Contrary to the popular narrative, Americans overwhelmingly agree on a startling range of issues. So why is there such a disconnect between what Americans want and what Americans get? Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen, and co-author of the book “The Corporate Sabotage of America” identifies the culprits and outlines what we, the people, can do about it. Then, Ralph welcomes Ambassador Chas Freeman, who brings his vast diplomatic experience and historical insight to bear on the ongoing collective punishment raining down on the people of Gaza.
Ferdy is correct. Any revolution will likely be a right-wing one given the current circumstances. Just look at the election results in Argentina today where a hard monetarist easily won the election. It is simply appalling, but the US and the rest of the west fall for monetarist narratives all the time as well so we’re no better.
As I wrote in my reply to Joanie Connors, the type of revolution we need is an intellectual one. We must understand what type of policies are best for the country and then demand that from our politicians in the same way that corporate interests make specific demands of politicians. Unlike right-wing demands, the demands must be logical and based on empiricism. As I said to Joanie, progressives are far too quick to just bury their heads in the sand when it comes to matters such as economics and the resulting impact on health, education, foreign, and environmental policy. The revolution we need is to take these matters seriously.
We have 25,000 Homeless in WA, 580,000 in the US (2 years ago). We’ve completely lost control of our corporate, multi-war mongering, Congress. We’re approaching a presidential election running two candidates that are hopelessly corrupt and deeply, mentally, damaged. Also our SCOTUS is thoroughly corrupted and politicized. We’ve handed the Climate Crisis over to the Fossil Fuel Corporations. And we’ve entered a new iteration of McCarthyism, attacking any resistance to establishment dictates (i.e. Palestinians don’t deserve to live?!). Let me know when we’ve crossed the line into chaos...
There's fair a difference between malfunctioning government and actual chaos. Despite the utter malfunction within the system basic principles of law are still in force; just perverted according to ideology. The vacuum after a revolution is quite different, especially one where there is no unity for outcomes. On the one hand you have those who'd probably like to tackle homelessness using sensible economics, on the other you have people who think like Milei in Argentina and would say 'pull up your socks or die'. And in a power vacuum who would stop them?
The concept of the basic principle of law, as active, is dependent on the degree of fulfillment of that principle. It’s a classic liberal approach to rationalize societal failure as an appropriate limitation of the system. It’s called incremental change. To the homeless, the hungry, the victim of violence, or those trapped in pointless, underpaid, jobs, they are suffering. The precursor to societal chaos is most often suffering. Followed by authoritarianism, as in the US, Argentina, etc.
What I am saying is in no way a denial of current suffering. I suffer too. I am saying that crashing the entire system may well bring more and worse suffering. If you think the current crop of crazies with access to power are bad now, the people waiting on the sidelines to step in when the rule of law falls entirely are far worse. In the U.S. there's not even agreement on who the bad people are! What do people want to revolt about? Because as far as I can see it sure isn't for the economics for alleviating the neo-liberalism that is bringing about this suffering. The worst type of revolution is one with no plan (or many contradictory plans floating about) and no real clear goal.
The current system is bringing about worse suffering, inevitably. There is a feedback loop effect taking place. The accumulation of capital at the top is undermining, perhaps terminally, what were once somewhat democratic institutions. None of this is a surprise. Capitalism empowers capital (at the expense of humanity). The best thing about capitalism is its inability to save itself. FDR tried and failed. The recent news that the upcoming COP meeting is being run by a Saudi oil exec. Who wants to use it to organize international oil infrastructure. The exact opposite of what it is intended to do. This is corruption enabling chaos. The public may not see the chaotic effect immediately, but…
I certainly appreciate the views offered here in contrast to those of CNN, and MSNBC for instance. Ambassador Freeman especially seems reasonable, and wise. The Capital Hill Citizen newspaper is excellent, too IMO.
I’m glad that Public Citizen has made this book freely downloadable. I have downloaded it and I have already started to read it. There’s a lot I agree with in the book and in the interview with Mr. Weissman. We don’t need to spend much time discussing where we agree since that won’t get us very far. Thus, don’t be offended that I’ll spend the rest of this post discussing where I disagree with the narrative.
Public Citizen. Public *Citizen*. Citizen is in the name! So, with that, why is ‘taxpayer’ used as a synonym for citizen?
From the interview and what I’ve read so far, it seems Mr. Weissman is entering the circle of failure which leads to increasing corporatism/neoliberalism: 1. The public needs increased tax revenue to fund social programs and regulation. → 2. The most wealthy then are biggest agent towards progressiveness since their tax revenue can fund the government if only their tax rate increases and they are made to pay their taxes. → 3. Since the wealthy are the biggest agents towards progressiveness, they are afforded more power in the political process. They’re job creators after all! → 4. Corporate interests have even increased power in the political process which leads to outcomes from lobbying such as privatization, deregulation, and tax cuts. Something must be done! → Repeat stages 1-4 in an infinite loop of doom.
Of course, all of this assumes that tax returns (revenue in less correct terms) fund the US federal government, but that is a false assumption. Any assumption that tax returns funds government is failed logic.
