A Logic Gap

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Somehow the members of the Tea Party have a hard time grasping the logical connection as illustrated in the above graphic. The US Government is controlled by the One Percent. Therefore, there is no difference between the two.  Actually, the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement should be on the same side. The Tea Party itself has become the vassal of corporate interests and the economic elite, being diverted from its original protest against the bailout of major banks. When they wake-up to the fact that they are supporting their oppressors, you will see all popular support will drain from supporting the puppets of the One Percent. This will further broaden the Occupy Movement transforming it from a minority to a majority movement.  Ultimately, We the People  must see that both parties have been corrupted by 'big money' and this is not a partisan struggle, but one of the majority confronting the tyranny of the economic elite. This is about defending American democracy and upholding the  values of the Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constitution.

 

Capitalism Hits the Fan (Video of Richard Wolff, Ph.D.)

Dr. Wolff  discusses the problems of the present global  political economy in a very straight forward manner.
These are not contrived or manipulated statistics, nor are the basic assumptions, which other economists, such as Reich, and Krugman agree. What is different is Wolffs proposal for the future which is basically the formation of worker-owned enterprises overtaking the present economic system. This is happening 'under the radar' with the diversion of money from corporate banks into credit unions, the increased proliferation of energy co-opts, the formation of state banks, and the slow increase in worker or employee owned small enterprises. This is the beginning of the New Economy, slowly eroding the control of the One Percent and pointing toward a new and better future for all citizens.


Capitalism, as we know it, is 'gasping for breath.' announcing the demise of a plutocracy dominated by  the One Percent.  Why do you think that the multinationals and the economic elite are pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of 'their owned party"--the Republican Party?  (Be also aware that their multinationals are loyal only to the U.S. as it serves their needs for increased profits, have no social concussions, and will without hesitation abandon any nation not serving their needs.) Why do you think they are using their media to convince the masses that the status quo is the best for them and spewing out some of the most egregious propaganda about the left, including the Occupy and Progressive Movement and stooping to mud-sling  moderate Republicans and Democrats.   They know that the end is near for their domination of politics and the economy.  They have no solutions.  Do you think that magically that by cutting the budget, eliminating departments, reducing regulations, keeping lower taxes for the wealthy and continual unrealistic defense funding that the economy will  suddenly  recover? Absolutely not.  You wonder who can believe in the Republicans' 'half-baked' economic proposals, which only serve the One Percent.  The systematic problems with the American political economy (and also the global economy) as outlined by Dr. Wolff in the video, are  deeply structural and beyond minor adjustments.  Unfortunately, the Middle Class followers of the Republicans have realized this yet. When they do, they will leave the Republican Party in mass and join the present Occupy and Progressive Movement.  The Republican Party will go the way of the Whigs and be an anachronism--which they are now. but the majority in their party have not realized this yet. The electorate of France and the Netherlands have already determined that austerity is not the solution. However, neither is going back to a stagnant economies burdened with crippling social programs. structures.

We are 'on the cusp' of a new political economy that will prosperity to all the citizens of the world,  and environmental and energy sustainability.  The solutions revolve around significant changes in democracy, the economic structure, global cooperation,  and adopting measures that will ensure sustainability, both for Europe, the U.S. and for developing nations.  These changes will not be without turmoil, conflict or further strain to national political and economic  The demise of the control of the One Percent is inevitable. But, in this struggle, the new reality and paradigm will slowly emerge.

Has soliciting for campaign funding in US politics become a barrier to democracy?

