radiofree.asia

Author: Shawgi Tell

  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Nine

    As the long depression that started many years ago deepens, it can be seen that there is no letup in deteriorating economic and social conditions at home and abroad. The so-called “death spiral” continues worldwide. Many new records are being set, sometimes every week or every day. Instability, chaos, and anarchy are becoming more entrenched and everyone is being pressured to fend for themselves like animals. People feel like no one has their back.

    It is no surprise that as multiple crises deepen simultaneously around the world, the ruling elite are increasingly viewed as utterly incompetent. There is no public authority worthy of the name that is providing people with security, stability, and prosperity.

    Links to the first eight parts in this series can be found at the end of this article. Forty facts, some updated and some new, are provided below.

    *****

    U.S. Conditions

    “Record-high 50% of Americans rate U.S. moral values as ‘Poor’.”

    “Self-care shortage: Americans feel relaxed for just 40 minutes a day.”

    “The Federal Reserve hiked [interest] rates by 75 basis points [on June 15, 2022] — its largest increase since 1994.”

    “Weekly jobless claims hit 229,000, the highest level since January [2022].”

    “Mortgage demand is now roughly half of what it was a year ago, as interest rates move even higher.”

    “Property prices PLUNGE by up to 20% across parts of US as buyers shun the market amid ‘Bidenflation’ and spiking interest rates.”

    “Homebuilder sentiment tumbles back below pre-COVID levels.”

    “Real estate firms Compass and Redfin announce layoffs as housing market slows.”

    “Inflation has 67% of people dipping into their savings to pay for necessities, new survey reveals.”

    “US producer prices soar 10.8% in May as energy costs spike.”

    “Gas prices reach record high for 18th consecutive day.”

    “Domestic flight prices increased 47% since January [2022].”

    “US retail sales unexpectedly tumble in May [2022].”

    “Small business optimism drops to record low.”

    “Creeping back: US bankruptcy filings on the up.”

    “Coinbase to lay off 18% of staff amid crypto meltdown.”

    “Ford recalls nearly 3 million vehicles over rollaway concerns.”

    “More people are avoiding the news, and trusting it less, report says.”

    International Conditions

    “Poor countries forced to cut public spending to pay debts, campaigners say.”

    “Property values fall across US, Europe on bite from inflation.”

    “Double blow to Europe’s gas supplies sparks price surge.”

    “A majority of Scots are worried by lack of low-rent housing.”

    “Bank of England hikes rates for the fifth time in a row as inflation soars.”

    “Canadian businesses bankruptcies surge — and some fear this is just the beginning.”

    “Global nuclear arsenal set to grow for first time in decades.”

    “Bulgarian restauranteurs: Increasing VAT on wine and beer dooms restaurants to bankruptcy.”

    “100,000 Turkish doctors strike amid growing global movement of health care workers.”

    “Child type 2 diabetes referrals in England and Wales jump 50% amid obesity crisis.”

    “Belgium hit by increasing levels of obesity.”

    “Middle East and North Africa: addressing highest rates of youth unemployment in the world.”

    “4.1 million Kenyans facing starvation due to drought.”

    “Nearly one million Chadians are in acute food insecurity.”

    “Africa’s middle class struggles to keep pace with rising inflation.”

    “Gaza: Over half of Palestinian children have contemplated suicide, report finds.”

    “Fears growing over who will pay for Lebanon’s bankruptcy.”

    “Brazil raises key rate by 50 points, signals more to come.”

    “Agrarian unions warn of a serious food crisis in Peru exacerbated by corruption. In March 2022, Peru’s inflation is the highest in the last 26 years.”

    “As Sri Lanka’s crisis worsens, rising numbers flee by sea.”

    “Philippine debt balloons to new record-high P12.76T as of end-April [2022].”

    “Thailand’s inflation could reach 5.9% – the highest for 24 years.”

    *****

    The only way to extricate society out of the all-sided crisis it is mired in is by depriving the rich of their ability to deprive everyone of their rights. There is no way to move forward without organizing ourselves to restrict the power of the rich to destroy the natural and social environment. A change in the aim and direction of the economy is not going to come from the financial oligarchy. Working people and their allies must organize themselves to affirm the right to decide all the affairs of society.

    Part one (April 10, 2022); Part two (April 25, 2022); Part three (May 10, 2022); Part four (May 16, 2022); Part five (May 22, 2022); Part six (May 30, 2022); Part seven (June 6, 2022); Part eight (June 13, 2022).

    The post “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Nine first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Eight

    Economic and social disasters continue to increase worldwide. There is no “healthy recovery” from the pandemic.

    The level of irreparable harm being caused by the inability and unwillingness of the ruling elite to solve any problems, even small problems, is glaring. With no sense of shame or irony, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, recently went so far as to publicly state that to improve the economy his goal is “to get wages down,” which means that workers, the producers of all wealth in society, will take an even bigger hit—just as inflation, inequality, debt, under-employment, poverty, anxiety, and homelessness worsen. Powell and other capital-centered ideologues do not understand that wages have nothing to do with inflation. The economic collapse has nothing to do with workers. Lowering living and working standards is the opposite of what people need.

    This level of incompetence and irresponsibility on the part of the rich and their representatives at all levels of government and society may be historically unprecedented. Even worse, billions are being pressured to passively sit by and watch Rome burn as the elite enjoy more and more of the social product seized with impunity from working people. It is clear that defunct liberal institutions and governance arrangements cannot uphold human-centered arrangements and serve only to justify the concentration of even more economic and political power in even fewer hands. Existing institutions and arrangements do nothing to empower people, they just keep them marginalized and make problems worse. The absence of a politics of social responsibility is palpable and will eventually have to transmute into its opposite. More people are becoming more fed up with politicians and demanding an alternative to the untenable status quo. A pro-social direction is needed for the economy and society.

    Below is part eight of the series called “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind. It contains more than 35 additional facts, some updated and some new, from the U.S. and other countries. Links to each of the previous seven parts can be found at the end of this article. All eight parts collectively provide about 200 facts from different sources about the state of the global economy. They paint a vivid and disturbing picture of what is unfolding. Readers are encouraged to periodically review all the facts from all the articles in this series in order to deepen their grasp of what is actually unfolding worldwide and to appreciate just how serious the situation confronting humanity is. General knowledge and awareness are not enough. Constant review and study are effective ways to quickly recognize and reject lies, disinformation, and propaganda from the rich, their political representatives, and the corporate media. All the dots need to be connected, analysis needs to be developed, and collective action needs to be taken on the basis of constant analysis and discussion that deepens social consciousness. This is not the time to embrace the self-serving cultural, political, and economic views and schemes promoted by the rich at all levels and in all institutions.

    *****

    U.S. Conditions

    “US household wealth fell $500 billion to $149.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2022.”

    “Jobless claims hit highest level in months, far outpacing estimates.”

    “More than 8 in 10 Americans hate this economy. That’s the highest number since the poll began.”

    “Shocking consumer credit numbers: Everyone maxing out their credit card ahead of the recession.”

    “Consumer sentiment plunges to record low in June, according to University of Michigan survey.”

    “Inflation reaches 8.6% in May [2022], its highest level in more than four decades ”

    “Inflation and rising diesel prices impacting restaurants.”

    “Average US gas price hits $5 for first time.”

    “Luxury-home sales in US plunge most since start of the pandemic.”

    “The California exodus continues as residents head south of the border.”

    “Vacant zombie properties rising in second quarter amid jump in foreclosure activity.”

    “Median monthly rent surpasses $2K in the U.S. for the first time, study finds. That’s 15% higher than this time last year.”

    “Educators across New York City are grappling with millions of dollars in planned cuts to school budgets, released this week for the 2022-23 school year.” The New York City public school system is the largest in America (1.1 million students).

    “Raising a middle-class child will likely cost almost $286,000, according to USDA data.”

    International Conditions

    “The world economy is again in danger,” said David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group. “Even if a global recession is averted, the pain of stagflation could persist for several years.”

    “World Bank slashes global growth forecast to 2.9%, warns of 1970s-style stagflation.”

    “Get ready for reverse currency wars.”

    “Europe’s economy grapples with an acute energy shock.”

    “’Shrinkflation’ accelerates globally as manufacturers quietly shrink package sizes. From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed ‘shrinkflation’, and it’s accelerating worldwide.”

    “Inflation in Germany, Spain climbs again in May [2022].”

    “Mercedes recalls almost 1 million cars over faulty brakes.”

    “Boeing & Airbus control 91% of global commercial aircraft fleets.”

    “Belgian minimum wage does not meet new European standards.”

    “2.3 million people in Portugal (roughly one in five) live in poverty.”

    “Zero-growth warning for UK as petrol prices surge and OECD says Britain will be weakest economy in G7 next year.”

    “As gas hits $8.60 a gallon in the UK, Brits pay $125 to fill a family car.”

    “Air starts to seep out of the bubbly Canadian property market. In Toronto prices have fallen for three consecutive months. Throughout the country, home sales have plunged. Many economists warn that worse lies ahead.”

    “Rising costs and staff shortages threaten construction sector in Cyprus.”

    “Fuel shortages across Africa hit motorists, airlines and radio stations.”

    “Both the Egyptian and Jordanian economies are struggling at the moment. Like other countries in the region, Egypt is struggling with inflation, which has prompted the Central Bank to raise interest rates. Jordan is also contending with high unemployment, which is fueling drug use in the country.”

    “Ghana economy: Inflation soars from 23.6% in April [2022] to 27.6 in May [2022].”

    “Chad declares food emergency while international agencies sound the alarm.”

    “Sri Lanka creates two new ministers to handle worst economic crisis.”

    “Malaysia’s food crisis must be addressed immediately, says King.”

    “Australian Treasury chief: Labor government must slash spending and suppress wages.”

    “Pricy tortillas: Latin America’s poor struggle to afford staples.”

    *****

    The rich and their entourage do not understand what is happening in the economy and offer no meaningful solutions. They even plead ignorance about economic phenomena. U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, recently admitted publicly that she was wrong about inflation. Every “solution” the rich put forward has harmful consequences. They continue to dogmatically rely exclusively on outdated economic theories put forward by long-gone capital-centered economists like John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and others. Such ideas and theories never stabilized capitalism. They never brought lasting and sustainable peace, security, stability, and prosperity for the majority. The system continues to lurch from crisis to crisis.

    The situation today is both dangerous and exciting. Everything is up for grabs, perhaps more than ever before. Contradictions are sharpening daily in all spheres on all continents There is an all-out war on all fronts—ideological, cultural, political, and economic. This is a good time to jump into the fray, expose the failures of the rich and their outmoded systems, and boldly speak up for human-centered interests. Defend workers, students, youth, the elderly, and the disabled. Reject and condemn the irrational and harmful ideas and arrangements being imposed on people by a tiny ruling elite. There is an alternative.

    Part one (April 10, 2022); Part two (April 25, 2022); Part three (May 10, 2022); Part four (May 16, 2022); Part five (May 22, 2022); Part six (May 30, 2022); Part seven (June 6, 2022).

    The post “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Eight first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Seven

    Below is part seven of the series called “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind. Forty facts on U.S. and international conditions, some updated and some new, are provided below. Once again, many economic records are being broken by a crisis-prone economy dominated by big business.

    Links to the first six parts of this series, which collectively contain 150 facts from the U.S. and abroad, can be found at the end of this article.

    *****

    U.S. Conditions

    “36% Of Americans making $250,000 are living paycheck to paycheck.”

    “CEOs warn that US households are burning through savings at an alarming rate, and could run out within months.”

    “Demand at food banks is way up again. But inflation makes it harder to meet the need.”

    “The massive gap between rich and poor Americans costs the US economy more than $300 billion every year, study says.” The real figure is higher.

    “Inflation drives Americans’ gloom about the economy.”

    “Inflation will force 25% of Americans to delay retirement: survey.”

    “Restaurants add new fees to your check to counter inflation. Checks now come chock-full of fees for everything from ‘kitchen appreciation’ to ‘wellness’.”

    “US gas prices jump to record high $4.67 a gallon.”

    “U.S. households are spending the equivalent of $5,000 a year on gasoline, according to Yardeni Research. That is up from about $2,800 a year ago and $3,800 as recently as March.”

    “Over the past year, home price growth (20.6%) is four times greater than income growth (4.8%).”

    “US housing market is so stressful that buyers are left in tears.”

    “Crypto scams have cost people more than $1 billion since 2021, says FTC.” FTC stands for Federal Trade Commission.

    “US robot orders surge 40% as labor shortages, inflation persist.”

    “National survey of gig workers paints a picture of poor working conditions, low pay.”

    “U.S. private sector job growth softens in May, ADP 1 data shows.”

    “Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla jobs.”

    “Small US companies lose almost 300,000 jobs since February [2022].”

    “Zombie firms face slow death in US as era of easy credit ends.” Zombie companies are companies that spend most or all of their profit on paying off debt.

    “American airlines CEO says the airline has grounded 100 planes because it doesn’t have enough pilots to fly them.”

    “Health premiums will rise steeply for millions if rescue plan tax credits expire.”

    “About 23 percent of Chicago’s public schools face budget cuts.”

    “California is rationing water amid its worst drought in 1,200 years.”

    International

    “Eurozone inflation hits its highest level since the creation of the euro in 1999.”

    “Big risks threaten economic growth around the world as central banks try to bring prices under control.”

    “Families will skip meals to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, UN special advocate says.”

    “Red-hot coal prices threaten even higher power bills.”

    “In the euro area, the share of private sector employees whose contracts involve a formal role for inflation in wage-setting fell from 24% in 2008 to 16% in 2021. COLA coverage in the United States hovered around 25% in the 1960s and rose to about 60% during the inflationary episode of the late 1970s and early 1980s, but rapidly declined to 20% by the mid-1990s.” COLA stands for Cost-Of-Living-Adjustment.

    “In 2021, 39.3% of Colombians were living in poverty. Around 18.9 million people remain poor, against 17.5 million before the pandemic. The annual inflation rate in Colombia accelerated to 9.2% in April 2022, the highest rate since July 2000…. The World Inequality Lab estimates that the top 10% of income earners take 58% of the income generated in Colombia.”

    “The interest rate in Brazil has been raised 10 times in the past year and now stands at 12.75 percent compared to just 2 percent in March 2021. Other countries including Mexico, Chile and Peru have also lifted rates.”

    “Japan’s factory output slumps in worrying sign for economy.”

    “South Korean inflation surges by most in almost 14 years.”

    “Lao economy grinding to a halt as fuel crisis deepens. A plummeting currency, dwindling foreign reserves, and a spike in global oil prices have led to shortages across the country.”

    Germany’s annual inflation rate jumped to “7.9% in May [2022[, the highest rate since the winter of 1973-1974.”

    “Luxembourg economy slows down after pandemic rebound.”

    “Price of UK pint [of beer] up more than 70% since financial crisis.”

    “Turkey’s inflation soars to 73%, a 23-year high, as food and energy costs skyrocket.”

    “Italy is held back by 2.6 million people who have given up on work.”

    “[T]he cost of a hotel room [in Norway] is 24 percent more expensive than it was last year, according to research by radio station P4. That increase is even more dramatic in capital Oslo, with prices up by up to 60 percent over 12 months.”

    “Chile’s mining production tumbles in April [2022].”

    “Australian Catholic school teachers and support staff [about 18,000] hold first strike in 18 years.”

    “Over $50 for a burrito? World’s elite splash the cash on snacks at Davos.”

    *****

    The international financial oligarchy is unable and unwilling to solve any of the serious problems that continue to worsen worldwide. Instead, it keeps taking actions that successfully degrade the social and natural environment. Things keep going from bad to worse, causing more people to view the rich and their political and media representatives as irrelevant, irresponsible, and illegitimate.

    People do not feel represented under “representative democracy” and want a real say in the affairs of society. They want to end their marginalization and become the decision-makers in society so that problems can actually be solved. How is it possible that millions can be held hostage to a few big businesses and a broken economic system? Why can’t hundreds of millions of people and their government stop a handful of big businesses from immiserating more than 90% of the population?

    In this retrogressive context, irrational media chatter about a recession persists and functions to divert people from the real problems at hand. Most economies around the world have been in a long depression since 2008. They have struggled just to establish low levels of economic growth. The notion that there is a recession or that there might be a recession trivializes the gravity of the situation confronting humanity at this time. Millions have been in dire straits for a long time. They do not care about how capital-centered ideologues technically define a recession. They experience hardship firsthand every day and do not need the privileged wealthy elite to tell them when things are not going well.

    Democratic renewal is the order of the day. People need an electoral and political set-up that is going to empower them to decide all the affairs of society. No one else is going to solve the worsening problems confronting humanity. The polity, not the international financial oligarchy, must have sovereign power over the direction and aim of society. No meaningful lasting solutions will come from the rich and their representatives.

    Part one (April 10, 2022); Part two (April 25, 2022); Part three (May 10, 2022); Part four (May 16, 2022); Part five (May 22, 2022); Part Six (May 30, 2022)

    1. See here for information about the ADP report.
    The post “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Seven first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Six

    The first five parts of this series contain more than 115 facts on economic and social conditions at home and abroad and can be found at the end of this article. This article provides more than 30 facts and focuses mostly, but not entirely, on the U.S. Some facts are important updates of already-reported facts and some are brand new facts.

    *****

    U.S. Conditions

    “The Dow [Jones] is on its longest weekly losing streak since 1923.”

    “The US gross national debt has now reached $30.4 trillion, having spiked by $7.0 trillion since March 2020.”

    “GDP decreased at an annual rate of 1.5% in the first quarter of this year, a drop from the previously expected decrease of 1.4% in the advanced estimate, according to the BEA [Bureau of Economic Analysis].”

