Ralph talks to journalist Gareth Porter about why both liberals and conservatives should be afraid - be very afraid - of warhawk John Bolton’s appointment as Trump’s National Security Advisor. And author/activist Julie Wark joins us to talk about why she is “Against Charity.”
Ralph talks to journalist Gareth Porter about why both liberals and conservatives should be afraid – be very afraid – of warhawk John Bolton’s appointment as Trump’s National Security Advisor. And author/activist Julie Wark joins us to talk about why she is “Against Charity.”
Image by Tarek Milleron
Gareth Porter is an independent investigative journalist and historian specializing in US national-security policy. Mr. Porter received the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for journalism for his coverage of the US war in Afghanistan. His latest book is “Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.”
“I think this is the moment of greatest peril in terms of a very serious war being carried out by the United States, simply because of Bolton and Pompeo and Trump. That combination is something that we have not seen in the White House in any administration since World War II. And I think that should motivate people to take action in a way that nothing we have seen so far has.”
Gareth Porter: independent investigative journalist and historian specializing in US national-security policy
Julie Wark is an Australian/Spanish citizen and a resident of Barcelona for 27 years. She is a translator of novels, essays, short stories, poetry, and exhibition catalogues, a long-term human rights author/activist, and is on the editorial board of Sin Permiso, a Spanish language magazine of international politics. She is the co-author along Daniel Raventos of “Against Charity,” where they argue for an unconditional universal basic income above the poverty line and paid for by progressive taxation.
“He (Bill Gates) can nudge state and global funding into any area he wishes to prioritize. So for example at the World Health Organization, one staffer has said that hardly any major policy decisions are taken without being ‘vetted’ by Gates’ foundation staff… So, for example it’s much praised for its work on malaria in Ethiopia, but the quid pro quo of that is that Bill Gates hates public health. He says it’s a waste of time and a waste of money – public health services. So he comes in with his mosquito nets. People overlook the fact that these mosquito nets are drenched with insecticides, which have to be replenished every so often. And insecticides are another part of Bill Gates’ business, which I think can probably be taken back to Monsanto.”
Julie Wark, co-author of “Against Charity.”
John Bolton: The New Dr. Strangelove