Political Economy Contradictions As We Lurch Into 2025

• by: Richard D. Wolff

Richard D. Wolff

12-21-2024 ~ The Republicans (GOP), traditionally the U.S.’s anti-tax party, now promise to use tariffs to wage trade wars, to massively deport immigrants, and to stop drug traffic. But tariffs are simply the name of one kind of tax (on imported goods and services). So the GOP becomes both anti-tax and pro-tax. Likewise, the traditional party of minimal government, today’s GOP now favors massive subsidies to industries that big government will select as well as economic sanctions and bans on enterprises and whole countries that big government will select. Beyond the right-wing ideology and financial self-serving, Trump reflects deeper contradictions in the GOP’s evolution.

The GOP, traditionally the laissez-faire party of private enterprise, now favors increased government control of what private enterprises can and cannot offer in markets for reproductive healthcare, control medications and devices, and also for vaccines and drugs. The GOP, traditionally supporting “freedom,” now insists on blocking the free movement of people across borders and favors protectionist economic policy over a commitment to “free trade.” Some of Trump’s cabinet nominees voice traditional GOP views while others pronounce the new anti-traditional positions. Some nominees do both. Trump does not resolve the deep contradictions in the GOP’s message, thereby confusing both its messengers and its public audiences. In the moment, those contradictions give Trump some power. Amid the confusion, he decides. But soon conflicts among U.S. policies will expose the incoherence of Trump’s project and thereby sap his power. Read more

What Is Our Collective Solution To Health Injustice?

• by: Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

12-18-2024 ~ The fight over health care in the U.S. is about competing narratives: profit-making versus collective well-being. We need to articulate a publicly funded solution now—before corporate spin silences us.

The December 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the public outrage over the state of healthcare it sparked, is a tale of many competing narratives: the killer’s story, the public’s story, the industry’s story, and the politicians’ and punditocracy’s story. Which one wins out determines whether the United States ultimately replaces the healthcare system we know with a publicly funded version or continues to accept the flawed one we have.

Sweep away all the news spin, and at its heart, Brian Thompson’s killing has highlighted two crucial narratives, the first of which is that armed violence is a way to solve problems. Guns are a force so ubiquitous in our society today that we have become collectively numb to their destruction. It is a uniquely American act of desperation aimed at the industry that only someone like Mangione could be lionized for.

Secondly, the long-overdue prevailing story emerging from the incident is the injustice baked into our healthcare system that leaves nearly no one in the nation untouched.

The story that has yet to be embraced collectively is what a systemic solution to the crisis looks like. That solution must center on publicly-funded healthcare and a complete dismantling of the insurance industry. Read more

Why Do We Sleep And How Can We Sleep Better?

• by: Leslie Alan Horvitz

Leslie Alan Horvitz
Photo: lesliehorvitz.com

12-17-2024 ~ Sleep is a biological necessity, but it remains a mysterious phenomenon we don’t fully understand.

We spend about a third of our lives sleeping. But do we know why we do it? Is it for biological, psychological, or evolutionary reasons? Much research has based its findings on what happens when we don’t sleep enough. The effects of sleeplessness aren’t difficult to pinpoint. Still, apart from a scientific consensus that sleep is essential to several brain functions and plays some kind of “housekeeping role,” scientists have yet to determine why.

As contended by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, an arm of the National Institutes of Health and the nation’s leading funder of brain research, “its biological purpose remains a mystery.”

Several theories have been advanced to explain sleep. Although these theories may be valid, none offer a complete explanation.

Why We Sleep: Many Theories
According to a theory proposed by the National Library of Medicine, sleep is essential for energy conservation. This is because our metabolic rate drops during sleep, resulting in daily energy savings of up to 15 percent. This theory argues that sleep was an evolutionary development, reducing energy use during those times—mainly at night—when it was less practical to hunt for food. On the other hand, sleep left our ancestors more vulnerable to predators. Read more

The Global South Is On The Brink Of A Disastrous Debt Crisis. Reform Is Urgent.

