Green Options » socialism

Are We on the Eve of “Creative Destruction”?

Rhonda Winter — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:19:28 +0000

Last Wednesday, as I was riding my bicycle down Third Street to the UCSF Mission Bay Farmer’s Market, my thoughts turned to the economist Jospeh Schumpeter and his seminal book “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy“. Streams of loud cars and trucks blared past me on the road, some of the vehicles nearly grazing me as oblivious drivers chattered on cell phones. As I continued pedaling down the street, images of organic daikon and Schumpeter’s theory of “Creative Destruction” swirled around in my brain.

The seasonal weekly farmer’s market at UCSF Mission Bay will be held every Wednesday, from April 22 to November 25, 2009, from 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

Wall Street Says The Obama Administration’s Bank Bailout Plan Amounts to “Creeping Nationalization”

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:44:30 +0000

Sunday’s Financial Times has confirmed that the administration will be putting Wall Street banks through a “stress test.” The $2,000bn bank bailout plan was announced last week ahead of formal discussions with the industry’s representatives.

The bailout package includes financial assistance to purchase toxic assets from banks and a guarantee to cover some of the losses on those assets. And get this; the administration plans to buy convertible preferred shares in that need capital following the “stress test”. Now who could possibly blame Wall Street for being upset about this “creeping nationalization” of the banking industry?

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Will Bolivia Be Ruined, Improved, or Hated Because of Electric Cars?

Levi Novey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:05:59 +0000

With growing speculation that electric cars and other energy efficient vehicles will soon dominate markets worldwide, Bolivia is a nation that perhaps stands to benefit (or suffer) more than any other from the energy revolution.

Most electric cars will be powered by lithium batteries, and Bolivia has more lithium than any other nation worldwide. How this development will affect Bolivia is unknown, but will squarely place the South American country at an intriguing and crucial crossroads.

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EU: Socialism Rises Again – But How Green?

Richard Elen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:39:50 +0000

If you thought that the old Socialist Left was dead and gone, a look at France this week will tell you you otherwise. A wave of strikes has occurred in protest at what is seen by a growing number of French workers as the Sarkozy government’s mishandling of measures to limit the impact of the recession.

The administration is increasingly thought of as favouring large payments to the very bankers who got us into this mess, while being prepared to allow ordinary workers’ jobs to go en masse. Very likely the Left strongholds in the South will link up with disaffected urban youth across the country and particularly in Paris: a powerful combination. The people protesting this week have not been particularly encouraged by the opposition Socialist party, either, which they see as little different to Sarkozy’s centre-right administration, much as those on the traditional Left regard “New Labour” in Britain. Street protests have brought French governments down in the past: they will doubtless do so again.

That feeling – that bankers get enormous bailouts while ordinary people go to the wall – is not solely a working class concern. Jim Rogers (a former confederate of George Soros, one of the few people who in my view really knows what is going on) recently opined that it was wrong for the British government to be bailing out the banks and that instead they should be allowed to go bust. Only by doing so, he suggested, would the country be able to start with a clean slate; the present course, on the other hand, would lead to debts that could take a generation or more to pay off.

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Socialism or Theft? Bolivia’s Government Redistributing Land with Abundant Natural Gas to “Enslaved” Indigenous Tribes

Levi Novey — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:23:01 +0000

The government of Bolivia announced plans on Tuesday to buy land and distribute it among landless indigenous groups in an effort to improve their lives.

One of these groups are the Guaraní people, who some claim are living in Bolivia in “a situation of servitude analogous to slavery.”

There are others who dispute that claim, including several prominent American ranchers. They claim that President Evo Morales’ government wants to confiscate their land using the bogus slavery accusation and redistribute it so that it can obtain rights to more of Bolivia’s profitable natural gas reserves.

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Election Countdown: Socialism Vs. Capitalism

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:45:22 +0000

Grim Outlook On the Economy Right Before the Elections

As retail sales decline, manufacturing slows and unemployment benefit claims rise, the economic situation looks more grim by the day. Rises in the stock market that show a glimmer of hope are invariably followed by dips. The housing markets declines steadily and the recession shows signs of lingering well into next year. George Bush has called for a mid November summit to discuss the international economic situation. (Reuters)

With the U.S. Presidential elections less than two weeks away, both candidates are heavily focused upon the economy as their chief task. The declining economic situation propelled by the fall of Lehman Brothers has certainly worked in Obama’s favor. People are associating the bad economy with Republican values. Both candidates have outlined an aggressive economic recovery plan.

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Election Countdown: Obama or McCain For A Green Economy?

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:27:11 +0000

With fourteen days left until the U.S. presidential election, the heat is on. As much as all eyes are on the candidates, everybody’s pulse is on the economy. People all over America are wondering who will better serve the U.S. Economy and bring it to where it needs to be. What are the candidates saying?

John McCain says that Barack Obama’s tax policy is not conducive to building a strong economy. Obama says he wants to spread the wealth around. Joe Biden calls it “patriotic” for the wealthy to pay taxes, Joe The Plumber calls that socialism.

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In Honor of Peter Camejo: A Politician That Fought for Environmental Justice and Social Responsibility

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:32:05 +0000

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Green Party Vice Presidential and gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo died from lymphoma. He was 68 years old. Former running mate Ralph Nader wrote:

Peter was a friend, colleague and politically courageous champion of the downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere. Everyone who met Peter, talked to Peter, worked with Peter, or argued with Peter, will miss the passing of a great American.

In 2002, 2003 and 2006, Camejo ran for governor of California on a platform of abortion rights, the legalization and taxation of marijuana, universal health care, and a moratorium on the death penalty. In 1976, he was the Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate. In 2004, Camejo was Ralph Nader’s pick for vice president. I have voted for Camejo on several occasions.

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Is Private Property Anti-Environment?

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Sun, 18 May 2008 03:53:01 +0000

Has it ever occurred to you that the whole concept of private property might be innately harmful to the natural environment? While I’ve always recognized that indigenous cultures viewed the land as a blessing to all, not as something belonging to individuals, I never really made that concept personal until now.

Now, in the context of the U.S. mortgage meltdown, the context of protections for Alaskan wildlife and how they affect Inuit culture, the context of how actions on one side of the globe (i.e., industrial pollution and greenhouse gas emissions) are affecting the lives of people on the other side, I have to wonder if the idea of personally-owned land is destructive to the environment and, ultimately, to all of us.

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