America and the World
Dominican Republic 1904 Theodore Roosevelt introduces the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine after D.R.'s government threatens to default on over $34 million in foreign loans. The corollary establishes the US's role as Latin America's banker and policeman: If a nation...keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. ...in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. 1916 US invades DR and occupies the country until 1924. 1930-61 Dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, who seizes power thanks to the US-trained National Police Force and enjoys US support during his rule thanks to his anti-communist stance.
I Quit, I Think
Prologue - Page 2 Page - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 I Quit, I Think I was New York State Teacher of the Year when it happened. An accumulation of disgust and frustration which grew too heavy to be borne finally did me in. To test my resolve I sent a short essay to The Wall Street Journal titled "I Quit, I Think." Page - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
The World’s Biggest Debtor Nations
Throughout the financial crisis, many national economies have looked to their government and foreign lenders for financial support, which translates to increased spending, borrowing and in most cases, growing national debt. Deficit spending, government debt and private sector borrowing are the norm in most western countries, but due in part to the financial crisis, some nations and economies are in considerably worse debt positions than others. External debt is a measure of a nation’s foreign liabilities, capital plus interest that the government and institutions within a nation’s borders must eventually pay. This number not only includes government debt, but also debt owed by corporations and individuals to entities outside their home country. So, how does the US debt position compare to that of other countries? A useful measure of a country’s debt position is by comparing gross external debt to GDP. So, what are the world’s biggest debtor nations? 20.
Destroy the University by André Gorz 1970
André Gorz 1970 Destroy the University Source: Les Temps Modernes #285, April 1970;Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor. The university cannot function, and we must thus prevent it from functioning so that this impossibility is made manifest. The occasions and the ways of making it come to a head are subject to discussion. The open crisis in the university in France goes back to the beginning of the 1960’s, to the Fouchet Plan. The ideology of the academy is that of the equality of chances for social promotion though studies. The contradictory character of this demand remained masked as long as the right was, in theory, recognized for all while, the practical possibility to use it was denied to the vast majority. These administrative limitations – numerous clausus, exams for university entry – are such delicate matters politically that the successive governments of the Fifth Republic have retreated before their application.
Beekeeper Who Leaked EPA Documents: "I Don't Think We Can Survive This Winter"
Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald never expected to become embroiled in a controversy between the EPA and the pesticide industry. But that's exactly what happened when Theobald got hold of an EPA document revealing that the agency is allowing the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, in spite of warnings from EPA scientists. So how did Theobald (pictured above) end up with such a contentious document? Bayer, the corporation behind clothianidin (the pesticide in question), published a life cycle study about it in 2006 at the EPA's request. Fast forward to this year. "They told me that EPA scientists had reviewed the original lifecycle study and determined it wasn't scientifically sound, and I asked if it had been documented, if there was a hard copy," he says, "The [employee] said yes, and I asked if I could get a copy." "Everybody is keyed on the leaked memo, but basically it's a public document," adds Theobald. Now the stakes are higher than ever. Photo Credit: Tom Theobald
On the poverty of student life
On the poverty of student life considered in its economic, political, psychological, sexual, and particularly intellectual aspects, and a modest proposal for its remedy Published by UNEF, Strasbourg 1966 First published in 1966 at the University of Strasbourg by students of the university and members of the Internationale Situationniste. A few students elected to the student union printed 10,000 copies with university funds. We might very well say, and no one would disagree with us, that the student is the most universally despised creature in France, apart from the priest and the policeman. There are reasons for this sudden enthusiasm, but they are all provided by the present form of capitalism, in its overdeveloped state. Up to now, studies of student life have ignored the essential issue. Modern capitalism and its spectacle allot everyone a specific role in a general passivity. At least in consciousness, the student can exist apart from the official truths of "economic life."
An Investment Manager's View on the Top 1%
This article was written by an investment manager who works with very wealthy clients. him from decades ago, but in 2011 he e-mailed me with some concerns he had about what was happening with the economy. What he had to say was informative enough that I asked if he might fashion what he had told me into a document for the Who Rules America Web site. He agreed to do so, but only on the condition that the document be anonymous, because he does not want to jeopardize his relationships with his clients or other investment professionals. Make no assumptions about the investment manager with respect to race, ethnicity, political perspective, or views on government economic policy; he may or may not fit readers' preconceptions concerning some of these categories. NOTE: The investment manager has also written an update for 2014. — G. I sit in an interesting chair in the financial services industry. The Lower Half of the Top 1% Until recently, most studies just broke out the top 1% as a group.
Higher education: It's become our crisis
Already faced with cuts before the crisis, education now looks to be one of the sectors hardest hit, and not merely financially. Kirsten Forkert looks at the current conflict in higher education and the difficulties faced by those trying to protect it We need to consider UK higher education in the context of a situation where neoliberalism, in some ways, has been destabilised economically but remains hegemonic on an ideological level. At this point in time, the banks have not recovered, unemployment is predicted to surpass 3 million next year, but in that confidence game that is the economy, there is still an underlying sense that if we think things are normal and start shopping again, then things will be (and apparently the banks, even those that were nationalised last year, have started paying executive bonuses again). After generations of the internalisation and naturalisation of free-market ideology it's become very hard to imagine that there could be any other way of doing things.
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