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During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: 1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel.
Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99% — Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just Those Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico!
Images of the Day:
U.S. foreign policy flows from the logic of its lawless, expansionist, white supremacist history. The U.S. was born as the world’s first fully bourgeois republic, a transactional arrangement among rapacious white men who, in about a century, parlayed the stolen land of one continent, and the stolen people of another, into the world’s largest economy. The U.S. perfected and became the model of a racially regulated society, elevating “whiteness” to permanent social advantage while, at the same time, providing these denationalized Europeans with no identify beyond their relative privileges, and no social contract other than the right to abuse Blacks and other “inferior races.” The absence of a genuine social compact among “Americans” meant that rich folks had no obligation to their fellows of any race. The U.S. promised only the “freedom” (for white men) to make and spend money as they wished. From the very beginning, “Americanism” was a grab-what-you-can ethos, inimical to the very notion of social solidarity — except on racial terms. Such an ethos always serves the master, while morally abandoning the slave or wage earner. Hyper-capitalism, blended seamlessly with white supremacy, became the American religion — which is why “Prosperity Gospel” is virtually a U.S. invention, and has nothing to do with “brotherhood” or “community.” The United States has the highest levels of professed religiosity in the industrialized world, yet is demonstrably the most underdeveloped in terms of popular support for the social safety net. — The Las Vegas Killings, Through the Lens of New Orleans, Detroit and San Juan
U.S. capitalists have exploited the island since. For the first 50 years this was done by U.S. corporations that set up sugar plantations worked by low-wage labor on much of the island. After the second World War, the form of exploitation changed. In the face of the rise of the colonial revolution worldwide, and the rise of anticolonial nationalism in the island, some concessions were made. A limited form of self-government was enacted. It was no longer a crime to display the Puerto Rican flag or to speak Spanish in the public schools. Puerto Ricans could elect their own governors and legislature, but still under the control of Congress. Economically, a new form of imperialist exploitation was established, industrialization, using low cost labor. U.S. corporations were encouraged to invest by turning the island into a huge tax haven. Mass migration to the mainland of unskilled labor was encouraged, to alleviate poverty somewhat, while still retaining a reservoir of cheap labor. In the 1960s, faced with the victory of the Cuban Revolution and the rise of revolutionary movements in Latin America, these policies were intensified to turn the island into a “showcase” of the supposed benefits of U.S. comtrol. This was coupled with severe repression of pro-independence activities, and the building of U.S. military bases. —Austerity and debt — For a time these policies did improve conditions in Puerto Rico. Annual growth rates jumped six percent in the 1950s, but gradually dropped to four percent in the 1970s. They were stagnant in the 1980s. By then Puerto Rico had become the most profitable place in the world for corporations. But soon the cheap labor model started to find greener pastures in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. In 1996 Congress began to phase out the tax breaks, which were completely gone by 2005. Big U.S. corporations pulled out, the economy collapsed, and the island has been in a recession for the past 11 years. The pro-imperialist capitalist politicians in Puerto Rico turned to borrowing from U.S. financial capitalists to keep the country afloat. Then more loans were necessary to repay earlier loans, in a vicious cycle that led to a crisis where Puerto Rico could not repay its loans any more by 2014. Shades of Greece! An example was the government-run power company, which became insolvent. Equipment could not be modernized, and repairs were neglected. The electrical system was so fragile that when Irma and Maria hit, it completely collapsed. Huge cutbacks to social services, education, health care, etc. were implemented as the crisis deepened. The health system was in dire straights before the blows it has taken from the hurricanes. The island was in debt to the U.S. financial lenders to the tune of $73 billion. As the debt could not be paid, its price fell. Vulture capitalists moved in buying up the cheap debt and then demanding it be paid at its face value price. Taking advantage of the crisis, in 2016 Congress, the executive under Obama, and the judicial system ripped the fig leaf off, exposed for even the most ignorant that Puerto Rico was and is a colony, by directly taking control. With bipartisan support, including from the “liberals,” a law was passed called PROMESA. It created an un-elected seven-person financial board that has sweeping powers over the economy. — Barry Sheppard, Puerto Rico devastation badly worsened by US treatment — before and after the hurricanes
Videos of the Day:
Puerto Rico Suffers as Debt Vultures Linger The White House has already walked back President Trump’s suggestion of debt relief for Puerto Rico, threatening more draconian austerity
