Kia-ora
Showing posts with label Democracy. Human Rights.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democracy. Human Rights.. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Kicking away the ladder.
Kia-ora
Advocates of Neo-Liberal, "free market" idealogy claim that the prescription they want to impose on other countries is the one that made them prosperous.
Not only is this manifestly wrong by any empirical measurement, (Compare poster boy, "free market" New Zealand to largely still socialist and protectionist Norway, or Australia, for example) it also ignores the protectionist history of every successful economy.
Notable in the USA, the more protectionist, socialist and publicly co-operative the State, the more succesful their economy. High tax, more socialist States are propping up the more Neo-Liberal States.Compare North Dakota and Texas for example.
The height of Neo-liberal absurdity is when Chile under Pinochet is held up as an example of successful Neo-Liberal economic.
How Neo-Liberal ignore evidence, and History!
"
Advocates of Neo-Liberal, "free market" idealogy claim that the prescription they want to impose on other countries is the one that made them prosperous.
Not only is this manifestly wrong by any empirical measurement, (Compare poster boy, "free market" New Zealand to largely still socialist and protectionist Norway, or Australia, for example) it also ignores the protectionist history of every successful economy.
Notable in the USA, the more protectionist, socialist and publicly co-operative the State, the more succesful their economy. High tax, more socialist States are propping up the more Neo-Liberal States.Compare North Dakota and Texas for example.
The height of Neo-liberal absurdity is when Chile under Pinochet is held up as an example of successful Neo-Liberal economic.
How Neo-Liberal ignore evidence, and History!
"
"Almost all of
today’s rich countries used tariff protection and subsidies to develop their
industries. Interestingly, Britain and the USA, the two countries that are supposed to have reached the summit
of the world economy through their free-market, free-trade policy, are
actually the ones that had most aggressively used protection and subsidies".
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Why do "they" want our schools?
Kia-ora
Ever wondered why we have the push for charter schools when the evidence is so solidly in favour of State run unionised schools. The worlds top school systems are all State run and most are unionised.
Ever wondered why we are repeatedly told our State schools are failing, when they have been proven to be amongst the worlds best. PISA rankings at High school level.
Ever wondered why we are being pushed towards Charter/privatised schools when all the evidence shows they do not do as well as State schools. Stanford University Study. Despite all the extra funding charter schools have obtained, and the often extra effort and pupil selection poured in to make them work, all but a few demonstration schools, have done worse in the USA than State schools.
Sweden and UK's schools are also falling in standards since charter schools were introduced.
Ever wondered why State schools are being starved of funding while extra money is put into private schools.
Ever wondered why we are funding tests to tell us what we already know. Poor ,and hungry, kids do not do as well in school.
So they can claim the tests show State schools are failing.
Ever wondered why we are trying to imitate the USA, number 29 in school results, where poor kids are simply excluded from secondary education, and not Finland or even Korea, which are 1 and 2 respectively.
As always. Follow the money!
The finance industry has proven to be almost totally ineffectual in supporting entrepreneurial and productive business.
What they are good at is obtaining tax payer funding to add to their profits.
When tax payers are not bailing out their failures.
Education provides a certain source of tax and publicly funded wealth that, until recently, has been largely unavailable to the corporate pirates.
Education Profiteering Wall Streets Next Big Thing?page=0%2C0
"Education privatization would not, per se, create a net new stimulus for the economy. But by diverting large existing flows of money from the public to the private sector it would create new profit-making ventures that could be capitalized and transformed into stocks, derivatives and leveraged securities."
"The Chief Finance Officer of JP Morgan reports that some 75% of the net increase in corporate profits between 2000 and 2007 -- before the financial crash -- was a result of cuts in workers' wages and benefits. Given that unions are the only serious vehicles for resistance to the corporate low-wage strategy, ................"
A challenge
The attacks on State schools and their Teachers is entirely so that corporates can make money from the taxes we pay for education.
As usual the private sector are so poor at doing the thing they claim is their strength, starting viable businesses, that they want to steal "the socialists" successes. Ours!
