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POPSThe Problem Is Capitalism, Not Just the Banks This article is based on the Deutscher Lecture which Rick Kuhn, Reader in Political Science at the ANU, will deliver in London on 7 November. Dr. Kuhn's book Henryk Grossman and the Recovery of Marxism won the 2007 Deutscher prize.
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POPSOn Stupidity Similar critiques in UK. It may be itself an example of populism - simplifying things overmuch - and certainly the full two articles require careful reading.
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POPSThe Success of Savage Capitalism is the Failure of our Society
Consider these three articles puzzling over the US Economy. The dollar is in free-fall but the GDP is growing. The credit bubble is bursting, but production is up. American companies are making money hand over fist but the wealth gap is staggering. So the question is: has the Regan/Bush agenda of Savage Anything-Goes Global Capitalism worked? Is America a better nation because of it? The answer is no. We are not developing our economy, we are just generating wealth for the top 1%. We aren't improving our country so much as optimizing it for de facto feudalism. Some one needs to give a real good answer as to why this surreal economic nightmare is a success story, or we need to finally admit that Savage Capitalism is motivated by nothing more than greed and wistful thinking. It's time to get real about our country and our economy. Unless we can save the middle class, then we will be nothing but a crude fiefdom of modern Robber Barons.
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POPSThe American Flag I agree, the flag's been hijacked and turned into a logo. This clip is to illustrate the silliness of the "flag-wavers", who yell anti-American or traitor, at anyone who has the conscience to oppose the unjust war in Iraq (or elsewhere) This is for those, who think that draping oneself in stars and stripes thoughtlessly and manically, is nothing more than a misguided political fashion statement of people desperately trying to 'prove' their equally misguided patriotism. Silly really, isn't it? .;)
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POPSTesla Motors sells out first 100 cars Innovation and capitalism are amazing forces in dealing with global dynamics. We've got sky high oil prices, instability in the region that oil comes from and a global warming threat that many attribute to our use of fossil fuels. So what do we do? We innovate....this is just the beginning!!
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POPSBurma, Chevron, slave labor, Rice and more The pipeline was built with slave labor, forced into servitude by the Burmese military. The original pipeline partner, Unocal, was sued by EarthRights International for the use of slave labor. As soon as the suit was settled out of court, Chevron bought Unocal. Chevron’s role in propping up the brutal regime in Burma is clear. Rice served on the Chevron board of directors for a decade. She even had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. While she served on the board, Chevron was sued for involvement in the killing of nonviolent protesters in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Like the Burmese, Nigerians suffer political repression and pollution where oil and gas are extracted and they live in dire poverty. The protests in Burma were actually triggered by a government-imposed increase in fuel prices.
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POPSLiving in the Age of Abundance Puts the marvel of modern American life in perspective. Review by George F. Will of Brink Lindsey's new book, The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture . Ever since mass affluence, a phenomenon without precedent in the human story, exploded upon postwar America, social and political theorists have wondered, and worried, about the moral and even the spiritual consequences of material conditions. Putting scarcity behind us has been pleasant, but has it been good for us — meaning good for our souls? (Also see How Rich are You? )
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POPSWho is the greediest? Communists or Capitalists? Although I do not believe that socialism and capitalism necessarily conflict, this article raises a very interesting point. To talk about a slightly different point, I think Communism definitely does make people more greedy and materialistic. Communism (and to be more specific, I refer specifically to Marxism, and large-country model Communism, namely Stalinism and Maoism) is much more complex than simply being the opposite of capitalism, thus it doesn't offer a true counterpoint to capitalism free of other complicating variables. But, even if its not perfect, it provides some valuable insight. From my experience studying the Chinese culture and the way it changed in the last 50 years, communism breeds nothing but greed, materialism and elitism. Most alarmingly it creates a sense of entitlement without the sense of responsibility. It is the freedom of capitalism that saves it. We should be very careful to ensure that our markets are in fact free. Otherwise we are no differen
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POPSBuilding an Anti-Economy "Collectively, I call these projects “Nowtopia.” Rarely do the individual participants conceive of them in political terms; day-to-day issues about how we live, what we do, how we define and meet our needs tend to be understood as outside politics. But all Nowtopian activities are profoundly political."
