#Michael #Hudson : #Debt , #Economic #Collapse , and the #End of #Civilization
#deepstate #banksters #IMF #USA #US #american #economy #finance #money #debt #Ponzi #fraud #fail #Western #capitalism #MiddleEast #Mesopotamia #history #workersrights
A good read about the so-called #fertility #crisis and the question of shrinking #population. Selected quote:
A University of Queensland economist, Prof, John Quiggin, says the whole fertility crisis is “bogus” – and not just because policies to address it appear to be universally failing.
“Economically, the cost of raising children is much higher than the cost of looking after old people,” he says.
But that cost is born by parents, so in a sense they’re giving “a free gift to society”.
“The odds are you’ll be in reasonable shape until about six months before you die at which point you’ll need about the same care as a baby,” he says. “So raising a baby to look after an old person makes no sense.”
Sandra Kanck, a former Democrats senator and national secretary of Sustainable Population Australia, agrees. “The cost of raising a child is way more than the cost of putting someone in aged care,” she says, adding that having more children puts more pressure on the planet.
“So the resources we think are available to us are not available to our children,” she says. “It’s contributing to climate change and creating greater instability.”
As for fears about an ageing population, she says, these are based on flawed assumptions. “Like that everyone over 70 is basically senile, and that all the baby boomers will end up in aged care,” she says.
“Most of them are making an incredible contribution. Many are still in the workforce … and those who have retired are operating a free babysitting service for their grandchildren.”
Meanwhile, Dulles proved his commitment to anti-communism by heading for a long time one of the most specialized anti-communist organizations in the world, with a budget not inferior to that of the U.S. Army, the main task of which was the PLANNED BORDER against COMMUNISM in the USSR.
...U.S. leaders and their military-political advisers openly declared that in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, American liberals and Democrats pursued the goal, above all, of destroying the COMMUNIST regimes in those countries, along with the populations that had tasted socialism. How, then, does the goal of American liberals differ from the goals of the fascists who raved about destroying Bolshevism?
...“Methods of 'decisive action,' including, if necessary, assassination...financing underground organizations in Russia's satellite states...establishing insurgent gangs 'under American leadership'...assassinations of prominent Communists will be strongly encouraged...American agents, dropped by parachute, will coordinate anti-Communist activities....”
...Experience has already shown that, in addition to their official activities, British and American diplomats carry on very active work in the USSR and the countries of the People's Democracies in which they are accredited, which is summarized in general terms as follows:
I. Organization of anti-government conspiracies and support for these purposes of anti-people, reactionary (including fascist) elements, representatives of bourgeois parties expelled from the political arena, and especially right-wing socialists.
II. Espionage, for which all these reactionary elements, including former Hitler agents, are widely used.
III. Diversionary, subversive and terrorist activities calculated to retard the economic development of the countries of the People's Democracies, weaken their defense capabilities, provoke discontent within the country, and hinder democratic reforms.
IV. Attempts to induce military psychosis, fear of an allegedly inevitable war in order to create a tense atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety.
https://diasp.org/posts/10805609
#USA #US #CIA #uk #britain #british #american #intelligence #deepstate #Dulles #anticommunism #fraud #murders #terrorism #capitalism #imperialism #war #coldwar #fascism #mccarthyism against #democracy #bolsheviks #socialism #communism #USSR #soviet #russian #Russia #history
Additional read:
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY AGAINST RUSSIA – https://resistir.info/livros/the_great_conspiracy.pdf
#USA #US #Pentagon #deepstate #MIC #military #base #capitalism #imperialism #hegemony #map of #american #occupation #canada #europe #norway #uk #germany #italy #spain #turkey #kuwait #japan #australia #southkorea #saudiarabia #peru #vassalage #world #infographic
A 13-year-old girl is due to appear at Basingstoke magistrates court on Tuesday to face a charge of violent disorder over a protest in Aldershot, Hampshire Police said.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is from Aldershot. It comes after reports of disorder outside Potters International Hotel on 31 July. A 40-year-old man, Steven Tiquin, will also appear at the court charged with assaulting police officers.
In Northern Ireland, an 11-year-old boy has been charged with rioting and throwing petrol bombs and will appear at Belfast youth court on 6 September.
The milestone of 1,000 arrests in relation to the recent disorder is expected to be reached imminently. So far, 975 people have been arrested and 546 charged, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said on Monday.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/12/boy-12-admits-participating-in-two-scenes-of-violent-disorder-in-manchester
#uk #britain #england #children #childhood in #prison for #dictatorship of #deepstate #capitalism #imperialism against #human-rights
Well this isn't sketchy at all, Disney: "Disney+ terms prevent allergy death lawsuit, Disney says". I know large companies are generally sociopathic about shit like this but damn. #rant #disney #capitalism
Disney+ terms prevent allergy death lawsuit, Disney says
#politics #capitalism #exploitation
The growth of "jobs" is mostly grueliing work of exploitation.
