Weekend News

Many corporate criminals and billionaires are starting their World Economic Forum in Davos. This is the 44th annual World Economic Forum (WEF). There are over 2,000 corporate executives, major investors, government leaders, central bankers, and celebrities there. Davos is where it has a Swiss Alpine resort. The whole deal is the annual celebration of wealth and avarice. This comes when the world's super rich have record profits in 2013. There are stock prices and corporate profits surged to new record highs. There has the swelling of the bank accounts and portfolios of the financial elite, even as austerity measures, wage cutting, and layoffs slashed living standards and threw tens of millions more people into poverty. On the eve of the forum, the British charity Oxfam released a study. It documented the staggering growth of social inequality. Oxfam reported that the richest 85 individuals possess more wealth than the poorest 50 percent of the world population or 3.5 billion people. The Davos Conference embodies the emergence of a new global financial aristocracy. The meeting has 80 billionaires and hundreds of millionaires. The general tone of the opening day deals with "fragile optimism" according to a survey of attendees. There is the expectation of more discussions about the recession now. There have been festivities there. The plundering of society still existed by the elites represented in Davos. The conference goes from January 22 to the 25th. It officially adopted the title "The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.” It will draw 1,500 business executives, 48 prime ministers and presidents, and the heads of twenty central banks. US attendees include Secretary of State John Kerry, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy. Panel discussions on topics such as “Regulating Innovation,” “Closing Europe’s Competitiveness Gap,” “Higher Education—Investment or Waste?” and “Immigration—Welcome or Not?” are sandwiched between galas and parties for the rich and powerful. As the Washington Post quipped, “After absorbing so much info during the day, evenings are your usual party scene, devoted to celebrity-spotting, night skiing and such, and apparently a fair amount of alcohol consumption.” The Davos' prestigious Belvedere Hotel alone has ordered 1,594 bottles of champagne and Prosecco, as well as 3,088 bottles of red and white wine according to the BBC. This is done to facilitate the “320 parties in five days, its 126 rooms crammed with chief executives, prime ministers and presidents.” The attendees are celebrating for many reasons. The wealthiest 300 people in the world saw their net worth grow by $524 billion over the last year according to the Bloomberg News. The Bloomberg article, entitled “Davos Billionaires See Wealth Gains on 2014 Stocks Rally,” noted that Bill Gates was last year’s biggest gainer, having increased his fortune by $15.8 billion to $78.5 billion, recapturing the position of world’s richest person. The conference was created in 1971. It was created by the German business professor Klaus Schwab, who invited hundreds of corporate executives all over the Europe. He called the group "European Management Forum." The event changed its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987. Under Reagan and under Thatcher, the era of political reaction caused the WEF to grow. There has been the redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top. Many hundreds of executives are at Davos. Many of them are from banks whose speculative and fraudulent actions triggered the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs sent eight delegates (including CEO Lloyd Blankfein), Citigroup and HSBC sent seven apiece, and JPMorgan Chase sent six, including CEO Jamie Dimon.

Panelists at a Wednesday forum entitled “Is the International Financial System Safer Now than it was Five Years Ago?” included HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and Barclays CEO Anthony Jenkins. Barclays paid regulators $450 million in 2012 to settle charges that it illegally manipulated the world’s main interest rate, the London Interbank Lending Rate, or Libor. HSBC paid $500 million to regulators to settle similar allegations and hundreds of millions more to settle charges of drug money laundering. They are trying to talk about income inequality. We all know that income inequality threatens the poor and the rest of humanity. It is a serious threat that must be fought against. They are not proposing radical social solutions to stop the plight of the working class or redistribute wealth downwards from the top. Workers should have their protections. The environment must be addressed and human life is superior to corporate profit. We have record taxation in the States in some cases and massive austerity globally. So, some want to continue in cutting regulations and cutting taxes alone and these actions will never grow the economy totally at all. 