    “Unsold inventory of new houses spiked in a historic month-to-month leap of 34,000 houses, and by 127,000 houses from April last year, to 444,000 unsold houses, seasonally adjusted, the highest since May 2008.”

    “The share of home sellers who dropped their asking price shot up to a six-month-high of 15% for the four weeks ending May 1, up from 9% a year earlier. The 5.9% increase is the largest annual gain on record in Redfin’s weekly housing data back through 2015. For homebuyers, the typical monthly mortgage payment skyrocketed a record 42% to a new high during the same period.”

    “The average age of a car in the US is up to 12.2 years, a new record.”

    “More than 70 Sears stores to close across country.”

    Once the Kmart store in Avenel, New Jersey closes [in April 2022], “the number of Kmarts in the U.S. – once well over 2,000 –will be down to three in the continental U.S. and a handful of stores elsewhere.”

    “Two years after New York’s first indoor dining shutdown, restaurants and bars continue to close their doors. More than 1,000 have closed since March 2020 due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.” The real figure is higher.

    “CEO pay rose 17% in 2021 as profits soared up to a median of $14.5 million; workers trailed.”

    “US savings rate crashes to lowest since Lehman [2008].”

    “Microsoft is the latest tech giant to slow hiring.” Dozens of other big businesses are doing the same.

    “We could see a million layoffs or more – here comes the job market shock.”

    “Apple Store workers in Georgia call off union vote over intimidation claims.”

    “Baby formula crisis: Products from closed plant won’t hit shelves until at least mid-July, Abbott says.”

    “Surging meat prices push summer grillers to order pizza instead.”

    “US truckers talk ‘unprecedented’ diesel price surge. The price of diesel has been hitting all-time highs.”

    “Delta to ‘strategically decrease’ flights this summer.”

    “2 in 3 adults avoid social events — because they’re embarrassed about their financial struggles.”

    “In June 2020, 74.9% of people aged 18–24 reported at least one mental health or substance use concern. Eight in 10 (83%) college students reported feelings of significant anxiety or stress after the start of the fall 2021 semester, according to the National Alliance for Mental Illness.”

    International Conditions

    “Every 30 hours, world gets a new billionaire, a million new poor.”

    “Oil prices are set to surge even higher this summer.”

    “Brazil kicks off $7.4 billion Eletrobras privatization.” Eletrobras is Brazil’s state-controlled power utility.

    “Azerbaijan to hold new privatization auction.”

    “People in US and UK face huge financial hit if fossil fuels lose value, study shows.”

    “In 2021 half of Britain’s energy suppliers went bankrupt as gas prices soared by 250%.”

    “Paris [France] reduces trash pick-up days.”

    “Spain passes decree limiting use of air conditioning in public buildings to conserve energy.”

    “The tech company layoffs have hit Europe. Several of Europe’s best-known startups have made drastic cuts to their teams in order to cut costs and preserve their cash runway as the global economy takes a downturn.”

    “’Negative trajectory’ in consumer confidence shows Canadians increasingly anxious about economy.”

    “Toyota just cut production for the second time this week. The supply chain crunch isn’t easing up for the world’s top-selling automaker — or anyone, for that matter.”

    “Syria’s economy so bad many people don’t have one meal a day, nun says.”

    “Doctors, bakers and truckers protest as Lebanon’s currency plunges after election.”

    “Zimbabwe’s inflation soars to 131.7%.”

    *****

    While a fragmented chaotic economy devoid of conscious human intervention has been the norm for decades, it can be seen from the economic and social catastrophe unfolding globally that such an anachronistic economy is further disintegrating and wreaking more havoc on the peoples of the world. It is out of control and some have even called it a death spiral.

    It is in this chaotic, alienating, and violent context that “27 school shootings have taken place so far this year [2022]” in the U.S. The most recent shooting was at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead on May 24, 2022. This carnage took place only 10 days after 10 people were massacred at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Many are concerned that these horrific tragedies will be used by the establishment as a pretext to escalate police-state arrangements in the name of “promoting safety,” “fighting hate,” and “preventing shootings.” New York State, for example, wasted no time setting up a State Police unit to surveil people online. Many other units exist in and beyond New York State.

    The rich and their political and media representatives are becoming more irresponsible, incompetent, and ineffective with each passing day. Not a single major problem has been solved in decades and every day there is more traumatizing news about economic and social conditions around the world. People everywhere are fed-up, exhausted, and overwhelmed, including many “middle class” people. Only the wealthy few can escape the pain affecting the vast majority.

    In this context, recent media chatter about whether there will be a recession this year is diversionary because we have been in a long depression since 2008. Most countries have been running on gas fumes since then, and everything the financial oligarchy has done since 2008 has intensified the all-sided crisis. The fact is that “people don’t need the [neoliberal] government to tell them we are in a recession to start feeling like we are in a recession,” said David Haggith, publisher of The Great Recession Blog.

    On top of all this, the rich and their entourage nonchalantly talk and act like lurching from crisis to crisis is somehow inevitable and unpreventable. The notion that the economic collapse confronting humanity is mysterious, incomprehensible, or hard to fix is irrational and self-serving to the extreme. The economy is not a mystery and can be directed quickly and properly to serve a pro-social aim. Everything needed to advance pro-social aims already exists. Workers already run everything and many people with valuable expertise in many fields can be brought together to advance a pro-social direction. Many serious chronic problems can be solved quickly with working people in charge of the wealth they collectively produce. Without political authority and power, however, pro-social changes will remain piece-meal and inadequate. Living and working standards will remain subpar for millions. Working people, youth, students, senior citizens—the polity as a whole—must have sovereign power over economic and political affairs. The aim and direction of the economy must not be set and controlled by big business because that leads only to more disasters.

    Smash the silence on economic and social conditions. Discuss these worsening conditions with everyone. Share and disseminate information that combats the disinformation and propaganda of the rich. Speak up in your own name and strive to organize each other for pro-social aims. Put these serious matters on the agenda, reject unprincipled divisions and diversions, and work together to develop collective solutions. History and the will-to-be demand it. It is all do-able.

    • Part one of this series appeared on April 10, 2022, part two appeared on April 25, 2022, part three appeared on May 10, 2022, part four appeared on May 16, 2022, and part five appeared on May 22, 2022.

    The post “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Six first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Five

    Ceaseless money printing by central banks, price-fixing in major sectors of the economy (“greedflation”), never-ending supply-chain disruptions and delays, endless pay-the-rich schemes (e.g., public-private “partnerships”), constantly-growing debt at all levels, more inequality, intensifying stock market turbulence, out-of-control inflation, widespread poverty, and lower working and living standards for millions are signs of an economy that lost historical and social relevance long ago. It is an economy in dire need of a new aim and direction under the control of the workers who actually produce the wealth in society.

    The economic and social fallout from an obsolete economic and political system continues at home and abroad. This is especially significant given the interconnected nature of everything and the fact that the rich and their political and media representatives are incapable of analyzing and theorizing the economy objectively and offer only more confusion and incoherence.

    Below are additional statistics on the state of working and living conditions nationally and internationally. Links to the first four parts can be found at the end of this article.

    *****

    International Conditions

    “The IMF sees growth in 2022 and 2023 lower than it did in January [2022].”

    “Poor countries face a mounting catastrophe fueled by inflation and debt.”

    “Global leaders warn of economic dangers as crises multiply. At the G-7 conference in Germany, finance ministers wrestle with stagflation, energy shocks, food shortages and debt crises.”

    “Age of scarcity begins with $1.6 trillion hit to world economy. New fault-lines are likely to outlast war and plague — leaving the global economy smaller and prices higher.”

    “World’s largest fertilizer company warns crop nutrient disruptions through 2023.”

    “Producer prices in South Korea rose 9.2 percent year-on-year in April of 2022, accelerating from a 9 percent advance in the previous month.”

    Japan: “Producer inflation in April rose by double digits for the first time since 1980.”

    People queue ‘more than 10 hours’ for fuel in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka.”

    “The Reserve Bank of Australia expects inflation to reach 5.5 per cent by June [2022] – compared to the government’s 4.25 per cent forecast – and six per cent by the end of 2022.”

    “Turkish reserves lost ‘shocking’ $4.8 billion in just one week.”

    “The Tunisian economy has gone from bad to worse in recent years, battered by a series of challenges from heavy indebtedness to diminished output.”

    “Inflation hits 7% in April as Ireland’s cost of living soars. Households warned to brace for sharpest squeeze since early 1980s.”

    “UK consumer confidence falls to its lowest level since 1970s.”

    “Spain expected to produce the lowest volume of fruit in 40 years.”

    “Iceland ramps up tightening in biggest rate hike since 2008. Inflation may now exceed 8% in third quarter, officials say.”

    “Swedish economy contracts as price hikes start to bite.”

    “Rising prices put pressure on Swiss consumers and industry.”

    “Albanian president says public debt at “very worrying” 84% of GDP.”

    “Bulgaria’s inflation jumps to 14.4% y/y in April.”

    U.S. Conditions

    “I’ve been in the markets for 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist for Quill Intelligence, a Wall Street and Federal Reserve research firm. “It’s violent not just volatile.”

    “Federal Reserve data shows that the middle 60 percent of households ownership of the national wealth has fallen to just only 26 percent. Their ownership of real estate has fallen from 44 percent, a generation ago, to 38 percent today. Since 1971, wage growth has nearly stagnated while GDP and productivity have increased significantly.”

    “Existing home sales in the US declined by 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in April of 2022, the lowest since June of 2020 and slightly below forecasts of 5.65 million.”

    “Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell eight points to 69 in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the fifth straight month that builder sentiment has declined and the lowest reading since June 2020.”

    “Applications for mortgages to purchase a home dropped 12% from the prior week [early May 2022] and were down 15% from a year ago.”

    “More subprime borrowers are missing loan payments. Borrowers with limited or troubled credit histories are defaulting on credit cards, car loans and personal loans.”

    “Foreclosure wave sweeping US crests in Chicago.”

    “Millions of Americans are worrying about how to deal with high prices, or are going without. Predictions of a looming recession make everyone concerned about their jobs. And any pay increases that come with a new job are quickly gobbled up by inflation.”

    “A third of Americans report financial stress in census survey.”

    “In the fourth quarter of 2021, credit card debt rose $52 billion, the largest quarterly increase on record. After the Fed’s quarter-point increase in March, interest rates increased across 75 percent of the 200 credit cards LendingTree credit expert Matt Schulz monitors every month, he told CBS News.”

    “1 in 6 US kids are in families below the poverty line.”

    “Why inflation is hitting Gen Z particularly hard. Rising prices, plunging stocks and surging rents are making it a difficult time to enter adulthood.” Gen Z, also known as “zoomers,” consists of people born between 1997 and 2012.

    “With infant formula in very short supply, many Americans have been getting a crash course in market concentration. Just four companies make 90% of the formula sold in this country, which means that a recall and a plant closure at just one of those companies is having some pretty serious ripple effects. A similar lack of competition can be found in many sectors of the American economy.”

    “Data analysis demonstrated that baby formula stock was relatively stable for the first half of 2021. Out-of-stock rate (OOS) fluctuation was between 2-8%. The OOS detail shows that in January 2022, baby formula shortages have hit 23%. Hyperlocal data indicates they will continue to worsen, showing OOS levels now at 31% as of April 2022.”

    “Bird flu outbreak nears worst ever in U.S. with 37 million animals dead.”

    “[T]hrough consolidation, the number of hospitals in the United States declined by 16% in the last quarter of the 20th century, but with no evidence of improved quality.”

    “Half of America faces power blackouts this summer, regulator warns.”

    “Soaring diesel prices spells bad news for America.”

    *****

    Taken together, these and many other facts show that the economic system remains chaotic, fragmented, anarchic, obsolete, and incapable of ensuring prosperity, peace, security, and stability for all. Uncertainty and turmoil plague everything. More and more people around the world are experiencing greater economic hardship and more social and psychological problems. The situation is serious and bad. It cannot be otherwise when an economy is not directed by workers themselves. Leaving control of the economy in the hands of the financial oligarchy leads only to more tragedies.

    No real solutions are being offered by the rich and their cheerleaders at every level of society and government. We are just supposed to watch everything slowly crumble while hoping for some spontaneous magical solution that saves the day and makes the nightmare quickly go away.

    In its inability to solve any problems, government is revealing itself to be more irrelevant with each passing day. Government incompetence and irresponsibility are very high. Why do people have to beg for decades for the most simple basic things? Why are there trillions of dollars for banks, war, Wall Street, “security,” and the rich but hardly anything for the rest of humanity? Why is this basic question still being posed today?

    While deep meaningful change that favors the people does not happen overnight, it cannot happen without constant, organized, patient, collective study, analysis, discussion, and action. Serious and focused attention must be given to the conditions confronting people, and then this information and analysis has to be used to arrive at warranted conclusions about how to collectively build the alternative on a step-wise basis. There are a million steps. Great discipline is required. And the more broadly this discussion is taken the better it will serve workers, students, youth, women, the elderly, and the disabled. Everyone should boldly speak up and discuss. Much is at stake and silence usually makes things worse. Put the disturbing facts on the table and open up the discussion on systemic fundamental problems and the need for a fresh alternative and new direction that ensures security, prosperity, peace, and stability for all. In the absence of organized discussion, analysis, and action people are left to fend for themselves in a world saturated with disinformation, propaganda, and brain-washing of all sorts. People wake up every day and confront a world full of endless distractions, diversions, and mysteries causing much cognition to be discombobulated, erratic, and incoherent. It is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to opening the path of progress to society by unleashing the human factor and social consciousness. Working people are more than capable of sorting things out and moving society in a pro-social direction.

    • Part one of this series appeared on April 10, 2022, part two appeared on April 25, 2022, part three appeared on May 10, 2022 and part four appeared on May 16, 2022.

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  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Four

    The last three economic updates (see end of article) focused primarily on the U.S., whereas this update focuses more on global conditions.

    The data coming in every day, month after month, is revealing a clear picture of the dire straits confronting millions globally. Problems appear at every level and on every continent. There is no letup in deteriorating economic and social conditions at home and abroad. Things are dreadful and getting worse in most parts of the world, and the decline began long before top-down covid lockdowns started more than two years ago.

    Unfortunately, mainstream economic news is largely irrational, contradictory, and incoherent; it does not help people figure out what is going on, who is responsible, why phenomena are unfolding the way they are, how to connect the dots intelligibly, and how to move forward in a way that favors the people. No serious theory, analysis, or perspective is offered to assist people in affirming their interests.

    *****

    “Poorer nations in Asia, Africa, Middle East face food crisis: UN.”

    “In 2021, an Oxfam review of IMF COVID-19 loans showed that 33 African countries were encouraged to pursue austerity policies. This despite the IMF’s own research showing austerity worsens poverty and inequality.”

    “In 2020, half of all Zimbabweans – eight million people – were estimated to be in extreme poverty. That toll is almost certainly greater after a stringent COVID-19 lockdown that hit the informal sector – on which 90 percent of economically active citizens depend on for their survival – especially hard.”

    “Surging inflation set to derail Ghana’s 2022 growth target.”

    “Turkish inflation of 70% Sets G-20 high.”

    “Severe economic crisis, high living cost affect Lebanese diet.”

    Sri Lanka “is in shambles after defaulting on payments on its mountain of foreign loans — estimated to be worth $50 billion — for the first time since the country gained independence from the British in 1948.”

    “The Bank of England forecast inflation exceeding 10% and predicted negligible growth for the next two years, toppling into months of recession, accompanied by the savage squeeze on living standards.”

    “Italy unveiled a hefty package of measures ($14 billion euros) on Monday (May 2, 2022) aimed at shielding firms and families from surging energy costs as the war in Ukraine casts a shadow over the growth prospects of the euro zone’s third largest economy.”

    “The Spanish economy was the hardest hit in the euro area by the pandemic, shrinking 11% in 2020 amid tough lockdowns. Two years later, it has still not returned to its pre-virus level.”

    “Dutch consumers have never been so pessimistic about the economy.”

    “France’s economy unexpectedly grinds to a halt in first quarter.”

    “Business environment trends still mostly negative in Latvia.”

    “‘We see a big recession in the making’: Top CEOs are fearing the worst in Europe.”

    “Europe’s Economy is ‘De Facto Stagnating,’ ECB’s Panetta Says.” ECB stands for European Central Bank. Fabio Panetta is an Executive Board member of the ECB.

    “S. Korean economy facing growing downside risks.” South Korea is Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

    “Depreciating yen threatens Japan’s economy.”

    New Zealand: “Recession fears as survey shows record 20 percent of Kiwis plan to cut spending.”

    “Australia’s prices surge at fastest pace in two decades.”

    “Average Australian worker went backwards by $800 in 2021, says ACTU chief Michele O’Neil.”

    “The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) places Costa Rica with the highest unemployment rate in people between 15 and 24 years old (40%), even when comparing us with other countries such as Colombia, Chile and Mexico, which are also part of this organization.”

    “Inflation is eroding Latin Americans’ purchasing power.”

    “[U.S.] Stock market’s plunge continues on new concerns about global economy.”

    “The S&P 500 has dropped 18% so far this year, losing $7 trillion in value.”

    “New wave of inflation – and disruptions – hits U.S. factory floors.”

    “[In the U.S.] the average price of all grades of gasoline at the pump spiked to a record $4.33 per gallon on Monday, May 9, the third week in a row of increases, and was up 46% from a year ago, edging past the prior record of Monday, March 14 ($4.32), according to the US Energy Department’s EIA late Monday, based on its surveys of gas stations conducted during the day.”

    “[In the U.S.] foreclosures surge 181% to highest levels since March 2020.”

