Emerging Trends in Honesty, School Food, Economics, & Politics
Honesty is becoming an Endangered Species as noted in an article entitled The Death of Telling the Truth in this month’s UTNE Reader.
Is a paradigm shift underway in sugary beverages like Coke and Pepsi? Let’s hope so. According to the following NY Times article, a seismic shift is underway as schools begin to ban these drinks from their campuses in favor of healthier alternatives. This trend is likely to accelerate as the connection between disease and sugar is amplified. This excellent Natural News article on sugar is worth reading. And, for now, New York State has shelved the idea of a soda tax on sugary sodas and juice drinks. But New York City’s public health officials opened a new front in their struggle against high-calorie beverages on Monday, unveiling a new ad campaign that graphically depicts globs of human fat gushing from a sideways drink bottle.
Today’s economic crisis is capitalism’s worst since the Great Depression. Millions have lost their jobs, homes and healthcare while those who work watch their pensions, benefits and job security decline. As more and more are impacted by the crisis, the system continues to make the very wealthy even richer. In eye-opening interviews with prominent economist Richard Wolff, David Barsamian probes the root causes of the current economic crisis, its unjust social consequences and what can and should be done to turn things around. While others blame corrupt bankers and unregulated speculators or the government or even the poor who borrowed, the authors show that the causes of the crisis run much deeper. They reach back to the 1970s when the capitalist system itself shifted, ending the century-old pattern of rising wages for U.S. workers and thereby enabling the top 1% to become ultra-rich at the expense of the 99%. Since then, economic injustice has become chronic and further corrupted politics. The Occupy movement, by articulating deep indignation with the whole system, mobilizes huge numbers who seek basic change. Occupy the Economy not only clarifies and analyzes the crisis in U.S. capitalism today, it also points toward solutions that can shape a far better future for all.
Richard D. Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at U. Mass, and Visiting Professor at the New School University. Author of Capitalism Hits the Fan, he’s been a guest on NPR, Glenn Beck Show, and Democracy Now!
David Barsamian is founder and director of Alternative Radio and author of Targeting Iran. He is best known for his interview books with Noam Chomsky, including What We Say Goes.
Listen to Richard Wolff’s recent radio interview.
On November 13th 2011, economists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst drafted an open statement to the Occupy Wall Street movement pledging their support. Since then, more than 250 economists from around the world have added their names.
A new light has gone on in the Green Party. Her name is Dr. Jill Stein and it appears she will be their Presidential nominee. She may not win but her voice is clear and she tells the truth, a rarity in politics today. Visit her website http://www.jillstein.org
- Posted on May 16, 2012 in Emerging Trends |
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