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Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
Always Remember: That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. — The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99%, Only the 1% Voted For Austerity! The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The 1% Who, Profit From Austerity!! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.! Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Image of the Day:
An integral Part of Capitalism’s Austerity Progrom is Deregulation/Differed Maintenance: Texas Power 
Quotes 0f the Day:
Centuries after the modern imperial age began, it’s evidently coming to an end in a hell that Joe Biden and crew won’t be able to stop, even if, unlike the previous president, they’re anything but intent on thoroughly despoiling this land. Still, Trump or Biden, at this point it couldn’t be clearer that we need some new way of thinking about and being on this increasingly roach-infested planet of ours. — The American Century Ends Early
Videos of the Day:
United States:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay
Engelhardt, On Being a Roach Superpower: The American Century Ends Early How the USS Enterprise Was Transformed into the USS Roach Like Gregor Samsa, the never-to-be-forgotten character in Franz Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis,” we awoke on January 7th to discover that we, too, were “a giant insect” with “a domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments” and numerous “pitifully thin” legs that “waved helplessly” before our eyes. If you prefer, though, you can just say it: we opened our eyes and found that, somehow, we had become a giant roach of a country. Yes, I know, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are now in charge and waving their own little limbs wildly, trying to do some of what needs to be done for this sad land of the disturbed, over-armed, sick, and dying. But anyone who watched the scenes of Floridians celebrating a Super Bowl victory, largely unmasked and cheering, shoulder to shoulder in the streets of Tampa, can’t help but realize that we are now indeed a roach nation, the still-wealthiest, most pandemically unmasked one on Planet Earth. By Tom Engelhardt
43 million people owing almost one and a half trillion dollars. The numbers indicate just how many people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are still paying an endless debt. Unlike a mortgage, car loan, credit card obligation or any other loan, student loans permit usurious interest rates, the garnishment of up to 25% of a salary and the inability to declare bankruptcy even upon the death of the borrower. These laws remove all consumer protections. To add insult to injury, colleges have taken advantage of available money to increase tuition and fees by 1225 percent in the past 30 years. Once that loan agreement is signed, compound interest may begin and what began as a $45,000 student loan, can become a $60,000 debt by graduation. If there is graduate school ahead, more money must be borrowed — it is always available. Should there be missed payments, or renegotiations, interest rates climb at the will of the banks. Graduates find themselves mired in such debt that they must live at home and deal with lowered expectations about their jobs and careers.—Student Loan Debt: Punitive And Parasitic
Biden’s Four Years . . . What is the state of the United States as Biden takes over? The COVID-19 pandemic has reaped huge damage on the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans. Its impact has been far worse than it might have been for several reasons. First, the US government, just like the other governments, had done nothing to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic. As previous posts have explained, governments had been warned that pathogens dangerous to human life for which there was no immunity were becoming more prevalent, leading to a wave of epidemics before COVID-19. But most governments did not spend on prevention (research into vaccinations) or on protection (robust health resources and testing and trace systems). On the contrary, governments had been cutting back on health spending, privatising and outsourcing it, and in the case of the US, operating a private health insurance system that left a sizeable minority of Americans with no protection at all, and the rest paying out huge premiums for health cover. . . . Indeed, the economic cost of the pandemic during 2020 has been equivalent to 80% of US 2020 real GDP output, if you take into account the lost GDP, premature deaths, long-term health impairment and mental health. So the outgoing US government (like many others) failed to save lives and also failed to save livelihoods. And this is particularly the case for the lowest paid, often unable to work from home, forced to work in dangerous conditions or being laid off; and that mainly means, black and other ethnic minorities, women and young people. By Michael Roberts 
New Economic Study ‘Demolishes’ Myth About Student Debt Parroted by Joe Biden “The vast majority of borrowers that benefit from forgiveness hail from low- and lower-income communities,” the study’s authors affirmed.The latest annual student debt report from the social science research group Jain Family Institute, published Thursday, belies claims by President Joe Biden—who earlier this week said he would not cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower—that such a move would disproportionately benefit people who attend elite private universities. The 2021 Student Debt and Young America report, authored by JFI’s Laura Beamer and Eduard Nilaj, begins by noting that young people are “overrun with student debt.” By Brett Wilkins
