Neoconservatives seek to reduce democracy to an election every four or five years. If a country holds an election even if there are only two parties running with identical platforms, that country is deemed democratic. But there is far more to democracy than the ability to chose your masters. It means rule by the people.
If the people's rule is strangled by bureaucracy, corporate lobbying and political elites, democracy has not disappeared, it is still there but takes a form radically different from the tightly controlled, money-oiled electoral process. Democracy means the formation of pressure groups such as ad hoc committees for this and that, trade unions, student and minority groups. Democracy also means protest and civil disobedience to force our masters (both elected and unelected) to obey the will of the people. A clutter of disparate groups, slogan-shouting, placard waving, traffic jamming trouble makers.
But this noise and disruption is part of and integral to the democratic process. Without it society would be as fixed and rigid as ancient Egypt. Virtually everything we take for granted as part of a democratic and humane society - including most neocons - such as the abolition of slavery, women's rights, the abolition of child labor - I could go on, has come about thru this messy process.
If masses of people are protesting it is for a good reason, and it is their right to do so. Even if you don’t agree with the reasons, you must respect this. Protest is rooted in ethics. People protest because they are opposed to war, exploitation, environmental destruction, or the ill treatment of minorities, not because it is some sort of passtime..
If you don’t want protest, don't do things that give rise to it! If powerful minorities would cease forcing their wishes upon the populace, if society as a whole were to move to a more consensual concept, there would be few protests.
When the media attacks protest movements and seeks to ban strikes, it is acting undemocratically. When magistrates treat the practitioners of civil disobedience as though they were common criminals, they are acting undemocratically. When the police attack and arrest peaceful demonstrators, or prevent them from holding their protest, they are acting undemocratically.
A constant tension exists within society between the authoritarians who would limit democracy to the simple act of voting and the libertarians who see democracy in terms of this broader and more complex situation. I suggest that the authoritarians make the democratic process a lot more painful and conflict laden than it need be by their refusal to see democracy as anything more than a narrow, formal change of elites. In order to reduce conflict and smooth the democratic process I suggest the following reforms:
1. Government must cease to use the police and the military AGAINST demonstrators and in labor-management disputes. There can be no "illegal" demonstrations, and the police must be encouraged to be tolerant of this messy process. Essentially, they must no longer be used as government goon squads. The only role for the police is to prevent serious crimes from occurring, and if such a crime should occur, only the people responsible for that crime should be arrested. In practical terms, if a striker clubs a scab with a baseball bat, the police arrest that striker, but it does not give them the right to wade in and beat up the entire picket line, as they would do now. We have seen how the police have tear-gassed and arrested masses of peaceful demonstrators in the anti-WTO protests under the guise of containing a handful of window-smashers. This must end. Beatings, gassings and arrests of non-violent protesters ought to result in assault and false arrest charges being laid upon the police.
2. Magistrates must cease to use technicalities to fine or jail people arrested for civil disobedience. CD ought to be given a kind of quasi-legality. There is a plain and obvious difference between someone arrested for trespassing in order to steal, and someone arrested for protesting the manufacture of cluster bombs. Judges must examine why an act of civil disobedience has occurred and throw the problem back at those who caused it in the first place. Eg. "We see that it was Ms Jones moral outrage at the manufacture of cluster bombs that caused her to chain herself to the gate. I suggest that Megagreed Inc. reconsider the manufacture of these devices." The organization being protested has to be seen as having some responsibility for a "crime" being committed, not just the protesters.
These reforms would end provocation, both of the police variety and pseudo-revolutionary. Demonstrations would be peaceful and larger as people would not be frightened away by fear of violence. Change would come about more easily as the state would no longer be able to use violence, or the threat of violence against the people.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
THE CONSUMER DEMOCRACY FRAUD
Suppose you make a CD and sell twenty million copies -you would immediately be elevated to superstardom. Your face would be on every mag and you would join an elite club of celebs. Teenagers would emulate you. It would seem that consumer democracy was operating. The consumers "voted" by buying your product. But there is nothing democratic at all about this. There are probably 200 million potential CD buyers - your sales only represent 10% of the total possible sales. For all you know the other 90% might hate you and your music. Yet you are projected upon the world as though you had universal adoration.
