Daily News Digest September 12, 2023
Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and/or Nuclear War Catastrophes!
Images of the Day:
Bipartisan Voting Restrictions
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”, is Still True for Today’s World!
Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capitalism Has Been Aware of the Comming Catastrophe of Global Warming Over 5 Decades 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 very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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!
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 of the Day:
The bourgeoisie, when it was struggling against the nobility sustained by the clergy, hoisted the flag of free thought and atheism; but once triumphant, it changed its tone and manner and today it uses religion to support its economic and political supremacy. ― Paul Lafargue, The Right to Be Lazy
Videos of the Day:
Michael Hudson: What is the Global Stocktake and Why is it Important?
Environment:
One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%!
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan is Ecoscialism or Ecocide!
Water Cannons Target 10,000 Climate Protesters Blocking Highway in Netherlands “While the world is going up in flames, the government continues to add fuel to the fire by propping up the biggest source of the climate crisis, fossil fuels, with billions in subsidies.”
G20 Leaders Rebuked for Latest ‘Incomprehensible Failure’ on Climate Crisis. “Fossil fuels are killing us, and the G20’s reckless failure to act will be measured in further lives and livelihoods lost,” said one campaigner who noted the refusal by rich nations to pledge a phaseout of oil, coal, and gas.
Why 2% Is the Most Dangerous Number No One Is Talking About The sheer quantity of chemicals being dumped into the environment is quickly growing—and we may only be seeing the beginning of the harm they are doing to us. We’ve had a summer from hell, with July 2023 temporarily claiming the title of hottest month on record. But while the klaxons of Earth’s climate system have riveted nearly everyone’s attention, something else is silently happening to us and other species that could turn out to be just as big a disaster. Nature is increasingly stewing in air- and water-borne toxins originating in industrial processes. Tens of thousands of chemicals, only a tiny proportion of which have been tested for safety, are making their way into the environment—from pharmaceuticals that have passed through human bodies, to plastics, pesticides, solvents, fire-retardants, and chemicals used in making cookware coatings.
‘Autobesity’ on Course to Worsen Air Pollution Caused by Motoring Trend for bigger, heavier cars means more particles get released from brakes, tyres and road surfaces Tiny particles from the wear of vehicle brakes, tyres and roads already make up about half of the air pollution particles from traffic. This will be getting worse because our car fleet is getting heavier and there are no clear policies to control this pollution source. The issue known as “car bloat” and “autobesity” refers to vehicles bought today being bigger than the ones they replace. This affects parking and raises concerns about safety for other road users. A US study showed that children were eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV compared with a normal passenger car. Bigger vehicles also have a greater impact on the climate and air pollution.
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 Republicrats 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay! Both Parties Support U.S. Capitalism’s Wars! (The Only War the Democrats Opposed was the Civil War!)
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. — Louis D. Brandeis Quotes
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. MLK, Beyond Vietnam
A Vote for Trump or Biden is a Vote for Ecocide!
Barry Sheppard:U.S. Attacks China for Opposing Japan’s Radioactive Water Release
Reflecting Washington’s charges, a lurid article in the September 1 New York Times is headlined “Bending Truth, China Stokes Ire Against Japan.” The gist of the article is that the Chinese reaction to Japan’s release of radioactive water into the Pacific, shutting down all importation of Japanese seafood, is pure propaganda designed to stoke unwarranted fear in the countries of the Asia Pacific against Japan. Washington’s unfounded charges are part of its justifications for its attacks on China, and threats of war against China. The decision by the Japanese government and the company, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), that owns the nuclear power plant in Fukushima that suffered a major nuclear meltdown in 2011 and one of whose nuclear fires still burn, to release radioactive cooling water into the Pacific Ocean beginning August 24, has caused major opposition throughout the Asian Pacific. Reuters reported, “Japan’s controversial plan to release treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean has sparked anxiety at home and abroad.
72% Distrust Corporations: Will It Be Socialism or Barbarism for the Twenty-First Century? The nature of the American political system is often hidden behind theories of how democracy works. In these we, the people, choose politicians to represent ‘our’ interests within the realms of government, foreign affairs, and commerce. In contrast, at least according to the annual polls conducted by the Alliance of Democracies, fewer than half of Americans believe that the US is democratic; is a democracy. The reasons given against the US being a democracy are 1) corruption (73%), followed by 2) corporate control of the political system (72%). In other words, the reasons for this missing democracy are economic.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Labor:
Mandatory Overtime is Inhumane and Dangerous On Aug. 31, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service in California Northern District Court in San Francisco on behalf of freelance journalist Peter Byrne. The complaint alleges that the National Park Service is violating the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to disclose public records that may reveal decades of federal mismanagement of Point Reyes National Seashore and ongoing environmental concerns.