Everyday, I receive messages from various Progressive candidates and the Obama campaign urging me to give more so that they can equal the amount of money that is being spent by the Republicans. (Although I support the message of Progressive candidates, I find their frantic messages about funding distracting to their message.) The message is clear, although these candidates are blind to it, is that American politics is not about the issues, but about how much money one can spend to spread partisan propaganda. The underlying fault now in American democracy is that campaign funding has become a barrier to its even partial functioning. We have to eliminate or reduce campaign funding by corporations and wealthy individuals and return democracy back to the people. The real issue is not if this or that candidate is elected, but that the basic underpinnings of American democracy which are being threatened by the increasing influence of the One Percent. This spending frenzy is the direct result of the Citizen's United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This is above politics. The American electorate is deluded that contributing to one candidate or another will change anything. Real change will only happen when there is a bipartisan effort (demanded by the people) to change the operation of the political process through a Constitutional Amendment. Although radical, my proposal would be change the present system into a parliamentary one and have funding of elections though a blind fund where no individual or corporation will know who their money is being directed. (This was proposed by Robert Reich in his book, Supercaptialism.) However, the evolution of American politics and capitalism will not ocurr overnight, but unfortunately will be brought about by another crisis.

Capitalism is Dead!

Although somewhat dated, this is a very good video and good introduction to the text below. Notice that in this video that the commentator states that even the head of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2012 stated that 'capitalism is dead.'

Yes, capitalism is gasping for breath. We have been experiencing the death of capitalism for at least thirty years. It has not been apparent because it was masked by many factors. The world has changed and many are holding on to a paradigm that emerged in 16^th Century and persisted till the late 20^th Century. The evidences of a dying system are: income inequality, environmental degradation (i.e, global warming, depletion of the Amazon rain forest, over-fishing, genetic engineering and decrease of agricultural species), a dependence on non-renewal resources for economic growth sustenance, uneven regional economic development, domination of multinational corporation over national interests, and faltering economic growth (slow/stagnant in developing countries, erratic in developing countries.) 

In the ashes of a dying capitalism, a phoenix is rising to take its place. It is now nebulous, but slowly coalescing and has been for decades.  With the economic crisis of 2008 and the continuing stagnation, it  is evident that this is ‘the end of the line’ for capitalism. (It is not the end of the free market for the exchange of goods, services, ideas, technology and now, software.  This is alive and well, but has been manipulated for the benefit of the One Percent under the guise of protecting capitalism.)The solutions that have been applied and are being proposed by nation-states, supranational organizations and think tanks are merely ‘band-aids’ to a system that needs not just overhaul, but creative destruction.  The present form of capitalism will not slip quietly away, as those who have a stake in its present form will use any means to keep it alive so that can ‘pick off the remnants of the corpse.’ 

The clues for the formation of this new paradigm are being found in emerging movements such as the Occupy Movement, Progressive Movement in the U.S., the international Pirate Party, the democracy movement in the Middle East, Africa and South America, global environmental movement, and the growing dissent in China.  These coalitions are presenting not just alternatives, but the building blocks for the next paradigm, replacing those of Modernism/Post-Modernism, Industrial/Post-Industrial, Fordism/Post-Ford- ism, and Realism/Noe-Conservatism/Liberalism. While many from the traditional Left and Right would like to tag these movements within the context of Marxism/Socialism/Anarchism, it is not following or adopting the overall premises of these philosophies, to the dislike of both political spectrums who would like to either bring them under their umbrella (the Left) or discredit them (the Right.) 

The emerging paradigm is a hybrid of past political and economic philosophies being energized and transformed by globalism and technology.

What do we call this new paradigm?  The best so far has been to term the next form of economics ‘natural capitalism’ as outlined by Paul Hawkins, Amory Lovings and Hunter Lovings in their book, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.  (For further information, go to the books website at: http://www.natcap.org/ .)  However, this does not adequately encompass the developing paradigm.  There are hints of the formulation of this paradigm in works by Robert Reich (Beyond Outrage, After Shock, Supercapitalism—for more information go to : http://robertreich.org/), Richard Wolff (Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism, Occupying the Economy: Challenging  Capitalism, Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It and many others—for more information go to : http://rdwolff.com/ Paul Krugman (End this Depression Now!, The Conscience of a Liberal, and more—for more information go to: http://www.pkarchive.org/ .  Always controversial and interesting is Noam Chomsky, his new book, Occupy, concerns his views on the Movement and  can be order via the Zucottti Park Press at http://www.zuccottiparkpress.com/chomsky.html.  A new book, which I am just starting to read is a collection of articles concerning the Occupy Movement, The Occupy Handbook, offers diverse and interesting views from a wide variety of authors. It is available from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Occupy-Handbook-Janet-Byrne/dp/0316220213 ) or Barnes and Nobles (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-occupy-handbook-janet-byrne/1107957786 .) 

