One thing that seems certain. It is not Obama’s Katrina, Iraq War, Mission Accomplished, My Pet Goat, or Enron. It is BP’s oil spill. But in the minds of Americans, it could quickly become Obama’s “poorly managed spill” if the current effort does not make progress soon.
Author Archives: Jake White
Well before the oil spill, BP had earned a record for being the most irresponsible big oil company. How did we let this happen?
Today, the U.S. has over 725 foreign military based in thirty-eight countries. In contrast to the $1 trillion that we are spending on “defense” each year, the U.S. spends roughly $750 billion on social spending. Much of this spending significantly benefits low-income U.S. citizens. Which of these programs would we be willing to cut? Approximately 31% of the population had at least one spell of poverty lasting two or more months during 2004-2007. Most Americans—59%—will spend at least one year below the poverty line a some point between ages 25-75. So it is something that impacts most Americans either directly or indirectly. Rather than trying to fix our deficit “crisis” by cutting benefits to the needy, we should look at what is wrong with our political and economic systems that continue to increase inequality while neglecting superfluous military spending.
Words do have consequences. A growing federal government may be a legitimate concern, but people are not being informed about the aspects of government that promote freedom and democracy, and which aspects diminish our freedoms. Those involved in politics and power grabs have become a primary source of citizen education. The outcomes are anti-government sentiment, movements based on misinformation, and sometimes with violent methods of pushing social change.
This book brings together the sum of human understanding into a coherent theory of everything. There is a great section that discusses integral politics, that is, a third way of politics that goes beyond the worn out either/or think of our partisan culture. See also this video. Purchase on Amazon »
Welcome to Speaking of Democracy! This blog will discuss the most pressing issues of our day. Our purpose is to carve out a more-factual, less-partisan, niche in the political blogging world. The intention is not to defend a particular political party, ideology, or a particular issue, but to challenge the established narratives that are spread […]