Economics, Labor, Capitalism, Trade, Poverty (Also see Taxes)

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Washington State needs a CAPITAL GAINS TAX! Jeff Bezos is depriving WA from revenue we need!

August 12, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

On August 7, 2019, I received information from the advocacy group “Balance Our Tax Code” (www.balanceourtaxcode.com).   They reported that Jeff Bezos, the founder and major stockholder of Amazon, had just sold $1.8 BILLION worth of Amazon stock. He has to pay a modest amount of federal taxes, but — because Washington State does NOT have a capital gains tax. Washington State has THE MOST REGRESSIVE tax system of any state in the U.S.  We are one of only nine states that do NOT have capital gains tax and we are one of very few states that do NOT have an […]

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Baltimore’s bad housing? Jared Kushner is one of the WORST SLUMLORDS!!!

August 10, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump keeps attacking people of color.  In the summer of 2019 he harshly attacked an African-American U.S. Representative (Elijah Cummings) who had criticized Trumps cruel behaviors.  Trump took delight in attacking with racism this Congressman from Baltimore.  Trump tried to make it seem like Rep. Cummings was responsible for rodents in Baltimore. However, one of Baltimore’s biggest landlords is Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.  Kushner’s slum buildings have been rat-infested for a long time, and the City of Baltimore repeatedly cites Kushner for violating city housing laws.  See this:  https://forcechange.com/538646/get-alleged-slumlord-kingpin-kushner-out-of-baltimore-housing-business/      

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Car owners must carry liability insurance. Why not require gun owners to do that?

July 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Conservatives and many other people trust the “free market” to guide people’s behavior in the right direction. Laws require car owners to carry liability insurance, because if they handle their car badly or an “accident” occurs some person or property is likely to hurt.  Liability insurance pays for that.  People with bad driving records (many violations, DWIs or accidents) must pay more, according to our “free market” insurance companies, which charge bad drivers more money for their car insurance. Why not require gun owners to do what car owners must do?  Then the “free market” insurance companies would charge higher […]

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“Houselessness, Human Dignity, and the Right to Survive”

June 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The July 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” takes a fresh look at problems and solutions related to homelessness. We dispel some of the myths that interfere with realistic understanding and smart solutions. Instead of talking about it from afar, one of guests (Jamie Joy) actually is homeless.  His first-hand experiences and insights help us understand the problems and solutions. Our other guest (Tye Gundel) co-founded a great local grassroots organization — “Just Housing” — in 2016 and has been working effectively with a variety of people and local governments to inform the public, advocate for compassionate and practical solutions, […]

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Stop the cruel economic sanctions and economic disruptions against Venezuela, Iran, and elsewhere.

June 9, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In order to bully other nations with whom the U.S. government does not get along, our government imposes cruel economic sanctions — and sometimes viciously disrupts the economies — against other nations. Most Americans go along with this.  They just don’t want American troops “on the ground,” so economic abuses are a way to attack other nations.  But this kind of bullying is wrong too. I wrote this one-page article to explain.  Please urge the U.S. government to stop this abuse. Economic sanctions are bullying without bombing or sending troops    

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Replace the “national security” scheme with “TRUE Security.”

June 4, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. is obsessed with “national security” and wastes about half of our discretionary budget on militarism, nuclear weapons, covert actions, and violence around the world. This obsession and waste cause much neglect and suffering within the U.S. as well as abuse and endless wars and suffering around the world. We must replace the wasteful, ineffective, and downright counterproductive “national security” scheme with a fresh approach:  “TRUE Security.” See this: TRUE Security TABLE.doc        

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We’re All in This Together

May 24, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Oppressors like to use “divide-and-conquer” strategies to disempower the 99%. The Olympian published an op-ed I wrote in May 2019. Here is the article as a Word document: BOC — 2019.05.16 FINAL version — We’re All in This Together Here is the article as it appeared on the editorial page on May 23, 2019: https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article230676584.html?     

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How We Got into Our Current Crisis

May 24, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I wrote an insightful article in 2017, and it is still valid, so I updated it only a little and posted it here. I’ll write another proposing remedies for how to get out of this crisis.  Look for that within the next few weeks. How We Got into Our Current Crisis  

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“Why the Public Should Own Our Electric Utilities”

May 18, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The June 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Per-spectives” explores the many benefits of having the public own our electric utilities instead of letting big business own them. People typically think about “democracy” in terms of government. But why not also have democracy in how we run our economy? Why can’t our economic institutions – such as our electric utility – respond to the will of the voters? Voters can choose to have local governments own and operate our electric utilities. Dozens of cities and counties in Washington State have long, successful track records of using publicly owned utilities to pro-vide […]

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“A City-Owned Electric Utility Would Help Olympia’s People”

May 18, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Local folks are starting to organize a campaign for the City of Olympia and other local cities to replace Puget Sound Energy here with a successful locally owned electric utility that will provide lower rates, better reliability, and sustainable energy – and will be ac-countable to the public instead of foreign stockholders. They plan to gather enough signatures of Olympia voters during the middle part of 2020 to qualify for Olympia’s ballot for the November 2020 election. Here is one page listing four reasons why this would be a good idea: A City-Owned Electric Utility Would Help Olympia’s People   […]

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We need fresh, bold economics to fight climate disruption. See these great articles.

May 11, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Here are several interesting new articles in early May 2019:   As Capitalism Fails, We Need a Roadmap to Survive Climate Change. This article says that the climate crisis ALSO challenges us to think about economics in bold, fresh ways. The economics that allowed the climate crisis to occur are NOT sufficient to get us out of that mess. Fossil fuels have fueled our long run of industrial and economic growth. But that is coming to an end. Now we need new economics for a post-fossil fuel future. There are many dimensions to this. The article at this link is […]

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Political parties and serious problems

May 9, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Both of the big political parties cause serious problems. Republican Party leaders deliberately and enthusiastically make problems worse. Republican Party members obediently follow along. Democratic Party members want to solve problems (Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Impeach Trump, promote diversity in the party, etc.) Democratic Party “leaders” refuse to solve those problems. Dem “leaders” rebuff their members – and wonder why Dems don’t win more elections.