Parchment in the Fire: Credibility of the Ruling Elite is Being Shredded – Chris Hedges on Reality Asserts Itself

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11012 ‘And what happens in moments of breakdown is that people not only turn against an ineffectual liberal elite that is not able–that in essence–that has presided over political and economic paralysis, or certainly political paralysis, but they also jettison the values that elite purports to defend. And that’s what’s

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Parchment in the Fire: Crash! A brief history of modern global capitalism – audio slideshow | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Crash! A brief history of modern global capitalism – audio slideshow | Comment is free | theguardian.com. An amazing slideshow of a century of capitalist development and economic crisis narrated by one of my former professors, Leo Panitch, author of The Making of Global Capitalism. Filed under: Capitalism Tagged: Austerity, Capitalism,

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Parchment in the Fire: Debt and Deficit as Shock Therapy » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Debt and Deficit as Shock Therapy » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. When Naomi Klein published her ground-breaking book The Shock Doctrine (2007), which compellingly demonstrated how neoliberal policy makers take advantage of overwhelming crisis times to privatize public property and carry out austerity programs, most economists and media pundits

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Parchment in the Fire: Rather than savage cuts, Switzerland considers “Star Trek” economics – Salon.com

Rather than savage cuts, Switzerland considers “Star Trek” economics – Salon.com. By gathering over 100,000 signatures – which they delivered last Friday along with 8 million 5-cent coins representing the country’s population – activists have secured a vote by Switzerland’s parliament on an audacious proposal: providing a basic monthly income

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Parchment in the Fire: Austerity pushing Europe into social and economic decline, says Red Cross | World news | The Guardian

Austerity pushing Europe into social and economic decline, says Red Cross | World news | The Guardian. Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, greater inequality, and collective despair as a result of austerity policies adopted in response to the debt and currency

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Parchment in the Fire: Greece’s democracy in danger, warns Demos, as Greek reservists call for coup | World news | theguardian.com

Athens riot police fire tear gas at an anti-fascist protest calling for action against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party following a rapper’s murder. Photo: Milos Bicanski/Getty No country has displayed more of a “backslide in democracy” than Greece, the British thinktank Demos has said in a study highlighting the crisis-plagued

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RedBedHead: Is The SWP A Dead Duck: Part 1

I’ve come across more than a few obituaries for the SWP in the last week or so, particularly since a number of people split from the party and are now forming the IS Network. This article on the Left Unity website, for instance, starts with the following statement:

“The SWP – one of the most successful organising forces on the British left over the last few decades – is close to death…”

But

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