Why Big Biz Backs Trump, and why Sustainability is feared by them all

Robert Reich explains it in a clip under three minutes long---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LEnI9THvLA

One might guess it's about tax cuts and tax avoidance.  Yes, but it's also about blocking the path to Sustainability.  Many years ago, the Titans of Mega Biz realized they had to start talking-the-talk in regard to renewable energy, but walking-the-walk largely could be avoided IF they spent big bucks on politicians friendly to the economic status quo.  A bit later, they recognized that Sustainability involved a lot more than just transitioning to renewables.  It also meant reducing our energy use, being accountable for pollution, treating workers and consumers fairly, eliminating corporate welfare, increasing the social safety net, and more.

In the view of Mega Biz, the economic status quo was being threatened as never before.  So, both individually and collectively, the Titans decided to essentially buy more and more political influence.  They selected, groomed, and financed the majority of national political candidates.  Their degree of success in getting candidates friendly to their view varied, but almost always was at least somewhat on the mark...even with Democrats.

So, what was (and still is for the most part) the "economic status quo" back then?  Here it is in a nutshell:

1)  neoliberal capitalism (which is NOT Adam Smith capitalism); 

2)  deregulation, corporate globalization, & corporate welfare;

3)  bailouts for mega biz;

4)  banks too big to fail, or jail;

5)  reduced benefits for employees;

6)  reduced services to customers;

7)  job insecurity;

8)  treating pollutants as "externalities" (and not the responsibility of Big Biz);

9)  austerity for Main Street; and

10)  anything else which benefits Mega Biz at the expense of Main Street.

The status quo is pretty much the exact opposite of a sustainable economy and lifestyle.

The influence of the Titans has been massive, and has reached all the way to the Supreme Court of the USA.  The majority on that Court now are anti-healthcare, anti-EHS (environmental, health, & safety), anti-democracy, and anti-sustainability.  Whether that majority knows it or not, they are supporting Fascism - the marriage of the power of the State to the power of Mega Biz.

All the above is precisely why Big Biz backs the candidate who is the biggest embarrassment and danger in the history of the USA.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Exactly what will it take for...

1.  Biden, DeSantis, Trump and all the other dogmatic, linear-thinking politicians around the globe to recognize we're in a climate emergency?  Biden should be declaring one.

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/7/28/headlines/un_leader_declares_new_era_of_global_boiling_amid_hottest_month_in_human_history

2.  mega companies such as Amazon to realize they need to hire more employees rather than laying off ones they now have on staff? That is to say, IF they really want to have a decent company, then that's what they should do.  Not just more warehouse workers, but more customer service reps as well.  Algorithms rarely can handle customer service adequately.  Of course, such hiring would mean slightly reducing the gazillionaire status of the owners.  Such is not worth consideration by said owners, I guess, eh?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#:~:text=With%20a%20net%20worth%20of,Bloomberg%20Billionaires%20Index%20and%20Forbes.

3.  politicians in countries with nuke weapons to realize how ignorant and/or stupid it is to have such weapons?

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article271584102.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-22-mn-25349-story.html

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-04/news/biden-policy-allows-first-use-nuclear-weapons

I must confess, I don't know the definitive answers to those questions.  I only can guess.  One such guess:  unprecedented, massive disasters.

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Be Well

Humans are the problem, not carbon.

The carbon cycle---

 https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle#/media/File:Carbon_cycle-cute_diagram.svg

NOTE:  At the link, be sure to read the Key below the diagram, and be aware that the "purple" numbers (fluxes in gigatons of carbon per year) appear to be BLUE.  At least, on my screen they do.  Then go to the upper right and expand the diagram so it takes up the full page.

Life on Earth is carbon-based.  It's an element without which we wouldn't exist.  The problem is that we are overloading a natural cycle, and thus committing species suicide.  Most of us are aware of this, right?

So, the question is:  why aren't the Powers-That-Be AND Main Street folks doing more to mitigate the problem?  Why, for example, are more & more drilling permits being issued for fossil fuels?  We should be phasing out such fuels rather than finding more to burn.  Why are we talking about 2050 instead of 2030?  In 2021, why isn't coal ancient history?  Are those (in particular) in the Upper Crust taking all this seriously, or are they trying to put it off onto the next generation?  Is "greenwashing" the flavor of the day?  Arguably, it seems so.  Ditto re this:  is the Rat Race of unlimited growth & overconsumption still ruling the day?  [Or is sustainability?]

There are a lot more "why?" scenarios, and they have little or nothing to do with climate disruption.  This Crisis upon us NOW is multi-faceted, all the various parts are systemic, and the whole ball of wax constitutes the greatest existential threat humans ever have faced.  Politicians of all stripes seem to be either ignorant of most of the overall problem, or coming up with solutions which tinker around the edges of it.  The same is true for most of the moguls of Big Business.