The above authors are not political pundits, such as Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and others speaking for the Tea Party and the new conservatives (notice the little ‘c’ as I don’t believe these guys are true Conservatives.) If you take a more than casual glace, among them are experienced energy experts, professors in Economics and Political Science, a renowned linguist  and social critic, and a Noble Peace prize winner.  These people are not flakes, wild-eyed kooks, but knowledgeable and sane individuals who have studied problems and present the framework for a new future.  

The Tea Party which is dominating the Republican Party are merely stooges for the One Percent. They betray the Conservatism that W.F. Buckley, Jr. single-handily created which was intellectual, fair, respectful of the opposition, and well-grounded in Conservative economic and political theory.  I think he would be appalled at the viciousness of the rhetoric of the Tea Party, the brazenness of the supporters of the Republican Party to pour money into campaigns to malign candidates, the uncompromising positions being held toward moral issues, their anti-intellectual nature and the overt and ‘not so’ covert adoption of the principles of Ayn Rand. In addition, the Tea Party has drawn to it those who believe in conspiracy theory, survivalists and perhaps Neo-Nazis. It is a motley bunch that true Conservatives are probably hesitant to be associated. 

The body of work that are being created by the aforementioned intellectuals are preparing the foundation of a new future. It is one of hope, prosperity, equality, justice, direct democracy, peace, protection of the environment, responsible energy use, and ultimately the creation of a sustainable world. The Republicans and their brand of conservatism represent a thinly veiled attempt to maintain the status quo mainly to keep the One Percent on top, controlling the world for their selfish ends and maintaining a capitalism that is corrupted and unsustainable.  This is a Hobbesian world through the philosophical eyes of Ayn Rand. Their agenda will surely fail because it translates into tyranny and many in the U.S. and the world now know exactly what is their aim.

Capitalism is dead and the future is here!

Both parties have their 'hands in the till'

There something very insidious occurring in campaign funding.  Both parties are claiming they have ‘grassroots’ funding support, but the problem is that both Democrats and Republicans have their ‘hands in the till’; Republicans apparently more than Democrats, but this is debatable.  While Republicans are obviously under the influence of the One Percent, the Democrats are not much better. Many of the same corporations fund both parties with intent that they will be granted political favors. (The notion that they are doing out of good will for the American political process is Pollyannish.)  Although according to the latest data, corporations (particularly energy-oriented ones) are leaning more toward the Republican Party than the Democrats. (By the way, you can tell I am not a member of the Tea Party, as I am interested in data and facts.)  The data for campaign contributions by corporations can be found at: http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.php .  There is little doubt who is determining the agenda for the Republicans.

However, this lack of overt funding of most Democrats does not mean that they are not influenced by corporations, particularly those involved in the military-industrial complex.  The problem for the lack of direction in the Democratic Party is the adherence to Neo-New Deal philosophy which is assoiciated with minorities, unions, the poor, the Middle Class (this is a new constituency which is being courted away from the Republicans.)