The correct way to free the citizens from the bondage of corporatism caused by the aforementioned cycle is to focus on the citizens and not the taxpayers. The federal government (though not state and local governments) is not restricted in their ability to fund appropriations. Funding for this does not come from tax returns, but taxation is still vitally important for a number of reasons. As Bill Mitchell recently eloquently pointed out in his criticism of the Patriotic Millionaires ( https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=61142 ), the wealthy are not in a more powerful position since their wealth and business success does not fund government. Rather, one of the major benefits of taxation is to limit the ability of the wealthy to spend on influencing the political process. This supports pro-citizen policy instead of Public Citizen’s cockamamie ‘Public Taxpayer’ messaging.
The citizenry may agree on several things such as the need for healthcare reform, but we’re not going to get anywhere if the public is convinced that the country will ‘go broke’ trying to fund comprehensive reform. Even a cursory view of Republican and Democratic Party-leaning political forums will show this is the common narrative, but it is a false narrative reinforced by Public Taxpayer’s messaging. As Michael Hudson pointed out on the RNRH several months ago, the real cost to the citizens is the cost of corporatism/neoliberalism. The cost of medical debt, the cost of insurance which is unusable due to high deductibles, the cost of insurance which does not cover important procedures, the cost of in-network/out-of-network facilities, and so forth. This causes citizens to ‘go broke’ and be broken. The cost of fixing these problems for good through the federal government will not cause the government to ‘go broke’ and that doesn’t require the super-rich to save the citizens.
Exactly. It's really about time 'progressive politics' woke up to how far it has swallowed the monetarist line since the late 1970s. As you say, by reiterating the false economic argument monetarists/neoliberals have put in place it simply helps their cause every time. As long as the orthodox line is that government is 'funded by tax' (and the laughable incoherence of 'borrowing' - their own currency no less) it easily sets up the fake debate of people having "their money" stolen or misused. And the offshoot falsehoods of 'affordability' when it comes to funding the public purpose. Note well that I say 'funding', and not 'realising', since the funding part is but a simple mechanism to which government always has access. It needs to be drummed into everyone's heads that the government's ability to fund and taxation are not opposite ends of a simple see-saw. The rich need to pay - and stop evading - taxes to stop blocking up fiscal space, not to provide 'funding'. If a person engaged in trying to reform public spending refuses to acknowledge these facts they are frankly fighting a losing battle and render the entire thing impotent
It (the bombing of Gaza) is a gross violation of any standard of human rights. And the fact that we support it is discrediting us. We started out claiming that the eyes of the world were upon us, and we should shine like a city on the hill. I think much of the world looks at us now and they see dead babies in rubble, not a shining city on the hill.
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Heartless, too this overripe "ambassador" --" I think one of the great pieces of collateral damage from this (Israeli/Gaza conflict) is the United Nations Charter, international law, and the credibility of these institutions at the UN. But more particularly, I think the next time Americans lecture foreigners about human rights, they're not going to laugh at us—they're going to sneer. Because this is such a tremendous demonstration of hypocrisy on our part."
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Get real people on your show, once in a while.
Britain Rises for Gaza: Lowkey Exposes Israel's Waning Grip on Politics
Yes, he is Lowkey, and he is a journalist and researcher and Arab, and he is, alas, way ahead of the curve on what is happening with UK-USA-Israel.
A list of wars (italic) and of military combat that for some reason isn’t called a war (non-italic) that does not attempt to include every war and combat against Native Americans:
I did have my own radio show, Tipping Points: Voices from the Edge. But, really, how many and how many and how many shows shall we have, podcasted to death?
And then, well, the world still goes round and round, and alas, we are here: The uniparty, sort of, controlled by the Shekel Party, millionaires and billionaires. And, alas, any criticism of Soros or Peter Theil or Wadi Valley or even calling Hollywood Little Tel Aviv, all part of the Nuclear Hasbara.
I've worked on Nader's campaigns in El Paso and then Spokane. But as a communist, I certainly do not fit in there, now, do I?
As the Fiddler on the Roof fiddles while Gaza (and other parts of the Middle East, soon) burn.
Of course, supporting Israel's right to Nakba One and Nakba Two means you are a Zionist. If you are Jewish, then you are a Jewish ZIonist. Israel is a Jewish state. But calling fellow Jews out on their support for Israel means I'm a antisemite of the terrible kind.
Oh, those polls:
In early November, the American Institute ‘Jewish Electorate’ conducted measurements of public sentiment in the diaspora and came to two main conclusions.
1) An overwhelming majority (74%) of American Jews approve of President Biden's handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
2) In the presidential race, American Jews clearly prefer Biden (68%) over Trump (22%).
Interestingly, in the entire Jewish community there is only one group that likes Trump: Orthodox Jews.
The comment that the last presidential election was fair is often stated but never true. The choice was between two extremely broken and corrupt men. The Democrats stabbed Bernie Sanders and his Progressive followers in the back. That was not a legitimate primary. Hence Biden was NOT a legitimate candidate. In other words: IT WAS NOT A FAIR ELECTION!
Interesting question, Joanie. Instead of answering the question if we are smart enough, I will say that I do not believe we, collectively, have put in enough effort to become informed enough to make a meaningful difference. As progressives, especially if we listen to the RNRH, we are pretty well informed of the problems caused by neoliberally-corporately inclined governments. Unfortunately, there is little effort put into answering the questions about what policies we should seek to achieve meaningful change.
