[The Luddites were a group at the dawn of mechanization that believed that replacing men with machines was bad. At least that's the official history.]
There were 377,000 new unemployment claims last week, this is still below the “new normal” of 400,000. These numbers should indicate a brisk pace in the creation of new jobs. In reality, it may only mean that that corporate America has slacked off from firing people to replace them with lower wage novice workers. Even so this would be good news. If you go with the unadjusted data instead, (that is, no allowance for the post Christmas season) we are still way better off than a year ago today.
There is a lot of talk about the rise in robotics in manufacturing; this is to counter the talk about falling wages and unemployment, as if more machines really changed the mathematics of it all. Traditionally it has been the reality that more mechanization actually creates more jobs. More machines meant more people were needed to build and service the machines than the machines actually replaced. More goods were produced in total, and overall employment increased along with the standard of living from the increased productivity and more distribution and service jobs were created. This was before the one percent decided that all productivity belonged to them, and they alone.
Today the corporate media is circulating pictures of one robotic arm repairing another robotic arm as if this signaled a dynamic shift. Where is Sarah Conner when we need her? The whole point of the shift to robotics instead of simple mechanization was that robots could use more than one tool to do an operation without moving the product down the assembly line. This concept allowed for more products to be made by machines doing smaller volume manufacturing without hand labor. Again more products are produced which increases the standard of living.
Historically, the whole point of mechanization was to improve the standard of living of society as a whole. This has always been a point of contention between workers and capitalists. Capitalists have always believed they alone should get the benefits of improvements in productivity; and workers (who do the actual work) think that the rewards should go to them.
Today the capitalists are winning this contest; don’t confuse capitalists with the people who invent the machines or create anything that makes efficient production tools possible. Capitalists only control the capital, they are more than happy to steal from those who invent and create (there‘s real money robbing those people); just as they are willing to steal from those who toil with sweat and skill to squeeze the last dime.
President Obama is talking around the edges of doing something about this; and it’s driving the Republicans nuts. The Mitt Romney’s of the world live with absolute certainty that they are entitled to their ill gotten gains, but they always live with the fear it could come to an end with a mob of villagers advancing on the castle with torches and pitchforks. Mrs Mittens actually said in public that it was “unfortunate that they had to reveal [their real income through] their tax returns”.
The rightwing, on behalf of the 1/10 of one percent, will use any tactic to throw the common people off the scent. Depending on the day of they week, it’s the black people, or the brown people, the unions, or the immigrants, not long ago it was the Muslims, and now it‘s the rise of the machines. Just don’t notice that they are using capital and the manipulation of government to capture the means of production. They then shift all production to support their lifestyle of complete avarice, and still they want more. I guess that “insatiable” is the definition of “avarice”. Worse still, they carve out their wants from the muscle of the economy and now they need to dig ever deeper into the bone to maintain their status.
We can change this if enough people understand the economics of it all. It’s a joke that nearly everyone should work for little food and substandard housing just to avoid even worse poverty in order to keep the 1/10 of one percent living in the luxury of kings. That is it would really be a big “ha-ha” if we all knew better. Instead, so few people get the joke, that it’s as serious as a heart attack, and nobody knows seems to know CPR.
How to win
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Name a Prison for him
Capitalism shouldn’t be confused with business or anything else that’s good for you.
Simply put, capitalism is the buying and selling of someone else’s business. Whether it’s the looting of companies by the Leveraged Buyout Specialists at Bain Capital, or the monopolization of a particular commodity by the likes of Enron. A capitalist by definition does not create, does not produce, and does not contribute to anything but their own bottom line. Capitalism is about the use of capital to one’s own advantage in the taking of what other people have produced, and nothing else. It’s not about workers vs. employers except that capitalism demands the exploitation of workers, but only because there’s profit to be had there. Just as there can be profit in war or any natural disaster, if capitalists are allowed to take advantage of the situation.
Capitalism shouldn’t be confused with investing, this is where a person owns some part of an ongoing business. Investing in turn should not be confused with “playing the market”. Remember when it used to be called that, instead of your “retirement security“? The stock market doesn’t produce anything either, with the exception of a few winners and lots of losers, just like playing at any other mafia run casino. The Wall Street mafia does well for itself but serves no public good, any exception to this rule could be better done by someone else.
