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Summary: Again not a week of many great videos. Remember that stars (*) on the titles I give present how good I find the videos. (*** best, ** good, * better than non-starred ones). The many non-starred ones that I finally shared can hint at my long search this week. If you have little time stick with the starred ones. Main issues: the corrupt systems and messed up mentalities.
Stars and channels: People’s Podcast (Garland Nixon, Nick Brana, Jimmy Dore), Democracy At Work (Richard Wolff), Second Thought (JT Chapman), New Economic Thinking, The Jimmy Dore Show (with Aaron Maté), CODEPINK, DW News, WION
Topics:
- America the “Shining City on the Hill”? **
- Capitalism’s Faulty Mindset **
- Union Improvements from Co-Ops
- The Lack of Protection in Capitalism-Supporting “Social Democracy” ***
- Rat Race Comparison Between USA and Germany
- Our Capitalist Meritocracy Breeds Greed and Carelessness
- The Ukraine War-Game Accelerating but also Exposing the Global Empire Wrestles
- Huge Overpay of CEOs (Super-Huge in the U.S.)
- People’s Party: Nick Brana with Jimmy Dore Talk
- Rich Money Lords Desiring More Poverty Among Us
- Maybe Finally a Check on Some Deep State?
- Brazil: Fascist Coup Attempt
- Ukraine: Nice Peace Request from CODEPINK **
- Space Exploration Growing Again
- Kindness Reminder: Turtle Help
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1. America the “Shining City on the Hill”? **
Garland Nixon: Congress Declares War On America ~ People’s Podcast (Jan 7, 2023)
2. Capitalism’s Faulty Mindset **
… to make profits. Profits for the rich owners and top managers. Discarding the majority of workers and the surrounding communities that provide things like worker homes, infrastructure, water, and so on. What I feel needs to be added is that the Monopoly-like money culture we are enforced into, with its “individual responsibilities” setup, causes the ultimate trouble. Even co-ops could discount their surrounding communities (if they even exist in home-office online work for example). So, we really need to reduce the all-or-nothing life result from money (for example with UBI and universal healthcare and and over-richness-blocking cap tax) and build up life safeties guaranteeing for example housing. We need to realize that our political-economic regulations put even owners and creators of businesses into fear of losing everything. There are expenses and regulations to deal with in business creation (registration costs, accounting, book-keeping, complicated taxation, lawsuit protections incl. expensive lawyers, etc.) and of course threat from competitors (that can push you out of the market if your profits are too small and with fraudulent false accusation lawsuits and government bribes, etc.), with no help or protection from society settings. So, money becomes the big addiction. Therefore, in addition of making our economy and politics more social, just, and democratic, we also need to reduce the power money can have over our lives and minds.
Economic Update: What’s Wrong with Capitalism? ~ Democracy At Work (Jan 9, 2023)
3. Union Improvements from Co-Ops
Ask Prof Wolff: Labor Unions, Leadership Corruption, and Co-ops ~ Democracy At Work (Jan 13, 2023)
4. The Lack of Protection in Capitalism-Supporting “Social Democracy” ***
“Social Democracy’s” weakness (in contrast of socialism) and the resulting behind-the-curtain terrors (like imperialism) getting explained.
Why Social Democracy Isn’t Good Enough ~ Second Thought (Jan 13, 2023)
5. Rat Race Comparison Between USA and Germany
While giving some comparison insights, this talk by a “Social Democracy” guy (who obviously lacks deeper socialist insights) is a good example of the lack of insight and abilities presented in the above video on “Social Democracy” by JT Chapman on his Second Thought channel.
Varieties of the Rat Race: Conspicuous Consumption in the US & Germany ~ New Economic Thinking (Jan 11, 2023)
Good comment from a listener:
- All this is well and good but sadly never mentions the fact that the biggest income (and wealth) gap arises not from diverging hourly wages or hours worked but simply from the fact that some people make money without working at all, namely through capital returns. Being a world class engineer, doctor or even athlete or actor is nothing compared to skimming off the work of thousands of employees or collecting hundreds of people’s rents.
6. Our Capitalist Meritocracy Breeds Greed and Carelessness
This video is over 4 years old and I share it near the middle (10:42) where it becomes meaningful. As I mentioned before, our corrupted system messes up the mindset of many people, which in turn corrupts and drains our societies even further down. A vicious circle. Which is why I don’t only point at system flaws and fixes, but also at our mindsets.
When Meritocracy Breeds Greed ~ New Economic Thinking (Jul 18, 2018)
Comments from listeners:
- Meritocracy is a lie. People rarely rise through the ranks based on merit, but on usefulness to the person(s) with the power to grant the promotion. After that, it’s simply a self perpetuating machine.
- This whole notion of Meritocracy only worked at a time when business owners need to appease the working class in order to maintain their profits and position. Since the 1970’s, we’re in a world where labor can be outsourced all over the world or is automated. The incentive to appease the working class (those who do not own the output of their labor, but just get a wage) is dwindling to nothing. This is going to be worse than the Gilded Age we emerged from at the beginning of the last century, because at least then, capitalism needed labor, skilled labor to generated profits. That is rapidly changing. These guys in this video seem to think that appealing to principled elites to restore a sense of shared ownership in society will help fix things. It will not. That will not be anywhere near enough. What we really need is for the working class, the vast majority that work and earn a wage to make a living, to realize they have to start taking control, taking charge and taking ownership of this society, or they are going to get trampled. Long gone is the time we could rely on principled, or at least sensible elites to keep things working for us. It’s not sustainable when the system is set up to award being a self-centered bastard. The working class needs to take control, run for office, vote, protest, demand the things we need to live and provide for our children. No one is going to do it for us.
