Make that call to your elected representative – Make some noise.

Here's what's on my mind. Many of us care deeply about social and political issues, and it does feel good to clarify each other's thoughts here on FB, but it doesn't change politicians views. I've ranted about U.S. warmongering online for almost a decade, and it hasn't changed America's obsession with war as the first tool of choice for attempting to "fix" social conflict. Last week, I got a robocall from a voice that told me that Obamacare is going to destroy the United States. I don't believe that. I also believe that Obamacare is full of flaws (I think the U.S. should guarantee ALL citizens a reasonable minimum level of health care doing an end-around private insurers, based on what is sustainable in terms of the overall budget--I would much rather prefer Medicare for all to Obamacare). This robocall said to "Hit 1, to be transferred to Senator Blunt." I hit 1. A man from Roy Blunt's office answered the call and proceeded to horribly misrepresent several aspects of Obamacare. He proceed to tell me that his poll of choice showed that people from Missouri are heavily against the things offered by Obamacare. I told him that I didn't trust the methodology and that I know 1,000 people who are not against the things offered by Obamacare. He tried to get off the phone. I challenged him to stay on the phone. I asked him whether there weren't SOME decent aspects of Obamacare, such as eliminating exclusions for pre-existing conditions. He hemmed and hawed. He told me that costs will go up under Obamacare. I responded, "Costs for health insurance rose throughout the 8 years of George W. Bush. They go up regardless of who is the President." I kept this twerp on the phone for 5 painful minutes (painful for both of us), and challenged Senator Blunt to do SOMETHING so that in a nation that has more resources than most, we don't have people dying for lack of medical treatment. He actually seemed to be agreeing with me a bit at the end. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingMake that call to your elected representative – Make some noise.

Noam Chomsky describes anarchism

Noam Chomsky defines anarchism:

Well, anarchism is, in my view, basically a kind of tendency in human thought which shows up in different forms in different circumstances, and has some leading characteristics. Primarily it is a tendency that is suspicious and skeptical of domination, authority, and hierarchy. It seeks structures of hierarchy and domination in human life over the whole range, extending from, say, patriarchal families to, say, imperial systems, and it asks whether those systems are justified. It assumes that the burden of proof for anyone in a position of power and authority lies on them. Their authority is not self-justifying. They have to give a reason for it, a justification. And if they can’t justify that authority and power and control, which is the usual case, then the authority ought to be dismantled and replaced by something more free and just. And, as I understand it, anarchy is just that tendency . . . Anarchism is quite different from that. It calls for an elimination to tyranny, all kinds of tyranny. Including the kind of tyranny that’s internal to private power concentrations. So why should we prefer it? Well I think because freedom is better than subordination.
[Emphasis added] Chomsky compares anarchism to libertarianism:

[W]hat’s called libertarian in the United States, which is a special U. S. phenomenon, it doesn’t really exist anywhere else — a little bit in England — permits a very high level of authority and domination but in the hands of private power: so private power should be unleashed to do whatever it likes. The assumption is that by some kind of magic, concentrated private power will lead to a more free and just society. Actually that has been believed in the past. Adam Smith for example, one of his main arguments for markets was the claim that under conditions of perfect liberty, markets would lead to perfect equality. Well, we don’t have to talk about that! That kind . . . of libertarianism, in my view, in the current world, is just a call for some of the worst kinds of tyranny, namely unaccountable private tyranny.

Continue ReadingNoam Chomsky describes anarchism

Bernie Sanders sums up what we can learn from Denmark

At Reader Supported News, Bernie Sanders notes that Denmark and the United States are very different countries, but insists that there are lessons the U.S. can learn from Denmark:

While it is difficult to become very rich in Denmark no one is allowed to be poor. Health care in Denmark is universal, free of charge and high quality. . . . They spend about 11 percent of their GDP on health care. We spend almost 18 percent. Danes understand that the first few years of a person's life are the most important in terms of intellectual and emotional development. . . [M]others get four weeks of paid leave before giving birth. They get another 14 weeks afterward. . . . [B]oth parents have the right to 32 more weeks of leave during the first nine years of a child's life. The state covers three-quarters of the cost of child care, more for lower-income workers. [V]irtually all higher education in Denmark is free. In Denmark, adequate leisure and family time are considered an important part of having a good life. Every worker in Denmark is entitled to five weeks of paid vacation plus 11 paid holidays. The United States is the only major country that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation time. The result is that fewer than half of lower-paid hourly wage workers in our country receive any paid vacation days.

Continue ReadingBernie Sanders sums up what we can learn from Denmark

Facts and figures on American tax evasion

Shame on those many American tax evaders, those who we euphemistically say are "investing offshore." Here are some stunning facts and figures, from the Tax Justice Network:

The very existence of the global offshore industry, and the tax free status of the enormoussumsinvestedbytheirwealthyclients,ispredicatedonsecrecy:that is what this industry really “supplies” as it competes for, conceals, and manages private capital from all over the planet, from any and all sources, no questions asked. We are up against one of society's most well entrenched interest groups. After all, there’s no interest group more rich and powerful than the rich and powerful, who are the ultimate subjects of our research.

Continue ReadingFacts and figures on American tax evasion