Some prefer unbridled capitalism. I prefer capitalism with a bridle. Opponents call capitalism with a bridle socialism. I prefer to think of it as compassionate conservatism.
Michael Moore's new movie called Capitalism: a Love Story is an uneven treatment of the recent financial meltdown. There were two parts of the movie I found particularly interesting. He had extensive film of the recent, December 2008, sit-in in Chicago of the terminated workers at a factory that made windows until it could no longer get financing from Bank of America. The workers were not paid what they were owed and were thrown out of work just prior to Christmas. I grew up in Chicago and the film showed how close to the Loop the factory was. The Loop is Chicago's center of political and financial power. During the sit-in, a Catholic Bishop visited the strikers to voice support. He told how his life was shaped by growing up on the South side of Chicago where abandoned steel mills sit empty and the lost jobs they represent. His experience was similar to Barack's when he was a community organizer in the same area.
The other part of the movie that impressed me was a much shorter segment that showed FDR making a radio address just before his death. FDR thought that the voters should see that part of his speech so he invited movie cameras into the office where he was broadcasting. FDR proposed another bill of rights for the US in which certain rights would be guaranteed: adequate affordable healthcare, a living wage, decent housing and affordable higher education. He died before these rights could be enacted, but the US imposed these rights on the constitutions of our defeated enemies in WW2, Germany and Japan. Isn't it ironic that our defeated enemies enjoy those rights now and after more than 60 years, US citizens are still denied them?
A new day dawnedExactly one year ago tomorrow.His critics see a glass half emptyBarack sees a good beginning.The road ahead is hard and longThe BushMess will not yieldIn a day or month or year.Those of us with BarackShould stop from time to timeFor a bit of fun and to survey the pathHow far to go and how far we have come.The Right may raise their voicesBut that is all they raiseEverything else they lowerHopes, expectations and results.The BushMess is their doingAs much as it was George W.'s.BushMess, BushMess go awayDon't return another day.Wishing will not prevent a repeat.Only hard work and constant vigilanceWill preserve our freedoms and our democracy.
Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! by Ralph Nader, 733 pages is a fast reading fable about what is wrong in the US and how with leadership and donations from billionaires we can right the wrongs. Nader gives names to the good guys and slightly disguised names to the bad guys. I found the inside details on the working of Wal-Mart and Congress the most interesting parts of the book. Whether you like Ralph Nader or not, he has done a lot of good for the country. In this book, he reveals knowledge that he has accumulated over a lifetime fighting for the average citizen.Some critics of Barack want the US to be the tough kid on the block in defense matters. This is Nader's response: "Asserting moral courage is being tough. Waging peace is tough. Standing up to arrogant power is being tough. And until we have the deeply just society our people deserve, doing the right thing even it costs us in the short run is being tough."
Nader also relates Lincoln's style on campaigning before there was mass media in 1840. Lincoln advocated dividing the voters into three categories: those who are with you from the get-go, those who are susceptible to persuasion, and those who are against you from the get-go. Then he guided his followers through the step-by-step process-- or more accurately the doorstep-by-doorstep process--of meeting with every voter except the opposition hardliners. Worked for Lincoln. Let's give it a go in 2010.
He also quoted Judge Learned Hand, "If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shall not ration justice." Nader contends..." that it is democracy, justice, and the rule of law that make capitalism produce a better material life for more people, not capitalism in itself.'I am giving my copy of this book to my son. I have purchased two additional copies of the book which I will send free of charge to the first two people who respond to this message. I wish that I could give away more than two copies. Please send an email to me at walthe@aol.com and put "Nader book" in the subject line. I will send a book to each of the first two responders.
In England in Charles Dickens's day, people who could not pay their bills went to prison. They stayed until they raised the money to get out, either by selling property, inheritance or through the efforts of friends and relatives. Prison furnished very little and prisoners were required to pay for any extras like clothing, more food or a better cell location.
Now we don't use debtors prisons; our debtors are allowed to roam the country so that they can work to repay their debt. As an experiment, I suggest that you add up all the interest that you pay per month including mortgage interest. You'll be surprised at the total; I was. Mortgage interest is deductible on your income tax, a subsidy to the home buyer, but also to the lender who can thus charge more, Lenders don't really provide much of a service for the exorbitant amounts they charge, If too big to fail, the risk is minimal. And it is our money they are lending, not theirs. For more on this I suggest a nearly century old classic, Other People's Money by Louis Brandeis. A slender book as true now as it was when it was written.
In Dickens's day before TV, people used to visit debtors prisons and insane asylums for entertainment. Now we can be entertained without leaving home by watching home videos of people falling down. A small improvement. Instead of finding other's problems entertaining, we should be doing all that we can to help solve their problems. With the debt problem, that means insisting on lower bank fees and interest rates.
Under the first amendment, Fox has the right to criticize the President. Under the first amendment, the White House has the right to criticize Fox.
George W. Bush's first press secretary was Ari Fleischer, who called reporters whose stories the White House did not like. Reportedly he threatened some with loss of access to White House sources in the future. If you are a White House reporter and cannot get access, you could very well lose your job. In my opinion, Fleischer's threats crossed the line. Can anyone truly say that the actions of the Obama White House have crossed a line?
In a recent post, I predicted that Iran would be an ally on the war on terror. I want to explain my thinking. Before the 1979 revolution, the US supported the Shah with weapons sales so that Iran would have a big stick to police that part of the world. The US had installed the Shah in power and he had ruled with an iron fist through his secret police, SAVAK. Their abuses probably exceeded ours at Abu Graib. Our interference in Iranian affairs made many Iranians anti-American and goes a long way toward explaining their current attitude to the US.
