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The Blob

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Along with your link, flipper -

For the following linked book, Amazon TEXT: "What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.

"Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again.

"A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today."


First Highest Rated Positive Review on Amazon of this Title (Comments on this review have significant information - worth a read): "Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" is a brilliant analysis of the long term distribution of income and wealth. The book draws on reams of data from the United States and numerous other countries. Most of the data comes from income tax records and estate tax/inheritance records. The sheer quantity of data that underlies Piketty's conclusions is unprecedented, and as a result his work deserves a great deal of credibility.

"While the book is quite long, the major conclusion can be summarized very briefly: Piketty has found that, over the long run, the return on capital is higher than the growth rate of the overall economy. In other words, accumulated and inherited wealth becomes a larger fraction of the economic pie over time. This happens more or less automatically, and there is no reason to believe this trend will change or reverse course. Although Piketty does not focus on it, there is also an argument that modern technologies like robotics and AI could accelerate the process even more. (For more on this, I'd suggest also reading The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future).

"Piketty argues that the reduction in inequality in developed countries after World War II was a "one-off" that was driven entirely by political choices and policies. It did not happen automatically. Those policies have now been largely reversed, especially in the United States. As a result the drive toward increased inequality is likely to be relentless.

"Piketty's solution is a global wealth tax. While this seems politically unfeasible, he argues that it is the only thing likely to work. In particular he is is dismissive of the idea that more education and training for the masses can solve the problem. Conservatives in the US will almost certainly dismiss Piketty as a socialist, but his book makes it clear that this is not the case. His conclusions are backed by more hard data than any other economist has so far amassed, and they deserve to be taken very seriously."

Relevant world-wide but the US is being particularly referenced here -

What the 1% Don't Want You to Know | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

TEXT: "What the 1% Don’t Want You to Know - April 18, 2014
"The median pay for the top 100 highest-paid CEOs at America’s publicly traded companies was a handsome $13.9 million in 2013. That’s a 9 percent increase from the previous year, according to a new Equilar pay studyfor The New York Times.

"These types of jumps in executive compensation may have more of an effect on our widening income inequality than previously thought. A new book that’s the talk of academia and the media, Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, a 42-year-old who teaches at the Paris School of Economics, shows that two-thirds of America’s increase in income inequality over the past four decades is the result of steep raises given to the country’s highest earners.

"This week, Bill talks with Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, about Piketty’s “magnificent” new book.

" “What Piketty’s really done now is he said, ‘Even those of you who talk about the 1 percent, you don’t really get what’s going on.’ He’s telling us that we are on the road not just to a highly unequal society, but to a society of an oligarchy. A society of inherited wealth.”

" Krugman adds: “We’re seeing inequalities that will be transferred across generations. We are becoming very much the kind of society we imagined we’re nothing like.” "
 
Thank you for this. I am enjoying his talk and have reached 32 minutes before I had to stop. I will continue later.

He gets very good at the end - though he makes excellent points all the way through.

I was going to post his May 2014 update - apparently seriously good - but something is wrong with the audio - it cannot be heard. :(
 
FYI - I haven't read the book - but am hearing rave reviews about it -

"Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State" by Ralph Nader

Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State: Ralph Nader: 9781568584546: Amazon.com: Books

Text: "Ralph Nader has fought for over fifty years on behalf of American citizens against the reckless influence of corporations and their government patrons on our society. Now he ramps up the fight and makes a persuasive case that Americans are not powerless. InUnstoppable, he explores the emerging political alignment of the Left and the Right against converging corporate-government tyranny.

"Large segments from the progressive, conservative, and libertarian political camps find themselves aligned in opposition to the destruction of civil liberties, the economically draining corporate welfare state, the relentless perpetuation of America’s wars, sovereignty-shredding trade agreements, and the unpunished crimes of Wall Street against Main Street. Nader shows how Left-Right coalitions can prevail over the corporate state and crony capitalism.

"He draws on his extensive experience working with grassroots organizations in Washington and reveals the many surprising victories by united progressive and conservative forces. As a participator in, and keen observer of, these budding alliances, he breaks new ground in showing how such coalitions can overcome specific obstacles that divide them, and how they can expand their power on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the decisive arena of public opinion.

