|
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Our Larger Middle Eastern Problem The recent election in Iran creates a larger problem for USA. In a surprise run off, a reactionary mayor of Teheran has been elected President of Iran. He enjoyed a large majority. He was supported by the ayatollahs and the revolutionary guards both representing the radical Islamic right. The urban and rural poor voted him in. This has been seen as a vote against the corruption of the wealthy clerics and upper classes. It is also a movement towards a more intransigence religious position. In addition, it is a reaction to foreign opposition to Iran's nuclear progress, promoted primarily by the America administration. Well, this is going to be bad for the Bush administration in the Middle East. The strategy of his radical Neo-Con cabal is dismal. However, while they have shown an abysmal perception of realities in that part of the world, they inherited a mess. The removal of the Shah was a great political and social blunder by the Carter administration. In their naivete they ignored the realpolitic position, as FDR said about Anastasio Somoza (former US installed dictator of Nicaragua),"He may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he is our son-of-a-bitch." Actually it is difficult to put the Shah in the same class as Somosa. Iran may have had a tough internal security apparatus but it was child's play compared to the religious terror which followed the Shah's downfall. We, along with the Brits, put him in power. If we were following the often-brutal aspect of American hubris, backing the Shah would have supported our national interests and secondarily (to our interests) saved countless Iranians from death and destruction. Now we are the Great Satan. We have strengthened a mortal enemy of Israel. We have elevated the depressed Shia majority to questionable control of Iraq. We will see the increased support and influence of the Iranian Shia clerics in Iraq. There probably will be a civil war as the Sunni minority fights to retain some power in Iraq. Talk about dominos (our old cold war boogey) what will happen if the Sunnis throughout the Middle East are drawn into support of their co-religionists in Iraq. The period of Oliver Cromwell would be an apt comparison. Now we could have another war in the name of competing Gods. Saturday, June 11, 2005 Query From Overseas From overseas you ask about the political scene in the USA. Also you want to know about why some are talking about leaving America. A simplistic answer but here goes. Our political parties are the problem. Not having a parliamentary system we only have two parties. It is always a two horse race. The politicians are pandering to the money, which has become so necessary to wining; it is hard to blame them. Democrats or Republicans, either is just about the same. The Democrats, as a party, are in disarray. They have little to offer. So many have/are deserting their ranks. They have always been fractious as there are different factions within their membership. The Republicans are basking in their accomplishments of their decades of planning the current coup d'etat. Of course the real story there is the discipline of the radical religious right who have taken over the control of the GOP. Moderate Republicans are fighting for their lives against the American Taliban. Where are the leaders? We have destroyed heroes for celebrities. That is part of the tragedy as we have made politics so nasty that few of our peers want anything to do with it.As de Tocqueville and later Churchill said,"You get the politics you deserve" Going to a foreign country or spending much time away has an attraction. That is, in another country one does not care so much about the system. One does not vote. One can maneuver to get most things desired. In particular if you have money. No matter how little one may have we are for sure financially better off than the majority of the world. Here in the USA exist great frustrations. It is so easy to opt out if you feel you can't do anything. That is the reaction of the young. The current electoral system is a two-way race. Usually fixed, for sure the last two elections were stolen. We are heading for a theocracy in the US. The only thing, which may happen, is that things will get so bad that we will have a situation similar to the era of 1968. Of course that was almost Civil War Tuesday, June 07, 2005 Well Off and Homeless - A Paradox The Great American Dream-a home of your own. There is a strange situation nowadays. Many of the middle class are homeless. That doesn't mean they are in the streets. They simply cannot afford a home at the prices which exist nowadays. We are in a runaway market for real estate. Over the last few years the prices of homes have gone through the roof, particularly in the hot areas of either coast. Even between coasts there are great differences. Prices in New York City far outstrip those of Los Angeles. However San Francisco will give both a run for the money. This is a very bad scene, particularly for the young. Definitely it is a problem for the up and coming young artists or even professionals. It is creating areas where children cannot afford to live near their parents, unless they move in. It is not good for the quality of life's diversification whereby whole areas have become so gentrified they can be afforded only by the wealthy. Rich ghettos are appearing. What has happened is the pursuit of a lot of money for few objects, in this case homes. No inflation nowadays - that is a joke. The dot.com bubble bursts to leave many wondering where to invest. The stock market had lost its luster. When the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to stimulate the economy real estate mortgages became very affordable. Further the lending institutions lowered their requirements to such an extent that many could buy a home without much if anything down. The financing was cheap. Large numbers of buyers chose an adjustable rate mortgage. Now it looks as if a bubble is appearing. Many economists are predicting it will burst. Of course they have been preaching this for months. However when the shoe shine boys start talking about their latest real estate deal one gets nervous. Shades of the S&L crisis of a few years ago. What is missing is the comprehension that home owning is not the same thing as playing the market. A home is a place to live, to raise a family, to be part of a community. The principle of home owning is not punting on the market. It is your most important investment financially and personally. If or when this bubble burst the cost is going to be far greater than financial. |
ARTICLES
OF NOTE
Remarks for Friends of Conservation Probably Our Major Problem Today All In The Name You Give It We All Have The Same Problems Questions About HAIR Fury, Rage, Sadness, Embarrassed, Ashamed Answers for Simon "But I Can't Make A Difference" "God said it. I believe it. That settles it" ARCHIVES December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005
|
Monday, June 20, 2005
What Is Really Obscene
Recently remarks by Sen. Durbin about torture at Guantanamo and by Rep. Conyers referring to the Downing Street Memos have both been called obscene. These subjects are minor in comparison to what is really obscene.
It is really obscene when the worldwide expenditures for armaments in 2004 exceeded $1 trillion. The United States spent almost half of that amount, or almost 3% of global GDP. This does not include over $200 billion the US spent to fight terrorism.
In Western Europe and South America military expenditures fell. They increased in South Asia, Northern Africa and North America.
In the pursuit of DWD's (Dream Weapons of Destruction) USA has a current commitment of over $1.5 trillion. The Pentagon opposes many of these programs. They are created or kept in place by the politicians and civilians in the DOD.
These are obscene in any realistic aspect of life. The Merchants of Death have gained control of the world. The largest supplier is the USA. We sell more destroying, killing material than the rest of the world combined. Our government supports this. It crosses the aisles to all political parties.
We elected them and keep them in office.
What Eisenhower warned about the rising power of the Military Industrial Establishment has become far greater than he ever envisioned. Constant warnings from concerned people all over the world have come to naught. When retiring as Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, I sounded this tocsin. Afterwards Gen. Westmoreland was decorated.
What is obscene is when you consider the good such amounts could do for worldwide poverty, free trade, health, shelter, education, ecological solutions, population problems, infra structures-just to mention a few concerns. Not even thinking about the rest of the world we are constantly facing what a minority of politicians and lobbyists feel is needed in America. Surely there are better ways to spend out treasure.
I am not even mentioning the countless thousands killed or seriously wounded as a result of these expenditures.
Surely no God could be obscene enough to create this.
posted by Michael at 12:02 PM 0 comments email this post to a friend: