Two kinds of One Percent

Piketty's book "Capital" talks about not one, but two kinds of inequality. One; wealth inequality and two; income inequality. He demonstrates through his pages that of the two wealth inequality is the more pernicious. Wealth inequality begins with income inequality, or simple colonization, but then rapidly becomes inherited wealth. Income inequality represents the power of status and position, capital and market power to favor some professions and capital control over other trades or simple labor.

Our Corrupt Supreme Court of the USA (SCOTUS) overturns a bribery conviction

Our incredibly corrupt Supreme Court (SCOTUS) announced they are going to hear the case of the even more corrupt former Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, and his appeal of his conviction on bribery. The courts continue to affirm that the private separate advantage (tyranny) of money and power to buy private separate access and undue influence are:

"protected free speech."

How the Democratic Party was Bamboozled

Third Way and The New Orleans Declaration from Al From

Al From Takes credit for the birth of the "Third Way", which was a movement of Democrats exemplified by Bill Clinton that aimed at stealing thunder from the Right Wing while preserving the Democrats and allowing them to make a comeback against the Reagan revolution. The Democratic party had been in a hole for years, losing elections, losing "market share", legislators and local government, and worst of all for the insiders - losing patronage from big business and wealthy donors. Third way allowed politicians to continue to claim to champion populist and new deal policies while getting access to all that money.

Neoliberalism versus Economic Policy that Really works

We are seeing that some really horrible ideas are having predictable effects on economies around the world. They are horrible, they are counter-productive and they hurt people. Yet they are Zombie economic ideas that won't die. Why?

The reason that this happens is that people who have an agenda invent narratives to support that agenda. If it is convenient enough and it's not challenged those narratives become myths, and myths can be very, very bad and very persistent. Especially when those myths justify hierarchy and bullying. See [http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-myths-are-bad.html]

In Bill Moyer's Article The Libertarian Delusion he talks about these horrible consequences of neoliberalism. But first let's define what "neo-liberalism" is. A Website called "Corporate Watch" lists some 6 main points about Neoliberalism and what their core tenets are:

1. The Rule of the Market
2. Attacking Public Expenditure for Social Services
3. Deregulation allowing all sorts of rent seeking and abuses
4. Privatization shifting public capital (wealth) to private hands (privateering)

And at the core of all this:

5. Eliminating the very concept of "the public good" or "community" and replacing it with "individual responsibility." Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves -- then blaming them, if they fail, as "lazy."

Or as I've observed, these pirates eliminate the notion of "public good" or "commonwealth" and replace it with a buccaneering spirit; Pirates

For more on this read: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376

Happy New Year!

I'm kinda happy to see 2015 go. I was actually fine with 2015 til just before Thanksgiving when I fell and broke my leg. Because of my broken leg I'll be glad when this year is over. Meanwhile I'm chilling on Herb Alpert music and hanging with my cat.

 

¡Feliz año nuevo!

And may the year be full of love and productive things.

You need to Eat Beans Boy

I don't remember the job market ever being easy. Once when I was still in college I found a job as a temporary. Went into a warehouse and was assigned to unload a train car. At first they'd have me moving boxes while everyone worked hard. Then the other guys handed me the one hand-truck, sat down and started shooting the breeze, while I continued removing boxes and stacking them inside. At about 5 minutes to 10 they took the hand-truck from me and told me to sit down and take a break. No sooner than I sat down the supervisor came through. He was as regular as clockwork, and this repeated itself all day. At the end of the day I asked if they needed anybody the next day and he said "heck no, you need to eat beans boy." That experience taught me to be careful with "friends" as well as enemies. I think that is as close as I ever came to a Union job.

Four Freedoms and Six Basic Rights -- The Second Bill of Rights

FDR's Four Freedoms

Late in his life, Roosevelt articulated 4 Basic Freedoms that everyone ought to have. These are:

1. Freedom of speech
2. Freedom of worship
3. Freedom from want
4. Freedom from fear