Added. 17th.
New Zealand's Charter schools are to be exempted from the official information Act, so the public will not even be able to assess how they are performing. Charter, sorry, "partnership" schools exempted from OIA.
Ever wondered why we have the push for charter schools when the evidence is so solidly in favour of State run unionised schools. The worlds top school systems are all State run and most are unionised.
Ever wondered why we are repeatedly told our State schools are failing, when they have been proven to be amongst the worlds best. PISA rankings at High school level.
Ever wondered why we are being pushed towards Charter/privatised schools when all the evidence shows they do not do as well as State schools. Stanford University Study. Despite all the extra funding charter schools have obtained, and the often extra effort and pupil selection poured in to make them work, all but a few demonstration schools, have done worse in the USA than State schools.
Sweden and UK's schools are also falling in standards since charter schools were introduced.
Ever wondered why State schools are being starved of funding while extra money is put into private schools.
Ever wondered why we are funding tests to tell us what we already know. Poor ,and hungry, kids do not do as well in school.
So they can claim the tests show State schools are failing.
Ever wondered why we are trying to imitate the USA, number 29 in school results, where poor kids are simply excluded from secondary education, and not Finland or even Korea, which are 1 and 2 respectively.
As always. Follow the money!
The finance industry has proven to be almost totally ineffectual in supporting entrepreneurial and productive business.
What they are good at is obtaining tax payer funding to add to their profits.
When tax payers are not bailing out their failures.
Education provides a certain source of tax and publicly funded wealth that, until recently, has been largely unavailable to the corporate pirates.
Education Profiteering Wall Streets Next Big Thing?page=0%2C0
"Education privatization would not, per se, create a net new stimulus for the economy. But by diverting large existing flows of money from the public to the private sector it would create new profit-making ventures that could be capitalized and transformed into stocks, derivatives and leveraged securities."
"The Chief Finance Officer of JP Morgan reports that some 75% of the net increase in corporate profits between 2000 and 2007 -- before the financial crash -- was a result of cuts in workers' wages and benefits. Given that unions are the only serious vehicles for resistance to the corporate low-wage strategy, ................"
A challenge
The attacks on State schools and their Teachers is entirely so that corporates can make money from the taxes we pay for education.
As usual the private sector are so poor at doing the thing they claim is their strength, starting viable businesses, that they want to steal "the socialists" successes. Ours!
Added. 17th.
New Zealand's Charter schools are to be exempted from the official information Act, so the public will not even be able to assess how they are performing. Charter, sorry, "partnership" schools exempted from OIA.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The Poor don't ask for much, but apparently it is too much!.
Kia-ora
"I hate the sense of entitlement some people have - thinking they should have food, shelter, clothing etc. How dare they."
The poor do not ask for much.
The rich think they are entitled to millions, usually just because their parents had it, or they succeeded in gaming the system (stealing) it.
Like these, Corporate Thieves or these, Stealing the commons. or these, Bankers pay them selves highly while they destroy real wealth. or these. How Wall Street made Money by starving millions.
Is it too much to ask that everyone is entitled to a share in the prosperous societies, and plenty built on their ancestors and their own efforts. Not just the rich!
A living income.
"I hate the sense of entitlement some people have - thinking they should have food, shelter, clothing etc. How dare they."
The poor do not ask for much.
The rich think they are entitled to millions, usually just because their parents had it, or they succeeded in gaming the system (stealing) it.
Like these, Corporate Thieves or these, Stealing the commons. or these, Bankers pay them selves highly while they destroy real wealth. or these. How Wall Street made Money by starving millions.
Is it too much to ask that everyone is entitled to a share in the prosperous societies, and plenty built on their ancestors and their own efforts. Not just the rich!
A living income.
National's race to the Third World.
Kia-ora
The-race-to-the-bottom
National has re-introduced youth rates.
At a level it is not possible for a youth to live on.
Pretending that it will help unemployment.
In reality it is just another ploy in their attempt to satisfy their large corporate donors, by driving wages down to third world levels.
