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Fables of Wealth - NYTimes.com

"ethics in capitalism is purely optional, purely extrinsic. To expect morality in the market is to commit a category error. Capitalist values are antithetical to Christian ones… Capitalist values are also antithetical to democratic ones…

…neither entrepreneurs nor the rich have a monopoly on brains, sweat or risk. There are scientists — and artists and scholars — who are just as smart as any entrepreneur, only they are interested in different rewards.

…“Poor Americans are urged to hate themselves,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote in “Slaughterhouse-Five.” And so, “they mock themselves and glorify their betters.” Our most destructive lie, he added, “is that it is very easy for any American to make money.” The lie goes on. The poor are lazy, stupid and evil. The rich are brilliant, courageous and good. They shower their beneficence upon the rest of us."

politics classwarfare poverty lies incompatibility democracy kurtvonnegut finance wallstreet 1% policy government jobcreation wealth psychopathy morality ethics motivation science art corporations corporatism corporateculture businessschool business entrepreneurship christianity capitalism 2012 williamderesiewicz from delicious
12 days ago by robertogreco

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You Can't Fuck the System If You've Never Met One by Casey A. Gollan

"Part of the reason systems are hard to see is because they're an abstraction. They don't really exist until you articulate them.

And any two things don't make a system, even where there are strong correlations. Towns with more trees have lower divorce rates, for example, but you'd be hard-pressed to go anywhere with that.

However, if you can manage to divine the secret connections and interdependencies between things, it's like putting on glasses for the first time. Your headache goes away and you can focus on how you want to change things.

I learned that in systems analysis — if you'd like to change the world — there is a sweet spot between low and high level thinking. In this space you are not dumbfoundedly adjusting variables…nor are you contemplating the void.

In the same way that systems don't exist until you point them out…"

"This is probably a built up series of misunderstandings. I look forward to revising these ideas."

color cooperunion awareness systemsawareness binary processing alexandergalloway nilsaallbarricelli willwright pets superpokepets superpoke juliandibbell dna simulations trust hyper-educated consulting genetics power richarddawkins generalizations capitalism systemsdesign relationships ownership privacy identity cities socialgovernment government thesims sims google politics facebooks donatellameadows sherryturkle emotions human patterns patternrecognition systemsthinking systems 2012 caseygollan donellameadows from delicious
12 weeks ago by robertogreco

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Porter and Mykleby: A Grand Strategy for the Nation on Vimeo

"Naval Captain Porter and Col. Mykleby of the Marines, military strategists working at the highest level of government, present highlights from their paper, “A National Strategic Narrative.” Their ideas—less military force, more social capital and more sustainable practices in energy and agriculture—have caused a recent stir in policy communities."

[See also: http://poptech.org/popcasts/a_grand_strategy_for_the_nation ]

grassroots complexity agriculture military socialcapital nationalstrategicnarrative policy energy us government systemsthinking markmykleby wayneporter poptech sustainability via:steelemaley
february 2012 by robertogreco

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Paddy Ashdown: The global power shift | Video on TED.com

"Paddy Ashdown claims that we are living in a moment in history where power is changing in ways it never has before. In a spellbinding talk at TEDxBrussels he outlines the three major global shifts that he sees coming."

government interconnectivity interconnectedness communities networks brasil india china world multipolar us un turbulence global governance society unregulatedspace terrorism crime regulation corporations history 2011 politics power paddyashton
january 2012 by robertogreco

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Vaclav Havel's Critique of the West - Philip K. Howard - International - The Atlantic

"Western governments…are organized on a flawed premise not far removed from the Soviet system that had just collapsed. "The modern era has been dominated by the culminating belief," he said, "that the world ... is a wholly knowable system governed by finite number of universal laws that man can grasp and rationally direct ... objectively describing, explaining, and controlling everything."

"We have to abandon the arrogant belief that the world is merely a puzzle to be solved"

""If democracy is ... to survive," he explained, "it must renew its respect for the nonmaterial order ... for the order of nature, for the order of humanity, and thus for secular authority as well."

It is not hard to imagine what Havel would do in our shoes. The difficulty of changing an entrenched system is no reason not to try. "I do not know whether or not the world will take the path which that reality offers. But I will not lose hope.""

government dehumanization diversity acceptance judgement values choice control centralization hierarchy bureaucracy 2011 civilization responsibility humans humanism control order wisdom philosophy democracy anarchy anarchism vaclavhavel _control from delicious
december 2011 by robertogreco

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Mr Cameron, it's time to get the designers in | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

"If a country has the best education system in the world, it could be forgiven for resting on its laurels. Yet Finland, which routinely tops the Pisa education rankings, refuses to do so. The country has other major issues on the agenda, such as how to become carbon neutral and how to look after the most rapidly ageing population in Europe. And when the nation wants to address these questions, it turns to Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund. Most governments have a cluster of thinktanks and policy groups at their disposal to tackle their country's challenges. But what's different about Sitra is that it uses designers.

Sitra's strategic design unit is made up of an international team with backgrounds in architecture and urban planning, web and interactive design, and they are used to thinking at varying scales – from the pixel to the city. "Strategic design" is still a nascent discipline but, put simply, it means applying a design method to a system, rather than an object."

danhill sitra design finland strategicdesign policy servicedesign systemschange systemicimagining well-being 2011 bryanboyer government forwardlooking forwardthinking from delicious
november 2011 by robertogreco

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How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the OWS Protests | Politics News | Rolling Stone

"People want out of this fiendish system, rigged to inexorably circumvent every hope we have for a more balanced world. They want major changes. I think I understand now that this is what the Occupy movement is all about. It's about dropping out, if only for a moment, and trying something new, the same way that the civil rights movement of the 1960s strived to create a "beloved community" free of racial segregation. Eventually the Occupy movement will need to be specific about how it wants to change the world. But for right now, it just needs to grow. And if it wants to sleep on the streets for a while and not structure itself into a traditional campaign of grassroots organizing, it should. It doesn't need to tell the world what it wants. It is succeeding, for now, just by being something different."

ows occupywallstreet matttaibbi 2011 economics politics society change revolution policy government protest culture from delicious
november 2011 by robertogreco

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Story of Broke « The Story of Stuff Project
annieleonard economy inequality waste storyofstuff storyofbroke government subsidies 2011 solarpower economics from delicious
november 2011 by robertogreco

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The peak oil crisis: the energy trap

"…most government policies aimed at helping with energy costs - tax rebates on efficient vehicles, subsidized public transit & telecommuting, benefit mainly those with higher incomes…

If there is a way out of the energy trap, it is going to be hard to find. For now most of us are muddling along. Long vacation trips are down a bit but commuting, shopping, visiting, moving the kids about is going along about as usual. Those who can't afford driving, shopping, recreation, and eating are cutting back as much as necessary to keep the gas tank full.