    Capital-centered economies cannot provide for the needs of all and are instead spiraling out of control with each passing month. Such economies perpetuate insecurity, instability, and anarchy for everyone, no matter which party of the rich is in power. Life is proving that none of the existing institutions and arrangements are capable of sorting out the grave problems confronting millions. “Representative democracy” is not giving rise to conditions that guarantee security, peace, and prosperity for all.

    A completely new outlook, vision, thinking, politics, and direction is needed. New arrangements that favor the people are long overdue. The old way of doing things just prolongs misery and insecurity.

    • Part one of this series appeared on April 10, 2022, part two appeared on April 25, 2022, and part three appeared on May 10, 2022.

     

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  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Three

    Below is more data on the continually failing economy and how it is hurting millions across the U.S.

    It can be seen from the different parts in this series, as well as other articles on the same topic,1 that there is a dire situation confronting millions of people centuries after the scientific and technical revolution made it possible to easily meet the needs of all.

    To be sure, the economy is working mainly for a handful of people and cannot provide for the needs of all. And experience shows that the inability and unwillingness of the ruling elite to fix any major problems will increase in the coming years. This historically superfluous force is blocking the rise of a fresh new alternative that puts human rights center-stage. It is desperate to seize even more of the new value produced by working people no matter how damaging this is to the natural and social environment.

    *****

    The share of socially-produced wealth owned by the richest 0.00001 percent of Americans, representing only 18 households, has risen by a factor of nearly 10 since 1982.

    “Top US corporations are raising prices on Americans even as profits surge.” Big companies and various monopolies routinely engage in price-gouging and price-fixing. The pandemic intensified corporate greed.

    The concentration of wealth increased through a record number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2021 and are expected to increase in 2022. Global M&A volume exceeded $5 trillion in 2021.

    “As inflation soars [now officially over 8 percent], Americans’ confidence in the economy is crumbling.” Many are not hopeful about the future of the economy. In a recent Gallup poll, only 2% of survey respondents felt that the economy was “excellent.” The real inflation rate exceeds 15 percent.

    The U.S. Commerce Department recently reported that energy costs are up 34 percent while wage growth continues to lag behind widespread inflation, leaving many Americans behind.

    “In March [2022], U.S. consumer sentiment reached its lowest level since 2011, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, and more households said they expected their finances to worsen than at any time since May 1980.”

    “US job openings reached a record 11.5 million in March [2022], according to JOLTS data released Wednesday. That’s up from the 11.3 million seen the month prior and above the forecast for 11 million openings.” The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) comes from the U.S. Department of Labor.

    “The labor force participation rate was at 62.4% in March [2022], still below the 63.4% rate in February 2020, before the pandemic.”

    “Gross domestic product unexpectedly declined at an annual rate of 1.4% during the first three months of the year — the worst quarter for the American economy since the pandemic turned the world upside down in the spring of 2020.”

    “[T]he U.S. economy is more leveraged than ever, with the average consumer needing $6,400 a year in debt to maintain the current standard of living.”

    MarketWatch and other mainstream news sources report that, “The bond market has crashed” and that this is the worst record for bonds in decades.

    “In March of 2021, The Hope Center at Temple University conducted a survey of nearly 200,000 students attending colleges and universities around the country. Nearly three in five students said they experienced basic needs insecurity. Housing insecurity impacted 48% of those students and 14% of them were affected by homelessness.”

    Officially, there are “more than 4,000 homeless [k-12] students in Palm Beach County [Florida].” Last year the number was under 3,000. Many “live in cars, parks or abandoned buildings.”

    “A report from Rent.com puts a one-bedroom apartment in Miami [Florida] at $2,744 per month, up 21.6% from last year.” This pattern can be found in dozens of other American cities.

    U.S. “mortgage rates hit their highest level since 2009.”

    “In the six weeks ending April 2, the U.S. hotel industry sold 5.2 million fewer room nights than it did at this time in 2019.”

    “3.4 million more kids lived in poverty in February [2022] than last December, two months after a monthly check program to parents expired.”

    “41.5 million people received SNAP (food stamps) in 2021, up nearly 6 million from 2019.”

    “[N]early 20% of U.S. workers reported being bound by noncompete agreements that limited an employee’s ability to join or start up a competing firm, and said employer market power was responsible for keeping wages 15% below where they would be in a perfectly competitive market.”

    On top of all this, the stock market, which produces nothing, is more turbulent than ever and recently lost several trillion dollars in paper wealth in the course of just a few days. Unpredictability and anarchy persist. The harsh reality is that economic and social decline continues uninterrupted in many parts of the world, not just the U.S.

    An economy dominated by an extremely tiny elite is not going to produce solutions that favor the people. Experience and research show that problems steadily go from bad to worse under existing political and economic arrangements. Participating in outmoded arrangements that were always designed to keep people at arm’s length has not worked, as can be seen from the fact that many serious problems keep going from bad to worse, and the fact that millions feel marginalized, overwhelmed, exhausted, and disempowered today. All the liberal institutions that came into being in the twentieth century are dysfunctional, outmoded, and incapable of giving expression to the claims, will, and interests of the people.

    New arrangements based on a new independent politics and a new word outlook are urgently needed. The current neoliberal trajectory is untenable and unsustainable. It only brings more tragedies to the people. Relentlessly begging politicians to do the most basic simple things to affirm the most basic rights is humiliating, exhausting, and preposterous. Democracy should not mean that people beg and chase politicians every day just to “do the right thing.” Such supplication and chasing diverts large amounts of precious attention and energy away from focusing on and building our own collective power, analysis, and actions. It prevents us from relying on ourselves and seeing ourselves as the alternative to the status quo. Getting caught up in the nasty, self-serving, pragmatic, and unprincipled internal politics, shenanigans, and chicanery of the parties of the rich, democratic or republican, will only hinder progress and prolong misery and insecurity for all. It is a non-starter. It is not politically effective. Even incremental and small “breaks” and “wins” are very hard to come by. Why is this the case in 2022 when the problems and necessity for change are so glaring? Why is it so difficult for basic rights to be affirmed?

    The existing political set-up blocks the affirmation of the will of the people instead of upholding it and honoring it. Mainstream politicians and their parties are proving to be more irrelevant and ineffective with each passing day.

    With democratic renewal it is possible to break free from current arrangements and usher in a new world based on a self-reliant, diverse, and balanced economy that meets the needs of all and thrives without exploitation and oppression.

    • Read Part One here; read Part Two here

    1. Many other articles containing extensive facts and statistics on economic and social decline can be found at my Dissident Voice author’s page

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  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind: Part Two

    Part one of this article appeared on April 10, 2022.1

    Below is additional data on the decline of the economy and the miserable conditions facing millions every day. The main focus is the U.S.

    33% of Americans were denied credit in the past year.

    81% of Americans think a recession will hit this year.

    Inflation in the U.S. is more than three times higher than it was last year, straining Americans’ finances.

    The extremely high cost of houses is leaving millions out of the home ownership market.

    About 72% of those who bought homes within the past 2 years received help from family with their down payment.

    Consumers are taking on more credit card debt, just as interest rates are expected to rise.

    Bankruptcy filings are creeping back up in early 2022.

    735 billionaires in the U.S. have seen their collective wealth soar by 62% over the past two years while worker earnings have grown just 10%, modest gains eaten away by the rising costs of food, housing, and other necessities.

    Between 2009 and 2017 depression rates increased more than 60% among teens 14–17 years old. Other age cohorts also saw large increases during the same time period. It is reasonable to assume that even more people of all ages experienced depression and/or anxiety between 2017-2022. The “Covid Pandemic” has traumatized billions.

    Across Los Angeles County, California last year (2021), the unsheltered died in record numbers, an average of five homeless deaths a day, most in plain view of the world around them.

    San Francisco alone is home to 77 billionaires, but more than 34,000 people are homeless across the Bay Area and more than 800,000 live in poverty.

    Security and dignity in retirement is also becoming a pipe dream for millions. Since 1974, more than 140,000 companies have ended their defined-benefit plans. More than a third of workers — more than 50 million people — don’t even have access to a 401(k) or other so-called defined-contribution plan. Of those who do, more than a quarter don’t participate.

    Twenty five percent of college graduates over the age of 25 make less than $35,000 a year, with many close to the poverty level.

    Globally, another quarter billion people will fall into poverty this year, Oxfam Says.

    In addition, interest rates at home and abroad are expected to rise in the coming months, which means that the cost of borrowing money will increase, which means that more people will be paying even more for various forms of debt that they hold. This will reduce disposable income, which means that the standard of living and the velocity of money will further decrease as well.

    There is no sign that economic turbulence, insecurity, and volatility will diminish in 2023 or 2024. We are in a deep all-sided economic crisis that is adversely affecting the social, cultural, and political spheres. The rate of profit continues to fall for owners of capital. Supply chain disruptions, production delays, delivery delays, and other economic problems continue at home and abroad as well. For example, parts for many vehicles being repaired at collision repair shops across the U.S. can take months to arrive, leaving customers and workers very frustrated.

    Yet another “lost decade” is upon us. Consistent and sustained progress is elusive in an economy based on private ownership of the majority of the wealth produced by working people. Life is not going to improve when more of what workers produce is seized and controlled by even fewer people every year.

    More economic updates are forthcoming. A comprehensive up-to-date picture of the economic and social carnage that is actually unfolding nationally and internationally is gradually emerging.

    The necessity for change that favors the people is presenting itself very forcefully at this time. The crisis of the capitalist economic system has become unusually severe. There is a rapid breakdown at all levels, which is why life is becoming more chaotic, anarchic, violent, and untenable. The human personality is being violated severely. It is no surprise that mental and emotional illnesses have increased significantly in the recent period. Millions wake up every day asking themselves: “What shocking or horrible thing will happen today?” “What kind of bad economic news are we going to get this week?” “What new conflict, crisis, or war is upon us now?” There is no reprieve from the chaos, violence, and accelerating social and economic breakdown. Things feel like dystopian bedlam. Even worse, everyone is supposed to accept that there is no alternative to the unsustainable status quo.

    But reality, life, and people have a way of being resilient and overcoming what seems like a never-ending nightmare. Nothing lasts forever, everything is transient. The thesis-antithesis-synthesis cycle has not disappeared under today’s unprecedented conditions. The dialectic lives even in these difficult times. It is up to working people and all enlightened forces to grasp this dialectic and use action with analysis to move humanity forward in a human-centered direction. It can be done and must be done.

    1. Many other articles containing extensive facts and statistics on economic and social decline can be found by searching for “Shawgi Tell” at Dissident Voice.
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  • “Booming” Economy Leaves Millions Behind

    Despite contradictory news headlines every week, the rich and their political, media, and think tank representatives continue to work overtime to foster the illusion that the American economy is strong, booming, and resilient. The future, according to them, looks bright.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Not only does the economic data used by official circles rest on self-serving definitions and paint a rosier picture of reality than what actually exists, but the facts today show that tens of millions of Americans are being left behind by the so-called “booming” economy. At this time:

    1. About 7 out of 10 Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
    1. One in three S. workers are earning less than $15 an hour.
    1. The problem of joblessness for Black men is on average three times worse than what is generally assumed.
    1. 52% of women, ages 50 and up, say the economy isn’t working well for them.
    1. Three-Quarters of Americans say the economy is on the ‘Wrong Track’
    1. The student debt crisis so far has led 43 million borrowers to collectively owe around $1.6 trillion.
    1. 35% of Americans lose sleep over their debt.
    1. The average American household will spend $5,200 more this year to buy the same goods and services it purchased last year.
    1. A new measurement suggests that the S. undercounts people in poverty by millions.
    1. Between February 2020 (prior to the pandemic) and February 2022, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) declined 2.1 percentage points, from 63.4% to 62.3%. That translates into 3 million fewer workers today. The LFPR was at a peak of 67.3% in early 2000 (more than 20 years ago).
    1. Food inflation will hit millions
    1. From February 2021 to February 2022, inflation rose by 7.9 percent to a 40-year high, and food prices also increased by 7.9 percent over those 12 months.
    1. The Feeding America network reported a 60% increase in demand early in the pandemic, and continues to see steady or increased demand.
    1. Food banks and pantries across the U.S. are stretched so thin by soaring operating costs that they’re having to ration what goes out to feed the nation’s hungry.
    1. One in eight people in the US do not have access to nutritious food.
    1. The percentage of people who say that now is a “bad time to buy” a home jumped to 73%, another record-worst in the data going back to 2010.
    1. Officially, the Federal Reserve balance sheet now stands at nearly $9 trillion. The real figure is higher.
    1. Three men own as much as the bottom half of Americans.
    1. The velocity of money (V),1 an important economic metric, has declined from a high of about 2.2 in the 1990s to a bit below 1.5 before COVID-19, and to 1 during the pandemic.
    1. The soaring cost of diesel is rippling through the global economy.

    Would these harsh conditions exist if the economy were booming, strong, and resilient? How can the economy be in great shape if tens of millions are experiencing miserable conditions? Why do the rich and their cheerleaders in every sphere routinely disinform the polity about the economy?

    The rich and their entourage remain out of touch and are determined to advance a retrogressive agenda that will bring greater tragedies for the people if it is not opposed every step of the way.

    While many more statistics and percentages depicting miserable conditions could be given, humanity must look at the entire ensemble of human relations, that is, the whole of human social relations, and not just parts, not just numbers and percentages, to address a large and pressing historic problem. Objectively, these problems should have been solved long ago. There is no reason for millions to go hungry in 2022.

    The point is not to reduce inequality, poverty, debt, or gas emissions a little or to increase the food supply and wages so that fewer people are hungry. Yes, these will help. But the need is for a complete reset, a new direction, that favors the people as a whole and puts them center-stage. This means putting human rights, not the narrow pursuit of maxim profit by the rich, at the center of everything and taking a new fresh path free of parasitic arrangements that favor even fewer people every year. The rich and their representatives are not going to usher in this new direction because it would mean making themselves completely obsolete. It is up to working people, women, students, youth, senior citizens, and everyone else to collectively bring in the alternative.

    1. The velocity of money is the rate at which money changes hands. The higher the velocity, the better the economy.
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  • Chicago: Charter Schools Suspend and Expel Minority Students at Extremely High Rates

    Privatization transfers public funds, assets, and authority from the public sector to the private sector. This typically erodes the voice of workers, increases corruption, lowers accountability, raises costs, fragments services, undermines flexibility, diminishes transparency, reduces efficiency, decreases the quality of services, and intensifies inequality.

    By removing socially-produced value from the economy and further concentrating it in the hands of private competing interests, privatization ultimately harms the economy, undermines the national interest, and enriches a handful of people at the expense of the public. The public would benefit vastly more if the wealth produced by workers stayed in the hands of workers and in the public purse. Socially-produced wealth could then be used to serve the common good. For its part, the United Nations reminds us that privatization violates human rights and devalues the public interest.

    While practically every sector is being rapidly privatized at home and abroad, privately-operated charter schools are the main expression of privatization in the sphere of education in the U.S. These outsourced privatized schools siphon billions of dollars a year from public schools and seize many public school assets and facilities for next to nothing. In this connection, every week the news is filled with stories about corruption, fraud, and arrests in the crisis-prone charter school sector. Thousands of such stories can be found at the Network for Public Education.

    Even though they are called “public schools of choice open to all,” privately-operated charter schools are notorious for routinely cherry-picking students through a variety of mechanisms, including suspending and expelling poor and low-income black and brown students at extremely high rates, including kindergarteners. It is well-documented that privately-operated charter schools intensify segregation and few are truly diverse (see here, here, and here). The charter school sector is more segregated than the public school sector. New York City, for example, is home to some of the most intensely segregated charter schools in the nation (see here and here). It is also worth noting that all charter schools in the U.S. are run by unelected individuals, generally employ fewer experienced teachers than public schools, and regularly perform poorly. In addition, charter schools tend to pay teachers less than their public school counterparts and hire fewer nurses than public schools.

    Chicago is home to more than 100 privately-operated charter schools but it is not the only city in America full of charter schools that suspend and expel poor and low-income black and brown students at much higher rates than public schools. 1 For example, Legal Prep Charter Academy, “which is about 99% Black, issued 190 out-of-school suspensions during the 2019-2020 school year. Community organizers and students say the harsh discipline tactics make students less engaged with school and feel unwanted.” This means that Legal Prep Charter Academy, “suspended students at a higher rate than any other school in Chicago.” The school also “issued 13 expulsions during the 2019-2020 school year, meaning almost one out of every 20 students was expelled.” Not surprisingly, Legal Prep Charter Academy is in legal trouble on other fronts as well. In the U.S., “no-excuses” charter schools have come under heavy criticism over the years for their harsh consequences, antisocial policies, and authoritarian practices.

    Even during the height of the covid pandemic:

    the [Chicago] district’s charters issued an average of 130 suspensions per 1,000 students. (Students can be suspended multiple times). That rate is nearly five times that of non-charter schools in Chicago, according to new analysis of disciplinary data obtained online from the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools. (emphasis added)

    According to the same source, expulsions have been going on for years:

    Of the schools in Chicago issuing the highest number of expulsions in 2019-2020, eight of the top 10 schools were charter schools, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. In 2018-2019, all 10 were charters. Legal Prep was on both of those lists.

    To be sure, charter school suspensions and expulsions is a long-standing national problem. Charter schools do not accept or retain all students. Many students pushed out of charter schools return to their home public school.2 Chalkbeat noted in 2015 that New York City charter schools also suspended students at a much higher rate than the city’s public schools. On a national scale, a 2016 study by The Civil Rights Project at UCLA found that charter schools suspended a range of students at higher rates than public schools. The report, which examined more than 5,000 charter schools across the country, also stressed the intensely segregated nature of charter schools. It is well-known that students who are suspended and expelled at high rates are more likely to become part of the school-to-prison pipeline.