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

Ilene Grabel – ilenegrabel.com
Photo: © Tommy Collier Productions

12-16-2024 ~ The coming debt crisis will surpass that of the 1980s and disproportionately impact women, economist Ilene Grabel warns.

Countries across the Global South are experiencing climate, poverty and development crises — all made worse by the unbearable costs of debt servicing. Indeed, according to Development Finance International, “Citizens of the Global South now face the worst debt crisis since global records began.” Low-income countries, which have seen the amount paid on foreign debt payment increase by 150 percent since 2011, are being hit especially hard.

In the exclusive interview for Truthout that follows, Ilene Grabel, a leading economist in global finance and global financial governance, sheds light on the roots of the Global South debt crisis and offers specific strategies for easing the debt burden of developing countries. She argues that the obstacles to debt relief are purely political and ideological, as the global financial architecture is “morally bankrupt” and was designed to serve the interests of the rich at the expense of the poor. Grabel is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Denver and Professor of International Finance at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies of the University of Denver. She has conducted commissioned research for various United Nations agencies and NGOs, and is the author of the multi-award-winning book, When Things Don’t Fall Apart: Global Financial Governance and Developmental Finance in an Age of Productive Incoherence (MIT Press). Read more

What Is Driving State-Sponsored Attacks On Citizens Abroad?

• by: John P. Ruehl

John P. Ruehl – Source: Independent Media Institute

12-14-2024 ~ Kidnappings and killings of citizens by their own governments abroad are becoming increasingly common. The normalization of this trend will erode the sovereignty of all nations, as well as the safety of their citizens.

In July 2020, Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd was visiting Dubai when he was suddenly abducted. Mobile phone data later traced his movements to Oman’s port city of Sohar, before the signal went silent. Days later, he reappeared in Iran, accused of leading a terrorist group and orchestrating attacks in Iran, charges his family denies. After years in detention, he was executed in October 2024.

Iran’s actions are part of a longstanding pattern. Since the 1979 Revolution, its government has targeted dissidents overseas. Notable cases include the 1991 stabbing death of the Shah’s last prime minister in Paris and the 1992 assassination of four Iranian-Kurdish dissidents at a Berlin restaurant. These operations appear to have escalated again, with an Iranian journalist kidnapped in Iraq in 2019, an opposition leader kidnapped in Turkey in 2020, and a thwarted attempt to kidnap an Iranian journalist in the U.S. that year as well.

Functioning governments exercise a monopoly on violence and detention within their borders, including lawful imprisonment and capital punishment. In conflict zones, these powers sometimes extend into contested areas, blurring legal distinctions. However, Iran’s extraterritorial operations mark a trend of smaller nations increasingly adopting tactics reserved for major powers, bypassing international protocols to punish citizens overseas. Read more

With Martial Law Defeated, Now Is A Decisive Moment For Change In South Korea

• by: Steven Lee

12-12-2024 ~ Late at night on December 3, soldiers stormed into South Korea’s National Assembly in armored vehicles and combat helicopters. Assembly staff desperately blocked their assault with fire extinguishers and barricades. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had just declared martial law to “eliminate ‘anti-state’ forces.”

Outside the National Assembly, people gathered from all over Seoul and beyond. Within the hour, thousands were violating the martial law’s ban on all political activities and protests. People shivered in the cold as they stood off against the army and police, armed with nothing but songs and chants. They needed to defend the National Assembly until the vote to revoke martial law. Their chants grew louder: “Abolish martial law!” “Down with the dictatorship!”

Yoon conceded to the National Assembly vote and people’s resistance on the morning of December 4. His short-lived self-coup plunged South Korea into a furor. South Koreans managed to stop the rise of another dictatorship. Now, they need to organize into a force that can impeach him and carry out the structural changes required to ensure a complete democratic transformation in South Korea. Read more