Neo-Liberalism

Xiamen Summit Doomed: Capitalist Deglobalisation Could Crack BRICS

September 3, 2017 Patrick Bond, www.borderless-hk.com Educate! BRICS, Globalization, Neo-Liberalism, New Economy

By Patrick Bond for Borderless HK. The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa summit in Xiamen from September 3-5 is already inscribed with high tension thanks to Sino-Indian border conflicts. But regardless of a new peace deal, centrifugal forces within the fast-whirling world economy threaten to divide the BRICS. 1brics Beijing’s logo designers for this summit, perhaps unconsciously subversive, illustrated how the formerly overlapping, interlocking BRICS are now thin and flimsy, wedging themselves apart. Such a prospect was predictable earlier this year as a result of Donald Trump’s ascendance. Both Washington’s neo-conservative ‘Deep State‘ and the (fast-disappearing) paleo-conservatives were intent on ramping up conflict with China – though early on, BRICS splintering towards the US included not only proto-fascist India, for elites in Russia and Brazil also sought friendly relations.

Lessons To Shoulder Into 2017

January 1, 2017 Arnie Saiki, www.imipono.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Neo-Liberalism, Obama, Trump

By Arnie Saiki for Imipono. As we move out of 2016, let us at least acknowledge that we have become estranged from the roots of democracy. Perhaps 2017 will reveal that our participation in social media and our willingness to provide streams of data driven information to the corporate plutocracy inhabits a different space in the world with people who are on the outside. Even if social media has been a tremendous tool for digging deeper and casting wider nets, it is not a replacement for our democratic institutions or practices. For as long as the U.S has capitalized from being an anti-communist, then unipolar hegemon, we’ve never been able to really live up to the fulfillment of equitable and democratic institutions. Now, much of the world seems to be moving in that direction, whereas the largest of the advanced economies seem to be moving in the opposite: towards greater nationalism, xenophobia and isolationism. How we reflect upon 2016 and what we carry into 2017 can make all the difference in the world.

It’s Worse Than You Think

November 13, 2016 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Educate! Democracy, Fascism, Neo-Liberalism, Trump

By Chris Hedges for Truthdig. Our capitalist democracy ceased to function more than two decades ago. We underwent a corporate coup carried out by the Democratic and Republican parties. There are no institutions left that can authentically be called democratic. Trump and Hillary Clinton in a functioning democracy would have never been presidential nominees. The long and ruthless corporate assault on the working class, the legal system, electoral politics, the mass media, social services, the ecosystem, education and civil liberties in the name of neoliberalism has disemboweled the country. It has left the nation a decayed wreck. We celebrate ignorance. We have replaced political discourse, news, culture and intellectual inquiry with celebrity worship and spectacle.

Newsletter: Real History Of Revolution

July 2, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Austerity, Colonialism, Declaration of Independence, Democracy, Finance and the Economy, Fourth of July, Independence, Indigenous People, Neo-Liberalism, Nonviolence, Slavery, Wars and Militarism

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Official holidays in the United States tend to reinforce false historical narratives. The Fourth of July is one of those holidays and what the official story misses is the reality that must be told. During the decade before the Revolutionary War, colonists ran one of the most effective nonviolence resistance campaigns against corporate power in history. Rivera Sun describes this campaign of nonviolent actions by showing that many of the tactics people attribute to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other modern activists were used in an effective campaign by the colonists including boycotts of British goods, replacing them with their own goods; refusing to cooperate with unjust laws, non-payment of taxes, the development of parallel governments and local assemblies as well as rallies, petitions, marches and protests.

