tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25791898473565870962024-03-18T09:49:59.583-07:00Facts For Working PeopleIf you have opinions about the subject matter of posts on this blog please share them. Do you have a story about how the system affects you at work school or home, or just in general? This is a place to share it.Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.comBlogger7212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-68251671652927054612024-03-18T09:49:00.000-07:002024-03-18T09:49:06.349-07:00Hackney Turns Out for Dianne Abbot after latest Racist Assault.<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oyr-HrxOh1I?si=XoUsnRgl6mC0pC2W" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p>Richard Mellor</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I am not too familiar with Dianne Abbot's politics. I know she was in Corbyn's cabinet and she has been an MP for a long time from Hackney.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I was quite moved by this rally as the community came out on short notice to defend her. I have watched her on some talk shows where she shared some of the vile abuse she has been subjected to on social media. She faced vile personal attacks from the racists and misogynists and has often been attacked for her weight.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The latest attack and what sparked off this rally from what I can gather, is the most recent remark from a Conservative Party donor, a business man, Frank Hester, who runs a health and tech concern. He is alleged to have said that <span class="sc-ed73b9f2-0 jhhdRT"> Dianne Abbot made him, <i>"want to hate all black women"</i> and that she <i>"should be shot".</i></span></span></p><p>
</p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-86770416151569663112024-03-16T15:28:00.000-07:002024-03-16T15:28:47.150-07:00Great Irish Famine historians issue St. Patrick's Day statement on Gaza<h4 class="article-header-abstract"><span style="font-size: medium;">A group
of historians is urging Irish Americans to use their influence to avert a
Famine in Gaza as severe as the one faced by their Irish ancestors.</span></h4>
<div class="article-header-byline">
<div class="article-header-byline-author"><span style="font-size: medium;">IrishCentral Staff</span></div>
<div class="article-header-byline-social"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://twitter.com/IrishCentral" target="_blank">@IrishCentral</a></span></div>
<div class="article-header-byline-date" content="2024-03-15T14:17:18-04:00">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><time class="date-only">Mar 15, 2024</time></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="The Famine Memorial in Dublin, Ireland." class="article-media-image img-responsive" data-mfp-src="https://www.irishcentral.com/uploads/article-v2/2024/3/162681/GettyImages-996291592_famine_memorial_dublin___getty.jpg?t=1710526638" src="https://www.irishcentral.com/uploads/article-v2/2024/3/162681/cropped_GettyImages-996291592_famine_memorial_dublin___getty.jpg?t=1710526638" /></span>
<div class="article-media-caption"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Famine Memorial in Dublin, Ireland. <span class="article-media-caption-credits">Getty Images</span></span></div>
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<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Editor's Note: The below letter was shared with
IrishCentral by signatory Dr John Cunningham of University of Galway
today, Friday, March 15. </strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/topic/great-hunger" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Irish Famine</a>
of c. 1846-50 resonates through Irish and American history. During the
Famine and in its aftermath, two million or more survivors emigrated to
the United States, determined to make better lives for themselves. Many
nursed a sense of the injustice that had brought starvation to their
families and neighbours, and passed this to their children and to later
generations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just last year, during his Irish visit, President Biden spoke to
crowds in Dundalk and Ballina about the tragedy of the Famine and its <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/joe-biden-irish-roots" rel="noopener" target="_blank">impact on his own family</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As historians of the Irish Famine, we are conscious of the horrific
effects of mass starvation, including the trauma it leaves in its wake.
Alert to the threat of famine throughout the world in our own time, we
are alarmed at its <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-90-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-Jerusalem" rel="noopener" target="_blank">imminence in Gaza</a>, and are strongly urging here that every possible step be taken to prevent it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As a descendant of Great Famine survivors himself, and with the capacity to influence the situation, <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/news/biden-friends-of-ireland-2024" rel="noopener" target="_blank">President Biden</a> carries a particular responsibility, especially as evidence of impending calamity emerges on a daily basis.</span></p>
<div class="module module-read-more-cta">
<div class="module-read-more-cta-heading">
<h3 class="module-read-more-cta-heading-text"><span style="font-size: medium;">Read more</span></h3>
</div>
<ul class="module-read-more-cta-list"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/suzanne-mcclean-biden-gaza" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Bereaved Irish mother begs President Biden to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza</a></span></li></ul>
</div>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The circumstances of Ibrahim-al-Kharabishy of Jabalia in Northern
Gaza, “reduced to scavenging for cheeseweed and grasses to boil for his
children," carry uncanny echoes of the Irish famine. According to the
Financial Times, Ibrahim is one of 300,000 in the north of Gaza, who
have faced “a descent into hunger and starvation that has been
precipitous."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The family of Ramy Tarazi, sheltering in the Greek Orthodox Church of
Saint Porphyrius, state that they rely mainly on bread made from barley
and corn used for fodder. A kilogramme of Egyptian rice costs $28 (ten
times the norm), putting it out of reach of almost all families in the
region. There are many other such stories</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Alex de Waal of Tufts University, a world authority on famine,
sketches the probable course of developments: “Young children and the
elderly will starve first. Then it will be women who save their last
scraps of food to try to keep their children alive longer. Diseases like
cholera will rampage through overcrowded camps…”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">With ten children reliably reported last week to have died of
starvation at the Kamal Adwan hospital, the process outlined by de Waal
is already underway.</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">More than with most famines, this is an avoidable catastrophe. With
its restrictions on the distribution of food aid, water, and medical
supplies, Israel is manifestly causing famine as it wages war. In this,
it is facilitated by the United States, which continues to arm Israel
and give it political cover through the use of its veto at the <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/ireland-un-resolution-gaza-ceasefire" rel="noopener" target="_blank">UN Security Council</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In recent US announcements, there is a measure of recognition of the
gravity of the situation in Gaza, but the practical measures which
followed are inadequate. Air-drops will not stop famine; nor will the
proposed maritime corridor between Cyprus and Gaza relieve starvation on
the necessary scale.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">On this St. Patrick’s Day in an election year, we are appealing to
the conscience of Irish America. We ask Irish Americans in their
capacity as citizens, as members of cultural and benevolent societies,
as political leaders, to use their influence to avert a Famine as severe
as the one faced by their ancestors. To do this it is necessary that
the United States ceases arming Israel; that it puts pressure on Israel
to halt its military action and lifts its blockade on Gaza; that it
refrains from using its veto at the UN security council in relation to
Palestine; that it restores funding to UNRWA, the agency best-equipped
to provide relief; that it acts as an honest broker to bring about an
agreed political settlement between Israel and Palestine.</span></p>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr John Cunningham, University of Galway</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Emily Mark-Fitzgerald, University College Dublin</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Prof. Peter Gray, Queen’s University Belfast</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Gerard Moran</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin, University of Galway</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Cormac Ó Gráda, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College Dublin</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Ciarán Ó Murchadha</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Andrew Newby, University of Jyväskylä, Finland</span></li></ul>
</div>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-74480784551476636062024-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:002024-03-15T20:13:54.806-07:00Torture, executions, babies left to die, sexual abuse… These are Israel’s crimes<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/torture-executions-babies-left-to?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email">This article is reprinted from Johnathan Cooke's Substack</a></span><br /></span></h3><h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br />Why is the same western media obsessively reheating
five-month-old allegations against Hamas so reluctant to focus on
Israel’s current, horrifying atrocities?</span></h3><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset byline-wrapper"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1o6bj_209 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1o6bj_212 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/1117543-jonathan-cook" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 facepile-face _face_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15 _first_dhr36_51 _last_dhr36_55 pencraft pc-reset" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3715a130-98ce-4fba-91aa-25baab2acf7b_805x943.jpeg" style="z-index: 1;" width="80" /></picture></a></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-primary-text_13a18_204 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a class="pencraft pc-reset _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook">Jonathan Cook</a></span></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-4 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">15 Mar 2024</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="tw-mb-6 tw-flex sm:tw-gap-1"><div class="tw-hidden tw-h-20 tw-shrink-0 tw-basis-20 tw-items-center tw-justify-center tw-rounded-md tw-bg-pub-wash tw-fill-pub-primary-text tw-text-pub-primary-text sm:tw-flex"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><svg class="tw-stroke-pub-secondary-text" fill="none" height="24" stroke-width="1.8" stroke="#000" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g></g></svg></span></div></div><div><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>[</span><i><span>First published by </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-israel-torture-executions-babies-die-sexual-abuse-crimes" rel="">Middle East Eye</a></i><span>]</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hostages
tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors
beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">No, not Hamas
crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities
committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October – quite separate
from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine
induced by Israel’s obstruction of aid.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Last week, an investigation by the Israeli newspaper </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-07/ty-article/.premium/27-gaza-detainees-died-in-custody-at-israeli-army-facilities-since-the-start-of-the-war/0000018e-1322-d950-a18e-f3bbaa370000" rel="">Haaretz disclosed</a><span>
that some 27 Palestinians seized off Gaza’s streets over the past five
months are known to have died during interrogations inside Israel.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Some were denied medical treatment. But most are likely to have been tortured to death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Three months ago, a </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/2023-12-08/ty-article-opinion/israeli-jails-must-not-become-execution-facilities-for-palestinians/0000018c-45ed-db23-ad9f-6dfd35930000" rel="">Haaretz editorial warned</a><span> that Israeli jails “must not become execution facilities for Palestinians”.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Israeli
TV channels have been excitedly taking viewers on tours of detention
centres, showing the appalling conditions Palestinians are kept in, as
well as the </span><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/we-are-the-masters-of-the-house-israeli-channels-air-snuff-videos-featuring-systematic-torture-of-palestinians/" rel="">psychological and physical abuse</a><span> they are subjected to.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>An Israeli judge recently called the makeshift cages in which Palestinians are held “</span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-03/ty-article/.premium/israel-police-are-holding-palestinian-prisoners-in-makeshift-cage-like-cells/0000018e-00ea-da4e-adbf-82fb03180000" rel="">unsuitable for humans</a><span>”.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Remember,
a large proportion of the 4,000 or so Palestinians taken hostage by
Israel since 7 October – probably the vast majority – are civilians,
like the men and boys paraded through Gaza’s streets or </span><a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/israel-hamas-war-video-appears-153300556.html" rel="">held in a stadium</a><span> stripped of clothing before being dragged off to a dark cell in Israel.</span></span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F17a4a8ae-7c16-40ba-b929-a8e30226953a_1400x788.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/17a4a8ae-7c16-40ba-b929-a8e30226953a_1400x788.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":788,"width":1400,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":214514,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="360" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F17a4a8ae-7c16-40ba-b929-a8e30226953a_1400x788.jpeg" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div></div></div></div><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Women abused</b></span></h3><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></h3><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span><span>According to Israeli media, many </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-12/ty-article/.premium/israel-detained-153-gazan-women-some-with-babies-says-palestinian-prisoners-club-head/0000018c-5d37-d03f-af9f-7d772cdf0000" rel="">dozens of Palestinian women</a><span> – including pregnant women – have been seized too, but in their case off camera.</span></span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Presumably, Israel has wished to avoid undermining its careful messaging that only Hamas weaponises violence against women. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But
according to United Nations legal experts, Palestinian women are
suffering the most degrading forms of abuse at the hands of the Israeli
military. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/israelopt-un-experts-appalled-reported-human-rights-violations-against" rel="">experts observed</a><span>
that Palestinian women and girls in detention were reportedly being
subjected to “multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped
naked and searched by male Israeli army officers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"At least
two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others
were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Soldiers are also believed to have taken photos of female detainees in degrading circumstances and then uploaded them online.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Palestinian
women and girls in Gaza are also reported by their families to have
gone missing after contact with the Israeli army.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“There are
disturbing reports of at least one female infant forcibly transferred by
the Israeli army into Israel, and of children being separated from
their parents, whose whereabouts remain unknown,” they said.</span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Beatings, waterboarding<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
separate report by the UN last week revealed that 21 of its staff –
humanitarian aid workers – had been snatched by Israel. They were then </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/03/09/world/politics/unrwa-report-israel-hamas/" rel="">tortured to extract confessions</a><span>,
most likely false, of involvement in Hamas’ 7 October attack. Their
torture included beatings, waterboarding and threats to family members.</span></span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Those confessions were cited by western allies as the grounds – in fact, the only known grounds – for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVtw8PKl-CE" rel="">cutting off funding</a><span>
to the UN relief agency UNRWA, the last lifeline for Gaza’s starving
population. It was these claims, extracted through torture, that helped
Israel rationalise its imposing of a famine on Gaza.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Of the </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/05/gazan-detainees-beaten-and-sexually-assaulted-at-israeli-detention-centres-un-report-claims" rel="">1,000 detainees</a><span>
subsequently released, 29 were children, one as young as six, and 80
women. Some were reported to have cancer and chronic illnesses such as
Alzheimer’s.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">According to the UN investigation,
Palestinians reported severe punishment beatings, being caged with
attack dogs, and suffering sexual assault. Physical evidence – such as
broken ribs, dislocated shoulders, bite marks, and burns – was still
visible many weeks later. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Executions, human shields<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span><br />These
horrors, of course, are not just taking place in cells and
interrogation rooms inside Israel. Gaza is being subjected to
astonishing levels of brutality and sadism from Israeli troops – quite
aside from the carpet bombing and enforced starvation of civilians.</span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Israeli </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/9/israeli-snipers-kill-21-civilians-outside-gazas-besieged-nasser-hospital" rel="">snipers have fired</a><span> into Gaza’s hospitals, </span><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israeli-sniper-kills-everyone-who-moves-gaza-hospital" rel="">killing medical staff</a><span> and patients there.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>The
Israeli military has used Palestinians as human shields, including one
man sent into a hospital, his hands bound, to announce an Israeli order
to evacuate the premises. Israeli forces </span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/14/gaza-nasser-hospital-evacuation-israel-prisoner/" rel="">executed him</a><span> on his return.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Those trying to follow such evacuation orders, waving white flags, have </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Lowkey0nline/status/1722936274351161628" rel="">been shot at</a><span>.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Medical
facilities have been repeatedly invaded by the Israeli military in
stark violation of international law. Those who could not be evacuated,
such </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6jndMLmGJA" rel="">as premature babies</a><span>, have been left to die unattended, even while Israeli soldiers were occupying the building.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This
week, the BBC interviewed medical staff who reported being tortured,
savagely beaten and having attack dogs set on them inside the Nasser
hospital in Khan Younis after Israeli soldiers stormed it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>One, Dr Ahmed Abu Sabha, had his hands broken. He </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68513408" rel="">told the BBC</a><span>: “They put me on a chair and it was like a gallows. I heard sounds of ropes, so I thought I was going to be executed.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At
another stage, he and other detainees were beaten in the back of a
truck, while only in their underwear. They were taken to a gravel pit,
where they were made to kneel blindfolded. They believed they were about
to be executed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">During his eight days as hostage, Sabha was never questioned. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Dozens more medics are believed missing, presumed to still be in Israeli detention. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Photographs
published by the BBC also show patients in the grounds of Nasser
hospital in beds with their hands bound tightly above their heads. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Those
who died were left to decompose by Israeli soldiers. A doctor there, Dr
Hatim Rabaa, told the BBC: “Patients were screaming, ‘Please remove
them [the corpses] from here'. I was telling them, 'It isn't in my
hands'."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Other examples of murderous cruelty are documented daily. Unarmed Palestinians, including those </span><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/26/middleeast/hala-khreis-white-flag-shooting-gaza-cmd-intl/index.html" rel="">waving white flags</a><span>, have been </span><a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2024-02-02/gaza-two-young-brothers-shot-dead-while-carrying-white-flag#" rel="">shot dead</a><span> by Israeli soldiers. Palestinian </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-israel-palestine-forces-executed-family-home" rel="">parents have been executed</a><span> in cold blood in front of their children. There have been </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/dozens-killed-new-israeli-massacre-palestinians-waiting-aid%C2%A0" rel="">repeated episodes </a><span>of Israeli forces gunning down en masse desperate Palestinians trying to reach aid, as happened yet again this week. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Even Israeli hostages trying to escape their captors </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67745092" rel="">have been killed</a><span> by the very Israeli soldiers they were trying to surrender to.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">These
are just some of the cases of Israeli sadism and barbarity that have
surfaced briefly in western media coverage, soon to be forgotten.</span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Wiping Gaza off the map<br /></b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">The stomach-turning double standards are impossible to ignore. </span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>The
western establishment media has been chock full of the most lurid
allegations of savagery directed against Hamas, sometimes with little or
no supporting evidence. Claims that Hamas beheaded babies or put them
in ovens – emblazoned on front pages – were later </span><a href="https://www.declassifieduk.org/beheaded-babies-how-uk-media-reported-israels-fake-news-as-fact/" rel="">found to be nonsense</a><span>.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Accusations
against Hamas have been endlessly reheated to paint a picture of a
supremely dangerous and bestial militant group, in turn rationalising
the carpet bombing and starvation of Gaza’s population to “eradicate” it
as a terrorist organisation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But equally barbarous atrocities
committed by Israel – not in the heat of battle, but in cold blood – are
treated as unfortunate, isolated incidents that cannot be connected,
that paint no picture, that reveal nothing of import about the military
that carried them out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If Hamas’ crimes were so savage and
sadistic they still need to be reported months after they took place,
why does the establishment media never feel the need to express equal
horror and indignation at the acts of cruelty and sadism being inflicted
by Israel on Gaza – not five months ago, but right now? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is
part of a pattern of behaviour by the western media that leads to only
one possible deduction: Israel’s five-month-long attack on Gaza is not
being reported. Rather, it is being selectively narrated – and for the
most obscene of purposes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Through consistent and glaring failures
in their coverage, establishment media – including supposedly liberal
outlets, from the BBC and CNN to the Guardian and New York Times – have
smoothed the way for Israel to carry out mass slaughter in Gaza, what
the World Court has assessed as plausibly a genocide.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12e77e7d-68ee-4c38-94f0-aa2f6c1a66a4_1400x787.webp" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/12e77e7d-68ee-4c38-94f0-aa2f6c1a66a4_1400x787.webp","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":787,"width":1400,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":76068,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/webp","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="360" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12e77e7d-68ee-4c38-94f0-aa2f6c1a66a4_1400x787.webp" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The
role of the media has not been to keep us, their audiences, informed
about one of the greatest crimes in living memory. It has been to buy
time for US President Joe Biden to keep arming his most useful of client
states in the oil-rich Middle East, and to do so without damaging his
prospects for re-election in November’s US presidential vote. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>If Russian President Vladimir Putin </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-madman-script-same" rel="">was a madman</a><span>
and a barbarous war criminal for invading Ukraine, as every western
media outlet agrees, what does that make Israeli officials, when every
one of them supports far worse atrocities in Gaza, directed
overwhelmingly at civilians? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And more to the point, what
does that make Biden and the US political class for materially backing
Israel to the hilt: sending bombs, vetoing demands for a ceasefire at
the United Nations, and freezing desperately needed aid? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Worrying about the optics, the president </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-netanyahu-hot-mic-gaza-885b97a75d15d15ae7f7a47d0125c918" rel="">expresses his discomfort</a><span>, but he carries on helping Israel regardless.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">While
western politicians and commentators worry about some imaginary
existential threat those brief events of five months ago pose to the
nuclear-armed state of Israel, Israel is quite literally wiping Gaza off
the map day by day, quite undisturbed.</span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Hamas ‘started it’<br /></b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">There
have been two, largely implicit defences for this glaring imbalance in
western priorities. Neither stands up to even the most cursory
scrutiny. </span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">One is the argument that Hamas “started it” –
insinuated in the endless claim that, in destroying Gaza, Israel has
been “responding” or “retaliating” to the violence of 7 October.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This
is a justification for killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and
starving two million more that should never have been let out of the
playground. But worse, it is patent nonsense. Hamas did not initiate
anything on 7 October, except for handing Israel a pretext to wreck
Gaza.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The enclave has been under a crushing siege for 17 years, in
which its land, sea and air were patrolled constantly by Israel. Its
population was denied the essentials of life. They had no freedom of
movement apart from inside their cage. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Long before the current Israeli-induced famine, Israel’s trade restrictions had ensured high levels of malnutrition </span><a href="https://www.map.org.uk/news/archive/post/1449-recovering-from-malnutrition-in-gaza-three-year-old-ayaas-story" rel="">among Gaza’s children</a><span>. Most exhibited too the scars of </span><a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/news/after-15-years-blockade-four-out-five-children-gaza-say-they-are-living-depression-grief-and" rel="">deep psychological trauma</a><span> from constant and massive attacks by Israel on Gaza.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>Biden crows about building a “temporary pier” – </span><a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/us-bidens-port-for-gaza-strip-aid-pier-building-could-take-60-days/" rel="">weeks or months</a><span>
down the road – to bring aid into Gaza that is desperately needed now.
But there is a reason the enclave lacks a seaport and airport. </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2023-11-21/ty-article-magazine/gaza-war-25-years-intl-airport-opened-second-intifada-israel/0000018b-e6fd-dffa-adef-e6fd35a10000" rel="">Israel bombed</a><span>
the only airport back in 2001, long before Hamas took charge of Gaza.
It has been attacking and killing fishermen trawling just off Gaza's
coast for years.</span></span></p><div class="subscribe-widget" data-component-name="SubscribeWidget"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-justifyContent-center pc-reset"><div class="_container_1cqch_1"><form action="/api/v1/free?nojs=true" class="form _form_1cqch_6" method="post" novalidate=""><div class="_sideBySideWrap_1cqch_10"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><input name="fake_email" style="left: -10000px; position: absolute; top: -10000px;" type="email" /><input name="fake_password" style="left: -10000px; position: absolute; top: -10000px;" type="password" /></span></div></form></div></div></div><div class="subscribe-widget" data-component-name="SubscribeWidget"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-justifyContent-center pc-reset"><div class="_container_1cqch_1"><form action="/api/v1/free?nojs=true" class="form _form_1cqch_6" method="post" novalidate=""></form></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Israel has refused to allow Gaza to connect to the world – and break free of Israeli control – ever since. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hamas
started nothing on 7 October. It was simply a new, and particularly
gruesome phase in what has been decades of Palestinian resistance to
Israel’s belligerent occupation of Gaza. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Bogus narrative<br /></b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
other implicit defence of western establishments constantly stressing
Hamas’ barbarism over Israel’s is that the nature of those atrocities is
said to be categorically different – in the apples and pears sense.</span></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hamas
supposedly demonstrated a degree of sadism in its killing spree on 7
October inside Israel that marks it out from Israel’s far larger killing
spree in Gaza. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>That has been the basis for every media interview that requires guests </span><a href="https://news.sky.com/video/palestinian-ambassador-refuses-to-condemn-hamas-attacks-on-israel-12980247" rel="">to “condemn” Hamas</a><span> before they are allowed to express concern about the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. No one is asked to condemn Israel. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It
is the basis too for permitting Israeli spokespeople to claim
unchallenged that Israel targets only Hamas, not civilians, even while
some three-quarters of Gaza’s dead are women and children.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On the
BBC’s evening news last weekend, presenter Clive Myrie made precisely
this preposterous assertion as he intoned that since 7 October, “Israel
launched a relentless bombing campaign targeting members of Hamas.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But
the latest revelations of the 27 reported deaths in Israeli torture
centres and the testimonies of beaten medics from Nasser Hospital
confirm how bogus this entire narrative framing by the western media is –
one intended to mislead and misinform audiences. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Israel claims
it is targeting Hamas, but its actions tell an entirely different story.