Bloomberg is a straight up neo-liberal. He abhors socialism ideologically. He has criticized socialism before. Michael Bloomberg is beloved by Wall Street. He doesn't promote some spread the wealth agenda with his massive tax cuts for corporations, his massive austerity actions, and his pro-Wall Street agenda. He has boasted of breaking up a teacher's strike. His actions on soda are very minuscule as compared to his total actions. His total actions are not socialist at all. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has rewarded his top aides with a combined total of $2.4 million in bonuses for their work on his reelection campaign, according to a New York Times report. He has never done any revolutionary policies to spread the wealth at all to assist the poor, the homeless, or the oppressed in New York City at all. In fact, he agrees with the tactics of NYPD and he strongly is in favor of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is the view of the liberal economic belief that unregulated capitalism or something close to it was the key to human freedom (as embraced by philosophers like Adam Smith, etc.). Back in 2003, Michael Bloomberg (in an economic conference at Rockefeller University with invitation only affair for business leaders & power brokers) said that following words: "...I've spent my career thinking about the strategies that institutions in the private sector should pursue, and the more I learn about this institution called New York City, the more I see the ways in which it needs to think like a private company. If New York City is a business, it isn't Wal-Mart—it isn't trying to be the lowest-priced product in the market. It’s a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product. New York offers tremendous value, but only for those companies able to capitalize on it...." Neoliberalism believes in the obeying unconditionally the invisible hand of the free market. Adam Smith and others could not foresee the economic depressions and other horrible conditions of the world in the future. Yet, today's neoliberals have no excuse since they know history and some of them want to work to eliminate some of the blessings we fought for to escape the horrors of the pre-welfare state. Neoliberalism shifts power from the workers to the bosses via busting union, privatizing public services, and encouraging the financialization of the economy. They believe that helping the poor would mean to help the rich (we tried that and the poverty rate has not radically gone down at all). See, the truth is always known in the world. I can go on and on. Income inequality has increased in the first decade of the 21st century. He failed to get the City Council to change a term limits law as a means to extend his mayoralty. His response to the blizzard of 2010 caused many of the working class and poor New Yorkers to be snowed under for days. Many outer borough residents stuck in their apartments angrily posted pictures of the perfectly plowed streets around the mayor’s ritzy Upper East Side townhouse. Later, he was praised and his popularity increased. He was right to have the 311 information program. He expanded bike lanes and pedestrian plazas. There is nothing wrong with that. Then there are Bloomberg’s public health mandates. New York City has less cigarette smoke and trans fats than it did twelve years ago and it’s hard to argue against their social benefits, which has undoubtedly served the utilitarian goal of lengthening lives and reducing disease. Yet much of the mayor’s public health progress has been undone by the fact that nineteen hospitals in the city have closed during this time in office. In the face of a growing uproar over Brooklyn hospital closures, Bloomberg announced that the city would not get involved because “the reality is you can’t have a hospital on every corner.” It was a strange comment for a renowned public health expert, given that if Brooklyn loses three more hospitals as expected, the borough of two and a half million people will be left with only five emergency rooms. If you’re wondering what that will look like, the answer is Queens, which lost 30 percent of its hospital beds per resident from 2006 to 2008, resulting in an average wait time of seventeen hours to be given a bed in one major hospital. Bloomberg seems to police individual behavior, but he refuses to interfere with the workings of the market (even if the market is dysfunctionally chocking the city's supply of emergency medical care). Bloomberg did a good deed when he eloquently defended the creation of the Park 51 Community Center (otherwise known by its Islamophobic opponents as the “Ground Zero Mosque"). But his approval and defense of his police department’s horrific spying operation against the city’s Muslims have made a mockery of his lofty words in defense of religious freedom and left many wondering if he hasn’t been defending Muslim gathering places just so his police can more easily infiltrate them. Even on stop and frisk, violent crime most sharply dropped in NYC after the NYPD reduced the stop and frisk policy that Bloomberg claims is necessary to stop violent crime. “They might live there, but we own the block, alright? We own the streets.” Those secretly recorded words from a Brooklyn precinct meeting were played at the recent federal trial in which the city’s use of stop-and-frisk was ruled to be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law regardless of race. The court also heard testimony that police chief Ray Kelly told legislators in a private meeting that “he wanted to instill fear in [minority youth]; every time they leave their home they could be stopped by the police.” So, Bloomberg's legacy is mixed and it is filled with neoliberalism. During Bloomberg's term, the African American population of New York City dropped by 5 percent, which was the first decline in the city's Black population since the start of the Civil War. The advancement of neoliberalism and gentrification are threats in the world. So, the legacy of Michael Bloomberg is about a problem solver who ignored many of the solutions to solve NYC's deepest problems. He is one famous innovator of neoliberalism and New York City is a great city with great people (and the struggle for justice continues). 