My fellow progressives tend to bury their heads in the sand as if they are ostriches when it comes to economic theory and developing sound policy from informed economic policy. Progressives admit defeat on the economic front without even trying. There is no reason for this, but it happens all the time. This is the first thing which must change because we need to know what policies to demand of our politicians. Just telling politicians to ‘fix it’ isn’t going to work. There needs to be specific demands.
Furthermore, most of us progressives correctly want, say, health care reform, but how many progressives have put in the effort to study the various health care systems in the west to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses? People say they want something like what Canada or the UK has, but Canada and the UK have very different systems. Western Europe has rather disparate health care polices ranging from extremely privatized, such as the Netherlands, to extremely social such as the UK. It is not difficult to study these systems as they’ve existed for decades and they’re constantly in the global news due to attempts to privatize/further privatize these systems.
There is plenty of information out there, but why are we not having these discussions so we can make specific demands of what we want?
Corporate causes give politicians specific demands. Yes, corporate causes also give money to politicians in order to be heard, but politicians still need votes to get into power so the people still have plenty of power. Our power goes to waste because we do not seek intellectual progressiveness.
Corporate causes give politicians specific demands. Correct.
But corporate causes do not give money to politicians to be heard, they give money as an incentive and a consequence to the politician's actions- if the politicians don't do what they are told to do then the politicians do not get more money to get re-elected and the money will go to a politicians that will do what they are told to do.
You are correct that the reason that dynamic is effective is that citizens keep voting for the big money candidates.
So let's make a specific demand that politicians do not take big money and provide an incentive and consequence if the politicians do not do what we want by withholding our votes by voting for small donor candidates or using a write in vote when there are no small donor candidates on the primary and general election ballots.
You can't spell revolution without evolution and citizens need to evolve beyond giving our votes to candidates that tell us they are on our side while at the same time taking big money which tells us they are not on our side because they will be working for the big money interests.
While the solutions proposed by Robert Weissman may be good ideas, none will be accomplished until the important part of his first solution is accomplished.
His first solution was actually two separate solutions. Citizens United did not start the problem with big money controlling politics and it will not end it even if a constitutional amendment is passed and ratified in the next twenty or so years.
And we can't wait twenty years for an ineffective solution.
But we can demand small donor candidates for Congress in 2024 and enforce that demand with our votes in the primary and general elections. If there are no small donor candidates on the ballot citizens can use a write in vote to register a vote against the big money candidates and to create and demonstrate demand for small donor candidates in 2026.
Just 10% of the vote nationally in 2024 could inspire more citizens to participate in 2026 and could inspire candidates to run in 2026 as small donor candidates. This could be built on in 2028 making significant progress by 2028 as more citizens and candidates participate.
Much faster and more effective than any legislation promised but never delivered by the big money legislators because they work the the big money interests that have no interest in getting the big money out of politics.
All the letters, town halls and protest rallies will not persuade the big money legislators to go against the big money interests if we keep voting for them when they take big money.
We must take the protest into the voting booth if we want accomplish anything.
"Parasitic Capitalism and its Parasitic Capitalists, in time - literally Kill and Destroy ALL they touch and infest, for the Lust and Greed of the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few" and their Evil “Vile Maxim!" ...
Parasitic Capitalism and its arrogance, corruption, abuse and insatiable evil greed is a disease, an addiction.
Parasitic Capitalism and the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few" are the Real Evil Plague of and upon Nature, Wildlife, the Planet, "the People" (Humanity Globally) and All (biological) Life and (*both) Must be (completely) Abolished." - (aka) “PolarBear”
*Parasitic Capitalism and the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few"
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is cooperating with it.” - MLK
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"Social murder is a term coined by Friedrich Engels in 1845 in one of his seminal works, 'The Conditions of the Working Class in England'.
“When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another such that death results, we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live – forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence – knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is, because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it remains.” Engels used the term social murder to describe how living and working conditions of English workers caused their premature death. Engels argued that since those responsible for these conditions – the ruling class or the bourgeoisie – were aware of the conditions that caused premature death, they were therefore committing social murder."
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles." - Eugene V. Debs
"Capitalism’s concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is anti-human and intolerable in the deepest sense" - Noam Chomsky
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"In the moral calculus of currently prevailing state capitalism, profits and bonuses in the next quarter greatly outweigh concern for the welfare of one’s grandchildren, and since these are institutional maladies, they will not be easy to overcome. While much remains uncertain, we can assure ourselves, with fair confidence, that future generations will not forgive us our silence and apathy." - Noam Chomsky
"A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized." - Noam Chomsky
"Under capitalism, we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control." - Noam Chomsky
"Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are, in principle, under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist, that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level. [...] Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I am opposed to economic fascism. I think that until the major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy." - Noam Chomsky
"Capitalism’s concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is anti-human and intolerable in the deepest sense" - Noam Chomsky
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is cooperating with it.” - MLK
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The superior man does what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable" – Confucius
Capitalism is incapable of being done right. The racism/disenfranchisement of members is built in. The wealth of the wealthy is derived from the disenfranchised of select members, by race and by economic status. This evil process is also augmented thru imperial conflict. Overall there is no happy capitalism.
