Daily News Digest January 16, 2024
Images of the Day:
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”
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: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, andThe 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!
Quote of the Day:
Why the 1% Decided to Assassinate Martine Luther King, Besides his Opposition to the Vietnam War.:
In 1967, King clearly wrote his outlook for the struggle to gain economic equality: On Page 602, A Testament of Hope: the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther: Martin Luther King stated the course that he was planning to take in the fight for economic equality: . . . The Emergence of social initiatives by a revitalized labor movement would be taking place as Negros are placing economic issues on the highest agenda. The coalition of an energized section of labor, Negroes, unemployed, and welfare recipients may be the source of power that reshapes economic relationships and ushers in a breakthrough to a new level of social reform.. . . He continues on Page 631: There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum — and livable — income for every American family. There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid, or day laborer. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from remolding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a true brotherhood. . . At that time, the stock market was below 1,000 points. Today, it is above 10,000 points, and yet there still is no social vision for paying an adequate wage and the minimum wage has dropped 42% since 1968. Unlike Malcolm X, whose assassination cut short his organizing plans, King was organizing a movement to obtain his stated goals when he was assassinated. In fact, he was in Memphis to build that “coalition of an energized section of labor, Negroes, unemployed, and welfare recipients” in support of striking municipal sanitation workers. If such a force had been launched, the whole power of the antiwar and civil rights movement in the 1960s could have transformed the labor movement and become “the source of power that reshapes economic relationships and ushers in a breakthrough to a new level of social reform.” — The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement
The Democratic Party has done more to defeat progressives than to protect us from fascism. — Black Women Support the Democratic Party, But Does the Party Support Them?
Videos of the Day:
Watch New Zealand MP’s ‘Absolutely Brilliant’ 80-Second Takedown of GDP Watch Aotearoa New Zealand Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick deliver the most formidably cogent summary of the 20th century economic order – and how it ruined everything.
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 ford 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
Gaza: 400K Rally in DC against “Genocide Joe;” Massive Protests in Johannesburg, London, other Capitals Millions of protesters came out around the world on Saturday answered the call of Palestinian activists to rally against the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza on a “Global Day of Action for Palestine.” Close to home, an estimated 400,000 demonstrated in Washington, D.C., and scattered what looked like bloodied dolls of children before the White House gate as people chanted “Genocide Joe” and “Bloody Blinken.” The rally in the capital was called for by the American Muslim Task Force for Palestine. There are roughly 4 million Muslims in the United States, about 1.2 percent of the population, though the demonstration comprised many Christians and Jews, as well.
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
The Middle East on the Brink: Imperialists Pour Petrol on the Flames “Those whom the gods seek to destroy, they first make mad.” “Never hate your enemy. It affects your judgement.” (Michael Corleone in The Godfather) On the morning of 12 January 2024, the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, launched a series of cruise missile and airstrikes against Yemen. The assault was announced in a blaze of publicity. It was presented to the public as an isolated action in response to alleged Houthi aggression against international shipping in the Red Sea. This is false on two counts. Firstly, the argument deliberately propagated by western propaganda, that the attack on Yemen was an isolated incident – a flash of lightning from a clear blue sky – is a deliberate lie. The fact of the matter is that there has been a spate of airstrikes carried out by the Americans and Israelis against targets in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria – especially the last-named country – in the last few weeks. But all this was kept shrouded in secrecy. The attack on Yemen was merely the culmination of these aggressive acts.
Israeli-Made Famine: Denial of Food Aid could Kill 22,000 Palestinians this Month, Half of them Children The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that Israeli airstrikes and ground operations continued over the weekend in in Gaza and says, “Between the afternoons of 12 and 14 January, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 260 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and another 577 people were reportedly injured.”
Palestine Has Exposed How Our Governments Work for Their Own Interests, Not Ours We cannot rely on political bodies whose material interests are at odds with revolution. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has unfolded into an escalated genocide capturing the world’s attention. Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza and repression in the West Bank has led millions to ask, “Why won’t anyone stop this?” People make societies work, but yielding power to political bodies and institutions for the maintenance of those societies gives rise to a paradox: placing responsibility for revolution and even liberation in the hands of authorities whose interests are diametrically opposed to those goals. Instead, they have the ability to hold us back and distort an international predicament. The problem is that this world, which has been shaped by colonialism and violent dispossession, is not serving us. Palestine shows us why in many ways. So, dissecting U.S. interests and global capitalism and situating solidarity across borders can provide some clarity regarding how we shape a world much different from the one we currently inhabit.
Genocide Experts Say Israeli Legal Arguments ‘Ring Hollow’ at ICJ “The court only needs to look at the statements in South Africa’s submission—with the ranking and authority of those making them—and ask whether they plausibly reach the level of intent required for genocide,” said one expert on state crime. Faced with a detailed documentation of statements made by top-level Israeli officials about their intent to “destroy” Gaza residents and “flatten” the enclave, legal experts observed that attorneys representing Israel on Friday at the International Court of Justice appeared to simply ignore the mounting evidence that the government is committing a genocide.