Big Capital May Punish the UK For Corbynomics City of London financial expert and Marxist economist Michael Roberts says much is to be gained from the economic proposals of Jeremy Corbyn. However, Big business is likely to punish any government seeking to move away from the “Neoliberal consensus”
U.S.:
The End of Empire The American empire is coming to an end. The U.S. economy is being drained by wars in the Middle East and vast military expansion around the globe. It is burdened by growing deficits, along with the devastating effects of deindustrialization and global trade agreements. Our democracy has been captured and destroyed by corporations that steadily demand more tax cuts, more deregulation and impunity from prosecution for massive acts of financial fraud, all the while looting trillions from the U.S. treasury in the form of bailouts. The nation has lost the power and respect needed to induce allies in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa to do its bidding. Add to this the mounting destruction caused by climate change and you have a recipe for an emerging dystopia. Overseeing this descent at the highest levels of the federal and state governments is a motley collection of imbeciles, con artists, thieves, opportunists and warmongering generals. And to be clear, I am speaking about Democrats, too. By Chris Hedges 
It Is Time to Transform, Not Just Rebuild, in Puerto Rico As Puerto Rico faces the difficult task of rebuilding in the midst of an economic crisis, austerity measures are not the correct response. Instead, federal and local governments must aid recovery by investing in the island’s existing physical and human resources, especially the community efforts to build a just and sustainable infrastructure in the wake of the financial crisis that preceded the hurricanes. By Marisol LeBrón and Hilda Lloréns
Trump came to Puerto Rico like an emperor: with pomp and little sympathy The president’s visit to the hurricane-stricken island — in which he threw paper towels and bags of rice into a crowd – seemed to be an exercise of self-congratulation. President Donald Trump arrived in Puerto Rico like an emperor, coming to scold his uncooperative subjects. “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack,” he said during a visit to the island on Tuesday. He might as well have blamed us for throwing ourselves in the path of a hurricane. By Susanne Ramirez de Arellano
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
There is a morally corrupt contract that white fans make with black athletes. We will accept you: but only if you surrender your political voice — When white sports fans turn on black athletes
The (Really, Really) Racist History Of Gun Control In America The origin of gun control — and its impact on black Americans — is being Forgotten By Jane Coaston
In 1898, White Supremacists Killed 60+ African Americans in One of Deadliest Mass Shootings in U.S. The Las Vegas attack on Sunday has been called the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Bishop William Barber joins us in studio for an extended interview to discuss another, less known mass attack: the infamous Wilmington massacre of 1898, when white supremacists seized armed control of the North Carolina town and killed at least 60 African-American residents, drove hundreds more out of town, burned down the local African-American newspaper and installed a former Confederate officer as the new mayor. Barber also discusses gun violence and violent policies in the aftermath of the Las Vegas attack.
WMXP Radio: Community Media is a Real Empowerment Project “I want to ask folk to give in a more strategic way by donating to WMXP and the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination to fund long term, empowering, capacity-building” projects, said Efia Nwangaza, the veteran activist and people’s lawyer who serves as executive director of the Center and its radio station in Greenville, South Carolina. The demise of WXMP is the local establishment’s “fondest objective — especially law enforcement and the misleadership class,” said Nwangaza. By Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford 
The Las Vegas Killings, Through the Lens of New Orleans, Detroit and San Juan “In a society that has historically denied the humanity of people of color, solidarity with other human beings does not come naturally.” Humanity yearns for a just and livable social contract, and will fail as a species if a global accord is not soon achieved. The biosphere, itself, shrieks and shudders under the contradictions of capitalism in its fatal, imperial stages. At the center of the vortex of impending annihilation is the United States of America, the Mother of All White Settler Regimes, ruled by a tiny cabal of plutocrats under the protection of the planet’s largest and most intrusive police state, who are determined to impose full spectrum dominance under an Earth-wide, doomsday canopy. By Glen Ford, BAR executive editor 
Environment:
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Labor:
Economy:
