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I could be Bernie Sanders older brother by similarity. I was born in Manhattan, 1940, he, about a year later, in Brooklyn. I too am a white male American. A retired college professor of philosophy. We both were born of Jewish parents. I was in Harlem CORE, He in Chicago CORE. We both went to the University of Chicago; me 58 - 62, he 60 - 64 (I think.) And yet, I don't recall meeting him! U. of Chicago had plenty of progressive activists despite being a bastion of Milton Friedman. He went into politics in Vermont in '68 (?) and I settled that year into a college professorship in northwestern Pennsylvania.
I've been a long-time minor activist in the civil rights, anti-war, pro feminism movements and taught critical thinking and social philosophy. I've been a unionist, on the Board of Directors of a food co-op, an ACLU chapter president, a CASA, and an elected Green Party Borough Councilman in my small hometown. I'm happily married, for over 50 years, to a woman significantly responsible for my modest success in life. We have two great kids and one grandchild, for whom we hope there is a decent future! Recently I've been pushing Modern Monetary Theory.
Politically in 60 years I've been everything from a Libertarian in extreme youth, through socialist but now at last I just call myself a Utilitarian and Pragmatist. It avoids useless rhetorical arguments.
(6 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 4, 2016 A Progressive's Indictment of the Democratic Party
A 10 - item list is given of harms to large numbers of Americans which either Democrats actively participated in or failed to prevent when they could have prevented them. It is concluded that both major parties are thoroughly corrupted and, although one should vote, both parties activities should otherwise be boycotted, even spurned.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 22, 2017 Jumpstart America
A proposal for a left-progressive platform for Democrats that could fund employment and infrastructure through Congressional creation of money.
SHARE Saturday, November 24, 2018 The Gordian Knot: Immigration, Climate Change & Automation
No modern-day Alexander can conquer the know world. In fact, the world is striking back at being poisoned. The Gordian Knot might still be loosened starting with adoption of Modern Monetary Theory in budgeting in the U.S. If insecurity of the masses could be lessened by guaranteed income, the U.S. might move toward social democracy and lighten up on the people of the world and the planet itself!
(5 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 24, 2012 The Biggest Outrage: Bank "Persons" Preferred Over American Citizens
From Unequal Protection to Scandalously Preferential Treatment. Biggest behind - the -scenes rescue of "too big to fail" banks, rescued by Federal Reserve with $16.1 TRILLION in low interest loans.
SHARE Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Will Bigotry Sabotage Republicans in the Election of 2012?
The election of 2012 will be the most religion imbued one in recent history. The nature of religion is defined and some history of sectarian conflict is brought to bear to consider whether sectarianism is likely to harm Republican election efforts.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 19, 2015 Gun Lethality Deposit: A "Pop Bottle" Remedy?
Can a dent be made in the ever - increasing number of guns in private heands in America? Could a sizeable deposit for return when no longer wanted, or if found not in proper custody, help get loose guns collected?
SHARE Wednesday, June 24, 2020 GOP's Embrace of Austerity Worsened the COVID Crisis
Here is an explanation of the background in Republican philosophy of AUSTERITY from Reagan through Trump and how it hurts and can even kill (rather "let die") all sorts of Americans. Modern Monetary Theory is needed to eradicate this evil.
(10 comments) SHARE Friday, May 12, 2017 The Usurper versus Direct Democracy
The People are wiser than the Prince! Let Democrats be democratic! Push for a Constitutional amendment that would guarantee that the winner of the popular vote would be the next president.
(4 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 17, 2021 Trumpism as a Destructive Cult
Posing an alternative philosophy to Trumpism and Deficit Hawkery to build back better.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 16, 2022 Create InternetWarn Like Skywarn
Internet, once a paradise of free truth, is now so poisoned with marketing propaganda that a Fake News Machine makes it as dangerous as the sky. Read papers on TREND micro on internet "influences."
(3 comments) SHARE Saturday, April 25, 2015 Start an All-American Anti-Corruption Party
Political Proposal to start real change with the issue of anti-corruption by forming a broad - based, anti-partisan political campaign that will draw voters away from the thoroughly corrupted major parties.
SHARE Monday, March 16, 2020 Nature Deserves Respect
The disrespect for nature and consequent unpreparedness shows up now when Trumpublicans call climate change a "hoax."
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Mammon on Verge of Total Victory
Democrats need a new theory of money and financing for support of election promises to restore general-welfare programs like Social Security. Such a theory is Modern Monetary Theory. It is associated with the Sanders Institute and destroys Republican "Money is Scarce" rhetoric! Without it, Democrats are still just Neoliberals!