    Unlike privately-operated charter schools, public schools accept all students at all times and have far fewer suspensions and expulsions; they are not as heavy-handed as charter schools. Charter schools are deregulated schools, which means that they are exempt from many public standards, laws, and rules. Deregulation is a key feature of the privatization agenda of neoliberals. This “autonomy” and “freedom” allows charter schools to engage in punitive practices in the name of “innovation” and “high expectations.” In practice, privatization incentivizes both nonprofit and for-profit charter schools to cherry-pick students, cut corners, and underinvest. Privatization does the same in other sectors as well, resulting in a lowering of the level of society and the economy.

    Despite efforts to reduce extremely high suspension and expulsion rates, charter schools in Chicago and elsewhere are not known for vigorously embracing sustained pro-social improvements, let alone on a broad and rapid scale. They cannot do so because they operate mainly as profit-maximizing private enterprises, regardless of whether they are classified as nonprofit or for-profit schools. Profit maximization and human social responsibilities like education do not go together; they negate each other. The notion that the broad aim of the public can be reconciled and harmonized with the narrow aim of owners of capital is straightforward disinformation; they are contradictory aims.

    Many have publicly stated that cashing in on kids is immoral and self-serving. In theory and practice, justice cannot be upheld or restored in entities set up to operate on the basis of individualism, consumerism, competition, the “free market,” and exclusionary practices. Privatization is designed for profit, not equity or justice. Privatization fosters exclusion and a hierarchy of rights, not the opposite. In legal, philosophical, operational, and other ways, charter schools are set up very differently from public schools. It is problematic to even compare them or to call charter schools public schools. Charter schools and public schools are apples and oranges.

    A modern public education system in a society based on mass industrial production can and must be world-class, fully-funded, inclusive, universal, non-punitive, publicly controlled, and never allowed to fall into the hands of private interests. Owners of capital have no legitimate claim to public funds, assets, or enterprises because these all belong to the public and are meant to serve the common good, not the narrow aim of profit maximization.

    There are roughly 100,000 public schools and approximately 7,500 privately-operated charter schools in the United States. Around 3.4 million students attend charter schools and about 50 million youth—90% of students—attend public schools. Roughly 150-250 charter schools close every year due to financial malfeasance, mismanagement, or poor academic performance, leaving many poor and low-income minority families out in the cold. Despite the oft-repeated promise of better results for students and schools, about 5,000 charter schools have closed in the U.S. over the course of nearly 31 years.

    1. It is critical to appreciate (1) that charter schools in Chicago came about by closing dozens of public schools in the city and that (2) the closure of public schools in mainly Black communities has caused harm on many levels (see here).
    2. It is important to appreciate that charter schools choose parents and students, not the other way around.
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  • Elusive Transparency In Charter Schools

    Even though they make up less than 7% of all schools in the U.S., every year hundreds of news articles highlight the persistent lack of transparency and accountability in the crisis-prone charter school sector.

    Even worse, everyone is under pressure to stand passively on the sidelines and watch as these outsourced privatized schools, which siphon billions of dollars a year from public schools, operate with impunity.

    Nearly 31 years after they first appeared in the U.S., privately-operated charter schools remain immune to pro-social reform and are plagued by endless problems. Ceaseless reports from the mainstream press and the alternative press on the lack of charter school transparency and accountability have not translated into meaningful and lasting reforms. Governments at all levels have failed to defend the public interest and reign in charter schools. More charter schools equal less money, fewer facilities, and diminished authority for the public schools that educate 90% of the nation’s youth. Far from solving any problems, school privatization has created new problems and exacerbated existing ones.

    Chalkbeat recently reported that Some Newark charter schools fail to fully comply with transparency rules. In reality more than just “Some Newark charter schools fail to fully comply with transparency rules.” Every state with charter schools has many charter schools, not just “some,” that abdicate basic responsibilities. And if past experience is any indication, accountability and transparency will remain elusive in the charter school sector for years to come.

    One of the main ways charter schools in New Jersey and elsewhere evade openness and honesty is by not informing parents or the community about certain meetings and events even though open-meeting laws require such public announcements in a timely fashion. This is one of the many ways privately-operated charter schools differ from public schools even though they are called public schools. Privately-operated charter schools are frequently not open or forthright about their activities and leave the public out of the equation. Many charter schools in Newark and elsewhere do not even post updated and recent meeting minutes on their website. Chalkbeat reports that:

    Shannon Francis Esannason, whose son is in eighth grade at one of the group’s [charter] schools [in Newark], said she had no idea the board met last week. The meeting was not advertised on the school’s Facebook page, Instagram account, or calendar, and Francis Esannason said she did not receive an email notice. “They don’t invite us to the meetings,” she said. “It would be nice to know what’s going on.

    New Jersey law requires charter schools to post “board meeting minutes online and releasing agendas at least 48 hours before public meetings.” In a review of numerous charter school websites, Chalkbeat found that:

    many Newark charter schools had not posted the agendas or minutes of recent board meetings. By contrast, Newark’s traditional school district publishes detailed meeting agendas and minutes online, as well as videos of every board meeting.

    When Chalkbeat reviewed the websites of Newark’s 17 charter schools it discovered many problems with transparency and information accuracy. Here is a short list:

    • only two schools had posted agendas for their most recent board meetings
    • 12 schools had not posted meeting minutes since November or before
    • nine schools did not appear to post any meeting agendas

    Chalkbeat stresses that:

    Charter schools’ failure to keep the public informed about their board proceedings is significant, as more than a third of Newark’s public school students attended charter schools last year and $300 million, or 28% of the district’s budget this school year, will go to charter school students.

    Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers University professor who has studied New Jersey charter schools, asserts that, “Whenever public money is involved, I think you expect to have a high level of transparency. If there’s no transparency, it’s very difficult to have effective oversight.” For his part, David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, points out that the state education department in New Jersey “does not always fulfill its duty to monitor charter schools’ compliance with the law.” This lack of charter school oversight and accountability is certainly not unique to New Jersey, it permeates the whole charter school sector; many states overlook or ignore violations in the charter school sector.

    At the end of the day, funneling enormous sums of public money away from public schools and into the hands of private interests that run nontransparent charter schools is a serious violation of the public interest.

    In this context, it is worth recalling that, unlike public schools, none of the nation’s roughly 7,500 privately-operated charter schools is run by a publicly elected school board and about 90% have no teacher unions. On average, charter schools also hire fewer nurses and more inexperienced teachers than public schools. It is also important to appreciate that New Jersey’s charter schools intensify segregation. Further, in 2020, investigative reporters at North Jersey Record updated an extremely detailed multi-part report on widespread fraud, waste, corruption, lies, and mismanagement in New Jersey charter schools.  Again, such problems and crimes are not unique to charter schools in New Jersey, they plague the entire crisis-prone charter school sector coast to coast.

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  • Miserable Bankruptcy of Mainstream Economics

    Capital-centered economics is unscientific and irrational. It does not provide people with a coherent, integrated, and cogent understanding of the economy. Instead it increases confusion every day, leaving people rudderless and disoriented about what is really happening.

    The capitalist economic system is always chaotic, anarchic, and violent, but the last two years have been more volatile and disordered than usual. Stability and security remain elusive. Uncertainty and anxiety are ever-present. Sustained healthy economic growth is largely absent.

    In the most schizophrenic way, one week the monopoly-controlled media claims that the economy is doing extremely well while the following week we are told the economy is collapsing. We are to accept constant uncertainty and precariousness and conclude that this is the best we can do. A CNBC news article, After a huge year for growth, the U.S. economy is about to slam into a wall, is emblematic of this incoherence and irrationalism. So is this headline from U.S. News & World Report, The Maddening Reality of the Biden Economy, and this one from CNN Business, America’s economic recovery is about to go into reverse. What “growth”? What “recovery”? And why are “growth” and “recovery” suddenly “about to go into reverse” or “slam into a wall”?

    The main nagging economic problems are well-known: endless debt of all kinds, ceaseless money printing, high inflation, growing inequality, extensive supply chain disruptions, more poverty, rising insecurity, widespread under-employment, erratic business hours, poor wage growth, prevalent homelessness, additional pay-the-rich schemes, and more.

    These grave problems are interrelated and reflect an economy dominated and distorted by a handful of competing owners of capital while the vast majority, the actual producers of wealth in society, remain marginalized and disempowered, reduced to helpless bystanders watching everything decline. We are to believe that conscious human control of the economy is impossible and that all we can do is “make the best” of a treacherous situation, “endure the pain,” and “weather the storm together.” Apparently there is no alternative to this obsolete state of affairs. We are to “wait things out,” cross our fingers, and hope that things magically sort themselves out.

    Existing conditions are screaming for new social, political, and economic relations but the present authority refuses to modernize relations to bring them on par with what is needed. The international financial oligarchy is desperately hanging on to a dying and decaying world, determined to block the new.

    What are people to make of this untenable situation? What should they do? How can they change the situation in a way that favors them?

    Continually engaging in a conscious act of finding out and combing analysis with action are critical to opening the path of progress to society. These are not easy responsibilities, especially under oppressive anti-conscious conditions.

    Economic problems cannot be solved without concrete analysis of the conditions and collective action to solve problems. The rich and their allies are not going to solve anything. They have no interest in the balanced extended reproduction of society. They cannot be relied on because they are concerned only with their narrow private interests, not the economy as an integrated whole. They reject public control of the economy. Nor do they want anyone engaging in conscious investigation of what is going on and organizing with others to create new pro-social arrangements. The ruling elite does not want its domination challenged in any way, no matter how many lofty phrases they throw around about being democratic, inclusive, and progressive.

    Blindly repeating and supporting the ideas of the rich and their political representatives will not lead to one iota of progress. Embracing the outlook and agenda of the ruling elite and rejecting theory, analysis, and investigation will only perpetuate the destructive status quo. It is only by taking up our social responsibility together that we can overcome the forces dragging society backward. It is both possible and necessary to understand and control the economy to serve the people as a whole. Living and working standards do not have to decline in this modern age. The economy is not a mystery. It can be directed to serve the general interests of society.

    Under existing arrangements we have seen what happens when different sectors of the economy are dominated by competing owners of capital interested only in their own profits no matter how damaging this is to the social and natural environment. The economy is prevented from being self-reliant, balanced, and coordinated to serve the broad needs of a modern society based on mass industrial production.

    Under capitalism everything is so discombobulated that one “glitch” in one sector leads to disruptions, distortions, and upheaval elsewhere. Why is this unsustainable state of affairs allowed to prevail in 2022? Is there no alternative to this backward state of affairs?

    Major owners of capital are a block to progress and progress begins by taking a stand against the old and in favor of the new. It begins by rejecting a capital-centered outlook of the economy and society. Together we can decipher and understand what is going on and collectively improve the social and natural environment. Only we can usher in the alternative to the status quo.

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  • Governor Of New York Promotes School Privatization

    Public and private refer to two different things. Public and private are antonyms. Public refers to everyone, the common good, non-rivalry, inclusion, broad accessibility, transparency, and more. Private means that something is not for everyone, it is not for the common good, it is exclusive. Private can also mean confidential, secret, off the record, or privileged. Neoliberals regularly blur the critical distinction between public and private for self-serving reasons.

    One of the key features of privatization is that it shifts money and authority away from the public sector and into the hands of narrow private interests. In this way, privatization restricts and weakens the public while enriching and empowering narrow private interests. This is often done under the veneer of high ideals to fool the gullible. It is presented as a good thing, as a “win-win” for everyone. This disinformation is best captured in the notion of public-private “partnerships.”

    In two major pro-privatization moves, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York State recently announced that more public funds will be funneled to privately-operated charter schools in New York City. She also empowered the Mayor of New York City to continue to exercise mayoral control of New York City schools for four more years. Eric Adams, a retired police officer, became the mayor of New York City on January 1, 2022.

    Hochul nonchalantly repeated worn-out pretexts for sending more public money to privately-operated charter schools. This included throwing around words like “innovate” and “educational options,” which are straight out of the school privatization neoliberal playbook. Hochul seems to be unaware of the extensive research on the many problems in the crisis-prone charter school sector, as well as all the serious problems associated with government takeovers of public school systems.

    Thousands of students, teachers, parents, and education advocates in New York City and across New York State more broadly have been opposing charter schools and mayoral control of public schools for years. Their efforts and determination are relentless. The public does not support more anti-democratic arrangements and the gutting of public schools to enrich narrow private interests.

    Research and experience show that government takeovers of public school districts generally make everything worse. Their main benefit is for the rich who use mayoral control to restrict democracy and engage in neoliberal restructuring of public schools in the name of “improving schools,” which usually means creating more charter schools. For their part, charter schools, which are intensely segregated in New York City, have wreaked havoc on public schools while enriching major owners of capital. No amount of disinformation about increasing charter schools “to give parents choices” can cover up these harsh realities.

    Even more disturbing is the prospect of Governor Hochul raising the cap (limit) on the number of privately-operated charter schools than can operate in New York City. This will further degrade everything while funneling more public money into private hands. It will not serve public schools and the public interest in any way.

    Currently, there are about 270 privately-operated charter schools in New York City. The cap on charter schools in the City has been frozen for several years. Statewide, the charter school cap is set at 460. New York State passed its charter school law in 1998.

    For extensive data on poor academic performance in charter schools across the country, see Thousands of Charter Schools Perform Poorly (2019) and Widespread Poor Performance Persists in Charter Schools (2019). It should also be noted that many charter schools have inflated student waiting lists, which makes it look like charter schools are in greater demand than they actually are.

    School privatization in its many forms is a top-down neoliberal strategy, not a grass-roots pro-social phenomenon. The main way to improve education in New York City is to stop the flow of all public funds to charter schools and return control of public schools to the public. Private interests have no valid or legitimate claim to public funds, facilities, or authority.

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  • Persistent Discriminatory Enrollment Practices In Charter Schools

    Privately-operated charter schools are notorious for consistently under-enrolling different groups of students, even though they are ostensibly public schools that are said to be tuition-free and open to all. Few charter schools have a truly diverse student body.

    Students with special needs, English language learners, and homeless students are the three main groups of regularly under-represented students in charter schools. Students who are “poor test takers” and students who have “behavior problems” are also frequently excluded from charter schools, leaving charter schools with a reputation for intensifying segregation. In Los Angeles, California, for example, privately-operated charter schools “suspended black students at almost three times the rate of traditional schools; students with disabilities were suspended at nearly four times the non-charter school rate.” Suspensions and expulsions are two key ways these unregulated schools cherry-pick their students.

    To this day, 30 years after they first appeared in the U.S., there remains no effective mechanism to hold these outsourced privatized schools accountable in a meaningful way, even though they collectively receive billions of public dollars every year and are routinely mired in scandal, corruption, and controversy.

    The most recent example of dozens of charter schools cherry-picking students comes from Colorado. On January 13, 2022, Chalkbeat carried an article titled  “Colorado: Charter school applications can’t ask about disability“. The article states that:

    Colorado charter schools will no longer be able to ask on their applications whether students require special education services. The rule change brings Colorado into compliance with federal rules issued more than five years ago. It was approved unanimously by the State Board of Education Wednesday. Charter schools will also have to make it clear on their websites that they don’t discriminate and train employees to accurately answer questions about admissions policies in ways that don’t deter the families of students with special needs, including those with disabilities and those learning English.

    Nearly 30 Colorado charter schools illegally “asked questions about disability status on their applications.” It comes as no surprise that Colorado charter schools under-enrolled these students “at a lower rate than the state average — and at a lower rate than charter schools in most other states.”

    According to the Colorado Department of Education, there were more than 260 charter schools in Colorado serving students in the 2019-2020 school year. The state does not have a cap on the number of charter schools allowed. Nor does it set enrollment limits for virtual charter schools. Further, both nonprofit and for-profit companies may apply to open a charter school in Colorado.

    The rise and expansion of charter schools across the country has degraded the overall level of education in society while enriching a handful of people.

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  • Poor Working Conditions Widespread In Charter Schools

    About 3.5 million students currently attend roughly 7,400 privately-operated charter schools in the U.S. This represents around 7% of all students and 7% of all schools in the country. Unlike public schools, all charter schools are run by unelected individuals.

    Approximately 90% of these outsourced privatized schools have no teacher unions. The vast majority of charter school teachers have no collective organization or unified voice that represents and defends their legitimate and valid interests. As a general rule, the overwhelming majority of charter school owners and operators work overtime to block teachers from forming unions and having greater control over their working conditions. Further, most state laws on charter schools are written in a way to undermine the formation of teacher unions in charter schools. In this way, privately-operated charter schools are set up to undermine the ability of workers to embrace their social responsibility to resist poor working conditions.

    Nonetheless, to their credit, over the past 30 years many bold teachers in numerous privately-operated charter schools across the country have successfully fought back against marginalization, poor pay, poor working conditions, and burnout by organizing their peers to form a union so that they can collectively affirm their rights and better serve their students. Unions negate a fend-for-yourself ethos and recognize that an injury to one is an injury to all. Unionized workers typically have higher levels of compensation, better benefits, and greater security than non-unionized workers.1

    Charter school owners and operators repeatedly insist that their “innovative,” “flexible,” “autonomous,” “independent,” “market” character is a strength that purportedly allows them to hire the best teachers and provide the best education arrangements and results possible. But teacher turnover in nonprofit and for-profit charter schools is very high. By far, the main reasons teachers leave charter schools are poor management, poor pay, poor benefits, and poor working conditions.2 Teacher retention remains a problem in many charter schools, which is why countless charter schools regularly hire uncertified and inexperienced teachers. Some states with charter school laws do not even require teachers to be certified or licensed.

    On January 7, 2022, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that:

    Teaching staff at Carmen Schools of Science and Technology — a group of six charter schools in Milwaukee [Wisconsin]— are attempting to unionize, and CEO Jennifer Lopez says she won’t stand in their way. If successful, organizers believe they will be the first to unionize an independent charter school in Wisconsin.

