Summary: Don’t miss at least the first two of nine excellent interviews and reports. The nine cool shared videos are followed by links to 6 fairly good ones. Plus two article links at the bottom.
The green-blooded moneycrats who rule us, think life is all about money. Well, it is not. That’s why they ruin our lives. Let’s take a look at people who have turned their back on the the corrupt system and hear what they have to tell:
Human connections and interactions count much more in human happiness than material things:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Route 66: Free living and liberty at a rural commune “)
Comment: In my imagination I would love to live in such a commune (except for my physical handicaps and the gross hunt for squirrels who I see neither as nasty tree rats nor tasty morsels). It would be so much better not having to fight over incomes and savings with my neighbors but rather support one another, be fellows and friends rather than desperate strugglers pitted against each other by a system that is set up to do so.  Continue reading “Living to Live”→
This Triple-J video weekend is dominated by three great personalities. On one hand, Jimmy Dore and his team produced so many good videos lately that I am having a hard time catching up to share them all. So, this video weekend is dedicated to the Jimmy Dore Show. Only the last video is from another source, namely great thinker Jamarl Thomas doing what I like to do most, too: calibrating our perspective and turning our focus on the great world we can build, a perfect world for humanity that is only a decision and political revolution away. And, not to forget, we have here a great, visionary, and very historically informative interview with none other than Jill Stein. Enjoy!
I. Jimmy Dore
A) Getting the Crooks out of Politics
Learn more about Tim Canova and Deplorable Debbie
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Imran Awan Criminal Investigation Snares Debbie Wasserman Schultz”)
There is more:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Election Fraud Likely In Debbie Wasserman Schultz Victory “)
B) Net Neutrality
The fight for a censorship-free Internet continues:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Good News In Fight For Net Neutrality “)
C) The Surveillance State
Big brother is watching you (thanks to the Twin Party Tyranny):
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Pelosi Just Helped Trump Spy On You! “)
Comment: Well said. We truly live in unconstitutional times. All this century, ever since the never-elected Bush-Cheney Regime took over and trampled our Constitution with impudence and glee, have our country’s political handmaidens to the robber billionaires blithely ignored and violated our Constitution.
D) America and the World
America’s Decline Seen From Abroad (gets really good 5:16 min in, but also has good stuff before (for example on our faked corporate media’s Middle East reporting)):
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Europe Laughing At America’s Red Scare w/Rania Khalek”)
E) Alternative to the Duopoly
Very informative interview of Jill Stein by Jimmy Dore
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Jill Stein’s Strategy To Coalesce The Left“)
Notes: No more lesser evil voting. Ranked Choice Voting to free us from the spoiler straight jacket. Major unions thinking about a new party. People’s movement umbrella organizations sprouting. The “Dems” have denied us a people’s party for about three generations. When you silence the people you make a demagogue inevitable. J20 Trials.
II. Jamarl Thomas
Closing words on getting past our own hang-ups, our self-created problems, and learning to think and act big:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “We Must Retain Our Capacity to Think & Do BIG Things as a Collective “)
Note: Now, my call to arms tends to focus on cosmic challenges like our short lifespans and horrid decrepitude in the later part of life. Cosmic exploration would also be nice, and I openly dream of a Star-Trek-like human world we can build, my focus not being on space travel but a good life for all. Isn’t that the goal we should all set for ourselves and rally around?
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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write for this site and work on my book. If you find any value in what I do, please consider becoming a patron and supporting this site with an automatic monthly donation of $1 or more. If you can’t afford this, then don’t, but please share my posts, tell folks about my online course offering, refer others to this site, refer me to paying outlets or companionable fellow blogs, partake in discussion, or contribute essays of your own. Or help my book get out there when it’s finished. Thanks. Only together can we change this world. 🙂
I really like the story arc of this weekend’s selection of politically educational videos. I am starting with some party politics shining a light on the dog-and-pony show and the dark boardroom deals of our corrupt politicians. Then I have a bunch of illuminating documentaries and discussions about a universal basic income, showing how important our mentality is in finding our way forward. And I finish with an amazing older interview of Richard Wolff which predicted so much of what we are seeing now and addresses the mentality aspect of how we can go from here. Neat. I don’t always manage to find the right videos for a smooth story arc, but this one went pretty well I think. Do you like it?
I. Party Politics (fury and fun with Jimmy Dore)
Even life-long republicans see the GOP’s tax scam for what it is:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “More Republicans Denounce Republican Tax Plan“)
A rigged democracy is NO democracy:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Progressive Crowd Boos Bill Maher”)
1:38 min : Oh, election rigging is just fine when one of our political parties does it…
8:17 min: So, what are the “Democrats” saying with their Wikileaks and Russia-Russia-Russia yammering? They are saying that if we hadn’t been caught lying, we’d be running the country right now.
9:29 min : Great closing words by Dylan Ratigan.
