Category: Social Issues
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The United States is Run by Sociopaths, Economics and Evil / Politics / Social Issues
By: Casey_Research
Doug Casey, Casey Research writes: I recently wrote an article that addresses the subject of sociopaths and how they insinuate themselves into society. Although the subject doesn't speak directly to what stock you should buy or sell to increase your wealth, I think it's critical to success in the markets. It goes a long way towards explaining what goes on in the heads of people like Bernie Madoff and therefore how you can avoid being hurt by them.
But there's a lot more to the story. At this point, it seems as if society at large has been captured by Madoff clones. If that's true, the consequences can't be good. So what I want to do here is probe a little deeper into the realm of abnormal psychology and see how it relates to economics and where the world is heading.
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Sunday, April 15, 2012
Meet Thanatos: Real Life Superhero / Politics / Social Issues
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
Thanatos was the personification of Death in Greek mythology, and is perhaps now better known as the name ascribed to Sigmund Freud's "death drive". Freud understood thanatos as a psychological drive that causes human beings to act in self-destructive ways, or to "lead organic life back into the inanimate state", acting in opposition to the innate force of eros - the "life instinct".
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Forget About Moving Overseas, Small Town America is Safe / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gary_North
I have a site, Gary North's Specific Answers, where subscribers can post questions. I answer a lot of them. I have a lot of practical subscribers who also answer.
One of my site's forums is "Safe Places Forum."
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012
The "cashless society" and Total Monetary Surveillance / Politics / Social Issues
By: LewRockwell
Economic Collapse writes: Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine. To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily. Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money. Just think about it for a moment. Where do you still use cash these days? If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment. Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins. But what would a cashless society mean for our future? Are there any dangers to such a system?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
HUGE Changes Coming To Planet Earth, 2012 is HERE! / Politics / Social Issues
By: T_Anthony_Michael
Cosmic Convergence Accelerates Epochal Change On Planet Earth
What happens when an unparalleled Solar Maximium occurs while Pluto is cruising through Capricorn, seismic activity and vulcanism (both undersea and on land) have already seen a dramatic uptick, technospheric breakdown has greatly accelerated, entire species have vacated the planet as whole ecosystems are irreparably destroyed, global climate change appears as global warming, cooling, drought or deluge, and the worldwide financial system is on the verge of collapse, as in a total and complete, irreversible monetary meltdown? Believe it or not, these actual occurrences and various eventualities are the very least of our problems.
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
How To Bring Down the System, Any System, Non-violently / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gary_North
Four words: "Follow the rules exactly."
That's it? That's it.
Any system? Any system.
There are reasons for this. These reasons are universal.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Agent-Based Modeling and the Occupy Wall Street Movement / Politics / Social Issues
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
Here at TAE, we like to apply the insights of systems theory to our global economic, financial, energy and environmental systems and think in big picture terms about how these systems evolve and interact. That is why, for example, we don't look at the S&P500 breaching 1400 as a sign that every major economic issue has been resolved and it is all smooth sailing from here. Indeed, the big picture perspective tells us it's only a matter of time, most likely weeks, before old issues in new disguises crop up and fear grips the collective once again.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Western Collapse Slow Motion Suicide Moves To Fast Mode / Politics / Social Issues
By: Andrew_McKillop
WESTERN CIVILIZATION DECLINE - OR FALL ?
This was a great refreshing read, written by Niall Ferguson, making the point that civilizations tend to decline very fast at their end, like the value of a put/call option as it nears expiry. It is easy to agree with Niall Ferguson but its also easy to disagree, especially as we get down inside his article in MO:
Monday, March 05, 2012
What's Ahead for the Middle Class, Dim Light, Long Tunnel / Politics / Social Issues
By: Gary_North
MarketWatch ran an article on the lack of optimism for the American job market. It offered no analysis of why the market is bad, but it made it clear that it is not likely to get better anytime soon.
The article focused on the job market since 2008. It included a chart on salaries since 1980. It has three categories: college graduates, high school dropouts, and total. The chart reveals that there has not been much improvement for a decade. The flat-lining of salaries began a decade ago, not in 2008.
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Friday, March 02, 2012
Google and the Death of Privacy / Politics / Social Issues
By: Jeff_Berwick
You may or may not be surprised to hear this but I am not a big "privacy buff". You've probably noticed this as I've regularly detailed the minutiea of my personal life here for a number of years. I'm certainly not one of those who would protest against Google StreetView for taking photos of public locations. Take all the photos you want, Google.