There is nothing wrong with any human being succeeding in life. Black people have the right to express themselves and never be ashamed of their heritage though. So, black people expressing their talents in the world or expressing their culture in a legitimate fashion is fine with me. The best way to achieve justice is the ending of evils in the world and the ending of oppressive system to be replaced with justice, fairness, and human liberty. Economic inequality is a reality. The reality is that according to Oxfam, the richest 85 individuals on Earth possess more wealth than the poorest 50 percent of the world population or 3.5 billion people. Now, economic inequality has grown because of the financial disasters (heavily caused by Wall Street and other big banking interests), economic oppression, financial speculation, and other disastrous policies. I am against economic inequality. I am against the poor having their benefits cut unfairly. The President has very neo-liberal ideological views and he has publicly praised the free enterprise system, so he is not a super socialist. He allowed the big banks to receive record bailouts. The super-rich elite stole money from taxpayer dollars for a long time. Money is redistributed from the poor and middle class to the super rich, which is wrong. Some people are poor by no fault of their own. That has nothing to do with reaping what you have sown. Not everything in poverty is caused by laziness. There are things in need to be addressed in society. That famous Democratic President believed in public health care for the elderly. He believed in ending the Cold War. He rejected the concept of a Pax Americana and signed a nuclear test ban Treaty with the Soviet Union. He tried to start détente covertly with Fidel Castro. He also praised food stamps. I have his quotes. So, he was not a super reactionary. Now, there is nothing wrong with humans using individual initiative to solve problems. That is fine. Yet, life is not only individual. Life is social too. You have to deal with the social conditions of society as a means to solve issues as well. We should love the WELFARE OF HUMANITY and reject individual selfishness including reject materialism. I am politically independent. White supremacy to me is a nefarious system that causes select white people to have undue privileged power in the world (and this system readily executes discrimination, imperialism, economic exploitation, ecological harm, and other injustices globally via its corrupt institutions. This system dominates human beings of color especially in the world and it increases economic inequality. This system believes in the totally false, evil philosophy that whites are superior to non-whites). Black people COLLECTIVELY suffer harsher in America than white people COLLECTIVELY because of racism, false stereotypes, the War on Drugs, discrimination, and other reasons. Black people should have personal responsibility in our lives and black people have the right to condemn the evils found in the system (as a means to cause revolutionary change in the world too). Black people have every God given to fight for liberation. Black people have the right to fight against discrimination, racism, crime, and other evil things in the world. I hate oppression and I don't hate anyone who is a different skin color than me. I just love BLACK LOVE and I love Black humanity too. YES, BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL AND BLACKNESS IS FROM THE DIVINE. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BLACK LIBERATION. I believe that black people can live in America, but if one person is suffering, we all suffer. So, we should battle against economic inequality, poverty, and other ills. I believe in justice and accountability because the immorality of the Maafa, Jim Crow, etc. ought to be never forgotten at all. Other groups of people have received compensation even decades ago. So, black people are entitled to racial justice. Racism and economic injustice are serious problems in America and we must address these evils in order for real justice to exist. It is as simple as that.