    Given the well-established opposition to teacher unions by charter school owners and operators, CEO Lopez’s assertion that “she won’t stand” in the way of teachers forming a union needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Does Lopez have a trick up her sleeve? Does she think the union drive is too powerful to stop? Does she believe that mis-rendering the issue of unionization as “an individual decision” will blunt the drive to form a union? Neoliberal forces routinely use language like forming a union should be a “fully informed, personal choice” to create space for disinforming workers and blocking unionization efforts. Regardless, union “organizers are asking the nearly 200 teachers, social workers and specialists of Carmen Schools to sign union authorization cards.” And in all likelihood, the majority will.

    One of the most basic and revealing demands of teachers is for better pay and workloads capped at 40 hours a week. This last point is particularly significant because many, if not most, nonprofit and for-profit charter schools have longer school days and school years than public schools, and they generally pay their teachers noticeably less than their public school counterparts. In addition, longer school days and years do not generally translate into improved academic achievement. More time in school does not necessarily produce more learning and achievement. Every year, numerous charter schools from coast to coast fail and close due to poor academic performance. Many others perform poorly for years but are not closed. So much for “market accountability.”

    Pointing to other long-standing problems in Carmen Charter Schools, teachers are also demanding that teachers and students have a greater say in decision-making. Workplaces characterized by top-down exclusionary decision-making processes—a key feature of neoliberal managerialism—are never a good place to work. It is one of the main reasons workers leave their job. “Input” and “consultation” are not the same as real decision-making power, which all workers have a right to. The absence of a real say in things naturally leaves a bad taste in the mouths of workers. “I see so many passionate, dedicated, and excellent Carmen staff come and go,” Carmen Southeast High School teacher Leland Pan said in a news release. A main union organizer highlighted “massive, concerning turnover” as a major reason for fighting for a union. High teacher turnover rates undermine stability, collegiality, continuity, and learning, not to mention the ability to form a union. What parent wants to send their kid to a school where teachers are constantly coming and going?

    It is important to stress that the just struggle of workers in Carmen Charter Schools is the result of poor working conditions that characterize much of the crisis-prone charter school sector. Thousands of workers in nonprofit and for-profit charter schools across the country are disempowered and have no meaningful say in their own working conditions. The conditions in Carmen Charter Schools in Wisconsin are not unique. Instability and anarchy are widespread.

    The only way for workers to improve their lives and the success of their students is by joining together to fight for their rights. No one else is going to fight for their rights. It is an illusion to think that neoliberals and privatizers exist to affirm the rights of workers, which is why neoliberals and privatizers spend a lot of time promoting “feel-good” rhetoric but routinely engage in anti-social policies and practices in real life.

    1. For extensive information on the many benefits of unions, see the work of the Economic Policy Institute.
    2. 5,000 privately-operated charter schools have closed since their inception in 1991, leaving many poor and low-income minority families disillusioned and out in the cold. The three main reasons for frequent charter school closures are financial malfeasance, mismanagement, and poor academic performance. See: “5,000 Charter Schools Closed in 30 Years,” September 18th, 2021,
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  • No Letup In Economic And Social Decline

    Economic and social conditions have been worsening for decades at home and abroad, especially in the context of the neoliberal antisocial offensive which was launched more than 40 years ago by the international financial oligarchy. But they have been getting even worse in recent years and over the past two years in particular.

    Inequality, poverty, and debt, along with homelessness, unemployment, and under-employment are on the rise in an increasingly interconnected globe. It is no surprise that suicide, depression, illness, and anxiety persist at very high levels. There is an unbreakable connection between economic, social, and personal conditions. As economic and social conditions decline, so too do people’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

    Below is a current snapshot of deteriorating economic and social conditions in the U.S. and elsewhere. The U.S. population currently stands at 332,403,650. The world population is 7,868,872,451.

    Conditions in the U.S.

    American student loan debt increased at a rate of 20 percent in the last ten years, leaving college graduates with hefty payments. The student loan debt in the US is a growing crisis with college graduates owing a collective $1.75 trillion in student loans. In 2021, there are 44.7 million Americans who have student loan debt averaging about $30,000 at the time of receiving their undergraduate degree.

    The number of Americans living without homes, in shelters, or on the streets continues to rise at an alarming rate.

    The $5 trillion in wealth now held by 745 billionaires is two-thirds more than the $3 trillion in wealth held by the bottom 50 percent of U.S. households estimated by the Federal Reserve Board.

    The official poverty rate in 2020 was 11.4 percent, up 1.0 percentage point from 10.5 percent in 2019. This is the first increase in poverty after five consecutive annual declines. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019.

    After the longest period in history without an increase, the federal minimum wage today is worth 21% less than 12 years ago—and 34% less than in 1968.

    CEOs were paid 351 times as much as a typical worker in 2020.

    [F]or seven months of 2021, workers have been quitting at near-record rates.

    More than 4.5  million people voluntarily left their jobs in November [2021] the Labor Department said Tuesday. That was up from 4.2 million in October and was the most in the two decades that the government has been keeping track.

    According to a report by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Initiative, Latinas are leaving the workforce at higher rates than any other demographic. Between March 2020 and March 2021, the number of Latinas in the workforce dropped by 2.74%, meaning there are 336,000 fewer Latinas in the labor force

    The adult women’s labor force participation rate remains blunted at 57.5%—well below pre-pandemic levels. In fact, it’s worse than pre-pandemic levels.

    U.S. job openings jumped in October to the second-highest on record, underscoring the ongoing challenge for employers to find qualified workers for an unprecedented number of vacancies. The number of available positions rose to 11 million from an upwardly revised 10.6 million in September.

    As of November [2021], 15.6 million workers in the US are still being affected by the pandemic’s economic downturn; 3.9 million US workers are out of the labor force due to Covid-19, 6.9 million workers are still unemployed, 2 million workers are still experiencing cuts to pay or work schedules due to Covid-19, and another 3 million workers are misclassified as employed or out of the labor force, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

    About 2.2 million Americans remain long-term unemployed — about 1.1 million more than in February 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    [I]n 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in November that more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, May 2020 to April 2021, with about three-quarters of those deaths involving opioids — a national record.

    U.S. death rate soared 17 percent in 2020, final CDC mortality report concludes.

    Life Insurance CEO Says Deaths Up 40% Among Those Aged 18-64.

    Suicide rates increased 33% between 1999 and 2019, with a small decline in 2019. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. It was responsible for more than 47,500 deaths in 2019, which is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2019, 12 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.5 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.4 million attempted suicide. Suicide affects all ages. It is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34, the fourth leading cause among people ages 35-44, and the fifth leading cause among people ages 45-54.

    Alarming Anxiety & Depression Toll making All Time Record Highs Impacting 30% of all Americans.

    [Depression] has been rising for well more than a decade in teens and hiked further during the pandemic. And after a pandemic-induced spike, depression symptoms now plague more than a quarter of U.S. adults. More than 13% of Americans were taking antidepressants before Covid hit and during the pandemic, prescriptions shot up 6%.

    At least 12 major U.S. cities have broken annual homicide records in 2021.

    Private health insurance coverage declined for working-age adults ages 19 to 64 from early 2019 to early 2021, when the nation experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In 2020, 4.3 million children under the age of 19 — 5.6% of all children — were without health coverage for the entire calendar year.

    International Conditions

    Even as tens of millions of people were being pushed into destitution, the ultra-rich became wealthier. Last year, billionaires enjoyed the highest boost to their share of wealth on record, according to the World Inequality Lab.

    Global wealth inequality is even more pronounced than income inequality. The poorest half of the world’s population only possess 2 percent of the total wealth. In contrast, the wealthiest 10 percent own 76 percent of all wealth, with $771,300 (€550,900) on average.

    The pandemic has pushed approximately 100 million people into extreme poverty, boosting the global total to 711 million in 2021.

    More than half a billion people pushed or pushed further into extreme poverty due to health care costs.

    World leaders urged to halt escalating hunger crisis as 17% more people expected to need life-saving aid in 2022.

    33% of Arab world doesn’t have enough food: UN report. The Arab world witnessed a 91.1 per cent increase in hunger since 2000, affecting 141 million people.

    The 60% of low-income countries the IMF says are now near or in debt distress compares with less than 30% as recently as 2015.

    According to a recent Gallup poll, 63 percent of Lebanese would like to permanently leave the country in the face of worsening living conditions.

    25% of households in Israel live in poverty. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211221-25-of-households-in-israel-live-in-poverty/

    Turkey’s annual inflation rate is expected to have hit 30.6% in December, according to a Reuters poll, breaching the 30% level for the first time since 2003 as prices rose due to record lira volatility.

    Kazakhstan government resigns amid protests over rising fuel prices.

    Pakistanis squeezed by inflation face more pain from tax hikes.

    November saw inflation rise by 14.23 percent, building on a pattern of double-digit increases that have hit India for several months now. Fuel and energy prices rose nearly 40 percent last month. Urban unemployment – most of the better-paying jobs are in cities – has been moving up since September and is now above 9 percent.

    Sri Lanka is facing a deepening financial and humanitarian crisis with fears it could go bankrupt in 2022 as inflation rises to record levels, food prices rocket and its coffers run dry.

    Index shows South Africa’s economy is shrinking.

    COVID-19 spike worsens Africa’s severe poverty, hunger woes.

    Latin America’s biggest economy [Brazil] is seen remaining stuck in recession as it confronts double-digit price increases.

    Japan admits overstating economic data for nearly a decade.

    New Zealanders are feeling pessimistic about the economy, worried about rising interest rates and the prospect of new Covid-19 variants, Westpac’s latest consumer confidence data shows.

    Canadians’ optimism towards their financial health and the economy at large reached its lowest point in more than a year during the final work week of 2021, according to Bloomberg and Nanos Research.

    Polish Inflation to Rise Sharply in 2022, Central Bank Boss Says.

    Inflation is at its highest level in the UK since 2011.

    The Resolution Foundation predicts higher energy bills, stagnant wages and tax rises could leave [U.K.] households with a £1,200 a year hit to their incomes.

    Air travel in and out of UK slumps by 71% in 2021 amid pandemic. Report from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows domestic flights were down by almost 60%.

    Annual inflation in Spain rises 6.7% in December, the highest level in nearly three decades.

    Germany’s Bundesbank lowers 2022 economic growth forecast.

    OECD predicts Latvia to have the slowest economic growth among Baltic States.

    While deteriorating economic, social, and personal conditions define many other countries and regions, the main question is why do such horrible problems persist in the 21st century? The scientific and technical revolution of the last 250 years has objectively enabled and empowered humankind to solve major problems and to meet the basic needs of all humans while improving the natural environment. There are a million creative ways to affirm the rights of all safely, sustainably, quickly, and on a constantly-improving basis. There is no reason for persistent and widespread instability, chaos, and insecurity. Living and working standards should be steadily rising everywhere in the 21st century, not continually declining for millions. Objectively, there is no shortage or scarcity of socially-produced wealth to meet the needs of all.

    Under existing political-economic arrangements, however, systemic instabilities and crises will persist for the foreseeable future, ensuring continued anxiety and hardship for millions. The rich and their political representatives have repeatedly demonstrated that they are unable and unwilling to solve serious problems. They are out of touch and self-serving. As a result, the world is full of more chaos, anarchy, insecurity, and violence of all forms. The rich are concerned only with their narrow private interests no matter how damaging this is to the natural and social environment. They do not recognize the need for a self-reliant, diverse, and balanced economy controlled and directed by working people. They reject the human factor and social consciousness in all affairs.

    It is not possible to overcome unresolved economic and social problems so long as the economy remains dominated by a handful of billionaires. It is impossible to invest socially-produced wealth in social programs and services so long as the workers who produce that wealth have no control over it. Every year, more and more of the wealth produced by workers fills the pockets of fewer and fewer billionaires, thereby exacerbating many problems. Wealth concentration has reached extremely absurd levels.

    It is extremely difficult to bring about change that favors the people so long as the cartel political parties of the rich dominate politics and keep people out of power. Constantly begging and “pressuring” politicians to fulfill people’s most basic rights is humiliating, exhausting, and ineffective. It does not work. No major problems have been solved in years. More problems keep appearing no matter which party of the rich is in power. The obsolete two-party system stands more discredited with each passing year. Getting excited every 2-4 years about which candidate of the rich will win an election has not brought about deep and lasting changes that favor the people. It is no surprise that President Joe Biden’s approval rating keeps hitting new lows every few weeks. People want change that favors them, not more schemes to pay the rich in the name of “getting things done” or “serving the public.” “Building Back Better” should not mean tons more money for the rich and a few crumbs for the rest of us.

    A fresh new alternative is needed that actually empowers the people themselves to direct all the affairs of society. New arrangements that unleash the human factor and enable people to practically implement pro-social changes are needed urgently. All the old institutions of liberal democracy and the so-called “social contract” disappeared long ago and cannot provide a way forward. They are part of an old obsolete world that continually blocks the affirmation of human rights. This law or that law from this mainstream party or that mainstream party is not going to save the day. The cartel parties of the rich became irrelevant long ago.

    We are in an even more violent and chaotic environment today that is yearning for a new and modern alternative that affirms the rights of all and prevents any individuals, governments, or corporations from depriving people of their rights. People themselves must be the decision-makers so that the wealth of society is put in the service of society. Constantly paying the rich more while gutting social programs and enterprises is a recipe for greater tragedies.

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  • Charter School Corruption Will Increase In 2022

    While corruption and fraud have been widespread and relentless in the charter school sector for several decades, both appear to be increasing with each passing year.1  The year 2022 promises to bring even more corruption and scandal to this crisis-prone sector that is rapidly undermining public schools and lowering the level of education in society.

    As the economy continues to decline, as democracy and accountability further deteriorate, and as the private profit motive remains center-stage, major owners of capital will become more desperate, reckless, and greedy in their quest for profits. They will become more emboldened to dictate affairs with even greater force and impunity. In many states powerful forces behind privately-operated charter schools are increasingly using the state to create new non-public entities or mechanisms that can quickly and unilaterally override democratic decisions made by mayors, voters, or elected bodies such as public school boards when they reject charter school applications or decide to close a corrupt or failing charter school. If they do not like a decision rendered by elected public officials, or even a judge, the rich and their representatives will rapidly circumvent it or overrule it no matter how damaging or unconstitutional such a decision is. Neoliberals and privatizers will not tolerate any democratic pro-social decisions that interfere with their antisocial aim to create more pay-the-rich schemes like privately-operated charter schools, which is why charter schools are continually multiplying despite more and more damning and indicting evidence against them. Major owners of capital are determined to preserve their class privilege and have no interest in a modern public education system. To fool the gullible, they will continue to over-promise and under-deliver.

    In this context, it is more critical to expose and oppose school privatization, while also stepping up efforts to defend public education and the public interest.

    A useful tool in this regard is the newly-improved Charter School Scandals website organized by the Network for Public Education. The public can use the website to obtain more granular state-by-state information about various crimes and scandals in the charter school sector. While the updated site contains links to endless old and recent news articles exposing different crimes and scandals in nonprofit and for-profit charter schools coast to coast, it does not come close to collating all the disturbing news on charter schools, partly because a lot of bad news on charter schools never even makes it to the news. Suffice it to say, probably no other sector or institution in society comes close to having the volume of corruption and fraud found in the charter school sector, which does not even make up 7% of schools in the country.

    To be sure, more individuals and organizations will take on the social responsibility of opposing charter schools in 2022 because social consciousness of long-standing problems in the charter school sector is increasing and more people are realizing that neoliberals and privatizers are driven by maximizing profit with greater avarice and impunity. The fact that privatization increases corruption and violates the public trust is not lost on many.

    There is an alternative to school privatization and the suppression of the public interest by narrow private interests. People can and must create spaces to discuss all the affairs that concern them. They can represent themselves and put forward their own views and demands on what is needed to advance education and society. No one is under any obligation to accept any of the retrogressive ideas and arrangements embraced by the rich and their entourage. The crisis in education and society cannot be overcome by further privileging private interests over the public interest.

    1. For endless reports and articles documenting charter school corruption in detail, search for “charter school corruption” here.
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  • Will Charter Schools Improve Education in France?

    Charter by definition means contract, a legally binding agreement between two or more parties to do or not do something within a specified period of time. Typically, contracts also enshrine a set of rewards and punishments.

    Contracts are the quintessential market category. They govern how relations work in the marketplace and ensure exchange relations occupy center-stage in contemporary capitalist societies. Contracts are a key mechanism used often to outsource and privatize public services, programs, and enterprises. Contracting, especially in the neoliberal period, is a way to expand the claims of private interests on public funds, assets, and authority while restricting the claims of the public to public funds, assets, and authority.

    Charter schools are contract schools. They are outsourced privatized schools that use public money that belongs to public schools.1  Charter schools are not public schools in the proper sense of the word. In the U.S., for example, charter schools differ dramatically from public schools. Among other things, charter schools are run by unelected individuals, cannot levy taxes, are not state agencies, oppose unions, frequently hire many uncertified teachers, spend a lot on advertising, are exempt from numerous public laws, and are often run openly as for-profit entities. They also have a very high failure rate: five thousand charter schools have closed since their inception in 1991.2 Financial malfeasance, mismanagement, and poor academic performance are the three most common reasons nonprofit and for-profit charter schools close regularly in the U.S., leaving many minority families out in the cold.

    The relentless pressure of the law of the falling rate of profit is forcing major owners of capital in more countries to use the state to establish and expand privately-operated charter schools as a way to counteract the inescapable decline in the rate and mass of profit. Owners of capital see the public education budget as a large pool of money they can seize in the context of a continually failing economy.