Lets review: a business that actually produces something of value is by definition not capitalism, and their investors are not capitalists. The exception is that some businesses in an unregulated economy do behave as capitalists by preying upon their weaker competitors, or prey upon the public in general while operating a legitimate front business.
Americans all think they are capitalists; having had it drilled into them for generations that capitalism is the polar opposite of communism, and no “good” American is a communist. All the while fewer and fewer Americans own anything themselves. They don’t realize they are charging full speed toward living in the exact image of a communist state where the individual owns nothing, just without veneer of socialism.
Mitt Romney has found out just how little regard Americans actually have for capitalists. Republican voters have now switched to Newt Gingrich after he pointed out just how despicable capitalists are. In SC, Mitt only won the demographic of those with an income over $200,000.
Historically, communism as it has been practiced was really indistinguishable from capitalism. The Red Chinese were able to “convert” to capitalism without changing much of anything, they‘re about to announce a new five year plan that will make them the dominant capitalist power in the world. The Soviet elite converted to capitalism by simply doing away with their social safety nets and becoming capitalist oligarchs.
American capitalism is moving the country as fast as it can to become a hybrid of the Soviet, Russian Oligarch, and Chinese models. From the Soviet system: the total domination of business by gigantic centrally planned corporations (Welcome to Walmart, I am comrade greeter). From the modern Russian Oligarchic model: the total elimination of social safety nets of any kind, and from the Red Chinese model we get a national security state.
The Republican base hasn’t caught on that Newt is more than happy to wield the axe for people like Mitt, as long as Newt gets to wear the crown in public. If Americans in general catch on that the Occupy movement is on to something thanks to the revelations of Newt Gingrich we should build him a statue, or name a prison after him.
Simply put, capitalism is the buying and selling of someone else’s business. Whether it’s the looting of companies by the Leveraged Buyout Specialists at Bain Capital, or the monopolization of a particular commodity by the likes of Enron. A capitalist by definition does not create, does not produce, and does not contribute to anything but their own bottom line. Capitalism is about the use of capital to one’s own advantage in the taking of what other people have produced, and nothing else. It’s not about workers vs. employers except that capitalism demands the exploitation of workers, but only because there’s profit to be had there. Just as there can be profit in war or any natural disaster, if capitalists are allowed to take advantage of the situation.
Capitalism shouldn’t be confused with investing, this is where a person owns some part of an ongoing business. Investing in turn should not be confused with “playing the market”. Remember when it used to be called that, instead of your “retirement security“? The stock market doesn’t produce anything either, with the exception of a few winners and lots of losers, just like playing at any other mafia run casino. The Wall Street mafia does well for itself but serves no public good, any exception to this rule could be better done by someone else.
Lets review: a business that actually produces something of value is by definition not capitalism, and their investors are not capitalists. The exception is that some businesses in an unregulated economy do behave as capitalists by preying upon their weaker competitors, or prey upon the public in general while operating a legitimate front business.
Americans all think they are capitalists; having had it drilled into them for generations that capitalism is the polar opposite of communism, and no “good” American is a communist. All the while fewer and fewer Americans own anything themselves. They don’t realize they are charging full speed toward living in the exact image of a communist state where the individual owns nothing, just without veneer of socialism.
Mitt Romney has found out just how little regard Americans actually have for capitalists. Republican voters have now switched to Newt Gingrich after he pointed out just how despicable capitalists are. In SC, Mitt only won the demographic of those with an income over $200,000.
Historically, communism as it has been practiced was really indistinguishable from capitalism. The Red Chinese were able to “convert” to capitalism without changing much of anything, they‘re about to announce a new five year plan that will make them the dominant capitalist power in the world. The Soviet elite converted to capitalism by simply doing away with their social safety nets and becoming capitalist oligarchs.
American capitalism is moving the country as fast as it can to become a hybrid of the Soviet, Russian Oligarch, and Chinese models. From the Soviet system: the total domination of business by gigantic centrally planned corporations (Welcome to Walmart, I am comrade greeter). From the modern Russian Oligarchic model: the total elimination of social safety nets of any kind, and from the Red Chinese model we get a national security state.
