Category: Civil Society

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Reference: Obama, Populism, and 2012

03 Economy, 04 Education, 11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government

Lawrence Goodwyn: The Great Predicament Facing Obama

An interview with legendary historian Lawrence Goodwyn on Obama, the larger currents in our political life, and the possibility of a rebirth in our democratic culture.

October 30, 2010

What happened to the dream of Barack Obama's transformational politics? There's been very little deviation from the disastrous Bush years on the key issues of war, empire and the distribution of wealth in the country.

I turned to Lawrence Goodwyn, historian of social movements whose books and methods of explaining history have had a profound influence on many of the best known authors, activists and social theorists of our time. Goodwyn's account of the Populist movement, Democratic Promise, is quoted extensively by Howard Zinn in People's History of the United States, and also in William Greider's masterpiece on the Federal Reserve, Secrets of the Temple. You can find Goodwyn quoted in the first paragraph of Bill Moyers' recent book, On Democracy, and cited in just the same way in countless other books and essays.

I interviewed Goodwyn from his home in Durham, North Carolina about the pitfalls of recording American history, Obama's presidency in light of previous presidents, and portents of change in our political culture.

Read Full Long Interview Online….

Contributor John Steiner says:

This is a remarkable, long, worth reading every word interview, in which Goodwyn compares Obama favorably with Lincoln and recounts the history of the financial elites in America. His concluding sentences: ³Strap on your
seat belts, Jan (Frel). The election in 2012 is going to define the meaning of the American idea.

Phi Beta Iota: There are two major flaws with this Democratic Party love-fest: 1) the Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans, just more inept; and 2) Obama will not get a second term because he sold out–anyone who had Rahm Emanuel as his “enforcer” and that still has Axelrod as his advisor,while also installing a Goldman Sachs lobbyist as “national security advisor,” is part of the existing system, not its antithesis.  Independents and Electoral Reform (13 Steps) will produce the outcome Goodwyn posits, not Obama and not the Democratic Party.

See Also:

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Positive)

Worth a Look: Book Review Lists (Negative)

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Journal: The Aging of Humanity

11 Society, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence
DefDog Recommends...

Think Again: Global Aging

A gray tsunami is sweeping the planet — and not just in the places you expect. How did the world get so old, so fast?

Foreign Policy BY PHILLIP LONGMAN | NOVEMBER 2010

Yes, but of old people. Not so long ago, we were warned that rising global population would inevitably bring world famine. As Paul Ehrlich wrote apocalyptically in his 1968 worldwide bestseller, The Population Bomb, “In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date, nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.” Obviously, Ehrlich's predicted holocaust, which assumed that the 1960s global baby boom would continue until the world faced mass famine, didn't happen. Instead, the global growth rate dropped from 2 percent in the mid-1960s to roughly half that today, with many countries no longer producing enough babies to avoid falling populations. Having too many people on the planet is no longer demographers' chief worry; now, having too few is.

FP Photo Essay the Grayest Generation
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Journal: US BODY COUNT–What Price Lost Jobs?

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests
Chuck Spinney Recommends

This is a really good argument

October 28, 2010

Globalism Comes Home to Roost

America's Jobs Losses are Permanent

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Counterpunch

Now that a few Democrats and the remnants of the AFL-CIO are waking up to the destructive impact of jobs offshoring on the US economy and millions of American lives, globalism’s advocates have resurrected Dartmouth economist Matthew Slaughter’s discredited finding of several years ago that jobs offshoring by US corporations increases employment and wages in the US.

At the time I exposed Slaughter’s mistakes, but economists dependent on corporate largess understood that it was more profitable to drink Slaughter’s kool-aid than to tell the truth. Recently the US Chamber of Commerce rolled out Slaughter’s false argument as a weapon against House Democrats Sandy Levin and Tim Ryan, and the Wall Street Journal had Bill Clinton’s Defense Secretary, William S. Cohen, regurgitate Slaughter’s claim on its op-ed page on October 12.