Young people being expected to subsidise their employers, even more than they are already, with the inadequate minimum wage, is not going to make for more employment.
There is a justification for a lower wage when the employer is contributing towards apprenticeship training for a valuable career. Not for, no future, McJobs.
National shuffling the deck chairs again while the ship heads for the icebergs.
Base-wage-for-youth-is-a-joke
"The Government hasn't a clue about what to do about the job market, we can at least agree on that. The best they can do is play up to the most blinkered members of their congregation. They pulled the same stunt a while back with their 89-day sacking law, at the time spouting how much it would help youth into jobs. Result? Well, the youth unemployment rate is still a horror show and unprecedented numbers of youngsters are migrating to Aussie".
Wages are already too low. Enabling multinational employers to remove too much money from NZ.
Or Maybe Richard Boock has it right.
"Slashing the minimum wage for teenage workers will create jobs? What nonsense, it's simply a case of the most vulnerable being sold off so the Government can keep its fat cats purring. It isn't a helping hand for the youth market, it's just a cheap and nasty sop to employers".
This will bite NZ business on the butt. Employees, especially young ones, are also paying customers.
NZ employers have already managed to shuffle off most of their training costs onto employees and tax payers. What more do they need.
Slaves!
Oh! I forgot. Slaves actually cost more, as you have to pay enough to feed and house them.
The-race-to-the-bottom
National has re-introduced youth rates.
At a level it is not possible for a youth to live on.
Pretending that it will help unemployment.
In reality it is just another ploy in their attempt to satisfy their large corporate donors, by driving wages down to third world levels.
Young people being expected to subsidise their employers, even more than they are already, with the inadequate minimum wage, is not going to make for more employment.
There is a justification for a lower wage when the employer is contributing towards apprenticeship training for a valuable career. Not for, no future, McJobs.
National shuffling the deck chairs again while the ship heads for the icebergs.
Base-wage-for-youth-is-a-joke
"The Government hasn't a clue about what to do about the job market, we can at least agree on that. The best they can do is play up to the most blinkered members of their congregation. They pulled the same stunt a while back with their 89-day sacking law, at the time spouting how much it would help youth into jobs. Result? Well, the youth unemployment rate is still a horror show and unprecedented numbers of youngsters are migrating to Aussie".
Wages are already too low. Enabling multinational employers to remove too much money from NZ.
Or Maybe Richard Boock has it right.
"Slashing the minimum wage for teenage workers will create jobs? What nonsense, it's simply a case of the most vulnerable being sold off so the Government can keep its fat cats purring. It isn't a helping hand for the youth market, it's just a cheap and nasty sop to employers".
This will bite NZ business on the butt. Employees, especially young ones, are also paying customers.
NZ employers have already managed to shuffle off most of their training costs onto employees and tax payers. What more do they need.
Slaves!
Oh! I forgot. Slaves actually cost more, as you have to pay enough to feed and house them.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Poverty in New Zealand.
Kia-ora
One of the biggest indictments of our current economic dogma is the number of people, in the worlds richest nations, living in poverty.
What comes first is POVERTY.
Poverty is what makes “breeding” for a living seem like a good option.
Poverty is what causes all the poor outcomes to the children of teenage mums.
Poverty is what causes people to be caught in a trap of continuing poverty.
We are never going to solve problems caused by poverty by making people poorer.
Social security and minimum wages that are so low, there is almost no chance of climbing out of the poverty trap, causes the problems.
Abatement rates for those earning a bit of money while on social security are higher than those for millionaires.
A two tier education system is going to make escape from poverty even harder.
Low wages are not even good capitalism. “Businesses that cannot meet the costs of the resources they use should be allowed to fail, so others can make better use of the resources/labour”.
Every business paying low wages means there is little demand. Hurting all business.
“You should pay your workers fairly because they are the source of your wealth” Adam Smith.
Three decades of Neo-Liberal meanness is coming back to bite us. And the right want to make the victims lives harder.
