----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:[email protected]>Ray Harrell
To: <mailto:[email protected]>'Keith Hudson' ;
<mailto:[email protected]>'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME
DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION'
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 9:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [CC] America's Deepening Moral Crisis (fwd)
Well said Keith,
REH
From:
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 6:57 AM
To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION
Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [CC] America's Deepening Moral Crisis (fwd)
Unfortunately, Jeremy Sachs cannot tell us what practical policies he
would adopt if he were in a position of power. His final paragraph is a
real peach:
<<<<
The world should beware. Unless we break the ugly trends of big money in
politics and rampant consumerism, we risk winning economic productivity
at the price of our humanity.
>>>>
"The world should beware". Half the world's population are already
living in a state of misery, despair and semi-starvation. Why should they
care about America's moral decline? It would make no difference to them
whatever condition America's economy or moral economy was in.
"Unless we break the ugly trends of big money in politics . . ." I agree,
but what specific proposal does Sachs have in mind? Is it too much to ask
an experienced professor of economics?
"Unless we break the ugly trends . . . of rampant consumerism," Rather
patronizing, isn't it? I don't think consumers should be condemned any
more than Sachs should be for receiving a fee for writing his article
(that is, in addition to his academic salary).
". . . we risk winning economic productivity at the price of our
humanity." There is no risk at all of any economic productivity being
gained in the near future until the present devaluation war (led by the
dollar) stops and we have a stable world currency system. America has
been poo-pooing this for years in order to retain the hegemony of the
dollar. But times are so bad now that even the (Washington-dominated) IMF
will be proposing a world currency based on the (already gold-backed) SDR
at next month's G-20. But China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, already buying
gold hand-over-fist at every dip in the market price -- thus having no
principled objections to a gold-backed world currency -- won't go along
with anything that will continue to be controlled by America.
Keith
At 17:02 06/10/2010 +0800, Michael Gurstein wrote:
Interesting, particularly given the source.
M
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 21:13:36
From: Portside Moderator <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: America's Deepening Moral Crisis
America's deepening moral crisis
The language of collective compassion has been abandoned in
the US, and no politician dare even mention helping the poor
By Jeffrey Sachs
guardian.co.uk
October 4, 2010
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/oct/04/americas-deepenin>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/oct/04/americas-deepenin
g-moral-crisis
President Barack Obama is likely to face difficulty passing progressive
legislation after the November elections.
America's political and economic crisis is set to worsen following the
upcoming November elections. President Barack Obama will lose any hope for
passing progressive legislation aimed at helping the poor or the
environment. Indeed, all major legislation and reforms are likely to be
stalemated until 2013, following a new presidential election. An already bad
situation marked by deadlock and vitriol is likely to worsen, and the world
should not expect much leadership from a bitterly divided United States.
Much of America is in a nasty mood and the language of compassion has more
or less been abandoned. Both political parties serve their rich campaign
contributors, while proclaiming they defend the middle class. Neither party
even mentions the poor - who now officially make up 15% of the population,
but in fact are even more numerous when we count all those households
struggling with healthcare, housing, jobs and other needs.
The Republican party recently issued a "Pledge to America" to explain its
beliefs and campaign promises. The document is filled with nonsense, such as
the fatuous claim high taxes and over-regulation explain America's high
unemployment. It is also filled with propaganda. A quote from President John
F Kennedy states that high tax rates can strangle the economy, but Kennedy
was speaking half a century ago, when the top marginal tax rates were twice
what they are today. Most of all, the Republican platform is devoid of
compassion.
America today presents the paradox of a rich country falling apart because
of the collapse of its core values. American productivity is among the
highest in the world. Average national income per person is about $46,000 -
enough not only to live on, but to prosper. Yet the country is in the throes
of an ugly moral crisis.
Income inequality is at historic highs, but the rich claim
they have no responsibility to the rest of society. They
refuse to come to the aid of the destitute, and defend tax
cuts at every opportunity. Almost everybody complains, almost everybody
aggressively defends their own narrow, short-term interests, and almost
everybody abandons any pretense of looking ahead or addressing the needs of
others.
What passes for American political debate is a contest
between the parties to give bigger promises to the middle class, mainly in
the form of budget-busting tax cuts at a time when the fiscal deficit is
already more than 10% of GDP. Americans seem to believe that they have a
natural right to government services without paying taxes. In the American
political lexicon, taxes are defined as a denial of liberty.
There was a time, not long ago, when Americans talked of
ending poverty at home and abroad. Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty" in the
mid 1960s reflected an era of national optimism and the belief that society
should make collective efforts to solve common problems, such as poverty,
pollution and healthcare. America in the 1960s enacted programs to rebuild
poor communities, to fight air and water pollution, and to ensure healthcare
for the elderly. Then the deep divisions over Vietnam and civil rights,
combined with a surge of consumerism and advertising, seemed to end an era
of shared sacrifice for the common good.
For 40 years, compassion in politics receded. Ronald Reagan gained
popularity by cutting social benefits for the poor (claiming the poor
cheated to receive extra payments). Bill Clinton continued those cuts in the
1990's. Today, no politician even dares to mention help for poor people.
The big campaign contributors to both parties pay to ensure their vested
interests dominate political debates. That means both parties increasingly
defend the interests of the rich, though Republicans do so slightly more
than Democrats. Even a modest tax increase on the rich is unlikely to find
support in American politics.
The result of all this is likely to be a long-term decline of US power and
prosperity, because Americans no longer invest collectively in their common
future. America will remain a rich society for a long time to come, but one
that is increasingly divided and unstable. Fear and propaganda may lead to
more US-led international wars, as in the past decade.
And what is happening in America is likely to be repeated elsewhere. America
is vulnerable to social breakdown because it is a highly diverse society.
Racism and anti-immigrant sentiments are an important part of the attack on
the poor ??? or at least the reason why so many are willing to heed the
propaganda against helping the poor. As other societies grapple with their
own increasing diversity, they may follow the US into crisis.
Swedes recently gave enough votes to a rightwing, anti- immigrant party to
give it representation in parliament, reflecting a growing backlash against
the rising number of immigrants in Swedish society. In France, Nicolas
Sarkozy's government has tried to regain popularity with the working class
by deporting Roma migrants, a target of widespread hatred and ethnic
attacks.
Both examples show that Europe, like the US, is vulnerable to the politics
of division, as our societies become more ethnically diverse.
The lesson from America is that economic growth is no
guarantee of wellbeing or political stability. American
society has become increasingly harsh, where the richest Americans buy their
way to political power and the poor are abandoned to their fate. In their
private lives, Americans have become addicted to consumerism, which drains
their time, savings, attention and inclination to engage in acts of
collective compassion.
The world should beware. Unless we break the ugly trends of
big money in politics and rampant consumerism, we risk
winning economic productivity at the price of our humanity.
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