Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Myth of the Middle Class

Welcome to Washington, DC - the US capital.  In this tale of two cities (Northwest and Southeast DC), the median income disparities could hardly be greater ($29k vs. $140k).  Yet residents in both Georgetown and Anacostia regard themselves as "middle class."  Why?




This fine RT report rightly points out that real wages are stagnant or declining in all income sectors except the very top - yet does not address the underlying mythology behind the "middle class" in America.  In some sense, the notion that the growing levels of wealth depreciation and poverty have not disrupted the "average American" is a necessary illusion; the masses will be kept subservient and docile so long as they believe that they are, relatively speaking, doing just fine.  Only a few "fringe" politicians and economists are wiling to admit that the center is falling out of America, creating an inverted bell curve of the have and have-nots.  So long as most Americans believe they are "middle class," they will concede ever greater wealth and power to a small group of elites who continue to widen the disparities in income (at the expense of everyone else).

Monday, May 23, 2011

Let me call this one right now: Ron Paul won't get the GOP nomination and the broad swath of Republicans who support him will be furious with Fox News' desperate 24/7 marginalization of the most popular candidate in the race.  What Fox News does is disgraceful to begin with, but it is even more clear when trying to shape a particular ideology within its own party allegiances.




Sunday, May 22, 2011

The rapture claimed victims

There are real faces behind the tragedy of belief without evidence.  The fraudulent claim that the world was coming to an end of May 21st, 2011 is the most recent example. YouTuber Askegg shows us just a few people whose lives have been deeply compromised by uncritical religious beliefs:

Sunday, May 15, 2011

America: One Nation Imprisoned?

QUESTION: is a disproportionate number of American citizens in jail because they are inherently more criminal or because the American government has invented more crimes?

I saw this on the Metro at National Airport in DC.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Evolution: it's not a controversy.


Having interviewed Eugenie Scott (source) earlier this year, I know about Project Steve and think it to be a brilliant rhetorical campaign to demonstrate how foundational evolutionary biology is to modern science.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Ron Paul's first 2012 Republican Presidential Primary

Amidst all the silliness of Gingrich, Palin, Bachmann, Santorum, and Trump, Ron Paul will single-handedly make the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary an exciting and engaging process for me... and maybe you, too!





If the GOP is smart - and they usually aren't, they will realize that far more progressives will vote for Ron Paul than anyone else their party could run. Meanwhile, it is highly unlikely that any Republicans will vote for Obama because Paul's positions are too extreme. Then again, many Republicans seem to want to continue wars, keep Guantanamo open, and endorse the Fed's fiscal policies - in which case Obama could earn their vote!