The long term solution to all this is rather straight forward -- better public transit, far more efficient cars, housing closer to work. But these are all long term solutions, expensive and years to implement. All indications are that the energy trap can only get worse, perhaps much worse, in the next few years."

energytrap energy us publictransit masstransit long-term missedopportunities 2011 peakoil government policy from delicious
october 2011 by robertogreco

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Zbigniew Brzezinski Receives Jury du Prix Tocqueville Prize | Center for Strategic and International Studies

"Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize winning economist, recently drew attention to the fact that Alexis de Tocqueville correctly perceived the major source of the peculiar genius of American society: its respect for what the French observer called “self-interest properly understood.” Stiglitz noted that everyone is motivated by self-interest in its narrow sense, but that de Tocqueville’s emphasis on self-interest “properly understood” was his recognition that early Americans uniquely also cared for everyone else’s self-interest. In other words, they instinctively understood that respect for the common welfare is in fact the precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being."

economics josephstiglitz 2011 inequality wealthdistribution society self-interest alexdetocqueville policy politics gridlock us government democracy globalization zbigniewbrzezinski self-interestproperlyunderstood from delicious
october 2011 by robertogreco

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California and Bust | Business | Vanity Fair

"The smart money says the U.S. economy will splinter, with some states thriving, some states not, and all eyes are on California as the nightmare scenario. After a hair-raising visit with former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who explains why the Golden State has cratered, Michael Lewis goes where the buck literally stops—the local level, where the likes of San Jose mayor Chuck Reed and Vallejo ﬁre chief Paige Meyer are trying to avert even worse catastrophes and rethink what it means to be a society."

california 2011 finance michaellewis debt money government crisis collapse
september 2011 by robertogreco

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THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Elizabeth Warren on class warfare, etc.

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You build a factory out there – good for you.

But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for...

Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea – God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

elizabethwarren class society us policy taxes entitlement 2011 markets economics business entrepreneurship infrastructure government from delicious
september 2011 by robertogreco

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Designing systems for transparency robustness - Joi Ito's Web

"In most powerful institutions, corners are cut & methods are used in a somewhat "ends justify the means" sort of way. There are a lot of things that are done & said behind closed doors that wouldn't survive public scrutiny, but have become common practice. In many cases, these practices aren't necessarily critically wrong, but just embarrassing or politically incorrect in some way.

I believe that Wikileaks is just the beginning of a bigger trend where it will become harder & harder to hide information and citizen counter-surveillance will become a norm rather than an exception.

I think that this will cause a lot of pain to powerful institutions - some will be overthrown or crushed. However, I think that we can build institutions that are robust against transparency if we design them that way from the beginning. It will be harder than learning to write open source software, but I believe that in the end we'll have a society that is better, stronger, more effective and fair."

politics business government opensource privacy organizations transparency joiito 2011 systems institutions wikileaks from delicious
september 2011 by robertogreco

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Battle for the California Desert: Why is the Government Driving Folks off Their Land? - YouTube [via: http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/the-garbage-we-sell-kids/ ]

"The Antelope Valley is a vast patch of desert on outskirts of LA County, & a segment of the few rugged individualists who live out there increasingly are finding themselves targets of armed raids from local code enforcement agents, who've assembled into task forces called Nuisance Abatement Teams (NATs). The plight of the desert dwellers made regional headlines when county officials ordered the destruction of Phonehenge: a towering, colorful castle constructed out of telephone poles by retired phone technician Kim Fahey. Fahey was imprisoned & charged with several misdemeanors. 
 
…Fahey is just one of many who've been targeted by NATs…assembled at request of County Supervisor Mike Antonovich in 2006. LA Weekly reporter Mars Melnicoff…exposed the county's tactic of badgering residents w/ minor, but costly, code violations until they face little choice but to vacate the land altogether." 
 
[See also: http://www.laweekly.com/2011-06-23/news/l-a-county-s-private-property-war/ ]

losangeles losangelescounty nuisanceabatement highdesert 2011 landrights propertyrights law government zoning ruleoflaw from delicious
september 2011 by robertogreco

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Why Arabic is Terrific [Bookmarking this twice, this time for the footnote.]

"There's something about intelligence agencies - maybe the familiar comfort of a three-letter acronym on the wall, maybe the late-night spanking parties - that draws fraternity boys like ants to a picnic, and right now the road to bro advancement leads through an Arabic classroom. Their complete lack of a sense of irony allows these students to combine sincere appreciation for The Fountainhead with a desire for a lifelong career in government service, and the hardest part of studying Arabic is having to listen to their asinine opinions after they have gained enough proficiency to try to express them."

maciejceglowski irony aynrand thefountainhead libertarianism objectivism government 2011 from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Cien mil personas marcharon sin incidentes bajo la lluvia y la nieve - Cooperativa.cl

""• Multitudinaria convocatoria desafió las condiciones meteorológicas para manifestarse. 
• Los mismos estudiantes controlaron a quienes intentaban realizar desmanes… 
 
Al llegar al acto principal, un grupo minoritario de unos 20 jóvenes intentaron enfrentarse a Carabineros lanzando algunas piedras, pero fueron rápidamente controlados por los mismos estudiantes, quienes armaron cadenas humanas para cercarlos y evitar desmanes."

chile 2011 protests politics policy education government nonviolence from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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RSA Animate - First as Tragedy, Then as Farce - YouTube

"In this short RSA Animate, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek investigates the surprising ethical implications of charitable giving."

[via: http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/08/fuck-you-warren-buffett.html ]

politics history economics philosophy zizek 2009 capitalism georgesoros philanthropy socialism culturalcapitalism rsaanimate ethics morality oscarwilde poverty policy government hypocrisy from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Et tu, Mr. Destructo?: Fuck You, Warren Buffett

"Then again, perhaps you've done enough. Negative Nancies might argue that philanthropy is simply the right hand of capitalism, its moral pressure valve, divesting The Super Rich of their guilt over the means by which they hoard wealth, offering the public carefully staged signs of humanity in an otherwise mechanistic and amoral system, but I like to think of it as good folks pitching in. 
 
