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Today's Top News
A Ruinous Meltdown
A story that is not getting nearly enough attention is the ruinous fiscal meltdown occurring in state after state, all across the country.
Taxes are being raised. Draconian cuts in services are being made. Public employees are being fired. The tissue-thin national economic recovery is being undermined. And in many cases, the most vulnerable populations - the sick, the elderly, the young and the poor - are getting badly hurt.
Arizona, struggling with a projected $2.6 billion budget shortfall, took the drastic step of scrapping its Children's Health Insurance Program. That left nearly 47,000 low-income children with no coverage at all. Gov. Jan Brewer is also calling for an increase in the sales tax. She said, "Arizona is navigating its way through the largest state budget deficit in its long history."
In New Jersey, the newly elected governor, Chris Christie, has proposed a series of budget cuts that, among other things, would result in public schools receiving $820 million less in state aid than they had received in the prior school year. Some well-off districts would have their direct school aid cut off altogether. Poorer districts that rely almost entirely on state aid would absorb the biggest losses in terms of dollars. They're bracing for a terrible hit.
For all the happy talk about "no child left behind," the truth is that in Arizona and New Jersey and dozens of other states trying to cope with the fiscal disaster brought on by the Great Recession, millions of children are being left far behind, and many millions of adults as well.
"We've talked in the past about revenue declines in a recession," said Jon Shure of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "but I think you have to call this one a revenue collapse. In proportional terms, there has never been a drop in state revenues like we're seeing now since people started to keep track of state revenues. We're in unchartered territory when it comes to the magnitude of the impact."
Massachusetts, which has made a series of painful cuts over the past two years, is gearing up for more. Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, told The Boston Globe: "There's no end to the bad news here. The state fiscal situation is already so dire that any additional bad news is magnified."
California has cut billions of dollars from its education system, including its renowned network of public colleges and universities. Many thousands of teachers have been let go. Budget officials travel the state with a glazed look in their eyes, having tried everything they can think of to balance the state budget. And still the deficits persist.
In the first two months of this year, state and local governments across the U.S. cut 45,000 jobs. Additional layoffs are expected as states move ahead with their budgets for fiscal 2011. Increasingly these budgets, instead of helping people, are hurting them, undermining the quality of their lives, depriving them of educational opportunities, preventing them from accessing desperately needed medical care, and so on.
The federal government has tried to help, but much more assistance is needed.
These are especially tough times for young people. "What we're seeing now in Arizona and potentially in New Jersey and other states spells long-term trouble for the nation's children," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician who is president of the Children's Health Fund in New York and a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
"We're looking at all these cuts in human services - in health care, in education, in after-school programs, in juvenile justice. This all points to a very grim future for these children who seem to be taking the brunt of this financial crisis."
Dr. Redlener issued a warning nearly a year ago about the "frightening" toll the recession was taking on children. He told me last April, "We are seeing the emergence of what amounts to a ‘recession generation.' "
The impact of the recession on everyone, of whatever age, is only made worse when states trying to balance their budgets focus too intently on cutting services as opposed to a mix of service cuts and revenue-raising measures.
As Mr. Shure of the Center on Budget noted, "The cruel irony is that in a recession like this, the people's needs go up at the same time that the states' ability to meet those needs goes down."
Budget cuts also tend to weaken rather than strengthen a state's economy, especially when they entail furloughs or layoffs. Government spending stimulates an economy in recession. And wise spending is an investment in everyone's quality of life.
All states have been rocked by the Great Recession. And most have tried to cope with a reasonable mix of budget cuts and tax increases, or other revenue-raising measures. Those that rely too heavily on cuts are making guaranteed investments in human misery.
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Show AllWhen Rome was on the verge of collapse, rampant corruption and greed were spreading like fire. This ruinous fiscal meltdown in America today is nothing but a blatant sign of another empire collapsing, of leaders trying to grab what they can before the end.
America's demise not surprisingly is also being caused by greed and corruption.