A guaranteed minimum income, national super, has succeeded in practically eliminating poverty in the over 65′s. Less than 3% live in poverty, and that most likely is self inflicted.
If we are serious in eliminating poverty amongst children, 20% living in poverty, we would extend the GMI idea, that has been so successful with the elderly, to young people.
One of the biggest indictments of our current economic dogma is the number of people, in the worlds richest nations, living in poverty.
What comes first is POVERTY.
Poverty is what makes “breeding” for a living seem like a good option.
Poverty is what causes all the poor outcomes to the children of teenage mums.
Poverty is what causes people to be caught in a trap of continuing poverty.
We are never going to solve problems caused by poverty by making people poorer.
Social security and minimum wages that are so low, there is almost no chance of climbing out of the poverty trap, causes the problems.
Abatement rates for those earning a bit of money while on social security are higher than those for millionaires.
A two tier education system is going to make escape from poverty even harder.
Low wages are not even good capitalism. “Businesses that cannot meet the costs of the resources they use should be allowed to fail, so others can make better use of the resources/labour”.
Every business paying low wages means there is little demand. Hurting all business.
“You should pay your workers fairly because they are the source of your wealth” Adam Smith.
Three decades of Neo-Liberal meanness is coming back to bite us. And the right want to make the victims lives harder.
A guaranteed minimum income, national super, has succeeded in practically eliminating poverty in the over 65′s. Less than 3% live in poverty, and that most likely is self inflicted.
If we are serious in eliminating poverty amongst children, 20% living in poverty, we would extend the GMI idea, that has been so successful with the elderly, to young people.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Police Assault Protesters in New Zealand.
Kia Ora
Recent protests, against Government policy, by Students in Auckland were greeted by an overwhelming and aggressive police presence.
New Zealand Police have just made it clear they consider there is no right to protest, if it “inconveniences” anyone.
In fact the students were going about their lawful business. PROTESTING IS STILL LEGAL IN NZ.
The police obstructed members of the public and assaulted them. WHILE THEY WERE GOING ABOUT LAWFUL BUSINESS.
Just like police in the UK.
Of course knowing you are likely to be violently assaulted by police, if you protest, has rather a dampening effect on free speech.
No doubt that is what is intended by the police overreaction.
Practicing for when the population finally realises, like the Greeks, how much they have been lied to and exploited.
How long before we see the other repressive actions of an authoritarian dictatorship, to legitimate dissent, here. Like the "kettling" in the UK.
Recent protests, against Government policy, by Students in Auckland were greeted by an overwhelming and aggressive police presence.
New Zealand Police have just made it clear they consider there is no right to protest, if it “inconveniences” anyone.
In fact the students were going about their lawful business. PROTESTING IS STILL LEGAL IN NZ.
The police obstructed members of the public and assaulted them. WHILE THEY WERE GOING ABOUT LAWFUL BUSINESS.
Just like police in the UK.
Of course knowing you are likely to be violently assaulted by police, if you protest, has rather a dampening effect on free speech.
No doubt that is what is intended by the police overreaction.
Practicing for when the population finally realises, like the Greeks, how much they have been lied to and exploited.
How long before we see the other repressive actions of an authoritarian dictatorship, to legitimate dissent, here. Like the "kettling" in the UK.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
What is Neo-Liberalism?
Kia-ora
What is Neo-Liberalism.
Neo-Liberalism is a moral and intellectual justification for greed.
A way for those few who accumulate wealth, by impoverishing many, to justify themselves, and keep those they are stealing from docile and compliant.
This purpose for centuries has been fulfilled by religion.
We still see echo's of the religious attitudes. The idea that the poor are poor because of personal defects, American exceptionalism, the banker who reckons, "God wanted me to be rich", Ayn Rands "wealth creators".
Neo-liberals outwardly believe in small Government, minimal regulation, taxation and social security, individual freedom and responsibility and the primacy of the market in fostering economic efficiency.
In fact their leaders and intellectuals believe in anything which enables them to accumulate wealth at the expense of the rest of us.
