Category: Politics

If you’d like to have a better conception of just how huge our military budget is, I suggest you read this article: Income Redistribution in Disguise: Escalating Military Spending, By Ismael Hossein-Zadeh (Counterpunch)

House Panel Approves Subpoena for Rice

By 21-10, the House oversight committee voted to issue a subpoena to Rice to compel her story on the Bush administration’s claim, now discredited, that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa.

This should be good…

Did you know that there are about 2.3 million Iraqi refugees? And that there are about 1.9 million internally displaced Iraqis? I sure didn’t, until I read this article.

Imagine 2.3 million Americans leaving the country. Now imagine 23.8 million people leaving the US, which is the equivalent to what has happened in Iraq.

OK, George, that’s enough of that now. How many times have I told you to not lie to the American public? Bad Bush, BAD BUSH! *rolls up a newspaper and whacks him on the head*

VIDEO COMPILATION: Bush Fear-Mongering Reaches Fever Pitch In Iraq Speech

At the Chomsky Book Club last night (by the way, William, you’ve still got to come to this), I asked the group if they knew of a comprehensive website that listed events such as protests. I didn’t get a very good answer. It amounted to “join MoveOn.org” and “I hear about things through people that I know.” I don’t think that is good enough.

I think a huge problem with the left (and maybe with the right, too, but then again they’ve got their mega churches) is that people just don’t know that events are happening. I can say that that is the case with me. I hear about the major protests, but that is about it. Even though I subscribe to several “progressive” RSS feeds and watch the Democracy Now podcast a few times per week, I just don’t hear about things. I think this is something that needs to change.

So I’ve got an idea brewing in my head for a website that would simply list events by type and location. It would also allow people to submit events and to request RSVPs. I think it is a missing and necessary resource for the left.

I hope I can find the time to do this.

A question that has been on my mind for a few years now is: How is change most easily brought about?

At first, I thought the answer was individuals making changes in their own lives. Certainly, this has some value, but I soon realized that it is extremely difficult to make change in society in this way.

More recently, I have thought about and participated in the idea of mass protest. This certainly is more effective than individual change. But let us think in very simple terms here. Say the thing you are protesting against is the use of public funds to finance a new highway. While you and your fellow protesters are marching down Maple Street with your signs, yelling your catch phrases, the construction crews are busy pouring concrete five miles away. There is no direct connection between the protest and the thing you are protesting against.The construction goes on and those in power happily ignore you.

So what is at the heart of the matter, then? In many cases, it is money. Without money, those in power cannot fund the projects that you don’t like. The money obviously comes from taxes. You get taxed on your income. No income equals no money for the project.

But are you going to just stop working? Hell no. First of all, you won’t do almost any good by yourself. The government won’t miss your $10,000 in yearly taxes. More importantly, how are you going to pay your rent and feed yourself?

So what I have been thinking about lately is unions. Multi-industry unions, so that you’re not just fighting for your own working conditions, but the policies that affect many people in the country. These unions would have to have a large bank account. You pay your union dues, which essentially become a savings account for when the union goes on strike. If a large portion of the union agrees strongly enough for or against a policy, they can instantly go on strike. Imagine 25% of the income taxes suddenly disappearing. Do you think the government would notice you then? Do you think the government might notice you more than if you were marching in the street holding a sign up? Hell, the government would be so scared that even the mention of a strike would greatly influence policy.

If you look at our current system, the best way we have of creating change is elections. Unfortunately, in our current system we really only get two choices many times. Candidate A who you agree with 10% of the time and Candidate B who you agree with 20% of the time. And you only get to choose at most every two years. That simply isn’t good enough. We’re being forced to vote on one issue, if that.

I think that my method that I described above would significantly speed up the transition from public opinion to public policy. I’ll be thinking about this much more in the coming weeks and hopefully discussing it with my book club and other friends and family.