Famine will kill off the sick and vulnerable long before it does Hamas
fighters. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The truth is, Israel is not primarily eradicating
Hamas. It is eradicating Gaza. Its crimes are at least as cruel and
savage as anything Hamas did on 7 October – and its atrocities have been
carried out on a far larger scale and for far longer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Western
establishments and their media have been waging a giant campaign of
misdirection for the past five months, as they have against Palestinians
over previous years and decades. Western publics have been encouraged
to look in the wrong direction </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Until that changes, the men, women
and children of Gaza will continue to pay the heaviest of prices at the
hands of a vengeful, sadistic Israeli military.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span>[</span><i><b><span>Many thanks to </span><a href="https://drmattalford.substack.com" rel="">Dr Matthew Alford</a><span> for the audio reading of this article.</span></b></i><span>]</span></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-12992678592532896842024-03-15T10:05:00.000-07:002024-03-15T10:09:37.388-07:00Where Does Antisemitism Come From?<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">This
is a short contribution on the history of European Anti-Semitism put together and sent to
Facts For Working People by Karen Hammer. The first link below takes the reader
to a short video from the US Holocaust Museum. The video doesn’t mention the
forced conversions in Spain and the expulsion of the Jews who were welcomed by
the Muslims of North Africa. My Yemeni Muslim friend refers to Jews as “our cousins”. The massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower in York England occurred in 110. Many Jews committed suicide rather than forcibly convert. Christianity and Islam forced populations to convert or die. It's important to stress that it was not Palestinian Muslims or Muslims in general but Christian Europe that for centuries persecuted Jews leading to the Nazi Final Solution and the mass murder of some six million of Europe's Jewish population. R Mellor<br /></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNMWGeA7dCjli9lxdW-Q1xlEBtf8TFpGLe68FJlqr4GQVxpqbSWNV6s3kgWU012huXRZNenjuoyzX1QzRdf3xXG84Ci2CFznRn4ZE_nWcGw_wsoe4f562vrFijCv4rebLrjo7MunUBqTODFjDvmQrlbb3Nzxg7bxi1KYskgJccBvLeuHriwbd8HEGz8BT-" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="550" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNMWGeA7dCjli9lxdW-Q1xlEBtf8TFpGLe68FJlqr4GQVxpqbSWNV6s3kgWU012huXRZNenjuoyzX1QzRdf3xXG84Ci2CFznRn4ZE_nWcGw_wsoe4f562vrFijCv4rebLrjo7MunUBqTODFjDvmQrlbb3Nzxg7bxi1KYskgJccBvLeuHriwbd8HEGz8BT-=w640-h408" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clifford's Tower in York. <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cliffords-tower-york/history-and-stories/massacre-of-the-jews/">Read more here</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">
<b>Where Does Antisemitism Come From?</b></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">-reported by Karen
Hammer</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">The history of the
Holocaust shows that targeting an entire group has far-reaching consequences.
It can lead to an increase in xenophobia, racism, and extremism throughout
society, with potentially devastating consequences for individuals,
communities, and nations. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">[Search:
what is antisemitism, history of antisemitism]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/why-the-jews-history-of-antisemitism">https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/why-the-jews-history-of-antisemitism</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Partial Summary:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Role of Roman Empire</u>- <span style="color: #383838;">Christianity emerged from Judaism. Jesus of Nazareth was
a Jew who preached a singular religious message. The first Christians were Jews
who prayed in Hebrew and observed the customs and religious rituals of Judaism.
The Last Supper was a Jewish religious meal, probably at Passover.</span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Jesus was killed by Roman authorities under Pontius
Pilate in Judea, but gospel accounts were interpreted as blaming all Jews for
the crucifixion. <span style="background: white;">Soon after the crucifixion,
Roman armies destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews were exiled and
scattered—to live as a dispersed minority. By the 5th century, Christianity had
become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire.</span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Role of the church</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">- The early Christian church
portrayed Jews as unwilling to accept the word of God--visuals showed Satan
binding the eyes of Jews. Some church leaders, intensifying the charge, condemned
Jews as agents of the devil and murderers of God. The accusation was not
renounced until the 1960s when the Second Vatican Council officially repudiated
the ancient charge that Jews had murdered Christ.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Role of laws</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">: For centuries, <u>state and Church
laws</u> restricted Jews, preventing them from owning land and holding public
office. Guilds excluded Jews from most occupations, forcing them into pursuits
like moneylending, trade, & commerce-- promoting stereotypes. Excluded from
Christian society, Jews maintained their religious and social customs.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">In 1095, Pope Urban II called for the liberation of
Jerusalem. <u>Christian crusaders</u> set off to ‘free the Holy Land’ from the
Muslims. On the way, they slaughtered thousands of Jews. [note the unity of
anti-Muslim and anti-Jew by crusaders]</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians persecuted Jews.
Portrayed as alien, Jews were seen as usurers. They were blamed for causing the
Black Plague. Illustrations depicted Jews as the devil, and using the blood of
Christian children in ritual sacrifices. <i><u>These lies came to be taken as
truth.</u></i></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Religious, state, and
legal discrimination against Jews gradually evolved to include a thriving
secular, political, and social antisemitism. </span></i></b></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Another form of antisemitism emerged
from the 1850’s on. The theory at its core was-- Jews were not merely a
religious group, but a separate “race”—Semites- because of ‘genetically
inherited characteristics’. Antisemites said racial characteristics could not
be overcome by assimilation or even conversion. They said Jews were dangerous
and threatening because of their “Jewish blood.” <u>Antisemitic racism</u>
united <i>pseudoscientific theories</i> with centuries old <i>anti-Jewish
stereotypes.</i> <b><i>These ideas became widely accepted.</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); margin-top: 0.2in; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Discussion Questions</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">How have Jews been affected by
antisemitism? What impact does antisemitism have on others?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">What is the meaning of
“scapegoat”? What do people gain from scapegoating?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">What is the effect of hateful
images and speech? Do images and words reflect existing attitudes or
create them? </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">How has antisemitism changed
throughout history? What are some differences among religious, political,
and racial antisemitism?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Why would political or religious
leaders espouse antisemitic ideas?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">How is antisemitism similar to or
different from other forms of group hatred?</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">In the aftermath of the Holocaust, some
Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, are re-examining their teachings on the Jews and Judaism.
Many denominations are continuing to address the role played by centuries of
Christian antisemitism in contributing to circumstances that made the Holocaust
possible. Antisemitism did not end with the Holocaust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><i>Antisemitism today is up world-wide,
about 400% in the U.S. </i></b>Efforts to minimize, deny, or even stop memorializing
the Holocaust are among the many ways antisemitism endures. [Learn more at
ushmm.org/antisemitism]</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">The US
Holocaust Memorial Museum teaches that <b><u>the Holocaust was preventable</u></b>.
By heeding warning signs and taking early action, individuals and governments
can save lives. They and others can: 1] alert the moral conscience, 2] work t
influence policy makers, 3] stimulate worldwide action to prevent and/or work
to halt acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity, and 4] advance
justice and accountability.</span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;"></span></i></b></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #383838; font-size: 14pt;">Talk to your friends and family and
neighbors about “uncomfortable” subjects such as this. Ask questions, Listen.
Share ideas. Seek the truth in our various collective history, and in our
collective future. Strengthen our role in making 2024 a year that pivots for 99%
of us, the people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
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{margin-bottom:0in;}</style></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-10759327363126303532024-03-15T08:31:00.000-07:002024-03-15T08:31:28.314-07:00Russian Elections: Russians vote for Putin<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="person" role="presentation" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 640px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;" width="64"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img class="profile-pic" height="48" src="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/40d5b20f7116be9748ccf22368445a92862ccf61890e528e7241b8b47924b968?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" style="border-radius: 24px; border: medium; display: block; height: 48px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 48px;" width="48" /></span></td><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;"><p class="name" style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/">michael roberts</a></span></p><p class="meta is-date" style="color: #646970; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">March 15</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="post-body" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div data-user-content="" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><div class="is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today Russians are set to head to the polls for their country's presidential election over three days - with only one expected outcome. Incumbent President Vladimir Putin will win comfortably. The Russian president is elected by direct popular vote. If no candidate receives over 50% of the vote, then a second round is held between the two most popular candidates three weeks later. It's the first time that multi-day voting has been used in a Russian presidential election, as well as the first allowing voters to cast ballots online. </span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is no serious opposition candidate that can win. In the 2018 presidential vote, the Communist party runner-up Pavel Grudinin secured 11.8% of the vote, compared to Putin's 76.7%. This time Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party are on the ballot paper. But all these candidates broadly support Putin’s policies, including the invasion of Ukraine. The vast majority of independent Russian media outlets have been banned and anyone found guilty of spreading what the government deems to be "deliberately false information" can be imprisoned for up to 15 years.</span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Putin is going to win not just because he has decimated any serious opposition forces, but because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seems to have at least resigned support among Russian people, even if Russian lives are being lost. The main reason for that is because, contrary to the hopes and expectations of Western analysts, the Russian economy has not collapsed and Russian forces now seem to have the upper hand inside Ukraine.</span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Russia’s war economy is holding up. Wages have soared by double digits, the rouble is relatively stable and poverty and unemployment are at record lows. For the country’s lowest earners, salaries over the last three quarters have risen faster than for any other segment of society, clocking an annual growth rate of about 20%. </span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4b4234c58f43be4a278af2a9799b1776219807bd86eaafeef5e764446746b508&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=9a3fa074dac0d79b0effeb298b6aa2a1&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjMtMS5wbmc" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27372" data-attachment-id="27372" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin3-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-1.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-1.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-1.png" data-orig-size="602,343" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin3-1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-1.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The government is spending massively on social support for families, pension increases, mortgage subsidies and compensation for the relatives of those serving in the military. </span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The war in Ukraine has intensified an acute <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4c6c3ea1b7b8d38d9c4b69d83374182e97b24b027a04ed57e569243b01cae950&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=f453055f2de23a6ecefdef734658365e&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90YXNzLnJ1L29ic2NoZXN0dm8vMjAwMzg0NDU" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">labour shortage</a> as military recruitment draws workers out of the market and with half a million Russians fleeing the country. Putin said last month that employers had a deficit of 2.5 million people. That has benefited those Russian workers not in the armed forces with security of employment as managers are reluctant to let anyone go. The unemployment rate remains at a historic low and hiring expectations have soared to a record level.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c2281853439a80533d5fe103b59aa37f5e2246800c1dc9784372f9af06dd08c1&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=daa035911964d3a544ef8d7b4be022ac&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjEuanBn" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27368" data-attachment-id="27368" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin1.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin1.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin1.jpg" data-orig-size="602,338" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin1.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However, inflation has picked up; accelerating in February to 7.7% yoy. It’s just that wages are rising faster. Average monthly wages in 2023 reached more than 74,000 rubles ($814), about 30% higher than two years ago. Before last year, Russia had not seen an increase in real disposable income of more than 5% for many years. </span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=362c58166bd13421a4e7ad788002dc0a2c70eeb21ad4ccbacb197e6b39e40ce0&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=4521c954999036888e37e591c9ea6be8&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjItMS5qcGc" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27374" data-attachment-id="27374" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin2-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin2-1.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin2-1.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin2-1.jpg" data-orig-size="602,340" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin2-1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin2-1.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And Russia’s war economy is not plunging, but growing. The IMF forecasts real GDP growth in 2024 of 2.6%, outpacing the G7.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=924c1970b1700b56d5219ad023337badd16e784a7f1e68a9326d13f819aaf8e4&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=0ea17a8db0270c4b2023398b41ca8a4d&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjMtMi5wbmc" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27373" data-attachment-id="27373" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin3-2" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-2.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-2.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-2.png" data-orig-size="602,343" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin3-2/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin3-2.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the past two years of war, Russia has managed to steer through sanctions, while investing nearly a third of its <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3a9e7c79fb70d761b82bc8715ab01f382c62f6d88b05366b8e652263454bbffd&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=b9951ece0e97723f71c337953e055436&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL2V2ZXJ5dGhpbmctZnJvbnQtcnVzc2lhLWFsbG90cy10aGlyZC0yMDI0LXNwZW5kaW5nLWRlZmVuY2UtMjAyMy0xMC0wMi8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">budget in defence spending</a>. It's also been able to increase trade with China and sell its oil to new markets, in part by using <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4b0dbc3254b469a9f6cd3dc4639d7724a05b1bdaf1fdfe103a6260e96bc3f583&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=d6efe1b8922c74d218fc52d9cc1e39a6&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvYXV0b3MtdHJhbnNwb3J0YXRpb24vc2hpcC1pbnN1cmVycy13YXJuLXJ1c3NpYW4tb2lsLXByaWNlLWNhcC1ldmFzaW9uLXJpc2tzLWRhcmstZmxlZXQtMjAyMy0wNC0yNy8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">a shadow fleet of tankers</a> to skirt the price cap that Western countries had hoped would reduce the country's war chest. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c9b16dfd8447c6bf56cdc71306d41bccfca4a60dfaa8ab1742d536fa5fcf77f5&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=97ea8179abbdf6b5db062cc2a346bc5e&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vbWFya2V0cy9jaGluYS1ydXNzaWEtMjAyMy10cmFkZS12YWx1ZS1oaXRzLXJlY29yZC1oaWdoLTI0MC1ibG4tY2hpbmVzZS1jdXN0b21zLTIwMjQtMDEtMTIvIzp+OnRleHQ9QkVJSklORyUyQyUyMEphbiUyMDEyJTIwKFJldXRlcnMpLHdhciUyMGluJTIwVWtyYWluZSUyMHJhZ2VkJTIwb24u" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Half of its oil and petroleum</a> was exported to China in 2023. And it <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c85e05523144695f0cfb5b84762a89fc31f38d85b2cece58e45e37a1ab86faf8&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=87118b765e361e42c8968f286fd7e132&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbm4uY29tLzIwMjQvMDEvMjIvYnVzaW5lc3MvY2hpbmEtdG9wLW9pbC1zdXBwbGllci0yMDIzLXJ1c3NpYS1pbnRsLWhuay9pbmRleC5odG1s" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">became</a> China's top oil supplier in 2023, according to Chinese customs data. Chinese imports into Russia have jumped more than 60% since the start of war, as the country has been able to supply Russia with a steady stream of goods including cars and electronic devices, filling the gap of lost Western goods imports. Trade between Russia and China hit $240 billion in 2023, an increase of over 64% since 2021, before the war.</span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Contrary to Western forecasts, Russian industry has grown due to war-related production, while demand for domestic manufactures has also increased due to a fall in imports because of sanctions. The automobile industry – which was hit hard initially, as Western and Japanese car manufacturers left Russia en-masse - has been recovering strongly month by month, as Chinese companies have stepped in.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7c834a7b6c592a1aca42f750784faf242fabab0c928cddb0cadc9c15d7279ded&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=e5eb3b10a9a532b31760b204e0f9f694&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjYuanBn" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27379" data-attachment-id="27379" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin6" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin6.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin6.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin6.jpg" data-orig-size="602,411" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin6/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin6.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The level of capacity utilisation in the Russian economy has been generally rising and, according to various surveys, now stands at historically very high levels.</span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A war economy means that the state intervenes and even overrides the decision-making of the capitalist sector for the national war effort. State investment replaces private investment. Ironically, in Russia’s case this has been accelerated by Western companies’ withdrawal from Russian markets and by the sanctions. The Russian state has taken over foreign entities and/or resold them to Russian capitalists committed to the war effort.</span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But Russia’s war economy will revert to capitalist accumulation when the war ends. The Russian finance ministry estimates that war-related fiscal stimulus in 2022-23 was equivalent to around 10 per cent of GDP. In that same period, war-related industrial output has risen 35%, while civilian production remained flat (until recently), according to research published by the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0f98e8b2f165c7961442066ed2c859e4d9ab63f024e8cc095c8f42a637057bde&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=630430e4e43edd8510a7ba629aea75e3&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjUuanBn" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27376" data-attachment-id="27376" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin5" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin5.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin5.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin5.jpg" data-orig-size="602,411" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin5/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin5.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Elevated social and war spending has also resulted in a yawning budget gap. The federal budget gap was 1.5 trillion rubles by the end of February, while the Finance Ministry has planned for a deficit of 1.6 trillion rubles for the whole of 2024 and Russia’s available wealth fund reserves have been already halved. After the election, Russian people can expect higher taxes, at least for higher earners.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c14ea7f8a6218c074eb9fa0f85525a60475f7827670c35cc8069c8b5ab350360&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=b59313ea72a64851b9b9218b8a2ed476&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wdXRpbjQucG5n" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27371" data-attachment-id="27371" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="putin4" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin4.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin4.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin4.png" data-orig-size="602,418" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/russians-vote-for-putin/putin4/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/putin4.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And the Russian economy remains fundamentally natural resource linked. It relies on extraction rather than manufacturing. Mining accounted for around 26% of gross industrial production in July 2023, and three industries – extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, coke and refined petroleum products manufacturing and basic metals manufacturing – made up more than 40% of the total.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“The regime is resilient because it sits on an oil rig,”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em>says Elina Ribakova, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“The Russian economy now is like a gas station that has started producing tanks.”</em></span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">War production is basically unproductive for capital accumulation over the long run. And Russia's potential real GDP growth is probably no more than 1.5% a year as growth is restricted by an ageing and shrinking population and low investment and productivity rates. <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ca27f91f1fa1705b0c60f8b3aa189269d7534d05f4cc9c1dc1e242bf32d9aff6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27363&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=30e142c772406328104eb29e38eb2965&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wOC8xNy9ydXNzaWFzLXdhci1lY29ub215Lw=" style="color: #3858e9; text-decoration: underline;">The profitability of Russian productive capital before the war was very low.</a></span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Russian war economy is well placed to continue the war for several years ahead if necessary, but when the war is over, Putin may face a significant slump in production and employment.</span></p></div></div></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-24503181125122076892024-03-14T15:19:00.000-07:002024-03-14T15:19:45.583-07:00Capitalism’s New Age of Plagues, Part 1<div class="entry-meta"><div class="meta-item date"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="updated"><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/">This article is republished from Climate and Capitalism</a> </span></span></div><div class="meta-item date"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="updated"><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/14/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-part-2/">You can read part two here.</a></span></span></div><div class="meta-item date"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="updated"> </span></span></div><div class="meta-item date"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="updated">March 5, 2024</span></span></div></div>
<div class="entry-headline">
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In our time, pandemics will occur more often, spread more rapidly, and kill more people</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35178 entered lazyloaded" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" data-lazy-src="https://climateandcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wordcloud.jpg" data-lazy-srcset="https://climateandcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wordcloud.jpg 650w, https://climateandcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wordcloud-300x138.jpg 300w, https://climateandcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wordcloud-150x69.jpg 150w" data-ll-status="loaded" height="300" src="https://climateandcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wordcloud.jpg" width="650" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>by Ian Angus</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Part 1 of a multi-part article on the causes and implications of
global capitalism’s descent into an era when infectious diseases are
ever more common. My views are subject to continuing debate and testing
in practice. I look forward to your comments, criticisms, and
corrections.</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">[Part 1] [<strong>P<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/14/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-part-2/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">art 2</a></strong>]
</span></p><hr />
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><em>“We have entered a pandemic era.”<br />
—Dr. Anthony Fauci</em></strong><sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn1" name="_ednref1">[</a></sup><sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn1" name="_ednref1">1]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The first case of what was later named COVID-19 was diagnosed in
Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Within a few months, the zoonotic
disease — meaning it originated in animals — spread at never-before-seen
speed, affecting every country, indeed every person, on the planet.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In March 2024, official sources estimated that 703 million people
worldwide had contracted COVID-19 and just over 7 million of those had
died,<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn2" name="_ednref2">[2]</a></sup> but reality is far worse. <em>The Economist</em> calculates that “excess mortality” during the pandemic is two to four times greater than the official counts,<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn3" name="_ednref3">[3]</a></sup>
making it the third most deadly pandemic in modern times, exceeded only
by the great influenza of 1918-1920 and HIV/AIDS since 1980.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">On top of its direct impacts on health and mortality, the pandemic
triggered what the World Bank describes as “the largest global economic
crisis in more than a century.”<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn4" name="_ednref4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>
The number of people living in absolute poverty increased by at least
half a billion, education for hundreds of millions of children and young
adults was disrupted, and countless jobs were eliminated. “Economic
activity contracted in 2020 in about 90 percent of countries, exceeding
the number of countries seeing such declines during two world wars, the
Great Depression of the 1930s, the emerging economy debt crises of the
1980s, and the 2007-09 global financial crisis.”<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn5" name="_ednref5">[5]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Unlike previous pandemics, COVID-19 is part of a wave of new
infectious diseases that scientists say mark the arrival of a
“qualitatively distinct” period in human health,<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn6" name="_ednref6">[6]</a></sup>
that will “reverse many of the 20th century’s advances in the control
of lethal infectious disease. … [and] return humanity to an earlier
health pattern characterized by high mortality from lethal infectious
disease.”<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn7" name="_ednref7"><sup>[7]</sup></a>
Contrary to optimistic 20th Century predictions, infectious diseases
have not been conquered. New diseases are proliferating, and many
thought to have been wiped out have returned as major threats to human
health.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The list of new arrivals includes chikungunya, Q fever, Chagas
disease, multiple influenzas, swine fever, Lyme disease, Zika, SARS,
MERS, Nipah, Mpox, Ebola, and many more, on top of resurgent enemies
like cholera, anthrax, polio, measles, tuberculosis, malaria and yellow
fever. According to the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</em> at current rates the annual probability of extreme epidemics could <em>triple</em> in coming decades.<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn8" name="_ednref8"><sup>[8]</sup></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As Marxist epidemiologist Rob Wallace writes, the simultaneous
emergence and re-emergence of multiple contagious diseases is no
coincidence.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Make no mistake, they are connected,
these disease outbreaks coming one after another. And they are not
simply happening to us; they represent the unintended results of things
we are doing. They reflect the convergence of two forms of crises on our
planet. The first crisis is ecological, the second is medical. As the
two intersect, their joint consequences appear as a pattern of weird and
terrible new diseases, emerging from unexpected sources.”<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn9" name="_ednref9">[9]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In mid-2020, while scientifically illiterate politicians were still
insisting that COVID-19 was no worse than flu and would soon fade away,
the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (IPBES) convened a multidisciplinary scientific panel
to summarize the state of scientific knowledge about COVID-19 and other
diseases that spread from animals to humans.<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn10" name="_ednref10">[10]</a>
The experts’ report — which had the singular advantage that it was not
watered down or edited by politicians and bureaucrats — offered a very
different account of the dangers posed by zoonotic diseases in our time.
