Wednesday, March 24, 2010
PDF for 2005 - 2009
For those who would like copies of my postings there is a link in the download section for a PDF file containing all the posting on El Gato from 2005 - 2009.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The End Is Near
What we are facing today in the U.S. is on the one hand a plutocracy where the wealthy few control the government and on the other hand a circus freak show composed of idiots , hopeless dipsticks and just plain liars. Our vote counts for nothing. We voted to end the the wars, to provide jobs for the jobless, to end housing foreclosures, to provide health care for everyone, to control Wall St. gambling and what happened? Nothing. The corporations have injected so much payola into the Congress that the politicians are fearful of voting for any laws that would benefit the middle class and the poor. Further, they refuse to enact any legislation that will regulate the highly leveraged speculation of the enormously wealthy and powerful financial corporations of Wall St. No regulation means banks will continue to rob us over and over. Since the legislators that supposedly represent us are unable to act, we are no longer a democracy but we are headed instead toward “totalitarian capitalism”. Hang on to your hat. The Empire is ended. We are about to descend into chaos. We will be poorer while the system disintegrates.
Now let's look at some of the characters in the freak show. They are the Tea Party Protestors, Russ Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Fox News, and Glenn Beck. These people are the right wing representatives of the Republican Party who belligerently combat government regulation and are linked to the thievery of Wall Street and the larceny of the “for profit” health care organizations. The Tea Party Protestors are composed of stupid, ignorant no-nothings. Russ Limbaugh said he will leave the country if a Federal health plan was passed. So where was he going? He picked Costa Rica, where apparently unbeknownst to him there is a national health plan that covers everyone. Maybe he did his homework because now he says he is not leaving. Too bad.
Sarah Palin admitted that as a child, she and her family would cross the border into Canada to use their health plan free of charge. Not too long ago, she advised Canadians to drop their National Health Plan. Is she “cuckoo” or just a hypocrite? Maybe both. We are all familiar with the sanctimonious Newt Gingrich and the people on Fox News are pathological liars who deliberately deceive rather than inform. Glenn Beck is obviously mentally ill.
Nonetheless, 35,000,000 people or more are struck dumb by these buffoons and believe what they say. They are allied with the Christian Right, a wing of the Republican Party. Millions of jobless who have no hope are easy prey for the religious fanatics. The program of the Christian Right is an alliance with the wealthy power brokers to control the State and destroy democracy.
As Molly Ivins once said: “Just when you think there wasn't a dimes worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong.” Rest in Peace, Molly.
References:
Hedges, Chris. American Fascists. 2006
Ivins, Molly. Quotations
Prins, Nomi. It Takes A Pillage. 2009
Now let's look at some of the characters in the freak show. They are the Tea Party Protestors, Russ Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Fox News, and Glenn Beck. These people are the right wing representatives of the Republican Party who belligerently combat government regulation and are linked to the thievery of Wall Street and the larceny of the “for profit” health care organizations. The Tea Party Protestors are composed of stupid, ignorant no-nothings. Russ Limbaugh said he will leave the country if a Federal health plan was passed. So where was he going? He picked Costa Rica, where apparently unbeknownst to him there is a national health plan that covers everyone. Maybe he did his homework because now he says he is not leaving. Too bad.
Sarah Palin admitted that as a child, she and her family would cross the border into Canada to use their health plan free of charge. Not too long ago, she advised Canadians to drop their National Health Plan. Is she “cuckoo” or just a hypocrite? Maybe both. We are all familiar with the sanctimonious Newt Gingrich and the people on Fox News are pathological liars who deliberately deceive rather than inform. Glenn Beck is obviously mentally ill.
Nonetheless, 35,000,000 people or more are struck dumb by these buffoons and believe what they say. They are allied with the Christian Right, a wing of the Republican Party. Millions of jobless who have no hope are easy prey for the religious fanatics. The program of the Christian Right is an alliance with the wealthy power brokers to control the State and destroy democracy.
As Molly Ivins once said: “Just when you think there wasn't a dimes worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong.” Rest in Peace, Molly.
References:
Hedges, Chris. American Fascists. 2006
Ivins, Molly. Quotations
Prins, Nomi. It Takes A Pillage. 2009
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Make It Cheap
It should be clear by now that free market globalization is in actuality “crony capitalism” whereby politicians hand over public wealth to private corporations in exchange for political support. This model is used in impoverished nations throughout the world to provide loans to desperate economies channeled through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World trade Organization (WTO) which the U.S. controls. The foundation for the model is deregulation and privatization. It very soon becomes apparent that globalization is in fact simply unscrupulous corporatism.
