“Economic Update: Another Gilded Age [S7 E19]
THIS WEEK’S TOPICS (w/timestamps):
02:30 – Updates on how Mitbestimmung helped Germany not destroy itself;
04:10 – waves of strikes by public school teachers;
06:31 – Theranos bankruptcy and workers’ risks;
12:05 – our second “gilded age;”
14:33 – announcements;
16:10 – mortgage lenders turning to rich borrowers;
17:33 – Trump on drug prices is nothing more than rhetoric;
22:12 – and the economic effects of breaking the Iran Deal.
28:32 – SPECIAL GUEST: Interview with Prof Miguel Robles-Duran on gentrification and crisis of cities.”
Thank you to David, for this break down on what “white privilege” means.
I cannot say, that it in any way differs from my pre-existing understanding of racial discrimination.
He is correct, that “privilege” is a loaded term…and as such, it has to be expected that there will be a lot of push back.
…Maybe, we should be referring to it as racial discrimination?
We already have this established dialogue…and it’s not nearly so divisive, I think.
About “The Bell Curve”:
I’m not sure of the context which brought this up, as I’ve not watched the full debate yet.
…But I wanted to reiterate, given that this issue has been explored here in the past…
…What was examined here, was the question of racially [genetically and evolutionary] based IQ averages, itself…and the conversation was isolated to that question…It did not proceed into dialogue, on what to do about such presumed differences.
On the virtue of fairness…I would condemn targeting any racial group with unequal standards, where it comes to public assistance…which should be based upon who financially needs it, for survival and well being.
We are all born into this system…Not a single one of us asked for it’s complexities of advantages and disadvantages…It is simply imposed…and we are branded and claimed by it, as some type of property…
Since I view our existence in this world in a much more naturalistic manner…I find the current system to be highly abnormal…
…We are still animals, after all…And animals have all the same rights, of breathing the air, drinking the water, eating off the land, having shelter and free association…
…I’ve never understood any “right” of a system…to impose itself on the masses of an animal species…while simultaneously stripping that animal species of it’s natural rights…
…Or, to square this up with the video…humans [just like any other species] have a natural right, to produce as much offspring as they can naturally support…A system forcing them out of natural methods of supporting their own offspring, forcing them to rely upon it for the well being of their own offspring, and then forcing limits on how much offspring you can have…alone, does not set well with my world philosophy.
To my mind…if a system destroys a species natural world methods of life and survival…that system has an obligation of restitution, to said species…equal to, or exceeding, what has been lost by said species.
…So…who is to say, that people of “X” intelligence IQ can have a certain number of children before being cut off from assistance…where as people of a different level of IQ intelligence can have a different number of children, and still not be cut off from assistance?
I don’t believe there is any right, to that type of throttling.
And, yes…I realize, this bucks heads with the realities of a social systems limitations…and that having to many children to support, is a hardship on any species…
…But, who is that system, to impose such a thing?
…Am I wrong?
The feel good response…is that we are better off with the system, than without it…But that all depends on what one places highest value in, doesn’t it?
…Not everybody is equally impacted, where it comes to the range of life long sacrifices, they are expected to endure on behalf of the system.
Most humans, perhaps all, are slaves to the system…and they will never know what it means, to genuinely live free.
There is an incalculable human tragedy, in that point of fact…
…I think this is at the crux, of why there is so much hatred, anger and violence in this world.
Few people are allowed to live honest to their own true nature…This breeds resentment…contempt…oppressors…oppressed…the foundations of war.
Munk Debate HD Political Correctness Jordan Peterson, Stephen Fry, Michael Dyson, Michelle Goldberg:
01) Why the Progressive Movement is Winning—And You Can’t Give Up
“Jordan reports in West Virginia on the night of the primary between Senator Joe Manchin and progressive Paula Jean Swearengin. In this clip, Jordan speaks with Zana Day, a Brand New Congress staffer, about the momentum primary challengers like Paula Jean facing off against entrenched corporate Democrats.”
01) GOP Candidate Proposes Euthanasia For Poor & Disabled People
“A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Oklahoma proposed euthanasia for people on food stamps who are too disabled to work.
In a Facebook post made by a page purporting to be for OK governor candidate Christopher Barnett, the administrator initially posted a poll about food stamp requirements — and then made comments claiming euthanasia is a solution to the “issue” of the poor and disabled.
In a post made by Tulsa resident Lisa Schwart, screenshots of the thread from the Chrisforgov campaign page that shares a name with Barnett’s campaign website revealed the comments…
01) Neuroimaging study finds intolerance of uncertainty is linked to an enlarged striatum in the brain
“People who struggle with the ambiguity of the future tend to have a larger striatum, according to new neuroimaging research published in the journal Emotion.
The study found people who had difficulty tolerating an uncertain future had a greater volume of gray matter within the striatum, a brain structure that plays an important role in decisions, movements, and motivations.
“Anxiety (and its co-conspirator ‘worry’) is an active, energy consuming process,” the study’s lead author, M. Justin Kim of Dartmouth College, told PsyPost. “You haven’t given up – you are still fighting back, trying to anticipate what might happen tomorrow. The problem of course is that there are an infinite number of ‘what if…’ scenarios you can come up with. For some individuals, the uncertainty of what ‘might happen’ tomorrow, is actually worse than the negative event itself actually happening. These individuals are intolerant of uncertainty.”
“We were interested in how uncertainty and ambiguity of potential future threat contribute to the generation of anxiety and how they might be represented in our brain. In the psychology literature, how we deal with an uncertain future can be quantified as intolerance of uncertainty (IU). As is the case with any other personality characteristic, we all have varying degrees of IU. For example, individuals high in IU display difficulty accepting the possibility of potential negative events in the future. Importantly, psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), whose symptoms are marked with worrying/obsessing, are commonly associated elevated IU.”
01) Crazed Republican Candidate Says We Should Kill The Poor And Disabled
“In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, a Republican candidate for Oklahoma governor suggested euthanizing the poor and the disabled in order to cut down on the amount of money spent on programs like food stamps. Christopher Barnett claims that he didn’t write the post, but it was on his official Facebook page for his campaign. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.
Old news…but, very inspirational, watching a politician getting his ass chewed out…by someone he has betrayed.
01) Rep. Tom MacArthur faces enraged husband over health care bill (Full confrontation)
“Geoff Ginter, a certified medical assistant from Pine Beach and whose wife had cancer, took to the microphone to angrily confront MacArthur at a Willingoboro, N.J. town hall meeting. MacArthur is credited as reviving the Republican health care bill. (Source: C-Span)”
01) Trump Supporters Admit They Were “Stupid” & “Tricked By The Devil” As They Face Financial Ruin
“Many Trump supporters in the Midwest are starting to realize how stupid their decision to vote for Donald really was. And those are the words that THEY are using. They admit to feeling “stupid” and that they were “tricked by the devil” into voting for Trump now that his policies against seasonal guest workers and his trade war with China threaten to destroy local communities and small business owners. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.
01) Economic Update: Another Gilded Age