Perhaps then it's time to return to divesting yourself of your billion-dollar fortune before you die. Funding the charities of your choice affords you a philanthropic immortality, keeping your hand on the levers of power and advancement long after death, while keeping that fortune away from the predatory and anonymizing hands of the American Estate Tax."

warrenbuffett power money capitalism 2011 taxes taxation government philanthropy via:javierarbona ethics elite lobbying from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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[Video] Dirigente universitario pidió a senadores no elegidos restarse de mesa de diálogo Cooperativa.cl

"La participación de la senadora Ena Von Baer, fue cuestionada por los estudiantes que asistieron a la comisión de Educación del Senado. Patricio Araujo, dirigente de la U. Arturo Prat, aclaró que no aceptarán "congresistas que no han sido electos democráticamente"."

enavonbaer chile 2011 education democracy sebastiánpiñera protest politics policy protests congress government from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Memex 1.1 » Cameron and the feral rich

"There was a time — round the time when his young son died and he was running for office — when Cameron seemed to have the makings of a rounded human being. But it turns out to have been an illusion. What’s happened is that the shallow, oily, polished PR-flack that he used to be has reappeared. And he’s running a corrupt, morally-compromised, untruthful administration that is more divisive than anything we’ve seen since Thatcher at her peak."

uk 2011 london riots morality noblesseoblige wealth immorality davidcameron humanity corruption greed hypocrisy criminality government class rulingclass
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Freedom or Death | Revolution

"The very word 'Revolution' conjures up peasants storming the palace gates, Kings fleeing for their lives, a corrupt system of government crumbling, and a new form of fair order taking its place. What kind of revolution was this, then? It was one that greatly changed the "natural order" of Europe. The French Revolution was not just a revolt against the regime of the Bourbon Kings; it embodied an entire new way of viewing the world and human society. Although the Revolution failed to live up to its own rallying cry, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", it spread these ideals far and wide. It has partially made our world what it is today.

To begin your exploration of the French Revolution, click below. We recommend you start at 'The Enlightenment.'"

education politics history government france frenchrevolution revolution enlightenment robespierre georgesdanton marieantionette classwarfare classideas brunswickmanifesto jacobin
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Youngsters plug into coding the Centre for Life - Science & Technology - News - nebusiness.co.uk

"For three years, Young Rewired State has been showing young people the joys of coding using open government data such as crime figures and weather data. This year, Newcastle got involved for the first time. JOHN HILL finds out more about how everyone got on, and how the project may help raise interest in a valued skill."

[See also: http://youngrewiredstate.org/ ]

events unconferences workshops lcproject data government hackerdays coding programming 2011 citizenship activism crime weather cityapi
august 2011 by robertogreco

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UK riots: how do Boris Johnson's Bullingdon antics compare? | Politics | The Guardian

"'An excessive sense of entitlement" was what the mayor of London ascribed to those looting their way across our sceptred isle – but he could have been referring to himself. In the mid-to-late 80s, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson – not to mention David Cameron and his now chancellor George Osborne – were members of the notorious Bullingdon Club, the Oxford university "dining" clique that smashed their way through restaurant crockery, car windscreens & antique violins all over the city of knowledge. 
 
Not unlike a certain section of today's youth, the "Bullers" have little regard for property. Prospective members often have their rooms trashed by their new-found friends, while the club has a reputation for ritualistic plate-smashing at unsuspecting country pubs. It has been banned from several establishments, while contemporary Bullers are said to chant, at all hours: "Buller, Buller, Buller! Buller, Buller, Buller! We are the famous Bullingdon Club, & we don't give a fuck!"…"

borisjohnson 2011 uk riots london entitlement class via:grahamje worstkindofthugs government politics inequality corruption from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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An Open Letter to David Cameron’s Parents « Nathaniel Tapley

"Why did you never take the time to teach your child basic morality? 
 
As a young man, he was in a gang that regularly smashed up private property. We know that you were absent parents who left your child to be brought up by a school rather than taking responsibility for his behaviour yourselves. The fact that he became a delinquent with no sense of respect for the property of others can only reflect that fact that you are terrible, lazy human beings who failed even in teaching your children the difference between right and wrong. I can only assume that his contempt for the small business owners of Oxford is indicative of his wider values. 
 
Even worse, your neglect led him to fall in with a bad crowd…"

uk riots london davidcameron 2011 borisjohnson corruption wealth politics government parenting class worstkindofthugs from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Contract for the American Dream

"We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice . . . for all. Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity, and give their kids a better life. Every one of us – rich, poor, or in-between, regardless of skin color or birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender – has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact, our contract with one another. It is a promise we can fulfill – but only by working together… 
 
I. Invest in America's Infrastructure 
II. Create 21st Century Energy Jobs 
III. Invest in Public Education 
IV. Offer Medicare for All 
V. Make Work Pay 
VI. Secure Social Security 
VII. Return to Fairer Tax Rates 
VIII. End the Wars and Invest at Home 
IX. Tax Wall Street Speculation 
X. Strengthen Democracy"

2011 petitions government us policy infrastructure taxes socialsecurity inequality medicare health healthcare education jobs employment unemployment money work change democracy wealthdistribution from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Christopher Newfield: Was the Innovation Economy Killed by the Debt Debate?

"What kind of a country sanctions the top-25 hedge fund managers earning $22 billion personally? What kind of country cuts services to people who would need 250 years to earn the salary a CEO earns in one year -- so that CEO can pay lower taxes than his secretary? 
 
Our political discourse has successfully shamed people out of asking these questions. But when they do, the answer to what kind of country we are is: not a country that fairly rewards hard work, individual creativity or pulling together to solve shared problems. Any belief in the general benefits an innovation economy are mocked by current levels of inequality, fueled by a mania for tax avoidance, much like that which created poverty amid the aristocratic plenty of pre-revolutionary France. 
 
Until policymakers can support both innovation jobs and levels of equality that spell mutual respect, the majority will not vote to pay for the economic renewal we need."

christophernewfield economics us politics inequality wealth wealthdestruction taxes government policy stem innovation 2011 nationaldebt debtcrisis from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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"Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became 'People' and How You Can Fight Back" | Truthout

"Truthout is proud to bring you an exclusive series from America's No. 1 progressive radio host, Thom Hartmann. We'll be publishing weekly installments of Hartmann's much-lauded book, "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became 'People' and How You Can Fight Back." Join us as, chapter by chapter, we delve into issues of corporate power, popular resistance and the nature of democracy itself." 
 