We all need improvement and it is wise to take advice and to seek inspiration in our lives. When human beings use focused action and a conscious mentality, then blessings will occur. Inspirational speakers like numerous men and numerous women (even children) have that gift to motivate human beings to go into that next stage in their lives. Me personally, I believe in the all in the above approach. Nothing times nothing equals nothing, so we can't do nothing and expect a result. The government can do things (like defend workers' rights, protecting the environment, create fair wages, defend or protect civil liberties, referee fair trade deals, enforce laws against racial oppression, etc.), but the government should not be the total solution. The total solution involves individuals, organizations, all levels of government, and the whole nine yards. Everything and the kitchen sink should be used to fight the problems of inequalities. We all should do our part as well to fight against inequalities from growing families, mentorships, community activism, fighting discrimination & racism, helping the poor, etc. I believe in a holistic approach that is comprehensive. The answer is that racist whites will never change their behavior even if they understood the truth of black history and black culture. They can only change if they decide to change their behavior voluntarily (and reject bigotry or racism completely. They should reject and oppose the system of white supremacy). Yet, the world learning about true black history is not wrong. Only justice and accountability can change our overall situation. Justice (along with other things) is the solution to the evil system of white supremacy. Also, poor whites can practice racism irrespective if they know the truth of black history or not. The deal is that we have to address racial and economic oppression in the world irrespective of how white folks think. We should never seek token white validation. We should seek black liberation. We should love our BLACKNESS and use our BLACKNESS as the cultural yardstick in solving our own problems. We have to build in our communities and EDUCATE society on the truth. True EDUCATION can go a long way in solving our problems. I mean real education on our contributions, our culture, STEM subjects, and the whole nine yards. Being financially stability is no joke. We don't have to be materialistic or lust for money in a lustful way, but many people should have that opportunity to be guided in handling their finances better. The bigots are jealous of our melanin, of our intellect, and our never giving up spirit. We as black people have strong resiliency and we overcame a lot in the midst of unspeakable treatment.

We should have political independence. We see that the Democrats in the South decades ago were more reactionary than many in the Republican Party. Then, Goldwater came to run for President. He came about against the Civil Rights laws and this action in 1964 caused at least 90-95 percent of black Americans to vote for Johnson in 1964. This caused a mass exodus of the white racist Dixiecrat voters and politicians into the Republican Party. These folks voted for Richard Nixon after Nixon started his Southern Strategy. Nixon and Reagan used coded, veiled racist appeals as a means to consolidate reactionary and ignorant white voters behind the Republican banner. Even affirmative action was used to try to redress damages inflicted on black people after centuries of racism. We know that Dr. King agreed with affirmative action on racial and class grounds. He compared it to the reform measures taken in India to address the damages done against the Dalits (and the rest of the "Untouchables"). Both Republicans and Democrats have gone much more reactionary since 1968. That is just a fact when you look at the facts. The current President is talking about economic inequality and economic justice. That is fine. Yet, he will either be the transformational leader or the transactional leader. He has faced stiff racist and reactionary opposition. We see that the fight is ongoing. The agenda of working people ought to be represented. The ACA is not a SINGLE PAYER universal health care and the ACA lacks a PUBLIC OPTION. The new law is a corporate ruled health care industry law. There is no moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for at least one year. The big banks are heavily bailed out during 2 administrations too. So, we realize that the White House is following the policies of the same system that has existed for long centuries in the modern era. We know about the embargo on Cuba, the black bourgeoisie member Skip Gates being humiliated, the disrespect sent to the heroine Mrs. Sherrod, and the death of Trayvon Martin. These events remind us of the fight for justice not being over. Now, it is important to not place the total blame on our situation on one President. This situation has existed for a long time under the system of white supremacy. Still, I have hope to witness a more progressive and humane society in the future for America including for all nations of the world. It is important to defend the poor and the exploited. We know the threats when dealing with this issue. When we talk about economic justice, some folks don't like it. Even in real life, when I discus about economic justice, I receive the most criticism than from any other issue that I discuss. That is why the FBI harmed the Black Panther Party (not because of the guns or leather jackets). The FBI documents related to the COINTELPRO operations are that the FBI was more afraid of Panther IDEAS and PROGRAMS. Dr. King talked about the need for a "radical redistribution of political and economic power"--which is what the Panthers also called for. That is why I have no issue with worker and consumer cooperatives in the world as a means to advance economic self-determination among the black community. The 1%'s economic exploitation is ever known. That is why others want workers credit unions, cooperatives, cooperatively run banks, etc. as a means for revolutionary solutions to transpire. There is nothing wrong with a democratic movement that is fighting for economic justice. We should be opposed to the massive concentration of wealth into the hands of the corporate plutocracy. It is important to fight the corrupt cartel-capitalism system harming the poor, other minorities, and black people. Imperialism, poverty, racism, and discrimination are ills that we have the right to oppose vigorously.

By Timothy