The idea of "consumer democracy" is a fraud. The majority is not heard from. A minority of the public fosters its wants and desires upon us. They are able to do this because of the vast weight of millions of customers, even though these customers represent a minority of the total. Corporations deliberately create these compact minorities through adverstising. They prey upon the most seceptable or naive sectors of the population. Children, teenagers, the neurotic, the less educated, the less intelligent, are all there for corporate exploitation.
Thus, we are innundated with products, attitudes and services the majority of us don't really want like MacDonalds, gangsta rap, Walmarts, 12 yearolds dressing as whores, monster houses, the Olsen twins, etc.
The corporate apologists claim that choice exists among different products and that if the desire for a product arises, the market will fill this. But this is not the case if all companies act together and deliberately exclude different products. For example, planned obsolescence. There must be millions of people out there who would prefer this not exist, yet where is to company bragging that its products last a lifetime? How is it that all car companies abolished bumpers at the same time? Where is the car that has bumpers?
The idea of "consumer democracy" is a fraud. The majority is not heard from. A minority of the public fosters its wants and desires upon us. They are able to do this because of the vast weight of millions of customers, even though these customers represent a minority of the total. Corporations deliberately create these compact minorities through adverstising. They prey upon the most seceptable or naive sectors of the population. Children, teenagers, the neurotic, the less educated, the less intelligent, are all there for corporate exploitation.
Thus, we are innundated with products, attitudes and services the majority of us don't really want like MacDonalds, gangsta rap, Walmarts, 12 yearolds dressing as whores, monster houses, the Olsen twins, etc.
The corporate apologists claim that choice exists among different products and that if the desire for a product arises, the market will fill this. But this is not the case if all companies act together and deliberately exclude different products. For example, planned obsolescence. There must be millions of people out there who would prefer this not exist, yet where is to company bragging that its products last a lifetime? How is it that all car companies abolished bumpers at the same time? Where is the car that has bumpers?
REPTILES RULE!
World class crackpot David Icke thinks we are ruled by a reptilian race from another solar system. Laugh all you want, but mixed in the lunacy lies a litle shard of truth. There is a portion of the human brain which functions entirely on raw instinct and is devoid of higher functions such as sympathy, empathy, love, and compassion. This portion of the brain is commonly called "the reptile brain" and is in both structure and function very much like the grey matter of crocodiles and lizards.
Dr. Paul MacLean, Chief of Brain Evolution and Behavior at the National Institute of Health, discovered that we have three brains within one. These are:
1. Brain stem - archiopallium, (reptile brain)
2. limbic system - site of emotions or paleopallium (mammal brain)
3. neocortex or neopallium (rational or human brain)
It was once believed that the rational brain or neocortex controlled the two lower brains. But Dr. MacLean showed the lower brain can take over and control the higher brain. The brain stem or archiopallium has a similar shape, function and traits as those of reptiles, hence the term “reptilian brain”. It is a purely instinctual brain concerned with survival and reproduction. Driven by fear the reptile brain becomes dominant when one feels endangered. Reptile brain traits include: Obsession with control and domination, treating others as objects to be used, paranoia, suspicion, aggressiveness , territoriality, greed, conformity, deception, repetition of the same patterns and never learning from error.
Empathy, live and let live, sharing, reciprocity, the imaginativeness, these are the traits that made us human, reinforce and further our humanity. The opposite of these traits tends to undermine our humanity and cause social retrogression.I suggest authoritarians tend to use more of the reptile brain than more libertarian-oriented people. As society engages in de-evolution, - due to the domination of authoritarian beliefs and practices - the use of the reptile portion becomes more evident. Psychopaths are the fullest example of the human reptile.
The film "The Corporation" suggests that corporations lack of empathy, greediness and lust for control msakes them act like psychopaths. Take this one step further. The people in control of these corporations are aware of what they are doing, accept, and indeed revel in it. If the corporation is a psychopath, so also the corporation's bosses. One would have, in all fairness, to extend this analogy to all areas of society where the abuse of authority is not unusual, such as politicians and bureaucrats.
Thus, in one sense, reptiles rule.
Dr. Paul MacLean, Chief of Brain Evolution and Behavior at the National Institute of Health, discovered that we have three brains within one. These are:
1. Brain stem - archiopallium, (reptile brain)
2. limbic system - site of emotions or paleopallium (mammal brain)
3. neocortex or neopallium (rational or human brain)
It was once believed that the rational brain or neocortex controlled the two lower brains. But Dr. MacLean showed the lower brain can take over and control the higher brain. The brain stem or archiopallium has a similar shape, function and traits as those of reptiles, hence the term “reptilian brain”. It is a purely instinctual brain concerned with survival and reproduction. Driven by fear the reptile brain becomes dominant when one feels endangered. Reptile brain traits include: Obsession with control and domination, treating others as objects to be used, paranoia, suspicion, aggressiveness , territoriality, greed, conformity, deception, repetition of the same patterns and never learning from error.