It is so damn obvious that we are Rome in the Second Century it should be funny if it wasn't so tragic. Or is that tragic if it weren't so funny?
All we need now are some barbarians.
Oh wait, didn't Rome persue a "Global War On Barbarism" in the Second Century?
We are the barbarians.
I must be, because I surely don't speak the investment class's language.
When your only growth industry is drone aircraft, bombs, guns and death, you reap what you sow. I don't know why government workers would be surprised by layoffs when the tax paying public is being laid off en masse. Something needs to give and it won't be these bought off politicians and their corporate fascist taskmasters.
The tilt of the Titanic Deck is reaching a sickening angle isn't it?
The elites have taken the few lifeboats that were available and paddled away off shore, to Dubai or the Caymans leaving us to go down with the ship. But they may not survive the environmental collapse they've created. Extreme temperatures could get em'. The stock market keeps going up since all our jobs have been off-shored to China and India. But for those of us trapped down in steerage that is no comfort.
What a tragedy.
plenty of money exists to remedy all these problems, but it exists in the most pampered, undertaxed, and least responsible sector of the world economy, and that would be the hands of the wealthiest 20% of americans, whose homes and stocks appreciate untaxed and whose portfolios represent investments in worldwide financial speculation as opposed to real things like factories and service industries right here in the united states. just raising incrementally the tax on buyers and sellers engaged in speculative transactions would yield the billions needed for social maintenance. in addition, a slight tax on accumulated wealth, adopted in most european countries, would be equally beneficial here. the fairness here is evident; the internationalization of the world economny has afforded investment opportunities that the well to do are in a unique position to exploit. for example, since 1979 the value of capital, as measured by the dow jones industrial average, has gone up 12 times. 8 dollars invested then is worth 100 dollars now. wages, on the other hand, have increased by, at most, a factor of 4, less in the unskilled areas. the least paid were the most vulnerable, stripping them of the financial wealth that is necessary to keep apace with more skillled and educated workers. needless to say, not everyone can be an investor, and in internationally competitive sectors of our economy, we must have low wage workers to maintain competitive industries with highly compensated executives. the interesting thing about the u.s.a. is that the rich avoid the duty of war at the same time they reap the benefits of a world economy buttressed by the united states military, which are like pinkertons on the prowl, asssuring a steady flow of resources into the world's major industrial nations. based in 174 nations and counting, they have been successful. instead of financing these armed intruders, the elite have lobbied for and won tax cuts and exemptions on about every form of income conceivable. at the same time, the working class kids die in these resource driven conflagrations in the middle east. during medeival times the rich were chivalrous enough that they would fight to save the kingdom, as knights happily performed on the battlefield for their ladies, as the castle was just as vulnerable as the village. however, in these times the rich take subterfuge, hiding behind a wall of wealth to avoid service and the accountant's shield to avoid or evade taxes. so we fight our wars with money from china and japan, our lenders in chief. america's rich live the life of riley while we writhe in a house of pain.
Your analysis neglects inflation. The investment class may have seen an 800% return on investment since 1973, but inflation has kept the purchasing power of that increase on par, which causes the investment class to realize they've actually made NOTHING.
While the lower increase in compensation for labor - 400% according to you, now makes your salary worth 1/2 what your father's was. In short, you've made LESS THAN NOTHING.
The debt you need to incur to remain on par in the economy fuels the increased growth to the investment class - they collect the real wealth of your time paying the debt + the interest, while the increase in money supply further devalues your labor.