"In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The corporation, like the psychopathic personality it resembles, is programmed to exploit others for profit." - Joel Bakan
"By leveraging their freedom from the bonds of location, corporations could now dictate the economic policy of governments." - Joel Bakan
"The corporation's legally defined mandate s to pursue, relentlessly and without exception, its own self interest, regardless of the often harmful consequences it might cause to others. As a result, I argue, the corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies." - Joel Bakan
"The notion that business and government are and should be partners is ubiquitous, unremarkable, and repeated like a mantra by leaders in both domains. It seems a compelling and innocuous idea - until you think about what it really means." - Joel Bakan
"A century and a half after its birth, the modern business corporation, an artificial person made in the image of a human psychopath, now is seeking to remake real people in its image." - Joel Bakan
“Man and fascism cannot co-exist. If fascism conquers, man will cease to exist and there will remain only man-like creatures that have undergone an internal transformation. But if man, man who is endowed with reason and kindness, should conquer, then Fascism must perish, and those who have submitted to it will once again become people.” ― Vasily Grossman (Life and Fate)
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The superior man does what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable" – Confucius "
Unfortunately though, Ralph doesn’t seem to understand that without a literal revolution, we are powerless to change anything at all.
But I certainly admire your dogged determination and all the good that you’ve done though.
As a poor person, I have finally SEEN that I have zero agency in this society.
Ferdy is correct. Any revolution will likely be a right-wing one given the current circumstances. Just look at the election results in Argentina today where a hard monetarist easily won the election. It is simply appalling, but the US and the rest of the west fall for monetarist narratives all the time as well so we’re no better.
As I wrote in my reply to Joanie Connors, the type of revolution we need is an intellectual one. We must understand what type of policies are best for the country and then demand that from our politicians in the same way that corporate interests make specific demands of politicians. Unlike right-wing demands, the demands must be logical and based on empiricism. As I said to Joanie, progressives are far too quick to just bury their heads in the sand when it comes to matters such as economics and the resulting impact on health, education, foreign, and environmental policy. The revolution we need is to take these matters seriously.
A an actual revolution is too sophisticated for this society. There's too much self interest, would be in chaos within weeks.
We have 25,000 Homeless in WA, 580,000 in the US (2 years ago). We’ve completely lost control of our corporate, multi-war mongering, Congress. We’re approaching a presidential election running two candidates that are hopelessly corrupt and deeply, mentally, damaged. Also our SCOTUS is thoroughly corrupted and politicized. We’ve handed the Climate Crisis over to the Fossil Fuel Corporations. And we’ve entered a new iteration of McCarthyism, attacking any resistance to establishment dictates (i.e. Palestinians don’t deserve to live?!). Let me know when we’ve crossed the line into chaos...
There's fair a difference between malfunctioning government and actual chaos. Despite the utter malfunction within the system basic principles of law are still in force; just perverted according to ideology. The vacuum after a revolution is quite different, especially one where there is no unity for outcomes. On the one hand you have those who'd probably like to tackle homelessness using sensible economics, on the other you have people who think like Milei in Argentina and would say 'pull up your socks or die'. And in a power vacuum who would stop them?
The concept of the basic principle of law, as active, is dependent on the degree of fulfillment of that principle. It’s a classic liberal approach to rationalize societal failure as an appropriate limitation of the system. It’s called incremental change. To the homeless, the hungry, the victim of violence, or those trapped in pointless, underpaid, jobs, they are suffering. The precursor to societal chaos is most often suffering. Followed by authoritarianism, as in the US, Argentina, etc.
What I am saying is in no way a denial of current suffering. I suffer too. I am saying that crashing the entire system may well bring more and worse suffering. If you think the current crop of crazies with access to power are bad now, the people waiting on the sidelines to step in when the rule of law falls entirely are far worse. In the U.S. there's not even agreement on who the bad people are! What do people want to revolt about? Because as far as I can see it sure isn't for the economics for alleviating the neo-liberalism that is bringing about this suffering. The worst type of revolution is one with no plan (or many contradictory plans floating about) and no real clear goal.
The current system is bringing about worse suffering, inevitably. There is a feedback loop effect taking place. The accumulation of capital at the top is undermining, perhaps terminally, what were once somewhat democratic institutions. None of this is a surprise. Capitalism empowers capital (at the expense of humanity). The best thing about capitalism is its inability to save itself. FDR tried and failed. The recent news that the upcoming COP meeting is being run by a Saudi oil exec. Who wants to use it to organize international oil infrastructure. The exact opposite of what it is intended to do. This is corruption enabling chaos. The public may not see the chaotic effect immediately, but…
I agree with your sentiments but disagree with your conclusions. The people do have agency and power and the Establishment does not have good control.
I wish I had your hope
I certainly appreciate the views offered here in contrast to those of CNN, and MSNBC for instance. Ambassador Freeman especially seems reasonable, and wise. The Capital Hill Citizen newspaper is excellent, too IMO.
I’m glad that Public Citizen has made this book freely downloadable. I have downloaded it and I have already started to read it. There’s a lot I agree with in the book and in the interview with Mr. Weissman. We don’t need to spend much time discussing where we agree since that won’t get us very far. Thus, don’t be offended that I’ll spend the rest of this post discussing where I disagree with the narrative.
