October 18, 2011
September 28, 2011
Occupy Wall St: Chris Hedges Interview Transcript
via greekcabanaboy on youtube.
Filmed on Sunday, September 25, at the
Amazing interview with author Chris Hedges discussing global, historical, political, economic, and moral aspects of the reasons for the protest and the larger movements to which it is related.
Read a full transcript of the interview below.
Interviewers: OK World! This is an extreme pleasure.
Chris Hedges: Do you want to ask me questions or do you want me to just say something?
I: Introduce yourself, and tell people who you are.
Chris Hedges: I’m Chris Hedges, and I’m a writer. I just got back from Immokalee Florida where the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is about to begin a huge campaign against supermarkets like Trader Joe’s, Stop & Shop, Giant. Which is extremely important. Because if it succeeds, it will probably double the wages, which run between about $8,000 & $10,000 for agricultural workers in the tomato fields, who live in horrific conditions at best. And at worst, conditions that resemble slavery. But I’ve been following what’s been happening here (Wall Street Occupation) and this is really where the hope of America lies.
Continue reading
September 27, 2011
Michael Hudson says…
“The financial sector in America basically has become a criminalized sector.”
via Michael Hudson
September 20, 2011
Elizabeth Warren 2012!
ELIZABETH WARREN 2012!
It’s a sign of the desperate times we live in that this plain-speaking, up-front, strong, intelligent and compassionate woman has been demonized by some shadowy and nefarious groups, while an utter insincere clown like half-governor Palin is lauded as some kind of working-class saviour. Lamestream media, indeed. I have seen Elizabeth Warren vilified in various blogs and tweets as socialist communist fascist devil overlord just waiting in the wings to deliver us all into the hands of the dark prince. How does a straight-talking, eminently reasonable midwestern woman get to be in this position? What is truth in 2011 America?
Obviously, those with large financial interests have many good reasons to fear these qualities as their entire modus operandi is obfuscation, confusion and deception. When these are the qualities that are guiding the direction of this country, one has reason to be a bit nervous.
So, I felt so inspired by this woman’s character I was compelled to create a graphic homage to Obama’s 2008 campaign poster “HOPE”. Because what we don’t need is hope. Hope is for suckers. We need TRUTH. And I can’t think of a better representative in this day and age than Mrs. Warren. Her bravery and fortitude swimming with the sharks in our capital deserve a standing ovation from everyone that still has a shred of respect for truth and reality. Thanks to Shepard Fairey for the original Obama poster, from which this borrows heavily!
Please let me know if you like it!
If you want to know more about Elizabeth Warren:
Who’s Afraid of Elizabeth Warren @ New York Times
Elizabeth Warren @ Wikipedia
UPDATE: She’s out for running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and in for Senator of Massachusetts in 2012.
September 12, 2011
James Howard Kunstler says…
“I don’t want to be party pooper, but is it possible that all the 9/11 remembrance hoopla was a kind of weekend refuge from reality for this psychologically spavined nation? Memorializing is easy; acting resolutely in the here-and-now is another matter. To me, the various 9/11 doings that radiated out over the media gave off an indecent odor of triumphalism – a correspondent of mine referred to it as “self-important histrionics.” We seem to put on these shows because we don’t know what else to do, and because the only truly effective homegrown industry left in the USA is public relations, the business of making your own reality.”
September 9, 2011
August 26, 2011
Noam Chomsky: American Decline: Causes & Consequences
The eminent American philosopher John Dewey once described politics as “the shadow cast on society by big business,” warning that “attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance.” Since the 1970s, the shadow has become a dark cloud enveloping society and the political system. Corporate power, by now largely financial capital, has reached the point that both political organizations, which now barely resemble traditional parties, are far to the right of the population on the major issues under debate.
via Chomsky.info
August 14, 2011
Capitalism: Destroying Itself
From the man who correctly predicted the debt crisis of 2008, Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel), Professer of Economics at Stern School NYU, some chilling words about functional deficiencies in our captilast system. What makes sense on an individual level for firms and households is detrimental, nay potentially catastrophic, on a systemic level:
Karl Marx had it right. At some point Capitalism may destroy itself. You cannot keep on shifting income from labor to Capital without having an excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand. That’s what has happened. We thought that markets worked; they’re not working. The individual can be rational. The firm, to survive and thrive, can push labor costs more and more down, but labor costs are someone else’s income and consumption. That’s why it’s a self-destructive process.”
August 5, 2011
Recall Walker
Governor Scott Walker speaks at Wisconsin State Fair.
