Letters to the Editor
ELYDOG
Published Letters: 498 Editor's Choice: 43
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Gross Domestic Product
[Read the article: How to translate Fedspeak]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The most common mistake the standard market 'observers' make is to look at quarterly GDP and say, "2 consecutive quarters' equals a recession.
The first reason is that figures are adjusted periodically, and all of a sudden the past can be changed into a recession.
The GDP ignores many other human factors to identify a recession, and adds up ANY economic activity as 'growth.' So if General Dynamics gets a military order for missiles for Iraq, that is 'growth.' Or if Warren Buffett buys 7 new houses, that is growth. And the Iraq War, that little engine of military Keynesianism, is chugging away each and every day. Every dime spent, wasted, lost, or overpaid is included in 'growth.' Except missiles do not lead to more production or better lives for most Americans, only destruction or storage.
In other words, it hides very well what is actually happening to real people. This is because it treats useless or replacement economic activity as always beneficial, ignores work done at home, and does not look at income disparities when looking at GDP.
This crude economic production figure - GDP - is not accurate enough to reflect the majority of people's lives. And it was designed just that way, to obscure what is happening, just as inflation and unemployment figures are also inaccurate for the very same reason.
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Literature and Class
[Read the article: Marching into the mommy wars]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Reading the interview here convinced me the book would be of little interest. It might even be a very well-written book, but that is not the point. If it dwells on the lives of people that I find not interesting, that is enough. I don't read books about astronauts or mass murderers for the same reason, no matter how elegantly they are structured or written.
The bigger question is why working-class people do not have the fiction that the upper middle-class has. A few writers, like Russo and Banks, specialize in this, but most don't. The obvious answer is that working-class people are too busy working and secondarily, perhaps do not have the education or background or interest to write about their lives. Of course, there are exceptions, like the literature that came out of Detroit after the plant closings in the 80s. And the 30s produced an explosion of U.S. working class literature.
That said, I am nearly finished with a book about Chicago unionists in the '80s, but unfortunately, babies will have little to do with it. I think they were too traumatic!
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Columbian Soldiers being Trained by US Troops
[Read the article: Penn attended meeting on trade deal Clinton opposes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Columbia is our cat's paw in Latin America. The so-called 'drug war' is actually a cover to funnel millions of dollars in weapons and military support to Columbia, to fight or invade Venzuela, not just for counter-insurgency against the FARC. U.S. troops are training and advising in Columbia right now for this purpose.
In addition, to think that the Columbian government and the CIA are not hip deep in drugs themselves is to delude yourself. The 'anti-drug' canard against the FARC is a commonplace - to paint anti-goverment organizations as drug-dealers allows the social issues to fade into the background.
Clinton's 'advisor' supports this policy - just like George Bush. And Clinton's opposition to the treaty is, as one poster already noted, suspect. More electioneering until she gets in office... and then, the real "Hillary" can re-appear.
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Getting Al Queda and Taking Over Afghanistan two different things
[Read the article: Does NATO want out of Afghanistan?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the mistake made in Afghanistan was similar to Iraq.
Instead of focussing on Bin Laden and Al Quada, we invaded a country, took over that country, and started 'nation building.' We, again, took the eye off the ball.
We can see the fruits of that policy now. Does anyone really think that an 'independent judiciary' or the end to opium production is going to happen in this country? Does anyone think the warlords who control most of the country will really diminish the oppression of women? Does anyone think a strong central government has a chance in the long run? Or an 'independent' army not divided by tribal, religous or ethnic hostilities?
Looking at Afghanistan's history, the answer is no to any of this. Al Quada might have used the Taliban as a base, but the Taliban are rooted in the Pashtun people, and, barring the destruction of the Pashtuns, they are not going away. The invasion and occupation of Afghanistan was another mistake in the fight against Al Quada and armed Muslim fundamentalism.
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Yes, spread it out.
[Read the article: Ask Pablo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Slackie has got it. Decentralizing the panels would allow less transport reductions in power. If panels were affordable, then nearly every house could have panels and storage. The question is if THAT is feasible. All the tax money being spent on biofuels would be better spent on converting to solar.
I can see huge areas covered by panels, but that would be more unfeasible. And there are questions about the math here, as one poster wrote. 7.5 square feet of panels seems awfully small for one person. Heck, I could have 3 people on my garage...if this were true.
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Libertarians would find it hard ...
[Read the article: The silver lining of the credit crunch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... to admit that their favorite philospher, Greenspan/Rand, could fail intellectually. Don't hold your breath for them to change their minds.
Yes, socialize the risk, privatize the profits! These episodes only show how our private appropriation system is not theoretically (let alone practically) working in a mass, interconnected world, in which the public is affected by every 'private' decision ... the contradiction is glaring. Just like oil or water being 'owned.' There is no clean line anymore, if there ever was one.