Neo-Liberalism would be more appropriately called Neo-conservatism. It is an attempt to return to pre-enlightenment times when the idea of "each is born into their proper place" was undisputed.
Neo-Liberalism has become common usage, unfortunately we are stuck with it.
Neo-Liberalism itself has all the characteristics of blind belief and faith inherent in religion.
Despite its only success being in making a very few people wealthier, millions of people, including most politicians, blindly adhere to the faith.
'It doesn't seem to matter that they NEVER get it right. It doesn't seem to matter they are promoting economic theories that are junk. But unlike Ring's quackery, the quackery of neoliberalism is treated with reverence, it is ascribed legitimacy'.
"The first of these shifts was the Great Depression or, more precisely, the feckless response of both American mainstream political parties to the economic collapse that followed the 1929 stock market crash. In the crucial first years after the crash, Democrats and Republicans alike embraced exactly the same policies they are embracing in today’s economic troubles, with exactly the same lack of success, and showed exactly the same unwillingness to abandon failed policies in the face of economic disaster. Then as now, the federal government launched a program to bail out big banks and corporations—it was called the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in those days—and pumped dizzying amounts of money into the upper end of the economy in the belief, real or feigned, that the money would work its way down the pyramid, which of course it didn’t do. Then as now, politicians used the shibboleth of a balanced budget to demand austerity for everybody but the rich, and cut exactly those programs which could have helped families caught by hard times. Then as now, things got worse while the media insisted that they were getting better, and the mounting evidence that policies weren’t working was treated as proof that the same policies had to be pursued even more forcefully." (John Micheal Greer).
"The first of these shifts was the Great Depression or, more precisely, the feckless response of both American mainstream political parties to the economic collapse that followed the 1929 stock market crash. In the crucial first years after the crash, Democrats and Republicans alike embraced exactly the same policies they are embracing in today’s economic troubles, with exactly the same lack of success, and showed exactly the same unwillingness to abandon failed policies in the face of economic disaster. Then as now, the federal government launched a program to bail out big banks and corporations—it was called the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in those days—and pumped dizzying amounts of money into the upper end of the economy in the belief, real or feigned, that the money would work its way down the pyramid, which of course it didn’t do. Then as now, politicians used the shibboleth of a balanced budget to demand austerity for everybody but the rich, and cut exactly those programs which could have helped families caught by hard times. Then as now, things got worse while the media insisted that they were getting better, and the mounting evidence that policies weren’t working was treated as proof that the same policies had to be pursued even more forcefully." (John Micheal Greer).
Their Apostles are Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, Von Mises, the Austrian, and Freidman, the Chicago, schools of economics.
Adam Smith's "invisible hand" is often quoted. Adam Smith's "you should pay your workers fairly because they are the source of your wealth" and "tax capital and land instead of workers and entrepreneurs" is, of course, ignored.
Von Mises and Freidman advocate a totally unregulated market and a Government as one adherent famously said, "that you could drown in a bathtub". Except for police and military to protect their wealth, of course! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist
Ayn Rand considered the owners of capital "wealth creators" although she had to live off the real wealth creators, the rest of us, towards the end of her life.
http://www.alternet.org/story/154153/how_the_1_destroys_jobs_and_the_real_heroes_are_everyday_people
"So before we consider having another trickle-downer in the White House, let’s talk about the failure of this idea and why if you want to see a real job creator, you should look in the mirror".
In fact they support their own freedom to make money regardless of social, environmental or economic effects. At the same time restricting individual freedom to protest, or co-operate to challenge their primacy.
Supporters do not seem to see the conflict between saying they support individual freedom while at the same time restricting the majorities individual freedom to withdraw their labour or protest. These freedoms are restricted, often violently.
"Let’s recap. You’re rich, and you want to stay that way. So, to protect your ticket; to safeguard your $50 million prize; you need to find a way to eliminate, or at least minimise, the threats posed by taxes, unions, and democracy. What’s your strategy?
