions of times over the history of the boom-and-bust system of capitalism.
Here is a film featuring a main character that many of us can identify with. Bush's "ownership society" played out to enrich the One Percent, bankrupted the banks which were subsequently bailed out by us, causing unemployment to skyrocket and since then has disappeared many off the unemployment rolls and others onto low paid future-less jobs. This film is about a character who is in the latter situation.
Midway through the quiet emotional storms in the French drama “The Measure of a Man,” the hero, Thierry, begins working as a supermarket security guard. It’s a bitter victory. There is little that’s secure about the job, which requires Thierry to view not just every customer but also each employee as a potential thief. Supplemented with the trappings of the badly paid — a stifling tie, ill-fitting jacket, squawking walkie-talkie — he embodies 21st-century labor at its most heroically alienated. As he stands and watches, liberty seems a distant promise, as do equality and fraternity.
This is a tragic story about a worker that has been repeated many millions of times over the history of the boom-and-bust system of capitalism.
Hybrid War Hyenas Tear Brazil Apart
Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from RT.
This world traveling, outstanding journalist is at home in Brazil and discovering that the Empire is trying to do what they have accomplished in many parts of the world: overturning a popular government to serve neoliberal interests. They have recent successes in South America with the Macri regime installed in Argentina and the weakening of Venezuelan popular government with the right-wing wins in their parliamentary election.
He argues that the impeachment effort, the first step of which was approved by the lower house of the Brazilian congress, has the ultimate objective of targeting the former very popular President Lula da Silva.
This world traveling, outstanding journalist is at home in Brazil and discovering that the Empire is trying to do what they have accomplished in many parts of the world: overturning a popular government to serve neoliberal interests. They have recent successes in South America with the Macri regime installed in Argentina and the weakening of Venezuelan popular government with the right-wing wins in their parliamentary election.
He argues that the impeachment effort, the first step of which was approved by the lower house of the Brazilian congress, has the ultimate objective of targeting the former very popular President Lula da Silva.
It’s impossible to understand what happened at the Circus Maximus this Sunday without knowing there’s a gaggle of Brazilian political parties that are seriously threatened by the non-stop overspill of the Car Wash corruption investigation. To ensure their survival, Car Wash must be “suspended”; and it will, under the bogus “national unity” proposed by lowly Brutus Temer [the vice-president who would take over for President Rousseff during the impeachment hearings should they be approved].You might also be interested in an article in TeleSur on the same subject.
But first, Car Wash must produce a high-profile scalp. And that has to be Lula in jail – compared to which the crucifixion of Rousseff is an Aesop fable. Corporate media, led by the noxious Globo empire, would hail it as the ultimate victory, and nobody would care about Car Wash’s enforced retirement.
The 54 million-plus who voted for Rousseff’s reelection in 2014 voted wrong. The overall “project” is a government without vote and without people; a Brazilian-style parliamentary system, without bothering with pesky “elections” and crucially, including very “generous” campaign financing flexibility not bound to incriminate powerful companies/corporations.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
The myth of ‘free trade’
Click here to access article by Stephen Millies from Workers World.
I think that "free trade" can be better understood as a euphemism for unrestricted capitalist exploitation of man and nature. Millies describes some of the most outrageous crimes committed by capitalists whenever and wherever they could due to a lack of restrictions.
I think that "free trade" can be better understood as a euphemism for unrestricted capitalist exploitation of man and nature. Millies describes some of the most outrageous crimes committed by capitalists whenever and wherever they could due to a lack of restrictions.
Slavery and the History of Capitalism
Click here to access article from communists in situ.
An academic style of writing can be very off-putting to ordinary educated people because of its use of obscure words and references in frequently lengthy articles, but this article I believe is well worth a read because it provides an excellent critical survey of writings on the title-subject both historical and contemporary which one can make use of. By reading some of this literature, we can increase our understanding of racism and slavery and the important role they played in the rise of capitalism.
The article also directs our attention to what is happening in the world of academia regarding this subject. For example, my attention was drawn to the fact that there has been a renaissance of writing about capitalism and the history of capitalism since the economic crash of 2008. We as activists can benefit from this re-awakening.
An academic style of writing can be very off-putting to ordinary educated people because of its use of obscure words and references in frequently lengthy articles, but this article I believe is well worth a read because it provides an excellent critical survey of writings on the title-subject both historical and contemporary which one can make use of. By reading some of this literature, we can increase our understanding of racism and slavery and the important role they played in the rise of capitalism.
The article also directs our attention to what is happening in the world of academia regarding this subject. For example, my attention was drawn to the fact that there has been a renaissance of writing about capitalism and the history of capitalism since the economic crash of 2008. We as activists can benefit from this re-awakening.
