Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. Move Your Money? (Doug Henwood)Hat-tip to reader Michael E. for pointing us to the lead story in the January issue of Left Business Observer (which I hadn't gotten around to reading yet), where Doug Henwood skewers the "Move Your Money" campaign that we posted on yesterday. Our introductory note to that post expressed some mild skepticism by observing that you have to *have* some savings to participate in the campaign. And we certainly should have gone on to criticize the individualism of the campaign, the limits of PC consumerism, etc.Doug usefully points out that the strategy behind the campaign is flawed because of the fungibility and mobility of money. You can't ensure that your money will be put to good, local uses by picking a local bank; at any rate, the banks that the campaign's zip-code-based locator suggests are not necessarily good ones or insulated from big banks and global capital. I did check my zip code in humble East Boston and found East Boston Savings Bank and some credit unions—maybe Doug's Brooklyn neighborhood is tonier than mine and has not only more banks, but slimier ones. I wouldn't want to face trying to be a PC financial consumer in New York City, even if I had any money to park. Doug's crack about HuffPo is on the money, but it's even worse than he says. HuffPo thrives on the paid labor of interns, in the sense that the interns pay for the privilege of interning at HuffPo, as widely reported last spring. Anyway, here's part of Doug's take; I strongly encourage everyone to subscribe to LBO and/or purchase the January issue go get the full article: The latest populist spasm is Arianna Huffington's "Move Your Money" campaign, which would have those of us with money in large banks move it to small ones. This touches on another foundational populist fantasy: that virtue and size are inversely related. Her website, which thrives on the unpaid labor of hundreds of eager contributors, even provides a helpful list of convenient local banks if you enter your zip code. Read the whole article. Subscribe to LBO. Labels: Arianna Huffington, Doug Henwood, Huffington Post, Move Your Money Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). Not Everything Has to Make a Profit (Bill Maher)From HuffPo. My favorite quote: "If conservatives get to call universal health care 'socialized medicine,' I get to call private health care 'soulless vampires making money off human pain.' The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism, it's capitalism."New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit Bill Maher | Posted: July 23, 2009 11:56 PM How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some things we just didn't do for money. The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn't used to define us. But now it's becoming all that we are. Did you know, for example, that there was a time when being called a "war profiteer" was a bad thing? But now our war zones are dominated by private contractors and mercenaries who work for corporations. There are more private contractors in Iraq than American troops, and we pay them generous salaries to do jobs the troops used to do for themselves -- like laundry. War is not supposed to turn a profit, but our wars have become boondoggles for weapons manufacturers and connected civilian contractors. Prisons used to be a non-profit business, too. And for good reason -- who the hell wants to own a prison? By definition you're going to have trouble with the tenants. But now prisons are big business. A company called the Corrections Corporation of America is on the New York Stock Exchange, which is convenient since that's where all the real crime is happening anyway. The CCA and similar corporations actually lobby Congress for stiffer sentencing laws so they can lock more people up and make more money. That's why America has the world;s largest prison population -- because actually rehabilitating people would have a negative impact on the bottom line. Television news is another area that used to be roped off from the profit motive. When Walter Cronkite died last week, it was odd to see news anchor after news anchor talking about how much better the news coverage was back in Cronkite's day. I thought, "Gee, if only you were in a position to do something about it." But maybe they aren't. Because unlike in Cronkite's day, today's news has to make a profit like all the other divisions in a media conglomerate. That's why it wasn't surprising to see the CBS Evening News broadcast live from the Staples Center for two nights this month, just in case Michael Jackson came back to life and sold Iran nuclear weapons. In Uncle Walter's time, the news division was a loss leader. Making money was the job of The Beverly Hillbillies. And now that we have reporters moving to Alaska to hang out with the Palin family, the news is The Beverly Hillbillies. And finally, there's health care. It wasn't that long ago that when a kid broke his leg playing stickball, his parents took him to the local Catholic hospital, the nun put a thermometer in his mouth, the doctor slapped some plaster on his ankle and you were done. The bill was $1.50, plus you got to keep the thermometer. But like everything else that's good and noble in life, some Wall Street wizard decided that hospitals could be big business, so now they're run by some bean counters in a corporate plaza in Charlotte. In the U.S. today, three giant for-profit conglomerates own close to 600 hospitals and other health care facilities. They're not hospitals anymore; they're Jiffy Lubes with bedpans. America's largest hospital chain, HCA, was founded by the family of Bill Frist, who perfectly represents the Republican attitude toward health care: it's not a right, it's a racket. The more people who get sick and need medicine, the higher their profit margins. Which is why they're always pushing the Jell-O. Because medicine is now for-profit we have things like "recision," where insurance companies hire people to figure out ways to deny you coverage when you get sick, even though you've been paying into your plan for years. When did the profit motive become the only reason to do anything? When did that become the new patriotism? Ask not what you could do for your country, ask what's in it for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. If conservatives get to call universal health care "socialized medicine," I get to call private health care "soulless vampires making money off human pain." The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism, it's capitalism. And if medicine is for profit, and war, and the news, and the penal system, my question is: what's wrong with firemen? Why don't they charge? They must be commies. Oh my God! That explains the red trucks! Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher airs live tonight at 10pm Read the original article. Labels: Bill Maher, capitalism, health care, Huffington Post, privatization Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). If You Could Use a Laugh About Now...From today's Independent. It has nothing to do with economics or the crisis. Consider it D&S's personal tribute to you for enduring another obnoxious and extra-long American presidential campaign. A quick word of introduction, though: back in 2000, a Canadian comedian--I wonder if it's the same one who appears in this story--managed to get into a Bush press conference passing as a journalist, and asked the candidate whether or not he was aware that "Prime Minister Poutine" of Canada (our largest trading partner) had given Mr. Bush his warm endorsement in his bid for the Michigan primary victory, and, for the presidency. Bush said something to the effect that he had always been an admirer of Prime Minister Poutine, who, after all, was a great believer in free trade. Needless to say, there never was a PM Poutine; Jean Chretien was the actual premier, and "poutine" in French Canada refers to a kind of cheese dip. Oh-I did cross-check this, and found it on Huffington Post, as well. Plus ca change...Palin falls for 'Sarkozy' prank call By Wesley Johnson, PA Sunday, 2 November 2008 Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call from a Canadian comedian who posed as French president Nicolas Sarkozy and told her she would make a good US leader one day. In the six-minute call, which will air on a Quebec radio station on the eve of the US presidential election, the governor of Alaska misses several hints that the conversation, in which the comedian uses an exaggerated French accent, is a joke. The McCain-Palin campaign later issued a statement which said Mrs Palin was "mildly amused" and added: "C'est la vie." During the call with Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel, a Montreal comedy duo known as the Masked Avengers, the moose-hunting Republican running mate talked about how she was a "careful shot", praised Mr Sarkozy, and asked him to give his wife, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni, "a big hug for me". Read the rest of the article Labels: Huffington Post, Jean Chretien, Nicholas Sarkozy, Sarah Palin, The Independent, The Masked Avengers Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). |