    Presently, the U.S. is home to the largest number of charter schools in the world, with about 7,400 privately-operated nonprofit and for-profit charter schools strewn across the country. Only about half a dozen other countries have privately-operated charter schools and none have close to the number of charter schools found in the U.S.

    France, a major European country, is now considering establishing privately-operated charter schools. Unlike the U.S., France has long enshrined the claim to public education in its constitution. Unlike many constitutions, the U.S. constitution does not even contain the word education in it. For 60 years, however, France has also funneled enormous sums of public money to private Catholic schools so long as these schools hire state-certified teachers and use the national curriculum. “About 15 percent of France’s primary and secondary schools fall into this category,” says the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

    Valérie Pécresse is presently the candidate of the Republicans for France’s presidential election in April 2022. She is described as the first woman nominated by the Republicans as a presidential candidate. The New York Times reports that Pécresse, 54, is “the current leader of the Paris region and a former national minister of the budget and then higher education, has risen to second place behind Mr. Macron in the polls among likely voters in the election”

    Among other things, Pécresse is described as a right-winger who proudly and publicly declares that she is inspired by Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Britain who vigorously promoted a neoliberal outlook and agenda at home and abroad.

    Recently, Pécresse proposed establishing charter schools in France. According to a November 30, 2021, article in the French newspaper LeMonde:

    In outlining the educational platform for her presidential candidacy in a speech in Venoy (Yonne) on October 12, Valérie Pécresse proposed transforming 10 percent of the nation’s public schools into “a new kind of public school under contract, inspired by ‘charter schools’ found in England and Sweden.” These schools, which would be primarily located in marginalized neighborhoods, would benefit, Pécresse declared, from the managerial autonomy currently exercised in France by private schools under contract, which account for 15 percent of the nation’s 60,000 primary and secondary schools. In these charter schools, “enrollment will depend on parents and students abiding by a charter of commitment.

    To add insult to injury, Pécresse seems to favor the infamous and heavily-criticized “no-excuses” charter school model found in the U.S. These schools are so authoritarian that they have had to rebrand themselves to project a “softer” and more humane public image.

    While Pécresse is often described as a right-winger, this may make very little difference in the scheme of things because the ruling elite are comfortable using politicians of all stripes to advance the neoliberal antisocial offensive. In the U.S., for example, both Democrats and Republicans have been long-time supporters of privately-operated charter schools that siphon billions of dollars a year from public schools. The main point is that the idea of privately-operated charter schools is now out there and the door has been opened to introducing them in the future.

    France would do well to learn from the negative experience of other countries with “autonomous” charter schools, especially the U.S. and New Zealand. Privately-operated charter schools not only possess the non-public features listed above, they also intensify segregation, reduce accountability, and increase corruption. In addition, they leave public schools and the public sector with less money to function and excel. They also reinforce the ideologies of consumerism, competition, and individualism. Charter school advocates and operators treat parents and students as consumers, not humans or citizens. They promote the illusion that education is a business, not a social responsibility that society must guarantee for all for free. Treating a social responsibility like education as a business opportunity has been a disaster for people nationally and internationally.

    The new year should be a time for all forces in all countries to renew and step up their demands for an end to the commodification of education. Governments around the world must take up their social responsibility to provide people’s rights, including the right to an education, with a guarantee in practice. No one should have to fend for themselves when it comes to securing a high quality education in the 21st century.

    1. Workers (along with nature) are the only source of wealth. All funds used to run public enterprises and the entire society come from the labor-time of workers. Wealth is not produced by owners of capital.
    2. See “5,000 Charter Schools Closed in 30 Years” (2021) here.
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  • Will Billions More Vaccination Shots Stop Continual Economic and Social Decline?

    Like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other imperialist organizations, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) recently announced that the forecast for global economic recovery will be revised downward in light of the Omicron virus variant that emerged a few weeks ago .1

    Predictably, the OECD claimed that “a swifter roll-out of COVID vaccines” will improve the economy even though this has not stopped social and economic decline so far, and even though President Joe Biden, South African leaders, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and many others around the world, even Anthony Fauci have stressed that the Omicron variant generally causes mostly mild symptoms and does not warrant hysteria and panic. The OECD’s “the-vaccine-will-solve-all-economic-problems” narrative is evident in many news items and publications on its website.

    The ruling elite and their media have been dogmatically insisting for 20 consecutive months that elusive economic recovery depends largely on giving everyone multiple vaccination shots with or without their consent—something that makes Big Pharma extremely happy.

    But so far neither billions of vaccination shots nor top-down lockdowns have stopped the deepening economic and social crisis confronting the majority of humanity. Lockdowns have devastated the livelihoods of millions and increased poverty, debt, unemployment, inequality, misery, and depression worldwide. Millions of businesses have permanently disappeared in less than 20 months. How is this an effective response to a health crisis? Will more debt, poverty, inequality, unemployment, and insecurity improve people’s health and well-being? Do security and good health come from constant instability, fear, and uncertainty? Can an economy controlled and dominated by the top 0.1% even meet the needs of the people? Not surprisingly, a key feature of the “COVID Pandemic” has been even greater concentration of socially-produced wealth in fewer private hands, bringing inequality worldwide to even more barbaric levels. Currently, “the poorest half of the planet’s population owns about 2% of its riches”. In addition, high levels of inflation are spreading globally, thereby decreasing people’s purchasing power even further. Whatever wage or salary gains many people may be getting are being rapidly eaten up by rising inflation.

    Nearly two years after the “COVID Pandemic” started economies around the world are plagued by many serious intractable economic problems. It has been a huge struggle for the rich and their political and media representatives to anchor themselves in any legitimacy, and given the chaotic, anarchic, and violent way everything is being approached by the rich and their entourage, more tragedies are in store.

    The necessity for an economy, society, and institutions controlled by the people themselves has never been sharper and more urgent. The rich and their cheerleaders cannot offer a way forward. They are historically exhausted, unfit to rule, and determined to preserve obsolete arrangements that keep everyone marginalized and disempowered. They reject social responsibility and block any striving of the people for a better world. The all-sided crisis plaguing people everywhere can only be solved by people relying on themselves instead of the rich and their representatives.

    1. Imperialist organizations like the OECD regularly over-project economic growth and thus they routinely revise their projections downwards several times a year, causing many to lose faith in their ability to accurately cognize economic realities and conditions.
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  • New Zealand: Charter School Corruption

    The U.S. is home to the largest number of privately-operated charter schools in the world (about 7,400). While they take different forms and are called different things, charter schools also exist in much smaller numbers in New Zealand, England, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Canada.

    Charter schools are privatized, marketized, corporatized school arrangements buttressed by the ideologies of individualism, consumerism, and competition. Charter school promoters openly, frequently, and publicly embrace “free market” ideology and see no problems with an obsolete “survival of the fittest” outlook; they are comfortable with a win-lose perspective.1

    Since privatization produces the same problems everywhere, charter schools everywhere are often riddled with fraud, corruption, and scandal—more than what is typical and standard in most sectors and institutions.

    One of the most common and persistent forms of corruption in the crisis-prone charter school sector is the misuse and mismanagement of public funds by owners of capital. Charter school owners, operators, and managers regularly “innovate” new ways to funnel public funds into private hands, which is bound to happen when schools operate mainly for financial gain instead of operating to meet social needs.

    Every week, the news is full of articles on financial malfeasance and mismanagement in charter schools, especially in the U.S.

    New Zealand is no different. A recent audit of two former charter schools by the New Zealand Office of the Auditor General examined “$450,000 in management fees the Combined Establishment Board of South Auckland Middle School and Middle School West Auckland paid to Villa Education Trust in 2018.” Not surprisingly, and as is so often the case with charter schools elsewhere, “The trustees of the Establishment Board were also the trustees of Villa Education Trust, which was the sponsor for the charter schools. This meant that the trustees were effectively wearing two hats.” This is what many charter school researchers have repeatedly identified as “self-dealing” and “shady arrangements” in the charter school sector.

    “Such an obvious mishandling of public money that should be spent on benefiting the schools, educators and tamariki is shameful and the Board needs to be held to account,” said Liam Rutherford, president of New Zealand’s largest education union

    Accountability in general, and financial accountability in particular, have always been weak in the charter school sector. In the U.S., even the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a major advocate of privately-operated charter schools, has indicated on numerous occasions that weak accountability characterizes the charter school sector. This goes hand in hand with poor transparency.

    A 2021 report by the Network for Public Education (NPE) reminds the public that non-profit and for-profit charter schools, unlike public schools, operate for financial gain. Such schools typically “maximize their profits through self-dealing, excessive fees, real estate transactions, and under-serving students who need the most expensive services”.  In short, charter schools are plagued by many conflicts of interest, unethical practices, and irresponsible behaviors.

    Charter schools in New Zealand, also known as “Partnership Schools” or Kura Hourua, were terminated at the end of 2018 because of all the problems associated with them.

    1. See 5,000 Charter Schools Closed in 30 Years, September 18, 2021.
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  • Millions More Want To Quit

    The “Great Resignation” refers to the millions of people who have quit their job over the past 20 months, “more than 4.4 million alone in September” which is about the same as the previous month. These are record numbers. For example, “10 years ago, in September 2011, 1.5m people quit their jobs”. Currently, “The U.S. has 10.4 million job openings, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In November 2019, there were 6.8 million job openings”.

    Burnout, years of poor working conditions, poor pay, poor benefits, poor treatment, fear of covid, pandemic stress, lack of daycare options, lack of job mobility, and autocratic employers are just some of the many reasons millions in the U.S. and elsewhere have left work in a short period of time. What makes the “Great Resignation” even more significant is the fact that during this short period, poverty, debt, hunger, homelessness, and inequality increased significantly at home and abroad. In other words, millions are quitting despite worsening social and economic conditions. Naturally, this large departure of many workers from work has disrupted thousands of businesses, causing many to operate more erratically and unreliably than before the start of the “COVID Pandemic.”

    It is not a stretch to say that many workers have felt victimized for years at their job. Neoliberal austerity has been in full swing and wreaking havoc for more than 40 years at home and abroad. Living and working standards have been falling steadily while insecurity and instability have been growing. Even if there are some positive aspects to one’s work, there are usually many negative and intolerable features as well, and these often outweigh the positive aspects of work. For one thing, spending endless hours behind a screen every day is generally not considered the path to better health. The fact is many people dread going to work every day. Working conditions are so unsatisfactory that even with the end of special pandemic-related emergency programs in September in most places, millions of workers are still choosing not to return to work. Sign-on bonuses, higher wages, flexible work schedules, and other “incentives” have yet to make a big dent in things.

    In this sense, there is no worker shortage, per se. There are plenty of people willing and able to work, but people need decent pay, benefits, and conditions. They also need a real say in things and real control over their working conditions; good pay and benefits are not enough. Most workers do not want to go to a job where the life is slowly sucked out of them every day and where they frequently have to do counterproductive things just because their superiors make them. Reflecting the sentiment of so many others, one worker in his early fifties put it this way: “I don’t really want to work anymore. I don’t want to have any meetings, no deadlines, no goals, no quarter, no seminar. I don’t want none of that stuff no more”. People are fed-up with the endless grind, stress, and hustle that seems to lead to nowhere.

    Far too many, however, have no choice but to stay in jobs that are not gratifying and rewarding; they have to put up with all kinds of humiliation every day for inadequate pay, benefits, and control; they would love to quit their jobs and would if they could. It is not unusual to hear more people say things like “I wish I could retire.”

    The severe all-sided wrecking and destruction wrought by the rich and their cartel political parties over the past 20 months has clearly changed the equation in many ways; there is a new and rapidly-evolving theater where many things are up for grabs, making it both a dangerous and exciting time to be alive.

    The proper use of the abilities and talents of humans in any society, and the balanced healthy extended reproduction of society, cannot take place so long as the political and economic elite dominate all affairs in society and act irresponsibly. They are a huge block to alternative human-centered arrangements that empower people to decide how an economy and society should be run. The labor and production carnage that has unfolded over the past 20 months is spectacular and unprecedented, truly global in scale. Millions of livelihoods have been destroyed in a very short period of time. Working people find themselves in a new situation where they will have to develop new creative ways to deprive the rich of their ability to deprive every one of their rights.

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    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Shawgi Tell.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Mainstream Economists Reject Economic Science

    The “invisible hand” gives rise to a situation where it becomes natural and normal to conclude that no one knows how things work or what to expect. It renders the future unpredictable and unmanageable. Uncertainty and unpredictability become the norm because the economy as a whole is not under conscious human control. Different sectors and components of the economy do not work in harmony, free of crisis, because they are divided amongst competing owners of capital obsessed with their own narrow private interests. This inter-capitalist rivalry does not lend itself to the healthy balanced extended reproduction of society. It mainly damages the natural and social environment more. Everyone living in such a set-up is subject to constant chaos, anarchy, and violence in the economy and society. Stability, security, and peace are transient under such conditions. Thus, even in the 21st century with all the accumulated knowledge and experience of humanity, so-called “advanced” societies can turn upside down in no time at all; economic and social crises can hit at any time and leave society, the economy, and the people as a whole highly destabilized and damaged for months, years, even decades. On top of all this we are repeatedly told that there is no alternative to this outdated system. Apparently, this is the best humanity can do and no one should strive to replace existing arrangements with something better.

    Last week, Jerome Powell, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is not really part of the U.S. government, delivered his latest views and predictions on the economy and outlined what actions the Federal Reserve will be taking in the coming weeks and months. “Tapering” of fiat currency printing is expected to begin this month and continue for six more months, while interest rates will remain untouched for the foreseeable future. In reality, the Federal Reserve ran out of ammunition long ago and is trapped in the world of bad policy versus bad policy; there are no good options and no good endings here. Is it even possible to “taper” a Ponzi scheme? To be sure, the Federal Reserve has dug a deep hole. The system’s internal contradictions are too severe to “rescue” anything at this point.

    One statement in particular by Powell speaks volumes about the state of economic science and human cognition in the final and highest stage of capitalism:

    It’s difficult enough to just forecast the economy in normal times. When you’re talking about global supply chains in turmoil, it’s a whole different thing. And you’re talking about a pandemic that’s holding people out of the labor force for reasons that we can sample, but we don’t have a lot of experience with this, so it’s very difficult to forecast and not easy to set policy. (emphasis added,)

    Powell casually and publicly admits that he and those who share his old world outlook reject economic science even “in normal times;” they do not believe in planning, control, science, human cognition, and predictability. “Forecasting” economic conditions and activities  even “in normal times” is far from precise and useful from the perspective of capitalist ideologues. The economy apparently cannot be controlled, known, or directed to serve the people and society. Powell openly creates the impression that fixing the economy is some sort of crapshoot, a mystery. Maybe things will work out, maybe not. Apparently, no one really knows how things are going to unfold or what impact neoliberal fiscal and monetary policies will have on the economy. Confusion and ignorance about the economy are so normal that the subtitle of a November 4, 2021 ABC News article reads: “If you find the current economy a bit confusing, don’t worry: So does the nation’s top economic official, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell”. This is hardly a good way to inspire confidence in the people. It is a scandalous thing to admit. People need leaders who know what they are doing and can reliably deliver meaningful pro-social results and solutions. Why is meeting people’s basic needs such a mystery?

    Most Americans already know that the economy is in bad shape. On November 7, 2021, the New York Times reported that, “In a Gallup poll in October, 68 percent of respondents said they thought economic conditions were getting worse”. The overwhelming majority are simply not hopeful about the future of the economy and it does not help that President Joe Biden’s poor approval rating keeps steadily falling. People from all walks of life feel overwhelmed and exhausted with the way the rich and their cartel political parties (Democrats and Republicans) are wrecking the entire fabric of society.

    There is a growing need for a real alternative to existing arrangements. The current situation is untenable at all levels. More and more people are rejecting the rich and their cartel political parties and demanding real solutions to the problems confronting the economy and society. Acting in the old way simply won’t work and doesn’t work anymore. People are disgusted with irresponsible and unaccountable leaders who can’t solve any problems. People are also tired of being reduced to vote banks for the parties of the rich. Constantly begging politicians to do the most basic simple things is humiliating, exhausting, and a massive drain on social energy that could be harnessed to expedite human-centered arrangements.

    As the massive divide between the rich and everyone else keeps growing, contradictions and problems in society will get sharper and more severe, giving rise to new dynamics and new realities to confront. In this situation working people must mobilize themselves and others to leverage openings to advance arrangements that favor the people. There is a need for fresh independent thinking and a new outlook of the world and the future. There is an alternative to the ruling class wrecking all known arrangements in its quest to maximize profits at all costs.

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  • Bad Economic News: Reality Trumps Capital-Centered Anticonsciousness

    For months, the ruling elite at home and abroad have used their media to incessantly repeat the nonsense that economies around the world are doing very well and rebounding nicely. Endless headlines from around the globe screamed wantonly about how economies everywhere were breaking all kinds of growth records and that everything looked bright and promising. Apparently, country after country was coming out of yet another profound economic crisis that has wreaked havoc around the world.

    However, in the last few weeks or so there has been a sharp and visible turn to more gloomy headlines about the economy. There has been a notable rise in the number of headlines and articles containing negative economic news. There are still some overly exuberant claims being made by certain news sources about the economy but on the whole there is a discernable increase in reporting on bad economic conditions that have been with us for some time.

    The rich and their media are having a harder time ignoring and concealing miserable economic conditions, not to mention that it can be difficult to avoid looking hypocritical and tone-deaf by constantly repeating cheerful claims that clash with the difficult daily lived experience of millions of people.

    Not surprisingly, imperialist organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have started their predictable downward revisions for economic growth in many parts of the world. This is not unusual because they, along with other capital-centered organizations, continually over-shoot economic growth forecasts and mis-assess economic phenomena, and then when reality catches up they are forced to acknowledge the harsh conditions that are actually confronting millions. This has been a pattern for years.