Some excerpts:</span></p>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: medium;">“Pandemics represent an existential threat to the health and welfare
of people across our planet. The scientific evidence reviewed in this
report demonstrates that pandemics are becoming more frequent, driven by
a continued rise in the underlying emerging disease events that spark
them. Without preventative strategies, pandemics will emerge more often,
spread more rapidly, kill more people, and affect the global economy
with more devastating impact than ever before.”</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">“The risk of pandemics is increasing rapidly, with more than five
new diseases emerging in people every year, any one of which has the
potential to spread and become pandemic. The risk of a pandemic is
driven by exponentially increasing anthropogenic changes. Blaming
wildlife for the emergence of diseases is thus erroneous, because
emergence is caused by human activities and the impacts of these
activities on the environment.”</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">“The underlying causes of pandemics are the same global
environmental changes that drive biodiversity loss and climate change.
These include land-use change, agricultural expansion and
intensification, and wildlife trade and consumption.”</span></li></ul>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In short, the global ecological destruction that Earth System scientists have dubbed the <em>Great Acceleration</em> is driving humanity into an age of <em>Great Sickening</em>. Unless radical changes are made, we can expect that COVID-19 will not be the last global pandemic — or the most deadly.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Historically unprecedented</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">At the beginning of the crisis, Marxist historian Mike Davis
described the emergence of COVID-19 as an “overture to an age of
plagues.”<a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn11" name="_ednref11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> This new age of catastrophe poses a major challenge to movements for sustainable human development, both in the short term — <em>what measures should we demand to mitigate the devastating effects of COVID and its successors?</em> — and in the long run — <em>how
will the presence and probable continuing emergence of deadly new
diseases affect our ability to bring to birth a new world from the ashes
of the old? </em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The age of pandemics gives new urgency to the classic slogan
“socialism or barbarism” — and arguably tilts the balance of social
probabilities further towards what Marx and Engels warned could be “the
common ruin of the contending classes.”<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn12" name="_ednref12">[12]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is not just another crisis, and should not be treated as just
one more entry on the long list of capitalism’s sins. As Sean Creaven
writes in <em>Contagion Capitalism</em>, “it is wholly justifiable to regard the unfolding epidemiological crisis of society (and indeed of nature) as <em>qualitatively</em> different from any that have gone before; that is, as historically unprecedented.”<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn13" name="_ednref13">[13]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">An unprecedented crisis demands an unprecedented response. To meet
the challenge, the left needs to go beyond criticizing governmental
failures and labeling capitalism as the cause. We cannot move forward,
let along break out of this age of pandemics, unless we develop a
serious scientific (social and biological) analysis of the
Anthropocene’s epidemiological crisis. The revolutionary collective
Chuăng makes the point clearly in their essential account of the
pandemic in China, <em>Social Contagion</em>:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Now is not the time for a simple
‘Scooby-Doo Marxist’ exercise of pulling the mask off the villain to
reveal that, yes, indeed, it was capitalism that caused coronavirus all
along! … Of course capitalism is culpable — but how, exactly, does the
social-economic sphere interface with the biological, and what lessons
might we draw from the entire experience?”<sup><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_edn14" name="_ednref14">[14]</a></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">These articles will attempt to answer those questions.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>To be continued ….</em></span></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>References</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref1" name="_edn1"><span>[1]</span></a><span> David M. Morens and Anthony S. Fauci, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.08.021" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Emerging Pandemic Diseases: How We Got to COVID-19</a>,” <em>Cell</em> 182, no. 5 (September 2020): 1077.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref2" name="_edn2">[2]</a> “<a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Coronavirus Tracker</a>,” March 2, 2024.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref3" name="_edn3">[3]</a> “<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid#estimated-excess-mortality-from-the-economist" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Excess Mortality during the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)</a>,” <em>Our World in Data</em> (blog), February 29, 2024.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref4" name="_edn4">[4]</a> World Bank, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1730-4" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>World Development Report 2022</em></a>, (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022).</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref5" name="_edn5">[5]</a> World Bank, 1.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref6" name="_edn6">[6]</a> Ronald Barrett et al., “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.247" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Third Epidemiologic Transition</a>,” <em>Annual Review of Anthropology</em> 27, no. 1 (October 1998): 248.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref7" name="_edn7">[7]</a> Katherine Hirschfeld, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019619882781" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Microbial Insurgency: Theorizing Global Health in the Anthropocene</a>,” <em>The Anthropocene Review</em> 7, no. 1 (April 2020): 4,.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref8" name="_edn8">[8]</a> Marco Marani et al., “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105482118" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Intensity and Frequency of Extreme Novel Epidemics</a>,” <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> 118, no. 35 (August 31, 2021): 1.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref9" name="_edn9">[9]</a> Rob Wallace, “<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/14/the-virus-and-the-virus/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Virus and the Virus</a>,” <em>Counterpunch</em> (blog), June 14, 2013.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref10" name="_edn10">[10]</a> IPBES, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.4147317" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Pandemics of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)</a>,” October 29, 2020.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref11" name="_edn11">[11]</a> Mike Davis, “<a href="https://progressive.international/blueprint/34da398a-af05-43bb-9778-c27023932630-la-lutte-finale/en" rel="noopener" target="_blank">C’est La Lutte Finale</a>,” Progressive International, April 30, 2020.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref12" name="_edn12">[12]</a> Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, <em>Collected Works, Volume 6</em> (New York: International Publishers, 1976), 482.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref13" name="_edn13">[13]</a> Creaven, Sean, <em>Contagion Capitalism: Pandemics in the Corporate Age</em> (London: Routledge, 2024), 255.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/#_ednref14" name="_edn14">[14]</a> Chuăng, <em>Social Contagion: And Other Material on Microbiological Class War in China</em>
(Chicago, IL: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 2021), 10. Chuăng
describes itself as “an international communist project unbound from any
allegiance to the irrelevant factions of the extinct movements of the
20th century.” (Ibid, 2) It focuses on analysis of social and economic
conditions in China.</span></span></p>
</div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-1420080007578402042024-03-14T09:40:00.000-07:002024-03-14T09:40:16.986-07:00The Antisemitism Industry doesn't speak for Jews. It speaks for western elites<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size: medium;">Film-maker Jonathan Glazer’s crime at the Oscars
was to threaten the establishment's stranglehold on the West’s narrative
about Israel – and itself</span></h3><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset byline-wrapper"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1o6bj_209 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1o6bj_212 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/1117543-jonathan-cook" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 facepile-face _face_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15 _first_dhr36_51 _last_dhr36_55 pencraft pc-reset" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3715a130-98ce-4fba-91aa-25baab2acf7b_805x943.jpeg" style="z-index: 1;" width="80" /></picture></a></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-primary-text_13a18_204 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-reset _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook">Jonathan Cook</a></span></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-4 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;">14 Mar 2024</span></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/the-antisemitism-industry-doesnt?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=476450&post_id=142607487&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=fu9lp&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">From Johnathon Cook on Substack </a></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Many
years ago, the Jewish US scholar Norman Finkelstein wrote a best seller
that caused uproar among a group he exposed as the "Holocaust
Industry": people who invariably had not been direct victims of the
Holocaust, but nonetheless chose to exploit and profit from Jewish
suffering.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Though treated as leaders of the Jewish community, they
were not primarily interested in helping survivors of the Holocaust, or
in stopping another Holocaust – the two things one might have assumed
would be the highest priorities for anyone making the Holocaust central
to their life. In fact, hardly any of the many millions the Holocaust
Industry demanded from countries like Germany in reparations ever made
it to Holocaust survivors, as Finkelstein documented in his book.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07bf962e-f722-4685-8e94-7da26a20da50_364x500.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/07bf962e-f722-4685-8e94-7da26a20da50_364x500.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":500,"width":364,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":26081,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" height="500" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07bf962e-f722-4685-8e94-7da26a20da50_364x500.jpeg" width="364" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 " fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Instead,
this small group instrumentalised the Holocaust for their own benefit:
to gain money and influence by embedding themselves in an industry they
had created. They became untouchables, beyond criticism because they
were associated with an industry that they had made as sacred as the
Holocaust itself.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A follow-up book called the Antisemitism
Industry, an investigation into much the same group of people, is now
overdue. These ghouls don't care about antisemitism – in fact, they rub
shoulders with the West's most prominent antisemites, from Donald Trump
to Viktor Orban. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rather, they care about Israel – and the
weaponisation of antisemitism to protect their emotional and financial
investment. They profit from Israel's central place in US political,
diplomatic and military life:</span></p><ul><li><p><span style="font-size: medium;">as a giant real-estate laundering exercise, based on the theft of native Palestinian land;</span></p></li><li><p><span style="font-size: medium;">as a laboratory for the production of new weapons and surveillance systems tested on Palestinians;</span></p></li><li><p><span style="font-size: medium;">as
a heavily militarised colonial state, a spearpoint for the West, useful
in destabilising and disrupting any threat of a unifying Arab
nationalism in the oil-rich Middle East;</span></p></li><li><p><span style="font-size: medium;">and as the
frontier state for eroding legal and ethical principles developed after
the Second World War to stop a repeat of those atrocities.</span></p></li></ul><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyone
who challenges the Antisemitism Industry's – and therefore Israel’s –
stranglehold on Jewish representation in public life is hounded as an
antisemite or self-hating Jew, as is currently happening most
prominently to Jewish film-maker Jonathan Glazer. He is the
Oscar-winning director of The Zone of Interest, about the family of a
Nazi commandant of Auschwitz who lived blind to the horrors unfolding
just out of view, beyond their walled garden.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I wrote an earlier
piece about the manufactured furore provoked by Glazer’s comments at the
Oscars. In his acceptance speech, he denounced the hijacking of
Jewishness and the Holocaust that has sustained Israel’s occupation over
many decades and generated constant new victims, including the latest:
those who suffered at the hands of Hamas when it attacked on October 7,
and the many, many tens of thousand of Palestinians killed, maimed and
orphaned by Israel over the past five months.</span></p><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingLeft-20 pc-paddingRight-20 pc-justifyContent-center pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _container_crmqc_1"><div class="_pubTheme_1f2jl_1"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-padding-20 pc-mobile-padding-16 pc-reset _bg-elevated_1o6bj_163 _border-detail_1o6bj_25 pc-borderRadius-md _note_crmqc_5" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook/note/c-51465756" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none; width: 560px;" target="_blank"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1o6bj_212 pc-reset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source></picture></div></a></span></div></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-padding-20 pc-mobile-padding-16 pc-reset _bg-elevated_1o6bj_163 _border-detail_1o6bj_25 pc-borderRadius-md _note_crmqc_5" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook/note/c-51465756" style="max-width: 100%; text-decoration: none; width: 560px;" target="_blank"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-minWidth-0 _flexGrow_1o6bj_209 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-gap-12 _flexGrow_1o6bj_209 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-minWidth-0 pc-position-relative pc-reset _bg-elevated_1o6bj_163 _border-detail_1o6bj_25 pc-borderRadius-md _post_1rkkr_587"><div class="pencraft pc-position-relative pc-reset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 _postImage_1rkkr_598 pencraft pc-reset" height="320" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1000,h_500,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7284a9d-21f1-4a83-9c87-5b4d6c5bce35_1200x675.jpeg" width="640" /></picture></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-gap-4 pc-padding-12 pc-reset _border-top-detail_1o6bj_28"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-minWidth-0 pc-paddingBottom-4 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-position-relative pc-reset _bg-white_1o6bj_205 pc-borderRadius-xs" style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 20px;"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 _custom_zazja_1 _object-fit-cover_16u6n_5 pencraft pc-reset" height="40" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_40,h_40,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1df1ba17-5bdf-406e-9f32-40f78d32e2b5_481x481.png" style="height: 20px; width: 20px;" width="40" /></picture></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _ellipsis_1o6bj_241 _color-secondary_13a18_186 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439">Jonathan Cook</div></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-primary_13a18_183 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-text_13a18_121 _size-15_13a18_55 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _clamp_13a18_256 _clamp-2_13a18_265 _reset_13a18_1">Oscars speech smear campaign shows lying for Israel is a good career move </div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-secondary_13a18_186 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-text_13a18_121 _size-13_13a18_45 _weight-regular_13a18_159 _clamp_13a18_256 _clamp-2_13a18_265 _reset_13a18_1">Film
director Jonathan Gazer's acceptance speech went viral. But Jewish
community leaders know there will be no professional damage for
misrepresenting his words</div></div></div></div></div></a></span><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">Israel’s walled garden</span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§israels-walled-garden"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142607487/israels-walled-garden"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Though
it is unclear whether any analogy was intended by the film-makers when
they were making The Zone of Interest, the film undoubtedly has especial
significance and ironic resonance right now, as Israel commits what the
World Court has called a plausible genocide in Gaza. </span></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For the
past 17 years, Israelis have lived in their own walled garden, right
next to an open-air concentration camp for Palestinians that has been
blockaded by the Israeli military from every direction: by land, sea and
air.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Palestinian inmates were not allowed out of their cage.
Their fishing boats were confined to only a mile or two from the coast.
And Gaza’s skies were filled with the constant buzzing of drones
watching over the population, when those same drones weren't unleashing
deadly missile strikes quite literally from out of the blue.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The
concentration camp was gradually becoming a death camp. Palestinians
were being left to die very slowly in their cage, too slowly for the
world to notice.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For a decade, the United Nations had been warning
that Gaza was becoming uninhabitable, with more than 2 million
Palestinians crowded into the tiny enclave.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Most had no work, and
no prospect of ever finding work. There was no meaningful trade because
Israel refused to allow it, which meant there was no economy. Gaza was
almost completely dependent on handouts. And Gaza's population was fast
running out of clean water, slowly poisoning themselves with water
mostly drawn from overstretched and contaminated aquifers.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Israelis
had no reason to care about what was happening on the other side of
their walled garden – much of it land stolen in 1948 from Palestinian
families like those confined to Gaza. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If Palestinian groups tried
to make a noise by firing home-made rockets out of their prison, Israel
had an Iron Dome system that intercepted the projectiles. Quiet – or
“calm” as the western media calls it – largely reigned for Israelis. Or
it did until October 7. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Were Glazer ever to make a modern
retelling of The Zone of Interest, the Nova music festival, filled with
young people dancing through the night on the doorstep of the Gaza
concentration camp, might provide good material. Except this updated
tale would have an unexpected twist: the youngsters living the dream
right next to 2 million people living a nightmare suddenly found
themselves caught up in the nightmare too, when Hamas broke out of the
Gaza prison on October 7. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">‘Wrong kind of Jews’</span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§wrong-kind-of-jews"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142607487/wrong-kind-of-jews"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Glazer’s crime at the Oscars was to threaten the Antisemitism Industry’s stranglehold on the West’s narrative about Israel. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In
Britain, the Antisemitism Industry calls them the “wrong kind of Jews” –
Jews who care about all human suffering, not just Jewish suffering.
Jews who refuse to let Israel commit crimes against the Palestinian
people in their name. Jews who rightly described as a witch-hunt the
smearing of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters,
including his Jewish supporters, as antisemites. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Glazer
seized the rare opportunity provided by the awards ceremony this week to
grab the microphone from the Antisemitism Industry and represent a
Jewish voice that westerners are not supposed to hear. He used the
Oscars as a platform to highlight Palestinian suffering – and to suggest
that it is normal to care about Palestinian suffering as much as it is
Israeli and Jewish suffering. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In
doing so, he threatened, like Finkelstein before him, to expose the
fact that these antisemitism witchfinder generals are dangerous
charlatans, conmen in the true sense.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Unlike the Antisemitism
Industry, Glazer has profound, universal things to say about the
Holocaust and the human condition. He makes his living from tapping
deeply into his humanity, insight and creativity, not wielding his power
like a bludgeon to terrorise everyone else into submission.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Which
is the context for understanding the comments, widely cited in the
media, of David Schaecter, the figurehead of the Holocaust Survivors’
Foundation USA. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Schaecter, who denies that Israel is
occupying the Palestinian people – and therefore rejects the the very
basis of international humanitarian law established to stop a repeat of
the Holocaust – </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/12/us-holocaust-survivors-foundation-calls-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-morally-indefensible-the-zone-of-interest" rel="">says</a><span>
it is “disgraceful for you [Glazer] to presume to speak for the six
million Jews, including one and a half million children, who were
murdered solely because of their Jewish identity”. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Schaecter is, of course, projecting. It is he, not Glazer, who presumes to speak for those millions of Jews. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There
are plenty of Holocaust survivors who have spoken out against Israel
and its treatment of the Palestinian people, including Finkelstein’s own
mother and the late Hajo Meyer, the distinguished physicist who became
one of Israel’s harshest critics. Meyer regularly made comparisons
between what Israel did to the Palestinians and what the Nazis did to
Jews like himself. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But unlike Schaecter, Meyer got no help or
funding to set up a foundation in the name of Holocaust survivors. He
was not feted by the western media. He was not treated as a spokesman
for the Jewish community and given a bullhorn. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In fact, quite the
opposite. Meyer found himself silenced, and vilified as an antisemite.