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 24, 2011 Questioning Fiscal Conservatives Talking Points -I
Letter-to-Editor brief (250 word) replies to fiscal conservative (fiscons) economic propaganda talking points. Available for readers to use in replying to fiscons over - simplifications and Big Lie Exaggerations in local newspapers.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, September 29, 2012 Uncle Sam and Brer Rufus
A way to attack the conservative's argument that the size of the National Debt should require austerity cuts in Social Security, etc.
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, March 23, 2009 Stimulate Without Debt, Bankrupt the Banksters!
How to stimulate the economy without encumbering taxpayer debt. Bank credit creation, monetizing the national debt, "credit," money, greenbacks, inflation, over productivity, capacity utilzation, unemployment, redistribution, 40/30 plan, ecological economics, sustainable living wages.
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(2 comments) SHARE Monday, December 27, 2021 Force Constitutional Amendment to Guide Policy by Authoritative Science
Our American product mix reveals severe maladaptation to a climate changing world with deadly virological plagues. We are far behind where a scientifically oriented nation would be in dealing with these matters. We must overcome the corporate juntas like the Hydrocarbon Junta
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, February 24, 2017 Reform the Democratic Party: Push Policy, instead of Purging People
This paper proposes that progressives, instead of calling for purges of Democratic party leaders, should push for explicit adoption by the Democrats of certain policy goals and the taking of strong legislative action to force these goals' adoption.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 24, 2016 Where's Our Damned Bailout?
Following up the Great Recession we see, as economist Jack Rasmus put it in his book title, "Obama's Economy, Recovery for the Few" that about 165 million Americans remain severely financially impaired. A way of remedying that is described, using debt - free greenbacks.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 26, 2016 Boycott Vote for Peace Push
An urgent call for progressives to thrust the issue of Middle East Peace back into the campaign 2016 before the election.
(7 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 16, 2020 Protect Elementary-School Kids
A proposal for opening schools more safely for our youngest kids is offered.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 14, 2021 The Real Smoking Gun
A proposal for a quicker and more serious thrust tward ending Trump's chances of having any chance of affecting the upcoming elections.
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(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, November 15, 2016 Whither Now, Progressive Advocates?
I offer some suggestions for progressive advocacy following the 2016 election, particularly for a suitably Napoleonic new president.
SHARE Wednesday, July 27, 2022 Create Internet Warn on Model of Skywarn
Start a mass volunteer organization to at first get warnings to local people of mass shooters for reduction of mass shooting murders.
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SHARE Saturday, August 7, 2021 The Riot Act
I have an 8-year-old grandson in a Florida school. Kids should not be mandated to go to school until masked and then vaccinated!
We should be one, 1, nation, not a half nation and a confederacy of dunces!
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, April 30, 2018 A Call to Preach the Gospel of Modern Monetary Theory
This paper presents two, for me, litmus tests for Democratic candidates for the elections of 2018 and 2020 to stimulate movement by progressives to give the Democrats an explicit leading campaign ideas, SOCIAL MODERN MONETARY THEORY. This could, I hope, provide a better basis for campaigning than another collection of tokenistic"neoliberal" programs.
SHARE Thursday, June 19, 2008 Boosting Organ Donation
An article on how to increase organ donation with information on legality and new organizations to help like Lifesharers and Medcure.
(13 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 9, 2016 For a Greenback Restoration
AN argument for use of government money, greenbacks, to be created, not taxed out of people's earned income. This money to be used to restore middle income and poor Americans to roughly where they were before the Crash of 2009. A Presidential LEADER, alone, might be able to start it. By putting the money into public works employment programs it would restore many and trickle up to local and state governments.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, April 28, 2019 U.S Austerity Must Go!
This article is an attack on austerity and financial repression. These are the economic source of the endless threats of Republicans to cut Social Security, etc the theory has proven to not work and to cause a lot of conflict and unhappiness among Americans
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 4, 2021 Covid, War and Anti-vaxers
Analogy of COVID Pandemic to war. Reasons to get the vaccination.
(9 comments) SHARE Friday, February 17, 2012 Shared Economic Theology Causes Stagnation, Suffering
Federal Reserve gave vastly greater aid to corporate "persons" than losses to human persons. ($16 trillion vs. less than $1 trillion.)Both parties share an economic dogma that leaves government and business stalemated over who should provide the jobs. Vast new government job-creating stimulus needed. See "19 Million Jobs for U.S. workers" online.