Lewis Carroll had the perfect analogy in a scene from "Through The Looking Glass", wherein the Alice stumbles upon the White Queen running vigorously in place. Whereupon the Queen tells Alice she'll get nowhere standing still, she must keep running faster and faster just to stay where she is.
inflation has not occurred at the rates you suggest. the cpi index suggests that it takes one dollar today to buy what 30 cents would buy in 1979. so while the cost of living has slightly more than tripled, the value of capital has gone up by a factor of at least 8, and has thus grown more than twice the rate of inflation. as an aside, it is funny that we don't count capital appreciation as part of the inflation index, since the accumulation of speculative wealth concentrates a disproportionate share of the aggregate national demand for consumer products into the hands of the top 10%, who own 90% of the country's financial assets. to illusrate, let me tell you that the dow jones index crested at about 1000 during 1979, and it is now approaching 11,000, just about where it was in march of 2000. if you don't include dividends paid, which would be about 3% of capital, you still have capital appreciating 900% during the period from 1979 to the present. prices, as i said, barely tripled during this same period. now, the wages of unskilled and semi-skilled workers have certainly not kept pace with inflation; even government statistics acknowledge that much, and that disparity has created the 50,60, and 70 hour work weeks that many must endure just to stay even with increases in the cost of living. my thesis is that the same changes in the international economy that have benefited the investor class have harmed the working class. ergo, the rich should pay a higher percentage of taxes on their wealth, which is really just a result of lucky timing rather than hard work. our government should use these justly derived taxes to create a more secure life for those whose fortunes, through no fault of their own, have been diminished by the changes in the international economy. that's not socialism, but the first order of establishing a more comprehensive form of domestic nationalism. too often we see ourselves as americans only when there is foreign enemy to defeat. we need to be just as nationalistic about the american economy and begin functioning as an economic unit, instead of as just a bunch of disparate and disconnected competitors who are all striving for that amorphous dream of "my kids having it better than i did". as we currently have pro-capital national policies in place that establish property rights, eliminate trade barriers, and homogonize business practices, we can achieve a symmetry by putting national labor and tax standards in place to protect workers with the same vigilance that we protect and nurture capital. such a course is actually conservative because it would establish national cohesion and unity at a time when seismic shifts in the economy and job markets are excluding a growing number of americans, particularly among the young and minorities, from even the opportunity of sharing in the wealth and productivity generated by the american economic engine. if we don't start soon, it will not be too long before the streets in our major cities resemble the footage we have all seen of the proletariat storming through petrograd and moscow in 1917. the motto for preempting national conflicts applies as well to class conflict; if you want peace, seek justice.
That's a great post Johnny,
Except that it's wrong. If you're basing it on the CPI, you numbers are wrong. The CPI is based on selecting a "basket" of commodities. But under Clinton, Greenspan introduced "weighted averaging" which gave little formulation to items that were going up in price, and huge valuation to items which were going down in price. His argument was that consumers would substitute Steak for hamburger, so the change in basket commodities wouldn't be noted. But now after he's gone, those same Americans are substituting beef for dog food. It's estimated that this accounting Tom Foolery has saved the Social Security pay-out about 30 percent in overall benefits paid to eligible recipients. Prior to the crash, real inflation was sky high. Anybody who filled up a car or bought groceries knew this.
So using pre-Clinton CPI formulation, maybe now it takes two dollars today to buy what 30 cents did in 1979. Of course the CPI excludes energy and food. And we all know that no American ever buys energy or food, right? ;-)
So none of your numbers mean anything, unfortunately.
TJ
t. jefferson; yes, the numbers mean a lot: even assuming that you are correct in your opinion that prices have sextupled since 1979, the value of capital, excluding dividends, has gone up at least 10 times during that same time span. the dow jones was around 900 in 1979, but today it has passed 10,700. that increase actually represents a factor of 12, and the yearly dividends mostly offset the inflationary consideration. no one can precisely measure inflation, but the point is that the value of capital rises much faster than inflation, while wage gains of the working class do not stay abreast of the rate of inflation; nor does the rate of wage increases keep up with the dramatic growth in the american worker's overall productivity. i have already discussed that wages are taxed upon receipt while capital may accumulate in value untaxed, with its owners able to wait for the most propitious time to recognize their gains.
The Dow is a phony indicator for two reasons:
1. If a stock gets hammered like Global Crossings, the original United Airlines or Enron for example, it is quietly dropped off the index.
2. The PTT (plunge protection team) started by Reagan, fraudulently stops any big drop in the Dow by buying up stocks with US treasury money pretending to be legitimate purchasers. It is well known that the Federal Reserve interpreted that body as unlimited in "damping" authority during the 2008 meltdown crisis. It funneled fake money to make fake purchases and has kept all us poor clueless saps believing in the effectiveness of the TARP bank robberies.
In other words, there is no free market. It's a casino run by the Chicago mob, and it's all one big Ponzi scheme. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this shell game was perfected by Ken Lay (GWB's close friend) with the Raptor Funds at Enron. Andy Fastlow the financial VP cut a deal with the government to explain how he did it in exchange for a white-collar no-sentence. The book "Conspiracy of Fools" detailed how they got away with it. Now it's moved into worldwide derivatives, that, just like the Raptor Funds, have absolutely no value whatsoever and no real assets to back them up whatsoever. That's what this whole "jobless Recovery" is based on. Warren Buffet calls them financial instruments of mass destruction.
Is all this subterfuge going to hold up forever?
I don't know, but the domestic employment numbers (which are dummied up too, since real unemployment is about 22 percent) can't go on like this forever without the cat eventually getting out of the bag.
The real Dow is probably 6000, but the man behind the curtain wants you to invest all your 401K and Social Security in it so we can have another "redistribution" of wealth that makes the 1800's looks like Utopia for all.
Did you ever hear that un-PC joke about the difference between Theory and Reality? It aptly applies to our unfortunate situation here.
TJ
to thomas j. and sally h.: my point stands; the value of capital has risen at at an extraordinarily higher rate than the value of labor. you may be right about inflation, but that just further supports my proposition that inflation harms those who earn with their labor more than it harms the investment class, which lives on trading paper. nor do i disagree that the stock market is built like a sand castle. you may be a little errant here because the major wall street players are able to produce a lot of their earnings in other countries. multinationals transcend national boundaries. the fact is that real money trades hands every day, every month and every year, and the big mules' wealth appreciates accordingly. the real value of the dow jones may soon drop to 6000, but i don't think it will. the bad thing about the way our economy is constructed is that it really doesn't need everyone in america to be prosperous and happy for the big dogs to create a lot of wealth for themselves and their enterprises. for example, profits are high now for the dow 30, even with 24% of americans unemployed or underemployed, and with credit lines to people and businesses tighter than ever. the teeming new consumer classes of the burgeoning asian economies are growing by the millions and taking up the slack in demand that our teetering economy creates. my point simply echos what william jennings bryan said a long time ago about how labor and capital are never equally treated by the power structure, and the compararative rates by which their values increase really need no documentation, as just a cursory look at the news or even out the window bears out the obvious.
My father's house sold, in 2000, for 8 times what he paid for it in 1973.
Perhaps you haven't been around long enugh?
In 1973 a gallon of gas sold for 35 cents, today it is over $2/gal.
Perhaps you slept through remedial math?
My father's house sold, in 2000, for 8 times what he paid for it in 1973.
Perhaps you haven't been around long enugh?
In 1973 a gallon of gas sold for 35 cents, today it is over $2/gal.
Perhaps you slept through remedial math?
phineas; no, my math skills are above average, but not infallible. but you have made my point. in 1973, gas was actually 50 cents a gallon. that was the year i bought my first car, a 1973 olds omega. the dow jones was at 600 then. a gallon of gas is now about $2.50 down south here. so you've seen gas rise by a factor of 5 or 6, but the value of capital as measured by the dow jones index has risen by a factor of 18, as it is now approaching 10,800. and that doesn't even count the 3% annual average yield the dow 30 had in dividends. my point remains; the increase in the value of labor has been far outpaced by the growth in capital. in other words, what the investor class owns is more valuable than what labor contributes to the economy. at least, if you look at it through the valuation norms of economic indices. like lincoln, i believe labor always takes precedence over capital. to balance the seesaw, we need to make sure that capital once again is taxed progressively because its growth, i believe, is linked to the decline of workers' wealth. only those in the investment class benefited from the world trade and trade agreements that we have seen over the years. workers have to compete with workers all over the world. they have to worry about overpricing themselves. by contrast, the investment class benefits from all this competition among the proletariat, because it lowers the price of products and makes them marketable on a wider scale. this growth in capital, which i have conclusively demonstrated, has not helped the common weal, because as capital valuations zoomed upwards, the state of our public services and common infrastructure has declined dramatically. again, had there been adequate taxation, all classes could have benefited by the transformation of the american economy. as to inflation, capital owners have had nothing to worry about, becasue their investments grow at a rate far exceeding that of inflation. the opposite propositions hold for wage earners. is there really any dispute on this point? i think progressives should use these indices to prove their case for a wall street tax or a wealth tax, at least as to the wealth acccumulated through securities.
