We are seeing a crisis in values
The Guardian – March 13, 2021 – an exclusive extract from Mark Carney’s book
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/13/crisis-in-values-exclusive-extract-mark-carneys-book
In my experience, the upheaval the world has been experiencing demonstrates that it is vital to rebalance the essential dynamism of capitalism with our broader social goals. This is not an abstract issue or a naive aspiration… My experience in the private and public sectors accords with Pope Francis’s parable. Value in the market is increasingly determining the values of society. We are living Oscar Wilde’s aphorism – knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing – at incalculable costs to our society, to future generations and to our planet.
The U.S. Government Should Promote the General Welfare
Common Dreams – March 15, 2021 – Lawrence Wittner
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/03/15/us-government-should-promote-general-welfare
After years of Republican governance or obstructionism, it’s refreshing when the U.S. government actually lives up to its promise of promoting the welfare of the entire society, rather than a privileged few… The Constitution of the United States declares clearly, in its Preamble, that a key purpose of the U.S. government is to “promote the general welfare.” Furthermore, promoting the general welfare is the usual reason that people around the world support some sort of governing authority. After all, if a government doesn’t promote the welfare of its people, what good is it?
The Biggest Deficit You’ve Never Heard Of
Robert Reich’s Blog – March 19, 2021
https://robertreich.org/post/645832705051951105
America has a deficit problem. But the country’s biggest deficit isn’t the federal budget deficit. It’s the deficit in public investment. The public investment deficit is the gap between what we should be investing in our future — on infrastructure, education, and basic research — and the relatively little we are investing. Public investment is similar to private investment in that we invest today because of the payoff in the future. The difference is public investment pays off for all of us, for America… A common assumption is that when American corporations are profitable, Americans are better off. But that’s false. Trickle-down economics is a sham. Tax cuts and subsidies to big corporations and the wealthy don’t build the economy. Economies don’t grow from the top down — they grow from the bottom up, through public investment.
Bidenomics beats Reaganomics and I should know – I saw Clintonomics fail
The Guardian – March 14, 2021 – Robert Reich
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/14/joe-biden-coronavirus-covid-stimulus-trump-tax-cuts-welfare-reagan-clinton
A quarter-century ago, I and other members of Bill Clinton’s cabinet urged him to reject the Republican proposal to end welfare. It was too punitive, we said, subjecting poor Americans to deep and abiding poverty. But Clinton’s political advisers warned that unless he went along, he would jeopardize his re-election. That was the end of welfare as we knew it. As Clinton boasted in his State of the Union address to Congress that year: “The era of big government is over.” Until Thursday, that is. Joe Biden signed into law the biggest expansion of government assistance since the 1960s – a guaranteed income for most families with children, raising the maximum benefit by up to 80% per child. As Biden put it in his address to the nation, as if answering Clinton: “The government isn’t some foreign force in a distant capital. No, it’s us, all of us, we the people.”
Biden Chooses Prosperity Over Vengeance
The Atlantic Magazine – March 15, 2021 – Adam Serwer
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/biden-chose-prosperity-over-vengeance/618279/
The passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 symbolizes more than an ideological divergence on public policy; it reflects a radically different theory of governance. The Democrats are no saints, but they’ve come to believe that both the viability of their party and the sustainability of American democracy depend on their capacity to broaden their appeal to right-leaning voters. Trump wanted to punish his enemies; Biden must convince Trump supporters that he is not their enemy. Defeating Trump was but a battle; defeating Trumpism is the war… More than just legislation, it is a leap of faith that Americans of all political backgrounds will reward a party that seeks to make their lives better, rather than one that simply manufactures new targets for scorn. In that, the measure expresses a greater confidence in the decency of the Republican base than Trump or his acolytes ever displayed.
Democrats Unveil ‘Build Green’ Infrastructure and Jobs Act
Common Dreams – March 19, 2021 – Kenny Stancil
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/19/democrats-unveil-build-green-infrastructure-and-jobs-act
Sen. Ed Markey called the bill “our opportunity to invest in a clean energy revolution across our country, transform our transportation sector to be climate-smart, and create millions of good-paying union jobs at the same time.”…. “The climate crisis is an existential threat to our planet,” [Elizabeth] Warren acknowledged in a press release, “but it’s also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, create a million good new jobs, and unleash the best of American innovation.” The BUILD GREEN Act, she added, “will make the big federal investments necessary to transform our country’s transportation system, confront the racial and economic inequality embedded in our fossil fuel economy, and achieve the ambitious targets for 100% clean energy in America.”