[Chapter Twelve: Unequal Uses for the Bill of Rights: http://www.truth-out.org/unequal-protection-unequal-uses-bill-rights/1312898624 ]

thomhartmann corporatism corporations history us economics law constitution corporatepersonhood corruption government influence power control from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Why is Piñera's government so unpopular in Chile? | Cristian Cabalin | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

"Chile is today a more complex country than it was two decades ago, but the current political system does not recognise this. Piñera is member of a stubborn elite that continues to control the country as it always has, without recognising that Chileans now live in a completely different context. He believes that Chileans have the same needs that they had during their return to democracy: political stability and public security. However, most citizens want to build a more equal society, with the same opportunities for all. 
Recent demonstrations and protests have overshadowed his administration. Citizens are going to the streets to demand better education, gay marriage, and the protection of the environment. They're asking for changes in one of the most unequal societies in the world. After 21 years of democratisation, citizens have lost their fear and are in the streets…"

chile 2011 sebastiánpiñera government change inequality equality economics politics policy education gayrights environment elite society from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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Ed Koch: If There Ever Was a Moment When a Third Party Would Have a Chance to Win, This Is It

"I am puzzled by the fact that there are no street marches and demonstrations. Apparently the good people of this great country have given up hope for changing the status quo. They are wrong. I believe there is an opportunity in the presidential and Congressional election of 2012 to truly change what is happening. If there ever was a moment when a third party would have a chance to win, this is it. 
 
The centrists of this country -- liberals with sanity like myself and so-called compassionate conservatives -- together constitute a huge majority of voters. If we join together, if only for this upcoming presidential election, we could make a difference. We could elect a president concerned about us and we could throw out a majority of the incumbents in Congress and elect people who will truly represent and promote our interests. Let's at least try."

edkoch 2011 barackobama thirdparty politics policy us government 2012 from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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JOURNAL: Central Planning and The Fall of the US Empire - Global Guerrillas

"…extreme concentration of wealth at the center of our market economy has led to a form of central planning. The concentration of wealth is now in so few hands and is so extreme in degree, that the combined liquid financial power of all of those not in this small group is inconsequential to determining the direction of the economy. As a result, we now have the equivalent of centralized planning in global marketplaces. A few thousand extremely wealthy people making decisions on the allocation of our collective wealth…

The result of central planning in the US has finally hit the wall. The list of problems is endless…misallocations range from the dangerous $600 trillion derivatives market to the destruction of US middle class (by exporting jobs & substitution of income with debt).

The end result is that our economic & political system has become very fragile. All it will take is is one extremely bad decision and the cascade of failure that follows will catch everyone off guard."

[UPDATE: Conversation here too: https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/posts/D6SwChze4Vd ]

johnrobb us collapse incomegap disparity wealth 2011 centralplanning government corruption decisionmaking policy politics economics class markets fragility finance globalization from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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‪The Bolivian Doctrine part1‬‏ - YouTube

"A current affairs docu-report about the attempts by the first socialist indigenous president Evo Morales to change and indigenize the educational system in Bolivia. This docu-report is shot in October 2009 just as the first 5-year period of Evo Morales as president is finishing and the country is preparing for new elections."

bolivia evomorales 2009 education decolonization indigenousrights indigenous policy government from delicious
august 2011 by robertogreco

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A Story More Important than Debt Limit Kabuki | Informed Comment

"The reason that the Republicans deliberately destroyed the balanced budget and created unprecedented government debt was precisely in hopes that at some point they could use the debt as an excuse to destroy social security, medicare, and myriads of educational and health programs. They represent rich people, and the rich don’t want to be having to bear their fair share of the national burden. What better way to get out of having to pay those pesky taxes than making sure the government doesn’t do anything for anyone but the rich. 
 
So everything unfolding in Washington was planned out in a room in 2001, and is going according to plan."

juancole crisis 2011 2001 wealth wealthy debtlimitkabuki debtceiling debtcrisis government classwarfare rich budget budgetcuts taxes finance from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Próxima ministra de Cultura Susana Baca: "Que la cultura sea democrática" | El Comercio Perú

"La reconocida cantante indicó que trabajará para que la cultura no sea exclusividad de “la gente con medios”. Fue felicitada por antecesor Juan Ossio" 
 
[See also: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/heart-and-soul/ ] 
[Both via: ªªhttp://journal.davidbyrne.com/2011/07/72911-susana-baca-peruvian-minister-of-culture.html ]ºº

susanabaca perú music culture government 2011 from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Dodd-Frank Update - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 07/28/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

"The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act sings about having its ass f**ked raw for a year."

dodd-frank fraud finance financereform elizabethwarren wallstreet corruption congress lobbying government us 2011 via:cburell from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Budgeting for Ignorance | Truthout

"Will Rogers said that when Congress is in session, the public gets the same panicky feeling as "when the baby gets hold of a hammer." 
 
Rogers' observation can also be applied to the mayhem that has broken out in various smash-happy state legislatures. All across the country, right-wing zealots are wielding their little ideological hammers to destroy common sense and wreck the common good. These anti-government extremists are going after everything from the basic rights of workers to our crucial environmental protections. 
 
Their most shameful assault, however, is on our public schools. They're not merely clobbering teachers and shattering education budgets; they're after the very idea of public education. A few years ago, Debbie Riddle, a boneheaded Texas legislator, asked: "Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education?" The Republican then sputtered that "It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell."…"

2011 jimhightower education publicschools policy politics government us edreform rightwing from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Frontline Examines Bridgepoint Education - voiceofsandiego.org: Pounding The Pavement

"Since we wrote our story about Bridgepoint, we've also blogged about the company's continued explosive growth, an investigation of the company by New York's attorney general, and Bridgepoint's boost from weaker-than-expected new U.S. Department of Education federal aid guidelines."

bridgepointeducation sandiego money government forprofit highereducation highered veterans 2011 profits from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Bridgepoint Booms Over Troubled Waters - voiceofsandiego.org: Pounding The Pavement

"Bridgepoint's business model depends on one thing: Getting people into college who wouldn't otherwise go. 
That involves paying hundreds of recruiters in San Diego office buildings to call around the country and find tens of thousands of people willing to enroll in a tiny college in rural Iowa. Ninety-nine percent of those students won't ever have to set foot in Iowa, since they'll be studying online. 
And the bulk of the revenue Bridgepoint receives for educating students — at least 85 percent last year — comes straight from the federal government in the form of student loans. 
Bridgepoint CEO Andrew Clark and other company officials declined interview requests through corporate spokespeople. But, as a publicly traded company, Bridgepoint's financial success story has been well-documented. 
 