Yeah but we have unlimited resources for our military. We're bringing freedom and dumbocracy to the rest of the world. We are spending bajillions of dollars on the really important things such as weaponry that some pimple faced x-boxer can use to french fry an Iraqi's ass half way around the world. We have unlimited funds to shower on Wall Street Banksters that we can't let fail because we would destroy our destroyed economy. Don't worry about those old people and schools and health care. Hell no because Wall Street is making money again. After all that's what is important. God Damn is this a great country or what.
Exactly, billions continue to be poured down the insatiable hole of the military-industrial complex in the service of the transnational corporate empire. The empire is the vampire that is draining the blood of the nation (that, and the ridiculous tax breaks for the greedy filthy rich, the failure to regulate and punish big casino bankers, etc.)
All we have to do is start taxing the rich, and make them pay their fare share. Instead we have been sold on the idea that taxing the rich will ruin the economy. Well look around! We didn't tax the rich - and yet the economy is ruined.
They are finally getting the idea in Olympia here in Washington. Be interesting to see if they come up with something progressive, instead of just raising sales tax for everyone and B&O taxes for businesses.
We were told that if we didn't tax the rich they'd take their savings, invest in business and start hiring again. Well, they did. They invested in the yacht business and hired European crewmen to run their floating palaces. At least they kept their word!
Actually, they did invest in jobs and factories. Only not on this continent.
True. Except call them by what they are: slave jobs and sweat-shops.
Yes, cut military spending by half and tax the rich.
It seems Rev. Wright was correct after all. The chickens really have come home to roost. Perhaps you should contact Mikhail Gorbachev to learn how to disband the Empire without destroying yourselves and the rest of us along with you. Something may be saved. Time is running out.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the working people disappear. GREED - the ruin of this country.
Well stated, RichM!
Ditto.
Tritto. Not taxing the rich is one of the few promises that Arnold kept.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Rich M is spot on about the NY Times. I hope that as a thoroughly rotten bit of old media its days are numbered. It's the most dangerous rag in the country and has been since Judith Miller and its cover-up of warrantless surveillance. Sulzberger Jr. (one of the most twisted upper-class snot-nosed punks on the planet) and Carlos Slim are putting out a Plantation Master's slant on the planet that has become so regressive it reads more and more like something out of the 17th century.
You are correct sir..
"D"
Great post RichM,
as always.
TJ
Sioux Rose
RICH M: The forum sends you a standing ovation. Thank you for nailing the two sacred totems: war and the comfort of the rich. You are so right about the time it takes between exposure to the "dis-ease" and the onset of life-threatening symptoms. We could add to the two prongs (war-fare and wealth-fare, i.e. policies designed for the rich) a third prong related to environmental disasters. Reading about the dead sea zones surrounding continents, the garbage isle of plastics in the Pacific, the death of thousands of acres of forest to beetle infestations (due to temperature increases), the chemicals in our nation's waterways... there, too, the cumulative sum of so many careless, egregious acts is beginning to emerge, or catch up.
I know what I suggest is purely symbolic but it would at least send a public message to the government which is nothing more than a collection agency for the pigocratic leadership.
No more flag pins, pledges, anthems or oaths of allegiance.