As Republicans normalize political violence, the Jan. 6 insurrection goes on
The Boston Globe – March March 16, 2021 – Renée Graham
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/16/opinion/republicans-normalize-political-violence-jan-6-insurrection-goes/
For now, legislation has replaced lead pipes as the Republican weapon of choice in attacking democracy. Battles have moved from the Capitol rotunda to such states as Georgia, Texas, and Arizona, where Republicans are pushing “election integrity” bills specifically designed to codify voter suppression. Since Election Day, at least 250 bills in more than 40 states have been introduced to curtail mail-in and early voting, enact voter ID laws, shorten voting hours, and make it as difficult as possible for millions to vote… Throughout its history, America has battled foreign tyranny, communism, and terrorism. Yet it has waged no longer or more destructive war than the one against its own democracy. And its latest campaign, an ongoing GOP-endorsed coup unfolding in this nation’s state houses, has only just begun.
The right to vote is the foundation of democracy
The Chicago Sun-Times – March 15, 2021 – Jesse Jackson
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/3/15/22332413/for-the-people-act-h-r-1-voting-rights-suppression-jesse-jackson
Over the last years, America has become increasingly polarized politically. But democracy — and the right to vote — must be above partisanship. There ought to be universal support for creating an election system that makes voting easy, limits big money and requires nonpartisan redistricting. It is shameful that the efforts to suppress the vote of African Americans and others that were perfected under segregation are being revived in a new guise in the 21st century.
The Burning Urgency of Passing the “For the People Act”
Common Dreams – March 17, 2021 – Jeff Milchen
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/03/17/burning-urgency-passing-people-act
Passing the voter protections of the For the People Act is the only path for democracy advocates to halt many of the 250-plus voter suppression bills stacked up in state capitols around the country. Republican vote suppressors have an easier task: they need only delay passage of S. 1 while more of those state bills become law—putting the onus on voting rights defenders to overturn laws in court, even if S. 1 passes… Filling nearly 900 pages, the For the People Act is vast, largely due to its thoroughness. The Brennan Center for Justice created an excellent guide [ https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/annotated-guide-people-act-2021# ] to the Act for those who want to dive deep. To quickly understand many key elements, here’s a concise rundown in 3 groupings.
Congress Could Change Everything
The Brennan Center – March 16, 2021 – Gareth Fowler, Will Wilder, Stuart Baum, Wendy R. Weiser and Izabela Tringali
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/congress-could-change-everything
America is facing an overwhelming legislative assault on voting rights. As of February 19, more than 253 bills restricting voting access had been carried over, prefiled, or introduced in 43 states, and the number is rising. Already, two of these bills have passed, and many are moving aggressively through state legislatures. Fueled by the Big Lie of widespread voter fraud and often discriminatory in design, these bills have the potential to dramatically reduce voting access, especially for Black and brown voters. This legislative campaign to suppress the vote can — and must — be stopped by Congress.
In First Senate Speech, Raphael Warnock Slams GOP Assault on Voting Rights
Democracy Now! – March 19, 2021 – Amy Goodmanm, Raphael Warnock
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/3/19/raphael_warnock_first_senate_speech
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, whose election in January helped bring the chamber under Democratic control, used his first speech on the floor of the Senate this week to assail Republican efforts to restrict voting rights. He called the raft of voter suppression bills being introduced in states across the country “Jim Crow in new clothes,” denounced false claims of voter fraud spread by Donald Trump and others, and called on Congress to pass the For the People Act, also known as H.R. 1, a sweeping voting reform bill that would greatly expand access to the ballot. “Make no mistake: This is democracy in reverse,” said Warnock, who is the first Black senator elected in Georgia. “Rather than voters being able to pick the politicians, the politicians are trying to cherry-pick their voters.”
Ex Political Prisoner Documents Myanmar’s Military Crackdown
Time Magazine – March 18, 2021 – Amy Gunia
https://time.com/5944853/myanmar-military-crackdown-deaths/
What other groups are the military trying to put pressure on with their escalating crackdown? Activists, journalists, teachers, lawyers, artists, monks and everyone resisting this illegitimate junta. It goes beyond targeting a civil society. The junta is persecuting ordinary civilians, and even children who just happen to be in the wrong place at wrong time. They want to pressure prominent people in the protest movement and have also outlawed some labor unions, but they will find it difficult to stop the momentum of this movement because it is leaderless.
Haaland’s Historic Confirmation Points the Way to Fracking Ban
Common Dreams – March 15, 2021 – Food & Water Watch
https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/15/haalands-historic-confirmation-points-way-fracking-ban
Biden’s unambiguous call to end fracking on public lands must now become a priority for the White House. There is no one better to lead on this issue than Deb Haaland, who understands that our transition away from fossil fuels is an environmental justice priority and a climate necessity.
The Immune System Is Resolutely Apolitical, and So Is the Virus
Esquire Magazine – March 15, 2021 – Charles P. Pierce
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a35840256/republicans-dont-want-covid-vaccine/
I can’t imagine being so consumed by my personal political beliefs that I wouldn’t protect myself from a stubbornly nonpartisan plague… To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, stupid is in the saddle and rides far too much of mankind.
