How to Fund an American Police State | The Nation

6 Mar

All told, the federal government has appropriated about $635 billion, accounting for inflation, for homeland security–related activities and equipment since the 9/11 attacks. To conclude, though, that “the police” have become increasingly militarized casts too narrow a net. The truth is that virtually the entire apparatus of government has been mobilized and militarized right down to the university campus….

Government budgets at every level now include allocations aimed at fighting an ephemeral “War on Terror” in the United States. A vast surveillance and military buildup has taken place nationwide to conduct a pseudo-war against what can be imagined, not what we actually face. The costs of this effort, started by the Bush administration and promoted faithfully by the Obama administration, have been, and continue to be, virtually incalculable. In the process, public service and the public imagination have been weaponized.

Farewell to Peaceful Private Life

We’re not just talking money eagerly squandered. That may prove the least of it. More importantly, the fundamental values of American democracy—particularly the right to lead an autonomous private life—have been compromised with grim efficiency. The weaponry and tactics now routinely employed by police are visible evidence of this.

And then there’s the “fusion centers,” which have nothing to do with atomic power of with avant-garde cuisine. It’s about gather information together and letting all the government snoops read it: Continue reading →

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What if all sides are wrong about taxes? – Salon.com

6 Mar

A useful review of tax policies, right, left, and center:

My point is that the three currently-popular options for tax reform—the conservative flat tax, the liberal ultra-progressive income tax, and the centrist formula of lowering rates while slashing loopholes—are all unrealistic, in different ways. Sorry, conservatives—if the U.S. gets a VAT or another national consumption tax, it will be in addition to federal and income taxes, not in place of them. Sorry, progressives—while income taxes on the rich can indeed be raised considerably, there really is a point at which doing so will backfire by encouraging massive tax avoidance or capital flight. The experience of Europe suggests that it makes more sense to add a VAT to the mix of American federal taxes, if you want to fund a European-style middle-class welfare state.

Oh, and tax centrists—if your goal in your career is not just to trim but to completely eliminate tax expenditures for middle class Americans as well as the rich, you are going to have a sad, frustrated life.

via What if all sides are wrong about taxes? – Salon.com.

Inside the bully economy – Bullying – Salon.com

5 Mar

According to Jessie Klein, the author of the new book “The Bully Society,” it’s a problem that’s only getting worse. In her excellent examination of the school bullying epidemic, Klein, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at Adelphi University, takes a broad approach to the subject. She first lays out the scope of the problem, before explaining how kids’ changing attitudes towards masculinity, the birth of child-targeted consumerism and the erosion of our compassionate society have all helped to create a culture in which children are increasingly feeling overwhelmed and helpless, and, in some cases, prone to violence. Most provocatively, she ties the rise of bullying behavior to America’s economic move to the right.

Hmmm… In the interview, Klein says that shootings are on the rise:

Between 1979 and 1988 there were 27 school shootings. From 1989 to 1998 there were 55 and then they continued to increase from 1999 to 2008 to 66, so there were 148 shootings in the three decades from 1979 to 2008. What’s most disturbing is that in the three years since 2008 there have been 43 shootings, and that’s almost two-thirds of the number of shootings that occurred in the preceding decade.

via Inside the bully economy – Bullying – Salon.com.

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Springsteen in the age of Occupy – Bruce Springsteen – Salon.com

5 Mar

Springsteen may be a lifelong individualist, he may be every bit as suspicious of institutions and bureaucracies as Ronald Reagan was, but he clearly doesn’t believe that success is wholly individual either. There isn’t a Social Darwinist bone in his body, and Ayn Rand may very well be his ideological antipode. In paying tribute to OWS at the Paris press conference, it was this sort of solipsistic individualism against which Springsteen most directly raged, accusing those who disproportionately profited from the boom years of “a complete disregard for the American sense of history and community.”

The history and community to which Springsteen most clearly appeals on “Wrecking Ball” and throughout his career is the workingman’s world of his youth, a world of factories and union halls, in which good-paying jobs, benefits and affordable housing were much more widely available to those who might not have an Ivy League education but were willing to get their shirts dirty.

via Springsteen in the age of Occupy – Bruce Springsteen – Salon.com.

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Africa’s Amazing Rise and What it Can Teach the World – G. Pascal Zachary – International – The Atlantic

4 Mar

Meanwhile, things are looking up in Africa:

In virtually every single African nation, the leading mobile phone company is now the leading taxpayer to the government, the leading local donor to local causes, and one of the leading employers.

But more important than the economic impact of the mobile revolution was the mental impact. The twin values of self-reliance and exceeding expectations were cemented by the success in mobile telephony, which compelled development experts to rethink their commitment to African under-development.

