Blogs

Some hard truths, all of which are backed by expert consensus, and all of which encounter major opposition:

For the record, Andrew Yang is (and has been) polling in the top 6 candidates, yet they seldom let him speak during the debates. They consistently give him the least amount of speaking time. MSNBC, which donated tons to Buttigieg and Biden, gives its favored candidates all the speaking time in the debates so that you won't know the other options. Why do they not let Andrew Yang speak?

The Duterte regime in the Philippines has intensified attacks against the trade union movement.

The Education International is particularly concerned about the harassment and repression targetting its affiliate, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).

Several ACT offices were raided by the police and at least one ACT provincial coordinator was arrested in a new crackdown against unions and civil society organisations in the country.

The repression operations are ongoing, and ACT fears that more of their members could be targeted.

First and foremost, you can't ban private health insurance using budget reconciliation. This means that, in order to do full single payer, you need to either a) get to 60 votes in the Senate that support M4A, or b) get 50 votes that support M4A AND support getting rid of the filibuster.

I've been reading Irving Krisol (the father of neoconservatism) a lot lately. I agree with the idea of "property-owning democracy" (widespread distribution of property ownership) as ideal. This idea has deep roots in conservative philosophy. But the neocons fall short because they fail to support any institution that fosters property-owning democracy.

The welfare state is a conservative institution and widespread distribution of wealth is also a concervative ideal. Conservatism largely looked to the economic system of medieval Europe and the political system of 18th centruy England as ideal (i.e. parliamentary or representative democracy). These two periods were what traditional conservatism idealized.

In July this year, Erlan Baltabay, a leader of the Independent Oil and Energy Workers' Union in Kazakhstan, was sentenced to seven years in prison on politically motivated charges.

A huge international union mobilization followed, including a LabourStart campaign signed by thousands calling for his release. He was released from prison in August after being pardoned by the President and was able to return home to his family.

It's inaccurate to read Adam Smith as the "father of capitalism." Capitalism wasn't a thing yet. Wage-labor wasn't the norm. He was a defender of the emergence of industrialization and the division of labor. Marxism is just as much a logical outgrowth of many of Smith's doctrines as neoliberalism is.

The welfare state is an American idea and a conservative institution. The Church did poverty relief and free healthcare when it was a public institution funded by taxes. When the "separation of church and state" was introduced under the new republican system of liberal democracy in America, the church lost its ability to raise revenue from legally mandatory tithes (income tax). When this happened, some of the social responsibilities of the church had to be passed on to the government.

When I was a child and we used to visit my grandma and I remember living in fear of this grumpy old curmudgeon who lived a couple of units down from her.

Her hatred of children was fanatical. She was like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, only without the pleasant demeanor and gingerbread. The mere sight of a child would sent her into a walking stick-waiving frenzy about how we were up to no good and shouldn't be allowed to roam unsupervised.

I assume that woman is long dead now, but I'm sure she'd have just loved what the Liberal Party have become.