    It should be recalled that most economies never recovered from the 2008 economic collapse engineered by Wall Street and that continuing the same monetary and fiscal policies that started 12 years ago is clearly not improving things today. If anything, the groundwork is being laid for a bigger economic disaster down the road. In fact, many have said, and reality has shown, that conditions are even worse now than they were back then. General estimates indicate that the “COVID Pandemic” is at least three times as destructive as the 2008 economic collapse organized by the rich. It is likely more than that. Eighteen months after the start of the “COVID Pandemic” approximately one million people per month are still losing their jobs in the U.S. At the height of the “COVID Pandemic” more than 70 million workers had filed for unemployment benefits in the U.S. That is more than 40% of the entire U.S. labor force, which stood at about 165 million workers in early 2020. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office states that deficits over the next decade will add another $12.1 trillion to the national debt. On top of this, inflation is very high and the labor force participation rate remains low, despite trillions of dollars printed by the Federal Reserve. We are also in the midst of “striketober,” which refers to a large wave of workers across the country going on strike in October to demand better pay, better working conditions, and a real say in things. Tens of thousands of workers from several different sectors are currently on strike; they have endured austerity for decades.

    These and many other indicators are not signs of a resilient, modern, stable, substantive economy that people can rely on. There is no security, stability, predictability, and peace under such an obsolete and feeble economic system. An alternative is needed, possible, and long overdue.

    In the coming weeks and months the rich and their media will continue to work overtime to disinform the polity about economic conditions. All kinds of ideological twists and turns will be taken to distort economic realities. They will strive to maintain maximum confusion so that people cannot find their bearings or sort things out and open the path of progress to society.

    People can avoid such disorientation and sabotage by constantly and energetically engaging in a conscious act of finding out for themselves what is really unfolding. This has to be done on an uninterrupted basis because the disinformation is massive and relentless. Without disciplined ongoing investigation it will be easy to succumb to media disinformation.

    The rich and their media have no interest in economic science or the public interest. It is up to people themselves to investigate matters in a serious way, draw the warranted conclusions, and use this analysis to usher in the alternative.

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  • Persistent Desperation of Charter School Promoters

    Promoters of privately-operated charter schools have continually sought to justify the existence and expansion of charter schools since their inception 30 years ago in Minnesota. In and of itself this is curious because if charter schools are supposedly so successful and so much better than public schools, as charter school promoters endlessly like to boast, then what need is there to constantly try to justify and defend the value and superiority of charter schools over public schools? Usually when something is excellent and has a great track record, it speaks for itself, stands on its own merit, and does not need to be defended every day.1

    Recently, the news has been filled with charter school headlines like these:

    State Sen. Melissa Melendez: Charter school moratorium limits options for parents, KUSI Newsroom, October 14, 2021.

    A reason to support charter schools, The Dominion Post. October 13, 2021.

    Stop denying hope to NYC kids, and lift the evil charter-school cap, New York Post, October 11, 2021.

    An Unexpected Reason to Support Charter Schools, Bloomberg, October 9, 2021.

    All charter schools are public schools, Bedford Gazette, October 1, 2021.

    Charter schools boomed during the pandemic, Axios. September 22, 2021. 2

    While such news items are always filled with extensive disinformation, bold-faced distortions, and easy-to-debunk statements, the biggest and most obvious reason for this stubborn desperation to defend and promote privately-operated charter schools is that a growing number of people, including certain factions and coalitions in the political arena, are either no longer supporting charter schools or they are actually coming out in opposition to them. It is also the case that more public school boards and superintendents are increasingly opposing charter schools with more vigor. This is a trend that is likely to keep growing as privately-operated charter schools, which often perform poorly and are plagued by corruption, siphon even more funds from public schools.

    Another feature of current conditions is that more education advocacy groups are becoming more conscious of the political and economic motivations of charter school promoters and the many problems plaguing charter schools. As a result, they are taking stronger stands against charter schools and in defense of public schools and the public interest. To be sure, charter school promoters, despite billions of dollars at their disposal and powerful political connections, remain on the defensive; they recognize that there is no justification for the existence, let alone expansion, of charter schools.

    From the perspective of workers, the economy, the national interest, and the public interest, things never go well when major enterprises, programs, sectors, and institutions are privatized and handed over to major owners of capital. Privatization solves no problems, it actually intensifies existing problems and introduces a whole host of new serious problems while enriching a handful of people. For the many profound problems associated with privatization, one can simply enter “stop privatization” into any popular internet search engine to view endless articles, reports, and analyses from a large range of organizations from around the world. Put simply, the parasitic extortion of the public purse by major owners of capital cannot be prettified as a “win-win” for everyone. The public never benefits from privatization. Privatization is retrogressive.

    Those who have much to gain financially from privately-operated charter schools are not concerned about facts, truth, reason, or the public interest. They are self-serving to the extreme and committed to wrecking education and public opinion while enriching themselves. Charter school advocates will always repeat worn-out irrational claims and assertions in the hopes that people will dogmatically internalize such claims and assertions and avoid engaging in a conscious act of finding out what is really going on. Charter school promoters do not like to be challenged. Fortunately, charter school disinformation and incoherence have not conquered the consciousness of many out there, which is why opposition to charter schools, which are segregated and run by unelected individuals, will keep growing. The charter school movement has never not been vulnerable.

    1. Currently, there are roughly 7,400 charter schools in the U.S. Over the past 30 years, 5,000 charter schools have closed for financial malfeasance, mismanagement, and/or poor academic performance. See: “5,000 Charter Schools Closed in 30 Years”, September 18, 2021.
    2. More than 95% of the increase in charter school enrollment during the pandemic took place in cyber charter schools, which are notorious for extremely poor performance and endless scandals. Many brick-and-mortar charter schools actually lost students to poor-performing and corrupt cyber charter schools during the pandemic. See: “Enrollment jumps in charter schools — with big gains in worst-performing part of charter sector,” October 15, 2021.
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  • No Substantive Economic Recovery In Sight

    One of the fundamental economic laws under capitalism is for wealth to become more concentrated in fewer hands over time, which in turn leads to more political power in fewer hands, which means that the majority have even less political and economic power over time. Monopoly in economics means monopoly in politics. It is the opposite of an inclusive, democratic, modern, healthy society. This retrogressive feature intrinsic to capitalism has been over-documented in thousands of reports and articles from hundreds of sources across the political and ideological spectrum over the last few decades. It is well-known, for example, that a handful of people own most of the wealth in the U.S. and most members of Congress are millionaires. This leaves out more than 95% of people. Not surprisingly, “policy makers” have consistently failed to reverse these antisocial trends inherent to an obsolete system.

    At the same time, with no sense of irony and with no fidelity to science, news headlines from around the world continue to scream that the economy in many countries and regions is doing great and that more economic recovery and growth depend almost entirely, if not entirely, on vaccinating everyone (multiple times). In other words, once everyone is vaccinated, we will see really good economic times, everything will be amazing, and we won’t have too much to worry about. Extremely irrational and irresponsible statements and claims of all kinds continue to be made in the most dogmatic and frenzied way by the mainstream press at home and abroad in a desperate attempt to divert attention from the deep economic crisis continually unfolding nationally and internationally. Dozens of countries are experiencing profound economic problems.

    While billions of vaccination shots have already been administered worldwide, and millions more are administered every day (with and without people’s consent), humanity continues to confront many major intractable economic problems caused by the internal dynamics of an outdated economic system.

    A snapshot:

    1. More rapid and intense inflation everywhere
    2. Major supply chain disruptions and distortions everywhere
    3. Shortages of many products
    4. “Shortages” of workers in many sectors worldwide
    5. Shortened and inconsistent hours of operation at thousands of businesses
    6. Falling value of the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies
    7. Growing stagflation
    8. Millions of businesses permanently disappeared
    9. More income and wealth inequality
    10. High dismal levels of unemployment, under-employment, and worker burnout
    11. Growing health insurance costs
    12. Unending fear, anxiety, and hysteria around endless covid strains
    13. More scattered panic buying
    14. The stock market climbing while the real economy declines (highly inflated asset valuations in the stock market)
    15. Spectacular economic failures like Lehman Brothers (in the U.S. 13 years ago) and Evergrande (in China in 2021)
    16. All kinds of debt increasing at all levels
    17. Central banks around the world printing trillions in fiat currencies non-stop and still lots of bad economic news
    18. And a whole host of other harsh economic realities often invisible to the eye and rarely reported on that tell a much more tragic story of an economy that cannot provide for the needs of the people

    The list goes on and on. More nauseating data appears every day. Economic hardship, which takes on many tangible and intangible forms, is wreaking havoc on the majority at home and abroad. There is no real and substantive economic improvement. It is hard to see a bright, stable, prosperous, peaceful future for millions under such conditions, which is why many, if not most, people do not have a good feeling about what lies ahead and have little faith in the rich, their politicians, and “representative democracy.” It is no surprise that President Joe Biden’s approval rating is low and keeps falling.

    What will the rich and their political and media representatives say and do when most people are vaccinated, everyone else has natural immunity, and the economy is still failing? What will the rich do when economic failure cannot be blamed on bacteria or viruses? To be sure, the legitimacy crisis will further deepen and outmoded liberal institutions of governance will become even more obsolete and more incapable of sorting out today’s serious problems. “Representative democracy” will become more discredited and more illusions about the “social contract” will be shattered. In this context, talk of “New Deals” for this and “New Deals” for that won’t solve anything in a meaningful way either because these “New Deals” are nothing more than an expansion of state-organized corruption to pay the rich, mainly through “public-private-partnerships.” This is already being spun in a way that will fool the gullible. Many are actively ignoring how such high-sounding “reforms” are actually pay-the-rich schemes that increase inequality and exacerbate a whole host of other problems.

    It is not in the interest of the rich to see different covid strains and scares disappear because these strains and scares provide a convenient cover and scapegoat for economic problems rooted in the profound contradictions of an outmoded economic system over-ripe for a new direction, aim, and control. It is easier to claim that the economy is intractably lousy because of covid and covid-related restrictions than to admit that the economy is continually failing due to the intrinsic built-in nature, operation, and logic of capital itself.

    There is no way forward while economic and political power remain dominated by the rich. The only way out of the economic crisis is by vesting power in workers, the people who actually produce the wealth that society depends on. The rich and their outmoded system are a drag on everyone and are not needed in any way; they are a major obstacle to the progress of society; they add no value to anything and are unable and unwilling to lead the society out of its deepening all-sided crisis.

    There is an alternative to current obsolete arrangements and only the people themselves, armed with a new independent outlook, politics, and thinking can usher it in. Economic problems, health problems, and 50 other lingering problems are not going to be solved so long as the polity remains marginalized and disempowered by the rich and their capital-centered arrangements and institutions. New and fresh thinking and consciousness are needed at this time. A new and more powerful human-centered outlook is needed to guide humanity forward.

    Human consciousness and resiliency are being severely tested at this time, and the results have been harsh and tragic in many ways for so many. We are experiencing a major test of the ability of the human species to bring into being what is missing, that is, to overcome the neoliberal destruction of time, space, and the fabric of society so as to unleash the power of human productive forces to usher in a much more advanced society where time-space relations accelerate in favor of the entire polity. There is an alternative to the anachronistic status quo.

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  • 5,000 Charter Schools Closed in 30 Years

    Privately-operated non-profit and for-profit charter schools have been around for 30 years 1 and are legal in 45 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam. To date, five states have been able to fend off these segregated outsourced schools that siphon billions of public dollars a year from under-funded public schools.

    About 3.3 million students are currently enrolled in approximately 7,400 charter schools across the country, which make up less than eight percent of all schools in the country. 2  At 1,300, California is the state with the most privately-operated charter schools.

    According to the U.S. Department of Education, 3,100 charter schools run by unelected individuals closed between 2000–01 through 2017–18. That is a very high number of closures, especially in an 18-year time span. On average, that is about 172 privately-operated charter school closures per year.

    It is not clear why, but the data chart from the federal government does not include the number of privately-operated charter schools that closed between 2018-19 through 2020-21. It also excludes the number of privately-operated charter schools that closed between 1991-92 through 1995–96, as well as the number of privately-operated charter schools that closed between 2001–02 through 2003–04. The U.S. Department of Education provides data for only 18 of the 30 years that privately-operated charter schools have existed. About 11 years of data is left out. The three main reasons why privately-operated charter schools close are: financial malfeasance, mismanagement, and poor academic performance. Corruption, fraud, racketeering, and embezzlement are rampant in the charter school sector from coast to coast. News of arrests of charter school employees appears in the news nearly every week.

    Assuming, conservatively speaking, that about 172 charter schools close every year on average, when 172 is multiplied by the 11 years outside the 2000-01 through 2017-18 time frame provided by the U.S. Department of Education, we get an additional 1,892 charter schools closed. This brings the grand total of closed charter schools to about 4,992 charter schools over a 30-year period. This is a reasonable estimate. No matter how you slice it, though, that is a lot of failed and closed charter schools—and in a short period of time. Does this sound like success? Should such a phenomenon continue to be endorsed, expanded, and celebrated? Great instability has haunted the segregated and deregulated charter school sector for three decades and upended the lives of thousands of poor and low-income black and brown families. If the last 30 years is any guide, hundreds more charter schools will fail and close in the coming years, leaving even more families out in the cold and more public schools without much-needed public dollars.

     Supplementary Note

    It is helpful to recall that, besides widespread corruption, nepotism, and failure in the deregulated charter school sector, privately-operated charter schools, on average, have fewer nurses and more inexperienced teachers than public schools, and they usually pay both less than their public school counterparts. Several states do not even require charter school teachers to be certified and many charter school teachers have no employer-provided retirement plan. Moreover, non-profit and for-profit charter schools frequently engage in discriminatory enrollment practices and typically oppose any efforts by teachers to unionize. Charter schools also tend to offer fewer programs, resources, and services than public schools. And while the academic performance of many brick-and-mortar charter schools is unimpressive, the academic track record for cyber charter schools remains abysmal. In addition, all charter schools are run by unelected individuals and many spend millions of dollars on advertising (just like a private business). Last but not least, accountability, oversight, and transparency remain stubborn problems in the segregated charter school sector.

    1. Minnesota established the nation’s first charter school law in 1991 and opened the nation’s first charter school in 1992.
    2. It is worth noting that student wait lists at charter schools are frequently inflated and unreliable. In fact, many seats regularly go empty at many charter schools.
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    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Shawgi Tell.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • More Mandated Vaccinations Will Not Solve Economic Failure One Iota: May Even Make Things Worse

    On September 9, 2021, President Joe Biden publicly issued sweeping statements and demands that make it clear that, whether they like or it, millions more people will have to get vaccinated or risk losing their livelihoods and security. His posture has been described by mainstream media as “aggressive.” Many alternative news and information sources describe Biden’s actions as righteous, arrogant, authoritarian, and incoherent. 1 Biden asserted that choice and freedoms are not the issue. He dismissed both in one breath. One’s right to consent to something was banished in three seconds. Many have also asserted that Biden does not have the legal authority to make and enforce such top-down mandates. Others claim that his White House speech on vaccinations is full of contradictions and disinformation.

    Like Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and many other capital-centered ideologues and “leaders,” Biden keeps disinforming the polity with the worn-out dogma that economic recovery is largely dependent on getting everyone vaccinated. We are to believe that the broad and stubborn economic failure confronting everyone today is largely caused by the virus and that once the virus is “under control” through vaccines rush-produced by for-profit companies with a long record of malpractice, the economy will soar and flourish. A variety of mainstream news sources have been desperately reinforcing this disinformation for more than a year; they have no interest in economic science.

    However, despite an enormous number of vaccinations issued worldwide, despite a large portion of humanity “taking the jab” already, the economy keeps declining and decaying; many serious economic distortions, problems, and uncertainties persist. Inflation, debt, inequality, homelessness, poverty, under-employment, and environmental destruction, for example, appear to be growing. More than one million people per month are still filing unemployment claims in the U.S. alone and job “creation” numbers are superficial and unimpressive. In addition, the U.S. labor force participation rate remains historically low and the number of long-term unemployed remains high. On top of all this, millions of employed workers are living pay-check to pay-check, which means that even full-time employment is no guarantee of security and prosperity. Various surveys also show that large majorities are not hopeful about the future and health of the economy.

    It is no surprise that euphoric economic growth forecasts made just weeks or months ago by “leaders” and “experts” are already being revised downward—in some cases significantly. The ruling elite is always embracing magical thinking; they are not on good terms with reality.

    It is also being said that large numbers of people will end up leaving their jobs—voluntarily or by being fired—rather than compromise their right to conscience and get vaccinated. This could mean even fewer workers taking available jobs and even more retailers, businesses, and services operating in dysfunctional, disruptive, and unreliable ways without employees. Thus, for example, many nurses, teachers, police officers, and other workers are choosing the right to conscience and unemployment over mandated vaccination. Thousands of businesses are already struggling to fill low-paying positions in the context of constantly-rising inflation and an uncertain future. The American Hospital Association said that Biden’s vaccination plan “may result in exacerbating the severe work force shortage problems that currently exist”. Not surprisingly, some organizations have already started to oppose Biden’s vaccination plan.

    The economic depression confronting humanity at home and abroad will not be overcome by leaving major owners of capital in power while workers, the people who actually produce the wealth that society depends on, remain marginalized and disempowered. Economic collapse will not be reversed by funneling more socially-produced wealth to different monopolies and oligopolies, while leaving everyone else with less. Fostering policies, agendas, and arrangements that make the rich even richer is a recipe for deeper problems, not a promising path forward. To date, billions of vaccination shots at home and abroad have not stopped or slowed a range of serious economic problems.