I was at a basketball game recently and I refused to stand for the national anthem. A yuppie scum tapped me on the shoulder and demanded that I stand. I said "Fuck you, asshole--make me,
while giving him an axe murderer stare. He backed down, considering me dangerously insane. On a somewhat related tangent, aren't we all sick of those obnoxious baby talking
stock trading commercials. I'm usually not in favor of infanticide, but if that creepy kid grows up to be another Wall Street shit I'll make an exception. To the Bastille!
Our country was doing OK until the Repugs got in and raided the surplus we had built up and handed it to their rich cronies. Then they lied is into an unnecessary war and did not pay for it. It was kept off budget so we would not even know the real cost of it. It is not socialistic ideas that wrecked us, it is greedy warmongers. I suppose if the country goes down, they can all take their money and run and leave the ruins to the working people. How wonderful to have a country where ten percent of the population have most of the income and still do not think they have enough.
Not a day goes by without a disaster story like this article. And yet, as a society, there is total silence in the MSM about the trillion dollar a year war machine. This idiocracy we live in has earned what is happening to it. The only drawback is that it is happening too slowly.
Now please go out and glue a flag bumper sticker to your car, and tell your friends how we're making the world safe for democracy.
It appears that there are no answers, no overwhelming corrective actions to be taken, no one-size fits all fixes, not even a small victory to be savored, nothing. Just brace yourselves.
Stone: you've said, in few words, what I think many feel. That this is all continuing on to some foregone, inevitable conclusion. I don't mean in a religious fundamental sense, but in the natural evolution of Empire. Those of my age and older have been witness to the decline and fall of two empires- the British- a slow devolution, peaceful for the most part, to their previous colonies; and the Soviet, also relatively peaceful considering what was at stake, cold war and all.
It seems to many of us not living in the U.S., that we are witnessing the alarmingly rapid decline of the last Empire, from within. Not necessarily tragic depending on how it plays out, but a potentially dangerous situation for us all, given the weapons available. There is no guarantee of a peaceful end to this.
Many of us are hoping that something worthwhile is saved. Its looking increasingly unlikely , given the selfishness, violence and religious fundamentalism that seems endemic in your culture.
I'm curious to know what you think we need to brace ourselves for. Not only you in America, but those of us watching, alarmed, from the outside. It affects us all- we've no place to hide.
Bill in Canada
Sadly Bill, America is experiencing a cultural collapse on all levels. We are living on a failed philosophy of greed, our political system is completely dysfunctional except for wealthy interests, our nation is polarized, the media is owned by wealthy interests and reflects their viewpoints only, our businesses are failing because of lack of demand, the people have no money, one fifth of us have no health insurance, families are being decimated in large numbers from job loss or home loss, religious fundamentalism is on the rise, extreme aggressive ignorance is increasing dramatically, the majority are frozen in ignorance and fear, our media culture is one of death, our military budget is beyond reason, the political and economic elites are sociopaths who strive through any means necessary to establish the New World Order run by them, frankenfoods have permeated our store shelves, justice is unavailable except to the wealthy, our rivers and air are dirty, our municipal governments are failing from lack of revenue, large numbers of schools are closing, banks are failing, prices remain high despite little or no demand, our President is a lier, our Supreme Court is filled with corporate shills, our streets and highways are increasingly populated with beggars and rootless people, hatred permeates our communities, natural disasters are on the rise, and it only takes one event to catalyze a cascading series of events leading to massive dislocation or collapse. Look for martial law to be declared and Fascisms emergence. Again, brace yourself.
Thanks, Stone. It took courage to write that- and I'm sure many will see things as clearly as you.
I guess the question remains, what then are we to do? Are we deer in the headlights? It all seems like Europe, about 1938, with 21st century Hitlers and Mussolini's in the wings. It seems the danger is almost palpable, the way out of this is unknown but the possible scenarios are frightening and unthinkable. I'm not a believer in fate but there is an unshakeable feeling that this is all playing out to some dark conslusion. The Cold War and Mutually Assured Destruction that I grew up with seems a simpler, even saner time as ludicrous as that sounds. As far as Martial law is concerned, it may be close. Many will welcome it. Those of us who remember Kent State will know what that can mean.
