Or, Public Policy 101: Tax “Bads”, Not Goods Public policy, or government policy, should reflect certain basic principles. Let’s set out a few. Not everyone will agree, but polls repeatedly show the great majority, from the moderate grassroots right, across to the left, in general agree, and in general strongly
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: Why The Left Is Once Again Wrong
Also happening now, and further showing the continued failure of the left: the left is shouting in defence of payroll taxes – which kill jobs, as they are a tax on hiring and employment, as well as a regressive tax that hurts small and medium business the hardest. The
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Waiting For The Crazed Clown Show To End – Or, Welcome To The Brave New World
I don’t know when I will be able to go to the gym or library again, or a park, or my favourite local bookstore or record store – or whether they will still be in business when this is over, if it does indeed end; or when I will be
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Faith, Hope & Love, During Difficult Times
Now is a time for faith. Or if you prefer, and perhaps more important yet: for perseverance, for patience, for forbearance, for resolve, for courage, for confidence, for sheer determination, for resiliency, or sisu (that beautiful Finnish word), or chutzpah – and for a long term perspective, as
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Faux Left, and, The Urgent Need To Unite The People
What’s called “the left” is really a few camps, very narrow in range: There are neoliberals such as Hilary Clinton, Obama, Biden, and the Democratic party establishment, who are (like Tony Blair and new Labour in B, and the Liberal party of Canada) in reality extreme right – they are
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Further Studies In Philosophy
A few thoughts aloud (Reading Toulmin and Montaigne this morning sparked some exciting musings and thoughts!) Serious studies of philosophy…ahhh, that makes me so happy. That makes me smile, and chuckle with joy. Now, the really big show, which I want to do formally one day (having eschewed formalities,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Modernism, Post-Modernism, Skepticism, and Sanity
Reading Toulmin’s brilliant history of modernity and the past four centuries (Cosmopolis), it becomes clear at page 190, in his conclusion, he has not been heading for the kind of middle way balance I had been hoping he was getting to, but instead, arrives back at ancient Skepticism. His
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Meditations For Difficult Times
What do you do when the world has gone insane? Well, you stay calm, and keep working for justice, peace, democracy, ecological balance, and freedom. You also have to stay well. That does not mean unthinkingly obeying irrational fascist orders. It does mean managing stress, eating well, getting exercise,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Central Issue: Oligarchy vs Democracy
The central issue, now as always, is not about wealth, or distribution of wealth. It’s not about bread and butter issues. It’s not about taxes or spending, budgets or allocations, or who gets what and how much. It’s about power. The oligarchs know that. The elite know that very well.
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Hurray For the Daft! (That’s Us)
* (My apologies for the strange formatting again – WordPress gets glitchy on me and refuses paragraph spacing, forcing me to use awkward-looking stars. Bear with me.) * The left is loudly proclaiming, amidst the coronavirus (largely manufactured disaster capitalism) disaster: bail-outs for the people not the corporate elite, health
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus (COVID-19): The Central Facts
This was the letter I just sent to a friend who, to his credit, was very calm and respectful as he stated that he felt I was misunderstanding the current “pandemic”. I think it is worth sharing. With warmth and much respect, my friend, I must say this: Read my
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: “It Depends Who You Talk To” – Relativism, Nihilism & Mass Insanity
Let’s get some things out of the way, right from the start. Our society is insane. Fromm was right, and there is no doubt about it. Illusions, delusion, lies and half-truths, distortions of the truth, avoidance of reality, denial, psychological numbness, narcissism and disociation are all epidemic. That is in
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Propaganda Lessons From History: A Very Short Review – 9/11 to the Coronavirus
Generally I post only essays I have written myself, on my blog. There have been a few exceptions for films, videos or articles that I feel are of exceptional importance – such as Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine, which we should all watch and read again, and which explains perfectly
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Chomsky On The Coronavirus: Perspective Is Urgently Needed
Chomsky clarifies the situation with the coronavirus, saying: it’s serious enough, but it represents not even a fraction of the biggest dangers we are facing, which are nuclear war, global warming, and the rising plague of neoliberal fascism. (Exactly what I have been saying since January, and before.) He began
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus: Hype Confirmed, Fascism Confirmed
Here we go. As I have said since January, the draconian, authoritarian, and quite literally fascist response to, or use of, the coronavirus, is far more dangerous than the virus itself. That is being further confirmed every day. Regardless of how you view the level of real danger posed by
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Sanders & The Terror Of Socialism, vs The Real Dangers
A note to those on the right: Universal public health care is considered a basic human right in Canada, the UK, Europe, and every civilized country. It aslo happens to cost less than the private profit-driven US system – a lot less. So let’s not be too dogmatic. The
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Revolution; and, Re-Thinking Bernie
I’ve been a big Sanders supporter, as much as I can be as a Canadian who can’t vote in the US. (Yikes… Canadians tampering in US elections! Call McCarthy!) But I’ve been re-thinking my take on Bernie. When Bernie endorsed Hilary, after Hilary, the media and the Democratic Party cheated
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Military Take-Over? No – Take Over The Military
Absolutely no to martial law. But yes to taking resources from the military industrial complex. The military cannot be allowed to take over – under any circumstances. They must, however, be repurposed – under strict civilian democratic, constitutional control. And what are we fighting? Poverty, pollution, a vampiric corporate oligarchy,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Step Number One
Stephen Toulmin’s proposal of a return to a modest Renaissance humanism sounds wonderful (as a fresh start, so to speak, and only a start) compared to dogmatic ideology-fetishizing modernism on the one hand, or the arguably even worse alternative of polysyllabic post-modernist nihilism on the other. But when the people
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Trump Says Up, You Say Down: Psyops 101
Trump is a tool of the Deep State. He thinks he’s a brave rebel, at war with the Deep State. Or so he thought until the generals schooled him. Now he obeys orders. Trump may be unpredictable and a loose cannon, but by and large, the Deep State has him
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