Black Farmers Hail $5B in New COVID Relief Law to Redress Generations of Racism
Democreacy Now! – March 15, 2021 – Amy Goodman interviews John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/3/15/american_rescue_plan_farmers_of_color
A major provision in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill… aims to address decades of discrimination against Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American farmers, who have historically been excluded from government agricultural programs. The American Rescue Plan sets aside $10.4 billion for agriculture support and allocates about half the funds to farmers of color who were, quote, “subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group,” unquote.
Reimagine safety
The Washington Post – March 16, 2021 – Editorial Board
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2021/reimagine-safety/
We need to reimagine public safety… Over-reliance on police is preventing us from imagining and investing in other public safety tools — ones that could revitalize the struggling neighborhoods that experience the most crime. We should think about public safety the way we think about public health… For all our sakes, we must break law enforcement’s monopoly on public safety. Simply put: We need new tools.
Catholic Order Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Slave Labor and Sales
The New York Times – March 15, 2021 – Rachel L. Swarns
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/us/jesuits-georgetown-reparations-slavery.html
The move by the leaders of the Jesuit conference of priests represents the largest effort by the Roman Catholic Church to make amends for the buying, selling and enslavement of Black people, church officials and historians said… “This is an opportunity for Jesuits to begin a very serious process of truth and reconciliation,” said the Rev. Timothy P. Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. “Our shameful history of Jesuit slaveholding in the United States has been taken off the dusty shelf, and it can never be put back.”
A Secret War. Decades of Suffering. Will the U.S. Ever Make Good in Laos?
The New York Times – March 16, 2021 – George Black
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/magazine/laos-agent-orange-vietnam-war.html
America has never taken responsibility for spraying the herbicide over Laos during the Vietnam War. But generations of ethnic minorities have endured the consequences… Laos remained a forgotten footnote to a lost war. To those who followed the conflict’s aftermath intimately, this was hardly surprising. Only in the last two decades has the United States finally acknowledged and taken responsibility for the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam, committing hundreds of millions of dollars to aiding the victims and cleaning up the worst-contaminated hot spots there.
Stopping the Race to the Bottom in Trade Policy
The American Prospect – March 15, 2021 – Karen Hansen-Kuhn and Timothy A. Wise
https://prospect.org/economy/stopping-the-race-to-the-bottom-in-trade-policy/
Agribusiness giant Bayer/Monsanto claims that Mexico’s proposed restrictions on the active ingredient in its Roundup herbicide violate the country’s trade agreement with the U.S. Will the Biden administration agree?… Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made good on long-standing campaign promises, decreeing the phaseout of glyphosate use over three years. He cited the growing body of scientific research showing the dangers of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The government had stopped imports of glyphosate since late 2019, citing the World Health Organization’s warning that the chemical is a “probable carcinogen.”
America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison
Propublica – March 17, 2021 – Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum
https://www.propublica.org/article/hacking-water-systems
The cyberbreach at a plant in Oldsmar, Florida, which could have resulted in a mass poisoning, was a reminder of a disturbing reality: Despite a decade of warnings, thousands of water systems around the country are still at risk… In congressional testimony on March 10, Eric Goldstein, cybersecurity chief for the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, described the Oldsmar incident as illustrating “the gravest risk that CISA sees from a national standpoint.” He said it should be “a clarion call for this country for the risk that we face from cyberintrusions into these critical systems.”… Arthur House, who served as Connecticut’s chief cybersecurity risk officer, said: “I hope it doesn’t take the poisoning of a lot of people or a catastrophic shutdown for people to say, ‘Omigosh, this is serious.’ The federal government has to have a role on this. You cannot leave something that would cripple us as a country solely in the hands of 50 different states.”
Use Sunlight or Lose It
The Boston Review – March 9, 2021 – David McDermott Hughes
http://bostonreview.net/science-nature/david-mcdermott-hughes-use-sunlight-or-lose-it
What if we seized the sunlight falling unused on roofs, parking lots, and other urban surfaces? From it we could generate electricity, thereby advancing the vital transition away from fossil fuels. This proposal may sound radical to some. But, in fact, solar homesteading simply extends well-worn, U.S. traditions of rural, agricultural settlement… In 1862 the Homestead Act balanced private property and public good. Today, it retains progressive potential… In homestead language, unused sunlight would “revert” to the public domain—but what would this look like in practice?
Scientists Announce Fast-Track Solution for Net-Zero-Carbon Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Clean Technica – March 17, 2021 – U.S. Department of Energy
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/03/17/from-wet-waste-to-flight-scientists-announce-fast-track-solution-for-net-zero-carbon-sustainable-aviation-fuel/
That task just got a burst of energy with the publication of a new paper on carbon-negative sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Dayton, Yale University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the article outlines a biorefining process using the untapped energy of food waste and other wet waste to produce SAF both compatible with existing jet engines and capable of supporting net-zero-carbon flight. In practice, that means that GHG emissions created from jet fuel combustion are zeroed out by lifecycle GHG emissions removed or diverted from the atmosphere when producing the fuel.