Empathy, live and let live, sharing, reciprocity, the imaginativeness, these are the traits that made us human, reinforce and further our humanity. The opposite of these traits tends to undermine our humanity and cause social retrogression.I suggest authoritarians tend to use more of the reptile brain than more libertarian-oriented people. As society engages in de-evolution, - due to the domination of authoritarian beliefs and practices - the use of the reptile portion becomes more evident. Psychopaths are the fullest example of the human reptile.
The film "The Corporation" suggests that corporations lack of empathy, greediness and lust for control msakes them act like psychopaths. Take this one step further. The people in control of these corporations are aware of what they are doing, accept, and indeed revel in it. If the corporation is a psychopath, so also the corporation's bosses. One would have, in all fairness, to extend this analogy to all areas of society where the abuse of authority is not unusual, such as politicians and bureaucrats.
Thus, in one sense, reptiles rule.
Friday, April 22, 2005
UNEMPLOYMENT KILLS!
Whenever you have large scale or long-lasting unemployment you also have an increase in ill health, substance abuse, family break up, suicide and other forms of premature death. Furthermore, unemployment has a very negative effect on medical and social costs. This information comes from a series of studies done in Finland,Denmark, and Canada.
The following are the finding of Does Unemployment Cause Mortality? By Pekka Martikainen, Population Research Unit, Department of Sociology University of Helsinki.
“Previous observational follow-up studies of individuals have shown that mortality rates among the unemployed are higher than among the employed... Two mechanisms may explain this excess mortality. Causal effects of unemployment: Becoming jobless and prolonged redundancy have negative effects on health and increase the risk of premature death. The causal effects of unemployment are mainly assumed to be mediated through increased psychosocial stress, tobacco and alcohol consumption, as well as loss of income and material deprivation."
“…Total mortality among unemployed men is 2.54 times higher than among employed men. This excess mortality falls by almost 40 per cent when sociodemographic background variables available at the census are simultaneously adjusted for. Nonetheless, relative excess mortality of 1.93 still remains. Adjusted relative death rate among unemployed men is higher for accidents and violence than it is for diseases, 2.51 and 1.70, respectively. Highest relative mortality prevails in alcohol related diseases, respiratory diseases and alcohol poisonings. Excess mortality is also more pronounced for circulatory diseases than cancer.”
The Danish Study concludes:
“This prospective study suggests that high local unemployment and individuals’ experience of unemployment increase mortality risk, even after adjustment for other social and behavioral factors.” (1)
According to the Canadian Public Health Association:
“…the literature shows a strong positive relationship between unemployment and ill health. Canada has a high prevalence of unemployment, and there are high, direct, health care and societal costs resulting from current unemployment trends. Based on these assumptions, the total excess annual cost of health care in Canada attributable to the unemployment level in 1993 was $845 million, for 12.3% unemployed or $1,085 million for 15% unemployed…. 2
Statscan agrees with this study stating,
“Unemployed people tend to experience more health problems. Long-term unemployment could extend ones' susceptibility to poor health.”
So isn’t it about time that unemployment-causing neocon politicians got charged with first degree murder?
Footnotes
1. High local unemployment and increased mortality in Danish adults;
M Osler, U Christensen, R Lund, M Gamborg, N Godtfredsen and E Prescott, Department of Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, and The Copenhagen Centre of Prospective Population Studies, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre at the Institute of Preventive Medicine, HS: Copenhagen University Hospital
2. Discussion Paper on The Health Impact of Unemployment - Canadian Public Health Association
3. Statscan Health Indicators
The following are the finding of Does Unemployment Cause Mortality? By Pekka Martikainen, Population Research Unit, Department of Sociology University of Helsinki.
“Previous observational follow-up studies of individuals have shown that mortality rates among the unemployed are higher than among the employed... Two mechanisms may explain this excess mortality. Causal effects of unemployment: Becoming jobless and prolonged redundancy have negative effects on health and increase the risk of premature death. The causal effects of unemployment are mainly assumed to be mediated through increased psychosocial stress, tobacco and alcohol consumption, as well as loss of income and material deprivation."