Public Citizen. Public *Citizen*. Citizen is in the name! So, with that, why is ‘taxpayer’ used as a synonym for citizen?
From the interview and what I’ve read so far, it seems Mr. Weissman is entering the circle of failure which leads to increasing corporatism/neoliberalism: 1. The public needs increased tax revenue to fund social programs and regulation. → 2. The most wealthy then are biggest agent towards progressiveness since their tax revenue can fund the government if only their tax rate increases and they are made to pay their taxes. → 3. Since the wealthy are the biggest agents towards progressiveness, they are afforded more power in the political process. They’re job creators after all! → 4. Corporate interests have even increased power in the political process which leads to outcomes from lobbying such as privatization, deregulation, and tax cuts. Something must be done! → Repeat stages 1-4 in an infinite loop of doom.
Of course, all of this assumes that tax returns (revenue in less correct terms) fund the US federal government, but that is a false assumption. Any assumption that tax returns funds government is failed logic.
The correct way to free the citizens from the bondage of corporatism caused by the aforementioned cycle is to focus on the citizens and not the taxpayers. The federal government (though not state and local governments) is not restricted in their ability to fund appropriations. Funding for this does not come from tax returns, but taxation is still vitally important for a number of reasons. As Bill Mitchell recently eloquently pointed out in his criticism of the Patriotic Millionaires ( https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=61142 ), the wealthy are not in a more powerful position since their wealth and business success does not fund government. Rather, one of the major benefits of taxation is to limit the ability of the wealthy to spend on influencing the political process. This supports pro-citizen policy instead of Public Citizen’s cockamamie ‘Public Taxpayer’ messaging.
The citizenry may agree on several things such as the need for healthcare reform, but we’re not going to get anywhere if the public is convinced that the country will ‘go broke’ trying to fund comprehensive reform. Even a cursory view of Republican and Democratic Party-leaning political forums will show this is the common narrative, but it is a false narrative reinforced by Public Taxpayer’s messaging. As Michael Hudson pointed out on the RNRH several months ago, the real cost to the citizens is the cost of corporatism/neoliberalism. The cost of medical debt, the cost of insurance which is unusable due to high deductibles, the cost of insurance which does not cover important procedures, the cost of in-network/out-of-network facilities, and so forth. This causes citizens to ‘go broke’ and be broken. The cost of fixing these problems for good through the federal government will not cause the government to ‘go broke’ and that doesn’t require the super-rich to save the citizens.
Exactly. It's really about time 'progressive politics' woke up to how far it has swallowed the monetarist line since the late 1970s. As you say, by reiterating the false economic argument monetarists/neoliberals have put in place it simply helps their cause every time. As long as the orthodox line is that government is 'funded by tax' (and the laughable incoherence of 'borrowing' - their own currency no less) it easily sets up the fake debate of people having "their money" stolen or misused. And the offshoot falsehoods of 'affordability' when it comes to funding the public purpose. Note well that I say 'funding', and not 'realising', since the funding part is but a simple mechanism to which government always has access. It needs to be drummed into everyone's heads that the government's ability to fund and taxation are not opposite ends of a simple see-saw. The rich need to pay - and stop evading - taxes to stop blocking up fiscal space, not to provide 'funding'. If a person engaged in trying to reform public spending refuses to acknowledge these facts they are frankly fighting a losing battle and render the entire thing impotent
Is the fellow in a Rip Van WInkle time lock?
Ambassador Chas Freeman
It (the bombing of Gaza) is a gross violation of any standard of human rights. And the fact that we support it is discrediting us. We started out claiming that the eyes of the world were upon us, and we should shine like a city on the hill. I think much of the world looks at us now and they see dead babies in rubble, not a shining city on the hill.
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Heartless, too this overripe "ambassador" --" I think one of the great pieces of collateral damage from this (Israeli/Gaza conflict) is the United Nations Charter, international law, and the credibility of these institutions at the UN. But more particularly, I think the next time Americans lecture foreigners about human rights, they're not going to laugh at us—they're going to sneer. Because this is such a tremendous demonstration of hypocrisy on our part."
+--+
Get real people on your show, once in a while.
Britain Rises for Gaza: Lowkey Exposes Israel's Waning Grip on Politics
Yes, he is Lowkey, and he is a journalist and researcher and Arab, and he is, alas, way ahead of the curve on what is happening with UK-USA-Israel.
https://youtu.be/b7vrenLbJ94?si=U_XLL0MqkiPtwmvL
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Do these East Coast "international" AmeriKKKans get out of the curated Poison Ivy League house?
The worst thing murdering 50K or more Palestinians, just this time around, is what? UN Charter?
Man oh man: A short list, but looks at the killings that occurred after UN Charter!!!
https://davidswanson.org/warlist/
People outside the Beltway and the Professional Managerial and NGO and Diplomatic Class remember, man.
How about Abby Martin, then? Get her on. Working class Roger Waters, then?
