please tread lightly

Trying to tread lightly through the day, work and life

Tag Archives: 99%

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

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.

 

Every 7th American lives in poverty !?!

Today, one of our most respected daily newspapers, Der Standard, had an article entitled “Jeder 7. Americaner lebt in Armut”  - Every 7th American lives in poverty”.

man pulling belongings in shopping cart while tourists get the happy story

According to the recently published report by the census bureau, 15% of americans live below the poverty level. It also showed that the the statistical average male with a job earns as much today as he did in 1969 (income adjusted for inflation). This would seem to say that income in the middle class has not changed in the last 40 years.

By the same token, the top 2 percent of the income pyramid today has 3/4 more income than 40 years ago.  So, while the one, large group has not had any real increase, the top 2 percent will soon have doubled their income.

These statistics are borne out by the Article in the New York Times from Sunday, Sept. 4th that I shared here:   Good summary of economic changes in the last 100 years.  Interestingly the article in today’s DerStandard seems to blame some of this on the crisis of 2008/2009 – saying that not enough recovery has happened to be of use to the average person.

Well, no.  When the super rich are planing floating cities to avoid all contact with the hoi polloi *, when luxury goods companies like Hermès and Louis Vuitton have earnings increases in 2010 and 20111 of over 20% – then clearly, growth is taking place, but it is not “trickling down”.  Maybe it is because the corporate taxes in the US are ridiculously low?  And who benefits from that?  The same shareholders, who then pay less income taxes than the schmucks driving their limousines.

As my post  from last week showed, even the Harvard Business Review sees problems ahead if this course is not changed. Maybe at some point even the most avid believers in “freedom” will understand that there are, and must be limits to pure, unadulterated economic selfishness.  Let that day come soon!

* hoi polloi is an antiquated term for "the masses" and I have always wanted to use it somewhere

 

 

 

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