Capitalism
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A Commodity Called Misery By Joe Bageant
Why is there enough pain and alienation to sustain America’s umpteen billion dollar mental health business and its 400-plus specialties, not to mention the inner self-help industry and Deepak Chopra’s royal court. Continue reading
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Prof. Peter Dale Scott: Martial Law, the Financial Bailout, and War
It is becoming clear that the bailout measures of late 2008 may have consequences at least as grave for an open society as the response to 9/11 in 2001. Continue reading
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Evo Morales on Climate Change: Save the Planet from Capitalism!
‘Humankind is capable of saving the Earth if we recover the principles of solidarity, complementarity and harmony with nature in contraposition to the reign of competition, profits and rampant consumption of natural resources’ Continue reading
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Igor TOMBERG: Under Sign of Cartels
Now that the credit market has thinned, leaving few chances for speculations, Moscow begins to play a more adequate role in fuel price formation. Having carrying out some calculations, Russian experts concluded that the lack of liquidity would make the law of supply and demand more influential. Continue reading
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Aurobinda MAHAPATRA (India) The World Order on Anvil
“Any future configuration of world order may not be feasible without Russia at one centre. Besides Russia, the US, India, China, Japan, the EU would be definitely the other poles. In fact, the developments in trans-Caucasus in particular and in Central Eurasia in general may serve as a prelude to the coming of a new… Continue reading
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Responses From The South To The Global Economic Crisis
The meeting concluded that the situation has worsened in the last few weeks. It has progressed rapidly from being a series of crises in the financial markets of countries in the centre and has turned into an extremely serious international crisis. This meant that countries in the South are in a very difficult situation. Continue reading
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Trade’s Trade Offs – Council on Hemispheric Affairs
Introduction Adam Smith and David Ricardo’s theories regarding the potential positive effects of free international trade are today widely leaned upon by economists and policymakers. But even Adam Smith came to qualify his claims, noting, among other things, the need for free trade to be introduced slowly so that domestic industry and labor could adjust… Continue reading
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Kapitalism101: The Falling Rate of Profit
This theory, that increased efficiency drives down the rate of profit has aspects that are both intuitively commonsensical and aspects that seem illogical. It makes intuitive sense that the more there is of a commodity the less it is worth. It doesn’t seem to make sense that capitalists would continue to behave in ways that… Continue reading
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Martin Saatdjian: Venezuela taken steps to weather the financial crisis
Regardless of the impact of the existing economic meltdown, the Venezuelan government has taken important economic decisions, even before the crisis was even known, that now benefits and secures its economy against the financial crisis. Continue reading
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Norman Solomon: Requiem for the Bailout Storyline
Only two weeks ago, the media hype behind the $700 billion bailout was so intense that it sometimes verged on hysteria. More recent events should not be allowed to obscure the reality that the news media played a pivotal role in stampeding the country into a bailout that was unwise and unjust. Continue reading
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MEDIA LENS: INTELLECTUAL CLEANSING: PART 1 – Keeping The Media Safe For Big Business
MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media October 2, 2008 Martin Tierney is one of a tiny number of mainstream journalists willing to review our book, ‘Guardians of Power’. In June 2006, he published an accurate outline of our argument in the Herald, commenting: “It stands up to scrutiny.” He added… Continue reading
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Joe Bageant: The bail out in plain English — Yea though we walk in the valley of debt, we speak with the tongues of brokers
The ultimate coup was to convince the entire nation that the well being of the rich, meaning the well being of Wall Street, was indeed the common man’s well being. Continue reading
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Anti-Empire Report, October 1, 2008 By William Blum
What changes take place in the real world to cause the crisis? Nothing, necessarily. The crisis is usually caused by changes in the make-believe world of financial capitalism. Continue reading
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Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne: Postmodernism, Liberal Democracy and the War in Iraq For Meditation on Hajji Festival Day
A speech delivered April 25, 2003 by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne at a seminar organized by the Centre for Islamic studies at BMICH in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dear friends and comrades, We have tried to understand the motive behind this aggression (against Iraq). This aggression has violated every aspect of international law, all conventions of human… Continue reading
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Are they REALLY Oil Wars? By ISMAEL HOSSEIN-ZADEH
A most widely-cited factor behind the recent U.S. wars of choice is said to be oil. “No Blood for Oil” has been a rallying cry for most of the opponents of the war. While some of these opponents argue that the war is driven by the U.S. desire for cheap oil, others claim that it… Continue reading
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Immanuel Wallerstein, “The New World Geopolitical Order: End of Act I”
I call this the end of Act I because it has sealed the reality of a true multilateral geopolitical arena. Of course, there are still further acts to come. And any faithful playgoer know that Act I merely establishes who are the actors. It is in Act II that we see what really happens. And… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 