please tread lightly

Trying to tread lightly through the day, work and life

Category Archives: social issues

US definitely NOT number one in social justice

Once again, an international study finds that the US is not number one when compared to other countries; this time in the area of social justice.

A NYT article refered to  a report released on Thursday by the Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation which compared various rates of poverty, income equality, education spending and healthcare among the OECD members.  The results are not flattering for the US – not only did most of the established Developed Nations score better, but also most of the nations of the former Eastern Block and South Korea.

These findings confirm the results  of earlier studies such as the PISA study, which shows that american students achieved, at best, average results when compared internationally, or the study on healthcare in which the US came in 37th.

All these studies confirm another side effect of the 99% problem: the burden for for more and more of society’s fundamental needs are shifted to individuals, while at the same time, the ability of those same individuals to actually fulfill the needs is diminished.   Currently, too many of  the 99% do not earn enough to sustain themselves and pay for services such as health care, education, housing etc., even if they are lucky enough to have a job.

American society must realize that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Someone has to pay for the basic services of a civilized society, either individuals, or “society”, i.e. government.

As the last 20-30 years have shown, removing most regulations and thus encouraging a society of greed and “I’ve got mine” will not lead to “trickle down” wealth.  So if the 1% is not offering the 99% the opportunity to support themselves by voluntarily providing jobs, then government must provide the needed services – which it can only do if given the means.

I wonder when the GOP and the 1% will get that?

 

#OWS

The GOP’s War on Women

The news coming almost daily about the GOP’s concerns and actions to restrict Women’s rights are simply flabbergasting!

Within just one single week we have:

  • Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): introduced the Heartbeat Consent Act, which would force Women to listen to the heartbeat of their Fetus as part of the official consent to abortion.
  • Joe Pitts (R-PA): “Let Women Die” Act, which, among other things, permits doctors and hospitals to “exercise their conscience” by letting pregnant women facing emergency medical conditions die.
  • Jim DeMint (R-SC): adds Amendment to a completely unrelated bill to abolish the right for Women and Doctors to communicate about Abortion on the Internet – What is next, phone tapping to make sure you are not talking about it?
  • Virginia Foxx (R): loudly claims to have worked for Women’s rights and defends this proposed amendment,
  • Rick Santorum announces that, were he President, he would work hard to make contraception illegal.

What planet are these people from? Let me be clear: I do not believe that abortion is a good thing.  I thank the stars that I have never been forced to be faced with such a decision. However,  I am absolutely for the right to make that choice. As for the idea of abolishing contraception – can Burqas be far behind?

 

Simply great Occupy Wall Street Video

#OccupyWallStreet

Things have been quiet here for the last 2 weeks. Personal things and  work have kept me busy. But I also am fascinated by the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon and have been following the events in NYC and elsewhere.

While I am not 100% sure about the movement as such, and am not sure what can come of it, the hypocrisy of American politics regarding the movement is unbelievable.

If nothing else, then the following short film would convince me to support the protesters:

hat tip: Gaius Publius at AMERICAblog

 

 

Wall Street protests and intimidation

I wanted to write about something amusing today but got sidetracked by a number of posts coming up on G+ about the Wall Street protests. So, instead, I have pulled together some information:

Glenn Greenwald on Salon about the condescension towards the protesters.

The Guardian about the arrests of 500+ protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge.

In connection with the protests, there have been questions about the docility of Americans, first: Howard Zinn said they are too docile:

“ Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”


 And Paul Nevins writes about the topic in Salon.    It is a long article, but worth reading. A few major points from one of the last paragraphs:

          “Sadly, this myth of the self-made man – with its  emphasis on the importance of individual action and responsibility – has instilled within the American psyche a sense of social isolation and disconnectedness that makes it virtually impossible for many Americans to comprehend the importance and effectiveness of collective action when needed to pursue common goals. Unlike the French, who in addition to the idea of liberty, have embraced the values of equality and fraternity, the latter two concepts remain utterly alien to this country’s political vocabulary. “

  This image was shared this afternoon by Michael Mozart who is widely followed on Google+ and covering the Wallstreet occupation closely.

I have not been able to find any further information about such intimidation. However, the fact that the american media are obviously very reluctant to report about this, and we know what kind of pressure is brought to bear on employees “team player”, “taking one for the team”, “loyalty” etc. I can fully believe that this young man was sincere.

If you are looking for current information, you can find it at “Occupy Wall Street”, or at Inside the Wall Street Protests, because you certainly won’t find it in the national media:

 

CNN on Sun. Oct.2nd 2011 – no mention of anything at all on the US Page – nothing to see her folks, move along.

At least FOX News has an insert “below the fold” of the arrests-

To get halfway decent reporting about this you will probably need to go to The Guardian. I am sorry to say that Austrian papers are also ignoring this.

 

 

 

Update: there are some interesting interviews with Chris Hedges about the occupation here.

 

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