Category: Social Issues
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Smart Meters, Electric Monopolies & The Quest To Go Analog / Politics / Social Issues
By: Jeff_Berwick
Kevin Schmidt writes: Smart meter articles have graced my computer screen and a sense of “phew, at least we don’t have to worry about those things” always came to mind after reading them.
Then one morning, gazing out into our backyard, a smart meter attached to our house caught my eye, bringing immediate shock to my brain. How could this happen? I did not receive any notice in the monthly energy bill; no letter, nothing. The smart meter just appeared.
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Thursday, March 13, 2014
The People vs Big Brother - Fourth Turning / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
"The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort - in other words, a total war. Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of destruction, and in mankind's willingness to use it." - Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning
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Saturday, February 22, 2014
The Illusion of Freedom - Democracy, Religion, Science and Propaganda / News_Letter / Social Issues
By: NewsLetter
The Market Oracle NewsletterOctober 14th , 2013 Issue # 17 Vol. 7
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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Women on Wall Street Have Gone Backwards / Politics / Social Issues
By: Bloomberg
Sallie Krawcheck, owner of 85 Broads and former Bank of America and Citigroup executive, spoke with Bloomberg Television's Stephanie Ruhle and Matt Miller today about women in executive roles and Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's congressional testimony yesterday.
On women in banking, Krawcheck said: "it's not that we have even gone sideways as we have in corporate America, we've gone backwards."
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Monday, February 10, 2014
Danger Alert! 25 Signs That The US Middle Class Is Facing Annihilation / Politics / Social Issues
By: LibertyGoldAndSilver
While the ever distracted and perpetually preoccupied American public is just recovering from the onslaught of the Super Bowl and readying itself for two continuous weeks of the vicarious videotaped splendor of the Winter Olympics from Russia, ominous signs of the inevitable collapse of the American economic and social order continue to grow. Regrettably, very few of these signs are ever discussed on any of the business channels.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Behavioral Economics and Irrational Voters / Politics / Social Issues
By: MISES
Julian Adorney writes: The rise of behavioral economics has long been seen by statists as a body blow to libertarianism. By arguing that people are irrational consumers who are easily manipulated, behavioral economics seems to argue for state intervention to save us from ourselves. In his best-seller Predictably Irrational, behavioral economist Dan Ariely claims that irrational consumers invalidate arguments in favor of the free market, namely those that ague that free consumer choice leads to the most efficient and productive economy. Since consumers are irrational, Ariely claims, we need the government to step in and regulate the economy.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Prosperity for Main Street, NOT Wall Street - Video / Politics / Social Issues
By: Rudy_Avizius
The key reason that communities are struggling is the huge burden of interest payments that are flowing to the big banks. Think about this, if you buy a home for say $100,000 dollars, typically you will have paid $250,000 once the loan is paid off. This means the typical loan will incur $150,000 in interest charges.
The same concept applies when a community builds an infrastructure project such as school, road, bridge, sewer or other project. That $1 million dollar school could end up costing taxpayers in the community $2.5 million after interest charges.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
The Global Plutocracy / Politics / Social Issues
By: Global_Research
Andre Damon writes: On the eve of the annual spectacle of parasitic wealth and power that is the World Economic Forum in the Alpine resort town of Davos, Switzerland, the Oxfam charity has issued a report warning of the unprecedented growth of social inequality throughout the world.
Describing a planet in the malevolent grip of handful of plutocrats, the report states that the richest 85 people in the world control as much wealth as the bottom fifty percent of the world’s population—3.5 billion people! It notes that the richest one percent today controls 46 percent of the world’s wealth. Oxfam writes: “The wealth of the one percent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion… 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.”
Thursday, January 16, 2014
US Drops Out of Top 10 Economic Freedom Countries Ranking / Politics / Social Issues
By: LewRockwell
After seven years of continuous decline in the rating, the US has gone down to 12th place in the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom. The report says the US is the only country to show such a prolonged decline.
The falling ranking was primarily caused by large reductions in property rights, freedom from corruption, and increasing government spending, says the study.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
2013 Was a Watershed Year / Politics / Social Issues
By: Andy_Sutton
If you weren’t paying close attention, 2013 might have gone down as a quasi-normal year. After all, the Dow Jones ‘Industrials’ (sic) hit 50 some new record highs, mostly in the latter half of the year. The NASDAQ went above 4,000 again (can anyone say 1999?), and the world didn’t end as many had predicted. That’s the surface view. Well, as a good friend of mine says, we’re a mile wide and an inch deep, and in that world, a few positive headlines are good enough to pacify the average American consumer.
Friday, January 03, 2014
Grant Williams Looks Back on 2013 / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
2013 saw the passing of many beloved celebrities, but one who perhaps seemed to receive less attention than merited was Sir David Paradine Frost, who died of a heart attack, aged 74, whilst aboard the MS Queen Elizabeth, where he had been due to give a speech the following day.