Our current allies in the West are doing little in the war on terror and in Afghanistan and want to do less. Our allies in the Muslim world do little to help and some sectors of their societies are actually helping the other side. Saudis are funding madrassas, schools, in Pakistan that produce Taliban recruits and probably recruits for al-Qaeda too. The Pakistan intelligence service, ISI, has been an active supporter of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now that support has boomeranged with Taliban attacks in Pakistan. I do no know if ISI support for the Taliban continues at this date.
We in the West who are not Muslim are infidels to be converted to Islam. Shiitie Muslims in the Middle East are considered by most Sunni Muslims to be heretics to be put to death. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, That puts the Muslim Shiites and the majority of the West on the same side. I do not expect Iran to send troops to Afghanistan or Pakistan. I do expect that Iran will desire peaceful borders with Iraq, Aghanistan and Pakistan. Iran has a larger population than any of its neighbors, save Pakistan. Iran has a big stake in settling the wars in their neighborhood.
If we reduce our dependence on Saudi oil, the Saudis will not be able to take our support and protection for granted. Our friendship with Iran will put pressure on Saudi Arabia to modernize their society, reduce corruption and reduce funding for the madrassas in Pakistan if they desire our continued friendship.
Haste makes waste is the slogan of Haste International, a large multinational company, and the world's largest supplier of waste. At the beginning of George W. Bush's first term, they had 13 factories in the US and now there is only the one required for government contracts that specify made in the USA. The other factories have been closed and the jobs shipped to China. We now import 95% of our waste from China. The reason I am talking about Haste International now is that Dick Cheney is urging Barack Obama to use haste in deciding the next steps in Afghanistan. The Bush administration used a great deal of the Haste product and you can see the waste all around the US and the rest of the world.
Logic is facing a surge in unemployment since Bush left office. The sign on the door of employment offices at the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and other conservative think tanks reads, No Logic Need Apply. Logic has gone out of fashion at the Republican party too. The policy now is make any charges against the Obama administration, however false and fanciful. If repeated often enough and loud enough, some will believe.
In a recent posting, I listed three causes of approximately 118,000 US deaths every year. I am reading Ralph Nader's most recent book, Only the Super-rich..., which I will review as soon as I finish reading it. In the meantime, some numbers just jumped off page 286 and I wanted to share them with you as soon as possible.
Numbers are again approximate
65,000 die each year from air pollution58,000 die from workplace related disease and trauma100,000 die from medical negligence or incompetence in hospitals100,000 die from adverse effects of commercially advertised drugs
That is an additional total of 323,000 added to the originally reported 118,000 for a grand total of 441,000 preventable deaths per year here in the US. Reducing those numbers must be a high national priority.
A college degree used to be a sure ticket of admission to a middle class life style. No more. With the rising cost of college and the accelerating disappearance of good paying jobs, exacerbated by the Great Recession, new grads are finding it very difficult to find jobs that will allow them to begin paying back the loans that got them through school. Many are forced to live at home with their parents as they postpone starting a life of their own.
Adding to the downward pressure on wages is the insistence of business to import temporary workers to fill jobs that Americans would fill but at a higher wage. A recent online study shows that IT workers, such as computer programmers and software engineers earn about 6% less than they would without the competition of H-1B visa workers. The undocumented and those with green cards or H-1B visas hold down wages for all of us.
When supply and demand are equal, the price set by their intersection is called the market clearing pricer since enough is supplied to meet demand with no overage. Business wants no government interference in setting the market clearing price since a price too low would lead to shortages and less profit on items they sell. However, when it comes to their purchases, business is happy with a price below the market clearing price since it reduces their costs and increases profits.
Let's assume no H-1B visas are issued. Jobs would be filled with American workers and wages would rise if some jobs are not filled. That would create an incentive for Americans to train themselves in the skills needed to fill what are now better paying jobs. It might take some time, but eventually, the supply of job applicants would increase to meet demand and a market clearing wage would be established at the higher level.
Today Barack has been in office for nine months and one day. His critics are saying that he should take full responsibility for the mess Bush left behind and stop blaming his predecessor. George W. Bush inherited a nation mainly at peace and a budget surplus. He left office with the nation at war and deeply in debt. During his eight years in office, he never fully accepted responsibility, continuing to imply that Bill Clinton was at fault for 9-11.
I predict that Barack will take full responsibility soon for the state of the economy and for our relations with the rest of the world, both peaceful and not. Barack is a man of high moral courage who will demonstrate progress both here and abroad before the elections of November, 2010. I predict that Barack will outsmart Osama bin Laden. That is something that George W. Bush was never able to accomplish, preferring force to strategy. I can make these predictions because of my high level of confidence in Barack Obama and his advisers.
At this time, I want to make another prediction that I am not as confident about. If you look at a map of the area, you see how central Iran is to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. I predict that Iran will be an ally, perhaps our most valuable ally in our effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda, both Sunni organizations. Iran is a Shiite country with regional aspirations. If we do not attack Iran, I believe that Iran will be willing to help us, not tomorrow perhaps, but soon.
These numbers are approximate.
43,000 died in traffic accidents in 2008.30,000 die each year from gun shot wounds45,000 die each year from lack of health insurance
That is a total of 118,000 US citizens dying each year needlessly. What are you going to do about it? Probably nothing unless a friend or loved one falls into one of those three groups and then it will be too late. How many of us are among the walking wounded bearing physical or emotional scars from contact with the results of the above three sources of death?
The NTSA and others have worked for years to reduce traffic fatalities. Now it's the turn of lack of health insurance to receive attention. In a few days or weeks, the US Congress will decide the fate of health care reform. In the immortal words of George W. Bush, " You're either with us or against us." If you are a member of Congress and you don't support health care reform, please get out of the way. If you support health care reform, now is the time to be vocal about it. The opportunity for real reform is a very rare occurrence.