During the Thatcher years, as Britain de-industrialised, mass unemployment kicked in. Britain witnessed a spiraling gap between rich and poor. Thatcher’s legacy is a banking crisis coupled with a vulnerable and weak economy, worklessness, unemployment, consequent social breakdown and a pervasive greed culture of me-first acquisitive individualism, the effects of which are so graphically witnessed in our towns and cities today: a descent into drugs, alcohol, crime, community breakdown, fear for personal safety, youth offending and a range of other social problems. According to a study by York University in 2006, British children were among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in Europe. A UNICEF report came to similar conclusions: children growing up in the United Kingdom suffer greater deprivation, worse relationships with their parents and are exposed to more risks from alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex than those in any other wealthy country in the world.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/britains-de-industralization-and-privatization-the-economic-and-social-legacy-of-margaret-thatcher-the-iron-lady/5329683
#history #capitalism #globalism #banksters #uk #britain #british #england #finance #politics #culture #economy #Thatcher #poverty for #children #humanrights #workersrights
One factor that may have hindered Superfest’s competitiveness in a unified Germany was its functionalist, austere look. Especially in southern parts of the country, drinkers like to swig their beer from glasses decorated with gold edging or engraved coats of arms. “Baroque decoration on a Superfest glass wouldn’t work,” says Höhne. “It would violate the design itself.”
But the main reason for its decline, paradoxically, was its strength. Glass retailers who play by the rules of the market live off the fact that their products break, so they can sell more. A glass that didn’t break was a threat to profits. “It turned out that Superfest is not suited for the market,” says Höhne. “The glasses are too good for pure market thinking.”
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/aug/06/superfest-unbreakable-drinking-glasses-east-germany
#DDR #germany #design #engineering #capitalism is #fail #market #history
"According to Safety and Mission Assurance officials at NASA and DCMA officials at Michoud, Boeing’s quality control issues are largely caused by its workforce having insufficient aerospace production experience," the report states. "The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that the contractor will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards."
This lack of a qualified workforce has resulted in significant program delays and increased costs. According to the new report, "unsatisfactory" welding operations resulted in propellant tanks that did not meet specifications, which directly led to a seven-month delay in the program.
NASA's inspector general was concerned enough with quality control to recommend that the space agency institute financial penalties for Boeing’s noncompliance. However, in a response to the report, NASA's deputy associate administrator, Catherine Koerner, declined to do so.
"However, the increased costs will benefit Boeing since this is a cost-plus contract that pays for all of Boeing's expenses, plus a fee. This may help to explain why a development program that was originally supposed to be completed in 2021 is not unlikely to be finished until 2028 at the earliest."
No wonder Boeing doesn't want to bid on any fixed price contracts. Who would with this open pipeline to apparently infinite cash.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/a-new-report-finds-boeings-rockets-are-built-with-an-unqualified-work-force/?comments=1&comments-page=1
#USA #US #american #NASA #space #Boeing Great #engineering #fail #capitalism
Mind you, the Boeing Starliner crew was supposed to stay in orbit for 8 days, instead they stuck it out until next February (2025).
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/07/science/boeing-starliner-nasa-astronauts-return/index.html
https://kafeneio.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/932/618/976/607/118/original/a28bfd244ba249fb.mp4
Thousands of fascists marched in Imotski, Croatia, singing songs of the Ustaše, which took power as a Nazi puppet state during World War II to further expand the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. The march also saw mass Nazi salutes and displays of fascist Ustaše symbols.
.red Media
#EuropeanNewMiddleAges
The march took place during a concert at the same location with 20,000 participants, during which Ustaše songs were also sung.
The Ustaše set about an exterminatory terror campaign with brutality that shocked even the Germans and occasionally obliged the Italians to intervene.
#europe #Croatia again with #nazism #nazi #neo-nazi #fascism serve #capitalism #imperialism #NATO
If I adapt really well, I'll find a treasure at the end of the rainbow. That's what they said, and they know what's good for me. Until then, kneel down and open your mouth! #capitalism #facefuck #rainbow
UN says a global ‘backlash’ against climate action is being stoked by fossil fuel companies
Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.
Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The perception among many political observers of a rejection of climate policies was a result of this campaign, rather than reflecting the reality of what people think, he added.
“There is this prevailing narrative – and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers – that climate action is too difficult, it’s too expensive,” he said. “It is absolutely critical that leaders, and all of us, push back and explain to people the value of climate action, but also the consequences of climate inaction.”
He contrasted the perception of a backlash with the findings of the biggest poll ever conducted on the climate, which found clear majorities of people around the world supporting measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The survey found 72% of people wanted a “quick transition” away from fossil fuels, including majorities in the countries that produce the most coal, oil and gas.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/05/chip-factory-workers-wages
Workers are pushing for a $27 #minimum #wage at the #semiconductor plant, which they say is the minimum required to live in the #Beaverton area. They are currently paid around $21 an hour.
#usa #economy #news #work #job #business #life #money #finance #business #justice #labour #fail #capitalism #system
#Capitalism #Spectacle #Olympics
"Consider the Olympics, an event engineered to draw in the attention of the world. The Spectacle is not just the event itself, but rather its gravitational hold over the consciousness of hundreds of millions of people, whether they are watching it or not...
"The actual portion of people who truly cared about clownish burlesque caricatures of Greek gods or about female boxers before the Olympics is vanishingly small. Now, however, having the correct opinion about each of these determines whether you are a good person or an uneducated fascist — your reaction to these events becomes a stand-in for virtue and a signal to others how they ought to classify you.
"That’s the Spectacle. It is not just the hold these events have over our social relations, but also the apparent instinctual need we seem to have to react. However, those reactions are not instinctual at all, but rather the result of decades of fine-tuning the Spectacle’s hold over our consciousness.
"In other words, our reactions, the internal mechanisms which trigger those reactions, and the compulsion to have a reaction at all have all been engineered into us. We are constantly drawn in, and feel we must be drawn in, and suddenly see each spectacle as the most urgent thing in the world."