Newsletter – Building Toward Political Revolution

April 9, 2016 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Banking and Finance, Corporate crime, Democracy movement, Education, Farmworkers, Fight for 15, France, Living Wage, Minimum Wage, Neo-Liberalism, Nuit Debout, Opt-Out, Police violence, Prisoner rights, Privatization, Student Activism, Tax Evasion, Tax havens, Whistleblowers, Worker Rights

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance. Of course, we also know the Panama Papers leak is about just one tax evasion firm, and not a major one. This is a small tip of a massive tax evasion iceberg. Estimates are that $7.6 trillion in individual assets are in tax havens, about one-tenth of the global GPD. The use of tax havens has grown 25 percent from 2009 to 2015. Gabriel Zucman, author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens and assistant professor at UC Berkeley estimates that US citizens have at least $1.2 trillion stashed offshore, costing $200 billion a year worldwide in lost tax revenue and US transnational corporations are underpaying their taxes worldwide by $130 billion. The Panama Papers will escalate demands for transformation of the economy as well as of government; continue to increase pressure on capitalism and result in the growth of the people powered movement for economic justice.

Tens Of Thousands March Against Global Elites Ahead Of G7

June 5, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org Resist! Empire, Europe, Germany, Neo-Liberalism

By Sarah Lazare in Common Dreams - As representatives of some of the most powerful countries in the world prepare to gather for their annual Group of Seven (G7) meeting, this time at a castle in the German town of Elmau, tens of thousands marched through nearby Munich on Thursday to protest the summit's politics of "neo-liberal economic policies, war and militarization, exploitation, poverty and hunger, environmental degradation, and the closing-off towards refugees." Over 34,000 people reportedly turned out for Thursday's march, with one demonstrator identified as Julia by Euronews declaring "we must not lose hope that one day the world really will be equal, and we will all have the same values." The massive protest is just one of many mobilizations, including alternative summits and direct actions, in the lead-up to the gathering of global elites, which will take place June 7 and 8.

Report Finds World Bank Displaced 3.4 Million People

April 24, 2015 Sharmini Peries and Alnoor Ladha, www.therealnews.com Educate! Displacement, Neo-Liberalism, World Bank

Despite the World Bank's promises to protect the rights of indigenous people over the years, a new investigative report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, including the Guardian and the Huffington Post, has found that since 2004, the World Bank funded projects including dams and power plants that has displaced 3.4 million people from their homes, off their lands, or threatened their livelihood around the globe. That is roughly the population of an entire city such as Berlin or Cape Town, or even Madrid. The 2015 meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund that just ended past weekend concluded with a free concert of Earth Day on the Washington Mall.

Detroit Water Shutoff Crisis: Water Brigade Grows

March 27, 2015 Jan Lee, www.triplepundit.com Resist! Human Rights, Neo-Liberalism, Racism, Water

Last September, as Detroit residents were still in the midst of 80-degree summer weather, the city’s water department went to court. Its issue was the 27,000-some customers who were getting Detroit water but weren’t paying their bills. As of March 2014, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) was missing about $175 million in water payments, almost $100,000 of that from residential customers who had lost their jobs or couldn’t afford the hefty water bill last summer. Residents were already paying an average of $64 per month water access. With an 8.7 percent increase in June, many unemployed residents and individuals on Social Security Income checks couldn’t afford water for cooking, washing and basic needs.

The Education Crisis In Detroit

March 26, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Democracy, Education, Neo-Liberalism, Racist

Detroit Schools Under Seige: The Canary in the Coal Mine Detroit School Board in Exile: For most of the past 15 years, Detroit public schools have been taken over by so-called Emergency Managers appointed by the governor. The elected school board, although in exile and rendered impotent, continues to fight the privatization of public schools. When schools were first taken over, they enjoyed a large surplus plus a bond and students tested at mid-range for the state of Michigan. Since the take over, Detroit schools are deeply in debt and students scores are the lowest in the nation. But, the pockets of contractors paid by the Emergency Managers bulge. This month, the School Board in Exile is taking their case to the Department of Justice.