Roger Waters & Abby Martin on Gaza Genocide = https://youtu.be/ScNHE78Lye0?si=uww8rcWy8anFYWtM
A list of wars (italic) and of military combat that for some reason isn’t called a war (non-italic) that does not attempt to include every war and combat against Native Americans:
1774-1883 Shawnee, Delaware
1776 Cherokee
1777-1781 Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee)
1780-1794 Chickamauga
1790-1795 Miami Confederacy
1792-1793 Muskogee (Creek)
1798-1801 France
1801-1805 Tripoli
1806 Mexico
1806-1810 Spanish, French privateers
1810 Spanish West Florida
1810-1813 Shawnee Confederacy
1812 Spanish Florida
1812-1815 Canada (Great Britain)
1812-1815 Dakota Sioux
1812-1815 Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee)
1813 Spanish West Florida
1813-1814 Marquesas Islands
1813-1814 Muskogee (Creek) Confederacy
1814 Spanish Florida
1814-1825 Pirates
1815 Algiers
1815 Tripoli
1816 Spanish Florida
1817 Spanish Florida
1817-1819 Seminole
1818 Oregon (Russia, Spain)
1820-1861 African Slave Trade Patrol
1822-1825 Cuba (Spain
1824 Puerto Rico (Spain)
1827 Greece
1831-1832 Falkland Islands
1832 Sauk
1832 Sumatra
1833 Argentina
1835-1836 Peru
1835-1842 Seminole
1836 Mexico
1836-1837 Muskogee (Creek)
1838-1839 Sumatra
1840 Fiji Islands
1841 Samoa
1841 Tabiteuea
1842 Mexico
1843 China
1844 Mexico
1846-1848 Mexico
1847-1850 Cayuse
1849 Turkey
1850-1886 Apache
1851 Johanna Island
1851 Turkey
1852-1853 Argentina
1853-1854 Japan
1853-1854 Nicaragua
1853-1854 Ryukyu, Ogasawara islands
1854-1856 China
1855 Fiji Islands
1855 Uruguay
1855-1856 Rogue River Indigenous Peoples
1855-1856 Yakima, Walla Walla, Cayuse
1855-1858 Seminole
1856 Panama (Colombia)
1856-1857 Cheyenne
1857 Nicaragua
1858 Coeur d’Alene Alliance
1858 Fiji Islands
1858 Uruguay
1858-1859 Turkey
1859 China
1859 Mexico
1859 Paraguay
1860 Angola
1860 Colombia
1862 Sioux
1863-1864 Japan
1864 Cheyenne
1865 Panama (Colombia)
1866 China
1866 Mexico
1866-1868 Lakota Siouw, Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho
1867 Formosa (Taiwan)
1867 Nicaragua
1867-1875 Comanche
1868 Colombia
1868 Japan
1868 Uruguay
1870 Hawaii
1871 Korea
1872-1873 Modoc
1873 Colombia (Panama)
1873-1896 Mexico
1874 Hawaii
1874-1875 Comanche, Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa
1876-1877 Sioux
1877 Nez Perce
1878 Bannock (Banna’kwut)
1878-1879 Cheyenne
1879-1880 Utes
1882 Egypt
1885 Panama (Colombia)
1888 Haiti
1888 Korea
1888-1889 Samoa
1889 Hawaii
1890 Argentina
1890 Lakota Sioux
1891 Bering Straight
1891 Chile
1891 Haiti
1893 Hawaii
1894 Brazil
1894 Nicaragua
1894-1895 China
1894-1896 Korea
1895 Panama (Colombia)
1896 Nicaragua
1898 Cuba (Spain)
1898 Nicaragua
1898 Philippines (Spain)
1898 Puerto Rico (Spain)
1898-1899 China
1899 Nicaragua
1899 Samoa
1899-1913 Philippines
1900 China
1901-1902 Colombia
1903 Dominican Republic
1903 Honduras
1903 Syria
1903-1904 Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1903-1914 Panama
1904 Dominican Republic
1904 Tangier
1904-1905 Korea
1906-1909 Cuba
1907 Honduras
1909-1910 Nicaragua
1911-1912 Honduras
1911-1914 China
1912 Cuba
1912 Turkey
1912-1933 Nicaragua
1914 Dominican Republic
1914 Haiti
1914-1919 Mexico
1915-1934 Haiti
1916-1924 Dominican Republic
1917-1918 World War I (Europe)
1917-1922 Cuba
1918-1920 Russia
1918-1921 Panama
1919 Dalmatia
1919 Turkey
1919-1920 Honduras
1925 Panama
1932 El Salvador
1941-1945 World War II (Europe, North Africa, Asia/Pacific)
1946 Trieste
1947-1949 Greece
1948-1949 Berlin, Germany
1950 Formosa (Taiwan)
1950-1953 Korea
1953-1954 Formosa (Taiwan)
1955-1975 Vietnam
1956 Egypt
1958 Lebanon
1962 Cuba
1962 Thailand
1962-1975 Laos
1964 Congo (Zaire)
1965 Dominican Republic
1965-1973 Cambodia
1967 Congo (Zaire)
1976 Korea
1978 Congo (Zaire)
1980 Iran
1981 El Salvador
1981 Libya
1981-1989 Nicaragua
1982-1983 Egypt
1982-1983 Lebanon
1983 Chad
1983 Grenada
1986 Bolivia
1986 Libya
1987-1988 Iran
1988 Panama
1989 Bolivia
1989 Colombia
1989 Libya
1989 Peru
1989 Philippines
1989-1990 Panama
1990 Saudi Arabia
1991 Congo (Zaire)
1991-1992 Kuwait
1991-1993 Iraq
1992-1994 Somalia
1993-1994 Macedonia
1993-1996 Haiti
1993-2005 Bosnia
1995 Serbia
1996 Liberia
1996 Rwanda
1997-2003 Iraq
1998 Afghanistan
1998 Sudan
1999-2000 Kosovo
1999-2000 Montenegro
1999-2000 Serbia
2000 Yemen
2000-2002 East Timor
2000-2016 Colombia
2001 – Afghanistan
2001- Pakistan
2001- Somalia
2002-2015 Philippines
2002- Yemen
2003-2011 Iraq
2004 Haiti
c2004- Kenya
2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo
2011-2017 Uganda
2011- Libya
c2012- Central African Republic
c2012- Mali
c2013-2016 South Sudan
c2013- Burkina Faso
c2013- Chad
c2013- Mauritania
c2013- Niger
c2013- Nigeria
2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo
2014- Iraq
2014- Syria
2015 Democratic Republic of the Congo
c2015- Cameroon
2016 Democratic Republic of the Congo
2017- Saudi Arabia
c2017 Tunisia
2019- Philippines
Sounds like you should get your own show.
