john cage - experiences no.1

Fuck Austerity

What a loathsome word, austerity. Austerity for whom?


It's times like this that motorcycles can take on a kind of rarified air --they take us away from politics and the punitive measures meted out (lowly ruler-slaps from grade-school nuns)  by immoral corporate plutocrats.  Years ago I was a self-appointed (albeit lowly and self-deprecating) "scholar" on what bikes were cool and those that were definitely not; today I see a lad or lass on two wheels and I just think, "Fuck yeah!" without regard to insignia.  I'm just glad they are out rifling around corners on two wheels, terrorizing right and proper residential neighborhoods, their dual silencers refusing to be silenced.  A Fuck You to austerity measures and depression and sordid economic times and all that 'top-down-trickle-down-you-are-an-ass-clown' nonsense. 

This UJM cafe inspired bike is parked a half-block from our (rented) house here in D.C.  Every time I walk by it I want to throw a leg over it and get on with some serious hooliganism.  It's such an anomaly in this political town, full of interns, young trust fund newlyweds, dual baby carriages, and, of course, politicians and $700,000 and up tiny brick homes.  


This machine is kind of a salve to all that.  The young man who owns-loves-rides this pony may not have have a lot of money (he might, it's that's kind of town), but at least he gets about in his own way, and loudly at that.  And let's face it:  the owner of the the Mercedes in the background - although spending much more - has not really garnered equal bang for the buck.

Sobering Post by Joseph Stiglitz

Published on Friday, January 13, 2012 by Project Syndicate

The Perils of 2012: When Austerity Bites Back

by Joseph Stiglitz

The year 2011 will be remembered as the time when many ever-optimistic Americans began to give up hope. President John F. Kennedy once said that a rising tide lifts all boats. But now, in the receding tide, Americans are beginning to see not only that those with taller masts had been lifted far higher, but also that many of the smaller boats had been dashed to pieces in their wake.

In that brief moment when the rising tide was indeed rising, millions of people believed that they might have a fair chance of realizing the “American Dream.” Now those dreams, too, are receding. By 2011, the savings of those who had lost their jobs in 2008 or 2009 had been spent. Unemployment checks had run out. Headlines announcing new hiring – still not enough to keep pace with the number of those who would normally have entered the labor force – meant little to the 50 year olds with little hope of ever holding a job again.

Indeed, middle-aged people who thought that they would be unemployed for a few months have now realized that they were, in fact, forcibly retired. Young people who graduated from college with tens of thousands of dollars of education debt cannot find any jobs at all. People who moved in with friends and relatives have become homeless. Houses bought during the property boom are still on the market or have been sold at a loss. More than seven million American families have lost their homes.

The dark underbelly of the previous decade’s financial boom has been fully exposed in Europe as well. Dithering over Greece and key national governments’ devotion to austerity began to exact a heavy toll last year. Contagion spread to Italy. Spain’s unemployment, which had been near 20% since the beginning of the recession, crept even higher. The unthinkable – the end of the euro – began to seem like a real possibility.

This year is set to be even worse. It is possible, of course, that the United States will solve its political problems and finally adopt the stimulus measures that it needs to bring down unemployment to 6% or 7% (the pre-crisis level of 4% or 5% is too much to hope for). But this is as unlikely as it is that Europe will figure out that austerity alone will not solve its problems.   On the contrary, austerity will only exacerbate the economic slowdown. Without growth, the debt crisis – and the euro crisis – will only worsen. And the long crisis that began with the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and the subsequent recession will continue. 

Moreover, the major emerging-market countries, which steered successfully through the storms of 2008 and 2009, may not cope as well with the problems looming on the horizon. Brazil’s growth has already stalled, fueling anxiety among its neighbors in Latin America.

Meanwhile, long-term problems – including climate change and other environmental threats, and increasing inequality in most countries around the world – have not gone away. Some have grown more severe. For example, high unemployment has depressed wages and increased poverty.

The good news is that addressing these long-term problems would actually help to solve the short-term problems. Increased investment to retrofit the economy for global warming would help to stimulate economic activity, growth, and job creation. More progressive taxation, in effect redistributing income from the top to the middle and bottom, would simultaneously reduce inequality and increase employment by boosting total demand. Higher taxes at the top could generate revenues to finance needed public investment, and to provide some social protection for those at the bottom, including the unemployed.

Even without widening the fiscal deficit, such “balanced budget” increases in taxes and spending would lower unemployment and increase output. The worry, however, is that politics and ideology on both sides of the Atlantic, but especially in the US, will not allow any of this to occur. Fixation on the deficit will induce cutbacks in social spending, worsening inequality. Likewise, the enduring attraction of supply-side economics, despite all of the evidence against it (especially in a period in which there is high unemployment), will prevent raising taxes at the top.