Meet the $4 Trillion Market that Donald Trump Just Bitch-Slapped According to Federal Reserve statistics, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, the U.S. municipal bond market consisted of $3.8 trillion of debt outstanding with retail investors owning 42 percent of the market. Life insurance companies, property and casualty insurers, banks, mutual funds and foreign buyers are also major holders of municipal bonds. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street demands Puerto Rico pay up A day after Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico, where he contemptuously told survivors that they were not facing a “real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and that their demands for emergency aid were throwing the US budget “out of whack,” administration officials made it clear there would be no debt relief for the hurricane-ravaged US territory. Trump tossed out paper towels and other supplies at a local church in what might be described as the billionaire president’s “let them eat paper towels” moment. With 95 percent of the island’s residents without power, half the population without clean water, a lack of gasoline and medical supplies, and a death toll, which is officially 34 now and potentially hundreds more, the president said the condition on the island due to the federal response was “nothing short of a miracle.” By Rafael Azul
Catalonian crisis drags European bourses down, banks fall European shares fell on Wednesday with Spain’s IBEX marking its biggest loss since last year’s Brexit vote shook equity markets. The impact of the crisis in Catalonia spread from Madrid and Spanish banks to the wider industry and euro zone region, particularly Italy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent at its close while Spain’s IBEX .IBEX posted a 2.9 percent loss. Catalonia-headquartered Caixabank (CABK.MC) and Banco Sabadell (SABE.MC), the stocks most sensitive to the rising political risk, sank 5 and 5.7 pct. King Felipe VI accused Catalan secessionist leaders of shattering democratic principles in a rare televised speech — itself a sign of the gravity of the crisis, analysts said. By Julien Ponthus and Helen Reid
World:
Mexico: “The Economic Power of Developers Is Just Stronger” In Mexico City, putting developer profits before earthquake preparedness yielded lethal results. Misfortunes in Mexico City never come singly. Built on an ancient lake bed that sinks an average of eight inches a year, the city is also situated on the Ring of Fire, a volatile basin of the Pacific Ocean that produces 90 percent of the world’s earthquake activity. Together, these infelicitous conditions help explain why a 7.1 magnitude quake rocked the city last month — killing 366 and injuring 6,000 — just as an 8.0 quake rocked it exactly thirty-two years ago. But questions remain. Why, three decades after the devastation of 1985, was the city so badly damaged by an earthquake ten times weaker? Why did forty-four buildings — many of which were constructed in just the last few years — collapse? And why are three thousand more so close to collapse that residents had no choice but to abandon their homes for good? The answer is that, in Mexico City, the law is a negotiation, and business typically wins. Despite years of reform, the city’s urban planning process still bends away from earthquake preparedness and toward developers’ profits. By David Adler
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
Veteran doctors key to patients’ health, future of medicine If you have been admitted to the hospital recently, you may have noticed a change from tradition: Upon admission, you are suddenly placed in the care of a doctor — often a very young one — who is not your doctor, but a stranger you have never met before. This comes as a shock to those of us who remember the days when your doctor followed your care in the hospital, so long as your ailment was within his or her area of expertise. I have learned that these doctors are a relatively new category of physician called “hospitalists,” and that their practice of medicine consists exclusively of shift work caring for hospitalized patients, and that they are increasingly displacing the physicians who practice in the traditional manner. . . . The relationship between veteran doctors and residents has always been symbiotic: The doctors provide supervision and education for no cost, and in return the residents aid in caring for their patients. Without the assistance of the residents, it is now impossible for a doctor to care for his or her hospitalized patients, who are being denied access to care and support at the time they need it most. Tradition is more important than ever in times of change, particularly when it comes to educating a generation that has no experience with the previous era. In my own field, the transition from celluloid to digital film means movies today are made in a totally different manner than before. Yet when new or aspiring filmmakers come to me for advice, I direct them back to books on how to make films in the old way, as understanding the tradition is the only way to truly learn the art. Learning from doctors like Dr. Jacobson is like learning from one of the old masters of filmmaking, and physicians-in-training should not be denied such an extraordinary opportunity. By Francis Ford Coppola
Global: Light at night linked to breast cancer Women who live in areas with higher levels of outdoor light at night may be at higher risk for breast cancer than those living in areas with lower levels, according to a Harvard University study. The large long-term study also found a stronger association among women who worked night shifts. Harvard University news release. Peter James and others. Outdoor light at night and breast cancer incidence in the Nurses’ Health Study II, Environmental Health Perspectives, volume 125, issue 8, 17 August 2017. doi: 10.1289/EHP935 ITUC/Hazards work cancer hazards blog. Risks 815. 2 September 2017
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