n2doc
n2doc's Journal
Bernie vs. the cult of the free market
by CONOR LYNCH
In a recent column by the always pompous George Will, “What Bernie Sanders doesn’t understand about economic equality,” the conservative writer explains why the unwashed masses should quit being so envious, and shut up about economic inequality already (which just so happens to be at its highest level since the Great Depression).
In Will’s opinion, people make what they’re worth, and this whole movement rallying against income and wealth inequality in America (and the world) is simply growing out of envy, which, he warns, is one of the seven deadly sins.
“The fundamental producer of income inequality is freedom,” Will writes, “Individuals have different aptitudes and attitudes. Not even universal free public education, even were it well done, could equalize the ability of individuals to add value to the economy. Besides, some people want to teach, others want to run hedge funds. In an open society, rewards are set not by political power but by impersonal market forces, the rewards of which will differ dramatically but usually predictably.”
First of all, what Will really means in the first sentence is that “the fundamental producer of income inequality is economic freedom,” rather than freedom in a political sense, e.g. freedom of speech, expression, assembly, religion, etc. “Economic freedom” is another way of saying a free market, where, in an ideal form, the state stays out of almost all economic matters, except when it comes to the most basic enforcement of market rules, like property and contract laws. In other words, all regulations of private industry, whether they relate to the environment, consumer safety or worker rights, would be done away with for the sake of freedom (because what is freedom if not the freedom of a corporation to destroy the environment or abuse its workers?). For those who worship the free market, all of the defects of capitalism, which have historically been corrected or mitigated by the state, would eventually be solved by the market.
more
http://www.salon.com/2015/10/20/bernie_vs_the_cult_of_the_free_market_why_the_right_wing_case_against_sanders_is_laughably_wrong/
“I am a prince and I do what I want,”
A Saudi Arabian prince is accused by three female staffers of acting like a bizarre party boy — engaging in a gay-sex act in front of them, threatening a woman’s life, demanding that an assistant fart in his face while others watched and declaring, “I am a prince and I do what I want,” according to a report.
Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is the son of the late King Abdullah, allegedly engaged in the lurid behavior at his $37 million mansion in Beverly Hills, according to a lawsuit filed by a trio of women who worked for him there, the Daily Mail reports.
The lawsuit accuses Al?Saud, 29, of being drunk and on drugs — and of making crude sexual advances on men and women alike.
The prince is accused of getting on top of one woman and grinding on her in a “sexual and aggressive manner.” He also allegedly threatened the life of another woman after she refused to “party” with him, the report said.
What a Charmer!
http://nypost.com/2015/10/21/saudi-prince-accused-of-gay-sex-threats-and-fart-in-face-demand/
Justin Trudeau Just Showed American Democrats How to Win the Next Election
Promises to tax the rich and to make infrastructure investment a priority—along with an embrace of diversity—beat the right in Canada.
By John Nichols
It may be true that American Democrats have nothing better to do than wait for Joe Biden to decide whether he will mount a third bid for the presidency. Or, failing that, to try to figure out what it is about democratic socialism that might appeal to underemployed young people who are burdened with staggering student debt and face the prospect of getting kicked off a parent’s health insurance plan.
But if America’s Democrats could look away from the 2016 horse race for just a moment, they might actually learn something about going big—and winning big—from Justin Trudeau.
The 43-year-old leader of Canada’s Liberal Party was not supposed to come out of the country’s 2015 election as its prime minister. At the start of the race, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, ally of George W. Bush, role model for Scott Walker, was locked in serious competition with a cautiously left-leaning New Democratic Party. The traditionally centrist Liberals (at their best “vital center,” at their worst blandly managerial), having been very nearly obliterated in the previous election, did not look particularly viable. And party leader Trudeau was frequently dismissed as the good-looking but inexperienced son of a great 20th-century prime minister.
“Seen at the beginning of the campaign as the least ready for the election of the three main party leaders,” observed the Toronto Star at the end of the campaign, “Trudeau managed in 11 weeks to shape a compelling political narrative and provide Canadians with a credible alternative to Harper and the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair.”
more
http://www.thenation.com/article/what-american-democrats-can-learn-from-justin-trudeau/
Bernie Sanders Wants DOJ To Investigate 'Potential Fraud' By Exxon Over Climate Research
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday joined a push for the Department of Justice to investigate allegations that ExxonMobil hid research confirming fossil fuels contribute significantly to climate change.
In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Sanders accused the oil giant of a "potential instance of corporate fraud," which he added could "ultimately qualify as a violation of federal law."
"Exxon Mobil knew the truth about fossil fuels and climate change and lied to protect their business model at the expense of the planet," Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, wrote.
Last week, two House Democrats sent Lynch a very similar letter, pressing her to launch an investigation into Exxon's actions. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, another Democratic presidential candidate, has also indicated support for an official inquiry.
more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-exxon-investigation_5626a0cce4b08589ef496854
Wednesday Toon Roundup 3- The Rest
Speaker
Waiting
Webb
Canada!
Halloween
Health Care
The Issue
War
Bernie Sanders's Highly Sensible Plan to Turn Post Offices Into Banks
by JOE PINSKER
In an interview with Fusion’s Felix Salmon the day after last week’s Democratic debate and published Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders discussed the marquee features of democratic socialism he’s been tirelessly calling for during his presidential campaign: higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans, an increased minimum wage, and breaking up the biggest Wall Street banks.
Salmon also raised a possibility that has not been as prominent in Sanders’s stump speeches, but animates him nonetheless: turning the U.S.’s post offices into banks. Sanders:
In fact, Sanders’s idea is quite sensible. “Postal banking”—which just means that post offices run savings accounts, cash checks, and perform other basic financial services—is common in most of Asia and Europe, and only about 7 percent of the world’s national postal systems don’t offer some bank-like services. Postal banking is a really good way to reach people who haven’t had access to standard savings accounts. One estimate figures that more than 1 billion people have used post offices for making deposits.
more
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-lets-turn-post-offices-into-banks/411589/
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayMember since: Tue Feb 10, 2004, 01:08 PM
Number of posts: 47,953