Even before the crisis, there was a rebalancing of economic power – in fact, a correction of a 200-year historical anomaly, in which Asia’s share of global GDP fell from nearly 50% to, at one point, below 10%. The pragmatic commitment to growth that one sees in Asia and other emerging markets today stands in contrast to the West’s misguided policies, which, driven by a combination of ideology and vested interests, almost seem to reflect a commitment not to grow.

As a result, global economic rebalancing is likely to accelerate, almost inevitably giving rise to political tensions. With all of the problems confronting the global economy, we will be lucky if these strains do not begin to manifest themselves within the next twelve months.

© 2012 Project Syndicate

Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University. Among many books, he is the author of Globalization and Its Discontents. He received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for research on the economics of information. He is the co-author, with Linda Bilmes, of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict.  His most recent book is Free Fall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy.

Tony Judt's "Ill Fares the Land"

Just a short post tonight.  Although published in 2010, I finally got around to reading this book.  I cannot recommend it highly enough for a terrific, seasoned, educated discussion regarding ways we as a society can reclaim our social democratic roots (and cast off over 30 years of criminal, defacing, and shameless neoliberalism).  I especially found his discussions of 60s counterculture revealing --it's common knowledge today that many folks of that spirited and so-called rebellious time ended up as CEOs of some of the biggest douche-bag corporations on the planet.  After reading "Ill Fares the Land," you'll have a very good idea of exactly why that happened.  It's a very humane, down to earth book steeped in first class scholarship and an ironclad sense of history.  Judt has that very rare talent of combining scholarship with a nuanced, cogent writing style (which takes a lot more work and talent than most so-called "eclectic" and/or scholarly works).  Recommended!

Here's a link to the opening chapter:  http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/apr/29/ill-fares-the-land/?pagination=false

A Gorgeous Creation

Why MotoBikes Rule

This is one of the most stunning bikes I've encountered in a long time.  Just precision bike building with a keen eye for line and design.  Can't say enough about it.  Color, simplicity, power, sexuality.  It's ALL FRIGGIN THERE.  And a lot of fucking hard work to get it there.

This is from Cafe Racers Dreams, a smart outfit out of Spain, and they are not to be fucked with.  Just good iron work all around and deserving of whatever price tag that comes with it.

http://www.crdmotorcycles.com

Kevin

To Three UK Friends, A Plea to Keep Guard

I haven't posted here for ages, but think I must fire up the old blog again in protest of the crimes being committed against our people --that statement sounds stereotypical, hackneyed, full of conspiracy.  I know, but Christ it's getting bad out there.  And I call this economic crisis a crime because it was designed by our Oligarchs to crush the little people and to benefit only them.  It was not and is not an accident.  It was and is engineered.

If you think this isn't all as a result of our super rich gangsters waging war against you and your previously dignified life (e.g.,  decent union or non-union job, putting your kids through college, saving money for retirement,  public schools, etc., etc.), then just click off this website and go back to shopping on Amazon.  I was hit-up for money by at least ten homeless folks today on my (2-mile) walk home today.  It's only getting worse.  If you have a bit of money in your pocket, and roof over your head, please do count your blessings.  And if you are one of those people who think it could never happen to you because you are smart and entrepreneurial, think again.  This crisis is hitting just about all segments of society, and especially our most vulnerable (i.e. minorities), with the exception of the very rich, naturally.  Imagine having millions or even billions of dollar in your bank account and being just fine with your neighbors six blocks down the street being foreclosed upon.  Where did our sense of social unease go?

A letter to my UK Brethren:

You UK boys keep an eye on yer Oligarchs --I don't want to see your communities go through what's happening here (know it is to some degree).  Our lovely Oligarchs have really messed things up on this side of the pond.  As but one example of the insidiousness, the dubious WalMart heirs (all of six or seven)  have more money than 30% of Americans, that is, fully 100,000,000 of Americans at the bottom of our economic system.  Six people of one family who inherited a fortune!!!  For now I've got fingers crossed and counting my (many) blessings, but so many are not so fortunate.  

One aspect of the tragedy (referenced below) are these poor blokes who were lured by a mere £193/week (many whom had real middle class jobs not long ago, making a decent wage, able to raise a family with dignity).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/craigslist-killer-plight-america-jobless

On a genuinely less stringent note, I hope all of you are climbing into the holiday season with plenty of whisky, Guinness, health, and good cheer to keep you and your gals warm for another glorious year. ;-)

Warm regards,

Kevin

Must reading by McClatchy

The Party of Wealth and Privilege are hard at it again.  It would be interesting to see how many of these folks trying to rewrite history would be willing to give up their "socialist" social security checks.  Must reading:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91478/some-conservatives-rewrite-history.html