Friday, December 20, 2013

Here’s where I stand. Where are you?

Have you noticed that the MMTers (Mosler, Wray, Kelton, etal) are getting more exposure in interviews on the internet and some main stream media? By the time the next election rolls around the jig will be up for the austerity dummies. I've digested all the MMT (Modern Money Theory) stuff and am convinced that most of the other economists are in a time warp, or just being outright political to maintain their research funding. It's so simple, we just need the government to get a jobs program enacted and start spending again on infrastructure, education, and research like we did in the fifties. 

In the long run we should have government health insurance, public financing of infrastructure, education and basic research, and publicly funded retirement programs for all, so people don't have to worry about these things and can spend their income to maintain demand and enjoy life. That is a legitimate role for government as demonstrated by most enlightened developed countries around the world. We need to catch up.

We also need to harness the corporations and the few that own and run them, so they can do what they do well, and not run the country into the ground to satisfy their own greed. But, it's very hard to do when all the politicians and the electorate are acting like we're still on the gold standard. Guys like Pete Peterson, Simpson, and Bowles are engaging in false advertising. They're totally in the pockets of the oligarchy.

Beyond that we need to stop the warring, snooping, and international belligerence and join the community of nations instead of trying to sanction or rule them, while agitating for another cold war. And, that includes dissolving the dependent relationships with the Saudis and Israelis and their lobbyists in Washington.

It will be up to the Democrats to do all this, because the Republicans are at present a hopeless cause. They are trapped in the Ayn Rand propaganda. Democrats will have to start discovering what is important and what is not and re-prioritize their objectives and actions. Rehashing Republican ills is just free advertising for Fox News. Keeping issues in the limelight is what gets the public started thinking about them. And, in my opinion, the important issues are the ones I've just enumerated. The Dems won't be successful until they ditch the alliance with Wall Street and corporate America. We already have one party that is totally dedicated to that bunch. We don't need two. We need one party that is smart and is the champion of the people, so the people have a voice in what legislation gets enacted. It may take a couple election cycles to accomplish it, buts it has to be done to get the country back on the right track.

The one thing individuals you can do is keep these talking points alive in the circles they travel in, and vote for what is right, not what is expedient or compromising to win elections. That will only maintain the status quo.

And, this is not being negative! It's positive. Being negative is going along to get along, while half the country suffers in poverty or near poverty.

Do your part and tell your family and friends to do the same!

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