Detroit Resistance To Neo-Liberal Assault

March 24, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.clearingthefogradio.org Educate! Detroit, Education, Neo-Liberalism, Resistance, Water

In March, 2013, Detroit was placed under the control of an appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, despite protests from local residents. Facing a severe financial crisis, the city later filed Chapter 9 Bankruptcy. Several years prior to the emergency manager for the city, the Governor replaced the school board with an appointed manager, Robert Bob, who made cuts to the budget and closed schools. The Detroit public school board members continue to meet ‘in exile’ and protest these school cuts. We’ll speak with Lamar Lemmons, a past president and current member of the school board in exile. We’ll also speak with Miss Beulah Walker, an amazing volunteer who works with the Detroit Water Brigade bringing water to those who have had their water turned off and helping to pay their bills. Miss Beulah also volunteers helping homeless people in Detroit.

Toward A Radical Climate Movement

March 13, 2015 Michael McCabe, www.logosjournal.com Create! Activism, Environment, Neo-Liberalism, Social Change, Social Justice

Given the failure of government to meet its obligation to mitigate climate change, it is clear that political protest is a tactic that must be pursued by the environmental justice community. Indeed, the historical record shows that a social movement is the most effective vehicle for forcing policy makers to respond to social problems. The recent International Day of Climate Action is a step in the right direction, and its attendance of over 300,000 participants in New York City alone should give us hope that such a social movement is possible. Perhaps equally significant is the fact that Pope Francis has identified climate change as a social issue that demands immediate action. That such a well-respected public figure is calling on ordinary people to respond to the needs of the environment lends additional credence to the idea that a social movement which addresses climate change is possible.

Unions To Fight Trade Pact By Freezing Political Donations

March 11, 2015 Melanie Trottman, www.wsj.com Resist! Capitalism, Free Trade, Labor Unions, Neo-Liberalism, TPP

Dozens of major labor unions plan to freeze campaign contributions to members of Congress to pressure them to oppose fast-track trade legislation sought by President Barack Obama , according to labor officials. The move is part of the unions’ campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which the Obama administration is negotiating with 11 nations around the Pacific Ocean. The unions worry the trade agreement could send more jobs to low-wage countries, including Vietnam and Malaysia. Unions have opposed the TPP through demonstrations, letters to lawmakers and political ads, but withholding political contributions is a more forceful way of flexing their muscle. In the 2014 midterm elections, unions—the lifeblood of the Democratic Party—contributed about $65 million from their political-action committee, or PACs, to candidates, nearly all Democrats.

In Amsterdam, A Revolt Against The Neoliberal University

March 10, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Resist! Higher Education, Neo-Liberalism, Netherlands, Student Activism

For three weeks now, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been shaken by a wave of student protests against the neoliberalization of higher education and the lack of democratic accountability in internal decision-making. Last week, UvA staff joined the rebellion, declaring their solidarity with the students and threatening further actions if their demands are not met. With the university’s main administrative building — the Maagdenhuis — now occupied by students, the governing council has been forced into an awkward position: will it honor the demands of the academic community for greater democratization, or will it continue to obey the neoliberal logic of bureaucratic financialization? While the struggle at UvA has been mostly local and national in character, the implications of the issues raised by its students and staff reach far beyond the borders of the Netherlands.

Honduras: Model Cities To Be Corporate Controlled Mini-States

February 14, 2015 Derek Royden, www.occupy.com Educate! Free Trade, Honduras, Neo-Liberalism

These charter, or “model” cities, significantly expand on the idea of free trade areas as they currently exist in places like Panama and Singapore. Unlike the zones in those countries, the ones planned in Honduras will not only be economically independent, but they'll be exclusively governed by corporations, both local and international, which will create and enforce their own laws in the territories ceded to them by the state. These Special Economic Development Zones (the Spanish language acronym is ZEDE) are based on the ideas of Paul Romer, an economist at New York University, whose initial plan was that “the charter city should be established in abandoned territory,” not only to develop these unused areas but also to ensure that people would not be displaced when they’re created.

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