Friday, March 02, 2012
Modern Myths that Destroy Humanity / Politics / Social Issues
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
“All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” –Friedrich Nietzsche
I'd like to take this opportunity to comment on an oldie but a goodie from the Indian environmentalist, Vandan Shiva. In her brief article for Odewire, "Two myths that keep the world poor", Shiva tears apart the logic of Harvard economist and neoliberal (-feudal), economic "shock therapy" advocate Jeffrey Sachs with all the force one would expect from the God of destruction. It was in response to a book written by Sachs called The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time, which featured all the nonsensical arguments that “liberal progressives” like to spout off in magazines and on television these days.
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Friday, February 24, 2012
FBI and Mainstream Media Silencing the Critics / Politics / Social Issues
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
In 2010 the FBI invaded the homes of peace activists in several states and seized personal possessions in what the FBI--the lead orchestrator of fake “terrorist plots”--called an investigation of “activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”
Subpoenas were issued to compel antiwar protestors to testify before grand juries as prosecutors set about building their case that opposing Washington’s wars of aggression constitutes giving aid and comfort to terrorists. The purpose of the raids and grand jury subpoenas was to chill the anti-war movement into inaction.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
In Memory of David Coffin / sitenews / Social Issues
By: HRA_Advisory
David Coffin passed away unexpectedly on February 15th, 2012 at the young age of 56. Predeceased by his father Mervyn Coffin. He is survived and lovingly remembered by his mother Sandra Coffin and by his brothers Terry (Marlene), Ian (Myra) and Eric (Hilda) and by Meredith, Gaelan, Emma, Ben, Eric and Paul – the nieces and nephews he adored.
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Sunday, February 12, 2012
Unemployment, Foreclosures, Rising Debts and Despair: AMERICA'S SOCIAL CRISIS / Politics / Social Issues
By: Bob_Chapman
2012 is going to be a difficult year, but not as dreadful as anticipated. The neutralization process, as usual, we covered over by the availability of money and credit. We have already seen that via Fed $1 trillion loans to the ECB and the admission by the Fed that QE 3 is on the way. In Europe banks have borrowed $3.2 trillion and they find they will need $1 trillion more. These borrowings are more than troubling and indicate that there are 523 banks in Europe in serious trouble.
Monday, January 23, 2012
America's Great Divide Between Rich and Poor / Politics / Social Issues
By: Stephen_Lendman
In 1962, Michael Harrington's "The Other America" exposed the nation's dark side, saying:
"In morality and in justice, every citizen should be committed to abolishing the other America, for it is intolerable that the richest nation in human history should allow such needless suffering."
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Psychology of Tyranny for a Philosophy of Despotism / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
The underpinnings that fallaciously attempt to justify despotic regimes rely upon the perverted practice of controlling the public mindset in weak societies. The indisputable evidence that civilization is regressing at lightening speed is all us. Governments are becoming irrelevant with the passage of illegitimate authority consolidating into the hands of oligarchic cabals and global tyrants. An objective study of the voluntary abandonment of individual sovereignty is worthy of an entire scholarly discipline. However, before confused citizens seek psychoanalysis on a couch of technocrat design, the basic principles of a classical education should be applied.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Downward Social Mobility is Crushing the American Dream / Politics / Social Issues
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
Forget about getting ahead. For many in the middle class these days it's more about not sliding backwards.
It's called downward mobility and it's crushing the American Dream.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts, nearly one out of three U.S. citizens born into middle class households in the 1960s have lost their economic status.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Middle Class Disappears, Rise of the Praetorian Class / Politics / Social Issues
By: Casey_Research
Pete Kofod writes:
Much attention has been paid to the “disappearing middle class” and the “vanishing American Dream.” While the observations are largely accurate, they are also misleading. The traditional three-tier model of the upper, middle and lower class broadly categorizes people according to income and net worth. One significant problem with this model is that membership in any particular class is very much in the eye of the beholder. One man’s “scraping by” is another man’s “opulent living.” This subjective and arbitrary grouping and boundary assessment inevitably gives rise to the simmering class warfare that is starting to rear its ugly head in many Western countries. Such categorization is therefore meaningless at best, if not outright deceptive as it conflates a variety of economic actors.
Friday, January 13, 2012
If You're Out of Work Blame Your Cell Phone / Politics / Social Issues
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
Times are tough out there.
We would like to blame China, incompetent politicians, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the banking system, or some unseen forces for this phenomenon.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Shop the Local Merchant Economy / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
Buying at large box stores is a way of life for many consumers. Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target are routine locations to spend your hard-earned dollars on items of necessity. However, what happens to the profits when the sale is completed and the bills are paid? Does the money stay in the local community, where the transactions are generated, or are they filtered off to the treasury of public companies that dominate the economy? The pitiful answer, well known to the chagrin of the small business enterprises, is a prime reason why the middle class is vanishing. Read full article... Read full article...