“…Total mortality among unemployed men is 2.54 times higher than among employed men. This excess mortality falls by almost 40 per cent when sociodemographic background variables available at the census are simultaneously adjusted for. Nonetheless, relative excess mortality of 1.93 still remains. Adjusted relative death rate among unemployed men is higher for accidents and violence than it is for diseases, 2.51 and 1.70, respectively. Highest relative mortality prevails in alcohol related diseases, respiratory diseases and alcohol poisonings. Excess mortality is also more pronounced for circulatory diseases than cancer.”
The Danish Study concludes:
“This prospective study suggests that high local unemployment and individuals’ experience of unemployment increase mortality risk, even after adjustment for other social and behavioral factors.” (1)
According to the Canadian Public Health Association:
“…the literature shows a strong positive relationship between unemployment and ill health. Canada has a high prevalence of unemployment, and there are high, direct, health care and societal costs resulting from current unemployment trends. Based on these assumptions, the total excess annual cost of health care in Canada attributable to the unemployment level in 1993 was $845 million, for 12.3% unemployed or $1,085 million for 15% unemployed…. 2
Statscan agrees with this study stating,
“Unemployed people tend to experience more health problems. Long-term unemployment could extend ones' susceptibility to poor health.”
So isn’t it about time that unemployment-causing neocon politicians got charged with first degree murder?
Footnotes
1. High local unemployment and increased mortality in Danish adults;
M Osler, U Christensen, R Lund, M Gamborg, N Godtfredsen and E Prescott, Department of Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, and The Copenhagen Centre of Prospective Population Studies, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre at the Institute of Preventive Medicine, HS: Copenhagen University Hospital
2. Discussion Paper on The Health Impact of Unemployment - Canadian Public Health Association
3. Statscan Health Indicators
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
PLANTS AND HUMAN EVOLUTION
The late Terrance McKenna
made the observation that psychedelic plants may have had a profound impact upon human evolution. I would like to explore that thought.
Humans have had the same physical brain for at least 200,000 years. But having 1400 cc of grey matter doesn't mean you know how to use it. There are millions of people, who, either from cruel child rearing practices, or a poor social environment never rise above corporate junk culture and thus never really exercise their imaginations and creative powers. While early humans were undoubtedly stimulated by their broader environment, following McKenna, I suggest that they also received a significant boost from certain plants.
Our ancestors would have carefully observed animals to see which plants were edible. They also would have experimented by ingesting small quantities of substances to ascertain their effects. They would have soon been aware of which of these were edible, which were poisonous and which had "interesting" effects. These latter plants would have effectively kick-started the imagination.
These interesting effects include a very heightened awareness of the senses, most particularly color and sound, a feeling of at-one-ness or unity with the world, a pulsing energy running thru everything (The world is alive.) and a dream-like or magical quality to existence. It is not difficult to conceive how art, music, poetry, spirituality and philosophy would be stimulated into existence by such visions.
The stimulation of the imagination gives rise to creativity. Some of this creativity will be technical in nature, such as how to manufacture better spear points. These technical improvements would be an obvious aid in human evolution, but so to would be the social improvements.
Rituals would evolve out of the ingestion of psychedelic plants. Not everyone could take them at the same time, since the band would be vulnerable to attack by predators such as lions and saber tooth tigers. Music and dance might arise spontaneously in such a setting, initiated by the "high" minority and then taken up by the rest. Rituals, are of course, a form of social bonding, as are art and poetry.
Their imaginations stimulated, people wish to communicate the marvelous experience of their "trips". This would further develop language, which here-to-fore may have only dealt with relatively mundane matters, such as "The fruit is now ripe" or "Watch out ! A poisonous snake!". A more articulate populace, would in turn develop a philosophy or coherent (and therefore bonding) world-view based largely upon the effects of the plant chemicals.
A society with closer social bonds and a better communication system (language) would have an edge on societies that lacked these. (*) I suggest that mutual aid was further advanced thru bonding and language, and thus was partially a result of the ingestion of these plants. Mutual aid, in turn, furthers bonding and also cultural and technological development.
A thought that I would like to return to at another time has to do with the hostility of authoritarian systems toward psychedelic plants. Authoritarianism destroys mutual aid and the social, replacing these with bullying, exploiting hierarchies of power. In essence the authoritarian system is a form of de-evolution, stripping us of what made us human to begin with. Thus it is natural the authoritarian (the sub-human) would wish to prevent the use of plants which stimulate the imagination and the social.
