Pages: << 1 ... 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 ... 1276 >>
It’s time for a post-Piketty vision of shared wealth
Adam Parsons
Thomas Piketty
The latest bestseller in economics has done a great deal of service to progressives in highlighting the imperative of shared wealth. But given the social and ecological limits to economic growth, this emerging conversation on global sharing has to get a lot more radical.
There is no doubt that Thomas Piketty’s best-seller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, has done a great deal of good in highlighting the urgency of tackling spiralling levels of global inequality. But could his main policy prescription – an annual global tax on capital - lead to a genuine sharing of wealth within and across societies?
The Guardian columnist George Monbiot is one of the latest commentators to add his voice to the debate, outlining the importance of Piketty’s analysis and conclusions. Central to these conclusions is Piketty’s critique of the Kuznets curve graph, which in the 1950s appeared to show that inequality automatically declines as a society advances through increased economic growth and industrialisation.
Washington Sabotages Russian/Ukrainian Summit
by Stephen Lendman
Washington wants control over all former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries.
It wants pro-Western governance replacing sovereign Russian independence.
It's part of its longstanding world dominance agenda. It wants all challengers eliminated.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko met in Minsk. It was their first official bilateral meeting. They discussed relevant geopolitical issues. Key is resolving Southeastern Ukraine's ongoing conflict.
Putin urges doing it peacefully. Poroshenko's continues war without mercy. He deplores democracy.
He wants freedom fighting self-defense forces crushed. He wants unchallenged hardline rule.
Gaza Ceasefire: Hold the Cheers
by Stephen Lendman
On Monday, both sides agreed to open-ended ceasefire terms. Peace talks will resume in Cairo within a month.
Terms agreed on include opening border crossings, "enabl(ing) the rapid entry of humanitarian aid," as well as construction supplies for rebuilding.
Monitoring will ensure reconstruction is solely for civilian purposes.
Israel's blockade has nothing to do with security. In June 2010, McClatchy newspapers headlined "Israeli document: Gaza blockade isn't about security," saying:
Effective immediately, coastal fishing waters will expand from three to six nautical miles. They'll gradually increase to 12 miles by yearend.
Israel agreed to halt targeted assassinations. Days earlier, Netanyahu called Hamas leaders legitimate targets.
Update to Resistance Turning Tide in Eastern Ukraine
Michael Collins
UPDATE to Resistance Turning Tide in Eastern Ukraine 8/27
The Colonel Cassad blog provides a detailed follow up to the breaking news post reported in my article yesterday at 2:40 AM. The description and analysis with maps and photographs documents the remarkable turnaround by the Donbass resistance in eastern Ukraine:
"In recent several days we are witnessing an epic and a historic event of its own kind. The Ukrainian regular army and punitive battalions are suffering a catastrophic defeat to the south of Donetsk. Even a short time ago the republics were in dire straits, the DPR was actually hanging by a thin supply thread , which was attempted to be cut near Shakhtyorsk and Krasnyi Luch, the summit of Saur-Mogila was abandoned, Bolotov's counteroffensive didn't bring decisive successes. Many thought that the militia was pressed against the rope and that it was about to break, which would lead to the collapse of Novorossia and the military victory for the fascist junta. However, the militia managed to withstand the most severe blow, which the junta dealt with all forces available to it in the first half of August." The Collapse of the Southern Front, Colonel Cassad - English, August 26
Climate Crisis Connects Us, Climate Justice Demands Unity
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese
What do rigged corporate trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Treaty, an international climate agreement to be signed in 2015, have in common? They are both tools being pushed by the power elite to rip away our hopes for democracy and to commodify all things to monetize them for profit.
It is this drive by multinational corporations to patent and control even living beings such as plants and animals and to privatize even elements that are essential to life such as water which connects all human beings on the planet. We are in a global battle of the people versus the plutocrats and this battle has a ticking timer called the climate crisis.
Israel v. Palestine: MSM Unreported Truths
by Stephen Lendman
On Tuesday, Israel's Operation Protective Edge aggression entered day 50. Mass slaughter and destruction continue.
MSM scoundrels largely lost interest. Killing Palestinians no longer matters. Justifiable outrage is absent.
So-called halted US arms shipments to Israel two weeks ago was head fake deception. Deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said no change in US support for Israel exists.
Weapons include Hellfire missiles, attack helicopters and powerful bunker buster bombs.
Israel uses them to kill Palestinian civilians. Doing so violates core international laws, norms and standards.
Russia and America: Geopolitical Opposites
by Stephen Lendman
Russia supports peace and stability. It wants conflicts resolved diplomatically.
America is polar opposite. It wages one war after another. Countries are ravaged and destroyed.
Russian humanitarian intervention is real. More on this below. America's is pretext to bomb, invade, mass murder, destroy, and plunder.
Permanent war is official US policy. One country after another is targeted. All independent ones are vulnerable.
Washington wants pro-Western subservient ones replacing them. Syria is in the eye of the storm. So are Iraq again and Ukraine.
Another No-Peace Ceasefire
by Stephen Lendman
What goes around, comes around. It's just a matter of time. Israel deplores peace. Its entire history reflects conflict.
Its premeditated aggression follows relative calm followed by ceasefires followed by more conflict.
The pattern repeats with disturbing regularity. It's been this way for decades. It's no different this time. Believing otherwise is pure fantasy.
It bears repeating what previous articles stressed. Israeli agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. They never were. For sure not now.
Israeli promises are made to be broken. Israeli policy is all take and no give. It's militantly racist.
It prioritizes confrontation over diplomacy. It believes in strength through militarism, intimidation, naked aggression, colonization, occupation and apartheid.
Obama Declares War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
The Islamic State is the pretext. Syria is the target. At issue is regime change.
It's replacing its sovereign independence with pro-Western stooge governance. It's wanting unchallenged regional control.
It's wanting Big Oil exploiting its resources. It's wanting Iran isolated. It's aiding Israel's Greater Middle East agenda.
It's making the world safe for war profiteers. It's about colonizing nations.
It's advancing America's imperium. It's about carving up whole continents belligerently. It's doing so for dominance and profits.
Resistance Turning Tide in Eastern Ukraine
Michael Collins
A Short but Important Update from Colonel Cassad - English: The Colonel Cassad blog is an invaluable source of information on what's really going on in the eastern Ukraine. The resistance militia defending the regions against attacks on civilian centers by the Kiev government seems to have turned a corner based on this information in item number 3) in the full report below. It outlines important advantages gained by the resistance in the battle for Donetsk. The Kiev government's punitive mission, attacking Donetsk and Lugansk in the latest iteration, verges on failure.
This comes as the United States - European Union puppet government in Kiev faces some major crises. The economy is collapsing and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can't do much to help. Mark Adominis predicted this in Forbes four months ago.
<< 1 ... 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 ... 1276 >>