He even became the pretext in 2018, four years after his death, for a
new round of accusations against Corbyn for supposedly fostering
antisemitism in the Labour party. The Labour leader had shared a
platform with Meyer at a Holocaust Memorial Day event in 2010, five
years before he became Labour leader. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Such was the onslaught that Corbyn denounced Meyer for his views and </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/01/jeremy-corbyn-issues-apology-in-labour-antisemitism-row" rel="">apologised</a><span> for the “concerns and anxiety caused” by his appearance with the Holocaust survivor. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Today,
Meyer might be astonished to find that he would be banned from being a
member of the British Labour party, and that the grounds on which he
would be disqualified are antisemitism. Like most other major western
political parties and organisations, Labour adopted a new </span><a href="https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism" rel="">definition of antisemitism</a><span> that equates Jew hatred with trenchant of criticism of Israel. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Meyer,
the Holocaust survivor and believer in a universal ethics, would find
himself unwelcome in every major British political party. Glazer, the
humanitarian Jewish film-maker who cares about Palestinians as much as
he does other Jews, is currently being cast out of respectable society
in precisely the same way. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It can happen only because we let
western establishments foist on us these Antisemitism Industry
charlatans and conmen. It is time to listen to the people who care about
humanity, not the people who care about their status and their wallets.</span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-29682330741593564602024-03-13T09:11:00.000-07:002024-03-13T09:11:16.008-07:00US economy: saved by immigrants<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="person" role="presentation" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 16px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 640px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" width="64"><img class="profile-pic" height="48" src="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/40d5b20f7116be9748ccf22368445a92862ccf61890e528e7241b8b47924b968?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" style="border-radius: 24px; border: medium; display: block; height: 48px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 48px;" width="48" /></td><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><p class="name" style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/">michael roberts</a></p><p class="meta is-date" style="color: #646970; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">March 13</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="post-body" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 24px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div data-user-content="" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><div class="is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">In 2023, US real GDP grew by 2.5% after inflation – much better than expected. This has been heralded by the media and mainstream economists as refuting the doomsayers that the US economy was heading into a slump. Now in 2024, the pundits claim that we can expect more of the same – reasonable real GDP growth but this time with a return to lower inflation and thus falling interest rates. Corporate bankruptcies will be avoided and the growing impact of new technologies and AI will raise the rate of growth in labour productivity, setting the scene for a strong period of improved living standards. Perfect.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">A key factor that has gone mostly unnoticed is that the pickup in US growth last year came from a sharp rise in net immigration. In simple terms, more workers generate more goods and services. A larger number of people earning paychecks means more consumer spending. And more people paying income tax on earnings boosts tax revenues. Last year, the US population rose by 0.9% in 2023, much faster than the US Census Bureau forecast of 0.5%. And the prime-age workforce participation rate—ie 25- to 54-year-olds—reached 83.5% in February, matching highs that hadn’t been seen since the early 2000s. Much of this is due to immigration. The US economy is outperforming in GDP terms mainly because of net immigration, twice as fast as in the Eurozone and three times as fast as Japan. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">US population growth is set to slow over the next 30 years; in the US from 0.6% per year between 2024 and 2034 to just 0.2% between 2045 and 2054. So net immigration is going to be the only way that the US population will rise, particularly after 2040 when US fertility rates will fall below the rate that would be required for a generation to replace itself in the absence of immigration.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d8ad4f3a77971fb2ed0c466a69f2070483cec56dd93b2b60902f7eb89ebaa16e&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=793d38def2d3d2a3227c2f01843d8a7f&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW0xLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27339" data-attachment-id="27339" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm1.png?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm1.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm1.png" data-orig-size="3761,2450" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm1.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 640px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Unless net immigration continues to be strong, the only way economic growth in the major capitalist economies will be sustained will be through increased productivity of labour. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=15257176d9296f1b2ccce9eeaa42dbb8a0dd10df615a72b8226889bce89f8121&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=15672a9657d7e64f0c97fb1e90d22aa9&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAxOS8wMy8wOC9kZW1vZ3JhcGhpYy1kZW1pc2Uv" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">But productivity growth in all the major economies has been slowing.</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And so for example, if the US workforce grows by say 0.5% a year and labour productivity rises by say 1.5%, then US real GDP growth will average 2% over the next decade. But more than likely, both the workforce and productivity growth will be less, so real GDP growth will be much less, especially if immigration is curbed. Moreover, this assumes no major slump in the economy during the rest of the 2020s.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d0e3ac4112948c058c0ffec4e83e9391da846267ac716fcbfbca7e46547b3e26&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=b3e658ad4d05d939b8d5afdfe55b61e0&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW0yLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27340" data-attachment-id="27340" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm2" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm2.png?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm2.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm2.png" data-orig-size="3761,2450" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm2/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm2.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 649px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The US is home to more immigrants than any other country – more than 45 million people. Foreign-born workers now make up 18.6% of the civilian labour force in 2023, up from 15.3% in 2006. Without foreign-born labour, the US labour force would shrink because of lower birth rates and an aging workforce.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f1a7724b434c24766eb9f605e83fa336368592f4a710c7cf40244757d0d17fd8&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=dfcf06c96d534d2bc2ee9b318112fb29&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW0zLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27341" data-attachment-id="27341" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm3" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm3.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm3.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm3.png" data-orig-size="602,249" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm3/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm3.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 667px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The growth rate of foreign-born workers was 4.4% in 2023 compared to native born workers of just 1.1%.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=6960ef35c0a4900aa143717f40e80315aa7a75d5ff2b21bb6ba990395f06afc7&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=0b158b9f7efbe96fa4823703da1bf99b&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW00LnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27342" data-attachment-id="27342" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm4" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm4.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm4.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm4.png" data-orig-size="602,298" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm4/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm4.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 723px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">This net immigration is not by ‘illegals’. In 2021, only 4.6% of US workers were ‘unauthorised’, a share that’s pretty much unchanged since 2005. The Pew Research Center’s <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c1c8d4cc793f751a3faccbc0b026bb5f146b133d2b84b3e88bfbd3bd37834213&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=6d3ad0096bf74b24937888c6b04fdeb5&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucGV3cmVzZWFyY2gub3JnL2ZhY3QtdGFuay8yMDIxLzA0LzEzL2tleS1mYWN0cy1hYm91dC10aGUtY2hhbmdpbmctdS1zLXVuYXV0aG9yaXplZC1pbW1pZ3JhbnQtcG9wdWxhdGlvbi8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">latest estimates</a> indicate about 10.5 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. That means the vast majority of foreign-born people living in the United States (77%) are here legally.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">For decades, a national original quota system, passed by Congress <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=81192f7274ecc4251afc943e873e5dd5bcbf4c5d22b04d543b7b54da625f4edf&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=e813f528c7a7ca2da123caaeab548345&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXN0b3J5LmhvdXNlLmdvdi9IaXN0b3JpY2FsLUhpZ2hsaWdodHMvMTkwMS0xOTUwL1RoZS1JbW1pZ3JhdGlvbi1BY3Qtb2YtMTkyNC8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">in 1924</a>, favoured migrants from northern and western Europe and excluded Asians. In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act created <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=555622a2f30194093fabfe77f80cf630a19a0594730fca041e3be6eed5c2895f&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=cceb03400357f4083666ee967ead03f5&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXN0b3J5LmhvdXNlLmdvdi9IaXN0b3JpY2FsLUhpZ2hsaWdodHMvMTk1MS0yMDAwL0ltbWlncmF0aW9uLWFuZC1OYXRpb25hbGl0eS1BY3Qtb2YtMTk2NS8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">a new system</a> that prioritised highly skilled immigrants and those who already had family living in the country. That paved the way for millions of non-European immigrants to come to the United States. In 1965, 9.6 million immigrants living in the US comprised just 5% of the population, <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=701d74b3d69f39495eceed675778cfdd969d2f7dece12983349f0ae1a1d6c084&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=384ee1f71126fbe4f35505987c7d7ea8&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWlncmF0aW9ucG9saWN5Lm9yZy9hcnRpY2xlL2ZpZnR5LXllYXJzLTE5NjUtaW1taWdyYXRpb24tYW5kLW5hdGlvbmFsaXR5LWFjdC1jb250aW51ZXMtcmVzaGFwZS11bml0ZWQtc3RhdGVz" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">according to the Migration Policy Institute</a>. Now more than 45 million immigrants make up nearly 14% of the country. And most of these are skilled workers and their families.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=9f533235ff10a96c7b37248dcb89081278e2d94eb8b88cc26cd7068461802b6c&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=559f880221fe4a67d4f2df2d01c53a34&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW01LnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27344" data-attachment-id="27344" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm5" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm5.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm5.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm5.png" data-orig-size="602,359" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm5/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm5.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 721px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">That 13.6% of the <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7c571530e4458a6db99614223b92a3d18bffe9744f15dd383f372609072d1048&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=37b55ca97d4fb68a65977594ac155010&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25uLmNvbS8yMDIxLzA4LzEyL3BvbGl0aWNzL3VzLWNlbnN1cy0yMDIwLWRhdGEvaW5kZXguaHRtbA=" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">US population</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is about the same as it was a century ago. But over the years, that has been a significant shift in where immigrants to the US come from. Mexicans still represent the largest group of immigrants living in the United States. And the Mexico-US route is the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=909b82809b5fe1ef0fbeb2a42855eadfc405127ed7d3588642ef507d76abb8ba&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=21e20fb8f490f50bb02703938f2e4512&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWlncmF0aW9ucG9saWN5Lm9yZy9yZWdpb25zL21leGljbw=" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">largest migration corridor</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in the world. But the total number of Mexican immigrants living in the US<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a364a36f93cd8997fe1686a7ee2da86b570097d5cd9d585aa83ac5132b54ea48&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=7e2be7b749c08acec67408841c58e69a&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25uLmNvbS8yMDEyLzA0LzI2L29waW5pb24vcGFzc2VsLWNvaG4tbWV4aWNhbi1pbW1pZ3JhdGlvbi9pbmRleC5odG1s" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">has been on the decline</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for more than a decade. An estimated 10.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the US in 2021, roughly 1 million fewer than the number a decade earlier.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=16327a4201c27ca819d485942452d122b7230c1eb9eef0a661f8de50624c9280&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=216d63d604f6a50cc985f2ce35bbf94a&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW02LnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27345" data-attachment-id="27345" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm6" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm6.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm6.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm6.png" data-orig-size="602,366" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm6/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm6.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 678px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, immigration from other countries, including India and China, has been on the rise.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=207bbb67a615c9bb1310d132d82cfb93b237e7bcbf6377404a3ba4108fe41ed7&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=b4e80bb917f334bb0ea94b96c35cc1d8&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbW03LnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27347" data-attachment-id="27347" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="imm7" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm7.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm7.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm7.png" data-orig-size="602,278" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/13/us-economy-saved-by-immigrants/imm7/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imm7.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 845px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">About 42% of all immigrants, or 638,551 people, came for work. And 39% of all immigrants were from Asia.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">There has been a burst in immigration since the end of the pandemic which has helped sustain US GDP growth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“Reopening of borders in 2022 and easing of immigration policies brought a sizable immigration rebound, which in turn helped alleviate the shortage of workers relative to job vacancies,”</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Evgeniya Duzhak, regional policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, wrote in a 2023 <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5020b414ff0a1667aac5ba94951e3ebee25dae86ef3788012771e4d080eb14cb&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=a63bd18dd86156dc425851e19296129c&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJic2Yub3JnL3Jlc2VhcmNoLWFuZC1pbnNpZ2h0cy9wdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMvZWNvbm9taWMtbGV0dGVyLzIwMjMvMDIvcm9sZS1vZi1pbW1pZ3JhdGlvbi1pbi11cy1sYWJvci1tYXJrZXQtdGlnaHRuZXNzLw=" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">paper</a>. About 50 percent of the US labour market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data. And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labour force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The influx of immigrants to work and to study is helping the US economy – it’s keeping a high supply of labour available for employers particularly in the areas of heavy demand for labour: healthcare, retail and leisure, also sectors of relatively low pay.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Net immigration is becoming vital to US capitalism. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. labour force will have grown by 5.2 million people by 2033, thanks mainly to net immigration and the economy is projected to grow by $7 trillion more over the next decade than it would have without new influx of immigrants.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">But here is the rub. Americans now cite immigration as the country’s top problem, surpassing inflation, the economy and other issues with government. All the talk is of ‘illegals’ and Republican candidate for the 2024 election, former president Trump talks of deporting millions if re-elected as president – even though the ‘undocumented’ foreign-born population has been falling while legal immigrants have risen.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The usual (non-racist) argument against immigration is that wage levels of US workers will be reduced as native-born workers compete for jobs with foreign-born workers. But so far, all the evidence suggests not. A 2017 <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=32007f7f1a3a5bb250d175e274e817deb5ee989fe463945e92f2d307321d4a5d&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=c6dfb7c061a361354f4a86e53f1e744e&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9uYXAubmF0aW9uYWxhY2FkZW1pZXMub3JnL2NhdGFsb2cvMjM1NTAvdGhlLWVjb25vbWljLWFuZC1maXNjYWwtY29uc2VxdWVuY2VzLW9mLWltbWlncmF0aW9u" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">meta analysis</a> of economic research on immigration conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggests the impact of immigration on the overall U.S.-born wage<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“may be small and close to zero,”</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>particularly when measured over a period of 10 years or more. There are much more significant hits to labour’s share of value-added in the economy, namely globalisation, weaker unions and a stagnant <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ec5a6745bab7388c66731f96e8377dbe99785eb0f9624a310a922224da5feba6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27334&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=02f52511677b116b9f14c8a1320bce8f&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25iYy5jb20vMjAyMy8xMS8xMS9vbi1tYWluLXN0cmVldC10aW1lLXRvLXByZXBhcmUtZm9yLXRoZS1uZXctbWluaW11bS13YWdlLWhpa2VzLWluLTIwMjQuaHRtbA=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">federal minimum wage</a>. And there are other reasons why labour force participation may have declined long-term: automation and technology reducing the demand for low-skilled labour; and the shift away from manufacturing and toward service-oriented jobs, which often require higher educational attainment.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">For now, contrary to the Trumpist talk, immigration for US capitalism is good news. That could change if the US economy drops into a recession where jobs become scarce</p></div></div></div>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-66840223974751597212024-03-11T21:07:00.000-07:002024-03-11T21:07:21.841-07:00Oscars speech smear campaign shows lying for Israel is a good career move<h3 class="subtitle"><span style="font-size: medium;">Film director Jonathan Gazer's acceptance speech
went viral. But Jewish community leaders know there will be no
professional damage for misrepresenting his words</span></h3><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset byline-wrapper"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1o6bj_209 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1o6bj_212 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/1117543-jonathan-cook" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 facepile-face _face_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15 _first_dhr36_51 _last_dhr36_55 pencraft pc-reset" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3715a130-98ce-4fba-91aa-25baab2acf7b_805x943.jpeg" style="z-index: 1;" width="80" /></picture></a></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-primary-text_13a18_204 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-reset _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook">Jonathan Cook</a></span></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-4 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;">11 Mar 2024</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7284a9d-21f1-4a83-9c87-5b4d6c5bce35_1200x675.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e7284a9d-21f1-4a83-9c87-5b4d6c5bce35_1200x675.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":675,"width":1200,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":165570,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" height="360" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7284a9d-21f1-4a83-9c87-5b4d6c5bce35_1200x675.jpeg" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 " fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Film director Jonathan Glazer poked a hornet's nest with his acceptance speech this week as he won an Oscar for </span><em>The Zone of Interest</em><span>,
a film about the family of Auschwitz’s Nazi commandant who live
peacefully inside a walled garden, cut off from the horrors just the
other side.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Glazer says the film’s point is not simply to
drive home a history lesson. It’s "not to say, ‘Look what they did
then.’ Rather, ‘Look what we do now.’”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There could not be pithier
summary of the difference between the universal moral impulse found in
Jews like Glazer, and the particularist Zionist impulse found in the
people who noisily claim to speak for the Jewish community – and are
readily given a bullhorn to do so by western establishments.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The first group says, "Never again.” The second group cries, "Never again, unless it serves Israel's interests."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And
given Israel's decades-long craving to dispossess the Palestinians of
their entire homeland, that second “Never again” is as good as
worthless. Palestinians were always in danger of erasure – not just
territorially, as happened in 1948 and 1967, but existentially, as is
happening now – by a state misleadingly declaring itself to be Jewish. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">Universal ethics sidelined </span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§universal-ethics-sidelined"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142522034/universal-ethics-sidelined"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">The assumption of many was that the West would never tolerate another genocide being conducted in its name.</span></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>How
misplaced that certainty was. The West is arming and funding the
genocide in Gaza, and providing diplomatic cover at the United Nations.
Its commitment to helping Israel carry out mass slaughter is such that
many western states have </span><a href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/in-waging-war-on-the-un-refugee-agency" rel="">frozen their funding</a><span> to the UN aid agency UNRWA, which is specifically charged with keeping Palestinians in Gaza fed and alive.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Observers
underestimated how far things had shifted. Over many decades, a
universal ethics that drew on the lessons of the Holocaust – and
solidified into international law – was intentionally undermined,
sidelined and replaced by a particularist Zionist “ethics”.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That
readjustment happened with the active connivance of western powers,
which had no interest in promoting the universal lessons of recent
history. For their own self-interested reasons, they preferred the
particularist agenda of Zionism. It sat easily with the West’s
insistence that its privileges continue: the right to wage wars and
steal the resources of others, the ability to trample on indigenous
peoples, and the power to destroy the planet and other species.</span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ideology for dark times</span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§ideology-for-dark-times"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142522034/ideology-for-dark-times"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In
fact, Zionism was never centrally about Israel. It is a much broader
ideology, rooted in western tradition and tailor-made for the darker
times we are entering, in which systems collapse – of economies, of
climate stability, of authority – poses new challenges to western
establishments.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Zionism started as a Christian doctrine centuries
ago, and flourished in the Victorian era among British politicians. It
views Jews chiefly as a vehicle to advance a brutal, end-of-times
redemption in which they are to be the the main sacrificial victims. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Though less conspicuously today, </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/britain-still-proud-its-shameful-role-patron-israels-occupation" rel="">Christian Zionism</a><span>
still shapes the climate in which today’s politicians operate – as the
large number of “Friends of Israel” in both major parties attests.
Christian Zionism is the self-professed view too of many tens of </span><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-evangelical-christians-risk-setting-middle-east-fire" rel="">millions of rightwing evangelicals</a><span> in the US and elsewhere.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Whether
in its Christian or Jewish incarnations, Zionism was always a “might is
right”, “law of the jungle” doctrine, drawing on Old Testament-style
ideas of chosen-ness, divine purpose, and rationalisations for violence
and savagery. It sits all too comfortably with the extermination of
Palestinians in Gaza. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">No disgrace or shame </span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§no-disgrace-or-shame"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142522034/no-disgrace-or-shame"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jewish
leaders and influencers in the West who champion more, not less,
genocide in Gaza face neither disgrace nor shame. They are not shunned
for cheering policies that have entailed so far the slaughter, maiming
and orphaning of at least 100,000 Palestinian children. Why? Because
they are articulating an Israel-focused version of an ideology that fits
neatly with the worldview of western establishments.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For this
reason, Jewish influencers lost no time working to smear Glazer as a
self-hating Jew by misrepresenting his speech – quite literally by
editing out the parts that did not fit their particularist,
anti-universal agenda.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Referencing the victims both of October 7
and of Israel’s attack on Gaza, Glazer told the Oscars audience: “Right
now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust
being hijacked by an occupation that has led to conflict for so many
innocent people.” </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He
was expressly opposing his Jewishness being weaponised in support of a
genocide. He was standing apart from many Jewish community leaders and
influencers who have weaponised their own Jewishness to justify violence
against civilians. He was reminding us that the Holocaust’s lesson is
that ideologies must never trump our humanity, must never be used to
rationalise evil.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All of which poses a huge threat to those in the
Jewish community who have, for years, been precisely weaponising their
Jewishness for political ends – in the service of Israel and its
decades-old project to remove the Palestinian people from their historic
homeland. </span></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;">The real moral rot </span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§the-real-moral-rot"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://jonathancook.substack.com/i/142522034/the-real-moral-rot"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div></div></div></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>In
a moment of pure projection, for example, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, dubbed
by media outlets as “the most famous rabbi in America“, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RabbiShmuley/status/1767220673489809410" rel="">castigated Glazer</a><span>
for supposedly “exploiting the Holocaust” and for trivializing “the
memory of the 6 million victims through whom he found Hollywood glory”. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Boteach
apparently cannot understand that it is he, not Glazer, who has been
exploiting the Holocaust – in his case, for decades in the service of
protecting Israel from any criticism, even now as it commits a genocide.