II. UBI
Getting passive income for being a member of the people rather than a member of the private club of the idle rich who get almost all the free money right now:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “What would you do if you never had to worry about money?“)
Folks discussing a UBI from different angles:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Basic Income – Our Next Moonshot“)
~20:27 min: A UBI, rather than being a novel populist or socialist/communist idea, in reality tries to realize the ideals of our founding fathers and actually resurrects the land grant we had early in our history.
What a UBI can do for people trapped in poverty:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “BASIC INCOME WORKS! “)
Another interesting UBI discussion. Things like these must be discussed so we can get them right:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “For and against “Basic Income”“)
13:50–24:30 min: A good response to funding and the idea that the universal part of a UBI is wasteful when some of it goes to people who don’t need it.
Another good point made: mentality matters. If we all (or a huge majority, at least) share the ideals of leaving none of our fellow citizens behind, we are already half-way there.
III. Amazing Predictive Interview
To finish, an older one, so prophetic and illuminating:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Dangerous Thoughts: There IS a Tipping Point For Revolution in America: Dr. Richard Wolff”)
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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write for this site. If you find any value in what I do, please consider becoming a patron and supporting this site with an automatic monthly donation of $1 or more. If you can’t afford this, then don’t, but please share my posts, tell folks about my online course offering, refer others to this site, refer me to paying outlets, partake in discussion, or contribute essays of your own. Thanks. Only together can we change the world. 🙂
This article uses a speech by Pavlina Tcherneva given during a discussion round as the basis for painting a bigger picture.
This lady from the MMT segment of discourse participants seems to agree with me that a combination of a federal Job Guarantee and a basic income would be best. If I understand her right, she doesn’t want the basic income to be universal, however, for fear of an inflationary affect. Personally, I think the risk of an inflationary affect is smaller than she seems to think, and that measures can be taken against it. Her macroeconomic view is important but shouldn’t be the exclusive angle from which to view corrective socio-economic measures.
Before I go into details, perhaps you may wish to listen to Tcherneva’s speech:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Marrying the Basic Income with the Job Guarantee”)
It makes sense to me that the personal exemption from income tax is like a basic income guarantee, but sadly not universal because people so poor that they fall below it don’t get it in full. Completely income-less people (like the long-term unemployed) get none of it! How is that fair? It’s yet another part of our system that from so may angles gives to the haves and takes from the have-nots.
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Economist Peter Martin on Universal Basic Income and Automation”)
Another point made: when too many jobs disappear, the idea of time being money will no longer hold true. (it still does now, though; so I appreciate donations to this site, sharing of links to what appears here, or contributed fitting posts, because my time and money are limited)
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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write for this site. If you find any value in what I do, please consider becoming a patron and supporting this site with an automatic monthly donation of $1 or more. If you can’t afford this, then don’t, but please share my posts, tell folks about my online course offering, refer others to this site, refer me to paying outlets, partake in discussion, or contribute essays of your own. Thanks. Only together can we change the world. 🙂
There seem to be two groups of people who are at the forefront of discussing (and usually wanting) a universal basic income (citizen’s dividend, free money not just for the rich): IT professionals and artists (in the broad sense, comedians included). The former because they are right at the cutting edge of robotics and artificial intelligence giving them a first class view of the coming tsunami of jobs automated out of existence. The latter because they have always been intimately familiar with low and precarious income. Since I have belonged to both groups, it is therefore no surprise that I love the idea (when properly implemented and not left alone as a single silver bullet, as I know that no single program will cure all ills — other things like a Federal Job Guarantee and pay-with-assets would also help, best when used together).
Since I have already presented a lot of proponents and arguments from the first group, it may be time to showcase a video from the second. Thanks to Cindy Matthews, another great blogger who alerted me to it. Yes, this one is really good:
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Universal Basic Income Will Change Labor”)
Summary: (1) The explosion of bullshit jobs and the need to uncouple our livelihoods from such bullshit jobs. (2) A jobless future from automation and the opportunity to create prosperity and leisure for all. (3) A cool video on these topics.
Here is some news: most of the productive manufacturing, agricultural, and useful service jobs of the past are gone. Meanwhile, useless or even harmful(!) administrative and clerical jobs have tripled. We have three times as many people pushing paper than we had in the 1930s, and that is so despite us having computers nowadays, computers which do many times a person’s work accounting, calculating balance sheets, documenting and measuring stuff, answering consumer questions, creating and disseminating communications, and, and, and… With the quickly improving artificial intelligence, we now even have industrial robots that that can learn their tasks, software that writes music and sports news, self-driving cars and patient care robots currently being tested, and so forth.
It’s not often that much of our human world is explained in so few minutes. For people who are still struggling to understand the factors behind our country’s decline and the ever greater struggles to survive, this is a good video to share with.
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Wealth Inequality in America – Richard Wolff”)
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