Thursday, January 02, 2014
2014 Trends - Government Overreach, Economic Stagnation & Civil Discontent / Politics / Social Issues
By: Dr_Martenson
At the beginning of 2013, I identified eight key dynamics that will play out over the next two to three years (2013-2015):
Trend #1: Central Planning intervention in stock and bond markets will continue, despite diminishing returns on Central State/Bank intervention
Trend #2: The omnipotence of the Federal Reserve will suffer a fatal erosion of confidence as recession voids Fed policy and pronouncements of "recovery"
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Thursday, January 02, 2014
Everything Better Is Purchased At The Price Of Something Worse / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
I thought I’d start off 2014 on a philosophical note, with something that I hope perhaps people will remember as the year progresses, or even through the rest of their lives, and share with those around them. In my humble view, that would do the planet a world of good. But it’s not easy; we have wandered far.
There are many things we have neglected and forgotten, if not never understood or even thought about, that are nevertheless essential to our personal well-being and that of our surroundings. If anyone in the western world has considered and analyzed these forgotten ‘things’, it’s Carl Gustav Jung, the psycho-therapist who died in 1961. Jung defined the collective unconscious, archetypes and synchronicity, among many other things. It was his active interest in Eastern civilization and philosophies that led him to ponder how the collective unconsciousness influences our notion of progress.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Death and Taxes: How Inevitable Are They Really? / Politics / Social Issues
By: Don_Miller
With the advent of more and more anti-aging and life-extension R&D in the biotech field—a subject my colleague Alex Daley knows all about—death may not be as inevitable as we think. While I don't believe that I will be among the lucky ones to reach a dainty 200, that feat may very well be achieved within this century. My wife and I have one grandson born in the late 1990s, and his life could span three centuries.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Crisis of the American Middle Class / Politics / Social Issues
By: STRATFOR
When I wrote about the crisis of unemployment in Europe, I received a great deal of feedback. Europeans agreed that this is the core problem while Americans argued that the United States has the same problem, asserting that U.S. unemployment is twice as high as the government's official unemployment rate. My counterargument is that unemployment in the United States is not a problem in the same sense that it is in Europe because it does not pose a geopolitical threat. The United States does not face political disintegration from unemployment, whatever the number is. Europe might.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Key Zeitgeist and Anthropology Trends 2014: What If The Unexpected Happens? / Politics / Social Issues
By: DK_Matai
Based on the ATCA 5000 poll of key distinguished members in more than 150 countries around the world -- carried out by the mi2g Intelligence Unit in London -- we present to you the uncensored collective consciousness in regard to what are perceived to be the key trends for 2014 under the categories of Opposites, Opportunities, Autonomy, Climate Chaos, New Financial Paradigms and Cultural Metamorphosis. We trust this will start an enduring Socratic dialogue leading to concrete executive decisions amongst our distinguished members and the global community of world leaders, business decision makers and ordinary citizens to build a more equitable world in 2014 and beyond.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Christmas Wishes of the Bottom 95% / Politics / Social Issues
By: DeviantInvestor
Santa: The following are our Christmas wishes for the bottom 95% of Americans - as measured by either income or total assets.
A People's QE
The Fed creates $85,000,000,000 (perhaps reducing to $75 Billion in January) per month - Quantitative Easing or QE - and feeds it to the bankers, the wealthy, and the politicians. A people's QE is for the Quality Enhancement of the bottom 95% - an additional $85,000,000,000 per month distributed to 315 million people in the U.S. Santa: please deliver $ 270 to each person monthly, or at current prices, about 14 ounces of silver per person per month, or about 3 ounces of gold per person every 14 months.
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Monday, December 16, 2013
U.S. Misery Index Falls to Four-Year Low / Politics / Social Issues
By: DailyGainsLetter
John Paul Whitefoot writes: If you think you can judge a book by its cover, then you must believe the U.S. economy is doing really, really well. After all, consumer confidence is up and misery is down. However, looking past the cover, the pages of underlying economic indicators suggest the average American investor should be a little concerned.
But first, the good news! The U.S. Misery Index has fallen to a four-year low. The Misery Index is calculated by adding a country’s unemployment rate to the inflation rate, the logic being that we understand what stubbornly high unemployment mixed with the soaring price of goods translates into—misery.
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Three Words That Will Save Your Life / Politics / Social Issues
By: DailyWealth
Alex Green writes: Talk about a model prisoner...
In 1985, Fleet Maull began serving a 14-year sentence for drug trafficking. During his incarceration, he completed a PhD in psychology, authored a well-received book, became an ordained priest, founded a prison hospice program, and launched the Prison Dharma Network, a non-profit organization that supports prisoner rehabilitation through contemplative spirituality.
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Monday, December 09, 2013
All The Plans We Make For Our Futures Are Delusions / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
What worries me most about the world today, in the last weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Day 2014, is that all the plans we make for our futures and more importantly our children’s futures are DOA. This is because nobody has a clue what the future will bring, and that’s more than just some general statement. Is the future going to be like the past or present? We really don’t know. But we do exclusively plan for such a future. And that’s not for a lack of warning signs.