Essentially, there’s only one winning strategy. It requires you to convince all those who are not wealthy that whatever status and security they do enjoy is the result of your own superior imagination, risk-taking and skill. You have to paint yourself and your fellow millionaires and billionaires as a “wealth creators” and, more importantly, “job creators”. You have to convince your fellow citizens that any attempt to restrict or redistribute your wealth will not only put their jobs at risk, but that society as a whole will become poorer.
If you can convince people of these things, then they will, perfectly democratically, eliminate wealth taxes, truncate workers’ rights, and reconfigure their entire political system to favour the tiny minority fortunate enough to hold the multi-million-dollar winning tickets"
Neo-Liberalism. Like all religions, is a way for the already wealthy to delude everyone else from rebelling, so they can keep their "winning ticket".
While many followers of religions have the best of intentions, their leaders have no such illusions. The intent is to keep wealth and/or power.
The overall effect of Neo-Liberal economics is to "privatise profits while socialising the losses".
Hugely increasing inequality and economic and social dysfunction.
Country after country adopts Neo-Liberal economics and rapidly goes downhill even by Neo-Liberalism's own measures such as GDP. And we still believe it is the solution!
Compare Argentina and the BRIC countries to the Anglo Saxon countries that are slavishly following the Neo-Liberal religion.
Truly voodoo economics.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ports of Auckland and Union Busting.
Kia-ora
For non-New Zealand readers.
Ports of Auckland have just engaged in an episode of managerial self indulgence to try and remove Union members from the port and replace them with casual contracted labour. FYI. The port manager is paid more than 750k. Board members are paid 100 to 200k for one days work a week.
There has been a big push from the usual suspects to take the port out of public ownership. Most of the prospective buyers are anti Union.
Unions and workers are being attacked on all sides, and public assets given away to the private sector as fast as possible, as our current right wing Government is unlikely to get another term.
For non-New Zealand readers.
Ports of Auckland have just engaged in an episode of managerial self indulgence to try and remove Union members from the port and replace them with casual contracted labour. FYI. The port manager is paid more than 750k. Board members are paid 100 to 200k for one days work a week.
There has been a big push from the usual suspects to take the port out of public ownership. Most of the prospective buyers are anti Union.
Unions and workers are being attacked on all sides, and public assets given away to the private sector as fast as possible, as our current right wing Government is unlikely to get another term.
On Incompetent Management.
Once upon a time, decades ago now, ports were run by a person called the Harbourmaster.
He used to be a highly qualified and experienced Master Mariner, who had extensive knowledge of shipping and decades of experience, at sea and within the port.
All this competence and experience came at a wage at most five times the average wage.
Then, along came the cult of management, and the Neo-liberals. The idea that a jumped up accountant could run anything.
They can, into the ground. http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/kia-ora-corporatism-and-neo-liberalism.html
"The corporations with the largest income gap between Directors/Managers and employees have proven to be the least functional.
The star managers paid in millions have proven to be much less effective than, lesser paid, experienced promotions from within the organisation.
"companies that exclusively promote CEOs from within outperform companies that recruit CEOs from outside the company."
Now.
We have a board and managers who have lost the port's public owners 21 million dollars and counting, lost more customers in a few months than have been lost to Tauranga in years, cost the ports customers millions, and demoralised and lost the co-operation of their trained labour force, all to make savings that have been shown to be available anyway by talking to the Union.
(There was a 25 to 30% increase in the box rate last year in the brief period when the Wharfies thought management were not going to continue the adversarial politicking of the past).
An honourable management and board would all be tendering their resignations after a debacle like this.
The amount of spin and outright lies about the workforce from POAL management shows they are incapable of working co-operatively with their labour force.
For example Labour utilisation rates, costs of Labour and pay rates are not out of line with similar jobs.
Still looking for the wharfie who gets 91k a year. (A foremen doing double shifts all year maybe).
The relationship is broken. It is much easier and less costly to replace the managers with ones capable of working with people than retrain a whole ports labour.
It has become apparent that the whole exercise was an ideological attempt to break one of the last vestiges of Union power, most likely with the covert backing of the NACT Government. The huge costs for the ports public owners and customers does not matter to an ideologically driven board put in place for that purpose by ACT hacks..