Added comment from me: I love that I am not the nearly only one anymore coming up with great comments. Insightfulness has apparently begun to grow. 🙂
7. The Ukraine War-Game Accelerating but also Exposing the Global Empire Wrestles
On this blog here, you have heard previously from Richard Wolff what he presents in this speech. At least at 33:33 he mentions things that fit into other contents of this weekend’s post here.
Global Capitalism: The Second War In Ukraine [January 2023] ~ Democracy At Work (Jan 11, 2023)
Listener comment:
- I am glad Prof. Wolff is talking about this topic in the US. What Prof. Wolff presented is discussed all over Asia. It is good for the American audience to understand a different perspective that is not discussed in the US.
8. Huge Overpay of CEOs (Super-Huge in the U.S.)
As most specialty experts, this one does not speak all that understandable for people who are not experts of his specialty. Still, his conclusion is worth hearing. Therefore this video is shared to start at its conclusion (22:05 – Of course, if you have time and desire to hear it all, you can scroll to the beginning of the video; I just like to save people time):
How to Unf★ck CEO Pay ~ New Economic Thinking (Aug 24, 2022)
9. People’s Party: Nick Brana with Jimmy Dore Talk
Warning: BIG volume shifts. (also, this video to me has nothing new; however hearing again or for the first time Jimmy Dore’s health catastrophe experience can be worth listening to for the first or second time — hence my share starting at 39:51):
Jimmy Dore and Nick Brana talk McCarthy and #ForceTheVote! ~ People’s Podcast (Jan 6, 2023)
10. Rich Money Lords Desiring More Poverty Among Us
… us being their serfs or slaves.
Millionaire Clinton Advisor Says It’s Time To Punish Workers! ~ The Jimmy Dore Show (Jan 8, 2023)
11. Maybe Finally a Check on Some Deep State?
Video a bit long and sadly with the annoyingly cackling Kurt Metzger in it. But Aaron Maté here gives a little info on historic and current attempt from Congress.
FBI & CIA To Be INVESTIGATED By Republican Congress! ~ The Jimmy Dore Show (Aaron Maté, Jan 10, 2023)
12. Brazil: Fascist Coup Attempt
Less than two days before Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva entered the presidential office as the new president, the outgoing fascist president Jair Bolsonaro flew to Florida (probably December 30, 2022). Earlier in December (9 or 10, I think) Bolsonaro called for a military coup. And now on January 10 or 9 or so (yeah, the media never give dates – Shall we love this?) a coup was attempted by fascists, many of them brought into Brazil’s capital (by a hundred buses), the transports and hotelling, etc. paid by some rich money lords apparently, the kind of sociopaths who like to have fascism secure and boost their evil power.
Rioters Take Over Brazilian Congress & Supreme Court! ~ The Jimmy Dore Show (Jan 10, 2023)
Here is a link to a report or discussion at CODEPINK (at 1:20 hour too long for me to watch, can nobody give us a good short report?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHkGbFHXgWM
13. Ukraine: Nice Peace Request from CODEPINK **
A bit late discovered by me (a month late… sorry, I make no income with this blog). Anyway. Nifty! Watch it! In 3:31 minutes it gives both good requests and reasons for peace plus some deeper insights in the trouble from war, the Ukraine war in this case hurting countless people across the globe in addition to the murders and maimings where the war takes place. We humans must learn to end all war making as part of creating a healthy global culture of fully developed humanity, a culture of universal love and care and help and cooperation.
Eight Reasons Why Now is a Good Time for a Ukraine Ceasefire and Peace Talks ~ CODEPINK (Dec 12, 2022)
14. Space Exploration Growing Again
A reminder that other things than cruelty are possible (although the mentioned space tourism represents our built up inequality again, of course):
Why 2023 is set to be an unprecedented year for space exploration | DW News (Jan 11, 2023)
15. Kindness Reminder: Turtle Help
Humans remembering kindness. Videos like these help me hold down depression. In case they do this for you, too, here is one again:
WION Climate Tracker | Two rescued sea turtles released back to ocean in Argentina after detox ~ WION (Jan 12, 2023)
Honorable Mention:
- Hydrogen as a fuel replacement (something I came up with early in my life already (many decades ago, thus of some interest for me what is finally being experimented with)): Is green hydrogen the answer to the climate crisis? | DW Documentary (Nov 2, 2021)
- Supposedly much more COVID deaths and problems in China than commonly reported: Gravitas: Why are China’s elderly committing suicide? ~ WION (Jan 12, 2023)
- Racism also torments refugees (nothing new to me) and is bad for racists’ own mental health (or “soul”): America Made Me a Black Man – Boyah J. Farah | The Chris Hedges Report (Jan 13, 2023)
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