Plutocracy

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Friday attacked Pope Francis as a “Marxist” for urging governments to redistribute wealth to the poor. “The pope, ladies and gentleman, is back, saying — demanding — a legitimate redistribution of wealth…

Economy

Rep. Paul Ryan targets Poor as his “Signature Issue”, and I do Mean Targets (Cartoon)

Juan Cole

By Paul Jamiol, from Jamiol’s World

Economy

This Land is their Land, it isn’t Your Land: Growing inequality in a Declining Empire

Juan Cole

(By Peter van Buren via Tomdispatch.com) As America’s new economy starts to look more like the old economy of the Great Depression, the divide between rich and poor, those who have made it and those who never will, seems to grow ever starker. I know. I’ve seen it firsthand. Once upon a time, I worked […]

Economy

Can America’s descent into Plutocracy (Rule-by-the-Rich) be Reversed?

Juan Cole

Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig, the crusader for campaign finance reform, feels that his fellow reformers don’t think big or boldly enough to inspire the kind of grassroots campaign that might break elite donors’ stranglehold on America’s political…

Environment

This Saudi prince is accused of killing 2,000 endangered birds while on safari in Pakistan

Juan Cole

Jeez. Happy Earth Day. A Saudi prince has been accused of killing 2,000 endangered birds during a safari in Pakistan earlier this year. More from GlobalPost: These cities are among the greenest in the world The birds, known as houbara bustards, are…

Economy

Government = Protection Racket for the 1 Percent

Juan Cole

The evidence of income inequality just keeps mounting. According to “Working for the Few,” a recent briefing paper from Oxfam, “In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom…

Economy

High Inequality Results in More US Deaths than Tobacco, Car Crashes and Guns Combined

Juan Cole

In 2009, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a study that revealed what seems to be a shocking truth: those who live in societies with a higher level of income inequality are at a greater risk for premature death. Here in the United States,…

Dissent

The New 1% isn’t just the Rich, it is the Spoiled Oligarch Heirs (Krugman)

Juan Cole

Bill Moyers interviews Paul Krugman Blurb: ” Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, a 42-year-old who teaches at the Paris School of Economics, shows that two-thirds of America’s increase in income inequality over the past four decades is the result of steep raises given to the country’s highest earners. This week, Bill talks […]

Economy

9 Maps that Show How The GOP is Destroying Southern States

Juan Cole

Whenever we need a perfect example of Americans who have no clue what is in their best interest, we need only look to the south. Yes, there are some great people there–and no, not everyone is ignorant. However, red state voters regularly eschew logic…