There are things worth saving, worth fighting for. Time is running out by my guess. Peaceful and positive solutions seem less and less likely. And there are other forces at play that may take us, most of us, by surprise again. There are agenda's we may not be aware of. Things ticking. Someone other than us may get to write the history.
This will be cold comfort, but we'll be with you whatever develops, albeit reluctantly. We've no choice really.
Good luck to us all.
Bill in Canada
Sioux Rose
STONE: Excellent post. I am about half-way through "Collapse," by Jared Diamond. I am not in love with the author's philosophy (which manages to permeate through his research); however, it is intriguing to follow the trajectory of those elements that cause a society to flourish, survive, or take the path to extinction. I am, as was the author, looking for parallels with our own twisted society.
The gap between the well-to-do and the millions struggling is getting wider. I just spent a few nights in San Francisco and the fancy restaurants are all full. That's my sister's world and therefore from her pro-business perspective, the economy has signs of potential recovery. When I brought up what little I know of California property taxes as being frozen, thus creating a dearth of available fiscal resources to maintain basic community operations, she and her husband made it known that the taxes are quite heavy. They are both self-made and wealthy; and as tends to be the case with that ilk of person, there is a rugged belief that every individual has the same choices for success. That type of belief "in the self" works as a psychic wall, and makes it easier for prospering persons to separate themselves from the increasing population of the have-nots.
So many elements of America's religious institutions, sporting events, Hollywood dramas, standard education, and national ethos drive home this idea of the separate self as basis for all standards of moral judgment. However, often when crisis strikes persons are forced to learn to work together. I believe that "Collapse" on numerous tracks is headed our way and those who do learn to work together will likely hold the greater odds of not only surviving, but helping to craft communities that thrive.
Stone,
EXCELSIOR !
After commencing the study of the humanities and liberal arts in 1961, following them through graduate degrees, living (participating - watching - observing), reading voraciously and constantly - - - here's a personal interpretation and conclusion.
What we see at work is the (DNA based?) drive of Homo Sapiens -self defined as Human Beings- for Immortality or,in cultural terms - to become like the gods. e.g. Ponce de Leon. Major hints can be found in the many science fiction and nonfiction writings of Issac Asimov. We DON'T WANT TO DIE! And if that case can be deferred even one minute by shoving you in front of ME, hang on to something. Fellow humans are last case sources of guanine cytosine, adenine, thymine.
We see also two competing models of H. Sapiens GENE POOLS. One is round, and the characteristic is egalitarianism of genes with equipotential for ascent. The other gene pool model is pyramidal, with the designated breeders at the very top and the base of the pyramid as sacrifical drones.
This difference, IMO, is seen in the health care reform debate. "Over-my-dead-body" the pyramids are saying to the circles, and vice versa.
Presently, I am the only person on the Internet who is risking public anger by making the observation that American Circles and Pyramiders perhaps should divide the USA in half, and each try a different way of pursuing happiness while living "among our own kind". I have to bob and weave each day but I going to continue saying this.
Trylon
I live in AZ and I can say that what Bob Herbert says about my state is true. AZ is in one big mess. CA is also in a big mess, plus add MA and NJ the economic disaster is getting bigger.
What is the answer to fix this mess? I wonder if anyone knows how to fix it, because whatever solution they try only makes things worst. Both parties are responsible for this BIG MESS. People have got to stop blaming the other party. Both parties played the game and helped themselves at the cost of the rest of us who are going to be left holding the bag and will have to pay the price for their big party.
I wish people would start being more honest with themselves and others. Until we have a government who is willing to be honest, caring about all of us and not just themselves and the super rich in this country, and finding a real solution and not these pretend solutions that everyone knows is just a sham anyway; we will continue to see more states added to the list of going bankrupt like CA, AZ, MA, and NJ.