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POPSBoutique Hotel by the Great Wall "Modern-day China - its architecture, its quickened cultural pulse - is defined by such mixed messages, a sign that the country's ambition to create a unique capitalism "with Chinese characteristics" may be realised. One part bird's nest, to one part brave new world."
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POPSThe Riots Have Begun Across The World It always sends a chill down my spine when I read the words, the "New World Order". It used to be the stuff of conspiracy theorists, but here it is, casually mentioned in the MSM.
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POPSIncome-Inequality Gap Widens The gap between the affluent and the poor is growing larger every day in this country and all over the world. The despair that accompanies poverty is seen by many as the primary cause of many of the world's most serious problems. Terrorism, disease, war, political unrest, hunger, malnutrition, polluted water, racial intolerance, crime, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide all can be traced to poverty. Nothing will test the moral foundation of humanity more than how mankind addresses this issue and nothing will be more important to our physical and spiritual survival.
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POPSShouting At The Devil "Why in the hell do we stubbornly cling to a system that enables a fraction of a percent of the population to live in OBSCENE opulence while 35,000 of our fellow human beings die of starvation-related causes each day? Are the rest of us truly inane enough to believe that asinine myth that any of us has a REALISTIC chance of becoming the next Bill Gates, if we “just work hard enough.” Or that there is an ounce of moral virtue in pursuing the accumulation of excessive wealth?"
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POPSAs Adam Smith rolls in his grave... The WTO provides simply the latest example of how far we have drifted from the Capitalism of Adam Smith. Smith was a product of the enlightenment, and clearly envisioned capitalism as practiced by a society of enlightened humanists. The restraint that this would bring serves to vouchsafe the truly free market. When corporate collusion places profit margins ahead of the basic well-being of the people, then who could say this market is truly free? Are we not at their mercy? An economy controlled by corporate elites is no better than one controlled by the state. The Savage Capitalism of the WTO is different from communist or fascist economics in name and execution only. The resultant inequities in society are the same. Is this really the ideal to which we have committed so much blood and treasure?
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POPSA Third Way? Social democratic policies actually enhance individual rights by raising the standard of living of the great majority of the population, increasing social mobility, raising the power of workers and consumers in society. The unregulated market that fiscal conservatives advocate is incapable of addressing global poverty and inequality in an equitable way. Social democracy stabilises economic conditions by providing economic security to individuals and eliminating the threat of extreme poverty. By restricting some economic rights, social democracy makes the market more fair (for small businesses and consumers, for example). The argument that social democratic governments spend too much and run up deficits is undermined by the record of conservative administrations (e.g. in the United States and the United Kingdom) which have run up unprecedented deficits.
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POPSA Brief History of Economic Time The underlying expectation -- that the present is supposed to be better than the past -- is a new phenomenon in history. No 18th-century politician would have asked "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" because it never would have occurred to anyone that they ought to be better off than they were four years ago. (Also see Living in the Age of Abundance .)
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POPSSave Capitalism from the Capitalists...A Tale of Two Fine Roosevelts Do you think the champions of Capitalism will ever realize that in order for the system to work and survive, it needs some oversight? It cannot be allowed to "police" itself. Capitalism needs to work for all the people, not just those that will benifit at the expense of those that will be buried under their relentless and ruthless competition. It is not a good idea to allow the fox to guard the henhouse. The only think that people with the power and the money have in mind is the bottom line!
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POPSGreen Communism
Owning a car opens up possibilities to a person that is beyond their reach otherwise, it opens up a freedom that many millions do not currently enjoy. The ability to find work at further distances from their homes than ever gives them more choices to find lucrative employment opportunities, the ability to find markets and entertainments are also greatly expanded. All this greatly expands individual freedom. If many millions more of the people of India (and around the world) find themselves able to afford this new car, it will incredibly improve their standard of living. It will also force the government to redirect their own efforts to internal improvements to accommodate this rise in cars that will add even more to raising the standard of living in once poor countries. Green communists do not care about people and these two stories add to the ever growing proof that enviro-communists have gravitated to environmentalism as a replacement for an overt espousal of communist ideals.
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