More than anything else, two factors have played into Bridgepoint's extraordinary success. One was the company's genius business idea; the other was a stroke of good fortune…"

education andrewclark bridgepointeducation sandiego iowa scams forprofit highereducation money greed 2011 colleges universities freemoney government military veterans from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Half of US social program recipients believe they "have not used a government social program" - Boing Boing

""Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenges of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era," a paper by Cornell's Clinton Rossiter Professor of American Institutions Suzanne Mettler features this remarkable chart showing that about half of American social program beneficiaries believe that they "have not used a government social program." It's the "Keep your government hands off my Medicare" phenomena writ large: a society of people who subsist on mutual aid and redistributive policies who've been conned (and conned themselves) into thinking that they are rugged individualists and that everyone else is a parasite."

culture economics social government us 2011 socialprograms taxes perception politics policy from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Amazon.com: The Lily: Evolution, Play and the Power of a Free Society eBook: Daniel Cloud: Kindle Store

"Why does a free society work so well? Are civil and political rights really indispensible for full modernity? Must we be free because we're prescient or because we're blind? The book is intended as a contribution to the genre that includes Mill's "On Liberty," Locke's "Second Treatise of Government" and Popper's "Open Society and its Enemies.""

books toread play freedom freesociety society evolution johnlocke karlpopper johnstuartmill opensociety government modernity rights from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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What Twitter users asked the president - Boston.com

"At a town hall Tuesday, President Obama will answer a few of the thousands of questions posed by Twitter users in the past week. Below, the percent of recent questions asked by Twitter users, and White House journalists, that mention selected topics."

media twitter audience 2011 politics disconnect importance government sensationalism discord journalism from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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Next American City » Magazine » Issue 30

"Issues 30 focuses on technology and cities, a topic we have carefully covered over the past several years through our Open Cities conference. We are glad to share our findings, recommendations and thoughts with you about the promise and perils of “intelligent” cities."

smartcities urbaninformatics cities urbancomputing ubicomp transparency transportation infrastructure government policy urban urbanism 2011 from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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"We the corporations" | Move to Amend

"On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions. 
 
We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to: 
 
* Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights. 
 
* Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our vote and participation count. 
 
* Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate "preemption" actions by global, national, and state governments. 
 
The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule. We Move to Amend."

activism 2011 politics government 2010 corporatism corporations money influence power control democracy from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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The National Atlas of the United States of America- Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - UT Library Online

"The National Atlas of the United States of America (1970)" [Always love a jaunt through the UT map library]

via:joguldi maps mapping 1970 us demographics data statistics history government from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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The American suburbs are a giant Ponzi scheme | Grist

"Since the end of WWII, our cities & towns have experienced growth using three primary mechanisms:

1. Transfer payments between governments: where the federal or state government makes a direct investment in growth at the local level, such as funding a water or sewer system expansion.

2. Transportation spending: where transportation infrastructure is used to improve access to a site that can then be developed.

3. Public and private-sector debt: where cities, developers, companies, & individuals take on debt as part of the development process, whether during construction or through the assumption of a mortgage.

In each of these mechanisms, the local unit of government benefits from the enhanced revenues associated with new growth. But it also typically assumes the long-term liability for maintaining the new infrastructure. This exchange -- a near-term cash advantage for a long-term financial obligation -- is one element of a Ponzi scheme…"

politics economics cities urban business suburbs suburbia ponzischemes government strongtowns sustainability finance infrastructure 2011 charlesmarohn future development transportation liabilities maintenance urbanism policy longterm from delicious
july 2011 by robertogreco

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YouTube - DEBTOCRACY (FULL - ENG Subs)

"For the first time in Greece a documentary produced by the audience. "Debtocracy" seeks the causes of the debt crisis and proposes solutions, hidden by the government and the dominant media."

2011 greece debt finance banking imf worldbank odiousdebt politics economics argentina ecuador eu ecb sovereignty freedom europe olympics arms class classwarfare social democracy government policy corruption goldmansachs crisis financialcrisis healthcare poverty education documentary globalization neoliberalism theft via:steelemaley
june 2011 by robertogreco

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Robbery? Not in this Redevelopment Fight - voiceofsandiego.org:

"What the response revealed though, as if it were hidden, was that it's not necessarily big government that city of San Diego Republican leaders are against. They have a resource-allocation grievance. Spending is OK, & it's to be encouraged, in fact. Investment in downtown &, say, a new Convention Center is an obvious good. Government spending isn't the problem for them—it's that Other Part of Government spending that's the problem.

I just don't get it, they'll say. Let's take their objections 1 by 1: [listed]…

At some point Sanders, Faulconer, Gloria & everyone else will have to just admit they want the money for this & not that. They could make the case about why their preferred spending was more important than the spending that was preserved…a legitimate position. But it doesn't, apparently, carry the weight of screaming that you're the victim of armed robbery by big government.

Unfortunately it wasn't robbery. It was a resource-allocation game that someone had to lose."

california sandiego government money biggovernment taxes redevelopment politics 2011 budgetcuts funding jerrybrown jerrysanders
june 2011 by robertogreco

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notes.husk.org. Should Jay have the right to claim the derived....

"“Should Jay have right to claim derived image isn’t fair use & ask for cease & desist? Yes. He’s not, as many are saying, a dick for his opinion. Should Andy have the ability to defend his stance that it is fair use. Of course. Should it take the kind of money that only either corporations or the very rich can easily afford to spend in order to get a judge’s ruling and find out? Definitely not. That’s the real problem here.” 
 
James Duncan Davidson writing about The Maisel vs Baio Incident. 
 
I strongly agree…Currently US (&, largely, UK) ration access to law on ability of both (sometimes prospective) litigant & defender to pay, rather than merits of case. 
 
Another piece…mentions Shepard Fairey vs AP case (Obama Hope poster) would have made great case law. Instead…ended w/ out of court settlement. Shame. 
 
(…another public service which has more demand than access—health care…UK largely rations through need, via NHS…US dependent on employment, age, & to nontrivial extent, mone)

andybaio law litigation money power government copyright fairuse 2011 paulmison corporations corporatism legalsystem us uk helathcare via:preoccupations employment age settlements outofcourtsettlements shepardfairey associatedpress ap obamahope jamesduncandavidson photography ageism agism from delicious
june 2011 by robertogreco

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Open Source Design 02: WikiLeaks Guide/Critical Infrastructure - Architecture - Domus

"Mapping the discontinuous spatiality of the contemporary nation-state through the publication of the secret government memo listing 259 facilities around the world considered crucial to everyday life in the US"

losangeles geoffmanaugh 2011 wikileaks us sovereignty government policy politics geopolitics from delicious
june 2011 by robertogreco

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The secret life of libraries | Books | The Observer

"If someone suggested the idea of public libraries now, they'd be considered insane. If you said you were going to take a little bit of money from every taxpayer, buy a whole load of books and music and games, stick them on a shelf and tell everyone, 'These are yours to borrow and all you've got to do is bring them back,' they'd be laughed out of government." — Peter Collins

libraries books government uk politics 2011 socialism taxes community policy from delicious
june 2011 by robertogreco

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Red Chilena por Territorios Justos y Sustentables

"La Red de Territorios Justos y Sustentables pretende contribuir a la generación e implementación de un sistema de gestión que se instala en el ámbito político de la profundización de la democracia y la descentralización, orientado a construir ciudades y territorios más justos, amables y seguros en el siglo XXI. 
 