“Interesting” Times: Capitalism Kills Everything We could stop being surprised by terrible things if we paid more attention to past and current history. We could also remember that we are part of Nature and cannot survive much longer in a state of capitalist war on the web of life. Shocking, Yes; Surprising, No No Empathy Joe Yes, it’s terrible that Joe Biden has refused to forgive more than a pittance of student debt. But do we not recall him telling a Los Angeles Times host that he had “no empathy, give me a break” for the plight of Millennials in the savagely unequal and environmentally unsustainable world he’d helped create over decades of Congressional service to corporate and financial America? No surprise. By Paul Street
Environment:
Vulture/Disaster Capitalism: Jerry Jones’ Company Hits ‘Jackpot’ As Harsh Storms Send Natural Gas Prices Surging The winter storms gripping much of the United States have devastated many families and businesses, with frigid temperatures and power outages causing particularly dire conditions in Texas. But for oil and gas producers that have managed to keep production going, this is proving to be a big payday. Jerry Jones, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, appears to be one of the beneficiaries. Comstock Resources Inc., a shale driller that operates in Texas and Louisiana, told investors on an earnings call this week that the surge in natural gas prices was providing it with a major — albeit almost certainly temporary — financial boost. The company is publicly traded but Jones holds a majority of the shares. “Obviously, this week is like hitting the jackpot,” President and Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns said Wednesday.
How to Rebuild a Forest in a Growing Climate Crisis A global energy company’s mistake renewed debate on how to slow the climate crisis. Trees can help − but where, and how? The oil company Shell recently miscalculated the extent of its reserves on a pretty massive scale. The mistake meant its new scenario for meeting the internationally agreed 1.5°C climate target would need a new forest about the size of Brazil. And that renewed a debate about just what trees can do to ease the climate crisis. By Alex Kirby
UN Report: Action Needed Now to Solve Triple Emergency Urgent appeal to end the ‘senseless and suicidal’ war on nature by transforming social and economic systems Making Peace With Nature, a new report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), synthesizes findings from recent global assessments, including those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and others. It proposes what the authors’ call “a scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies.”
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
John Lewis, formally of SNCC, became enlightened, he ignored the Black Panthers and saw the Democratic Party, symbolized by a jackass, as his party. Most of what W.E. B. Dubois described as the “talented tenth” were bought off by this process. The more radical concepts that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X had developed at the time of their deaths disappeared from the scene. No one took up where they left off. The governmental policy, directed towards the ‘leaders’ of the civil rights movement, of the carrot (dollarism) and the stick (assassinations) had proven to be successful. — John Lewis, formally of SNCC, became enlightened, he ignored the Black Panthers and saw the Democratic Party, symbolized by a jackass, as his party. Most of what W.E. B. Dubois described as the “talented tenth” were bought off by this process. The more radical concepts that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X had developed at the time of their deaths disappeared from the scene. No one took up where they left off. The governmental policy, directed towards the ‘leaders’ of the civil rights movement, of the carrot (dollarism) and the stick (assassinations) had proven to be successful. — Roland Sheppard, The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement
Labor:
Economy:
GameStop Hearing Exposes a Sick Business Model Destined to Exacerbate Wealth Inequality in America The most striking revelations in yesterday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the wild trading action in New York Stock Exchange-listed shares of GameStop came when Congresswoman Cindy Axne of Iowa questioned Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood, the trading app being increasingly used by young people to trade stocks and options on their mobile phones. GameStop is the brick-and-mortar video game retailer whose stock soared from $18.84 on December 31 of last year to an intraday high of $483 on January 28 – an unprecedented run of 2,465 percent in four weeks by a struggling retail outlet. Following the spectacular run, GameStop’s share price then quickly plunged back to earth, making its stock chart look like something you would see from a boiler room operation rather than a New York Stock Exchange-listed stock. GameStop’s closing price yesterday was $40.69. The exchange between Axne and Tenev opened a window into a sick business model on Wall Street that is pumping out billionaires like Citadel’s Ken Griffin while seducing young people with the GAMIFICATION OF TRADING. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