(*) Which is not to say that I believe in a brute "survival of the fittest". I suspect that bands of homo sapiens communicated their new-found knowledge to each other, giving them an advantage over the less evolved homo erectus.
made the observation that psychedelic plants may have had a profound impact upon human evolution. I would like to explore that thought.
Humans have had the same physical brain for at least 200,000 years. But having 1400 cc of grey matter doesn't mean you know how to use it. There are millions of people, who, either from cruel child rearing practices, or a poor social environment never rise above corporate junk culture and thus never really exercise their imaginations and creative powers. While early humans were undoubtedly stimulated by their broader environment, following McKenna, I suggest that they also received a significant boost from certain plants.
Our ancestors would have carefully observed animals to see which plants were edible. They also would have experimented by ingesting small quantities of substances to ascertain their effects. They would have soon been aware of which of these were edible, which were poisonous and which had "interesting" effects. These latter plants would have effectively kick-started the imagination.
These interesting effects include a very heightened awareness of the senses, most particularly color and sound, a feeling of at-one-ness or unity with the world, a pulsing energy running thru everything (The world is alive.) and a dream-like or magical quality to existence. It is not difficult to conceive how art, music, poetry, spirituality and philosophy would be stimulated into existence by such visions.
The stimulation of the imagination gives rise to creativity. Some of this creativity will be technical in nature, such as how to manufacture better spear points. These technical improvements would be an obvious aid in human evolution, but so to would be the social improvements.
Rituals would evolve out of the ingestion of psychedelic plants. Not everyone could take them at the same time, since the band would be vulnerable to attack by predators such as lions and saber tooth tigers. Music and dance might arise spontaneously in such a setting, initiated by the "high" minority and then taken up by the rest. Rituals, are of course, a form of social bonding, as are art and poetry.
Their imaginations stimulated, people wish to communicate the marvelous experience of their "trips". This would further develop language, which here-to-fore may have only dealt with relatively mundane matters, such as "The fruit is now ripe" or "Watch out ! A poisonous snake!". A more articulate populace, would in turn develop a philosophy or coherent (and therefore bonding) world-view based largely upon the effects of the plant chemicals.
A society with closer social bonds and a better communication system (language) would have an edge on societies that lacked these. (*) I suggest that mutual aid was further advanced thru bonding and language, and thus was partially a result of the ingestion of these plants. Mutual aid, in turn, furthers bonding and also cultural and technological development.
A thought that I would like to return to at another time has to do with the hostility of authoritarian systems toward psychedelic plants. Authoritarianism destroys mutual aid and the social, replacing these with bullying, exploiting hierarchies of power. In essence the authoritarian system is a form of de-evolution, stripping us of what made us human to begin with. Thus it is natural the authoritarian (the sub-human) would wish to prevent the use of plants which stimulate the imagination and the social.
(*) Which is not to say that I believe in a brute "survival of the fittest". I suspect that bands of homo sapiens communicated their new-found knowledge to each other, giving them an advantage over the less evolved homo erectus.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
THE WALMART FRAUD
The neocon line is that everything is just hunky-dorey with Wallmart. Sure, we are losing our jobs, but the poor are benefiting by all those low prices. You should know right now, "there ain't no sech thang as a free lunch" and be very suspicious.
Cheap TVs, sound systems and appliances are a cover for increased expenses elsewhere. While UNNECESSARY consumer goods have truly gone down in price, certain NECESSITIES have shot up in cost. Couple this with stagnation of incomes among working people and a decline in incomes among the poor and the cheap consumer goods are no bargain.
Two essential aspects of living, housing and transportation have gone up in cost a much greater extent than either the rate of inflation or increase in income. In some Canadian cities, rents and house prices are ten to twelve times what they were 35-40 years ago. At the same time, the minimum wage and welfare have gone up only six or seven times. In the USA, housing costs, adjusted for inflation, rose 42% between 1970 and 1996. During the same period, worker income stagnated, and for families with parents under age 35, actually declined. Americans who made less than $20,000 US in 1997 spent 52% of their income on transportation and housing. (1)
Back in the 1960's a bus ticket cost 20 cents. Same ticket today is $2.50 or twelve and a half times. If the minimum wage had shot up to the same extent it would be $14 an hour! In the US the percent of family income devoted to transportation has doubled since the late 1930's. Looked at in dollar terms, a family making $40,000 US has to shell out $7600 for transportation. if the proportions were the same as in 1939, they would have $3800 extra to spend on other things. (2)
Back in the days when housing and transportation were relatively cheap, consumer durables, were, for the most part, relatively expensive. But no one went without. Everyone had a fridge, stove, and TV. If they couldn't afford new stuff, they bought them second hand. You could always pick up a fridge or TV for 25 bucks at the SallyAnn. NO ONE HAS EVER SUFFERED BY NOT HAVING THE LATEST TV OR FRIDGE. But, people who have to shell out 50 or 60% of their income for rent DO suffer.
