Charlie McGrath of WideAwakenews joins us to discuss our speedy ascent from soft tyranny to hard tyranny. We talk about the creeping police state practices at home, perpetual wars abroad, the divisive and destructive Right-Left paradigms, public apathy, and much more. Tune in to this full-hour show for some sobering and fired-up discussion. You can visit Charlie McGrath’s website for hard-hitting video reports, podcast shows and daily news here: http://www.wideawakenews.com/

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From labor unrest in South Africa, to war and crisis in Mali, Niger, increased resistance in Egypt, Bahrain, the threat of fascism in Greece, massive protests in Spain and Portugal, to Indigenous movements in North and South America, a world of unrest and resistance is rapidly emerging and evolving. To understand the potential for these movements in the future, we must place them in the global context of the present. What is needed is efforts aimed at building links between global social movements and activists, and what is urgently needed within the West itself (and especially the United States) is an international anti-imperial movement to challenge the empire from within the heart of its power.

The pre-requisite for the struggles of others against vassal states of the Western imperial system (such as in Bahrain and Egypt) is to take the struggle home to the United States. A world of unrest can lead to a world of progress and change.

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It’s funny how quickly perceptions can change on the global stage. Just a few years ago, Argentina was being hailed as a remarkable tale of success snatched from the jaws of defeat. After suffering an economic crisis in 1999-2002 that saw widespread unemployment and riots, the fall of the government, and a national default on foreign debt, analysts in recent years have been pontificating on the re-stabilization of the Argentinian economy. But it appears they spoke too soon. As a result, on February 1st, Argentina became the first nation in history to be censured by the IMF.

The IMF has given the country until September to bring its statistics up to international standards or face expulsion from the world body. Ironically, this will be welcome news to Argentinians, who have long understood that it was the international financial elite at the IMF and in the so-called Washington consensus who put the country on this path of economic collapse in the first place. The roots of the current crisis go back at least as far as the US-backed military coup in the 1970s which “disappeared� an entire generation of political activists and instituted a bankster-friendly regime that paved the way for an era of neoliberal reforms and cooperation with the IMF.

In this episode James Corbett examines the rock-and-hard-place nature of Argentina’s current collapse, the neoliberal policies imposed on the country in decades past, and the irrational, politically-motivated lies spun by the government in reaction to those policies.

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Oh what a difference three decades make. Back in the 1980s, as Japanese companies began buying up prime real estate in the US, and the supremacy of Japanese cars and electronics made it seem like the country’s economic ascendancy was assured, sci-fi visions of the future imagined a United States dominated by Japanese culture, language and business.

Today, the economic stagnation that has gripped the Japanese economy for the past two decades make such visions of the future seem like the naive dreams of a bygone age, much like how futurists of the early 20th century extrapolated from their own time to imagine fleets of dirigibles carrying passengers across the Atlantic. Just as the trend-spotters of the early 20th century were caught off guard by the jet engine, so too were those predicting the rise of an unstoppable Japan caught off guard by the raising of interest rates and the popping of the bubble, the bailout of the banks, the life support of the zombie companies, and the lost decade…

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Is the world, and what’s taking place in it, purely depressing, simply bad, and totally negative? Hell no! In this episode, I look at the social devastation currently wreaking havoc on the population of Greece, a frightful, dehumanizing situation to be sure; but out of this ‘hell’ the Greeks have established for themselves glimmers of hope from which the world can learn a great deal. In particular, there is a wonderful, vibrant and creative civil disobedience movement known as the ‘We won’t pay’ movement, as in, “We won’t pay for your crisis.” Their direct actions and revolutionary objectives should be an inspiration for us all, so, naturally, most people have never heard of them. This episode attempts to remedy that crime of omission.

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From the “Golden� to the Dark Ages of Capitalism

Introduction: The economic, political and social outlook for the second decade of the 21st century is profoundly negative. The almost universal consensus, even among mainstream orthodox economists, is pessimistic regarding the world economy.

 Although, even here, their predictions understate the scope and depth of the crises, there are powerful reasons to believe that beginning in the second decade of this century, we are heading toward a steeper decline than what was experienced during the Great Recession of 2008 – 2009. With fewer resources, greater debt and increasing popular resistance to shouldering the burden of saving the capitalist system, the governments cannot revive the economic system.

Many of the major institutions and economic relations which were cause and consequence of world and regional capitalist expansion over the past three decades are in the process of disintegration and disarray. The previous economic engines of global expansion, the US and the European Union, have exhausted their potentialities and are in open decline. The new centers of growth, China, India, Brazil, Russia, which provided a new impetus for world growth during the first decade are de-accelerating rapidly and will continue to do so throughout the new decade. Read more È

Part II of our book review of Frederick Sheehan’s Panderer to Power

Frederick Sheehan’s excellent 2010 book Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession provides us a window into the sources of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

In part I of this two-part review of Sheehan’s valuable book, we discussed Sheehan’s takeaways from Greenspan’s career before becoming Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

In turn, Sheehan’s review of Greenspan’s nearly twenty years with the Fed gets underway with the Senate confirmation hearing in 1987, after Greenspan’s nomination as Fed Chairman by President Ronald Reagan.  Sheehan notes with some approval the questioning of Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin, then the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.  Sheehan praises Proxmire’s willingness to critically examine Greenspan’s forecasting record and his apparent enthusiasm for serving the agenda of large banks.  Greenspan was a director of J.P. Morgan at the time of his appointment, which Proxmire noted along with Greenspan’s lobbying activity as a signal his expertise in banking issues might be more attentive to some interests than others. Read more È

Book Review — Frederick J. Sheehan’s Panderer to Power

Written on the heels of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression, Frederick Sheehan’s critical biography, Panderer to Power:  The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession (2010) provides us with good lessons for the future.

Some perspective can be had from the fantasy classic Lord of the Rings.  Frodo, the hobbit, is on his quest to reach Mount Doom and destroy the Ring of Power.  Having made it substantially through his mission, but weighed by fatigue and fear for what lies ahead should he continue, Frodo asks Gandalf, a wise and powerful wizard, to take the Ring from him and complete the quest.  Gandalf says “No.�

“With that power I would have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly. … Do not tempt me! … Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good.�

Well, why did Alan Greenspan take the Ring?  Did he just take it when offered, or did he pursue it?  Greenspan certainly ended up in a powerful position, as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System – heading our nation’s central bank.  The Fed conducts monetary policy, regulates and supervises banks, serves as a ‘lender of last resort,’ and provides critical payment services for the financial system.  These responsibilities are, well, significant.  Consider monetary policy, where we have a law directing a committee of 12 people at the Fed to control the aggregate amount of money and credit used by over 300 million other people.

Coming on the heels of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression, Panderer to Power provides a valuable, critical biography.  Alan Greenspan led an institution that advertised its ability to stabilize the financial system – both before and after our recent financial meltdown.  Biography is a form of history, and as Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.â€�  In light of recent years, Sheehan’s biography helps us understand and remember the past, and underscores critical things to watch for in the future. Read more È