Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
From New York to California, and many places inbetween, they are protesting. But who are they, what do they want and what does it all mean?
Economics professor Michael Hudson discusses popular protests aimed at the dysfunctional financial system
A heavy-handed response by police? You decide
"As if the police were watering a flowerbed"
Between 1984 and 2007 the median value of assets among whites jumped from $22,000 to $100,000, while the median value of holdings among blacks rose from $2,000 to $5,000
Archbishop Hélder Câmara, on poverty
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist
Karl Smith, on US unemployment
Because we bought too much it is now inevitable that we work less? Why does that make fundamental sense? Shouldn’t we be working more to pay for all the stuff we bought?
"The central human right in late-capitalist society is a right to remain at a safe distance from others"
Ray Kachel is a 53-year-old technology worker from Seattle. Or was. He's been out of work for some time, sold most of his remaining possessions, left his flat. Now he's in New York, part of the OWS protest. This is his story
"What Obama may not understand is the degree of frustration inspired by him specifically among the protesters and their prime movers. Or the extent to which OWS and its energy is 'the rotten fruit of Obamaism'"
Super post by UC Davis lecturer identifying "banality of violence" employed by campus police. They pepper-sprayed non-violent students with "the nonchalant demeanour of someone watering a flowerbed"
Creator of Occupy Wall Street is a 69-year-old who lives on a farm outside Vancouver. Born in Estonia; grew up in Australia where he designed computer war games for the military. Principal collaborator hasn't seen him for four years
On the chemistry of pepper spray. Law enforcement authorities may see it as an effective way to control rioters that doesn't cause long-term damage. But that natural sounding name gives little hint of some real risks
"During the operation this morning, bankers were told that they could return to the economy after it had been thoroughly cleaned. They were informed, however, that they could not bring their exotic financial instruments with them"
Occupy movement has raised important issues of inequality. But there's too much talk about riches. Not enough about values. "The relevant question, in my view, is not about how much you have earned but about how you have earned it"
Powerful piece on Occupy protests: "I placed myself at the feet of these commodity traders to call for justice because the dead, and those who are dying in slums and refugee camps across the planet, could not make this journey"
"Congress today is all too reminiscent of Best Buy or Target: You want a committee slot or an important leadership post, you buy it." Speech to Occupy Boston proposes bold changes to end the influence of "big money" in US politics
"The rise in inequality is the product of a vicious spiral: The rich rent-seekers use their wealth to shape legislation in order to protect and increase their wealth." This influence of the 1%, for the 1%, is no longer good enough
Another fast and furious tirade, this time aimed at New York mayor. Bloomberg's recent comments on OWS "allow us to see under his would-be hip centrist Halloween mask and look closely at the corrupt, arrogant aristocrat underneath"
Chomsky on top form addressing Occupy Boston: "Unless the process that’s taking place here and around the world continues to grow and becomes a major social force in the world, the chances for a decent future are not high"
"Economists and political scientists believe the US has entered a new Gilded Age, a period of systematic inequality dominated by a new class of super-rich." Fine essay looks at the state of US society, politics and the economy
"David Graeber likes to say that he had three goals for the year: Promote his book, learn to drive, and launch a worldwide revolution. The first is going well, the second has proven challenging, and the third is looking up"
Financial firms on Wall Street and elsewhere unambiguously and overwhelmingly created the conditions that led to catastrophe. Yet not a single criminal charge has been filed against anyone at a major bank. Why is this?
Perhaps not a familiar name, but Landauer was an important thinker in early 1900s. Called for self-managing communities to release people from "their crippling dependence on authority". A revolutionary, but not a violent one
"Absent a policy of income redistribution, capitalism plus stability leads to income disparities." Senior policy advisor to SEC revisits the "veil of ignorance", proposed by Rawls in his Theory of Justice, and offers own version
Demonstrators demand fairness, followed by care and liberty. Can this platform win broad national support? Yes, if handled carefully. Americans want fairness, but they don't want equality. And stay respectful—don't burn flags
"I've been down to 'Occupy Wall Street' twice now, and I love it. But the time is coming when the movement is going to have to offer concrete solutions to the problems posed by Wall Street." Here are Taibbi's five suggested demands
Here the case is made that Occupy Wall Street is giving voice to a larger feeling of discontent. Amongst that is the affordability and accessibility of a university education
Activist tells New York protesters that their time has come. In the boom years, rich countries didn't want to change. But now "there aren’t any rich countries. Just a whole lot of rich people, who got rich looting the public"
What's the connection between Occupy Wall Street and an ethnographic study of central Madagascar? Anarchist academic transplants what he learnt about "democracy without a government" in Africa to the streets of New York
Six in the morning, waiting for the police to move in and break up the OWS protest. Time for chess with a fellow traveller. But is he trying to hustle me?
![greed [aka cost/benefit] by the|G|™](http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4134/4813413572_c9db428131_s.jpg "greed [aka cost/benefit] by the|G|™")
Former derivatives trader, now successful VC, with sharp analysis of banking crisis and need for reform. "Greed and the politics largely got us into this mess, the silent majority will hopefully wake up and get us out of it"
Marx oversold socialism but was right about capitalism's potential for self-destruction. Any new economic model must address inequality, rebalance relative roles of market and state. Without it, protests will only become more severe
