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Images of the Day:
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!
Quotes 0f the Day:
From The Paris Commune: First Proletarian Dictatorship: March 18 marks the anniversary of the Paris Commune. On that day in 1871, the workers of Paris “stormed heaven,” as Karl Marx described it, rising up in armed rebellion and holding the city for 72 days until France’s rulers finally were able to wreak their bloody vengeance on the slaves who’d dared to raise the flag of revolution. It was certainly not the first revolt of the oppressed, nor even the first rebellion by the young working class. But it was the first time that the working class seized power, and the lessons learned in that first successful (if only short-lived) revolution have established basic principles for working class revolution ever since. The workers of Paris, who had twice revolted and twice failed in the few years before 1871, had been armed for the defense of their city in the course of a war the French bourgeoisie had launched against Prussia. The workers were both physically and politically isolated from the rest of the country and vastly outnumbered by the armed forces of the French and Prussian ruling classes. But the French bourgeoisie surrendered to Prussia and tried to turn Paris over to the Prussian army so as to put an end to the workers struggle there. French army units moved into Paris to disarm the workers who had organized themselves into a National Guard. The workers had little choice. They decided to use their weapons–to risk everything trying to free themselves once and for all instead of meekly marching to the slaughterhouse.
Videos od 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
The Housing Crisis: One Year After Lockdown All the folks moving to Portland from California or New York and talking about how great the real estate prices are here may not know it (note: I was once one of them), but this city is the most rent-burdened city in the United States, and it exists within a country that, like this city, is undergoing multiple long-term crises, one of which is a housing crisis. The housing crisis, like so many other crises, got much worse one year ago this week, when the country, and much of the rest of the world, shut down. By David Rovics
Evironment:
Climate Crisis Displaced Over 10 Million People in Past Six Months: Red Cross “We need greater action and urgent investment to reduce internal displacement caused by the rising risk of disasters.” The world’s largest humanitarian network warned Wednesday that urgent international action is needed to address the rising risk of climate-related displacemnt, highlighting data that shows disasters such as storms, droughts, fires, and floods internally displaced more than 10 million people from September to February. By Jessica Corbetthttps://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/17/climate-crisis-displacedover-10-mlion-people-past-six-months-red-cross
As Liberals Prey — Capitalism Preys:
430+ Groups From 6 Continents Demand Biden End All US Subsidies for Global Fossil Fuel Projects “We have to stop subsidizing fossil fuel companies at the expense of our climate.” A coalition of more than 430 environmental organizations spanning 53 countries Thursday called on the Biden administration to quickly cut off all U.S. public financing for fossil fuel projects overseas and work with governments around the world to bring about an end to taxpayer subsidies for the dirty energy sources driving the global climate emergency. By Jake Johnson
Lawmakers Urge Biden to Block Massive Petrochemical Complex in Cancer Alley “This disastrous project is an affront to environmental justice and contrary to your goals to reduce pollution in frontline communities.” A pair of lawmakers known for fighting for environmental justice in Congress sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday urging President Joe Biden to deliver on his campaign promises to curb pollution in frontline communities by permanently blocking a large petrochemical complex in an area of Louisiana called “Cancer Alley.” By Jessica Corbett
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Police Brutality —Racist Cops: Known White Supremists are Wearing the Badge!: The FBI warned Prisdent Bush, President Obamba, and President Trump: The Result is Greater and Greater Militarization of the Police! 2021: White Supremacists ‘Seek Affiliation’ With Law Enforcement to Further Their Goals Internal FBI Report Warns Racially motivated extremists want to “develop new tactics,” the document says. In some cases, they wanted to join the military or police so they would be able to commit acts of violence toward members of minority groups. In others, they planned to join the military or police to learn how to wage war against members of those minority groups. Based on investigations between 2016 and 2020, agents and analysts with the FBI’s division in San Antonio concluded that white supremacists and other right-wing extremists would “very likely seek affiliation with military and law enforcement entities in furtherance of” their ideologies, according to a confidential intelligence assessment issued late last month. Unredacted Fbi Document Sheds New Light on White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement A 2006 intelligence assessment reveals that officials had concerns about the infiltration of police departments for years but failed to warn the public. By Alice Speri
FBI Warned About White Supremacists Infiltrating Police Departments In 2006, the FBI issued a warning that infiltration by groups such as the KKK into law enforcement agencies could present a security risk. By Bethania Palma
Sojourner Truth
Speech Entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth Delivered at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? More
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist: Freedom Rider: Ending Poverty in the United States President Franklin Roosevelt made profound changes in the US political-economic structure, while Joe Biden only does temporary patchwork on the late-stage capitalist carcass.
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor: New Cold War is Built on Humanitarian Interventionist Lies and Dismissal of Actual War Crimes To manufacture consent for its own constant aggressions the US claims its competitors are guilty of even greater crimes – sheer inventions that never happened.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor: Black Lives Matter Canada Stands in Solidarity with Deposed Tigrayan Puppets for US Imperialism Not just white phony “leftists,” but Black Lives Matter activists have been conned into mouthing vicious CIA and State Department propaganda against Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence: No mo’ Cuomo? (Kind of an apology) Kind of an apology: To the 15,000 families it was never personal— It was always business…
Jim Daley: Killings by Police Declined after Black Lives Matter Protests A new study shows police homicides have significantly decreased in most cities where BLM-type protests occurred.