The striking improvements in living standards in Africa, especially for small farmers, have triggered a new optimism about the prospects for the continent. While gloomy “Afro-pessimists” still dominate the global debate, more optimistic and pragmatic voices are starting to challenge old orthodoxies. “Policies devised by governments and donors imply a daunting lack of ambition,” declared a 2010 report from the London-based Africa Research Institute. While the report is specifically about “why Africa can make it big in agriculture,” the same observation — that international development experts inexplicably downplay African prospects — could be made across industries.

via Africa’s Amazing Rise and What it Can Teach the World – G. Pascal Zachary – International – The Atlantic.

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Occupy Protesters Look To The Past With ‘+ Brigades’ | NationofChange

3 Mar

I suppose some would say that street music, dance, and theater is not serious protest, but they would be wrong.

De­but­ing at yes­ter­day’s “Shut Down the Cor­po­ra­tions” ac­tion, the + Brigades is a new and grow­ing part of Oc­cupy Wall Street in­tent on sup­ple­ment­ing up­com­ing protest ac­tions with life-af­firm­ing en­ergy, color, dance, song and cos­tumes. A squad of danc­ing clowns led a rainy day of protest in Mid­town Man­hat­tan, tar­get­ing the of­fices of Bank of Amer­ica, Pfizer and Koch In­dus­tries.

via Occupy Protesters Look To The Past With ‘+ Brigades’ | NationofChange.

It’s time to love the bus – Dream City – Salon.com

3 Mar

Just as Google uses its bus system to compete with other companies, cities might do the same with theirs. But while budget constraints are one obstacle, just as often it’s a problem of perception: The bus is seen as cut-rate transit, ever inferior to rail and not worthy of attention. Even last week, when I traveled to Athens, Ga., to meet with a community group that’s promoting better urban planning, everyone I spoke to was shocked that I had taken the bus from Atlanta instead of a private shuttle.

via It’s time to love the bus – Dream City – Salon.com.

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Big Food Must Go: Why We Need to Radically Change the Way We Eat | Labor | AlterNet

3 Mar

“Occupying the food system” has emerged as a rallying cry as activists and movements across the country, from Willie Nelson to more than 60 Occupy groups are turning up the heat on “big food” in nationwide actions today. Across the US, online and offline, thousands will be protesting icons of corporate control over food such as Monsanto and Cargill, and literally occupying vacant lots and tilling long-ignored soils in a mass-scale rejuvenation of community-led food production. (Find out more about the day of action here.)

“We want to ignite a robust conversation about corporate control of our food supply,” says Laurel Sutherlin, communications manager for Rainforest Action Network, a lead organizer in this growing coalition of food system occupiers. “Occupy has opened a national dialogue about inequality and the dangers of surrendering our basic life-support systems over to corporate control.”

via Big Food Must Go: Why We Need to Radically Change the Way We Eat | Labor | AlterNet.

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Rooting for Santorum – NYTimes.com

3 Mar

Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, noted that many Americans, disenchanted by the poisonous state of American politics, have largely opted out, and that “only the most rabid partisans vote.” In other words, the Republican Party has largely been captured by its most extreme flank. Santorum is their standard-bearer.

But that is also where I see a glimmer of hope. During the McGovern-Mondale era, the Democrats were exactly where the Republicans are now: the party had been taken over by its most extreme liberal faction, and it had lost touch with the core concerns of the middle class, just as the Republicans have now. When I spoke to Whitman this week about what the Republican Party needed to do to become a more inclusive, less rigidly dogmatic party, she said, “It’s going to take some kind of shock therapy.”

I’ll buy that, shock therapy. For the Democrats, too. Shock therapy, they name is Ron Paul.

via Rooting for Santorum – NYTimes.com.

Stars and Stripes Staff Worried About Move to Military Base – NYTimes.com

3 Mar

Will Stars and Stripes lose its editorial independence if forced to relocate next to military PR operations?

An inside-the-office debate began to simmer when Pentagon officials — answering the order from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to find significant budget efficiencies — saw a way to cut $1 million a year in rent by relocating the newspaper from the National Press Building, a prestigious downtown address. The 80-member newsroom and business staff was ordered to Fort Meade, Md., where it would be housed at no cost alongside the agency that oversees official Pentagon and military media operations.

Staff members objected. And now, concerns that proximity could potentially lead to interference have reached Capitol Hill — which heightens the debate, since Stars and Stripes is subsidized with taxpayer funds but operates with a Congressional endorsement to maintain journalistic independence.

via Stars and Stripes Staff Worried About Move to Military Base – NYTimes.com.

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