Es constitutivo y elemento estructurante una visión política de la co-gobernabilidad en el nivel del control, que asume como elemento ideológico central la co-responsabilidad público privada sobre la función y acción públicas. Centra su interés en el ejercicio de las obligaciones que permiten que los diversos agentes puedan reconocerse mutuamente como agentes válidos y necesarios para la construcción de ciudadanía y manejo del poder."

chile environment activism cities urban urbanism sustainability justice government politics from delicious
may 2011 by robertogreco

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niksilver.com » Measuring with purpose

"it does show that the specific, concrete purpose does influence exactly what you measure, and conversely that having no such purpose makes it impossible — certainly in this case"

via:rodcorp observereffect observation purpose government policy influence from delicious
may 2011 by robertogreco

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Participedia

"Participedia is a tool for strengthening democracy. Based on a wiki platform, its main content consists of user-generated articles which describe and assess participatory governance throughout the world. For instance, there will be articles on the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly of 2004, consensus conferences in Denmark, participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre and other cities, local school council governance in Chicago, municipal evaluation meetings in China, and the People’s Campaign for Democratic Decentralization (under the Panchayati Raj reforms) in Kerala, India. In addition, there will be articles on participatory methods, such as deliberative polling, citizens' assemblies, and participatory budgeting, as well as articles about the organizations that sponsor, implement, and study participatory governance. Over time, we hope Participedia will garner hundreds and perhaps thousands of such articles."

politics collaboration government democracy participatory participation participedia via:leisurearts bc britishcolumbia kerala participatorygovernance citizenassemblies self-organization deliberativepolling systems from delicious
may 2011 by robertogreco

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Corporate political transparency ratings - Spreadsheets - Los Angeles Times

"Many of America’s most powerful companies do not report how much they spend to influence elections and legislation. These companies contribute millions of dollars to powerful trade associations and to other politically active groups that are not required to report the sources of their funding. 
 
Those groups, in turn, spend the money on lobbying and other political activity. The Los Angeles Times reviewed how the 75 largest publicly traded companies in the energy, healthcare and financial services sectors disclose their political giving on their corporate websites." 
 
[Related article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-money-politics-survey-20110424,0,1545345,full.story ]

latimes politics corporations corporatism disclosure policy 2011 ratings energy healthcare finance elections corruption transparency government from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Things May Not Get Better! : Stager-to-Go

"I clung romantically to fantasies that Americans embraced democratic principles, the common good & loved children. Learning otherwise is a somber realization, especially on Easter Sunday… 
 
"If you wanted to destroy or privatize (a semantic difference w/out distinction) public education, you needed to find a way to erode public confidence in the each & every public school. But how to do that? [Explains how GW Bush et al. did]" 
 
"Please! watch this video clip from Rachel Maddow show, share it w/ friends & then try to restrain your violent impulses or find strength to carry-on for another day…The message is really important & stunning. 
 
This is the tale of how two generations of severely at-risk young people are having their chances for a productive life and slice of the American dream sacrificed on the alter of capitalist greed, authoritarian impulses & callous disregard for the vulnerable."

education deschooling criticaleducation garystager unschooling democracy georgewbush policy privatization charters pubicschools society 2011 michigan detroit catherineferguson schools activism neoliberalism corporations greed corporatism lcproject government us arneduncan newtgingrich schoolreform reform alsharpton michellerhee barackobama oprah nclb rttt money rachelmaddow politics from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Westphalian sovereignty - Wikipedia

"Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of nation-state sovereignty based on two things: territoriality and the absence of a role for external agents in domestic structures. 
Scholars of international relations have identified the modern, Western originated, international system of states, multinational corporations, and organizations, as having begun at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.[1] Both the basis and the conclusion of this view have been attacked by some revisionist academics and politicians, with revisionists questioning the significance of the Peace, and some commentators and politicians attacking the Westphalian system of sovereign nation-states."

1648 westphalia history politics culture nationstates corporatism sovereignty westphaliansovereignty government from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Guernica / The Straight Dope — Bill Moyers interviews David Simon, April 2011

"David Simon would be happy to find out that The Wire was hyperbolic and ridiculous, and that the “American Century” is still to come. But he's not betting on it. An excerpt from Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues, forthcoming from The New Press." 
 
"I am very cynical about institutions and their willingness to address themselves to reform. I am not cynical when it comes to individuals and people. And I think the reason The Wire is watchable, even tolerable, to viewers is that it has great affection for individuals. It’s not misanthropic in any way. It has great affection for those people, particularly when they stand up on their hind legs and say, “I will not lie anymore. I am actually going to fight for what I perceive to be some shard of truth.”"

davidsimon billmoyers toread interviews thewire tv television politics drugs cities baltimore 2011 government policy society economics journalism statistics progress crime lawenforcement criminology urban urbanism laissezfaire markets marketfundamentalism decriminalization underclass class race incarceration institutions cynicism reform change individualism people human humancondition humans democracy control corruption mexico us ideology from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Lessons from California: The perils of extreme democracy | The Economist

"California cannot pass timely budgets even in good years, which is one reason why its credit rating has, in one generation, fallen from one of the best to absolute worst among 50 states. How can a place which has so much going for it…be so poorly governed? 
 
It is tempting to accuse those doing the governing. The legislators, hyperpartisan & usually deadlocked, are a pretty rum bunch. The governor, Jerry Brown, who also led the state between 1975 & 1983, has (like his predecessors) struggled to make the executive branch work. But as our special report this week argues, the main culprit has been direct democracy: recalls, in which Californians fire elected officials in mid-term; referendums, in which they can reject acts of their legislature; and especially initiatives, in which the voters write their own rules. Since 1978, when Proposition 13 lowered property-tax rates, hundreds of initiatives have been approved on subjects from education to the regulation of chicken coops."

california 2011 directdemocracy democracy government initiatives proposition13 jerrybrown handstied deadlock referendums taxes budget creditrating education policy politics 1978 propertytax money switzerland classideas representativedemocracy from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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A Tax Day Celebration: Taxes Pay For Necessary Government Services And Make Capitalism Workable. | The New Republic

