economy

Video Post: The Monopolization of the Economy and Zephyr Teachout’s “Break’Em Up”

October 27, 2020 Comments Off on Video Post: The Monopolization of the Economy and Zephyr Teachout’s “Break’Em Up”
An introduction to monopolies and book review of Zephyr Teachout’s new book Break’Em Up: recovering our freedom from big ag, big tech, and big money, All Points Books, 2020. What are monopolies? How monopolized (concentrated) is the US economy Examples of how monopolization works and its effects The history of --->> read more -->>
free-market ideology

Video Post – Externalities – getting somebody else to pay for my production costs – the In Depth Capitalism series

October 25, 2020 Comments Off on Video Post – Externalities – getting somebody else to pay for my production costs – the In Depth Capitalism series
Capitalism features a structural drive to create and use external costs to increase profits. Pollution of the earth is the most obvious and visible; there are many others including injuries and death for workers.
healthcare

Video Post – Trump’s Pandemic

August 7, 2020 Comments Off on Video Post – Trump’s Pandemic
Trump and his Republican enablers – the Trumplicans –  are responsible for the pandemic in the US and the nearly 200k deaths that have occurred to date. Comparing the US response with the rest of the world makes it clear that this catastrophe is the direct result of Trumplican policies. --->> read more -->>
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racism

Structural White Supremacy In Action – the real estate market

July 2, 2020 Comments Off on Structural White Supremacy In Action – the real estate market
Wondering What White Supremacy Looks Like? The Boston Globe reported on July 1, 2020 on the results of a study by Suffolk University Law School, “Qualified Renters Need Not Apply” (link downloads the PDF of the study) from the Globe report: An undercover investigation released Wednesday found that Black people --->> read more -->>
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healthcare

The Trumplican Pandemic

June 30, 2020 Comments Off on The Trumplican Pandemic
It is absolutely clear that Trump and Republicans (Trumplicans) are to blame for the state we find ourselves in. Trump and Republicans can talk all they want about “Wuhan virus” and other racist slurs. There is no other explanation for the tremendous surge in COVID-19 cases across the southern belt --->> read more -->>
inequality

Reparations and the System of White Supremacy

June 25, 2020 Comments Off on Reparations and the System of White Supremacy
The recent upheavals around the killing of George Floyd and police violence more broadly has been surprising in its breadth and scope. In the midst of this, new discussion of reparations has surfaced. I have not actively thought about this topic since the widely read and cited article The Case --->> read more -->>
political system

End Anonymity

June 15, 2020 Comments Off on End Anonymity
Anonymity is a plague in our lives, public and private. The web is filled with anonymous material authored by anonymous creators. Facebook is filled with millions of anonymous fake people who are really, it frequently turns out,  paid actors for various political and economic actors. Our local web-based social platforms --->> read more -->>
economy

“How Structural Racism Works” – Tricia Rose and Samuel Rosen – recently noted

June 7, 2020 Comments Off on “How Structural Racism Works” – Tricia Rose and Samuel Rosen – recently noted
If you are struggling to get your head around how racism works you will probably find it helpful to have a general framework as a guide. This one hour lecture from 2017 features an overview by Brown University Professor Tricia Rose of the structure of racism and how it works --->> read more -->>
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political system

Recently Noted – Eric Foner on the Electoral College, presidential elections…..

May 21, 2020 Comments Off on Recently Noted – Eric Foner on the Electoral College, presidential elections…..
The May 21, 2020 Issue of the London Review of Books contains a review article, “The Corrupt Bargain” by Columbia U. Professor Eric Foner. It is a wonderful review of the history of this peculiar institution, The Electoral College. In the midst of his survey of the history of the --->> read more -->>
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books

Tightrope – Americans reaching for hope by Kristof and WuDunn – book review

May 1, 2020 Comments Off on Tightrope – Americans reaching for hope by Kristof and WuDunn – book review
Kristof and WuDunn’s book, Tightrope – Americans Reaching for Hope, spent some weeks on bestseller lists. Kristof is a well known reporter and writer for the NYTimes. It centers around the town of Yamhill OR and the people that Kristof grew up among. The stories of industrial decline, increasing inequality, --->> read more -->>
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environment

Recently Noted – the chemical industry, government, and personal connections to TCE

March 1, 2020 Comments Off on Recently Noted – the chemical industry, government, and personal connections to TCE
Back in the early and mid ‘70s both Karen and I worked in various machine shops and other industrial locations. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was used on a daily basis to clean metals parts and other materials. I remember a large tank of slowly roiling hot TCE at Stevens Arnold, Inc. in --->> read more -->>