I did have my own radio show, Tipping Points: Voices from the Edge. But, really, how many and how many and how many shows shall we have, podcasted to death?
https://soundcloud.com/paulhaeder/podcasttippingptsdavidsuzuki041509
https://soundcloud.com/paulhaeder/shah-haeder-11-20
https://paulhaeder.com/podcast/podcast-2/
And then, well, the world still goes round and round, and alas, we are here: The uniparty, sort of, controlled by the Shekel Party, millionaires and billionaires. And, alas, any criticism of Soros or Peter Theil or Wadi Valley or even calling Hollywood Little Tel Aviv, all part of the Nuclear Hasbara.
I've worked on Nader's campaigns in El Paso and then Spokane. But as a communist, I certainly do not fit in there, now, do I?
As the Fiddler on the Roof fiddles while Gaza (and other parts of the Middle East, soon) burn.
Of course, supporting Israel's right to Nakba One and Nakba Two means you are a Zionist. If you are Jewish, then you are a Jewish ZIonist. Israel is a Jewish state. But calling fellow Jews out on their support for Israel means I'm a antisemite of the terrible kind.
Oh, those polls:
In early November, the American Institute ‘Jewish Electorate’ conducted measurements of public sentiment in the diaspora and came to two main conclusions.
1) An overwhelming majority (74%) of American Jews approve of President Biden's handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
2) In the presidential race, American Jews clearly prefer Biden (68%) over Trump (22%).
Interestingly, in the entire Jewish community there is only one group that likes Trump: Orthodox Jews.
Edit: add, "Since its inception",
Thanks for the list. I always just write that the imperialist U.S. is the most egregious terrorist state to ever exist.
The comment that the last presidential election was fair is often stated but never true. The choice was between two extremely broken and corrupt men. The Democrats stabbed Bernie Sanders and his Progressive followers in the back. That was not a legitimate primary. Hence Biden was NOT a legitimate candidate. In other words: IT WAS NOT A FAIR ELECTION!
Are we smart enough to take our nation back?
Interesting question, Joanie. Instead of answering the question if we are smart enough, I will say that I do not believe we, collectively, have put in enough effort to become informed enough to make a meaningful difference. As progressives, especially if we listen to the RNRH, we are pretty well informed of the problems caused by neoliberally-corporately inclined governments. Unfortunately, there is little effort put into answering the questions about what policies we should seek to achieve meaningful change.
My fellow progressives tend to bury their heads in the sand as if they are ostriches when it comes to economic theory and developing sound policy from informed economic policy. Progressives admit defeat on the economic front without even trying. There is no reason for this, but it happens all the time. This is the first thing which must change because we need to know what policies to demand of our politicians. Just telling politicians to ‘fix it’ isn’t going to work. There needs to be specific demands.
Furthermore, most of us progressives correctly want, say, health care reform, but how many progressives have put in the effort to study the various health care systems in the west to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses? People say they want something like what Canada or the UK has, but Canada and the UK have very different systems. Western Europe has rather disparate health care polices ranging from extremely privatized, such as the Netherlands, to extremely social such as the UK. It is not difficult to study these systems as they’ve existed for decades and they’re constantly in the global news due to attempts to privatize/further privatize these systems.
There is plenty of information out there, but why are we not having these discussions so we can make specific demands of what we want?
Corporate causes give politicians specific demands. Yes, corporate causes also give money to politicians in order to be heard, but politicians still need votes to get into power so the people still have plenty of power. Our power goes to waste because we do not seek intellectual progressiveness.
Corporate causes give politicians specific demands. Correct.
But corporate causes do not give money to politicians to be heard, they give money as an incentive and a consequence to the politician's actions- if the politicians don't do what they are told to do then the politicians do not get more money to get re-elected and the money will go to a politicians that will do what they are told to do.