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Bowalley Road: The Auckland Ports Dispute: An Injury To All
Bowalley Road: The Auckland Ports Dispute: An Injury To All
"Auckland Regional Holdings was clearer in 2009 stating: “The sector is engaging in destructive interregional competition that is detrimental to New Zealand’s long-term productivity and competitiveness, and could be considered an instance of “market failure”. For the good of the country, it is clear that the port sector needs to change and focus on the real threat – not from each other – but from outside.” 2
The current move to slash employment costs by making staff on-call, round the clock casual workers without compensation for lifestyle or job insecurity is another step toward creating a third world nation"".
Kia-ora
"Auckland Regional Holdings was clearer in 2009 stating: “The sector is engaging in destructive interregional competition that is detrimental to New Zealand’s long-term productivity and competitiveness, and could be considered an instance of “market failure”. For the good of the country, it is clear that the port sector needs to change and focus on the real threat – not from each other – but from outside.” 2
The current move to slash employment costs by making staff on-call, round the clock casual workers without compensation for lifestyle or job insecurity is another step toward creating a third world nation"".
Kia-ora
Saturday, November 5, 2011
What Our Financial Masters Really Think of Democracy.
Kia-ora
On the axed Referendum.
"In Athens, several ministers and governing party MPs called for Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to step down in favour of a coalition national unity government that would approve Greece's bailout package without a referendum,"".
The so called representatives of the people. Do not want the people to decide on how to respond to a package.
To bail out even more bankers who made bad lending decisions and pushed prices up to increase their income..
It is becoming very obvious who the real rulers of the world are.
Revealed the capitalist network that runs the world
Despite the lip service to "Representative Democracy".
It is not the citizens of each country.
On the axed Referendum.
"In Athens, several ministers and governing party MPs called for Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to step down in favour of a coalition national unity government that would approve Greece's bailout package without a referendum,"".
The so called representatives of the people. Do not want the people to decide on how to respond to a package.
To bail out even more bankers who made bad lending decisions and pushed prices up to increase their income..
It is becoming very obvious who the real rulers of the world are.
Revealed the capitalist network that runs the world
Despite the lip service to "Representative Democracy".
It is not the citizens of each country.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Good and bad Dictators.
Kia-ora
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Overthrew a democratically elected Government.
Murdered between 700 thousand and a million of his own citizens to get into power.
Brutally squashed two independence movements. Now engaged in squashing a third.
Keeps about 2/3 of his country in poverty.
Allows foreign companies to repatriate almost 100% of their profits. Especially Western oil companies.
Has the worst environmental record in the Pacific..
Allows abuse of workers in virtual slave labour.
Sends troops in to kill unionists.
Country has unsustainable debt.
Streets of beggars and homeless.
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Left his country with no external debt.
Gave interest free loans to citizens.
Had Western standards of living.
Increased literacy from 25% to 83%.
Had the Highest Standard of living in Africa.
A proportion of all oil sales was credited to every citizens bank account.
No beggars in the streets and no homeless.
Guess which one was helped into place by the US Government and is supported by other Western Governments, including ours.
Guess which one is considered so bad that we should support his overthrow.
Overthrew a democratically elected Government.
Murdered between 700 thousand and a million of his own citizens to get into power.
Brutally squashed two independence movements. Now engaged in squashing a third.
Keeps about 2/3 of his country in poverty.
Allows foreign companies to repatriate almost 100% of their profits. Especially Western oil companies.
Has the worst environmental record in the Pacific..
Allows abuse of workers in virtual slave labour.
Sends troops in to kill unionists.
Country has unsustainable debt.
Streets of beggars and homeless.
This Dictator of an oil rich country.
Left his country with no external debt.
Gave interest free loans to citizens.
Had Western standards of living.
Increased literacy from 25% to 83%.
Had the Highest Standard of living in Africa.
A proportion of all oil sales was credited to every citizens bank account.
No beggars in the streets and no homeless.