</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Meanwhile,
Batya Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor at Newsweek, broke with all
journalistic norms to completely misrepresent Glazer’s speech, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/bungarsargon/status/1767002321051955202" rel="">accusing him of “moral rot”</a><span>
for supposedly disavowing his Jewishness. Rather, as he made all too
clear, he was rejecting how his Jewishness and the Holocaust were being
hijacked by genocide apologists such as Ungar-Sargon to promote a
violent ideological agenda. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Newsweek editor knows that
Glazer’s speech was the most listened to and discussed moment of the
Oscars. There are few who read her tweeted comment that had not heard
for themselves what Glazer said in his speech rather than the
misinformation Ungar-Sargon peddled about it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Lying about his
remarks should have been an act of professional self-harm. It should
have been a dark stain on her journalistic credibility. And yet
Ungar-Sargon proudly left up her tweet, even as it received X’s
humiliating “Readers added…” footnote exposing her deception.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48082ae7-0a9a-4e0e-96de-18483cdb81f9_689x626.png" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/48082ae7-0a9a-4e0e-96de-18483cdb81f9_689x626.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":626,"width":689,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":108315,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="581" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48082ae7-0a9a-4e0e-96de-18483cdb81f9_689x626.png" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 " fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">She
did so because that tweet is her calling card. It declares her not a
talented or careful journalist but as something far more useful: one who
will do whatever is required to get ahead. Like Shmuley, she was
projecting – in her case, with the accusation of “moral rot”. She was
advertising that she lacks a moral compass, and that she is willing to
do whatever is needed to advance establishment interests. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Like
those who lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there will be
no price to pay for these all-too-visible failings, or for promoting a
catastrophe for a people whose lives and fate are of no import to the
West.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Shmuley and Ungar-Sargon are determined to buttress the
walled garden, shielding us from the suffering, the terrors, inflicted
by the West just out of view. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">These courtiers and charlatans must
be shamed and shunned. We must listen instead to those like Glazer
trying to tear down the wall to show us the reality outside. </span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-38909360748505743052024-03-11T10:26:00.000-07:002024-03-11T10:26:49.504-07:00British Anti-Zionist Jews Speak Out at March<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NzZQkqgLqAY?si=T9etY433RfT5l7rw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richard Mellor<br />Afscme Local 444, retired<br />GED/HEO</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">British politicians have been referring to those speaking out or attending protests in support of the Palestinians and, in particular the genocide in Gaza, as supporters of Hamas or supporting terrorism and so on. The multi-millionaire warmongering US politician Nancy Pelosi has called the protestors Putin's puppets and stuff like that. This is the depth of deceit and dishonesty these imperialist mouthpieces are stooping to in order to protect US and western imperialism' only reliable ally in the Middle East. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What a despicable character Pelosi is, and the two parties of US capitalism are populated by these characters.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What Pelosi, Rushi Sunak and others should be doing is applauding the heroism and dedication of the, mostly young Jews, who are in the forefront of the protest movement in the US and throughout the world. Instead, the politicians of the bourgeois, and in the UK that includes the Labor Party, defend AIPAC, Zionism, and the Israeli' fascists in the efforts to drive the non-Jewish Palestinians off the land and create a greater settler colonial state.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Pelosi should apologize to the American Jews who are in the streets, for her slanderous comments because they face mountains of abuse not just from Pelosi, but from right wing Jewish elements and in particular the Zionists. They are called self hating Jews, traitors and more. They are inspiring to say the least.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Any sensible person, or decent political figure knowing the history of persecution that Jews have faced in Christian Europe, where some six million of them were murdered, or the forced conversions from Christian states like the <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cliffords-tower-york/history-and-stories/massacre-of-the-jews/">UK where Jews committed suicide rather than being forced to convert </a>to Christianity, or Spain whose many Jews fled rather than convert and were welcomed by the Muslims of North Africa, would be praising the thousands of Jews leading the struggle for Palestinian rights and against Zionism with the slogan, Zionism is not Judaism.</span><br /></p><p><br /></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-2250786671454386772024-03-10T09:27:00.000-07:002024-03-10T09:27:31.608-07:00Portugal: swinging right?<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="main-content" role="presentation" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 640px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="person" role="presentation" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 16px; width: 640px;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" width="64"><img class="profile-pic" height="48" src="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/40d5b20f7116be9748ccf22368445a92862ccf61890e528e7241b8b47924b968?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" style="border-radius: 24px; border: medium; display: block; height: 48px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 48px;" width="48" /></td><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><p class="name" style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/">michael roberts</a></p><p class="meta is-date" style="color: #646970; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">March 10</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="post-body" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><div data-user-content="" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><div class="is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Portugal has a general election today, only two years from the last one. It’s taking place early because the Socialist prime minister Costa was forced to call it after a serious of corruption scandals concerning government ministers. Also a Lisbon court recently decided that a former Socialist prime minister should stand trial for corruption. Prosecutors allege that José Sócrates, prime minister between 2005-2011, pocketed around 34 million euros ($36.7 million) during his time in power from graft, fraud and money laundering. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Just under 11m Portuguese are eligible to vote and the opinion polls suggest that the anti-immigrant, neo-fascist Chega (Enough!) could make the biggest gains and hold the balance of power in parliament between the currently governing centre-left Socialists and the centre-right Social Democrats.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=2dc5842cc98e1dda1df8baddf5f610c82e8b147aa28f8e7649ae5c66bcea26bd&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=3060d040425fde9af2518056555e1a50&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjQucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27307" data-attachment-id="27307" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24.png" data-orig-size="602,386" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The main opposition to the current government, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has formed an alliance with the Popular Party (CDS-PP) and the Monarchist Popular Party (PPM), to form what they call the Democratic Alliance (AD) to be led by Luís Montenegro, the PSD leader. But the PSD too is tainted by corruption allegations. A graft investigation in Portugal’s Madeira Islands triggered the resignation of two prominent PSD officials.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The incumbent Socialists now have Pedro Santos as their leader. The party is offering a few minimal reforms: it intends to return 50% of VAT to those who buy hybrid or electric cars, create an entity that monitors the rental of properties and guarantee public bank financing for those who buy a house, up to the age of 40 – housing is a big issue.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The new AD centre-right alliance purports to defend ‘liberal conservatism’, ‘Christian democracy’ and ‘economic liberalism’. AD states that it wants to implement a maximum tax rate of 15% for people up to 35 years of age, as well 100% mortgages for first-time home buyers.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The anti-immigrant neo-fascist Chega led by Andre Ventura wants to defend ‘national values’ and to curb ‘Islamic fundmentalism’. Chega intends to equate the minimum pension to the National Minimum Wage and provide one year of paternity and maternity leave, shared between the child's parents.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">There are also various small left-wing parties that could poll about 5% between them.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The pandemic was a disaster for an already weak Portuguese economy. And since then the post-COVID economic recovery has been fuelled by deregulation and a series of schemes designed to lure foreign investment. This has distorted the housing market beyond all recognition in a place where the monthly minimum wage is €760 and where 50% of people earn less than €1,000 a month. The liberalisation of the rental market, the issuing of <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7c22befcd0f61b395c4631663fb21a84ec2a389ed1d3e7e6cc44d76144a348fb&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=594591802b87fa74820e71176dfffb7f&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3dvcmxkLzIwMTcvc2VwLzE4L3BvcnR1Z2FsLWdvbGRlbi12aXNhcy1jb3JydXB0LWJyYXppbGlhbi10eWNvb24tYW1vbmctYXBwbGljYW50cw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">“golden visas”</a> that confer residence permits in exchange for buying properties worth €500,000 or more, the introduction of tax-saving “non-habitual residency scheme” for foreigners, and, most recently, the creation of a <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=11e3cea9103977b8c3a99f572458dc71db72fabaa2403451574073979439a96c&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=1ca659a4f653bc5ab89af38216734796&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucG9saXRpY28uZXUvYXJ0aWNsZS9wb3J0dWdhbC1kaWdpdGFsLW5vbWFkcy1idWJibGUtZ2VudHJpZmljYXRpb24v" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">digital nomad visa</a> to allow well-off foreigners to work remotely and pay a tax rate of just 20% have all played a part. So too – perhaps most obviously – has the snapping up of flats to be converted into lucrative short-term rentals. Now there are 48,000 homes standing empty in Lisbon alone and 750,000 across Portugal as a whole. Portuguese citizens have been driven out of the housing market and there are few state schemes for rental housing. The reality is that successive governments have done nothing about the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=131811c08b934fac6f87c41620358c76d441f4beb6be27d81afb7cede8537442&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=ba3730e0616d249e1c24df7b7ce1a87c&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3dvcmxkLzIwMjMvanVsLzI5L3BvcnR1Z2Fscy1iaWQtdG8tYXR0cmFjdC1mb3JlaWduLW1vbmV5LWJhY2tmaXJlcy1hcy1yZW50YWwtbWFya2V0LWdvZXMtY3Jhenk" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">housing crisis</a>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a11e55089fd3c5676e0c5242dec727c0ed41f86f0515cf95eb683e65fb5e47c6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=f208f9762915a11a98a7db928660e547&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3BvcnR1Z2Fscy1wdWJsaWMtc2VjdG9yLXdvcmtlcnMtc3RyaWtlLW92ZXItcGF5LWxpdmluZy1jb3N0cy1zb2FyLTIwMjItMTEtMTgv" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">persistent low pay levels</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and unreliable public health services.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Average pay is just 1,300 euros (1,466 US dollars) a month. Among all OECD countries, Portugal has the sixth-lowest average salary but has seen the highest rise in house prices. In 2022, the take-home pay of an average single worker, after tax and benefits, was 71.9% of their gross wage, compared with the OECD average of 75.4%. An average married worker with two children in Portugal had a take-home pay, after tax and family benefits, of 84.6% of their gross wage, compared to 85.9% for the OECD average. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Inequality of incomes and wealth and levels of poverty in Portugal are among the highest in Europe. According to the World Inequality Database, the premier research body for measuring the inequality of incomes and wealth in a country, in Portugal in 2022, the top 10% of adults had 36% of total personal income in the country (before tax and benefits) while the bottom 50% of adults had to share just 19%. The very top 1% have 10% of all personal income. These ratios have worsened under successive governments in the 21st century.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">It's even more unequal when it comes to personal wealth ie property, savings and financial assets like shares and bonds. In 2022, the top 10% of adults had 60% of all personal wealth in Portugal, while the bottom 50% had only 3.6% between them! In other words, they own very little or nothing. The very top 1% had 25% of all personal wealth. And these ratios have worsened in the last 25 years under successive governments.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The Costa government came to power pledged to reverse the post 2008 slump austerity policies imposed by the Eurozone. But like other governments in southern Europe in the last decade, it made little progress on growth, productivity and investment, even if it avoided even worse austerity measures. Productivity has been flat for the last eight years.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Productivity level (index = 100)</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=fa0abd5bdd594d7e08b1e3bdb3ed2f914c3e3e70ec8969dfc37b18094ff79ed3&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=938a4cb5d0f0ad6564d55ae7a1f9556d&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjRhLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27308" data-attachment-id="27308" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24a" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24a.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24a.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24a.png" data-orig-size="602,280" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24a/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24a.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d42fc7aef2491f5c9bc7ad31b1f949d67a9e9f2f82850a350c6124fee31d58e3&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=11b69e57185a0dab941d7bccb929926e&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMi8wMS9wb3IzLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"></a></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Portugal’s economy has been falling behind the rest of the EU since 2000. The European Union supposedly aimed to ‘level up’ the weaker capitalist economies with the richer core. The opening of trade and investment after Portugal became a member in 1986 appeared to work, as it did for other weaker EU countries. But the introduction of the euro changed all that. Whereas before the weaker EU countries could let their currencies depreciate against the deutschemark to try and remain competitive. That was no longer an option in the Eurozone. Without higher investment and productivity, the weaker capitalist members could not compete. <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4e56bfecc325f605a1a84244815fc2c07729bc033d2fe22154c0c91f26607a76&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=254f71213b0fcc4e2fd0279323a4dbac&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAxOS8wMS8wMS8yMC15ZWFycy1vZi10aGUtZXVyby1wYXJ0LW9uZS1oYXMtaXQtYmVlbi1hLXN1Y2Nlc3Mv" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Convergence turned into divergence. </a> Portugal like other weaker members was reliant on FDI from Germany and France. External debt rose sharply and the Euro debt crisis in 2012 in the wake of the global financial crash pushed the country into penury and austerity. Portugal’s GDP per person remains less than half that of Germany.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c18fae2fcbded69748a733200b7a1e3989849482ae5a46e3f8a7497e0530836e&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=d9a94cc7086cd53d6780f121c9d5d7e1&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjRiLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27310" data-attachment-id="27310" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24b" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24b.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24b.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24b.png" data-orig-size="602,392" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24b/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24b.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1df2a8be99a022954a5ae746fb71b13505aac89f21fc4f74e1128ee820d0e459&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=9b2036da934dcfa53cfb19d16569ff04&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMi8wMS9wb3I0LnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"></a>Source: IMF WEO database</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile low wages and high unemployment have spurred emigration. Over the past decade – a period that includes governments run by both the Socialists and the ‘centre-right’ Social Democrats – some 20,000 Portuguese nurses have gone to work abroad, in an unprecedented drain of medical talent. The youth unemployment rate is still near 25%. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Youth unemployment rate (%)</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3979d865ce2063d7fa5902065d66988e210f4be0db5aca3bce7dd4391712b329&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=6487a15d225ef9be3647d942f0435dc5&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjRjLTEuanBn" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27311" data-attachment-id="27311" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24c-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24c-1.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24c-1.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24c-1.jpg" data-orig-size="602,411" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24c-1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24c-1.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The main parties are putting all their hopes in the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, which pools funds from the richer members to help out the weaker economies – the first time such a fiscal package has been employed across the EU. But the EU money has still not been disbursed. And it comes with strings: namely that the government is supposed to maintain a tight fiscal policy and keep budget deficits down and above all start to reduce its huge public debt ratio. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Public debt to GDP (%)</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8437db977faf7dbdb57f7d986b8804c9d61aed6caa9a11348694b477933244d1&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=954c6d0e9be699fd1785222fffa19d7d&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjRkLmpwZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27312" data-attachment-id="27312" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24d" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24d.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24d.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24d.jpg" data-orig-size="602,411" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24d/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24d.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Even though the next government will be getting these funds from the EU to spend on infrastructure and services, it is likely to do little to get a very weak capitalist sector to invest, expand employment and raise wages. That’s because the profitability of capital in Portugal is miserable. It has been flat and low for 40 years. The EU has done nothing for Portuguese capital up to now.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ef28dfe98f2af324b35c075d8c391b4e1a5acca5ba6e86127c6ff2975b8b0381&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27304&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=61bf8bac0068b5ac0431b4d5d9b9e6c9&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9wMjRlLnBuZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27314" data-attachment-id="27314" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="p24e" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24e.png?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24e.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24e.png" data-orig-size="3761,2452" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/portugal-swinging-right/p24e/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/p24e.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Penn World Tables 10.0 IRR series</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Whoever triumphs in today's election has no real plan to change the dismal fortunes of Portuguese households. Desperation could see the rise of the neo-fascist right.</p></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-72368348335905009272024-03-08T19:28:00.000-08:002024-03-08T19:28:39.251-08:00A First Hand Account of the Japanese Invasion of Hong Kong (Dec 1941)<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODASZjEexADVUp4jUnT5NIQzr3uC8yCavHwUhfkjmzaPnivTseY1CBGh8tHViqPxC7I9SdoN69EPiAhIpjWYoXoEoH-vlF_dqQzQWeNayP6LgqmzXo4p68y4-M7E7b9b9eRjZvCE4WY0U6UQQowTlIqmZ92Q6y6HUkyCqAPLTSWQ4GdqMyniL98UlG82i/s640/IMG_6086%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODASZjEexADVUp4jUnT5NIQzr3uC8yCavHwUhfkjmzaPnivTseY1CBGh8tHViqPxC7I9SdoN69EPiAhIpjWYoXoEoH-vlF_dqQzQWeNayP6LgqmzXo4p68y4-M7E7b9b9eRjZvCE4WY0U6UQQowTlIqmZ92Q6y6HUkyCqAPLTSWQ4GdqMyniL98UlG82i/w640-h480/IMG_6086%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am not sure of the date of this picture. It says that it is Christmas and they are all around the Christmas Tree. It might be in Hong Kong. Also, my father took many pictures before he was caught so maybe he took it. All I know is the Japanese officer with the sash across his chest is named Hayashi.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Richard Mellor 3-08-24</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">My father, Herbert Joseph Mellor was a sharp guy. His dad, Richard Joseph Mellor, was at one point a laborer at a Dunlop factory in Manchester. He won a lot of money on the winner of the 1924 Derby, I think it was. He became a bookie and also ran dogs at White City. He had my dad running numbers in the streets of Salford as a kid. Hi was also an
alcoholic and abusive as far as I can gather. But my dad was very good with
numbers due to this experience. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I forgot I had
these notes. When my dad died or before, I can’t remember when. I found these
pages of a book he wanted to write or was writing. It’s mostly all in his handwriting
and starts with his home in Pownall Street in Manchester, I think in Hulme. He ran
away from home after his mother died and joined the army, he said to be with
horses. He did exercise one of his commanding officer’s horses in Hong Kong
from what I remember him saying. But he ended up spending the entire war as a
prisoner of the Japanese, f<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">irst
in Hong Kong in a place called Changi Jail if my memory serves me right then in
Tokyo working for Mitsubishi on the docks. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">He also spoke a little Russian as the British
Army saw it necessary to learn the language given the influence of the Soviet
Union at the time I suppose. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I started to piece together the writings
and copying the stuff in to word. Then I thought I lost them in the house fire
and forgot about them. But I didn’t lose them and they turned up. Here is one
piece of history describing his experience as the Japanese confronted them. He
uses the term Japs, as most people did at the time, but to his credit, my
father never taught me to hate them and always pointed out that it was the
grunts, the average guy that gets dragged in to these terrible conflicts. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Japanese invade Hong Kong</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
<br />
My name is Bert Mellor. I am a member of the Middlesex regiment that took part
in the defence of Hong Kong starting December 7<sup>th</sup> 1941. This is the
story of the small part I played during the invasion of Japanese troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facing the onslaught on the mainland were the
1<sup>st</sup> Battalion Royal Scots, two Battalions of Canadian Royal Rifles
and Winnipeg Grenadiers and two Indian regiments as far as I can remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The Middlesex Regiment’s part in the battle was to defend the island of Hong
Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We occupied various pillboxes and
at the Stanley Fort was the Royal Artillery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I think back on it, those forces defending the mainland had no chance
whatsoever. The Japs were firmly entrenched being able to bring up troops
whenever they needed them from the direction of Canton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Japanese troops were able to rest and
replenish their numbers, for our boys it was a hopeless task and it was no
surprise that the mainland forces had to retreat to the Island.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It became obvious
to me that it was only a matter of time before the Japanese invasion of Hong
Kong began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the invasion came, the
outlook for us was very grim. I was very surprised because at this particular
stage our guns were facing seaward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“What good is that to us?” was the question I asked myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Japs were already on the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I suggested to Sgt. Tatham that I command
a roadblock and get half the men to volunteer to come with me. The Sgt. Wasn’t
too happy about this so I asked him for permission to go and see our platoon
commander Lieutenant Cheeseright who was about two or three hundred yards away
at Repulse Bay.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">From our pillbox,
the Lieutenant granted me permission and told me to go ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back and got five volunteers to come
and command the roadblock with me. The first order gave was to private
Morally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him to go to the Repulse
Bay Hotel and commandeer one of the many cars that had been discarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The private did this and brought the car to
the spot where we were going to mount the gun. I mounted the gun about 30 yards
past the crossroads leading to Repulse Bay facing the car in that direction and
on the right hand side. <br />
<br />
It’s a great pity really that you don’t know more about your enemy’s methods
than your own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The communication between
HQ and our own C Company was non-existent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t think I spoke to my CC (CO?) from the first day we occupied the
pillbox till the day that they left it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am writing this down 60 years later after the event so I might not
have every detail down right so I do hope you forgive me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Anyone that served
in Hong Kong during the war or even in the 1950’s will understand the position
I was in at the particular time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before
the war, my commanding officer, Colonel Stewart was keen on giving his troops,
one company at a time, a lecture on current affairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a well-read man and had travelled
widely. I always remember him talking to us about Russia and telling us that when
facing the enemy we should always think clearly about the situation we were in
and what the enemy was likely to do, and especially what we should do to
counteract his actions.<br />
<br />
With this story of mine I will include a very rough sketch of the position my
men were in so that you can appreciate what we were faced with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the right of the road was the open country
of Wong Nai Chung Gap that led down to Repulse Bay and to a part of the
countryside that was called Middle Spur; this area the Japanese controlled. So
though my mounted gun covered the approach to Hong Kong and the approach to
Aberdeen, I had Lieutenant Cheeseright behind me, so I didn’t give much thought
to trouble coming up from my rear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
that is exactly what did happen so we were caught with our pants down as the
expression goes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Our pillbox was
very well camouflaged among rocks and was down by the sea front and obviously
the Japs had not even observed it and at first, I couldn’t figure out why Sgt.
Tatham and the men, or even one man, hadn’t come up to see what was happening
because they could have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely they
could have walked up the sea front and come up behind this Jap recon and maybe
done some good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in retrospect it
became obvious to me. I realized there was nothing that could stop the Jap
patrol penetrating down from Wong Nai Chung Gap towards Middle Spur and
dropping on the road between myself and Lieutenant Cheeseright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
I was sitting in the front seat of the car with another bloke as dawn was
approaching when I heard this guttural sound sort of like someone clearing
their throat, I turned my head and there was this Japanese soldier with a rifle
and bayonet and the bayonet was about 2 inches from my throat. <br />
<br />
So that was my part in the battle of Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were completely outnumbered and overwhelmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was lucky for me in a way as while this
was going on, a lot of civilians in cars were evacuating Hong Kong and had just
reached the crossroads. At the time the Japs captured us, they caught these
civilians as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tied our hands
behind our backs and pushed us against the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought this was the end but it was not to
be. They dragged us towards the Wong Nai Chung Gap where we saw quite a lot of
the Indian troops dead by the side of the road. We ended up in a prison camp in
Argyle Street because the war was still going on at this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there we were off to spend four years of
hell in Japan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never saw or spoke to
my comrades in that pillbox again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
happened to them I don’t know though I heard that they made their way along the
seashore to Fort Stanley. It was December 20th, 1941, a day I’ll never forget.<br />
<br />
In my opinion I didn’t think Hong Kong should have been defended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it should have been declared an
open city and we should have just walked away from it. But that’s why I never
became a general I suppose. Many of my comrades and officers of the battalion
and those of the Royal Scots lost their lives for what I believed was a lost
cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why fight a lost cause? The most
tragic really was the two Canadian battalions, the Royal Rifles of Canada and
the Winnipeg Grenadiers. They only arrived a few weeks before December 7<sup>th</sup>