You are correct that the reason that dynamic is effective is that citizens keep voting for the big money candidates.
So let's make a specific demand that politicians do not take big money and provide an incentive and consequence if the politicians do not do what we want by withholding our votes by voting for small donor candidates or using a write in vote when there are no small donor candidates on the primary and general election ballots.
You can't spell revolution without evolution and citizens need to evolve beyond giving our votes to candidates that tell us they are on our side while at the same time taking big money which tells us they are not on our side because they will be working for the big money interests.
While the solutions proposed by Robert Weissman may be good ideas, none will be accomplished until the important part of his first solution is accomplished.
His first solution was actually two separate solutions. Citizens United did not start the problem with big money controlling politics and it will not end it even if a constitutional amendment is passed and ratified in the next twenty or so years.
And we can't wait twenty years for an ineffective solution.
But we can demand small donor candidates for Congress in 2024 and enforce that demand with our votes in the primary and general elections. If there are no small donor candidates on the ballot citizens can use a write in vote to register a vote against the big money candidates and to create and demonstrate demand for small donor candidates in 2026.
Just 10% of the vote nationally in 2024 could inspire more citizens to participate in 2026 and could inspire candidates to run in 2026 as small donor candidates. This could be built on in 2028 making significant progress by 2028 as more citizens and candidates participate.
Much faster and more effective than any legislation promised but never delivered by the big money legislators because they work the the big money interests that have no interest in getting the big money out of politics.
All the letters, town halls and protest rallies will not persuade the big money legislators to go against the big money interests if we keep voting for them when they take big money.
We must take the protest into the voting booth if we want accomplish anything.
"Parasitic Capitalism and its Parasitic Capitalists, in time - literally Kill and Destroy ALL they touch and infest, for the Lust and Greed of the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few" and their Evil “Vile Maxim!" ...
Parasitic Capitalism and its arrogance, corruption, abuse and insatiable evil greed is a disease, an addiction.
Parasitic Capitalism and the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few" are the Real Evil Plague of and upon Nature, Wildlife, the Planet, "the People" (Humanity Globally) and All (biological) Life and (*both) Must be (completely) Abolished." - (aka) “PolarBear”
*Parasitic Capitalism and the Authoritarian Parasitic Capitalist Fascist POS "Few"
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is cooperating with it.” - MLK
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"Social murder is a term coined by Friedrich Engels in 1845 in one of his seminal works, 'The Conditions of the Working Class in England'.
“When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another such that death results, we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live – forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence – knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is, because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it remains.” Engels used the term social murder to describe how living and working conditions of English workers caused their premature death. Engels argued that since those responsible for these conditions – the ruling class or the bourgeoisie – were aware of the conditions that caused premature death, they were therefore committing social murder."
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles." - Eugene V. Debs
"Capitalism’s concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is anti-human and intolerable in the deepest sense" - Noam Chomsky
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"In the moral calculus of currently prevailing state capitalism, profits and bonuses in the next quarter greatly outweigh concern for the welfare of one’s grandchildren, and since these are institutional maladies, they will not be easy to overcome. While much remains uncertain, we can assure ourselves, with fair confidence, that future generations will not forgive us our silence and apathy." - Noam Chomsky
"A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized." - Noam Chomsky
"Under capitalism, we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control." - Noam Chomsky
"Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are, in principle, under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist, that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level. [...] Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I am opposed to economic fascism. I think that until the major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy." - Noam Chomsky
"Capitalism’s concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is anti-human and intolerable in the deepest sense" - Noam Chomsky
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is cooperating with it.” - MLK
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The superior man does what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable" – Confucius
I tried to order copies but there is no option to add second address for delivery....finally gave up.
Order copies of Ralph's book or Rob's book?
Capitalism is incapable of being done right. The racism/disenfranchisement of members is built in. The wealth of the wealthy is derived from the disenfranchised of select members, by race and by economic status. This evil process is also augmented thru imperial conflict. Overall there is no happy capitalism.
"In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The corporation, like the psychopathic personality it resembles, is programmed to exploit others for profit." - Joel Bakan
"By leveraging their freedom from the bonds of location, corporations could now dictate the economic policy of governments." - Joel Bakan
"The corporation's legally defined mandate s to pursue, relentlessly and without exception, its own self interest, regardless of the often harmful consequences it might cause to others. As a result, I argue, the corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies." - Joel Bakan
"The notion that business and government are and should be partners is ubiquitous, unremarkable, and repeated like a mantra by leaders in both domains. It seems a compelling and innocuous idea - until you think about what it really means." - Joel Bakan
"A century and a half after its birth, the modern business corporation, an artificial person made in the image of a human psychopath, now is seeking to remake real people in its image." - Joel Bakan
“Man and fascism cannot co-exist. If fascism conquers, man will cease to exist and there will remain only man-like creatures that have undergone an internal transformation. But if man, man who is endowed with reason and kindness, should conquer, then Fascism must perish, and those who have submitted to it will once again become people.” ― Vasily Grossman (Life and Fate)
“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” - Mahatma Gandhi
In the (True) words of Malcolm X: "Show me a Capitalist and I'll show you a Bloodsucker."
"The superior man does what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable" – Confucius "