RICHARD D wOLFF – The class politics of Trump carry forward the actions of his predecessors across the last century. The details, not the goals, vary with the circumstances. It is worth remembering that in all empires, when their rise inevitably turns into decline, those who accumulated the greatest wealth and power use these resources to retain their position. They thereby offload the costs of decline onto the middle and lower classes. The latter suffer more and face the consequences first. Trump’s first budget proposals starkly exhibit this offloading. For most empires, such offloading proves socially divisive and ends very badly.
Tag: politics
How News Reporters Are Being Deceived by Fake Groups of ‘Moms’ and ‘Parents’ Attacking Public Schools
MAURICE CUNNINGHAM – Fake groups of ‘Moms’ and ‘Parents’ attacking Public Schools are the creation of deep-pocketed conservative networks, not “grassroots” advocates.
How A Tie-Breaking Vote Fueled America’s Economy
DAVID MCCALL – IRA-funded projects are increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and shoring up supply chains, better positioning the nation to manufacture the goods needed both for domestic consumption and to trade with the world. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in 2022 to pass the IRA and unlock billions for an advanced manufacturing economy. Not a single Republican in either chamber of Congress voted for this historic legislation, which is revolutionizing the cement, chemical, glass, and steel sectors along with other traditional core industries.
How Unions and Joe Biden Are Launching a New Frontier in American Manufacturing
DAVID MCCALL – The Biden administration, in conjunction with unions and with clean energy aims, is supporting American manufacturing through substantial investments and grants coming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Climate Change and Energy Transition: The 2023 Scorecard
RICHARD HEINBERG and J. DAVID HUGHES – The numbers are in, and it doesn’t look good.
History Repudiates Three Key Myths About Human Societies
GARY M. FEINMAN – The New Gilded Age, wars along the Russian border, a global pandemic, battles for women’s rights, even the Titanic: history does rhyme with the present. Yet as former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert once observed: “If history tells us anything, it’s that we never learn from history.”
Global Elites in Davos Pretend to Care About Inequality
SONALI KOLHATKAR – Billionaires and the politicians who enable their wealth gathered for several days at a luxury resort in Switzerland to offer their puzzled concerns about why they keep getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
Theranos Verdict: In the U.S., It Is Fine to Lie to Consumers but Not to Investors
PRABIR PURKAYASTHA – Hyper-capitalism has systematically weakened regulations to help capital at the cost of consumers. The verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes case simply illustrates the growing post-’90s disregard for consumers.
‘This Goes Way Beyond Brutality’: Myanmar Coup and the Military’s Violent Suppression of Democracy
GLOBAL VOICES SOUTH EAST ASIA – February became a bloody month as the military and police violently attacked anti-coup protesters
Sleeping Near a Forest Fire
JENNIFER HOFMANN – It isn’t exactly the kind of situation you go looking for, pitching your tent mere miles from a forest inferno, sleeping on the ground zipped up into a sleeping bag. But it [is] exactly what is happening in America right now. On the precipice of danger, finding a way to live.
Victory: War-o-tainment Show Ends
DAVID SWANSON – Fifty thousand members of RootsAction.org signed a petition at http://StarsEarnStripes.org protesting NBC’s war-is-fun “reality” show co-hosted by former general Wesley Clark. Activists in New York have held a weekly protest and delivered the petitions. The final protest is at 5 p.m. this evening (Sept. 3) on the north side of W. 49th St. between 5th and 6th Avenues in New York City.