SHARE Sunday, January 16, 2022 Justification for Guiding National Policy by Peer Reviewed, Humane Science
This 500 word explanation tellls why Americans should sign a petition at Change.org calling for a large reorientation of our federal government's policies and budgeting priorities away from glob al wars against other major powers and for protection of individual Americans against dangers macro and micro. It recognizes that we are powerless to force our oligarchy to break gridlock and act.
SHARE Monday, March 7, 2011 Beck's BS Book "Broke"
Beck's BS Book "Broke," A Partisan Polemical Refudiatin' Review
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 7, 2016 How to Win Peace in the Middle East
The Middle East has become our new Vietnam. Voters can limit it by a mass outcry to both parties to limit their presidential candidates against funding any more regime change to "democratize" Muslim lands. Election of a first Jewish American progressive president (Sanders) could help!
(4 comments) SHARE Saturday, November 1, 2008 Untying the Gordian Knot
How One part of the Financial Tangle Might be Untied
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, May 11, 2012 Unite for Transitional Goals: Conservative Progressivism
It is proposed that activists of left and right "extremes" can and should work together more on educating voters on just two, limited, transitional goals rather than on Presidential campaign.
SHARE Thursday, October 15, 2015 Firearms Harm Reduction
Two modest suggestions to reduce harm from firearms misuse.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 27, 2016 Beyond Bernie
Assuming that the truth and justice in Sanders campaign will be beaten by the wealth behind Hillery the Sly, what next for all who want government to do some good?
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, January 26, 2015 Re-institute Disengagement Policy in Middle East
"Disengagement" is the name of a policy successfully practiced by the U.S. during the cold war. This short op-ed is an attempt to inject the idea of disengagement back into discussion of what the U.S. should do in the Middle East. Talk it up!
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 7, 2019 Argument for Impeachment Now
Dem House leadership should start NOW, to introduce impeachment resolution in the House.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, March 18, 2013 Peterson, et. al.: Pay Up or Shut Up!
The debt fixers have had the chance for 51 years to pay down any share of the debt directly to the Treasury. In all 51 years only $85 million has been contributed. Where are the big contributions by billionaires and millionaires who benefited from infrastructure and protection in wealth-making from all these expenditures?
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, September 3, 2012 USA, Inc.? Voter, Forbid!
A polite argument is made to conservative voters, to compare the goals and plans of Romney and Ryan to the First Principles of our country as constituted (expressed in the Preamble to the Constitution.) R & R's goals may be OK for a private profit making business, but don't comport with the goals of a national government "for the People." Also that they expose all non rich people to vastly greater risk over a long lifetime.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, April 12, 2010 American Ideals and Full Employment
This is a hopefully useful "deduction," from ideals in our Declaration and Constitution, of the need for shared work programs as a principal basis of a guaranteed annual security income.
SHARE Thursday, March 17, 2016 The "Lighten Up!" Presidential Campaign Platform
I present a two - plank platform to run upon for the Presidency: 1) how to obtain unthreatened basic income security for all through greenbacks, and 2) how to stop our murderous meddling in the Middle East (DISENGAGEMENT.)
SHARE Thursday, December 11, 2008 Mobilizing on Bailouts,and Stamocap
An article characterizing bailouts in terms of class war, state monopoly capitalism and suggesting a mobilization target for progressives at this time.
(6 comments) SHARE Saturday, June 21, 2008 Dear Conservative:
An Open Letter to Conservatives about pride, anger, religion and politics
SHARE Saturday, February 2, 2013 Dear Charitable Billionaires:
An Open Letter to Charitable Billionaires: Educate our Politicians and Media about creating Greenbacks (government money created without debt)and using them for stimulus.
SHARE Friday, August 8, 2008 Against Afghan War
An Argument against sending more troops to Afghanistan.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, December 16, 2007 Avoiding Endless Occupation
A compromise course is proposed for Iraq that would reduce casualties and maybe expense while "satisficing" all conflicting power interests there.
SHARE Sunday, January 3, 2010 Doggerel Chants for a New Decade
Some chants for demonstrations and hopefully just a little fun reading. Also a book recommendation.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, July 11, 2008 Voting for Revenge
Why voting for revenge won't work. What might shake up the system.
SHARE Saturday, September 15, 2007 An Alternative for Iraq
Presentation of Alternative Plan to Reduce Casualties and Expense in Iraq and Prevent a Wider Middle East War