Entries Tagged 'Word of The Day' ↓

Word of the Day — Privatization

Many people feel that corporations can do better than governments in pricing public projects. And that’s true to an extent.

The problem is that big corporations can set prices above the true market prices of those services. As long as consumers can pay for public services (e.g., mailing packages, using electric power, and gas, mining valuable resources, etc. ) everything works well.

But what about those who cannot afford privatized services. They are not represented in the true market price of those public services. Those without enough money or credit to pay for privately made goods and services cannot “vote” on the type of goods or services they need.

Everything is traded in money markets now. This is why corporations have become so huge in this country and individual’s income so unequal. And worse, privatization is likely to end in in more illnesses and death to human beings than public services.

Consider the case in Texas this year where Texas’ uncooperative privatized power companies failed and people froze to death.

While Senator Cruz flew South to warmer climates, New York Representative Ocasio-Cortez flew South to Texas to launch a charitable fund drive to turn Texan’s power back on. And now there is the legislative push in Texas to interfere with women’s health care rights as well as well as make voting for quality government leaders harder for millions of people.

Also take the case of Greece a few years ago. While deeply in debt, that country was forced by the IMF to sell its valuable public services to vulture capitalists who could buy up all they desired. The Greek government was stripped of airports, public transportation and other basic infrastructure, as well extractions of its valuable resources so that investors in other countries in the world could grow rich—while the Greek people grew ever poorer.

Right now, the exit of France’s IMF leader, Christine Lagarde, to head the European Central Bank, the new head of the IMG has split the IMF’s Board by having favored China over the U.S. in the global trade wars. In particular, China is leading the world in the electric battery development and selling cars to Norway. And China has no shortage of workers like the U.S. does.

Here is an example of a government-controlled country that is far ahead of the U.S. in technology. It’s a government that isn’t going waste money like U.S. billionaires do to offer joy rides to civilians to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. China is building its infrastructure not only inside but also outside of its territory to help repair transportation routes through Central and Southern Asian countries for trade.

Privatization gets kudos for being more efficient than government, but as President Dwight D. Eisenhower once asked, is it more efficacious? More effective? No it is not!

For example, recently in the U.S. there was the privatization of ICE facilities and prisons that resulted in utter failures to treat citizens and border immigrants alike with humanitarian rights. Rapes, family disintegration, and unhygenic practices have horrified viewers who watch on TV the stripping of human beings of all dignity.

Vulture capitalists who are getting rich off of privatizing public goods and services are in it for the money; they do not have to care about what happens to the victims of their services.

These people pay lobbyists in all levels of our governments to satiate their greed with our blood. This results in massive corruption and neglect when those greedy people and their minions take over formerly democratic governments.

Not to mention lavish tax breaks for the rich and skyrocketing (literally nowadays) income inequality.

Privatization can be a good thing, but only if the institutions it builds have people with integrity running the show. No amount of truly free markets that serve everyone can exist unless the “good guys” are in charge. That was why Adam Smith posited that there must be an “invisible hand [of God]” behind free markets. But his days are long gone—well over 200 years gone.

During the Great Financial Recession and afterwards we have learned what happens when people without integrity are put in charge. Twelve years later it feels to me like Covid is not the only virus that was launched in the world this century. Both sicknesses are going to take a long time to control – if ever gotten under control.

Word of the Day — Money

The ignorant way that politicians talk about money these days is not only irritating, but it’s also dangerous.

Many seem to think that money is an object. They are wrong. Money is a concept, not just a thing. Money has shown its face in numerous different guises throughout the milennia of time on earth that is known to us.

Some money is tangible to our human senses. But in this century of  the “financialization” of all things, money is becoming more and more intangible. and even hidden from us. Money is now bits of data in computers—computers that are networked with other computers on and off of the World Wide Web.

Here is why I strongy object to the view of a member of Congress saying on TV that “Government money is ‘Confederate money'”. Money may be hidden in places where it isn’t transparent to others, but the chief essential thing that makes money be real money is trust!

Money is only valuable where more than one person has trust in it.

If  there is no trust in money it becomes an object, a thing that is treated by every other object that is bought and sold in any kind of market—or hoarded. Confederate money is indeed an object. It cannont be circulated for use when buying other kinds of goods or services. But U.S. government money has won trust all over the planet.

Financialization

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Words of the Day—Earned Income vs. Unearned Income – Definitions Matter

In my previous blog post on Brucenomics, I traced the history of the terms “earned income and “unearned income” back to Karl Marx’ infamous book, Das Kapital. Was it coincidence that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) chose those two terms to use in its federal tax system back in the early 20th century? I think not!

In this post  I’ll discuss how the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies use these terms to ensure that most Americans will find it difficult if not impossible to get out of lower and middle income levels to achieve their “American Dreams”.

The IRS continues to provide the wealthy with with largess and leaves wage earners, retirees, and minorities behind in the dust when it comes to their efforts to build wealth. In my next post I’ll show how the IRS does this. But first let’s look at who is impacted by these IRS lables.

Who Earns What Kinds of Income?

I define Marx’s two categories of income as used by the IRS this way:

  1. Earned Income is what workers get from their labor (“the sweat of their brow”).
  2. Unearned income is what capitalists (a.k.a., investors and inheriters) get from their corporate and real estate incomes.

The IRS framework for federal taxpayers rests upon this hierarchy of these two types of incomes. They split Americans into groups based on types of income we make and the amounts of income we make.

This use of a hierarchical framework of privileged and less privileged individuals instantly creates discrimination against many groups of Americans. Also importantly, it fosters the growing income inequality found within our government—in favor of investors over workers.

Moreover, it isn’t just the IRS that differentiates Americans based on how much money we make and how we make it. Discrimination against minority groups and the poor and middle classes can be found in many of our federal and local government agencies as well.

For example, the title of the so-called “Small Business Administration” is a joke. That agency has evolved to give preferential treament to funding multimillion dollar corporations, like Microsoft, Apple and Chipotle by linking them with hedge fund funders—not to aid to truly small businesses on Main Street.

Bias exists in the EPA too which lets loose toxic chemicals in poorer neighborhoods, and in banks’ redlining for mortgages. Many other agencies throughout our government too. And it’s really obvious when it comes to retirees!

How Definitions of Income Define Individual’s Social Class

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