US Farmers and Food Justice Groups Declare ‘Solidarity’ With Indian Farmer Protests “India’s farmers have mobilized to create one of the world’s most vibrant protests in history.” —87 group US Farmers and Food Justice Groups Declare ‘Solidarity’ With Indian Farmer Protests”We stand with India’s farmers! Now let’s connect the dots between the forces of neoliberalism that stifle farmers, from India to the U.S.” By Brett Wilkins
Davos’ False Promise of a “Great Reset” Reveals Fear of RevolutionThe past few years of political turbulence have troubled the ruling class. They are facing unprecedented waves of protests and instability. They are now increasingly desperately trying to stabilise the situation using state expenditure and other concessions. This was seen at the World Economic Forum last month. By Niklas Albin Svensson
G7 Leaders’ Statement: 19 February 2021 We, the leaders of the Group of Seven, met today and resolved to work together to beat COVID-19 and build back better. Drawing on our strengths and values as democratic, open economies and societies, we will work together and with others to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism and to shape a recovery that promotes the health and prosperity of our people and planet. We will intensify cooperation on the health response to COVID-19. The dedication of essential workers everywhere represents the best of humanity, while the rapid discovery of vaccines shows the power of human ingenuity. Working with, and together to strengthen, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and supporting its leading and coordinating role, we will: accelerate global vaccine development and deployment; work with industry to increase manufacturing capacity, including through voluntary licensing; improve information sharing, such as on sequencing new variants; and, promote transparent and responsible practices, and vaccine confidence. We reaffirm our support for all pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), its COVAX facility, and affordable and equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, reflecting the role of extensive immunisation as a global public good. Today, with increased financial commitments of over $4 billion USD to ACT-A and COVAX, collective G7 support totals $7.5 billion. We invite all partners, including the G20 and International Financial Institutions, to join us in increasing support to ACT-A, including to increase developing countries’ access to WHO-approved vaccines through the COVAX facility
Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare
‘Wildly Uneven and Unfair’: As Richest Gobble Up Vaccine Supply, 130 Poorest Nations Have Yet to Receive Single Dose “Unless production is significantly increased, many people in developing countries won’t get vaccines until 2024. The pandemic cannot be stopped anywhere unless people are vaccinated everywhere.” By Kenny Stancil
The Structural Roots of China’s Effectiveness Against Coronavirus Pandemic China’s effectiveness in quickly solving the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and in softening its economic impact is rooted in the structural characteristics of its development model, in which state-owned enterprises remain crucial. This article holds that a strong public presence within the industrial and banking sectors has provided Chinese government with the opportunity to rapidly reactivate domestic production and, potentially, to maximise the effectiveness of the recently launched monetary and fiscal policy measures. By Francesco Macheda
How to Fight the Pandemic? Notes on Experiences in Asia and Europe Comparing the history of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia and Europe (as well as between Asian and European countries) aids discussion of the choices and means of a health policy. The answers to some questions may be obvious, or prove much more complex. The history of any epidemic (and a fortiori any pandemic) combines many areas: biological and ecological, medical and scientific, political, social or cultural and so on. Hence it puts health systems (in the broad sense), solidarities (intergenerational, male-female, social and international), and states very much to the test. When the conditions are right, an epidemic today internationalizes much faster than in the past as a result of capitalist globalization. The 1957 flu took 6 months to make Europe the heart of the pandemic, two months was enough for Covid-19. So, there was less time to prepare for its arrival, but there was still enough time to do so – it was lost, with the dramatic consequences that we all know. As we will see, this was not just a lack of responsiveness caused by bureaucratic dysfunctions. We don’t have to deal with a simple lack of preparation in the temporal sense of the term. It has class (bourgeois) roots. Not only was the Chinese warning ignored in January 2020, but the early experience of East Asia was not studied. However, it made it possible to anticipate events and to develop an appropriate health policy. On the scale of Johns Hopkins University – which only takes into account states or territories that have reported cases of Covid-19 – four of the five countries with the fewest deaths per 100,000 inhabitants are Asian: Taiwan, Vietnam, [Tanzania], Papua New Guinea (but here the social structure and density are extraordinarily different) and Thailand. A comparison: the death rate per 100,000 inhabitants in January 2021 was 113.46 in France against 0.03 in Taiwan! By Frank Prouhet, Pierre Rousset
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!