and they didn’t know one end of a rifle from the other; it was tragic. <br />
<br />
Who knows why the Canadian government made that decision? I’d like to believe
Winston Churchill didn’t think that was a wise thing to do but I suppose, like
all politicians in these circumstances, he would have taken the advice of the
Generals and others that commanded Hong Kong prior to the outbreak of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those that decided we should defend Hong
Kong, Churchill, the Cabinet or the Chiefs of Staff, guessed it would buy some
time perhaps, or more likely they thought it was a matter of honor and all that
bullshit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to know full well
that the Japs were too powerful and far outnumbered us. They must have known
that they could pour in troops from wherever they were so they had fresh troops
all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One way or another, the
efficiency of the ordinary Jap soldier and officer was completely
underestimated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if it was
General Grassick or whoever that assumed two battalions of Canadian infantry
would have made the difference between victory or defeat against the Japanese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, after all this we all begin 4
years as uninvited guests of the Japs. </span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-62497546963944183502024-03-08T12:26:00.000-08:002024-03-08T12:26:10.149-08:00Michael Roberts: China’s next decade<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="person" role="presentation" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 16px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 640px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" width="64"><img class="profile-pic" height="48" src="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/40d5b20f7116be9748ccf22368445a92862ccf61890e528e7241b8b47924b968?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" style="border-radius: 24px; border: medium; display: block; height: 48px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 48px;" width="48" /></td><td style="font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><p class="name" style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -0.01em; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">michael roberts</p><p class="meta is-date" style="color: #646970; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.35; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">March 8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="post-body" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 24px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div data-user-content="" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><div class="is-email" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The annual meeting of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) is underway right now. The NPC is officially China’s highest deliberative body, ostensibly deciding economic and social policies each year. In reality, those policies have been drawn up by the Chinese Communist Party leaders in advance and then presented to the NPC to vote on (unanimously). Nevertheless, the NPC meeting offers the CP leaders an opportunity to spell out their policy answers to deal with the current economic and social problems of the country.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b0e952a8b05388c3f004f73dd2822bb760c38999917872a843fa07f2ea6f2816&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=fc1b6a82a929dfe0f12f4df92605eed3&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDEuanBn" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27263" data-attachment-id="27263" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc241" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc241.jpg?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc241.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc241.jpg" data-orig-size="1379,919" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc241/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc241.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">As is usual, it was the job of China’s premier to present this to the NPC. This year, there is a new premier, Li Qiang. But Li’s speech was very much in line with last year’s by the previous premier Li Keqiang. As last year, Li Qiang set a target for real GDP growth in 2024 of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“around 5%”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em>and said that China would be looking to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>"transform"</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>China's economic growth model.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">The NPC will also be considering the annual budget. Defence spending is expected to rise by 7.2%, while public security spending is slated to rise by 1.4%, no doubt necessary given the military surrounding of China by the Western powers. Central government expenditures are expected to rise by 8.6% to reduce the burden somewhat on the highly indebted local governments. Other targets announced by Li include the creation of 12m new urban jobs and increasing consumer prices by about 3% (apparently to avoid deflation - see below). Li said these targets would “not be easy” but that “high quality development” remained the priority.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">All this is pretty much in line with the targets set in China’s last five-year plan. The 14<sup>th</sup>plan agreed in 2021 was a comprehensive document covering all aspects of the Chinese economy in detail. But it had some key targets. In particular, China aimed at becoming a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>"moderately developed"</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>economy by 2035 and to reduce inequality between urban and rural areas. The plan was based on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e913c601070aaf799d5d2541b20f1de6842d3625ad3d0ef2ad2f23c3f57163bd&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=f874b9e50a019aa0aad10bb6e7e2a79a&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMi8xMC8yMC9jaGluYS14aXMtdGhpcmQtdGVybS1wYXJ0LTMtY2hpcHMtZHVhbC1jaXJjdWxhdGlvbi1hbmQtaW1wZXJpYWxpc20v" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">the dual circulation model</a>, where expanding manufacturing exports – the past key to China’s miracle growth -is combined with developing the domestic economy and reducing reliance on foreign imports and investment. The objective is that China can continue to grow and increase living standards despite attempts by Western governments to curb or strangle such growth.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Can China succeed in achieving both its growth target for this year and reach the longer-term objectives over the next ten years or so, taking nearly 1.4bn people up to living standards only enjoyed by a small group of nations in Europe, North America and East Asia?</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">If you were to read the Western press and their economists, you would conclude that the chances of China doing that are no better than a snowball surviving on being thrown into the sun. It is the almost unanimous cry of Western economists, particularly the ‘China experts’, that the China ‘miracle’ is over, and worse, China is heading into a debt deflation spiral that will mean growth targets will not be met at best, and more likely there will be a major slump. This is despite the fact that in 2023 China had an official growth rate of 5.2%, more than double that of the ‘booming’ US economy, and five times the rate of growth in the rest of top capitalist economies of the G7. (<a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1170b5c7e90421945f4bf722a28a2d7de21561dc86f40a2afa8773d951545fa2&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=04e0dd7145e6c544cd8bfdef08847042&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMC8xMC8yOC9jaGluYXMtZ3Jvd3RoLWNoYWxsZW5nZS8" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Don’t get me into the argument that China’s growth figure is fake and growth is much lower. Those that argue this have little supporting evidence.</a>) </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Ah, but you see, manufacturing is in recession (as measured by official surveys), consumption is weak (still below pre-pandemic levels) and f<a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b9fff062536e0536b0ea0f3533a6fcfb99a649a241499ac2ca713ee28a24d055&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=1a17ba8efb3d91fdba7b3188ca715274&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnQuY29tL2NvbnRlbnQvYmNiMWQzMzEtNWQ4ZS00Y2FjLTgxMWUtZWFjN2Q5NDQ4NDg2" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">oreign investment, seen as the life-blood for the Chinese economy has dried up.</a></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1ceabd1cb3126b6080f92701790a8fa4b2a30f1a75c09fb0af69842a1a2a6ae6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=459f9262456672ce02ce3519bfd215a4&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDItMi5wbmc" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27267" data-attachment-id="27267" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc242-2" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc242-2.png?w=455" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc242-2.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc242-2.png" data-orig-size="455,284" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc242-2/" height="284" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc242-2.png?w=455" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" width="455" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">And even worse, prices of goods and services are falling. Readers may be surprised to hear that Western economists, who spend much of their time demanding that inflation rates in their countries be reduced to no more than 2% a year after the post-COVID inflationary spiral of the last three years, see no merit in the lack of any rising prices (and therefore rising real wages) in the Chinese economy: it's 'inflation bad for the US; but no inflation bad for China'.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=cdf38e16c036854830bfb44ed36cd74c6b1bb2713a4e7dd585530b8e00d07219&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=00ce7bf53b879d3cfe600278fab86314&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9tcm9ubGluZS5vcmcvMjAyNC8wMi8yNy9jaGluYXMtZWNvbm9teS1pcy1zdGlsbC1mYXItb3V0LWdyb3dpbmctdGhlLXVzLWNvbnRyYXJ5LXRvLXdlc3Rlcm4tbWVkaWEtZmFrZS1uZXdzLw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">In a recent article, John Ross<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>has shown that to achieve China’s Plan GDP target for 2025 ie a doubling GDP from 2021, it would require an average annual growth of 4.7% a year. So far, China is ahead of this goal with annual average growth in 2020-2023 of about 5%. Indeed, since the beginning of the pandemic, China’s economy has grown by 20.1% and the U.S. by 8.1%—that is China’s total GDP growth since the beginning of the pandemic has been two and half times greater than the US.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=37d32ce03d6c3a76e7ea9411f7966c43d98b3b72e788320741d449089abe4cfd&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=4b6ab224089c642807ae97b1349bfb7a&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDMucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27270" data-attachment-id="27270" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc243" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc243.png?w=422" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc243.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc243.png" data-orig-size="422,276" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc243/" height="276" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc243.png?w=422" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" width="422" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Yes, China’s annual growth rates have slowed from the breakneck pace of the 1990s onwards and the Chinese workforce is declining. But just look the increase in GDP per person that China has achieved compared to the G7 economies since 2019, some of which have even contracted (IMF data). The rise on per capita basis is even higher against the US (nearly four times).</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1e79f7abb7416691bc454f4565fd319a0a584619bd04f1f8d1a49b7c6e5668f8&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=ab404c3827b7ad704c0e1de5dd3d50e2&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9waWN0dXJlMTAtMS5wbmc" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27286" data-attachment-id="27286" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="picture10-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/picture10-1.png?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/picture10-1.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/picture10-1.png" data-orig-size="3761,2452" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/picture10-1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/picture10-1.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Yes, increasingly China cannot rely on an expansion of a cheap workforce from rural areas to achieve more output, but instead must raise the productivity of the existing labour force, especially through investment in technical innovation. And it is doing so. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows that ‘total factor productivity’ (which is a crude measure of innovation) is growing at 6% a year, while it has been falling in the US.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=96a21278d118e5771002734cde075e9ff9b312b6310ce4fa08224250d962fb43&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=7ab50afb97f675e2b428375bc386650c&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDQtMS5wbmc" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27272" data-attachment-id="27272" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc244-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc244-1.png?w=466" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc244-1.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc244-1.png" data-orig-size="466,264" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc244-1/" height="264" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc244-1.png?w=466" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" width="466" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Despite this evidence, every year the Western ‘China’ experts (and even many in China itself) predict stagnation, given the huge debt levels in all sectors. China is going to stagnate like Japan has done in the last three decades. The only way to avoid ‘Japanification’, say these experts, is to ‘rebalance’ the economy from ‘over-investment’, ‘excessive savings’ and exports to a domestic consumer-led economy as in the West and reduce the state control of the economy so that the private sector can flourish.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a3088b86377f010af5d3b9818898be67cf01b9e6b238d6c5a74a21073ca263e8&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=f546bbf61b9109a4839f36aeef5d3b61&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnQuY29tL2NvbnRlbnQvY2M0MDc5NGItYWJiYi00Njc3LThhMmEtNGIxMGIxMmI2ZmY1" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">This year on the occasion of the NPC, Martin Wolf, the Keynesian guru of the Financial Times, returned to this theme</a>, echoing the arguments of other Keynesian China experts like<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=23b593988c06be83e7c8b94c97b4b77614bc62499935ba649e8ee2bf797a6c4c&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=508c3b85837b7fa9cf6634bf2c5a125b&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9jYXJuZWdpZWVuZG93bWVudC5vcmcvY2hpbmFmaW5hbmNpYWxtYXJrZXRzLzkxNzM4" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Michael Pettis.</a> According to Wolf, China’s growth will now slow to a trickle as in Japan because it overloaded with excessive debt and because it has not rebalanced the economy towards<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“the consumer”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em>China needs to get its consumption share up to Western levels or it will not be able to grow and so stay locked in a ‘middle income’ trap.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">China generated 28 per cent of total global savings in 2023. This is only a little less than the 33 per cent share of the US and EU combined. This is all wrong, say Wolf and Pettis. What is needed is a shift from ‘excessive savings’ to consumption. There is over-investment in property and infrastructure, instead of handouts to households. China will only grow from here if consumption leads, not investment. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">If you want to read more of this nonsense about consumption being the leader of growth, see<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1dbead96b89c402c108ba78d5d826ba28b24ce9c88612b571be6a11b0da96303&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=9a98a9b7dd091ea850fa5a7887f844bb&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMC8wNi8yNC90cmFkZS13YXJzLWFyZS1jbGFzcy13YXJzLXBhcnQtdHdvLWdsb2JhbC1pbWJhbGFuY2VzLw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">my review of Pettis’ theories here.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></a></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e490fc2182fea1795127d557f70f93e9317f7217c20c11a2dad4899b0c06d5c0&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=c23cf7fd7f38bbd069062aa25bfb2634&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDUucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27274" data-attachment-id="27274" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc245" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc245.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc245.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc245.png" data-orig-size="602,383" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc245/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc245.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">But how can anybody claim that the mature ‘consumer-led’ economies of the G7 have been successful in achieving steady and fast economic growth, or that real wages and consumption growth have been stronger there? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ada2ff8b6908b354ea314b873942a02cfd2a03b6675824326b12ffa5edb9baf1&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=d43bd1f19cc3c8fe419b353cef63c437&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wOC8wMi9jaGluYS1jb25zdW1wdGlvbi1vci1pbnZlc3RtZW50Lw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Indeed, in the G7, consumption has failed to drive economic growth and wages have stagnated in real terms over the last ten years, while real wages in China have shot up. </a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Moreover, these consumer-led economies have been hit by regular and recurring slumps in production that have lost trillions in output and income for their populations. The irony is that China’s consumption growth rate is way higher than in the G7 economies.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7d6542e8c954bc1ac4a03cb436035df0f6ae8dbe1b22c051e4931b644e878c78&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=337a76b9bfd4c6b85b1e5d08509e3499&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDYucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27275" data-attachment-id="27275" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc246" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc246.png?w=750" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc246.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc246.png" data-orig-size="3761,2452" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc246/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc246.png?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">China has not had a contraction in national income in any year since 1976, while the consumer-led G7 economies have had slumps in 1980-2, 1991, 2001, 2008-9 and 2020. Much has been made of China's 'disastrous' zero COVID policy. But apart from saving millions of lives, China still did not enter a slump in 2020, unlike all the G7 economies in 2020.</p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Yes, China has the highest ratio of gross investment to GDP among the major economies. But this supposedly ‘over-invested’, ‘excessive savings’ economy has grown more than four times faster than the consumer-led OECD economies and 40% faster than India as a result. What this suggests that if China were to ‘rebalance its economy towards the consumer and reduce investment; and reduce the public sector and 'free up' the private sector (the sector that provides most consumer goods in China), growth rates would fall even more than they have done in recent years. </p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Moreover, the arguments of the Western experts that China is stuck in an old model of investment-led export manufacturing and needs to ‘rebalance’ towards a consumer-led domestic economy where the private sector has a free rein are just not empirically valid. Is China’s weak consumer sector forcing it to try and export manufacturing ‘over capacity’? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7c77d4f58810593cf21ceed94932da1e853d58cec6ab0cce909f706f1eee1e46&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=33e92c6c0a758ddb77cffc200ac10f06&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGlua2VkaW4uY29tL3B1bHNlL2ZhY3QtY2hlY2tpbmctcmFuYS1mb3Jvb2hhcnMtb3BlZC1waWVjZS1mdC1yaWNoYXJkLWJhbGR3aW4taGRjZWU" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Not according to a recent study by Richard Baldwin. </a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He finds that the export-led model did operate up to 2006, but since then domestic sales have boomed, so that the exports to GDP ratio has actually fallen. <em>“Chinese consumption of Chinese manufactured goods has grown faster than Chinese production for almost two decades. Far from being unable to</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>absorb<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>the production, Chinese domestic consumption of made-in-China goods has grown MUCH faster than the output of China’s manufacturing sector.”</em></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=770a782ea07baf9b22360300d0ada9363a0b6147c70b0e924e7ed54332b20ae4&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=1c29dbb6a675298be5344dda6b811fa9&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDcucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27278" data-attachment-id="27278" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc247" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc247.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc247.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc247.png" data-orig-size="602,338" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc247/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc247.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Western experts go on about the size of China’s export surplus, namely that the current account (the balance of receipts from abroad against payments), claiming that the surplus is as high as 4% of China’s GDP. And China’s exports are 15% of the world total. And just in the last month exports rose over 7% so that China’s balance of trade with the rest of the world reached an all-time high of $125bn in February.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c3ad6a10b76f215fcb9f779a35d2eb2e5c111c1623776be6d0236ef14b01a264&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=78caa2be1420fe8a4ab57fce41545f73&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDgucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27279" data-attachment-id="27279" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc248" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc248.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc248.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc248.png" data-orig-size="602,298" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc248/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc248.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 781px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">But what that shows is that Chinese manufacturers remain highly competitive in world markets, despite all the efforts of the West to impose tariffs and other protectionist measures. China is doing particularly well in electric vehicle production, solar energy and other green technologies. But as Baldwin points out, this export success does not mean that China<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>depends<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em>on exports for growth. China is growing mainly because of production for the home economy, like the US.</p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=214b6d9eb2956e099e3fc0b109ce5996512f2acfe849e098675b22c2d7d8bcb6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=cd6008dfc9db56d5d623f820de3dd475&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9ucGMyNDkucG5n" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27281" data-attachment-id="27281" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="npc249" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc249.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc249.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc249.png" data-orig-size="602,338" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/chinas-next-decade/npc249/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/npc249.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" /></a></div><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">It is true is that ‘productive’ investment growth has fallen back in China. In my view, successive Chinese governments made a big mistake in trying to meet the housing needs of its burgeoning urban population by creating a housing for sale market, with mortgages and private developers being left to deliver. Instead of local governments launching housing projects themselves to house people for rent, they sold state assets (land) to capitalist developers who proceeded to borrow heavily to build projects. Soon housing was no longer for living but for speculation (Xi quote). Private sector debt rocketed – just as in the real estate bubble in the West. <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=40ed8141b168a83da7b428ecb67547300b69209da19ade866b5958b094061dfc&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=f38fd882c85ddd1cdec33d0c509e6046&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMS8xMC8wNS9jaGluYS1hdC1hLXR1cm5pbmctcG9pbnQv" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It all came to a head in the COVID pandemic as developers and their investors went bust. </a></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">What the Chinese government now needs to do is take over these large property developers and bring them back into public ownership, complete the projects and switch to building for rent. The government should annul the developers’ debt to foreign investors and only meet obligations to small investors; and end the mortgage and private finance system permanently. The unproductive real estate sector has got so large in China as a share of investment and output that it has seriously degraded growth. This is where the economy does need rebalancing. There needs to be a switch to productive investment in technology and knowledge industries. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c6c80a3b05629825fe4df6569e3b3d5d64f1aa330171f73d06f163b02c79e470&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27261&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=7a24673d199928991c915f379654be84&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS93b3JsZC9jaGluYS9jaGluYS10ZWNobm9sb2d5LXNvZnR3YXJlLWRlbGV0ZS1hbWVyaWNhLTJiOGVhODlmP21vZD1ocF9sZWFkX3BvczE" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">If the words of the Five-Year Plan mean anything, it seems that the current Chinese leadership is aware of that.</a></p><p style="color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;">Previous CP leaders also relied too much on foreign investment and a rising capitalist sector to grow the economy. But China’s capitalist sector has experienced falling profitability (just as in the West) and so has cut back on productive investment. The state sector has had to step up to the plate. What flows from that is, contrary to the views of the Western experts, it’s not less investment and more consumption, not less public and more private investment, not more foreign and less state investment that China needs to sustain its previous economic success, but the opposite. <br /></p></div></div></div>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-70373585890910908302024-03-08T10:17:00.000-08:002024-03-08T10:17:34.175-08:00Did Genocide Joe Mention the Navajo Nation Lat Night?<h1 class="legacy"><span style="font-size: medium;">Supreme Court rules the US is not required to ensure access to water for the Navajo Nation</span></h1>
<figure>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img height="426" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533585/original/file-20230622-21-a0x8w4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C14%2C4866%2C3239&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" width="640" /></span>
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A water pump outside a home on the Navajo Nation in Thoreau, N.M.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/water-pump-sits-outside-of-the-home-of-janlee-hudson-who-news-photo/1359453184">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-glennon-1150581">Robert Glennon</a>, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-arizona-959">University of Arizona</a></i></span>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation in the U.S., covers <a href="https://www.navajo-nsn.gov/History">27,000 square miles</a> (70,000 square kilometers) in the Southwest – an area larger than 10 states. Today it is home to more than 250,000 people – roughly comparable to the population of St. Petersburg, Florida, or Winston-Salem, North Carolina.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Unlike those cities, however, 30% of households on the Navajo Reservation <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/599/21-1484/">lack running water</a>. Hauling water can cost 20 times what it does in neighboring off-reservation communities. While the average American uses between 80 and 100 gallons (300-375 liters) of water per day, Navajo Nation members use approximately seven. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Since the 1950s, the Navajo Nation has pressed the U.S. government to define the water rights reserved for them under the <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/navajo/treaty/treaty.cshtml">1868 treaty</a> that created their reservation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">These efforts culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court case, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/599/21-1484/">Arizona v. Navajo Nation</a>, which posed this question: Does the treaty between the Navajo Nation and the United States obligate the federal government to “assess” the water needs of the Navajo and “make a plan” for securing water to meet those needs? On June 22, 2023, the Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/599/21-1484/">ruled 5-4</a> that the answer was no. </span></p>
<figure>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/InxHnLrDOKI?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440"></iframe></span>
