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

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Insights and information about taxes, with a few links

June 3, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Taxes are opposed by conservatives who want to keep their riches instead of sharing their money with governmental efforts to help people with education, health, etc. But liberals and progressives also criticize our tax system because it is unfair.  Rich people and big corporations get so many loopholes and breaks that they pay less than their fair share.  Poor, working class and middle class people pay more than their share. Actually, we should see taxes as the dues we pay for living in a civilized society.  That is the ideal.  We need to fully fund the governmental services that help […]

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Universal Single-Payer: UPDATES

June 3, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Momentum keeps building nationwide and in various states to create Universal Single-Payer health care.  Some people refer to it as “Medicare for All.”  There are different variations, but the basic principles are simple: — EVERYBODY has a right to high quality health care. — Instead of insurance companies interfering and skimming off profits, the government pays the bills through an efficient system like Medicare has. — You still get to choose your health care providers, but they are freed from the nightmare of arguing with insurance companies and managing complex billing arrangements that are different for each insurance company.  This […]

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9 Ways Authoritarianism Is Taking Hold Under Trump

May 31, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

As you know, I read a huge amount of information.  Thom Hartmann’s article at the link below consolidates much solid information into CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT information that the American people need to understand. Trump and Trumpism are imposing horrible authoritarianism upon the U.S.  This is an extremely serious — actually existential — danger to American freedom and constitutional democracy. Trump’s authoritarianism abuses many aspects of American society. The article below connects many of the issues we care about, including peace, social justice, environment/climate, economics, and so forth.  The article ends with a call for nonviolent organizing to rise up against Trump’s […]

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To HELP the Poor People’s Campaign, OPPOSE Nuclear Weapons

May 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

All issues are interconnected.  We keep seeing this in many contexts.  We can use the interconnections to bring people together who are working on various issues to help each other see that our issues are inherently linked, so we can make more progress by working together and exerting mutual leverage to help us make progress on all of the  interconnected issues. On Monday May 28, 2018, the weekly Poor People’s Campaign gathering at the Washington State Capitol will focus on peace-related issues.  I wrote a handout linking nuclear weapons and the Poor People’s Campaign, and I’ll offer it to the […]

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Changing our economic system can reduce climate disruption

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The vast majority of people who say they want to protect the climate are stuck within the confines of our current economic system.  This severely restricts the progress we can make.  If we really want to make significant progress, we must change our economic system. In addition to the article by Naomi Klein that I posted just now, see this article from another source.  This website has a variety of information, so look for materials that are relevant to the economic aspects of the climate crisis: http://systemchangenotclimatechange.org/

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The world could save $20 TRILLION by getting serious about climate change.

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

This article says that climate disruption will be VERY EXPENSIVE, and that the cost of bold climate action is far, far less than the cost of not taking bold action. Therefore, investing in bold actions to protect the climate would be a very smart investment financially, let alone the human and environmental reasons for protecting the climate. There is a strong financial incentive to fight global warming. A new study says the world could save $20 trillion by limiting warming to the more ambitious Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.  The Los Angeles Times wrote an article about this. […]

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How can we challenge this dominant but destructive economic assumption?

May 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Embedded very deeply in our American culture — and many other nations’ cultures too — is an assumption that is embedded so deeply that nobody recognizes it, let alone challenge it. The assumption is this:  It is OK if what I do kills people, so long as I’m making money from what I do. At the surface level — the explicit level — if you were to ask people whether it is moral to kill other people, they would say “no.” But below the surface — at the implicit level — our society tolerates behaviors that knowingly kill people because […]

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An 11-point Agenda for America’s Economic Future

May 23, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Progressives spend much time protesting what we oppose. We should spend much more time organizing to accomplish what we want instead. Here is a good example for progressive economic and social justice: See the 11-point Agenda for America’s Economic Future at this link: http://campaignforamericasfuture.org/?link_id=4&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-news-hightower-lowdown-pledge-issue&email_referrer=email_358386&email_subject=pledge-news-hightower-lowdown-pledge-issue Read Jim Hightower’s supportive article about the Agenda for America’s Economic Future at this link: https://hightowerlowdown.org/article/economic-agenda/?link_id=0&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-news-hightower-lowdown-pledge-issue&email_referrer=email_358386&email_subject=pledge-news-hightower-lowdown-pledge-issue