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’!
Weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa
- Week beginning on January 07, 2024: 423.49 ppm
- Weekly value from 1 year ago: 419.54 ppm
- Weekly value from 10 years ago: 398.26 ppm
- Last updated: January 14, 2024
Ralph Nader: Take Your Pick: The Omnicides That Threaten Us All If We Don’t Act Where is the hope? Where it always has been, in societies with deliberative democratic practices and traditions of civic engagement that lean toward governments of, by, and for the people.
- The Climate Crisis, better called Climate Violence, producing record storms, wildfires, droughts, sea-level rises, floods and unprecedented heat waves, is omnicidal. The year 2023 was the hottest in recorded history. Millions of lives are already being lost, with even more people suffering from climate-related illnesses and injuries. In addition, property destruction is rampant. The consequential effects of natural disasters are mounting in terms of damaged agriculture, soil erosion, habitat destruction (leading to species extinction) and the regional spread of insect-borne diseases such as Malaria.
Do Capitalists Want to Kill Humanity … And Themselves? Do capitalists want to kill humanity … and themselves? . . . The answer is yes. The political and economic elites of capitalism are pushing us (and themselves) towards collapse. To ours and their catastrophe. . . . How is it that such an articulated global system, with so many resources at its disposal, pushes its foundations – humanity, water, soil, natural resources – towards collapse? It’s counterintuitive, irrational. Nevertheless, it is what is happening. The main explanation for this is usually attributed to the inertia of the capitalist system, a machine so colossal and total that it has made all social, political and economic principles conform to its rules. That’s why the board or the management of a company that doesn’t grow and expand (or grow and expand more than its rivals) is pushed out . It is the reason why a country that doesn’t colonize or intensify the exploitation of its people or resources sees its governance harassed or removed. That is why every aspect of our social and private lives is being commodified or is already a commodity.
As the Planet Boils, Corporate Media Still Carry Water for Fossil Fuel Giants When it comes to climate reporting, corporate media outlets are still failing the public. The 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of Parties summit (COP28), recently met in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The president of the summit, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber — who also leads the UAE’s national oil company — drew criticism for rumors that he planned to use COP28 to make oil deals and for claiming there is “no science” behind urgent calls for a phaseout of fossil fuels, a statement he later walked back. CNN, CBS, The New York Times, and other establishment news outlets all ran stories about the uproar surrounding his mercenary defense of fossil fuels.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Truths Not Always Self-Evident A new book looks at the history of equality in theory and in practice We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Thomas Jefferson wrote these memorable words in 1776. Meanwhile, over the course of his lifetime, he owned some 600 human beings, buying and selling them as needed, keeping about 130 in bondage at any one time. Jefferson’s appalling hypocrisy may be explained — but not excused — by the fact that he did not consider enslaved people equal to members of the white race. They were not the “men” he was referring to when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. They did not have the unalienable right to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson confirmed this belief in his “Notes on the State of Virginia” in 1785, where he expressed his “strong suspicion” that Negroes were inferior to whites in both mind and body, either because they were a “distinct race” or due to “time and circumstances.”
Labor:
The Anti-War Movement And The Working Class On October 16, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions called for a two-part strategy to stop Israel’s ruthless war against Gaza: they appealed to the world’s workers to refuse to build and transport weapons for Israel; and they appealed to the general public to a) pressure their governments to stop all military trade and funding for Israel’s war, and b) “take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege.” To date, unions of workers in the Canadian and U.S. weapons industry have not mobilized their members to stop sending weapons to Israel. Why not? The Unionized War Machine More than two million workers in the U.S. produce over 80 percent of military exports to Israel. Many of these workers are unionized with the UAW (United Auto Workers) and the IAM (International Association of Machinists). In late October, 1,300 IAM workers at Raytheon and 1,100 UAW workers at General Dynamics (two of the largest U.S. military contractors) ratified new contracts at the same time that both companies were equipping the Israeli genocide. orkers at General Dynamics had voted overwhelmingly to strike on October 22, after the Palestinian Unions published their appeal, but UAW officials made a last-minute deal to keep workers on the job. Union officials claim they have a duty to protect workers’ jobs. However, far more jobs would be created by shifting Pentagon funding into medical care, education, infrastructure, and clean energy. What’s really going on?
Economy:
World’s First Trillionaire Just 10 Years Away as Richest Men Double Their Wealth Since 2020, a year marked by the spread of a pathogen that killed millions of people, the world’s five richest men have seen their collective wealth more than double as five billion people across the globe have lost ground and hunger has surged, underscoring the deep inequality that is fueling mass discontent and eroding democracies. “This inequality is no accident; the billionaire class is ensuring corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else,” said Oxfam’s interim executive director.
Purchasing Power of the Consumer Dollar in U.S. City Average
World:
Education, 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