    Since the start of the never-ending “COVID Pandemic” more wealth has become concentrated in even fewer hands and more people have experienced more psychological, social, and economic problems. Inequality has soared over the past 18 months.

    The current economic crisis started long before 2020 and is rooted in the same contradictions that produced big economic problems before 2020. Even if there were no covid virus mutations, the economy would still be declining because economic upheavals are endemic to the capitalist economic system. Depressions and recessions are not caused by external factors. To claim that the economic system is generally sound but runs into problems now and then because of exogenous forces is nothing more than a way to apologize for the outmoded economic system.

    Without major changes, without vesting power in workers themselves, economic crises will keep recurring and deepening. The rich and their representatives have shown time and again that they are unable and unwilling to solve economic and health crises, let alone in a human-centered way.

    1. In December 2020 Biden publicly stated that the federal government should not or could not mandate vaccinations.
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  • Economic Collapse Not Caused By COVID And Won’t Improve With Vaccines

    For major owners of capital, the “COVID Pandemic” has been a perfect pretext and scapegoat for an obsolete economy failing due to its own intrinsic logic and dynamics. COVID has been a convenient and timely cover for the ongoing global economic decline that started well before the “COVID Pandemic.” It is much easier to blame the failure of the economic system on extenuating circumstances or external factors like a virus rather than the internal operation of the anachronistic economic system itself. This is especially true given the never-ending series of virus variants that keep appearing. In other words, deep economic problems will persist and worsen in the coming months and years.

    It is well-known that the capitalist economic system goes through endless crises, “booms and busts,” recessions, “corrections,” and depressions. Stability, security, harmony, peace, and prosperity for all are absent under such an outmoded system. It is impossible for such an economic system to develop in a balanced way where all sectors operate in a mutually conditioning manner and are not distorted all the time. Advanced commodity production means there is no unity in production and consumption, no conscious organization of the economy for the benefit of society and its members. Modern nation-building is not possible under such conditions.

    The notion that capital-centered politicians and policy makers can or will fix things is irrational. No major problems have been solved in decades. Every day there are new reports on how numerous conditions are deteriorating at home and abroad. Unemployment, under-employment, debt, poverty, and inequality are pervasive under capitalism.

    All of this is taking place despite that fact that hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated. Vaccines have simply not “stabilized the economy.” The economy remains uneven and distorted in numerous ways.

    The rich and their political and media representatives cannot find a way out of the current crisis. They never overcame the 2008 crisis or the effects of previous crises. Their policies and agendas just keep making things worse. Even if every individual on the planet were vaccinated 11 times, economic and social decay would persist. To date, no amount of fiscal or monetary policy has stabilized the economy and made it work for everyone. Instead, the economy keeps lurching from problem to problem and crisis to crisis while the rich get richer and everyone is left with a sinking feeling about what lies ahead. The big topic right now is runaway inflation. The price of dozens of products and items keeps climbing (e.g., food, gas, housing, cars) while wages and salaries stagnate or fall behind, which means that the majority are simply not getting ahead.

    Equally dangerous in this fractured and unstable context are the contradictions that arise from the unwillingness and inability of the rich and their state to solve any problems. Such a situation actually makes things worse for large sections of the rich themselves. In other words, the rich are increasingly operating in ways that are self-sabotaging because they are so short-sighted, greedy, pragmatic, and egocentric. This, in turn, leads to even more wrecking activity and tragedies for more people. Humanity cannot afford such chaos, anarchy, and violence.

    To solve the problems plaguing the economy, as well as the health crisis that is upon us with Covid, it is necessary for people themselves to control, decide, and direct all the affairs of society. Power must be wielded by those who actually have an investment in a bright future, the very people who actually produce the wealth needed to run society. This means ending all types of pay-the-rich schemes (e.g., “Public-Private-Partnerships”) and making major investments in social programs instead. The rich and their cheerleaders, especially their political parties, have proven time and again that they are unable and unwilling to solve serious problems, especially in a meaningful and lasting way. They can come up with quick short-term band-aids here and there that provide some with temporary relief but they will not take any action to end the marginalization of people and engender sustainable human-centered arrangements.

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  • “Green New Deal” Means More PPPs and More Economic and Social Destruction

    These days there is no shortage of hype surrounding the “Green New Deal” (GND). The “Green New Deal” has become a major buzz-phrase that has ensnared many along the way.

    Like so many top-down schemes, the GND is being promoted by many world leaders in unison. This alone should be worrisome. History shows that this is usually a red flag. Few pro-social things come out of movements that are not real grass-roots movements. These world leaders are the main representatives of the international financial oligarchy—a tiny ruling elite obsessed with maximizing private profit no matter the damage to society and the environment. These are the same forces responsible for tragedies such as high levels of inequality, poverty, unemployment, under-employment, inflation, debt, homelessness, hunger, racism, war, occupation, pollution, de-forestation, anxiety, despair, alienation, depression, and suicide worldwide.

    The GND is being presented by the rich and their political and media representatives as something great for society and humanity; everyone is under pressure to “just embrace it.”

    The GND uses the “New Deal” language of the 1930s and ostensibly addresses climate change, inequality, energy efficiency, job creation, labor rights, racial injustice, and other social aims. This includes a GND for public schools, healthcare, and housing as well.

    The GND is supposed to improve conditions for humanity and help us all “build back better”—a major slogan of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is dominated by millionaires and billionaires. Alongside this disinformation, the WEF is also promoting disinformation about “reinventing capitalism” to fool the gullible. The GND is supposedly rooted in the principles of economic justice, puts the planet ahead of profits, and provides a “blueprint for change.” It is said that Green Projects will cost hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

    Europe has its own version of the GND. “Variations of the [“Green New Deal”] proposal have been around for years,” says the New York Times. The so-called Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was introduced more than 20 years ago, for example. In 2007, the imperialist journalist, Thomas Friedman, wrote the following in the New York Times:

    If you have put a windmill in your yard or some solar panels on your roof, bless your heart. But we will only green the world when we change the very nature of the electricity grid – moving it away from dirty coal or oil to clean coal and renewables. And that is a huge industrial project – much bigger than anyone has told you. Finally, like the New Deal, if we undertake the green version, it has the potential to create a whole new clean power industry to spur our economy into the 21st century.

    Pollution, inequality, and 50 other problems have worsened since this observation was made 14 years ago. The quote rejects economic science and fails to help workers, youth, students, women, and others make sense of the economy in a way that favors their interests.

    GND Means More PPPs and Tragedies

    “Green New Deal” goals are to be attained through “joint” public sector and private sector “investments.” The disinformation from the rich is that the public can’t achieve the lofty goals of the GND on its own and that “investors” from the so-called “efficient,” “entrepreneurial,” “innovative,” and “smart” private sector are needed to achieve these big goals. It is by working “together” that “we” will supposedly achieve what the GND sets out to do. “New Deals” are purportedly too big for either sector to pull off alone and thus some sort of “partnership” or “alliance” is “needed.”

    In reality, private competing owners of capital are unwilling and often unable to pay for major infrastructure projects and want the government to guarantee them big investments and returns using the public purse. PPPs essentially guarantee risk-free profits for various monopolies and further diminish control of the economy by workers and the public. PPPs enable major owners of capital to seize more of the added-value produced by workers through “infrastructure projects” guaranteed by the state at public expense. This further enriches a handful of people, intensifies inequality, and leaves workers and the public with less wealth and less control over the economy.

    This is not how “partners” work. This is how an unequal relationship works.

    Terms such as “alliance” or “partnership” are designed to fool the gullible and hide the enormous financial gain made by a handful of billionaires through PPPs that purport to advance the goals of the GND. In this, way the door is nonchalantly and pragmatically opened to imposing private alien claims on the wealth produced collectively by workers. The rich are given greater access to public funds and resources that belong to the public, all in the name of “partnership.” We are to believe that without a “Public-Private-Partnership” the GND will not become reality, meaning that the GND is possible only if the ultra-rich pocket more public wealth and resources. This is cynically called a “win-win.”

    “Public-Private-Partnerships” promote the illusion that the public sector and the private sector can harmonize their philosophies, interests, aims, operations, activities, and results when in fact PPPs are antisocial, antiworker, and undercut a modern nation-building project.

    The public and private sectors cannot be partners; they rest on different foundations, goals, world outlooks, operations, and legal frameworks; they are different categories and phenomena with different properties and characteristics. These differences are not trivial and cannot be reconciled or harmonized. Don’t believe neoliberals and privatizers whey they self-servingly claim that the two distinct spheres can “work together.”

    Public and private are antonyms; they mean the opposite of each other; they are not synonymous. Public refers to everyone, non-competition, transparency, the common good, and society as whole (e.g., public parks, beaches, and roads). The public is pro-social and human-centered. It approaches life and relations with a big modern vision. Private refers to exclusivity, for a few, not for everyone, and usually involves rivalry and hierarchy. Private is also often associated with secrecy, not transparency, especially in business. The private sector pertains to relations between private citizens, whereas the public sector has to do with relations between individuals and the state. This distinction is critical. These spheres represent two profoundly different domains. The rights belonging to each sector are different.

    Blurring the critical distinction between public and private should be avoided at all costs. It is irresponsible and self-serving to treat the public and private as being synonymous and easy to harmonize without big disadvantages for the public. The public does not benefit from blurring this distinction. The public suffers when the dissimilarity between public and private is obscured and not grasped in its depth.

    PPPs conceal harsh irreconcilable class differences and interests in society. They reinforce a “no-class” outlook of society and, in doing so, distort reality at the ideological level, leaving many disoriented, unclear, and confused about their interests, which makes them vulnerable to disinformation from the rich and their media. In the world of PPPs, everyone is merely a “stakeholder.” There are no workers or owners of capital. There are no antagonistic irreconcilable social class interests. There are no classes and class struggle. There are no millionaires and billionaires on one side and workers on the other side who produce all the wealth of society.

    Not surprisingly, PPPs form a big part of the antisocial “Great Reset” agenda of the world’s billionaires, which has been publicly articulated by the main leaders of the World Economic Forum such as Klaus Schwab. Many prime ministers, presidents, and prominent state leaders around the world continue to parrot the same tired slogans of the “Great Reset” agenda.

    In practice, PPPs use the neoliberal state to funnel more public funds than ever to the private sector under the banner of “partnerships” and “making the world better for everyone.”

    This funneling of more public funds to narrow private interests will not only solve no problems, it will intensify many problems that are already serious. The existing all-sided crisis will keep deepening under such a set-up.

    As a main form of privatization, the “Green New Deal” will significantly intensify inequality, increase costs for everyone, reduce efficiency and quality, lessen accountability and transparency, increase corruption, and diminish the voice and wealth of workers and the public. It will not enhance democracy or improve the environment in any way because it will further concentrate greater economic and political power in even fewer hands, if that is even possible at this point in history. Funneling more public funds, assets, and authority to competing private interests in a highly monopolized economy is a disaster for the social and natural environment. It is the claims of workers, the public, and society that must be expanded and affirmed, not the narrow claims of competing owners of capital obsessed with maximizing their own profits at the expense of everyone and everything else.

    The “Green New Deal” will not challenge the entrenched class privilege of the rich. It will not increase the power of workers or give them greater control of the wealth they produce. It will not make the economy more pro-social, balanced, diverse, and self-reliant. Pollution and de-forestation will still persist under the GND. Experience has repeatedly borne out that capital-centered environmental plans and activities ensure that things keep going from bad to worse.

    A 2016 United Nations report highlights many ways that PPPs undermine the public interest and produce more problems. Global Policy Forum states that:

    PPPs are used to conceal public borrowing, while providing long-term state guarantees for profits to private companies. Private sector corporations must maximize profits if they are to survive. This is fundamentally incompatible with protecting the environment and ensuring universal access to quality public services.

    Public and private simply do not go together. The organization In The Public Interest offers many reports, articles, and documents that expose how PPPs harm the public interest and benefit major owners of capital at the public expense. Numerous other organizations around the world have also described and explained how PPPs make things worse for the public while enriching a handful of people.

    In the context of a continually failing economy, competing owners of capital have no choice but to cloak their egocentric drive to maximize private profit by seizing public funds from the state as a “win-win” for everyone, as something great for the natural and social environment. The neoliberal state is increasingly being used to divert public funds and assets to major owners of capital as they compete with each other for domination of the economy in an increasingly unstable and dangerous environment. The old ways of profit-taking are no longer as lucrative as before, so the rich have to use PPPs to seize public funds for private financial gain under the banner of “working together” to “build back better.”

    As always, the rich will not brook any opposition to their narrow private interests. They will not support anything that places a greater portion of the social wealth in the hands of those who actually produce the wealth of society: workers. They will continue to act like they have a natural right to the wealth produced collectively by workers.

    Major owners of capital have no human-centered interest in improving the environment or social conditions. They pragmatically strive for what will best serve their narrow private interests and class privilege without any consideration for the well-being of all sectors of the economy as a whole. Modern nation-building cannot take place in such a context. The human-centered resolution of social, economic, and environmental problems requires confronting powerful private interests and their outdated economic system if humanity is to have a bright future.

    To fix the economy and to reverse social and environmental problems requires a public authority worthy of the name. There is no reason why a real public authority cannot use the wealth and resources produced by workers to improve the social and natural environment for the nation. Planned public investment for the public and for modern nation-building is not possible under the direction and influence of competing owners of capital obsessed with maximizing private profit. Such forces are only looking out for their narrow interests, not the needs of a balanced self-reliant crisis-free economy that consistently and responsibly raises the material and cultural well-being of all.

    There is no need to involve powerful private interests in social programs, social investments, or green projects. The rich are not only the cause of many problems the GND ostensibly seeks to remedy, they also have no valid and legitimate claim to any public funds, resources, and assets. The rich mainly seize and control the wealth produced by workers; they themselves do not produce the wealth of society.

    The rich are a historically superfluous and exhausted force blocking social progress. Without the rich, their entourage, and their outdated political and economic system, the social product could be wielded by people themselves for the benefit of the natural and social environment. The impact of this shift and change on time and space would be monumental.

    The post “Green New Deal” Means More PPPs and More Economic and Social Destruction first appeared on Dissident Voice.


    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Shawgi Tell.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Discriminatory Enrollment Practices Are Pervasive In Charter Schools

    Even though they receive enormous sums of public money and are ostensibly “public” schools “open to all,” charter schools have a long track record of discriminatory enrollment practices. Selective enrollment practices are widespread in non-profit and for-profit charter schools. Few charter schools have a truly diverse student body.

    In recent years more research has shown how charter schools intensify segregation (see here, here, and here.)

    While public schools accept all students at all times, charter school owners and operators use many covert and overt strategies to cherry-pick students  A main reason for such cherry-picking is to enroll mostly those students who will perform well on educationally unsound high-stakes standardized tests produced by large for-profit corporations. Charter school owners and operators are incentivized to do this in order to keep their contract (charter). Poor academic performance is one of the main reasons a charter school’s contract can be revoked. Thus, it is not unusual to frequently see non-profit and for-profit charter schools, all of which are run by unelected individuals, enroll disproportionately fewer English Language Learners, students with special needs, and homeless students. They also tend to avoid or “push out” students with “behavior problems.”

    New Mexico recently made the news when the Santa Fe New Mexican reported on August 21, 2021 that “some” charter schools in that state may be using school admission policies that may be discriminatory. Specifically, some charter schools in the state “are violating state rules by requesting information about prospective students’ special-education needs.” The news report was based on an investigation conducted by a private law firm called Pegasus Legal Services. The newspaper goes on to say that:

    Research has shown students who require special-education services often are discouraged from enrolling in charter schools. In 2018, Columbia University conducted a study on the issue. Researchers posing as parents sent out more than 6,000 emails to schools in 29 states, including New Mexico. They found schools were significantly less likely to respond to emails signaling the student had a disability.

    It is well-known that charter schools not only under-enroll students with special needs, but when they do enroll students with special needs it is usually special needs students with mild disabilities, not severe disabilities. And even in this context, charter schools often play various shell games and student re-classification games to dodge various requirements. All of this has to do with avoiding high-need/high-cost students because both non-profit and for-profit charter schools operate as exchange-values, not use-values. In other words, charter schools avoid high-need/high-cost students because they are driven mainly by financial gain. By contrast, this is not how the nation’s 100,000 public schools operate.

    Some charter school operators in New Mexico feigned ignorance when the Santa Fe New Mexican news report was published and pledged to “fix things.” Other charter school operators arrogantly and defiantly turned the issue around and made it sound like “being rigorous” is why they do not enroll many students with special needs. For their part, various state officials made it sound like they are perturbed by selective enrollment practices and created the impression that they would investigate such “disturbing” practices, which is unlikely to happen. Either way, long-standing discriminatory enrollment practices in schools that are funded by public dollars and said to be “public” and “open to all” violate a basic sense of justice and principles when they are not truly equitable and open to all. The charter school sector has been dogged by many other antisocial trends for 30 years.

    The problem of the lack of diversity in privately-operated charter schools once again raises the issue of why there is such poor oversight and accountability in the crisis-prone charter school sector. Charter schools appear to be immune to pro-social reforms and are stubbornly neoliberal in their orientation and operations.

    New Mexico passed its charter school law in 1993. Currently, there are nearly 100 charter schools in the state. Charter school laws exist in 45 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam. At 1,300, California has the most charter schools in the nation. Texas, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Washington DC, and New Orleans are also heavily saturated with charter schools run by unelected officials. Currently, about 3.4 million students are enrolled in roughly 7,400 deregulated charter schools across the country. Most of these students are poor or low-income minority urban youth. It is also worth noting that more than 3,000 charter schools have closed over the past 30 years, usually for three main reasons: financial malfeasance, mismanagement, or poor academic performance.

    The post Discriminatory Enrollment Practices Are Pervasive In Charter Schools first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.