<figcaption><span class="caption" style="font-size: medium;">Daily life on Navajo land can involve long daily drives to haul water home.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><span style="font-size: medium;">The centrality of water rights</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Water rights – the ability of individuals to use public water supplies – have always been a central issue in the U.S. West. They are only becoming more so as drought and climate change <a href="https://theconversation.com/colorado-river-states-bought-time-with-a-3-year-water-conservation-deal-now-they-need-to-think-bigger-206386">shrink the existing supply</a>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Federal reserved rights have special importance with respect to American Indian reservations for several reasons. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">First, the priority date when the rights begin is the date when the reservation was created. In most cases, this creates a very senior right – one that supersedes those of people who arrive in the area later. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Second, these rights exist regardless of whether the tribe has begun to use the water. Because all of the water in many western rivers has been fully allocated, these rights have a significant potential to displace existing juniors, or people who came later and have rights under state water law. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Third, among the 30 federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin, approximately a dozen – including the Navajo Nation – are still in the process of getting a court to <a href="https://grist.org/indigenous/colorado-river-tribal-water-rights-navajo-nation-arizona-nevada-drought-data/">adjudicate the scope of their federal water rights</a>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, tribes or nations usually need a lot of water to irrigate reservation lands or establish a viable permanent homeland in the dry Southwest. In this context, it’s clear why the Navajo have called on the federal government for decades to specify their federally reserved water rights. </span></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing regional drought levels from 2001-2023." height="348" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533587/original/file-20230622-29-mseats.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" width="640" /></a></span>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption" style="font-size: medium;">The Colorado River Basin, which includes parts of seven states, has been in severe drought for more than 20 years, intensifying competition over water rights. Drought levels range from D0 (Abnormally Dry) to D4 (Exceptional Drought)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.drought.gov/watersheds/colorado">U.S. Drought Monitor</a></span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><span style="font-size: medium;">Does a ‘permanent home’ imply access to water?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Navajo quest for a clear determination of their water rights is rooted in America’s history of removing Native Americans from their lands and moving them to areas with fewer resources.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As Justice Neil Gorsuch recounted in a detailed dissent in this case, the U.S. government embarked in the 1860s on a program of “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-1484_aplc.pdf">removal, isolation, and incarceration</a>” to force the Navajo to vacate lands so they could be settled by whites. Thousands of U.S. troops roamed Navajo lands, destroying everything they could. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">After the Navajo surrendered in 1864, they were forcibly relocated 300 miles to Bosque Redondo, a barren area of eastern New Mexico. Many Navajo died on the “Long Walk,” and more perished over the next four years. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1868, the Navajo agreed to a treaty that created a reservation on a portion of their original lands as a “permanent homeland.” The U.S. government promised to provide seeds, agricultural implements, sheep and goats, but the treaty made no explicit reference to water.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Forty years later, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/207/564/">Winters v. United States</a> that became a guidepost for understanding tribes’ and nations’ federal reserved water rights. The U.S. had established the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana for the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes, and subsequently sued irrigators in Wyoming who built canals and reservoirs on the Milk River upstream from the reservation.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Supreme Court recognized that the 1888 agreement that had created the Fort Belknap reservation did not mention water, but observed that “[t]he lands were arid, and without irrigation, were practically valueless.” The justices concluded that the implication or inference was that Congress intended to reserve enough water for the tribes to have a “permanent home.” </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: medium;">What does the 1868 treaty require?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Beginning in 1956, the Navajo Nation filed a series of motions to participate in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/373/546/">Arizona v. California</a>, the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on Colorado River water rights for California, Arizona and Nevada and five Indian tribes – not including the Navajo. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the next several decades, the Navajo repeatedly attempted to get the federal government to assess their water rights to the main stream of the Colorado River. Finally, in 2003, the Navajo Nation filed the current suit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh refused to find that the 1868 treaty satisfied the Winters framework. The 1868 treaty “reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Reservation. But it did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe,” Kavanaugh wrote for the majority. “Nor is it the role of the Judiciary to rewrite a 155-year-old treaty.” That job, Kavanaugh asserted, fell to Congress.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Gorsuch – joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – dissented. Gorsuch is widely recognized as an <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/vol--43/vol--43--no--1/justice-gorsuch-and-federal-indian-law/">expert on Indian law</a>, including water rights, and is the only member of the Court who grew up west of the Mississippi River. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In Gorsuch’s view, the promise of a permanent homeland, together with the history surrounding the treaty and background principles of Indian law, was enough to conclude that the 1868 treaty – following the principle set out in Winters v. United States – secured some water rights for the Navajo.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Navajo “have written federal officials. They have moved this Court to clarify the United States’ responsibilities when representing them. They have sought to intervene directly in water-related litigation,” Gorsuch wrote. “And when all of those efforts were rebuffed, they brought a claim seeking to compel the United States to make good on its treaty obligations by providing an accounting of what water rights it holds on their behalf.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">“At each turn, they have received the same answer: ‘Try again.’ When this routine first began in earnest, Elvis was still making his rounds on The Ed Sullivan Show,” Gorsuch observed.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: medium;">What’s next for the Navajo?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Arizona, California and Nevada all intervened in this case to protect their interests in the Colorado River. Because the American West is so arid, water rights often are a zero-sum game. Any judicially recognized rights for the Navajo from the Colorado River would reduce water available to the states.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">This ruling solidifies the states’ Colorado River water rights and indefinitely postpones resolution of the Navajo Nation’s claims. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, the Navajo suffer. Lack of access to clean water contributed to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/navajo-nation-hit-hard-by-covid-19-comes-together-to-protect-its-most-vulnerable">high death rates on the reservation</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 150 years after their reservation was created, the Navajo quest for water rights continues.<!--Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE.--><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202588/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" style="border: medium; box-shadow: none; margin: 0px; max-height: 1px; max-width: 1px; min-height: 1px; min-width: 1px; opacity: 0; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="1" /><!--End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines--></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-glennon-1150581">Robert Glennon</a>, Regents Professor Emeritus and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy Emeritus, <i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-arizona-959">University of Arizona</a></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-rules-the-us-is-not-required-to-ensure-access-to-water-for-the-navajo-nation-202588">original article</a>.</span></p>
Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-14586964227021930902024-03-08T09:31:00.000-08:002024-03-08T09:31:08.143-08:00Ex-Israeli diplomat calls out Netanyahu's ceasefire refusal <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aJ7FJ8yvLMA?si=XzHT6cxDoCaSTGIy" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">From the transcript:</span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>“…the same day as that so to State of
the Union speech, there were reports yesterday in both the Washington Post and
the Wall Street journal on the extent of the ongoing supplies of Weaponry 23
billion worth still in the pipeline a 100 different, this is interesting just
for a moment, a 100 different um channels of weapons supplies; tank shells. Heavy
Artillery 2,000 pound bombs j Dams why are they divided into a 100 different
supplies? Because if in any particular dispersement of weapons you meet, just
meet, a certain level, then you have to go to Congress with that. So what those
reports in the American Press were showing that the administration is deliberately
avoiding transparency and accountability for what it is sending so it is
enabling the damage and then trying to cover up…..”</span></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></p><p><br /></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-86754940417020242612024-03-07T10:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T10:10:39.456-08:00‘The Beginning of the End of the Zionist Project’ - Ilan Pappé<span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L-YLROxeHA0?si=14nE_H1XsWdnGFhM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richard Mellor<br />Afscme Local 444, retired<br />GED/HEO</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This analysis also applies to capitalism on a global scale. The US, as its most powerful representative is under siege from all sides and will lash out more violently as global capitalism continues to unravel. The US is is experiencing political, social and economic crises. Politically, the domination of the two main political parties that have ruled for over a century is coming to an end as more and more Americans abandon the electoral arena altogether. In 2016, 100 million opted out. In 2024 US Americans have to choose between the serial sexual offender Donald Trump and the aging bourgeois and former Senator from DuPont. This is no choice at all.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The country's infrastructure is crumbling. There is extreme poverty especially in the urban centers, the South and rural America. Americans are overwhelmed with debt as even those with health insurance fall victim to it as there is no national health system. Housing, mental health services, public services in general are inadequate. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The unending support of the Zionist regime, from both Biden and Trump is an example of the decline of US imperialism on the world stage. Without the Zionists, a regime living under siege as it were, surrounded by states and people's hostile to this European colonial settler state, US imperialism has no ally it can rely on in this crucial part of the world which has oil and also the Suez Canal that is an important trade route. The Arab regimes that the US arms to the teeth, are not stable, always
under threat from the aspirations of the powerful Arab masses as the
Arab Spring of 2011 showed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We have a bizarre situation where the US and its junior partner, the UK, are bombing Yemen, perhaps the poorest country in the world as a retaliation for the Houthi disruption of shipping passing through the Red Sea headed for Israel as a means to bring about a genocide in Gaza. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This extreme violence from colonial powers under threat is common to all of them. The Apartheid regime in South Africa, British colonialism in Kenya, Malaysia, Yemen, all responded violently to resistance movements, like the Mao Mao in Kenya for example, despite fully understanding that their days as a presence on the ground were coming to en end.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Pappé talks of inthe long term there being some solution that would allow all to live in peace. This is honorable but unlikely from my viewpoint without the intervention of the working classes of the world, the revolutionary overthrow of the decaying capitalist mode of production and the transformation, in areas like the Middle East, to a federation of democratic socialist states. I do not believe capitalism can resolve this or any other crisis that are clearly of its own making. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">With the Zionist project as he calls it, it has to be dismantled. This was done in German to a great extent, de-Nazifying the civil service for example. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We should emphatically remind ourselves as well that while Jews have always lived in Palestine, what led to this disastrous situation was the intervention of British and western imperialism after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War 1. Desperate to maintain a foothold in this part of the world, the idea of a state for Jews in historic Palestine was put forward by the British. This would also rid Europe of its Jewish problem and in the aftermath of the war and the Holocaust with hundreds of thousand of Jews without a place to go, Palestine was the answer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For many centuries Jews in Europe have been discriminated against, expelled from one nation after another at the whim of the ruling class forced to convert to Christianity. Tortured, brutalized and finally almost entirely wiped out by the genocidal Nazi regime with 6 million of them dead. Many other European nations did nothing to help their Jewish populations. German Jews were the most integrated of all of them. A book that gives an example of how shocked German Jews were and how "German" they considered themselves is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oppermanns-Novel-Lion-Feuchtwanger/dp/0786708808">The Oppermans; it's worth reading.</a><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So it was Europe that massacred the Jewish people, not Arabs or Muslims. In general, the Jews lived in relative peace in the Arab and Muslim world compared to Europe. The Palestinians are paying for the European's historic Anti-Semitism. So in this sense, the Jews in Israel have been used also. Zionism, is not Judaism and prior to the betrayal of Stalinism and finally the Nazi death camps, most Jews had no interest in Zionism and most Jewish workers belonged to the Bund or the left parties. <br /><br />We don't accept that all Germans are Nazis and the same applies to Jews. All Jews aren't Zionists. Zionism is a political formation, Judaism is a religion. Chrstian Zionists are the largest Zionist group in the US I would guess.<br /></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-9442716452507940952024-03-06T15:02:00.000-08:002024-03-06T15:02:51.626-08:00Mehdi Hasan debunks top 7 lies about Gaza’ <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pfRybrAyUtE?si=yJduOrHsKUoXjNVG" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Zionist regime can get away with this as it has Biden and the US Congress backing it. That means, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the BBC are all in cahoots with them</span><br /></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-24797653601352504312024-03-06T10:08:00.000-08:002024-03-06T10:18:33.920-08:00Gaza is paying the ultimate price for decades of media pandering to Zionist bigotry <h1 class="post-title unpublished"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: left;">I
saw the Guardian article and agree with Jonathan Cook here. My first
thought was that the Jewish fans concerns arise from the fact that they
support the Zionist's slaughter and decades old occupation or at the
very least refuse to condemn what Israel is doing in Gaza at the
present, and they are unwilling to raise it. In other words, they oppose
the protest and its demands. <span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
don't know all the details and am aware that Anti-Semites will
opportunistically use the Palestinian cause in order to push their
filth. If there were genuine verbal or Anti-Semitic slogans or attacks
on anyone perceived as Jewish that's a different matter of course. But I
was viciously attacked by a woman (I have no idea if she was Jewish or not) in my local grocery store for saying I
was anti-Zionist. She accused me of supporting the extermination of an
entire culture and race of people. To her, Zionism is Judaism. Here in
the US, young Jews in particular are leading the charge for Palestinian
rights, and end to the occupation and the "genocide" in Gaza. RM</span></span></div></span></span></h1><h1 class="post-title unpublished" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">*************<br /></span></span></h1><h1 class="post-title unpublished"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b> Gaza is paying the ultimate price for decades of media pandering to Zionist bigotry</b> <br /></span></span></h1><h1 class="post-title unpublished"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Guardian and other media continue to prioritise the 'sensitivities' of
an ideological minority over the public's right to protest against a
genocide in which our elites are complicit</span></span></h1><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset byline-wrapper"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1cr80_199 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/1117543-jonathan-cook" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 facepile-face _face_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15 _first_dhr36_51 _last_dhr36_55 pencraft pc-reset" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3715a130-98ce-4fba-91aa-25baab2acf7b_805x943.jpeg" style="z-index: 1;" width="80" /></picture></a></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-primary-text_13a18_204 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-reset _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1" href="https://substack.com/@jonathancook">Jonathan Cook</a></span></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-4 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;">6 Mar 2024</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We
all understand that, shamefully, a number of Zionist Jews and non-Jews
identify so completely with Israel that they are not only willing to
excuse the mass slaughter and starvation of civilians in Gaza but think
others should not even be allowed to express disquiet at the slaughter.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hardline
Zionists tell us they find concern for the welfare of Palestinians
"offensive", and that they feel "unsafe" when others raise such concerns
or call for a ceasefire to end the bloodshed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The question for
the rest of us is: How do we deal with those "sensitivities", and how
much do we prioritise the “offence” taken by hardline Zionists?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Not
unreasonably, most ordinary people place very little weight on the
“sensitivities” of those who believe mass slaughter and the starvation
of children should be allowed to proceed, at least when weighed against
the sensitivities of those opposed to mass death.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What's so weird
is the way, as far as official bodies and the western media are
concerned, those priorities have been turned upside down.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0e65b30e-c139-460c-8197-300b3fc3adda_736x667.png" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0e65b30e-c139-460c-8197-300b3fc3adda_736x667.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":667,"width":736,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":682018,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" height="580" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0e65b30e-c139-460c-8197-300b3fc3adda_736x667.png" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Here, in fairly typical fashion, the Guardian </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/05/arsenal-criticised-after-jewish-fans-walk-away-over-pro-palestine-rally-outside-emirates-stadium" rel="">falls over backwards</a><span>
to indulge the "feelings" of a few Jewish Arsenal fans because they
"felt unsafe" and "betrayed" by their club for not more aggressively
stopping protests last weekend at a Women’s Super League game by other
fans over the complicity of the UK government in Gaza's genocide.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">No
evidence is produced by either the fans or the Guardian that any Jewish
fan was in any danger whatsoever. Just that a few Palestinian flags
were smuggled into the stadium, that leaflets and stickers were handed
out, and that some protesters tried to engage with fans as they arrived
at the stadium – presumably in that dangerous tradition of trying to
persuade others of the validity of one’s position.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But
the Guardian sympathetically dedicates a great deal of space to
relaying the concerns of this handful of Jewish fans who "believe their
safety was compromised by security staff not curtailing the protest" –
that is, those who wanted to prevent an entirely peaceful demonstration
taking place in a public space outside the ground.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The story is risible. It is news as therapy for Zionists and gaslighting for the rest of us. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But
it is decades of nonsense journalism about Israel and its apologists of
precisely this kind that has led us to the dismal place we are today. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The
constant indulgence by the political and media class, the constant
elevation of these kinds of ugly, ignoble "feelings" – feelings that
dehumanise and vilify Palestinians, as well as anyone acting in
solidarity with their suffering – the constant treatment of Zionist
bigotry as warranted, as justified, as normal, that has gotten us into a
position where Israel can commit genocide and its western allies and
parts of their Jewish populations can treat it as “offensive” to raise
the matter.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-8660318344380646672024-03-05T15:11:00.000-08:002024-03-06T10:17:28.458-08:00Seymour Hersh: WHAT DOES US INTELLIGENCE KNOW ABOUT THE HOSTAGES?<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Notes from the annals of American surveillance in the Mediterranean </b></span></h1><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-12 pc-alignItems-center pc-reset byline-wrapper"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1cr80_199 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/3455155-seymour-hersh" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="_img_16u6n_1 facepile-face _face_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15 _first_dhr36_51 _last_dhr36_55 pencraft pc-reset" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9bbe858d-9ba2-49fc-a3d0-8ce15f53d936_144x144.png" style="z-index: 1;" width="80" /></picture></a></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-primary-text_13a18_204 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-reset _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1" href="https://substack.com/@seymourhersh">Seymour Hersh</a></span></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-4 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;">5 Mar 2024</span></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-meta_13a18_131 _size-11_13a18_35 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _transform-uppercase_13a18_239 _reset_13a18_1 _meta_13a18_439"><span style="font-size: medium;">∙ Paid</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9acb3d57-2c10-4eb2-812f-bbb658efe073_5000x3333.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9acb3d57-2c10-4eb2-812f-bbb658efe073_5000x3333.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":8159103,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" height="427" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9acb3d57-2c10-4eb2-812f-bbb658efe073_5000x3333.jpeg" width="640" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><figcaption class="image-caption"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
families of hostages and their supporters participate in the 'United
for the Release the Hostages' rally after a four-day march on Saturday
in Jerusalem. / Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images.</span></figcaption></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I
abhor the word “dystopia,” commonly defined as an imaginary realm
plagued by injustice, strife, and disaster. But we in the United States
are living through an all too real dystopia, and not only in terms of
the bleak presidential race that is leaving so many Americans saying, in
essence: “Is this all we got?”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The other reality is the
increasingly clear prospect, horrifying as it may be, that there will be
no relenting in Israel’s destruction of Gaza and its recasting of the
West Bank as an Israeli-dominated suburb of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The
best America can offer, alongside our bombs and other weapons still
flowing to Israel, are air-dropped military MREs (meals ready-to-eat); a
president who babbles about an imminent ceasefire without applying
sufficient pressure to make one happen; and a vice-president who is sent
out publicly to urge Hamas—not Israel—to agree to a six-week ceasefire
in Gaza. Fat chance. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Two Sundays ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on CBS’s </span><i>Face the Nation</i><span>
and dismissed out of hand any immediate chance of a settlement with
Hamas. “Hamas started out with just crazy demands,” he said of the
number of Hamas prisoners to be released by Israel in return for the
freeing of Israeli hostages. “I don’t think it makes any sense to have a
public discussion of this . . . it’s too soon to say . . . if they’ve
abandoned them and get into what you call the ballpark, they’re not even
in the city. They’re in another planet.” The Israeli leader insisted:
“Victory is within reach, and you can’t have victory until you eliminate
Hamas.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The American intelligence community has reason to
believe, so I have been told, that it and Netanyahu know a great deal
more than has been said publicly about the state of Hamas’s Israeli
hostages—that is, those still believed to be alive, who are the central
incentive for Israel to consider a ceasefire agreement. Thursday will
mark five months of their captivity.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The talk of a renewed
ceasefire agreement comes at a time, a well-informed American adviser
told me, when the Israeli Defense Forces are working their way closer to
Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 attacks.
Sinwar is holding out in a vast tunnel complex in southern Gaza.
Killing Sinwar is now the priority for Netanyahu. The prime minister is
in the unique position of being reviled by a majority of Israelis who
nevertheless remain overwhelmingly supportive of his policy of
eliminating the possibility of meaningful Palestinian control in Gaza
and the West Bank. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bibi and his colleagues running war policy,
the adviser said, are “dedicated to protecting the Jewish people,
whether in Israel or America or wherever. Protecting Jewishness is his
highest objective. Israelis fight each other on all other issues, except
when they are threatened. Hamas violated a cardinal rule: ‘You cannot
kill Jewish people.’</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">“There is no limit to that rule,” he said.
“If Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon”—there is no evidence it has
yet done so, the adviser quickly added—“Israel would use a nuclear
weapon” to destroy Iran’s nuclear facility. “Everyone who has grown up
in Israel knows such.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">“Sinwar is said to be in negotiation with
the IDF,” the adviser said. “Do you really think there will be a
ceasefire? They may stop the shooting but it will not be an end to the
war. You don’t get the IDF soldiers willing to do what they are doing
without being dedicated to the man. Jewishness is the highest objective.
They all believe their very existence is at stake.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In terms of
an assessment of the chance of a significant agreement between Israel
and Hamas, the best I can do is report that the American intelligence
community and at least some in the White House have much more relevant
and skeptical intelligence than is being relayed to the public. The
American community has no shortage of technical means, including
satellites, of sweeping up vast amounts of data and sorting that data
for relevance.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Decades ago, while writing a book, </span><i><a href="https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/79186/" rel="">The Samson Option</a></i><span>,
on the Israeli bomb and how America helped turn Israel into a nuclear
power, I was given an inside summary (posted in full below) entitled
“How the U.S. Spies on Israel” by a source within the National Security
Agency. I did not write about the material in it at the time, because of
obvious security reasons, but the specific data in the summary, while
relevant to what we do today, is no longer timely, or classified.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The
point of making this material public is not to interfere with Israel’s
capability to spy electronically on others, or with America’s ability to
do the same and counter such capability—let those billion-dollar games
continue—but to suggest just how much America knows today about the
hostage situation inside the tunnels of Hamas.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The paper states:
“Given the Israeli penchant for secrecy, it is questionable just how
much we get from these intercepted communications, but certainly
intercepted Israeli diplomatic communications [are] very helpful to U.S.
policymakers in formulating policy toward Israel.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The next
paragraph discusses various American facilities that were involved in
the intercepts, including a number of unmanned listening posts in the
Eastern Mediterranean whose data was eventually relayed to the
headquarters of the NSA in suburban Maryland. There were also joint
NSA-CIA listening facilities, known as cells, tucked deep inside
American embassies all over the world, including in Israel. Another
important interception post was in Menwith Hill, a Royal Air Force base
north of Leeds, in England, where Hebrew linguists monitored data picked
up by satellite.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A further source of intercepts came via a
long-standing reconnaissance program involving Air Force Rivet joint
flights—modified Boeing 707 aircraft that operate all over the world on
behalf of the NSA. (One such flight was overhead in the Baltic Sea in
case of a crisis in the fall of 2022 when a CIA team triggered a series
of bombs that destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines meant to
relay cheap Russian gas to Germany.) The Rivet Joint flights were a
main source of tactical intelligence about Israel decades ago, but I do
not know whether they have been supplanted by satellite collection
programs. In their heyday, however, at least three such flights took
place every week, and at greater frequency in times of crisis, flying
from a base near Athens over Crete to the coasts of Libya and Egypt,
collecting data in Arabic all the way. As the plane neared Israel,
according to the document I have, “the Arab linguists on board the
aircraft leave their positions, and the Hebrew linguists take their
place.” Typical targets of the linguists included “administrative
communication for ground, air and naval forces” of the Israeli armed
forces.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The US Navy also played a significant role in intercepting
Israeli communications. In times of crisis, the document notes, special
Navy sigint aircraft, known as “whales,” were flown to the Navy’s
aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. The Navy’s 6th Fleet,
headquartered in Naples, Italy, were equipped with the most advanced NSA
interception equipment, and copied away when they made port in Haifa,
Israel. Navy attack submarines, called “sturgeons,” were assigned to
“prowl off the Israeli coast” in time of crisis copying Israeli
diplomatic and military traffic.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, many of the specific
interception techniques have been upgraded and made more efficient in
the ability to spy, but the vast amount of Israeli signals and messages
that can be intercepted, even if encoded, and put to tactical use surely
has put some offices in America into specific knowledge about how many
of the separated Israeli IDF male and female hostages are still alive.