A Refuge for Bees
Time Magazine – November 18, 2020 – Mélissa Godin
https://time.com/collection-post/5911321/beehome/
An astonishing 40% of bees die every year as a result of disease, pesticides and climate change—in part because busy commercial beekeepers miss warning signs. That’s where Beewise, an artificial-intelligence-powered hive, comes in. Using precision robotics, computer vision and AI, a Beehome—which costs $15 a month and might host 2?million bees—monitors the insects 24/7
Attacks on Asian Americans are Rooted in over a Century of Racist Exclusion
Informed Comment – March 19, 2021 – Juan Cole
https://www.juancole.com/2021/03/attacks-americans-exclusion.html
The spine-chilling attacks on Asian-Americans around the country, in San Francisco, New York, and now most bloodily in Atlanta, are manifestations of a white supremacism that has deep roots in American history… The white supremacists would create a declining America, a monochrome America, an anti-science and anti-technology America, a dirty-carbon America, an America that would be weak and backward just as the white nationalists are weak and backward. Our Asian-American brothers and sisters are over 5% of our population, characterized by strong families and civic engagement. They are fishermen and hairdressers but also scientists and engineers and public servants. They have helped build this country– from the trans-Pacific railway onward. They have served courageously and honorably in the US military, and help make us safe. They are owed our respect and affection as co-citizens of the American Republic. They are owed our protection from the forces of hate and false nativism.
The Atlanta Shooting and the Dehumanizing of Asian Women
The New Yorker – March 19, 2021 – Jiayang Fa n
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-atlanta-shooting-and-the-dehumanizing-of-asian-women
To live through this period as an Asian-American is to feel trapped in an American tragedy while being denied the legitimacy of being an American.
Biden’s Toughest Test on Economic Inequality Will Be Reinvigorating the Labor Movement
Portside – CNN – March 16, 2021 – John Harwood
https://www.portside.org/2021-03-16/bidens-toughest-test-economic-inequality-will-be-reinvigorating-labor-movement
The question is whether even a supportive president can reverse the decline in union power that economists say has helped hollow out America’s middle class. Neither organized labor nor sympathetic politicians have managed to do that for decades… “You cannot fix inequality of wealth until you fix inequality of power,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Of all the presidents I’ve been around, Joe Biden understands the importance of collective bargaining in restoring the balance.”
Why Public Banking Is Now Gaining Traction in the U.S.
Yes! Magazine – March 17, 2021 – Ellen Brown
https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2021/03/17/public-banking-recession/
Just over two months into the new year, 2021 has already seen a flurry of public banking activity. Sixteen new bills to form publicly owned banks or facilitate their formation were introduced in eight U.S. states in January and February… As Oscar Abello wrote on NextCity.org in February, “2021 could be public banking’s watershed moment. … Legislators are starting to see public banks as a powerful potential tool to ensure a recovery that is more equitable than the last time.”… Public banks offer a path toward democratization (giving society a meaningful say in how financial resources are used) and definancialization (moving away from speculative predatory investment practices toward financing that grows the real economy). For local governments, public banks offer a path to escape monopoly control by giant private financial institutions over public policies.
A Budget to Defend the American People, Not the Weapons Makers
Global Research – March 19, 2021 – Tristan Guyette
https://www.globalresearch.ca/budget-defend-american-people-not-weapons-makers/5740241
It’s time we stop prioritizing weapons before citizens and re-evaluate our funding of nuclear weapons… Nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to the climate; they would, if used, rapidly accelerate climate change and cause a nuclear winter. Their very existence and proliferation are a threat to the well-being of the planet. Countless people have already suffered due to the creation of our current arsenal, and expanding it, during a pandemic no less, is a cruel testament to the values of our lawmakers.
Poor Peoples Campaign’s “Moral Budget” Offers Guide to New Budget Priorities
Common Dreams – March 19, 2021 – Paul Shannon
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/03/19/poor-peoples-campaigns-moral-budget-offers-guide-new-budget-priorities
This is a time to develop support for budget priorities built on those lessons we have learned over the past year… Beyond investments in public health, The Poor Peoples Campaign’s “Moral Budget” advocated by a large and growing multi-racial movement throughout the country provides us with a guide to new budget priorities based on reality and our common humanity:… But where could all that money come from to pay for these life-enhancing programs? The Poor Peoples Budget has a simple answer:… The Pentagon budget is a source of money that can be much better used to defend our country from the very real threats—and to seize the wonderful opportunities for a safe and just society—that are on the horizon.