"Americans can reclaim their right to consume safe foods and drugs, live in healthy environments, receive fair rewards for their work, resist empire, regain control of taxpayer assets, strengthen investor rights, and make bureaucrats more efficient and accountable. Nader argues it is in the interest of citizens of different political labels to join in the struggle against the corporate state that will, if left unchecked, ruin the Republic, override our constitution, and shred the basic rights of the American people."
 
"Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State" by Ralph Nader

Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State: Ralph Nader: 9781568584546: Amazon.com: Books

Text: "Ralph Nader has fought for over fifty years on behalf of American citizens against the reckless influence of corporations and their government patrons on our society. Now he ramps up the fight and makes a persuasive case that Americans are not powerless. InUnstoppable, he explores the emerging political alignment of the Left and the Right against converging corporate-government tyranny.

"Large segments from the progressive, conservative, and libertarian political camps find themselves aligned in opposition to the destruction of civil liberties, the economically draining corporate welfare state, the relentless perpetuation of America’s wars, sovereignty-shredding trade agreements, and the unpunished crimes of Wall Street against Main Street. Nader shows how Left-Right coalitions can prevail over the corporate state and crony capitalism.

"He draws on his extensive experience working with grassroots organizations in Washington and reveals the many surprising victories by united progressive and conservative forces. As a participator in, and keen observer of, these budding alliances, he breaks new ground in showing how such coalitions can overcome specific obstacles that divide them, and how they can expand their power on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the decisive arena of public opinion.

"Americans can reclaim their right to consume safe foods and drugs, live in healthy environments, receive fair rewards for their work, resist empire, regain control of taxpayer assets, strengthen investor rights, and make bureaucrats more efficient and accountable. Nader argues it is in the interest of citizens of different political labels to join in the struggle against the corporate state that will, if left unchecked, ruin the Republic, override our constitution, and shred the basic rights of the American people."
I used to campaign to a politician called Bob Rae who was a rising star for the party of the left (NDP) in the federal government. He is the son of a diplomat and Rhodes' scholar and was the witty critic of the ruling Liberal Party. He switched to the provincial level so that he could become leader of the provincial NDP. I was a delegate that helped campaign for him and elect him as leader. He was elected as premier of Ontario. The first thing he did was trash a good plan (like British Columbia had a Manitoba still has, for no fault insurance. He went on to tear up union contracts and subsides. U.S corporate interests. He then paved the way for the Mike Harris Conservatives to attack all social services in Ontario. Since then the federal NDP has cozied up to Bay Street (our version of Wall street) , kept Canada in Afghanistan, and the provincial NDP has made it possible for our version of Scott Walker to become premier. When I walk around my city I see only election signs on people's lawns that they plan to vote for this coming devastating attack on their way of life, I despair. Are we so stupid, or are we to well trained that we can no longer see what is in our own interest? All this to say that if you like listening to pod casts. Here is my favorite truth teller.
Michael Parenti talks
mp3 down loads are free, do not be confused by the opportunity to pay for what is free TUC
TUC Radio: Newest Programs
 
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I think Noam Chomsky is a left gate keeper but in this interview I can find nothing wrong:
Published on Jun 17, 2014

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges speaks with Professor Noam Chomsky about working-class resistance during the Industrial Revolution, propaganda, and the historical role played by intellectuals in times of war:
 
The political process described here in this article is so far from what is happening in Canada that it could be happening on another planet:

Real Democracy and the Capture of Institutions
With this strategy the solid institutions of power, in particular the central government, are not yet reached. Yet municipal or regional governments have sufficient authority to undertake much more in housing construction and tenant rights, in the design of public spaces or in the healthcare system. They can ensure that no one falls out of the health system and can shorten waiting lists by making more resources available. They can prevent evictions or at the least make alternate housing available. They can prevent privatizations at the municipal level or even reverse them. They can promote the collective and democratic organization of social infrastructure and create institutional support for movements. And they can act where no competencies exist by breaking rules and challenging power.

Finally such local alliances can work against the (self-) fragmentation of the Left and create the basis for a dynamic, which with the elections for the Spanish parliament leads to the end of the two-party system and to the initiation of a constitutive process for real democracy. •
Real Democracy and the Capture of Institutions: The Dynamic Reorganization of the Spanish Left | The Bullet No. 1031
 
The political process described here in this article is so far from what is happening in Canada that it could be happening on another planet ...