Solutions are known.  History and research have shown us the way.  By the end of January 2022 (hopefully), I'll have a short book out which will summarize both the problems and the solutions.  The only thing standing in our way is the mindset of some people.  If we don't solve this, Mother Nature will.  The latter already has started, but it's merely the beginning.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Mnuchin is Wrong About Both COVID-19 & the Recession

He recently claimed---
1.  The economy should rebound once the new virus is "contained".  [There are two assumptions in that view:  the bug will be contained; and our economy will or should rebound.]
2.  The designation, Recession, is not "terribly relevant" because it's the gov't that is effectively shutting down large parts of the economy.  The downturn is not due to underlying economic conditions.  Instead, it's due to measures necessary to slow down the spread of the virus.
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All the above sounds reasonable, but is it?  Consider the following.

1.  Containment does not mean eradication.  It means limiting the virus to a smaller number of areas.  The way things are looking, it's too late for that.  [Nevertheless, "flattening the curve" is important.]  This virus, officially designated by WHO as SARS CoV-2 or SARS 2, spreads easily and rapidly.  [SARS = Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.]  Too many younger people (in particular) appear to be spreading it all over...because, since most cases of infection are mild to moderate, the younger crowd seems to think it's no big deal.  The fact is, covid-19 (SARS CoV-2) is spreading like wildfire both here and globally.  Containment is not likely.  The best we can hope for is slowing the spread and rate of infection (flattening the curve), thus giving the medical establishment time to get caught up, so to speak.  That means rapid testing, isolation, and more PPE (Personal Protective Equipment...for health care staff).

2.  The slow initial response re testing, and the continued slowness of testing, means that this virus is now in all 50 States here...and in people who currently are showing no symptoms whatsoever.  Add to that the instances where people simply are not practicing social distancing at all.  Except for the three cities with large numbers of known infections, I'm mostly convinced that too many people (everywhere else) are not taking proper precautions.  I know for sure they're not in this little valley where I live.

3.  An unknown number of people infected with this bug are going to work.  They're showing no symptoms yet.  Some people with symptoms are going to work anyway; they have little financial choice.

4.  Bottom line re covid-19 in the USA:  it already has become widely spread, and continues to do so.

5.  The Administration is reluctant to use the word, Recession (which we're already in); arguably, we're rapidly approaching a full-blown, economic Depression.  [The 1930's Great Depression, which lasted about ten years, was not so named until halfway through it.]  There are at least two economies in the USA:  one for the top 20% (or so) of income earners; and one for the bottom 80%.  When Trump & Crew refer to "our great economy, the greatest in our history", they're referencing the economy of the top tier, not that of the overwhelming majority of Americans.  Even then, they're inaccurate.  Our greatest economy was during the Golden Age of American Capitalism, from about 1946 to the "Nixon Shock" in 1971.  The Trump years aren't even in the same universe, never mind ballpark, as that economic boom.  By the way, mega biz was taxed at up to 90% then... and they still prospered.

6.  In several fairly recent past posts, I've detailed the reasons for the contention immediately above.  No time or energy to repeat all that, but here's a partial, truncated list of those reasons.

a.  Record national/public, corporate, and personal DEBT...and it's all coming home to roost.  U.S. TOTAL Debt is now over $76.8 trillion.

b.  50% of workers in the USA make less than $33,882 per year.  The Middle Class continues to shrink.  (See:  usdebtclock.org)

c.  The Gov't Jobs Report fails to identify how many jobs are part-time, temporary, or both.  Too many people are struggling with two or more jobs.

d.  The unemployment stats put out by the Feds are always way too low.  See this post:  http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-real-state-of-union-rather-than.html

e.  Many countries are dumping Dollars, forming their own currency exchange agreements, and their own Trade agreements.  Trump has so alienated them that they are by-passing the USA.  Even prior to The Don, the same thing was going on in order to oppose American hegemony.  We are becoming isolated in the world economy.  Other countries are tired of our Govt's bullying.

In addition---

7.  Mega Banks and other Mega Corporations do little to nothing to help increase the number of good-paying jobs and manufacturing in this country.  Despite the current Admin's rhetoric, factories & jobs continue to flow South or overseas.

8.  Bizarre financial Derivatives continue to threaten our Financial Sector and/or our economy and the world's, as well.  Essentially nothing is being done to correct that situation.

9.  Mega monopolization in the Business world is stifling small businesses in the USA.

10.  Rampant Financialization (since the 1970's) continues to destroy jobs and manufacturing, suck up Middle and Lower Class income, and cause an exponential rise in income inequality.

