(2021-02-11). Democracy Not Feudalism: A Left-Libertarian Critique of the Libertarian Right Part 2. realprogressives.org Libertarianism is the championing of liberty. We can't have liberty with economic and political organization where the majority of the wealth generated is extracted by uninvolved, unproductive rich people who are powerful just because they exist. There's no freedom if people have zero say in the decisions which will affect their entire livelihood. That goes for all government. Today, nobody bats an eye when we have appointed politicians with no consent from the public, without even mandatory public referendum. Unless the economy is designed so all those involved have an equal say to the same degree they are af…
(2021-02-10). Johnson government's homicidal drive to reopen UK schools justified by feigned concern for children's welfare. wsws.org The Johnson government's professed concern for children's education and welfare is belied by decades of cuts to children's services and rising child poverty.
(2021-02-10). Boris Johnson warned he risks leaving children 'languishing in poverty'. thecanary.co Ian Blackford MP urged the prime minister to tackle child poverty by making the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit during the Covid-19 pandemic permanent. The Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader told Boris Johnson he risks leaving "a generation of children languishing in poverty" if he proceeds with plans to cut Universal Credit. | Raising the issue at Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs), Blackford said that Johnson has the powers to address poverty in the country. | "Truly shocking": | He told the Commons: New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the baby bank charity, Littl…
(2021-02-10). Summers op-ed sparks controversy over Biden stimulus package. wsws.org The former treasury secretary warned that stimulus measures could set off the kind of inflation not seen for a generation, with serious consequences for the US dollar and the stability of the financial system.
(2021-02-10). The Relationship Between Income and Wealth Disparities and Negative Real Interest Rates. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | "The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing …
(2021-02-10). The Drive for a Wealth Tax in Washington State. counterpunch.org Legislators in Washington state are taking bold steps towards instituting a state-level wealth tax. The proposed tax is a 1 percent levy on wealth over $1 billion, applying to fewer than 100 households in the state. According to the state's Department of Revenue, the tax would raise an estimated $2.25 billion in 2023 and $2.5
(2021-02-09). UBI and Immigrants: Lessons from the Pandemic. realprogressives.org This article was written by This post is part of our Does universal basic income have a role to play in a more just political economy? It is by now fairly well appreciated that, on the level of individual countries, much depends on the framing and design of t…
(2021-02-09). UK unemployment rises to highest level in four years. wsws.org This year will see thousands more job losses in retail, following the closure of 320 stores every week in 2020. The Centre for Retail Research forecasts 200,000 job losses in 2021.
(2021-02-09). Striking Workers Halt Construction At Future Amazon Warehouse. popularresistance.org Roughly 75 workers walked off the job on Thursday at the construction site of a future Amazon fulfillment center in southern California—forcing most of the construction operations, including a large crane, to come to a halt. | Workers are striking at the future Amazon fulfillment center in Oxnard, California, because an Amazon contractor at the site, Building Zone Industries, has hired non-union, out-of-state workers to work on the project. This comes amid high rates of unemployment stemming from the COVID-19 in the predominantly agricultural, working-class Latinx community.
(2021-02-09). The Gamestop Affair shows that America is over-financialized and needs a tax on speculation. juancole.com Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) — It would be unfair to suggest that the titans of Wall Street are oblivious to poverty. One of their central themes is the role that financial literacy can play in teaching citizens how wealth is acquired and maintained. In their worldview saving and investing in the stock …
(2021-02-09). Democrats Disarm Themselves Before Trump's Senate Impeachment Trial. counterpunch.org Donald Trump, has with luck, eluded the consequences of being a failed gambling czar with no respect for the law. But his luck has reached a new level with Congressional Democrats refraining from holding him accountable for breaking the law and violating the Constitution as regularly as the rising and setting of the sun for
(2021-02-09). 'Freedom is Never Voluntarily Given': Palestinian Boycott of Israel is Not Racist, It is Anti-Racist. counterpunch.org 
Claims made by Democratic New York City mayoral candidate, Andrew Yang, in a recent op-ed in the Jewish weekly, 'The Forward', point to the prevailing ignorance that continues to dominate the US discourse on Palestine and Israel. Yang, a former Democratic Presidential candidate, is vying for the Jewish vote in New York City. According to
(2021-02-09). Andrew Yang Got it Wrong: Palestinian Boycott of Israel is Not Racist, It is Anti-Racist. mintpressnews.com Claims made by Democratic New York City mayoral Yang, a former Democratic Presidential candidate, is vying for the Jewish vote in New York City. According to the reductionist assumption that all Jews must naturally supp…
(2021-02-09). The soup kitchen providing for a town with 93% unemployment. laprensalatina.com The Compassionate Hearts soup kitchen provides food aid for many residents of Touws River in South Africa, which has a 93% unemployment rate, according to humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers Foundation. During the lockdowns for the pandemic, the majority of the town's residents have become unemployed with what few businesses existed now closed. The …
(2021-02-09). Democrats Stick With $75K Threshold for Stimulus Checks After Pressure From Left. truthout.org 
On Monday night, the House Ways and Means Committee released legislation that rejected moderate Democrats' and Republicans' proposal to further target the stimulus checks. The legislation keeps the income threshold where it was in President Joe Biden's original draft of the stimulus at $75,000 for an individual to receive the full amount. | In the
(2021-02-09). Suggested Washington State Wealth Tax Would Have Jeff Bezos Owe $2Bln a Year. sputniknews.com The state of Washington recently proposed a wealth tax that would oblige those with over $1 billion to pay 1 percent. According to those behind the bill, the wealth tax would combat inequality in the state's tax laws.