We know there are problems, but what are the solutions and how do we go about realizing them? It seems every political party and politician and system has its pros and cons. Some things are better privatized while other things are better suited to nationalization, or administration by regional or local government.

The pace of modern society creates pressure for change to happen in weeks or months, but here in North America it seems to take decades. There's no way a democratic system that moves at a snails pace can keep up with the progress being made in the private sector ( or countries ruled by dictators ), particularly where new medicines and technologies that require governmental approval are taking place.

The status quo has created laws that prevent radical change because anything that's radical must be bad right? OK fine. So let's say we don't really want radical change, and what we want is rapid responsible peaceful change. The system still doesn't seem to differentiate between the two, and will still call you a radical anyway. Making meaningful change happen in a timely fashion seems like more and more of a pipe dream every day.

The system is setup to self-perpetuate, and anyone who tries to initiate change soon finds themselves an outcast, so what do the go-getters do? They play the system, suck what they can out of it for themselves before they get busted, and then if they finally get caught, while authorities twiddle their thumbs in the elevator on the way up to arrest them in their penthouse suite, they grab their golden parachute and bail out the window.

So again: What can we do? Signs, protests, marches, political opposition, rants on the Internet; none of these things are sufficient. The corrupt CEO has already landed his golden parachute on his private yacht in some lagoon protected from extradition or indictment. Sure we all hate them, but maybe their really the smartest guys in the room.

Society is a great sea of individuals that no single system can placate by political promises. We're all dragged along by currents much larger than ourselves, and the vast majority of us only manage to stay afloat by taking advantage of the very system that we hope to change. And even if we hope to change it for the better, the majority of the people around us don't want anyone rocking the boat, because even if they want change too, they're too dependent on the system to risk becoming outcasts themselves.


Smartest Guys In The Room

 
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It's harder than ever to tell the sock puppets from the puppeteers on the political stage. I could swear that just during my lifetime, the people for whom we vote are ever more like prize livestock chosen and groomed to perform in public for purposes of show, than genuine managers of our collective destiny.

And there is the sum-zero factor at work. As the pie gets ever smaller due to increasing global population, inevitable competition among nations and shrinking natural resources, lines demarcating stratification of money and power will become ever more firmly entrenched. Higher stakes lead to rougher play. Think of it as the Titanic analogy: wealthier passengers had a much better chance at precious seats in lifeboats than those further down. This principle applies not only to the private jet set, but to all socioeconomic levels of society.

Brokers of power in a democracy should be tacitly presumed guilty of perfidy until proven innocent. We have not only a right but an obligation to this point of view.


I ran across an interview on NPR recently of someone with genuine experience and credentials in the field of political fund raising. Sorry , I cannot recall his name. His claim was that "big" money is playing an ever increasing role in what have been traditionally considered local or grass roots elections. I don't think one needs to be even on the left side of the aisle to see this as a negative indicator, as banana republic tactics that do not bode well for our future.
 
They can’t really grasp the fact that everything they’ve built has stopped working, because their ideology forbids them from doing it. So that’s identical with what was going on in the Soviet Union.” -Dmitry Orlov

LISTEN TO THE SHOW by going to ckuw and download the latest program

Length (59:24)

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On the Global Research News Hour this week, we spend the hour discussing the looming collapse scenarios facing the United States with Russian-American engineer Dmitry Orlov.

Orlov’s perspective on collapse is informed by his extended trips to his former homeland before and during its collapse.

Orlov believes and states that the former Soviet Union was set up to be resilient in the face of collapse. This, he believes is not the case in the US or Canada.

In this interview, Orlov also comments on the current situation with low oil prices, peak oil and its impact on agriculture, Russian moves in alignment with China, overtures toward the EU, the politics of austerity, the Ukraine Civil War as Anglo-Imperialist Departure Strategy, and much more.

Dmitry Orlov has written two books, Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Experience and American Prospects as well as the Five Stages of Collapse: Survivors’ Toolkit. Mr. Orlov is also the author of the blog cluborlov.com and is a much sought after geo-political analyst.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Length (59:24)

Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM in Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca .

The show can be heard on the Progressive Radio Network at prn.fm. Listen in every Monday at 3pm ET.
 


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