11.  Bottom line re Recession:  even without the covid-19 trigger, we were right on the cusp of the overdue Recession.  The virus wasn't the cause of the Recession we're in now; it was merely the trigger.  The causes I just listed above.  Our economy is not resilient.  Even the workers are always in a precarious situation--- insecure jobs, poor benefits, essentially flat wages, low wages, obscene health care costs, etc.  The economist, Guy Standing, refers to them being in the Precariat Class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnYhZCUYOxs
Even people who are doing okay, living paycheck to paycheck, have little to no way of saving for a rainy day.  The Establishment doesn't want them to save.  It wants them to spend, spend, spend... and to increase their debt... so that the consumer society can expand, expand, expand.  Debt will be our downfall.

12.  Finally, on both the disease and economic fronts, this is not about only the USA.  It's worldwide.  On the economic front, most of the "Developed" countries (not only here in the U.S.) are on the cusp of--- or already in ---a Recession.  We in the USA cannot be unaffected by that.  The next Depression, like the last, will be worldwide.
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p.s.  The reason the Dems in Congress haven't yet (as of about 7 AM) agreed to pass the COVID-19 Relief Bill--- or whatever it's called ---is because the money going to corporations has too few to zero conditions on it.  Remember the last Bailout Congress passed re the Mega Banks?  No restrictions as to use of that money.  Did they loan it out to stimulate the economy?  Answer:  very little of it.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

What Happened to the Republic of the USA? Is It a Feudal Society?

Below is a recent email I sent to a "Conservative" friend of mine.  It directly relates to the title of this piece.

Hate to say it, but I fear that it may be too late, Bob... for education, the economy, sound money, politics, the whole ball of wax.  Free Market Capitalism has been almost totally replaced by Crony Capitalism (aka, what FDR & Mussolini said equals Fascism).  The State has now inserted itself into every phase of human affairs.  Whether you see it or not, Mega Business, along with their puppets/cronies of both political parties, are well on their way to transforming this country into a feudal society.

Voting is the opium of the masses in this land.  The Oligarchs don't much care who wins any election.  Most politicians are not beyond their control; the very few who are, easily can be marginalized & made impotent.  [Examples:  Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich]

The "Republic" portion of the USA already is gone, or 90% gone.  Individual Rights matter little anymore.  Voters keep voting in the same type of people (in both parties) who erode our individual sovereignty.  The reasons given for such erosion are swallowed whole by a completely propagandized public who apparently no longer have the ability to think critically.

This whole scenario is nothing new to History.  Persia, Athens, Rome, etc. all went the same way... oligarchical, imperial decay... caused by the super-rich, and allowed by bamboozled commoners.  The USA is doing pretty much the same thing those empires did--- taking away individual rights in the name of "security/defense", and over-reaching in terms of imperial control...thus bankrupting their economies and their reputations.  But while Middle Class incomes essentially stagnate, the super-rich increase their incomes by 700% in 10 years.  Welcome to 2014.

But the world will continue after the collapse.  The only question is, after the Fall of the Republic of the USA (sooner or later), will We the People finally have learned that politicians & the super-rich as a whole are not to be trusted?  Or will we again be propagandized into supporting another political arrangement that results in a feudal society and an empire-building, aggressive, and hegemonic government?

For the sake of your kids & my grandkids, my hope is that Americans will wake up to a few facts:

1.  the super-rich usually do not care who wins most elections... they control the winners, whoever they are;

2.  thus, "voting" will not solve our problems;

3.  public & private Institutions, for the most part, are not on our side... they mostly favor Oligarchs.

4.  both Republicans and Democrats (at the highest levels) almost constantly spew out propaganda favoring the super-rich;

5.  we are almost at the point of being a feudal society;

6.  American politics is a complete farce;

7.  for the most part, the Constitution has been abandoned;

8.  we are living in a soft Fascist State;

9.  the new political paradigm is the Oligarchy v. the rest of us;

10.  radical but peaceful action is required to regain our freedom and sovereignty;

11.  what the Oligarchy dreads is people organizing around just causes... and such organization is our best hope...not politics, not voting, not Republicans v. Democrats or Conservatives v. Liberals (those labels are completely outdated);

12.  the Corporate Media (Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, etc.) all are propaganda tools of the Oligarchs.  Ignore them.  The differences you think you see amongst them are phony.  It's all part of rigging the Game.  The super-rich long ago learned how important it is for them to control the "Press".  They've been doing it for decades and decades... and it's not a "conspiracy"; it's mostly in plain sight.  To them, it's just good business practice.

Be Well