(2021-02-09). Can we have a fair society under capitalism? nationofchange.org Even though capitalism could work, the wealthy won't compromise enough to make it work.
(2021-02-08). Considering and Critiquing Universal Basic Income: Introduction. realprogressives.org This article was written by This post is part of our This week we're opening up a
(2021-02-08). The "Great Zero Carbon" Conspiracy. globalresearch.ca The globalist Davos World Economic Forum is proclaiming the necessity of reaching a worldwide goal of "net zero carbon" by 2050. Yet transformations underway from Germany to the USA, are setting the stage for creation of what is called the New Word Order. In reality it is a blueprint for a global technocratic totalitarian corporativism, that promises huge unemployment, deindustrialization and economic collapse.
(2021-02-08). COVID Pandemic Sinks Over 16 Million Into Poverty in Lat-Am. telesurenglish.net The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 16 million people to fall into poverty in Latin America, the International Monetary Fund reported on Monday. | RELATED: | "The crisis has had a disproportionate impact on employment, with losses concentrated mostly on women, youth, and informal and lower-skilled workers, and social indicators are showing this," the director of the IMF Western Hemisphere Department Alejandro Werner e…
(2021-02-08). Wealth Inequality: Should We Care? cepr.net I have been dismissive of many of the folks, mostly progressives, who highlight wealth inequality as a measure of overall inequality. As most of us know, the richest people in the country have gotten a lot richer since the start of the pandemic. (Of course, the story isn't quite as dramatic if we use February …
(2021-02-08). $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Expected to Stimulate National Debt. anti-empire.com 
Congress is looking to pass a 1.9 trillion-dollar stimulus package, which experts say will have a highly stimulating effect on the national debt. | "We will pass this stimulus bill without Republican support," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Doing so will help hard-working Americans and breathe fresh new life into our national debt!" | Financial experts from The New York Times' opinion page have long feared that America's national debt is not growing fast enough to sustain their brilliant economic theories, and hope this bill will serve to boost the national debt to more comfortable levels. | There are some detractor…
(2021-02-08). Ilhan Omar Says Lowering Income Threshold for Stimulus Will "Poison" Relief Bill. truthout.org 
As talks of compromise and unity in Washington pose the possibility of reshaping a proposed coronavirus economic package, progressives in Congress are sounding off on President Joe Biden's apparent willingness to change income threshold requirements that would significantly curtail who receives stimulus checks. |
(2021-02-08). Unemployment Falls to 6.3 Percent, But Job Growth Remains Weak. counterpunch.org 
Trump is the first president to leave office with a loss of jobs since Herbert Hoover. The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points in January to 6.3 percent. Much of this decline was due to people leaving the labor market as the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) only rose by 0.1 percentage point. The EPOP now
(2021-02-08). It's Easy to Fix Inequality: Tax the Rich. counterpunch.org 
As Democrats and Republicans jostle over the particulars of a new economic stimulus package to address the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, it is not too early in President Joe Biden's tenure to ask, "when will we start taxing the rich?" Upon joining the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) promptly announced she would
(2021-02-08). Wall Street Continues Record High Spree as Biden Pushes Forth With US Stimulus. sputniknews.com NEW YORK (Sputnik) – Wall Street continued its record-setting spree as all three major US stock indexes hit all-time highs for a second day in a row as the Biden administration pushed to have its $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus approved by Congress, with or without bipartisan support.
(2021-02-08). Why has Australia's United Workers Union refused strike pay to locked-out Coles workers? wsws.org Falsely touted as a radical new "super" union, the UWU is another wealthy and ruthless apparatus for suppressing mounting workers' struggles.
(2021-02-08). Intellectual Property, Inequality, and the New Cold War with China. cepr.net My diatribe in the Nation — the risk of a new Cold War gives us yet another good reason not to be fans of intellectual property.