The solution is to raise taxes on the wealthy, as Oregon has already done. But the states need to do it in lockstep, or the wealthy will threaten to move across state lines. CA and AZ should do it in lockstep, for example.
Exactly ubrew,
The answer is to declare that no-one can have more than a million dollars period. This draconian measure is necessary to restore Democracy and to save the environment. Class distinction will never go away, but we can set limits. Capitalism will never go away completely (trade has always existed all through history), but we can at least demand small, local competitors in place of the monopolies and mafias we now call Business.
We need to win over the tea baggers, the church and the military for a successful political Renaissance that comes off peacefully.
TJ
Don't worry everybody, everything will be ok because we have a
miracle worker in the White House. After tomorrow, health care will be fixed. Unemployment will be solved by jury rigging the statistics to show that the rate is really 5%. Economists (the most useless "profession") will be seeing "green shoots" out the wazoo. Elections will be arranged in Iraq and Afghanistan
to show that the people are hungry for democracy and approve of the murders of their citizens. Tom Brokaw will proclaim that ours is the new greatest generation because we've successfully risen to the challenges of the 21st century.
Tom Friedman will assert that the world is in a productivity
Renaissance which will enrich all. And they say that Alice in
Wonderland is bizarre?
Don't worry everybody, everything will be ok because we have a
miracle worker in the White House. After tomorrow, health care will be fixed. Unemployment will be solved by jury rigging the statistics to show that the rate is really 5%. Economists (the most useless "profession") will be seeing "green shoots" out the wazoo. Elections will be arranged in Iraq and Afghanistan
to show that the people are hungry for democracy and approve of the murders of their citizens. Tom Brokaw will proclaim that ours is the new greatest generation because we've successfully risen to the challenges of the 21st century.
Tom Friedman will assert that the world is in a productivity
Renaissance which will enrich all. And they say that Alice in
Wonderland is bizarre?
America has workers, skilled and unskilled, and it has work that must be done. What's the problem? No money. WTF does that mean? It's like an airline with planes, pilots, flight attendants, etc., but no tickets [see Ellen Brown's "WebofDebt.(com?)]. Money isn't some magical commodity. Banks are authorized to create it out of thin air when they deem it appropriate and the federal government can do, and in the past, has done, the same thing. Lincoln studied how to finance the Civil War and decided on gov-issued greenbacks instead of borrowing money from the banks (which is why, I think, he was shot). His decision saved taxpayers (or, cost bankers) hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments. North dakota has a state bank, is running a $1.2 billion surplus, and its economy is expanding... Basic banking services, lending for business and housing, paying interest for savings, credit cards, should be a public utility... Bankers can get rich only by stealing the money of others since banking creates nothing on its own. The bonuses you see going to Wall St. hustlers is the very money people "lost" in their Retirement accounts, houses, etc. It wasn't "lost". It was "stolen". Private banking makes it possible. A state bank could put back to work all the people who provide necessary services (teachers, firemen, etc.) and get money circulating again... Oh yeah, and bring back the "Eisenhower tax rates" (91% marginal tax rate),
Actually, North Dakota has the largest budget surplus in its history - they're looking for places to invest all that money - funny Herbert didn't mention this...
Excellent points rudyspeaks, state banks is an idea long overdue. I love to see it go viral.
I second RichM's astute comments, of course.
I'm still livid and aggravated over the impending passage of No Insurer Left Behind (and furious that Kucinich reverted once and for all to his Inner Gollum); this article incidentally exposes the fatal flaw in shifting health-care reform to state government.
Some states are closing parks and historical sites, laying off workers and scaling back services accordingly, etc. There is neither revenue nor political will for states to overcome the corporate-driven federal government's opposition to citizen-friendly health care reform.
There is simply insufficient wherewithal for the states to rush into the health care minefield about to be laid down by a corrupt and decadent Congress, and create a sort of single-payer "Hands Across America" by gradually linking up one state at a time.