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Monday, 1 September, 2003 |
"In 1962 the Pentagon and the CIA were desperate for a war with Cuba. How desperate? Desperate enough to plan attacks against American bases, equipment and personnel. Desperate enough to dress up American trained Cubans as Communists to make the attacks on American bases. Desperate enough to manufacture an airplane that looked like a Russian MiG to shoot down an American airliner."
You don't believe this? Have a look at the documents:
"a series of well coordinated incidents will be planned to take place in and around Guantanamo to give genuine appearance of being done by hostile Cuban forces. ... blow up ammunition inside the base, burn aircraft ... we could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame cuba ... we could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, even in Washington ... use of MIG type aircract by US pilots could provide additional provocation ... hijacking attempts against civil air and surface craft ... it is possible to create an incident which will demonstrate convincingly that a Cuban aircraft has attacked and shot down a chartered civil airliner" etc. etc.
That is what we have experienced in Vietnam and other places. The US is a rogue state capable of anything.
10:57:16 PM 
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A few days ago I received an email from Nathan Newman bringing his postings about the minimum wage to my notice. If you want to know more about labour in the USA, check out Nathan's blog.
Can employers be so mean as to deny their workers the right to a decent living? Apparently they can. The fight for a minimum wage in the US can be compared to the fight to retain European social security; social benefits are under heavy fire these days, also in the Netherlands. Right-wing parties mention the same reasons to cut benefits or to be against the minimum wage. Employers want low labour costs and as many people as possible working for the lowest possible wages. For wages to be low, there must be an excess of labour, which means high unemployment. That's exactly what Bush did; the loss of jobs in the US since Bush is enormous.
In fact, good benefits for workers are good for the economy, the companies, trade and industry, and the national revenue. The money people receive as benefits goes straight back into the economy. These benefits are not very high individually, so everything is spent on housing, food, clothing, essential things. This keeps the economy going. The level of spending also has an influence on the amount of taxes the state receives.
If well thought out this circular movement stabilizes the economy. If you reduce benefits (or have no minimum wage) the circle is broken. It's the buying power that drives business. Reduce this power and consumption is less. People with benefits spend all their money, a millionaire doesn't, he puts it away, speculates with it, transfers it abroad. A high level of benefits guarantees continued spending. When benefits are reduced the national economy feels the full impact of this. A cut of 1 billion in benefits is a cut of 1 billion in the economy.
An other advantage of a good social security system (including minimum wages), is that there will be less criminality, people won't have to look for illegal suppletion of their meagre earnings. Moreover, they will be healthier and need less health care. Just imagine the huge savings for the government in the justice and health departments. You could consider social benefits to be equally beneficial to people as to businesses. In a way, it's a form of subsidizing business, with the additional advantage that it keeps a lot of people alive and relatively happy.
Why do right-wing capitalists begrudge others a decent living, when they themselves take more that their share of the cake and feel they have a natural right to it? It's immoral. It's mean. It's unfair and not productive. The dogmas of privatization and deregulation can only lead to the enrichment of the few to the detriment of the masses. That's exactly what is going on: the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. A nation is more than a clique of rich people.
How can the rich be so spiteful? They take whatever they want, so why would the rank and file not have the right to take back what is their natural right:
"Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality." (Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
Happy Labor Day! ("Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.")
2:02:05 PM
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© Copyright 2003 Hetty Litjens.
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