Interesting article at Oprah.com - While reading it I got one of my Big Picture epiphanies. Look beyond the copy discussing parenting pressures and time deficits because it traces the outline of a disease to which our nation is succumbing.
For years we've been bombarded with stories about how wonderful the economy and the labor market is doing.
For example, take a look at these recent news articles:
Goldman sees unemployment below 4%, job market getting so good it could 'overshoot'
The Great Obama Economy. It created more than 11 million jobs.
American workers may be earning less, but they've almost never been more confident.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/21/selectivity-in-trashing-trump/
Investigative reporter Robert Parry, the author of this article, broke many of the Iran-Contra stories. He says there's good reason to denounce Trump's crude language, position on climate change, and if he follows Reagan and Bush's failed economic policies. However, he also mentions moving among protesters at the inauguration, and seeing signs denouncing Trump's interest in working peacefully with Putin. In other words, the warmongers were part of the crowd protesting him, too. And now Silicon Valley is up in arms and funding immigration protests (over H1B visas - they want to keep bringing in cheaper foreign IT workers).
But the current danger for Democrats and progressives is that – by bashing everything that Trump says and does – they will further alienate the white working-class voters who became his base and will push away anti-war activists.
I came across this series a couple of weeks ago and found it helpful to see some of the interconnected patterns of the information, thoughts and opinions being expressed by members of C99. A Century of War by Sean Stone covers a wide range of information and does not have the time to explore deeply into any one subject. Not everybody has two hours, so I summarized the information for each segment. I think the visual images add at least as much understanding as the dialog.
Jimmy discusses a video of political scientist/economist Mark Blyth, Brown University, who accurately predicted Brexit and Trump explains in clear language how globalization and capitalism are failing people throughout the world and why that means more Brexits and Trumps are on the way. You will NOT need an economics degree to understand him.
The election distraction lingers on. Meanwhile everyone is gearing up to spend like crazy for the "holidays". The only real way to try to stop the onslaught we are making on the climate is to change our habits in a big way. What better way to start than by not spending except for what we really need to live?
This essay is really just a slightly edited email reply I sent to an old friend I’ve known since grammar school. I’ll be 81 next month and he’s a year older so it isn’t as if we haven’t had time and experience enough to analyze what is going on in our lives, our country, our planet, and our minds. I’m afraid I just let my annoyance show, but I think it may just be time. The paragraphs between the asterisks are the pertinent part of an email he sent me.
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I was reading the piece second piece linked by MsGrin. https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrishamby/the-billion-dollar-ultimatum?utm_ter...
"You have no right to do business in this country, take your business and go home."
Is that not a sovereign right? Isn't that the prerogative of a nation?