An energetic startup within the U.S. historical profession, the history of capitalism has grown rapidly over the past few years and won media attention most academics only dream of. Its popularity was sparked in part by the 2008 financial crisis, which renewed doubt about capitalism’s promises, and it emerges in the long wake of the demise of identity politics and the cultural turn within U.S. scholarship. It looks beyond supposedly narrow, sectarian concerns with particular groups left out of mainstream history—women and workers, peasants and slaves, blacks and gays. Some scholars have indeed argued for the capacious, democratic, and inclusive capabilities of this new field; others have been at pains to demonstrate that it is not a recapitulation of social history centered on the white male worker or business history fetishizing the white male capitalist. Even so, its institutional and ideological biases often shine through in its favored subjects and its anointed practitioners.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Saudi Arabia Threatens To Liquidate Its Treasury Holdings If Congress Probes Its Role In Sept 11 Attacks
Click here to access article by Tyler Durden from Zero Hedge.
Who knows what is really going on behind the scenes of this threat to unload US Treasury bills, but what has been revealed by many independent investigators of 9/11 suggest that Durden's concluding question is really not the most important one:
There is also the huge threat that the Saudi officials will point their fingers at the CIA and Israel. The NY Times is once again providing cover for the real agents behind the 9/11 event which provided the necessary excuse ("a new Peal Harbor" referred to on page 51 in the neoconservative publication entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses" ) for the launching of many wars in the Middle East and the establishment of police state features here within the US.
Who knows what is really going on behind the scenes of this threat to unload US Treasury bills, but what has been revealed by many independent investigators of 9/11 suggest that Durden's concluding question is really not the most important one:
...why the Saudi panic, and why immediately threaten with the "nuclear option", namely liquidating US Treasurys, if the Saudis have nothing to hide?Many of these independent investigations have turned up evidence that suggests that 9/11 was a joint project of the CIA together with secret agents mainly in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Durden along with the NY Times points only their fingers at the Saudis. This I think offers a convenient distraction from other more important culprits, many of which are within the US. Thus, I think that the big question remaining is this:
[why has the] "Obama [administration] been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated [?]It will be interesting to see how this contest between the highly motivated 9/11 family victims and Congress plays out. Even though I have no doubt that the censored 28 pages contain anything about the role of the CIA and Israel in this great tragedy, there is one thing that I am thoroughly confident about: there is so much more a than just Saudi Arabia's role and their monetary retaliation in this huge can of worms that will prevent the Congressional bill from ever passing.
There is also the huge threat that the Saudi officials will point their fingers at the CIA and Israel. The NY Times is once again providing cover for the real agents behind the 9/11 event which provided the necessary excuse ("a new Peal Harbor" referred to on page 51 in the neoconservative publication entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses" ) for the launching of many wars in the Middle East and the establishment of police state features here within the US.
Friday, April 15, 2016
“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class”
Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review Blog.
There is a blurring of lines between organized crime and the institutions of "legitimate" institutions. They both share the same basic anti-social proclivities and they often collaborate when it is to their mutual advantage. Most often this collaboration can be found in drug and arms trafficking, and was dramatically evident in the assassination of John Kennedy in which many independent investigators turned up evidence of organized crime involvement. One sees collaboration most frequently in business and entertainment where members of both camps cooperate in plundering activities, and members easily cross over from one camp to the other. (Read The Money and the Power by Denton and Morris, Double Cross by the Giancana brothers, and Gangster Capitalism by Woodiwiss--in that order.) Capitalism is a perfect system for sociopaths--both capitalist and criminal types.
No, that’s not the democratic socialist candidate for the Democratic nomination. It was actually Al Capone who once said that “Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.”Capitalism has a lot in common with organized crime because of its tendency to rob and murder others to gain wealth and power. The main differences between them is contained in the title quote above, that is, that capitalists have not only gained dominance over their societies by stealth, murder, and robbery; but have also gone on to establish many other institutions to provide legitimacy for them. This is especially true in their legal system where laws are made and enforced to give them the right to steal the fruits of working people and where the enforcement of their laws is done deferentially based on social class; their ownership and control of media is used to present news coverage that justify their rule and behavior; the educational system is used to instill capitalist values into unsuspecting, innocent children; and the entertainment industry is used to distract, entertain, and reaffirm their values. Capitalists make considerable use of deception in all these institutions. These efforts give this dominant class a certain veneer of respectability and legitimacy which organized crime doesn't bother with.
There is a blurring of lines between organized crime and the institutions of "legitimate" institutions. They both share the same basic anti-social proclivities and they often collaborate when it is to their mutual advantage. Most often this collaboration can be found in drug and arms trafficking, and was dramatically evident in the assassination of John Kennedy in which many independent investigators turned up evidence of organized crime involvement. One sees collaboration most frequently in business and entertainment where members of both camps cooperate in plundering activities, and members easily cross over from one camp to the other. (Read The Money and the Power by Denton and Morris, Double Cross by the Giancana brothers, and Gangster Capitalism by Woodiwiss--in that order.) Capitalism is a perfect system for sociopaths--both capitalist and criminal types.
Safety Nets
by Khalil Bendib from Other Words.
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| Wall Streeters land just fine, but kids in dire poverty slip right through. |
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