I sent a letter to the Wall Street Journal, but the editors were not interested in what a former associate editor and columnist for the paper and President Reagan’s Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy had to say. The facade of lies has to be maintained at all costs. There can be no questioning that globalism is good for us.

Cohen told the Journal’s readers that “the fact is that for every job outsourced to Bangalore, nearly two jobs are created in Buffalo and other American cities.” I bet Buffalo “and other American cities” would like to know where these jobs are. Maybe Slaughter, Cohen, and the Chamber of Commerce can tell them.

Last May I was in St. Louis and was struck by block after block of deserted and boarded up homes, deserted factories and office buildings, even vacant downtown storefronts.

Continue reading “Journal: US BODY COUNT–What Price Lost Jobs?”

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Journal: It Takes a Comic (or Two)…to Rebuild a Nation

Civil Society, Collective Intelligence

Thousands to Voice Frustrations at Stewart and Colbert Rally

Those Planning to Attend Fed Up By American Politics, Want to Laugh

By MAYA SRIKRISHNAN and JENNIFER SCHLESINGER

ABC News Oct. 28, 2010

From across the country – and Canada – thousands of supporters are expected in Washington to attend Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's “Rally to Restore Sanity” and “March to Keep Fear Alive” this Saturday.

More than 220,000 people have RVSP'd that they are attending on the event's official Facebook page. The National Park Service application, however, only estimated 25,000 people would attend the event, which is scheduled to last from noon to 3 p.m.

The rally is billed as a chance for people to voice their frustrations with American politics and the media, and, of course, be entertained.

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“I don't think people are going to the rally because they are liberal or conservative,” Wilford said. “It's not about political ideology, but about the way politics are being sold.”

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“Coming from an outsider, it sounds like Americans are constantly being told to be afraid, but they aren't being told what to be afraid of. Despite the fact that Jon Stewart is a TV host and the rally is based on a platform on comedy, I feel that Jon Stewart has more to say about politics than any pundit.”

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“I personally have been frustrated with what I view as a lot of hypocrisy in politics,” Miko Wilford, a 24-year-old psychology graduate student from Iowa State University said. “I feel ‘The Daily Show' and the ‘Colbert Report‘ do a good job of pointing out the hypocrisies.”

– – – – – – –

“I think it's time we restored truth and civility in this country. Our politicians need to acknowledge that this generation is beyond right-left categories.”

– – – – – – –

“The rally appeals to me because I agree with the underlying premise, that the tiny percentage of people screaming at each other on television should not be the only voices we're paying attention to,” said Alexis Sigger, a 32-year-old television producer who is coming from Brooklyn for the rally.

See full (three screen) article….

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Reference: Open Source Civilization

03 Economy, 04 Education, 06 Family, 11 Society, About the Idea, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, IO Multinational, IO Sense-Making, Peace Intelligence
Open to See the Future

Phi Beta Iota: We cannot say enough good things about these folks.  This is righteous good stuff–eight times cheaper than industrial offerings, virtually no “true cost” externalities, interchangeable parts, human scale, the whole enchilada.

Tip of the Hat to Brandin Watson at Facebook.

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Worth a Look: National Dialog & Deliberation Resources

About the Idea, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence

What are the web sites for meeting facilitators to learn about best practices and new resources?

Well the NCDD site of course! Our main blog (www.thataway.org) keeps people updated on news & opportunities in dialogue, deliberation, public engagement, facilitation, etc. And our resource center (www.ncdd.org/rc) provides info about over 2500 resources (guidebooks, videos, articles, etc.).

And our main NCDD Discussion list (http://ncdd.org/rc/item/4434) has 1100 subscribers and really showcases the know-how and intellectual generosity of people in our community of practice. All are invited to subscribe.

Sandy Heierbacher at LinkedIn

Director, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

Links:

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