"The Nordic countries are far more homogenous than the U.S. and it’s an open question whether a society as diverse and unequal as ours would support such a high tax burden. (This is one of the points Douthat makes in his column.) But even if we do absolutely nothing but let current law stand--in other words, if we let the Bush tax cuts expire, allow the alternative minimum tax to remain in place, allow scheduled reductions in physician fees to take effect, and limit the control of health care costs only to the official projections for the Affordable Care Act--it seems likely that our tax burden would still not exceed what the Nordic countries face today, at least not for another 50 years.*"

taxes us policy medicine healthcare scandinavia comparison 2011 education spending austerity austeritymeasures busherataxcuts government nordiccountries society via:cburell from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Education reform: Seeing like a superintendent | The Economist

"What goes on in a classroom is a social phenomenon that can't be effectively captured through standardised measurements. But they need a number. So they're creating standardised measurements to get one. But immediately, the application of the measurement and its incentives changes the way the phenomenon is organised. A complex, creative process is stripped down to a mechanical one designed to produce high test scores. The old-growth forest is replaced with rows of Norway spruce." Ms Goldstein writes: "In the social sciences, there is an oft-repeated aphorism called Campbell's Law, named after Donald Campbell, the psychologist who pioneered the study of human creativity: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." In short, incentives corrupt…"

education reform via:preoccupations standardizedtesting valueadded teaching tcsnmy learning 2011 corruption standardization policy politics decisionmaking government us publicschools unschooling deschooling metrics measurement campbellslaw quantitativetesting improvement finland southkorea korea peerreview masterteachers planning lessonplans from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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BBC News - Five Minutes With: Alain de Botton

"I was a disturbed child, an adolescent, and I think that's where my interest in ideas comes from. I think that people become intellectual because of disturbance. My goal, raising my own children, is that they will never read a book or at least not be that dramatically inclined towards writing and reading. 
 
I think that reading and writing is a response to anxiety, often having a basis in childhood. I hope to at least quench some of that need in my children… 
 
The point of reading is to help you to live. It's not to pass an exam. It's not to sound clever. It's to get something out of it that you can use… 
 
We should be reading to help ourselves and help our societies. I don't believe in knowledge that is abstract and simply made to impress. I believe in knowledge that can be practical and that can bring us, in the broadest sense, happiness."

alaindebotton philosophy ideas thinking action 2010 parenting paternalism government life art bbc dialogue debate conversation reading writing anxiety tests testing adolescence intellectualism living from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair [via: http://scudmissile.tumblr.com/post/4314478188/of-all-the-costs-imposed-on-our-society-by-the-top]

"Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1% of the people take nearly a quarter of nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret." 
 
"Of all the costs imposed on our society by top 1%, perhaps the greatest is this: the erosion of our sense of identity, in which fair play, equality of opportunity, & a sense of community are so important. America has long prided itself on being a fair society, where everyone has an equal chance of getting ahead, but statistics suggest otherwise: the chances of a poor citizen, or even middle-class citizen, making it to the top in America are smaller than in many countries of Europe. The cards are stacked against them. It is this sense of an unjust system w/out opportunity that has given rise to conflagrations in Middle East: rising food prices and growing and persistent youth unemployment simply served as kindling."

inequality politics economics government wealth josephstiglitz 2011 society insecurity revolution rebellion instabiity us protests wealthdistribution from delicious
april 2011 by robertogreco

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LRB · Perry Anderson · Lula’s Brazil

"Contrary to a well-known English dictum, stoical if self-exonerating, all political lives do not end in failure. In postwar Europe, it is enough to think of Adenauer or De Gasperi, or perhaps even more impressively, Franco. But it is true that, in democratic conditions, to be more popular at the close than at the outset of a prolonged period in office is rare. Rarer still – indeed, virtually unheard of – is for such popularity to reflect, not appeasement or moderation, but a radicalisation in government. Today, there is only one ruler in the world who can claim this achievement, the former worker who in January stepped down as president of Brazil, enjoying the approval of 80 per cent of its citizens. By any criterion, Luiz Inácio da Silva is the most successful politician of his time."

brasil politics brazil lula democracy policy slavery history class society inequality approval latinamerica hierarchy poor wealth socialempowerment empowerment 2011 disorder government personality
march 2011 by robertogreco

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LADOT Bike Blog

"ADOT Bike Blog is run by an assistant coordinator for the LADOT Bike Program named Christopher Kidd. He is a graduate student at USC, currently pursuing a masters degree in Urban Planning. He is in the office on Mondays and Fridays only, though content is published throughout the week. Christopher goes by the handle “ladotbikeblog”. He is assisted by interns Derek Levoit (ladotbikeinternI) and JoJo Pewsawang (sbpewsaw). Bike Coordinator Nate Baird also contributes to the blog under the handle “bicyclingnate”. 
LADOT Bike Blog’s purpose is to give you, the reader, a closer look into the operations, motivations, rationale, and people of the LADOT Bike Program. We also hope to open and maintain dialogue with the bicycle community over how to make LA a great place to ride a bike. 
Los Angeles is a great place to bike. It has a rich and vibrant bicycle culture, both outside and online. We hope to add to that."

bikes biking losangeles ladot blogs government urban from delicious
march 2011 by robertogreco

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Prescribed pain by corporate America - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

"This industry is one of the most profitable in the country making about 18 cents profit on every dollar of sales; it is aided by government using our tax dollars to fund about one third of all research on new drugs the industry gets at no charge; the industry spends about twice as much on advertising, promotion and administrative costs as they do on R & D to develop new drugs; the prices charged for prescription drugs in the US are inordinately high compared to the rest of the world and are rising at about four times the rate of inflation; these rising costs plus those for most all health services are rising so fast, companies are forcing their employees to pay a greater share of them or are reducing overall health care benefits. 
 
Ever feel like you are the bank and they are Dillinger? If not, you probably should."

government copyright regulation pharmaceuticals bigpharma markets health us policy politics influence drugs 2011 corporations corporatism from delicious
march 2011 by robertogreco

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Randy Turner: The Failure of American Teachers

"And that brings me to the sole reason I have changed my mind about the competence of American public schoolteachers -- if we were doing our job, somewhere along the line we would have taught the politicians who are systematically destroying public education, the greatest of all American experiments, something about decency, respect, and developing the mortal fortitude to resist the siren song of the special interests who are well on their way to making the U. S. into a world of haves and have-nots, where public education will serve to provide low paid feeder stock for non-union companies and taxpayer-financed private schools will continue to cater to the elite, with the middle class existing only in history books. 
 