Mark P. Fancher: Were Jesus and his Followers the First Black Panthers? “Yeshua (Jesus) instructed his followers to arm themselves for self-defense and to address the community’s survival needs by providing health care, free meals, therapeutic counseling, and of course
Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD: Black Alliance for Peace: We Fight for Haiti Because We Are Haiti “We stand with the Haitian people because it is our responsibility as believers in self-determination and people-centered human rights, to do so.”
Zophia Edwards: Racial Capitalism and COVID-19 States continue to reproduce inequalities based on race and citizenship through their COVID-19 relief and welfare programs.
The Jamal Journal staff: Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Health Emergency: The Only Treatment is Freedom An interview with Ricardo Alvarez, Mumia’s “movement” doctor. “The most important point of advocacy is for the release of all our elders in COVID prisons.”
Anoa Changa: More Surveillance Won’t Stop White Supremacy — It Will Target Activists of Color Violence from people of color and other marginalized groups – or even simply fear of such violence — is dealt with immediately and with the harshest of consequences.
Abdirahman A. Abdalla: The Somali Election Impasse in Historical Context Somalia’s current corruptionist comprador bourgeoisie has no independent socio-political base and is therefore totally beholden to Western imperialist interests.
Mireille Fanon Mendes France: Can We Listen to the Voice of the Haitian People? The West’s treatment of Haiti confirms that white supremacy has still not abandoned its plan to impose a racially racist, violent, capitalist and imperial world order.
Labor:
Economy:
Paris Commune 150: the Economics Today/ 3/18, 2-21. is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Paris Commune. The Commune (Council) was formed as result of what should be considered the first uprising and revolution led by the working class in history. This new class was the product of the industrial revolution in the capitalist mode of production that Marx and Engels first spoke of most prominently in the Manifesto of the Communist Party published in March 1848. By Michael Roberts
How Federal Infrastructure Investment Can Put America to Work America faces three interrelated challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 continues to take a toll on the economy, America faces three interrelated challenges: (1) high unemployment alongside a historically low reemployment potential; (2) a precarious labor market with too many low-wage, dead-end jobs; and (3) large infrastructure gaps that hamper productivity and growth. A Triple Whammy of Crises:
First, the U.S. economy has experienced severe job losses, with almost 10 million fewer workers employed today than before the pandemic (see Figure 1).
Second, even before the pandemic, the U.S. labor market was incredibly precarious. . . .
Third, the U.S. economy is host to large and persistent infrastructure gaps that hamper productivity and long-term growth. The American Society of Civil Engineersgives U.S. infrastructure a score of C-, classifying it as “poor” and “at risk,” while the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report ranks it 13th in the world. Public spending on physical infrastructure has persistently failed to keep up with economic growth; the U.S. spends only 2.3 percent of GDP on infrastructure, while European countries spend 5 percent on average and China spends about 8 percent. Just to meet basic national needs by 2025, the U.S. faces an estimated funding shortfall of more than $2 trillion. Several more trillions in spending on clean energy and climate change adaptation and mitigation will be needed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
House Hearing Provides a Message to Robinhood Traders: Retail Investors Lose Consistently When They Actively Trade their Own Account There were plenty of fireworks during yesterday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the ongoing GameStop trading fiasco and two of the major players involved: retail broker-dealer, Robinhood, which offers free trading accounts to novice investors and provides behavioral messaging like a digital display of confetti when they complete a trade; and Citadel Securities, a giant market-maker that pays Robinhood to route the bulk of its orders to it for execution.There were plenty of fireworks during yesterday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the ongoing GameStop trading fiasco and two of the major players involved: retail broker-dealer, Robinhood, which offers free trading accounts to novice investors and provides behavioral messaging like a digital display of confetti when they complete a trade; and Citadel Securities, a giant market-maker that pays Robinhood to route the bulk of its orders to it for execution. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
The Paris Commune: Triumph, Tragedy and Lessons For Today The following is an introduction to Wellred Books’ new republication of The Civil War in France by Karl Marx. This excellent overview explains the main events and political processes of this inspirational watershed in the history of working-class struggle. The Communards’ heroic, triumphant, but ultimately tragic efforts to build the first workers’ government are filled with lessons for revolutionaries today. By Josh Holroyd
What Caused the Irish Potato Famine? (Answer British Imperialism) Did the English create the Famine on purpose? This was after all an age of revolution, and the Irish were suspected of plotting yet another revolt. The “Irish Question” was of major importance and many Englishmen agreed with Trevelyan that God had sent the blight and Famine. Ultimately, the question of blame is not as important as the question of cause. Even more importantly, the Famine is a source of great economic errors, such as the claim that famines are the fault of the market and free trade, and that starvation results from laissez-faire policy. Even Karl Marx was heavily influenced by events happening in Ireland as he wrote in London. Ireland was swept away by the economic forces that emanated from one of the most powerful and aggressive states the world had ever known. It suffered not from a fungus (which English scientists insisted was just excessive dampness) but from conquest, theft, bondage, protectionism, government welfare, public works, and inflation.
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
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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!