Econommy:
High Grocery and Gasoline Prices? Monopoly Gouging isn’t Going Away Sometime since the start of the Ukraine War, prices went up and didn’t really ever go back down. At first the problem was the moronic sanctions on Russian energy, which made every trip to the gas station as expensive as purchasing a new laptop. That imbecilic fiasco lasted for months. But finally, the prices dropped. (The president wised up to the tornado of voter fury this wild expense, left unchecked, would unleash.) They didn’t fall as low as they were pre-sanctions, but were not so high that filling the tank drained the checking account. Utility bills, however, shot up and basically stayed up. Though they since sank from their insane 2022 highs, they’re still confiscatory. So is the cost of groceries. And forget shopping for household items – that puts a capital G in “gouging.”
Michael Roberts Facebook Blog: The EU Commission has cut its forecast for real GDP growth in the Eurozone in 2023 from 1.1% to just 0.8% and the 2024 forecast has been lowered to 1.3%. It’s mainly Germany, the region’s largest economy, that is lowering the growth forecast as the EU Commission now expects the German economy to contract by 0.4% this year. Inflation is expected to be 5.6% this year, falling to 2.9% next year and so not meeting the ECB’s target of 2% until 2025 at the earliest. Even these forecasts look optimistic as data released last week revealed output in the bloc barely grew in the three months through June, revised lower due to poor exports. Surveys of purchasing managers point to a tough third quarter as Europe’s services sector follows manufacturing into a contraction. Moreover, these estimates include the ludicrously high GDP growth rate for Ireland. Even though that economy is just 1% of the Eurozone, its false growth pushes up the EZ rate by a few bp.
FDIC Releases a New Problem Bank List: It’s an Exercise in Fantasy Last Thursday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released its Quarterly Banking Profile for the quarter ending June 30, 2023. The report includes the FDIC’s Problem Bank List. While the actual names of the problem banks aren’t provided, the total assets listed provide an indication of whether any large banks are on the list. The FDIC’s first quarter banking profile had published a “Problem Bank List” showing just 43 banks with total assets of $58 billion as of March 31, 2023. Unfortunately, on March 10 Silicon Valley Bank blew up with assets at year-end 2022 of $209 billion. Two days later, on March 12, Signature Bank blew up with assets of $110 billion as of year-end. Clearly, the FDIC did not see these as problem banks in advance of their blowing up in a matter of days.
World:
Nobel Prize Winner Says G20 Falls Short by Not Embracing Global Nuclear Ban Treaty “All G20 members must work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons as an urgent priority,” said ICAN executive director Melissa Parke. A renunciation of the threat posed by nuclear weapons by G20 leaders in New Delhi this weekend must be matched by action that would actually reduce such a threat and lead the way to the full abandonment of atomic weapons worldwide, according to one of the world’s preeminent anti-nuclear organizations.
Chile: the Threatening Catastrophe. Monday 11 September marks the 50th anniversary of the coup that overthrew president Salvador Allende in Chile. This article, written in 1971 by Alan Woods two years before these events, warned against the threat of a military coup if the Popular Unity government failed to mobilise the masses and carry out a genuine socialist programme. We have also republished a longer piece, written by Alan Woods after the coup, which can be found here. The election of the “Government of Popular Unity” in Chile last November was an event of great importance for every Socialist. Both the capitalist press and the journals of the “Communist” Party have presented it as a step towards Socialism “through the ballot box”. The experience of the Allende Government will serve as a test-case of the possibility of the “parliamentary road to Socialism”. It holds vital lessons for every thinking member of the Labour Movement. — Popular Front — Contrary to the legend, assiduously fostered by the Stalinists, there is nothing “unique” about the developments in Chile. Allende is merely repeating the experience of the pre-war “Popular Front” governments in Spain/ France and Chile itself. Against the saccharine “optimism” of the CP “theoreticians” we must point out that in every single case “Popular Frontism” has led to a bloody defeat for the working class.
Health. Welfare, and Education:
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
The Escalating Costs of College: How Much Should College Cost Students? Key Takeaways:
- While most students pay less than the sticker price for college, lower- and middle-income students still often must pay more than they can afford.
- The “funding gap” between what students can afford to pay and what it costs colleges and universities to educate them is filled in different ways based on the type of institution and endowment level
- Increased federal funding is the best way to make higher education affordable, although added regulation and improved price transparency will be necessary.
Most colleges charge students more than they can afford. Statements to that effect are typically based on a misplaced focus on the “sticker price” of college. That price (formally labeled the cost of attendance) includes the full amount of tuition and fees, living expenses, and other related expenses. The average sticker price adjusted for inflation has nearly tripled in the last four decades.
Health Care Giants Dominate PA Lobbying While Pennsylvanians’ Health Suffers Health care profiteers make up 3 of the top 5 spenders on lobbying in Pennsylvania In Pennsylvania, healthcare profiteers top the list of the most aggressive spenders on lobbying in the state. Corporations in the United States spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on well connected lobbyists to influence legislation both on a federal level and in states and cities. Pennsylvania is one of the many states in the US with relatively loose regulations on lobbying and gifts to legislators. For example, lawmakers can accept gifts worth any amount, even cash, from lobbyists as long as they disclose those gifts. These loose lobbying regulations, combined with the unlimited spending on campaign contributions, make it easy for corporations to exert their influence over elected officials in the capital city of Harrisburg.