The manufacturing corporation seeks to produce its product as cheaply as possible by using the labor of poverty stricken Third World countries. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to give up the ownership of their productive facilities and the employment of workers. Instead production was outsourced to contractors and sub-contractors at a less than livable wage in the poorest of countries. For example, if companies, such as Wal-Mart, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, K-Mart, Nike, and Reebok were contracting for labor in China where at one time 87 cents per hour was considered a living wage by the government, some U.S. Companies paid as little as 13 cents per hour. The mark- up on many of the products jumped from 100% to 400%.
The CEO's saw this as an opportunity to decrease their costs, increase their profits and above all develop a brand name that consumers would buy. Soon consumers no longer bought the product but rather they bought the brand which represented a life style. The life style was introduced through advertising, design and marketing. All the products manufactured carried the brand logo. You might be middle class but the brand logo gave you upper class pride of ownership. The logo was there for all to see, whether it was Levi, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger or Eddie Bauer.
When complaints came in about conditions in the sweat shops and less than a living wage for the workers, the corporation spokesman could say that they did not employ anyone. The contractor was responsible. He owned the factory and set the pay scales. The corporation tells the contractor how to design the product but to “make it cheap.”
All the costs of building factories, buying machinery and labor are transferred to the contractors and subs. The most profitable corporations are running from the costs of production. Factories re-
quire maintenance , employees cost in wages and benefits. By ridding itself of these expenses, corporate profit rises enormously. Money is then available to design and market brand logos.
As for the workers in the sweatshops,for example in Honduras in 2003 garment workers were paid 24 cents for each $50 branded sweat shirt. Most contractors pay the worker less than the required living expenses. Nevertheless, if the worker does not take a job with the contractor, his only other option is backbreaking labor, subsistence farming, prostitution, trash picking or starvation. Today because of the economic crises world wide, many of these marginal workers are being laid off as sales dwindle.
Obviously free trade agreements do not promote free trade at all but only protect multinational corporations from competition by local industries that may be unionized. Free trade agreements only reduce tariffs and barriers to entry to the benefit of the corporation.
It's axiomatic that the people at the top have always had a hard time seeing those at the bottom. As Molly Ivins said, “ they practically need a telescope.”
References:
Molly Ivins
Klein, Naomi. No Logo. 2009
Wikipedia
The manufacturing corporation seeks to produce its product as cheaply as possible by using the labor of poverty stricken Third World countries. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to give up the ownership of their productive facilities and the employment of workers. Instead production was outsourced to contractors and sub-contractors at a less than livable wage in the poorest of countries. For example, if companies, such as Wal-Mart, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, K-Mart, Nike, and Reebok were contracting for labor in China where at one time 87 cents per hour was considered a living wage by the government, some U.S. Companies paid as little as 13 cents per hour. The mark- up on many of the products jumped from 100% to 400%.
The CEO's saw this as an opportunity to decrease their costs, increase their profits and above all develop a brand name that consumers would buy. Soon consumers no longer bought the product but rather they bought the brand which represented a life style. The life style was introduced through advertising, design and marketing. All the products manufactured carried the brand logo. You might be middle class but the brand logo gave you upper class pride of ownership. The logo was there for all to see, whether it was Levi, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger or Eddie Bauer.
When complaints came in about conditions in the sweat shops and less than a living wage for the workers, the corporation spokesman could say that they did not employ anyone. The contractor was responsible. He owned the factory and set the pay scales. The corporation tells the contractor how to design the product but to “make it cheap.”
All the costs of building factories, buying machinery and labor are transferred to the contractors and subs. The most profitable corporations are running from the costs of production. Factories re-
quire maintenance , employees cost in wages and benefits. By ridding itself of these expenses, corporate profit rises enormously. Money is then available to design and market brand logos.
As for the workers in the sweatshops,for example in Honduras in 2003 garment workers were paid 24 cents for each $50 branded sweat shirt. Most contractors pay the worker less than the required living expenses. Nevertheless, if the worker does not take a job with the contractor, his only other option is backbreaking labor, subsistence farming, prostitution, trash picking or starvation. Today because of the economic crises world wide, many of these marginal workers are being laid off as sales dwindle.
Obviously free trade agreements do not promote free trade at all but only protect multinational corporations from competition by local industries that may be unionized. Free trade agreements only reduce tariffs and barriers to entry to the benefit of the corporation.
It's axiomatic that the people at the top have always had a hard time seeing those at the bottom. As Molly Ivins said, “ they practically need a telescope.”
References:
Molly Ivins
Klein, Naomi. No Logo. 2009
Wikipedia
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