Many consumer durables, adjusted for inflation, cost about half what they did in the 1960's. Had the same cost decline happened with housing and transportation, you would have no trouble buying a house in Vancouver for $70,000 or renting a two bedroom apartment for $400 a month. (3) A bus ticket would cost only 60 cents.
Wallmart’s "inexpensive" consumer goods are an example of capitalism's bad priorities. The important things, basic human necessities, are poorly met. In exchange, we get a lot of cheap, badly-made, job-killing imports. It's a lousy trade-off. (4)
1. Segal, Jerome, "Graceful Simplicity", p. 46
2. ibid, pps. 53, 54
3. Actual prices are approximately $400,000 and $1200
4. The situation is even worse than I portray here. Many government services that were once free now cost, taxes for working people doubled as the government off-loaded them on workers as a means of lowering corporate taxes, it costs twelve and a half times more to mail a letter than 1968.
Cheap TVs, sound systems and appliances are a cover for increased expenses elsewhere. While UNNECESSARY consumer goods have truly gone down in price, certain NECESSITIES have shot up in cost. Couple this with stagnation of incomes among working people and a decline in incomes among the poor and the cheap consumer goods are no bargain.
Two essential aspects of living, housing and transportation have gone up in cost a much greater extent than either the rate of inflation or increase in income. In some Canadian cities, rents and house prices are ten to twelve times what they were 35-40 years ago. At the same time, the minimum wage and welfare have gone up only six or seven times. In the USA, housing costs, adjusted for inflation, rose 42% between 1970 and 1996. During the same period, worker income stagnated, and for families with parents under age 35, actually declined. Americans who made less than $20,000 US in 1997 spent 52% of their income on transportation and housing. (1)
Back in the 1960's a bus ticket cost 20 cents. Same ticket today is $2.50 or twelve and a half times. If the minimum wage had shot up to the same extent it would be $14 an hour! In the US the percent of family income devoted to transportation has doubled since the late 1930's. Looked at in dollar terms, a family making $40,000 US has to shell out $7600 for transportation. if the proportions were the same as in 1939, they would have $3800 extra to spend on other things. (2)
Back in the days when housing and transportation were relatively cheap, consumer durables, were, for the most part, relatively expensive. But no one went without. Everyone had a fridge, stove, and TV. If they couldn't afford new stuff, they bought them second hand. You could always pick up a fridge or TV for 25 bucks at the SallyAnn. NO ONE HAS EVER SUFFERED BY NOT HAVING THE LATEST TV OR FRIDGE. But, people who have to shell out 50 or 60% of their income for rent DO suffer.
Many consumer durables, adjusted for inflation, cost about half what they did in the 1960's. Had the same cost decline happened with housing and transportation, you would have no trouble buying a house in Vancouver for $70,000 or renting a two bedroom apartment for $400 a month. (3) A bus ticket would cost only 60 cents.
Wallmart’s "inexpensive" consumer goods are an example of capitalism's bad priorities. The important things, basic human necessities, are poorly met. In exchange, we get a lot of cheap, badly-made, job-killing imports. It's a lousy trade-off. (4)
1. Segal, Jerome, "Graceful Simplicity", p. 46
2. ibid, pps. 53, 54
3. Actual prices are approximately $400,000 and $1200
4. The situation is even worse than I portray here. Many government services that were once free now cost, taxes for working people doubled as the government off-loaded them on workers as a means of lowering corporate taxes, it costs twelve and a half times more to mail a letter than 1968.
THE JOYS OF WALMART
(Taken from a posting by Stuart at The Tyee)
Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour—or $13,861 a year—in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week)
In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)
In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)
Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)
Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)
All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties.
Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour—or $13,861 a year—in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week)
In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)
In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)
Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)
Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)
All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties.
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