As truth is coming out ad pressure is up. I don't like Trump but I do like the idea of a true Uniparty. I think we should have a convention and invite Jill Stein, Marianne Williamson, Cornell West, Dennis Kucinich, Tulsi Gabbard and others. And of course Bobby - I love some things - health, environment and not his policy on Gaza and Israel.
As usual another brilliant piece from another brilliant writer which yet again totally fails to tell readers what they can do. So allow me: 1) be sure to vote for a 3rd party if you are in a solid Blue or solid Red state and if in a swing state, at least donate and volunteer for the Working Families Party, since they are supporting Harris and the DP, not out of any love, but as a chess move to get increasing power for itself as a 3rd party, which eventually the DP will need to appease, because they will need its support.;2) join campaigns that are based around a strategy of mass nonviolent resistance, which will be ultimately the only strategy able to force government to do what needs to be done to end the exploitation of the working class by the super rich, the warmaking by the MIC, to end the US/Israel genocide of Palestine, to achieve Medicare for all, free college, and to get rid of the electoral college and to expand the Supreme court while ending lifetime appointments. TO do this we must therefore rapidly advance the science of nonviolent resistance as well as make it much easier for people to quit their BS jobs and become fulltime skill organizers. Care to help us do this? If so Contact at GetCourageNow with the usual nonprofit extension
I appreciate that you are seeking a path forward, Gary, as do I.
Michael Hudson has a new book coming out, basically the history of finance going back to cuneiform-tablet records. He has done some recent interviews, including this 90 minute interview with transcript at Naked Capitalism, which I excerpt and highlight as the main feature of this blog post: "Democracies Created To Fund Bigger Wars" https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/democracies-created-to-fund-bigger
That is a point he explains as he travels through the history of finance and empires.
GDP is a dubious metric, because it measures consumption (not production); can be gamed by government spending (which is parasitic, not productive, to the economy); and is adjusted by an inflation component that you noted is also gamed by the government.
The more I've learned about the most popular government statistics -- "Unemployment" is another, as you called out in this article -- the less meaningful those metrics have become.
Was Jean-Jacques Rousseau a conspiracy theorist? He said something to the effect of "The rich would cease being so smug and proud of themselves if the poor ever ceased being so wretched."
I wouldn't say money is for the sake of power exactly. It's for status. That's what the vast bulk of humanity obsesses over. And how is status measured? In comparison to others. So impoverishing others is as good as enriching oneself.
The democratic party through the decades have claimed to support unions, but especially since the 1990's it has been mostly a lip service support at best. At least they weren't openly hostile like the republicans have been which kept me mostly registered as a democrat for most of my life. That relationship ended for me 4 years ago when I could plainly see they didn't care at all for unions, but were all about getting corporate donations, which is a big conflict of interest. Now I am registered independent and I don't see that changing.
The media don't take independent candidates seriously and simply ignore them unless they pose an actual threat. In that case, they smear and defame them relentlessly, as we see with RFK, Jr. That tells us all we need to know about the actual role and purpose of the media right now.
So wtf happened in 1971?? 😀
https://wtfhappenedin1971.com
Something to do with the soundness of money, perhaps? 🤔
Brilliant, thoughtful article. I learned a lot. I just got this today - https://intelligencer.today/over-100000-expected-at-rally-to-rescue-the-republic-in-washington-d-c-9-29-24/15/08/2024/8430/
As truth is coming out ad pressure is up. I don't like Trump but I do like the idea of a true Uniparty. I think we should have a convention and invite Jill Stein, Marianne Williamson, Cornell West, Dennis Kucinich, Tulsi Gabbard and others. And of course Bobby - I love some things - health, environment and not his policy on Gaza and Israel.
As usual another brilliant piece from another brilliant writer which yet again totally fails to tell readers what they can do. So allow me: 1) be sure to vote for a 3rd party if you are in a solid Blue or solid Red state and if in a swing state, at least donate and volunteer for the Working Families Party, since they are supporting Harris and the DP, not out of any love, but as a chess move to get increasing power for itself as a 3rd party, which eventually the DP will need to appease, because they will need its support.;2) join campaigns that are based around a strategy of mass nonviolent resistance, which will be ultimately the only strategy able to force government to do what needs to be done to end the exploitation of the working class by the super rich, the warmaking by the MIC, to end the US/Israel genocide of Palestine, to achieve Medicare for all, free college, and to get rid of the electoral college and to expand the Supreme court while ending lifetime appointments. TO do this we must therefore rapidly advance the science of nonviolent resistance as well as make it much easier for people to quit their BS jobs and become fulltime skill organizers. Care to help us do this? If so Contact at GetCourageNow with the usual nonprofit extension
Thanks for the suggestions, Gary.
I appreciate that you are seeking a path forward, Gary, as do I.
Michael Hudson has a new book coming out, basically the history of finance going back to cuneiform-tablet records. He has done some recent interviews, including this 90 minute interview with transcript at Naked Capitalism, which I excerpt and highlight as the main feature of this blog post: "Democracies Created To Fund Bigger Wars" https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/democracies-created-to-fund-bigger
That is a point he explains as he travels through the history of finance and empires.
GDP is a dubious metric, because it measures consumption (not production); can be gamed by government spending (which is parasitic, not productive, to the economy); and is adjusted by an inflation component that you noted is also gamed by the government.
The more I've learned about the most popular government statistics -- "Unemployment" is another, as you called out in this article -- the less meaningful those metrics have become.
Thanks, Domenic. I agree...
Unemployment is about 25%, if measured as it was in the 1970s, as per Shadowstats.
Topic for another day: Work has become less meaningful and fulfilling as it has become less remunerative. Bullshit jobs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIctCDYv7Yg
"Bullshit jobs" automatically cues David Graeber (RIP) in my mind.
https://x.com/davidgraeber/status/1000545512062320640?lang=en
Great article
Very good, Josh. I think it's called Divide and Conquer.
Was Jean-Jacques Rousseau a conspiracy theorist? He said something to the effect of "The rich would cease being so smug and proud of themselves if the poor ever ceased being so wretched."
I wouldn't say money is for the sake of power exactly. It's for status. That's what the vast bulk of humanity obsesses over. And how is status measured? In comparison to others. So impoverishing others is as good as enriching oneself.
Thanks for the insight.
I don't know about Jean-Jacques, but for the record, I'm a conspiracy theorist.
Maybe you are a conspiracy detector.
Excellent article, very relevant.
The democratic party through the decades have claimed to support unions, but especially since the 1990's it has been mostly a lip service support at best. At least they weren't openly hostile like the republicans have been which kept me mostly registered as a democrat for most of my life. That relationship ended for me 4 years ago when I could plainly see they didn't care at all for unions, but were all about getting corporate donations, which is a big conflict of interest. Now I am registered independent and I don't see that changing.
The media don't take independent candidates seriously and simply ignore them unless they pose an actual threat. In that case, they smear and defame them relentlessly, as we see with RFK, Jr. That tells us all we need to know about the actual role and purpose of the media right now.
This is the most informative economics presentation I've ever seen. Finally, the numbers match my experience in the world.