Public schoolteachers have failed miserably by producing the most incompetent, mean-spirited legislators in U.S. history."

politics education teachers edreform failureofteachers teaching schools publicschools democracy learning 2011 policy government randyturner from delicious
march 2011 by robertogreco

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YouTube - The Story of Citizens United v. FEC (2011)

"The Story of Citizens United v. FEC, an exploration of the inordinate power that corporations exercise in our democracy."

politics speech democracy us corporations corporatism 2011 storyofstuff government change corruption power influence from delicious
march 2011 by robertogreco

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Panel Discussion : Parallel Urbanism : local people regulating local spaces | Designwala

"Major decisions that affect design and planning of cities are made by urban planners, politicians, policy makers, real estate owners and the government. The local people who inhabit the city usually don’t have much say in how their city is being planned, designed or restructured. These design decisions may include planning out services like healthcare, education, transportation and other urban infrastructure for the city dwellers. The panel hopes to explore the middle ground between local people and decision makers. How can the decision makers tap into the grassroots level community activism to come up with better decisions regarding urban living? On the other hand how do the local people get access to the decision makers to get their voices heard with regard to the city? These are some of the questions we hope to answer through this panel."

urbanism local citizenurbanism citizenregulation urban cities activism community communities decisionmaking grassroots infrastructure healthcare education transportation planning urbanplanning politics policy government accessibility open via:adamgreenfield from delicious
march 2011 by robertogreco

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How to Build a Progressive Tea Party | The Nation

"American citizens should ask themselves: I work hard and pay my taxes, so why don’t the richest people and the corporations? Why should I pick up the entire tab for keeping the nation running? Why should the people who can afford the most pay the least? If you’re happy with that situation, you can stay at home and leave the protesting to the Tea Party. For the rest, there’s an alternative. For too long, progressive Americans have been lulled into inactivity by Obama’s soaring promises, which come to little. As writer Rebecca Solnit says, “Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky…. Hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency.” UK Uncut has just shown Americans how to express real hope—and build a left-wing Tea Party." 
 
[Related: http://www.thenation.com/article/158280/ten-step-guide-launching-us-uncut ]

politics policy us uk teaparty ukuncut usuncut uncut taxes activism progressive government tarp bailout deficit 2011 johannhari grassroots protest finance wealth incomegap disparity inequality corporations corporatism from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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The Tipping Point | Coffee Party

"Years from now, we will think of February 2011 as the tipping point in America’s great awakening. After all the warnings and wake-up calls, this be will remembered as the time when the American people decided to come together, confront the plutocracy that plagues our republic, and do something to change the economic inequality / instability that has grown from it. There is a tide. If you don't yet feel it, here are Ten Wake Up Calls that we predict will help define February 2011 in America. The more people who get involved, the more meaningful it will be. So, please share this page with others who may still need a reason to wake up and stand up." 
 
1 Egypt; 2 Bob Herbert's Challenge To America; 3 The Protest & the Prank Call in Wisconsin; 4 Johann Hari's article in The Nation; 5 It's the Inequality, Stupid; 6 The Great American Rip-off; 7 BP makes US sick; 8 House of Representatives run amok; 9 The Stiglitz Deficit-reduction Plan; 10 Tax Week, April 11 to 17, 2011."

2011 tippingpoint us politics policy plutocracy change gamechanging egypt bobherbert matttaibbi bp corporations corporatism capitalism corruption campaignfinance josephstiglitz johannhari inequality disparity incomegap taxes crisis banking finance government bailouts foreclosures unions unionbusting wisconsin deficits deficitreduction teaparty coffeeparty kochbrothers havesandhavenots money wealth influence power from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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Humans Are The Routers

"Free communications is an essential human right. The 21st Century will be defined by the idea that no Government, no power shall ever block or filter the right of all men and women to communicate together again. It is my dream that within my lifetime that dictatorship shall be banished from this planet and unfiltered and true democracy shall flourish everywhere. It is time that our Faustian bargains with brutal dictators for short-term concerns end and a new covenant directly made with citizens everywhere seeking freedom will take its place. OpenMesh is a first step to help create a world where such a covenant can take hold in a world where brave people armed with new electronic tools can never be blocked or silenced ever again."

technology internet politics social networking mesh openmesh connectivity humanrights access government communication web online networks openmeshproject routers wireless wifi from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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'I won't pay' movement spreads across Greece - Business - World business - msnbc.com

"In light of austerity measures, citizens ignore tolls, transit ticket costs, even bills for healthcare"

greece politics government money taxes protest austeritymeasures 2011 from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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Robert Reich (The Republican Shakedown)

'You can’t fight something with nothing. But as long as Democrats refuse to talk about the almost unprecedented buildup of income, wealth, and power at the top – and the refusal of the super-rich to pay their fair share of the nation’s bills – Republicans will convince people it’s all about government and unions.'

politics economics us money policy axes wealth rich robertreich 2011 republicans democrats government unions disparity incomegap wealthdistribution from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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It's the Inequality, Stupid | Mother Jones

"Eight charts that explain everything that's wrong with America."

politics economics government society infographics wealth income us classideas plutocracy corruption inequality disparity incomegap incomes unemployment taxes taxation from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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World's Smallest Political Quiz

Uses Nolan Chart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart

politics government quiz libertarian classideas politicalcompass nolanchart from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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Emma Goldman - Wikipedia

"Goldman's anarchism was intensely personal. She believed it was necessary for anarchist thinkers to live their beliefs, demonstrating their convictions with every action and word. "I don't care if a man's theory for tomorrow is correct," she once wrote. "I care if his spirit of today is correct." Anarchism and free association were to her logical responses to the confines of government control and capitalism. "It seems to me that these are the new forms of life," she wrote, "and that they will take the place of the old, not by preaching or voting, but by living them." 
 
At the same time, she believed that the movement on behalf of human liberty must be staffed by liberated humans."

emmagoldman modeling anarchism activism politics history feminism anarchy liberty freedom freeassociation belief practice government capitalism atheism motherearth philosophy from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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Anarchism and Other Essays: Anarchism: What It Really Stands For

"A practical scheme, says Oscar Wilde, is either one already in existence, or a scheme that could be carried out under the existing conditions; but it is exactly the existing conditions that one objects to, and any scheme that could accept these conditions is wrong and foolish." 
 
"Destruction and violence! How is the ordinary man to know that the most violent element in society is ignorance; that its power of destruction is the very thing Anarchism is combating?" 
"Someone has said that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think." 
"Anarchism urges man to think, to investigate, to analyze every proposition; but that the brain capacity of the average reader be not taxed too much, I also shall begin with a definition, and then elaborate on the latter. 
ANARCHISM:--The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary."

politics philosophy anarchism anarchy emmagoldman definitions ignorance pragmatism liberty freedom government from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco

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