The Republican base hasn’t caught on that Newt is more than happy to wield the axe for people like Mitt, as long as Newt gets to wear the crown in public. If Americans in general catch on that the Occupy movement is on to something thanks to the revelations of Newt Gingrich we should build him a statue, or name a prison after him.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Zipping down the Mitt-way to Oblivion
Initial unemployment claims fell by 50,000 last week to 449,000. The last time the number was that low, Barack Obama was the surprise winner of the Iowa Caucus four years ago. Speaking of surprise winners in Iowa: according to the Republicans there was no winner in Iowa as the official tally now shows Santorum won by 43 votes. Their rationale to declare “no winner” is that there are eight precincts whose reports are missing, so there couldn’t be a final determination, but these missing ballots were all in counties where Santorum did well. The real margin of victory for Santorum was probably higher, but we still aren’t talking landslide. [update: Iowa declared Santorum the winner on Saturday]
To avoid admitting that Romney didn’t win, the Republicans then fell back to saying that Romney and Santorum each got six RNC delegates, so it was a tie (stop looking at us and move on). They also awarded six delegates to Ron Paul. Funny that nobody mentions that Paul also won Iowa. Of course none of these delegates are actually committed to anybody as they were “awarded” by the state party, and weren‘t elected by the Caucus (the GOP term for this is “soft committed“).
Back to the economy: manufacturing continues to show growth, albeit with lower wages; retail sales were up 6.6% last year, but the 4th quarter was nearly flat; and housing starts are generally up, but almost all in apartment units.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down more than 2% today. You would think when Obama killed the pipeline that oil prices would spike on the basis of the anticipated shortages. Funny how just the opposite is happening. It might have something to do with domestic production being above 50% of consumption for the first time since the mid 1990s. The fact is that Obama is keeping oil produced in Canada and most of the Midwest from being exported to China. The reality of that will never sink into the “drill baby, drill” crowd however.
A variety of reports on the condition of American highways point to the folly of 30 years' neglect. Internationally we rank 20th in highway infrastructure behind several countries that most Americans would assume to be 3rd world. Nearly half of all traffic accident reports cite the poorly maintained or obsolete highways as the cause. The cost to commuters caused by the neglected highway system is estimated at $110 billion each year.
Over all, the lack of modern infrastructure is slicing a trillion dollars off the top of our GDP. That’s about 7% of unrealized potential economy that would put an awful lot of people to work. Then there is the three trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure repairs that have been piling up for decades. These include bridges, dams, levees and other constructs that have the potential for mass casualties when they fail.
So highways are yet another indicator that we have sunk to third world status under Republican domination. The problem with correcting any of this is that the education system was one of the first things to go. The Republican solution for the roads is the same as for everything else: privatize them. President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highways, President Romney wants to own them. www.prairie2.com
To avoid admitting that Romney didn’t win, the Republicans then fell back to saying that Romney and Santorum each got six RNC delegates, so it was a tie (stop looking at us and move on). They also awarded six delegates to Ron Paul. Funny that nobody mentions that Paul also won Iowa. Of course none of these delegates are actually committed to anybody as they were “awarded” by the state party, and weren‘t elected by the Caucus (the GOP term for this is “soft committed“).
Back to the economy: manufacturing continues to show growth, albeit with lower wages; retail sales were up 6.6% last year, but the 4th quarter was nearly flat; and housing starts are generally up, but almost all in apartment units.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down more than 2% today. You would think when Obama killed the pipeline that oil prices would spike on the basis of the anticipated shortages. Funny how just the opposite is happening. It might have something to do with domestic production being above 50% of consumption for the first time since the mid 1990s. The fact is that Obama is keeping oil produced in Canada and most of the Midwest from being exported to China. The reality of that will never sink into the “drill baby, drill” crowd however.
A variety of reports on the condition of American highways point to the folly of 30 years' neglect. Internationally we rank 20th in highway infrastructure behind several countries that most Americans would assume to be 3rd world. Nearly half of all traffic accident reports cite the poorly maintained or obsolete highways as the cause. The cost to commuters caused by the neglected highway system is estimated at $110 billion each year.
Over all, the lack of modern infrastructure is slicing a trillion dollars off the top of our GDP. That’s about 7% of unrealized potential economy that would put an awful lot of people to work. Then there is the three trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure repairs that have been piling up for decades. These include bridges, dams, levees and other constructs that have the potential for mass casualties when they fail.