It is also known that the IDF leadership has gone to extreme means, in
terms of risking lives, to collect real-time intelligence about the
status of its prisoners inside the Hamas tunnel system.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The
inevitable endgame in Gaza is coming. The Israeli leadership, defying
the ongoing protests from the families of those taken on October 7,
seems to be in no rush to negotiate a ceasefire deal, exchanging
hostages for jailed Palestinians. Why not?</span></p><h1 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>DOCUMENT: </span><br /><span>HOW THE U.S. SPIES ON ISRAEL</span><br /><span>NOVEMBER 25, 1987</span></span><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§document-how-the-us-spies-on-israelnovember"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/i/142320847/document-how-the-us-spies-on-israelnovember"><span style="font-size: medium;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div></div></div></h1><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5823e997-b84f-4663-84b7-6aa87e7d9b3e_4032x3024.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5823e997-b84f-4663-84b7-6aa87e7d9b3e_4032x3024.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1941,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3646766,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="640" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5823e997-b84f-4663-84b7-6aa87e7d9b3e_4032x3024.jpeg" width="480" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F525d9a56-38a5-4559-bde5-1ed04315fa9d_4032x3024.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/525d9a56-38a5-4559-bde5-1ed04315fa9d_4032x3024.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1941,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3654231,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="640" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F525d9a56-38a5-4559-bde5-1ed04315fa9d_4032x3024.jpeg" width="480" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8ec0bdb-2197-4b68-a4e5-c0b8a3f8dae1_4032x3024.jpeg" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></span></figure><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-paddingTop-16 pc-paddingBottom-16 pc-reset _border-top-detail-themed_1cr80_48"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-alignItems-center _flexGrow_1cr80_199 pc-reset facepile"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-reset _faces_dhr36_7 _size-40_dhr36_15"><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/12906812-a-mostly-analog-life?utm_source=post-reactions-face" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source></picture></a></span></div><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/10684878-david-perlmutter?utm_source=post-reactions-face" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture></picture></a></span></div><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/1681862-clive-hulett?utm_source=post-reactions-face" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture></picture></a></span></div><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/21561749-michael-lynch?utm_source=post-reactions-face" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source></picture></a></span></div><div class="profile-hover-card-target _profileHoverCardTarget_ooez6_45"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="pencraft pc-display-flex _flexAuto_1cr80_202 pc-reset" href="https://substack.com/profile/132982263-jojo-blue?utm_source=post-reactions-face" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><picture></picture></a></span></div></div></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-text_13a18_121 _size-13_13a18_45 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _reset_13a18_1"><span style="font-size: medium;">·</span></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset _line-height-20_13a18_95 _font-text_13a18_121 _size-13_13a18_45 _weight-regular_13a18_159 _reset_13a18_1"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="pencraft pc-reset _color-pub-secondary-text_13a18_207 _weight-medium_13a18_162 _decoration-hover-underline_13a18_295 _reset_13a18_1"><a class="_pointer_dhr36_3 _link_1ixw5_1" href="https://substack.com/note/p-142320847/restacks?utm_source=substack&utm_content=facepile-restacks"><br /></a></span></span></div></div></div>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-29934514354598379912024-03-04T09:11:00.000-08:002024-03-04T09:11:21.046-08:00Inequality: the middle way<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/04/inequality-the-middle-way/">by Michael Roberts</a><br /><br />Last week I attended<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ba695a4528856229f20b71df3e9265f61e9c2b836fc726e9c1d40a5f33c78c8e&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=26e5d1ab5587320e620903f431f22155&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubHNlLmFjLnVrL0V2ZW50cy8yMDI0LzAyLzIwMjQwMjI4MTgzMC9pbmVxdWFsaXR5" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">a book launch at the London School of Economics</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on behalf of Liam Byrne, a Blairite Labour MP, who has written a book,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e7a73e7d8cec1de024d69eb050afbc3d650dee93fc78fdfb9be0b06d45c04579&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=675e8d335914d1c319bbb90ad77292db&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9ndWFyZGlhbmJvb2tzaG9wLmNvbS90aGUtaW5lcXVhbGl0eS1vZi13ZWFsdGgtOTc4MTgwNDU0MzM4Mg=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Inequality of wealth. </a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Byrne was a stalwart of the Blair and Brown Labour governments in the UK and most famously known for his quip when handing over his role in the UK government’s finance ministry to the winning Conservatives in 2010 with a note saying that “I’m afraid there is no money”. (ho, ho). An ex-tech entrepreneur, Byrne now heads up the UK parliament’s Business Select Committee and will probably be in the Labour Cabinet if Labour wins office at the end of this year. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Byrne reckons that the social mission of the UK Labour party is for ‘equality’ and ‘fairness’, not for any radical transformation of the economic structure of the capitalist economy i.e. socialism – in this sense, he represents the ‘moderate’ wing of the party, or you might say, the current dominant pro-capitalist wing. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In his professed mission for equality, he tells us in his book about the shocking levels of inequality of wealth (and income) that exist in modern Britain. Byrne presents us with lots of factoids about inequality – some of which are confusing and incorrect – but no matter, something must be done, because “t<i>he inequality of wealth is toxifying our politics and our society. It’s destroying our economy, and it’s about to get 10 times worse.”</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The feeling is, he notes, like the very last days of Rome.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“The average wealth of a Roman aristocrat was about one and a half million times that of the average income of the Roman citizen. But in the last<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><i>Sunday Times</i><i> rich list, the wealth of the [Indian-born, London-based billionaires] Hinduja brothers was about 1.2m times the average earnings in our country.”</i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He is concerned about tax avoidance schemes for the rich.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“It’s wrong that someone who [thanks to capital gains on investments as well as his salary] makes £2m a year, like Rishi Sunak<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(current UK premier),<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is paying half the rate of tax of a senior teacher”</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>– although he holds out little hope that a Labour government will do anything about this if it takes office at the end of this year.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Inequality is going to get worse, he reckons. The ‘baby boomers’ are about to die and five and a half trillion pounds of wealth is going to get transferred down the generations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“Some people are going to inherit millions and others are going to inherit care bills. Generation Z is about to become the most unequal generation for half a century, and we would be naive to think it isn’t going to have political consequences. Wealth inequality is at the heart of the new populism.”</i><i> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>And populism is very worrying to Byrne as it threatens democracy. Growing inequality threatens to cause a break-up of the existing democratic order. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the LSE launch, Byrne said he aimed to find ‘a middle way’ to rectify things between the view that nothing can be done and the view that some revolutionary transformation of the economic structure was needed, which the electorate would not accept. What were his policies for his ‘middle way’ to greater equality? What we want, Byrne said, was a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“wealth-owning democracy</i>” – a phrase recalling Thatcher’s 'property-owning democracy', which actually kickstarted the sharp rise in UK inequality in the 1980s. The phrase also echoes the position of the current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who pledges to make Labour<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“the party of home ownership”.</i> </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the UK, 65% are home owners with some 38% having mortgages. It seems we already have a property-owning democracy which has not led to a reduction in extreme inequality. Nevertheless, apparently the answer to reducing inequality of wealth is for everybody to get a home that they can call their own. As the Conservative ‘intellectual’, David Willetts puts it:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“There is a myth that somehow young people are not aspirational. If you look at people’s aspirations, they want to own their own home, to have a decent job with a decent wage, and be able to afford to raise their kids — young people are not young Marxists.” </i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Byrne’s aim is that everybody should get on the ladder to owning their own home (presumably with a mortgage) and also have some savings to invest for their retirement. To do this, a government should give every young person £10,000 to kick their careers off; the government should establish a sovereign wealth fund to build up funds (what for Byrne did not explain); and there should be fairer taxation eg income from capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as income from work. Byrne even flirts with the idea of a wealth tax on the very rich that could bring in billions for the economy and for redistribution. But that was basically it. Moreover, all these 'radical' measures to reduce inequality of wealth would have to be slowly introduced over “three parliaments” (I make that 15 years!), so that electorate gradually got used to the policies!</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The packed LSE audience along with Byrne’s fellow speakers (a professor of sociology and somebody from the Rowntree Trust, an anti-poverty research institute) had no criticism to make of the Byrne programme. So let me make just a few. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What Byrne never talked about was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>why</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>there was such inequality of wealth and income in the UK and in all the other countries of the world? Why are the rich rich and why are the poor poor? Surely, there is something endemic to the capitalist economies that explains this permanent inequality. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=38aa7b2dfe8a4c85bcf91c22f0b4cab69443abf32a92bd8484435fe6745cfa0f&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=41637d7eb14bed7351097857a9e27881&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAxNy8wMi8xOS9pbmVxdWFsaXR5LWFmdGVyLTE1MC15ZWFycy1vZi1jYXBpdGFsLw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">In several posts and papers,</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have discussed the underlying causes of inequality; Byrne does not do so, it’s just there and shocking and we need to do something about it before it explodes into revolts.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But here is the policy problem. If inequality is endemic to capitalism, then what is needed are policies<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>prior<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>to redistribution. It is not a question of trying to redistribute excessive wealth from the rich to the rest of us through taxes and/or closing up evasion loopholes and tax havens etc. That might help a bit, but the underlying generation of the forces of inequality would remain untouched. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Pre-distribution</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>policies are needed. Byrne advocated only one – better jobs with better pay for those at the bottom of the ladder. How that was to be achieved given the state of the UK economy (and other capitalist economies) was not explained. He also seemed to suggest raising the social security minimum level to take people out of poverty – again how that was to be implemented was not explained. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Byrne noted the disparity of wealth between London and the regions. <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1f5160d008e0def5425ab4641cd51cfebe7b44ad25209cdebd5e39a56d52850e&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=45f560abb75b18533a8b1dbc688fae30&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9pcHByLW9yZy5maWxlcy5zdmRjZG4uY29tL3Byb2R1Y3Rpb24vRG93bmxvYWRzL1N0YXRlX29mLXRoZV9ub3J0aF8yMDI0X01hcjI0XzIwMjQtMDItMjItMTU0MDI1X3JyZncucGRm" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">The latest IPPR North ‘State of the north’ report</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>found that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“While England’s average wealth per person grew from around £226,300 in 2010 to £290,800 by 2020, regional inequalities in wealth have widened. For instance, the gap per head between the average wealth per person in England overall and the North stood at £71,000 in 2020, almost double the gap in 2010, at around £37,300 (ONS 2022a in 2023 prices). The gap between levels of wealth in the North and Midlands, and the rest of England is growing. Overall in England, the wealthiest 10 per cent hold almost half of all wealth. Nearly half of wealth is found in the South where 40 per cent of the population reside against a fifth of wealth being found in the North where around 30 per cent of the population live, with the remainder in London and the Midlands.”</i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s clear why. The rich live in London and the south mostly, the most important means of production and finance are based in London, and the best jobs that pay the best are in London. What is Byrne’s answer to this? Give the regional mayors more money to spend, taking central government funds away from London. This would solve little – especially given that some of the poorest boroughs in England are in London!</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The point is that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>post distribution</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>policies will do little to change the underlying inequality of income and wealth. That would require a radical shift in the ownership and control of that wealth i.e. public ownership of the banks and large companies and public investment directed towards social need, not profit. But such policies are anathema to those like Byrne, seeking the ‘middle way’. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That also applies to policies like a wealth tax or a minimum tax on corporate profits – policies strongly advocated by leading inequality economists (Thoman Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman) based at the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=790730fa2b6d7a69553b3eaab834d92b187f9fa0a0f791119026cb6db443d62f&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=4ecd641b97074bd38bec5761989e2995&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9pbmVxdWFsaXR5bGFiLndvcmxkL2VuLw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Inequality Lab in Paris.</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Gabriel Zucman and his colleagues have provided invaluable data on the scale of inequality globally between countries and within countries. Zucman is a leading campaigner for reducing inequality globally. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last week, he was invited by the G20 finance ministers meeting hosted by Brazil to present the case for for a coordinated minimum tax on the super-rich. Zucman addressed the ministers and reckoned that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“there was strong support for the idea that we need new forms of cooperation to tax the super rich, increase tax progressivity, and fight inequality This in itself is a historic development — for too long these issues have been ignored.” <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Zucman was commissioned by the G20 ministers to come up with detailed policy measures to tax the super-rich. But what are the chances of this ever being implemented through global cooperation? As Zucman said:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“it may take years to get there for the super-rich. But it's in our collective interest to act fast, because what's stake is not only the future of global inequality – it's the future of globalization and the future of democracy.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am not attacking the genuine efforts of Zucman and others to find ways of reducing inequality. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=cf31214faea43a4eb871f9ca8bd580bb944def4110cce3f18631ea3e8bcc9b0c&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=588be84adc785850c0ca3bf9c8f8f7b0&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnJvb2tpbmdzLmVkdS9hcnRpY2xlcy9tZWFzdXJpbmctaW5jb21lLWluZXF1YWxpdHktYS1wcmltZXItb24tdGhlLWRlYmF0ZS8" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">And the recent attack on their analysis of rising inequality of income in the US by some US government economists has been proven bogus.</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But will such redistribution ever be adequate even if implemented? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e7dd3376b4db186226b50b473bb6fe940f4af9218b1d978368d3d42b867ca8c8&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=e2130d6abfb9326e09754fa36cd08236&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2Vmb3J1bS5vcmcvYWdlbmRhLzIwMjMvMTAvbG9vcGhvbGVzLXdlYWtlbi1taW5pbXVtLWdsb2JhbC1jb3Jwb3JhdGUtMTUtcGVyY2VudC10YXgtZXUv" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">And won’t such policies be watered down to accommodate vested interests (the rich) to the point that they do little to reduce inequality.</a></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the last 80 years, inequality of income and wealth in the major economies has only got worse.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8951609488a16aae7237f5aa64a7fbf2fccb96c51639c647653fa090e988ed11&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=db87e0e81aeaad6c086853e456a71a85&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbmVxMS0xLmpwZw=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27234" data-attachment-id="27234" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ineq1-1" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq1-1.jpg?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq1-1.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq1-1.jpg" data-orig-size="602,437" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/04/inequality-the-middle-way/ineq1-1/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq1-1.jpg?w=560" style="border: medium; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></span></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=73d68c80d7b3a9f003deb1cff6fb095ddcbad452a7164d712737bc02a1fb0c3b&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=debd7833c0dced022a895a549930c2cd&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93aXIyMDIyLndpZC53b3JsZC8" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">The World Inequality Report (WIR)</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>shows that the world has become more unequal in wealth in the last 40 years. In 2021,“<i>after three decades of trade and financial globalisation, global inequalities remain extremely pronounced … about as great today as they were at the peak of Western imperialism in the early 20th century.”</i> The global concentration of personal wealth is extreme. According to the WIR, the richest 10% of adults in the world own around 60-80% of wealth, while the poorest half have less than 5%. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3a2aed441f09c22e16223de7915657ee4355f110bca16a0ff2f3011ccb6859d6&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=85d0214d5eee401286f64a47a7c17d23&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wOC9nbG9iYWwtd2VhbHRoLXJlcG9ydC0yMDIzLnBkZg=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">According to the UBS Global wealth report,</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>1% of all adults in the world own 44.5% of all personal wealth, while more than 52% have only 1.2%. The 1% are 59m, while the 52% are 2.9bn.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><div class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5f5f91f75002350b48493a13ee979ae06aa8aa51ef5534475c7ac88b947624e0&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=82ca3d35cae93088ad9bded1df878aa1&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLmZpbGVzLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAyNC8wMy9pbmVxMi5wbmc" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-27235" data-attachment-id="27235" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ineq2" data-large-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq2.png?w=560" data-medium-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq2.png?w=300" data-orig-file="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq2.png" data-orig-size="602,355" data-permalink="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2024/03/04/inequality-the-middle-way/ineq2/" src="https://thenextrecession.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/ineq2.png?w=560" style="border: medium; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 780px;" /></a></span></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you own a property to live in and, after taking out any mortgage debt, you still have over $100,000 in net assets, you are among the wealthiest 10% of all adults in the world. That’s because most adults in the world have no wealth to speak of at all. And apart from the phenomenal rise of China, personal wealth and power remains in the rich bloc of North America, Europe and Japan with add-ons from Australia. Just as this bloc rules over trade, GDP, finance and technology, it has nearly all the personal wealth.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the 21<sup>st</sup> century, inequality of wealth has risen significantly. Indeed, the wealth of the 50 richest people on earth increased by 9% a year between 1995 and 2021, with the wealth of the richest 500 rising by 7% a year. Average wealth grew by less than half that rate, at 3.2% over the same period. Since 1995 the top 1% took 38% of all additional global wealth in the last 25 years, whereas the bottom 50% captured just 2% of it. The rise of the so-called middle class income group in the graph below is mostly due to China’s reduction of poverty levels. The top 0.01% of adults increased their share of personal wealth from 7.5% in 1995 to 11% now. And the billionaire population increased their share from 1% to 3.5%.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3e6f0966b61682d0a4f1b4629e8e0198a956b2b5be8dc1cafee99ea20ebb4325&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=2b9e658140b265a5556316dbcdfb84a8&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAxMy8wNy8xNC90aGUtc3Rvcnktb2YtaW5lcXVhbGl0eS8" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Tony Atkinson was the founding father of modern research into inequality<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>– somebody who clearly should have got a Nobel (Riksbank) prize in economics before he died. In an address,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=fa76c19ad3290361ef0e8084d0462219bb854d4c1ba497cb4fec03d4053f0214&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=69a3c1e151295216ae6768f364a1f307&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9ldGhpY3NpbnNvY2lldHkuc3RhbmZvcmQuZWR1L25ld3MvdG9ueS1hdGtpbnNvbi13aGVyZS1pbmVxdWFsaXR5LWhlYWRlZA=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">Where is inequality headed?”,</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Atkinson pointed out that the biggest rises in inequality took place<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>before</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>globalisation and the automation revolution got underway in the 1990s. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Atkinson pinned down the causes of inequality to two. The first was the sharp fall in direct income tax for the top earners under neoliberal government policies from the 1980s onwards. But the second was the sharp rise in capital income (i.e. income generated from the ownership of capital rather than from the sale of labour power). The rising profit share in capitalist sector production that most OECD economies generated since the 1980s was translated into higher dividends, interest and rent for the top 1-5% who generally own the means of production. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Piketty, Saez and Zucman in their<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=637a72414d5a1ccdd84edb195c6614a6c59c564c6a33a31ac3eaf2d10064585f&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=54490bfaa56f3a91fdfebdf70994d9c4&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmJlci5vcmcvcGFwZXJzL3cyNzkyMg=" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">latest paper on US inequality of income</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>find that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“the stagnation of incomes for households in the bottom 50 percent is particularly noteworthy given the growth for those in the top 1 percent. In 1980, the bottom half received about 20 percent of national income; by 2014, their share had declined to 12 percent. For the top 1 percent, the picture is exactly the reverse: In 1980, they received 12 percent of national income; in 2014, they received 20 percent.”</i> And they conclude:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>"Given the massive changes in the pre-tax distribution of national income since 1980, there are clear limits to what redistributive policies can achieve."</i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed. Marx considered that any distribution of the means of income and wealth was only a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>consequence<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of the of the ownership of production. The capitalist mode of production rests on the fact that the material conditions of production are in the hands of non-workers in the form of property in capital and land, while the masses are only owners of their personal condition of production, of labour power. Capitalists accumulate profits as capital.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(16, 21, 23); color: #101517; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 24px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d1a4207495b97d81a7bf812a90526527a58341aadcb8976fe8a38400c3da9245&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=65d24dd3abed5b0f4a7b47e81954961a&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVuZXh0cmVjZXNzaW9uLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vMjAxOC8wNC8xMS9pbmVxdWFsaXR5LWFuZC1leHBsb2l0YXRpb24v" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">As Ian Wright has put it</a>:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“Firms follow a power law distribution in size. And capital concentrates in the same way. A large number of small capitals exploit a small group of workers, and a small number of big capitals exploit a large group of workers. Profits are roughly proportional to the number of workers employed. So, capitalist income also follows <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3faae60e77291597e93444806ff5fcf1213b45bba8293988e042cb08e3c808e3&blog_id=11256874&post_id=27225&user_id=0&subs_id=2298282&signature=3698da3a05edb55cce56d5938ee3e22d&email_name=new-post&user_email=aactivist@igc.org&encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUG93ZXJfbGF3" style="color: #0675c4; text-decoration: underline;">a power law.</a> The more workers you exploit the more profit you make. The more profit you make the more workers you can exploit.”</i> This is the reason for rising inequality: when there are no checks on capital accumulation. Wright sums it up:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“the fundamental social architecture of capitalism is the main cause of economic inequality. We can’t have capitalism without inequality: it’s an inescapable and necessary consequence of the economic rules of the game.”</i></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-78765201292774759672024-03-03T09:26:00.000-08:002024-03-03T09:26:53.237-08:00The IDF: The Most Moral Army In the World Here<span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JAT9NQ4WkE0?si=muO-bzjESxbyO3gF" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richard Mellor<br />Afscme Local 444, retired<br />HEO/GED</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What difference between these killers and the Nazi Storm troopers other than their religion. The US government supports it, financially, militarily and morally it seems. Biden supports it and considers one of the main architects of it a friend who he respects. Much like Hillary Clinton considered Hosni Mubarak her family friend and Michelle Obama has the same love of another mass killer George W Bush.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It's important for workers to remind ourselves that these people, all representatives of the bourgeois and the free market, know what class solidarity is. Workers need to learn a lesson there. Palestinians are our class brothers and sisters.<br /></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-22433061654561978552024-03-01T14:12:00.000-08:002024-03-01T14:12:37.686-08:00Gaza: Meet JDAM, Israel’s murder weapon of choice<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.left-horizons.com/2024/02/26/meet-jdam-israels-murder-weapon-of-choice/" itemprop="item"><span itemprop="name"></span></a></span> </p><article class="post-27989 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-general-archive category-international category-international-archive category-science-environment category-science-environment-archive" id="post-27989">
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<div class="category-label-group"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="cat-links"><a href="https://www.left-horizons.com/2024/02/26/meet-jdam-israels-murder-weapon-of-choice/">Reprinted from the UK socialist website, Left Horizons</a> </span></span></div>
<h1 class="card_title"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meet JDAM, Israel’s murder weapon of choice</span></h1> <div class="entry-meta">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="posted-on"><a href="https://www.left-horizons.com/2024/02/26/meet-jdam-israels-murder-weapon-of-choice/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-02-26T13:18:29+00:00">26 February 2024</time></a></span></span> </div>
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<p class="has-medium-font-size"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>By Andy Ford</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>The JDAM is the Joint Direct Attack Munition. It is the
weapon of choice for the IDF in their demolition of Gaza and Gazan
society.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The JDAM is a kit that can be fitted to a normal aircraft-borne bomb.
Once launched from an F-16 jet (costs approx $63mn), maybe thousands of
feet up and 10 miles from the target, a computer in the JDAM kit
adjusts the position of its fins to guide the bomb to its target using
live GPS data, with according to Boeing, an accuracy of 1.7 meters.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">This means that when the IDF destroy a school, church, mosque, hospital or refugee encampment, it is <em>intentional</em>
not accidental. The kit costs around $30,000. In one sense, the JDAM is
a triumph of engineering skill and computer wizardry. In another and
far more sinister sense, it is a horrible perversion of human science
and technology.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The IDF have been using about 6,000 of these weapons every week in
Gaza. With the cost of the bombs themselves that would be about $60 million a
week, devoted to death, suffering and destruction. That is about $1.2
billion since October 7<sup>,</sup> on the bombs and guidance kits alone.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>The insanity of Netanyahu’s evil war</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Israeli government itself estimates that this one-sided war will
cost them around $12 billion this year, and the same next year. That means,
so far, it has cost about $6 million to kill each Hamas fighter and $1.5 million
for each home the IDF have destroyed. Imagine what could have been done
with that money, if it was used for good: for development, education or
healthcare – for Arabs and Israelis – instead of death and destruction.
It is an obscenity.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">And Netanyahu has spent $12bn to achieve what? A child forced to
drink from a puddle just to survive. Lenin once said that capitalism is<em> “horror without end</em>”, and this depraved war is proving him right, yet again.</span></p></div></div></div></article>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-69361993600357824492024-02-28T19:24:00.000-08:002024-02-28T19:24:21.084-08:00Watch this Video: Your Tax Money Pays For It.<span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yJZOOZCH4qI?si=rtFAI9E7sx1YjHue" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richard Mellor</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I dislike it when I feel an intense hatred for anyone, but I have to say, I feel an intense hatred for these people. They are from all over the world, many of them are Americans, British, South Africans and so on. Religious fanatics, racists, plain fascist many of them. That lawyer at the ICJ made the point that these settlements and the people in them need to be removed. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Most of us detest bullies and that's what they are in the extreme. It's easy when you have the army backing you and you yourself is fully armed and your victim not only unarmed, but unable to arm themselves. The settler can kill and maim with impunity and does. I have some Jewish friends that refuse to accept these animals are even Jewish. They are Zionists, their views and activities are incompatible with Judaism. The US is behind them. The US gives them diplomatic cover and military superiority. This is not because the US ruling class loves Jews, like their British class colleagues, they are anti-Semitic to the core. Zionism needs anti-Semitism, it cannot survive without it.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">European Jews were not drawn to Zionism. <a href="https://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2024/02/palestineisrael-what-can-socialists-do.html">As Roger Silverman pointed out in a recent article on this blog:</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">"Before
the holocaust, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">Zionism had no
mass base in the ghettoes. It was little more than an exotic fringe sect –
something like the Marcus Garvey “back to Africa” movement in the USA or the
Rastafarians in the Caribbean. The rich political and cultural life within the persecuted
Jewish communities of Europe flourished in the socialist Bund. T</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">heir
riposte to the Zionists, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">just as towards
the fascist Black Hundreds, was: </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>We’re going nowhere! This
is our home!" </i></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">With the betrayal of European Jews by Stalinism and the murder of millions of them by the Nazi's, the idea of a Jewish state and one in Palestine gained traction. The British supported it as did most western capitalist powers and it is important in all the confusion to recognize that this was a political decision. There was no reliable stable power in this region that could protect western capitalist interests there and the dominant issue was, and is still, oil.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2024/02/lawyer-destroys-us-and-uk-arguments-for.html">That lawyer presenting the case for the Arab states at the ICJ laid this out brilliantly.</a> The British in particular used European Jews who faced centuries of persecution and violence throughout Europe and who were in a state of desperation after WW2 and the Holocaust, as the solution to the vacuum left by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and as a bulwark against the desires and aspirations of the Arabs in Palestine and throughout the Arab world.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">If Israel is guilty so is the UK and in particular the US government as without the US, Zionism could not commit the genocide and violence it does.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-77719770302785118722024-02-28T09:27:00.000-08:002024-02-28T09:35:09.053-08:00Like Rachel Corrie, Aaron Bushnell Will Never be Forgotten.<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nSPiEQ9_zzc?si=sqm24wVVyKCEDAxF" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">There are an increasing number of news outlets that are offering a more extensive and accurate coverage of the events happening around us, not just in the US but the rest of the world. The mass media in the US is the most censored and controlled in the western democracies. Breakthrough news is one of the outlets that allows us to get a somewhat more accurate picture of what is happening. The Internet, like most technology, is not a bad thing; as with all technological advances from the printing press to the computer chip, it depends on how it's used which is also dependent on which class owns it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Along with the two people mentioned in the headline, there are others like Chelsea Manning and Pat Tillman. This blog never fails every year to mention another military hero, Pat Tillman, murdered, many people believe, by his own government. He refused to be used by the state to drag young working class people in to a war that they had no interest in fighting. See <b>The Tillman Story</b> about the events surrounding his death and the struggles his family went through to get the truth.<br /></span></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579189847356587096.post-83543661754842424762024-02-26T15:52:00.000-08:002024-02-26T15:52:38.838-08:00Lawyer Destroys US and UK Arguments For Israel at ICJ<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fRn4qYAORAE?si=Mc4LqhGdd8IREz0X" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><br /></p>Richard Mellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997976754939725087noreply@blogger.com0