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“A Creative, Practical Way to Fund Jobs, Infrastructure, Climate Cures”

May 20, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The June 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” presents an exciting way for the federal government to fund the creation of jobs and solutions to many nationwide problems (housing, climate, etc.).  You can watch Glen Anderson interview Randy Mandell (an expert on Modern Monetary Theory — MMT) at the first link below, and/or read a thorough summary of what we said at the second link.  Near the end of the thorough summary you can see links to many excellent sources of information. To watch the interview, click this link:  WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE. To read the thorough summary and see […]

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Here is a way to understand Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election

May 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You don’t need to be a Hillary Clinton supporter (and I certainly am not) to recognize the strong evidence that elements from Russia flooded American social media with racially polarizing social media during the 2016 election campaign. Why did it occur? How about considering the following context? Traditionally socialism has envisioned a joining together of the entire working class, across nations and across races. When the USSR existed and the Communist Party USA was active, especially from the 1930s and subsequent decades, the CPUSA really worked vigorously for racial integration and equality as part of this larger struggle. Instead of […]

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“Peak Oil” was about SUPPLY. Now we’re experiencing “Peak DEMAND.”

April 29, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In 2004, 2005, and a bit beyond, people (including me) were writing a lot about “Peak Oil.”  (If you want links to articles, etc., contact me at glenanderson@integra.net.) “Peak Oil” was about a peak in SUPPLY, resulting in several kinds of crises (economic, political, etc.) when the SUPPLY reaches its peak and starts to decline. Now we are facing a peak in DEMAND.  The climate crisis is forcing governments, businesses, and consumers to practice serious conservation and to convert to renewable energy.  This new “Peak DEMAND” will cause crises too.  Oil companies, transportation companies, etc., face serious problems like those […]

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Bold Economic Strategy to Create Jobs, Fund Infrastructure & Health & Climate, etc.

April 29, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Our nation needs many expensive remedies, including jobs, education, health, infrastructure, protection for our environment and climate, etc. Politicians keep saying we can’t afford them.  They are WRONG because they are trapped in the conventional misunderstandings about economics, the federal budget, etc.  They assume that taxes are the starting point, and we can’t increase taxes. Actually, the starting point is CREDIT.  Banks create money out of thin air by issuing loans with promises that the loans will be repaid later.  The federal government already has the authority to increase spending through a method that is more bold than mere Keynesianism.  […]

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“Hidden Costs of Local Population Growth”

April 16, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The May 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” interviews two very knowledgeable guests who have been working to protect the broad public interest in matters affecting our local community. Typically, local communities assume that they are supposed to grow in population. Local population growth is promoted as good for us, but the promoters avoid disclosing the real costs – the hidden costs – of local population growth. This interview explores the costs of such growth. Although some of our examples come from the greater Olympia area, the principles pertain elsewhere too. The City of Olympia expects 20,000 more people here […]

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Protecting science from corruption is URGENT and CRUCIAL

April 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

A huge number of scientists wrote a powerful statement in 2017 explaining how “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.”  They strengthened the statement in 2018 and now 20,000 scientists signed on to this “Warning to Humanity.”  This is yet one more reason why we need honest science to drive public policy.  Read the “Warning to Humanity” article at https://www.ecowatch.com/warning-to-humanity-scientists-2544973158.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=aaad04f9dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-aaad04f9dd-85369701 Republicans’ partisan bias against science and reality:  https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752981/-Lies-have-a-conservative-bias-Republicans-up-their-war-on-science?detail=emaildkre The government needs good, honest science in order to devise smart public policy. However, the agencies under Trump have been slashing the numbers of competent scientists, failing to consider […]