Guess which one was helped into place by the US Government and is supported by other Western Governments, including ours.
Guess which one is considered so bad that we should support his overthrow.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Occupy Wall Street.
Kia-ora
The response from the Neo-Liberal establishment to OWS, shows they know how effective bottom up changes can be.
Why we should protest.
Management 101. Effective change management.
1. Establish a consensus that there is a need for change.
2. Figure out what needs to be changed. Again by consensus.
3. Invite ideas and positive changes from the shop floor.
4. Managers should act as facilitators and supporters of change agents.
Lasting and effective changes, need to have the active support of the majority of the workforce, at all levels.
Authoritarian managers are rarely effective at making lasting changes. People always find a way to derail changes they do not support.
Despite some of the best research on Management and Leadership coming from the USA. Places like the USA, NZ and UK ignore it. Leaving effective implementation to Germany, Japan and Scandinavia.
It is strange that despite all the research that says they are less effective, the cult of the Authoritarian Manager/National Leader still remains. Maybe the answer lies in the research about Authoritarian followers. Those who like certainty, even if it is leading them into a country like Somalia.
OWS is at stage 1 at present.
The first stage.
What is frightening politicians, who dream of absolute power, is they know OWS will grow.
We will soon see the solution is democracy. Very scary for those who have been ripping us of while accepting a Parliamentary salary from us.
Why should we leave our future up to a power hungry, greedy minority.
We are the 99%.
In the meantime. We can do our part in supporting stage one. Worldwide.
Occupy Wall Street.
The response from the Neo-Liberal establishment to OWS, shows they know how effective bottom up changes can be.
Why we should protest.
Management 101. Effective change management.
1. Establish a consensus that there is a need for change.
2. Figure out what needs to be changed. Again by consensus.
3. Invite ideas and positive changes from the shop floor.
4. Managers should act as facilitators and supporters of change agents.
Lasting and effective changes, need to have the active support of the majority of the workforce, at all levels.
Authoritarian managers are rarely effective at making lasting changes. People always find a way to derail changes they do not support.
Despite some of the best research on Management and Leadership coming from the USA. Places like the USA, NZ and UK ignore it. Leaving effective implementation to Germany, Japan and Scandinavia.
It is strange that despite all the research that says they are less effective, the cult of the Authoritarian Manager/National Leader still remains. Maybe the answer lies in the research about Authoritarian followers. Those who like certainty, even if it is leading them into a country like Somalia.
OWS is at stage 1 at present.
The first stage.
What is frightening politicians, who dream of absolute power, is they know OWS will grow.
We will soon see the solution is democracy. Very scary for those who have been ripping us of while accepting a Parliamentary salary from us.
Why should we leave our future up to a power hungry, greedy minority.
We are the 99%.
In the meantime. We can do our part in supporting stage one. Worldwide.
Occupy Wall Street.
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Kean on the "Roving Cavaliers of Credit" or How Bankers got to Rule the World.
“”In some ways these conclusions are unremarkable: banks make money by extending debt, and the more they create, the more they are likely to earn. But this is a revolutionary conclusion when compared to standard thinking about banks and debt, because the money multiplier model implies that, whatever banks might want to do, they are constrained from so doing by a money creation process that they do not control.
However, in the real world, they do control the creation of credit. Given their proclivity to lend as much as is possible, the only real constraint on bank lending is the public’s willingness to go into debt. In the model economy shown here, that willingness directly relates to the perceived possibilities for profitable investment—and since these are limited, so also is the uptake of debt.
But in the real world—and in my models of Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis—there is an additional reason why the public will take on debt:
the perception of possibilities for private gain from leveraged speculation on asset prices.”"
Kean describes exactly the real world effects of current monetary policy.
Both Cyprus and Greece show how Democracy can be overturned at the wim of bankers trying to protect their income, from pushing up asset prices, with loans they should never have been allowed to make, with money they have produced out of thin air. A power only a democratically controlled Government should have.
Recent moves towards legislation, to take money from us to bail out failing banks, again, by the New Zealand Government , shows who our politicians really work for!