(2019-01-18). Will "Tough on Crime" Policies Fuel Mass Incarceration? therealnews.com 
As three of the most powerful men in Maryland vow to crack down on repeat violent offenders, community advocates question their plans to address the root causes of inequality and violence
(2019-01-17). When CEOs Earn Way More Than Employees, Make The Bastards Pay! thenation.com When CEOs Earn Way More Than Employees, Make The Bastards Pay!
(2019-01-17). If income gap is a chasm, wealth gap is Grand Canyon. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON —If the "income gap" between the rich and the rest of us is a chasm, then the less-discussed "wealth gap" — especially between whites and African-Americans — is the Grand Canyon. At least that's what the figures show in a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, the third in its series comparing …
(2019-01-16). Israeli Politics Enter Grubby Realm of Reality TV. consortiumnews.com Netanyahu demands a TV showdown with his corruption accusers and Roseanne Barr prepares to address the Knesset. The poverty of public discourse has never been more apparent, writes Jonathan Cook. By Jonathan Cook Jonathan-Cook.net Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu commandeered… Read more →
(2019-01-16). Brazilian official wants landless activists treated as terrorists. greenleft.org.au 
Brazil's far-right government of President Jair Bolsonaro will seek to classify "invasions" of farmland by landless workers as akin to terrorism, with harsher penalties for the activists, an Agriculture Ministry official said on January 14. | Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST), one of Latin America's largest social movements, seeks to take over unproductive lands in the name of social and economic justice to more equally distribute rural wealth. | Luiz Antonio Nabhan Garcia, land issues secretary at the ministry, said: "It is the challenge of this government to demonstrate to Congress that this is a thing…
(2019-01-16). Samir Amin on value in a divided world. greenleft.org.au 
Modern Imperialism, Monopoly Finance Capital and Marx's Law of Value
| By Samir Amin
| Monthly Review Press, 2018 | One of the most obvious and abhorrent features of the global economy is the stark division of the world into a wealthy "North" and a poor "South". Egyptian-born economist Samir Amin, who passed away in August, often referred to this divide as one of "centre" and "periphery". | Amin, former director of the Third World Forum in Senegal, was renowned as one of the most significant theorists in the field of global economics, uneven development and imperialism. His work is a major reference point…
(2019-01-15). From Athens to North Carolina, Filmmaker Astra Taylor Asks: "What Is Democracy?" theintercept.com 
Plato believed that a city ruled by the rich could not last. The rich would rule according to their interest in enlarging their wealth, impoverishing everyone else in the process. The poor would not tolerate their raw deal, and they would revolt. | Something like this happened in the city where I grew up. In 2014, a group of leading economists released a report showing that Charlotte, North Carolina, ranked dead last among major U.S. cities when it came to the upward mobility of its poorest residents. Two years later, there was an up…
(2019-01-07). Do We Really Need Billionaires? zcomm.org According to numerous reports, the world's billionaires keep increasing in number and, especially, in wealth. In March 2018, Forbes reported that it had identified 2,208 billionaires from 72 countries and territories. Collectively, this group was worth $9.1 trillion, an increase in wealth of 18 percent since the preceding year. Americans led the way with a Read more…