 The Young Turks of the Democratic Party,those  being associated with the Progressive Movement, represent the ‘new’ Democratic Party.  They number among their ranks in Congress those such as Bernie Sanders, Al Franken and Allan Grayson, who appear to be the most vocal.  (Nancy Pelosi claims to be a Progressive Democrat, but I would more classify her as an opportunistic, former Blue Dog Democrat who has no idea of what is it like ‘outside the Beltway.’) There are those on the outside such as Elizabeth Warren (hopefully to be elected to the US Congress) and Russ Feingold (former Senator from Wisconsin—the birthplace of the Progressive Movement—and founder of Progressives United.) who also could be considered as part of the Young Turks of the Democratic Party.  These represent women and men of conviction, honesty, ethics, intelligence who know that the U.S. needs major reform.  

 Contrast these individuals with many in the Republican Party who are bitter, sexist, elitist, and dogmatic.  And, you wonder when the US electorate will have their ‘I could have had a V-8’ moment.’  Hopefully, it will be sooner than later, but for now many Middle Class Tea Party followers are being blinded by the populist propaganda being meted out by the Republican Party (of course serving the interests of the One Percent.)  ( For those who forget history, the populist propaganda of the Republican party has the same ring of that of George Wallace and Huey Long, but made politically correct and minus the tirerades of Huey Long against the oil companies, which by the way still control Louisiana.) The Middle Class Tea Party followers are totally unaware that they are supporting their oppressors, much in the same way the initial followers of Hitler were captured by his rhetoric.

May Day 2012: the beginning of the American Spring

Liberty leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix 

There were many May Day celebrations connected with the Occupy Movement around the world Was this May Day the ‘spark’ for more actions to come?   No.. it was not a 'call to revolution' as probably anticipated by some, but a visible symbol of the transformation and broadening of the Movement. Maybe this is a disappointment to some who may have imagined a 'storming of the Bastille.' According to the Huffington Post on 2 May 2012, the mainstream liberal establishment joined forces with the Occupy Movement  this May Day (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/may-day-protests-occupy-wall-street_n_1469229.html .)  There was an eclectic mixing at May Day. Overall, it was not violent, but peaceful..which is the hallmark of the Occupy Movement.  What can one make of these diverse groups coming together on this May Day?

  Some of the comments for this article indicate various reactions to the slant of this article from indicating that this is a positive move, to those stating the Democratic Party as co-opting the movement and on the far end of the other spectrum dominated by adherents to the Far Right stating that the participants at this May Day represent the unusual suspects of radicals (Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists. ) In my hometown as in others around the nation, the day passed without fanfare.

My perspective on the assembly of various groups involved with May Day and the centrality of the Occupy Movement in this day represents not disorganization, but a subtle but significant transition. One, the Occupy Movement has moved away from the mere occupation of public places.  Two, there is now a broad and amorphous coalition around the tenets of the Occupy Movement.  Three, the Occupy Movement did not on this May Day repeat the historic clashes (with some exceptions) of one dominated by the labor movements and the police, indicating that this movement intends on bringing a peaceful resolution to themes such as income inequality, domination of politics by the One Percent, and unsustainable development. Four, the Movement is global as May Day in the US was connected with Occupy Movements around the world.  

Ultimately, the Occupy Movement has become like a good painting, one that represents many things depending on the perspective of the individual.  At the center of this painting is hope.  Hope that one segment of global politics and economics (the One Percent) will cease to dictate all aspects of economy, politics, and culture.  Hope that the Ninety-Nine Percent can start to ‘write the history’ of this century and beyond. Hope that we can have true democracy in all nations.  Hope that the differences in income can be diminished and that everyone can share in prosperity.  Hope that the continual warfare that has been the hallmark of the nation-state systems will stop. And the list goes on….Juxtapose this with the angry voices (i.e., the Far Right including the Tea Party) denouncing the Movement who are mostly white middle class holding on to their traditional and fading values and threatened by the message of the hope held up by the Occupy Movement and how it is stagnating and hopeless—just a continuation of the present system—and it is apparent that the Movement will not go away, but grow.  This May Day, although not dramatic, represents that we will see a blossoming of the Occupy Movement that will be a transforming factor in the coming years.

May Day 2012

Solidarity with those who are protesting around the world!