Cuba and the Ukraine crisis (tags)
History repeats itself after all. What as the Cuban Missile Crisis left the world balancing on the precipice is exemplified by the Ukraine crisis. Starting in 1959, the USA stationed nuclear-tipped medium-range missiles in Italy and Turkey aimed at the USSR. The latter responded.
"The victor is not the one who wins the battles" (tags)
Stubborn resistance Although the war is still in its infancy, it is no walk in the park for Russian forces, which are facing fierce resistance. It will be difficult for the Russian army to gain control of cities, towns, and highways and hold them in the face of attacks by regular and guerrilla forces...
The "Great Reset" and the Deep State (tags)
Taboo truths, about which the authorities remain shamefully silent, can indeed be kept under the carpet very well for decades. The course of history is massively influenced by these informal, unelected structures that operate in the interests of the old elites.
"We have delegated our moral judgment to the markets" (tags)
"Yes, we can" was a call to solidarity and common goals. The legend that everyone in America can rise as high as their talents can carry them goes back to Ronald Reagan. Access to education should not be a substitute for policies that directly address the roots of inequality and the dignity of work.
Social Inequality and Universal Basic Income (tags)
The welfare state in Germany is not as efficient as in the Nordic countries. In Germany, more than twice as many persons are at risk of income poverty - particularly children and single parents. We have to make a decision: entrepreneurial paradise or a little less faith in the market.
Karl Polanyi on Unfettered Capitalism (tags)
Karl Polanyi condemned profit greed and deregulated markets. Today's capitalism critics are his heirs and don't know it. An unfettered capitalism is responsible for the world coming out of joint. "Finance capital was put in the driver's seat."
Basic Income: 80% of New Jobs are Low Wage (tags)
We must make crucial changes and need new approaches. Soon we willnot crate bad jobs but no jobs if the developments of 3D-printers, autonomous cars and further automation continue. Technical solutions will suddenly make countless people unemployed.
anti-war
Capitalism Can Be Cured (tags)
"The Occupy movement protests worldwide against the power of banks. The Indignados in Spain demonstrate against the system that gives them this crisis and high unemployment. No saying has been criticized more vigorously than Margaret Thatcher's `there is no alternative'."
The core of all western-individualist ideas of justice is the principle of personal responsibility. Everyone is responsible for the consequences of his/her actions. This motivates as well as disciplines. "We punish the virtuous and reward the squanderers."
The Neediest Need Help Like the Banks (tags)
The same state haggles over every bowl of soup for welfare recipients. For banks, billions appeared overnight. There must also be money for higher wages and more social services.
"The Market is not a Safe Bank" by Helmut Schmidt (tags)
This crisis was avoidable. The fact that American investment banks are not subject to any normal bank supervision is scandalous. Financial transactions must be subject to rules and security standards. The heavier the traffic, the more rules and regulations are needed.
"Worse than in the Iraq War" (tags)
"A recapitalization of relatively sound banks could be vital for creating trust in the financial system. This must happen in a way that prevents privatizing profits while socializing losses. One can learn good crisis management in the example of Sweden's banking crisis in the 1990s
Faith and religion could be a force for peace after militarism and intolerance are excised as false corrupted consciousness. Prejudice could be a stepping stone to the event of understanding, the fusion of horizons (H.G.Gadamer,Truth and Method).
De-Acceleration or Globalization 2.0 (tags)
"The wondrous global division of labor came about in which threshold countries lend money to the US to buy Chinese or Indian products..Must cut-flowers from Africa be promoted in Europe?..With de-acceleration, globalization will catapult fewer jobs around the globe.
"Science in the White House": David Baltimore (tags)
"The White House and the US Congress have shown little respect for science in the last years. The government obviously does not understand the importance of independence for science. Unfree scientific thinking does not work."