So highways are yet another indicator that we have sunk to third world status under Republican domination. The problem with correcting any of this is that the education system was one of the first things to go. The Republican solution for the roads is the same as for everything else: privatize them. President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highways, President Romney wants to own them. www.prairie2.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
It all comes back to economics 0.001
The right wing talking heads that serve the 0.001 are screaming about Obama betraying the country by killing the Keystone Excel Pipeline project in order to pander to his liberal base. Liberals who are so crazed by this pipeline issue as to allow Romney to become President over it, will not support Obama anyway. They will not support him, either because of other issues, or because they believe he will simply approve Keystone the day after the election regardless. His weasel words in order to appear centrist on the issue give them good reason to think this, but I'll bet 10,000 Romney’s that this pipeline is dead as long as Obama is President.
Most people with any inclination to vote for Obama either don’t care about the pipeline, or think he should approve it. He did himself no favors by not approving it on the basis of a simple vote count. Obama is thinking bigger than that.
The only logical conclusion is that he killed the project on its merits, and not just the environmental concerns. The biggest problem for the US isn't just the massive pollution this pipeline will cause; but rather the economic damage it will create. All of the oil currently produced in the central states and in Canada are refined in Midwestern refineries for domestic consumption.
This is not an insignificant amount oil, and in fact our biggest export is currently gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Through every energy price run up we have been exporting vast amounts of gasoline, we always have. This will not change if this truly massive pipeline were built across the middle of the country, it will become a giant drain. This pipeline would connect to all existing pipelines and drain everything directly to the Texas export zones. Surprisingly, this would even include oil produced in north Texas and Oklahoma that currently flows north exclusively. The oil companies would also avoid all taxes, and for good measure, be able to create a massive shortage anytime they chose to.
Simply approving the pipeline would kill all the smaller independent refineries in the Midwest who would see the writing on the wall. There will be a race to be the first to sell out to the big monopolies to keep from simply being put out of business, and this would immediately start driving up gasoline prices just in time for the election.
You can still say Obama did it just for the votes, but it’s also crucial for the economy that this drain be plugged. The oil companies seem to think they should be able to go ahead with the southern leg anyway, which makes it clear this is exactly their strategy. It makes no sense to build only part of the pipeline if they really needed it just to get "new" oil from Canada, it's because it lets them grab off the southern part of the Midwestern oil fields and put several refineries out of business. It might not give them a complete monopoly of the oil supply, but they’ve done well for themselves with the degree of control they already have. www.prairie2.com
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Pretend this website is blacked out
It's too hard for an old fossil like me to shut down for today's protest, so just read this statement, shut it off yourself, and come back Thursday.
These so called copyright infringement laws are simply intended to walmartize the internet. Nobody who doesn't have the ability to stand up the major corporations will be able to put anything up on the net. All competition will simply be squashed. The mere accusation of infringement will cost more in legal fees than any small company or individual can withstand. Even if the government doesn't shut down the falsely accused, as these bills would allow them to do with no hearing or trial. The corporations can simply bring more charges of infringement until the lawyers own your house.
These are exactly the same tactics that Franken-food companies are using on farmers that grow their own seed. Massive lawsuits for patent infringement if your seed becomes contaminated with "their" DNA (through their corporate misconduct). The Supreme Court took the side of the corporations of course. In India these companies are being prosecuted for piracy. Too bad India is so crowded. We could all move there, and get jobs in the call centers until there is no one here to talk to.
These so called copyright infringement laws are simply intended to walmartize the internet. Nobody who doesn't have the ability to stand up the major corporations will be able to put anything up on the net. All competition will simply be squashed. The mere accusation of infringement will cost more in legal fees than any small company or individual can withstand. Even if the government doesn't shut down the falsely accused, as these bills would allow them to do with no hearing or trial. The corporations can simply bring more charges of infringement until the lawyers own your house.
These are exactly the same tactics that Franken-food companies are using on farmers that grow their own seed. Massive lawsuits for patent infringement if your seed becomes contaminated with "their" DNA (through their corporate misconduct). The Supreme Court took the side of the corporations of course. In India these companies are being prosecuted for piracy. Too bad India is so crowded. We could all move there, and get jobs in the call centers until there is no one here to talk to.
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