[Marxism] More Helen Clark lying to be UN secretary-general

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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I think Helen Clark, the NZ candidate for secretary-general of the United
nations, has been dissembling so long she can't the difference between fact
and fiction.  The other she presented herself as being a friend of refugees.

Actually, her track record as NZ prime minister for 9 years shows the
opposite.

https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/the-reign-of-helen-clark/
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Re: [Marxism] Adolph Reed: master of Marxism-Clintonism | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[MM via Marxism]

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> On Jul 13, 2016, at 1:18 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism 
>  wrote:
> 
> Reed’s ideological profile is very much based on class orthodoxy bordering on 
> workerism. To what extent his Marxism retains some of his early Trotskyist 
> training is open to question. Reed was a member of the Atlanta Young 
> Socialist Alliance in the late 60s and smart enough to drop out long before 
> he was transformed into a loyal cult member like me.
> 
> That class orthodoxy leads him to embrace positions


Two points:

1. There’s some useful analysis in this piece, but it is marred by the 
unnecessary psychologizing about why Reed takes the positions he does, which 
borders on ad hominem.. Play the ball. 

2. The caricature of "Ford Foundation officers” “burning the midnight oil” is a 
good example of irrational anti-conspiracism. Those interested in understanding 
the role of the major foundations in subverting structural analyses of power in 
relation to racial oppression in the U.S. — by funding the production of 
“research” that entrenched an alternative frame focused on individual attitudes 
— should read Leah Gordon’s, "From Power to Prejudice: The Rise of Racial 
Individualism in Midcentury America”: 
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo19705255.html 



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[Marxism] Interview with British firefighters' union organiser on British working class, Brexit vote and much more

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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Interview with Paul Embery, a former firefighter and currently London
regional organiser of the Fire Brigades Union.  I think it's a really
interesting interview (although I'm biased of course!).

Interview: British firefighter organiser Paul Embery on firefighters'
issues, the state of the working class and the Brexit vote:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/interview-british-firefighter-organiser-paul-embery-on-firefighters-issues-the-state-of-the-british-working-class-and-the-brexit-vote/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Misusing German history to scare up votes for Hillary Clinton | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Over the last week or so, I have read two articles that offer a highly 
distorted version of events leading up to Hitler’s seizure of power that 
are put forward in order to help elect Hillary Clinton.


full: 
https://louisproyect.org/2016/07/14/misusing-german-history-to-scare-up-votes-for-hillary-clinton/

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Clinton Endorsement Backfires: Sanders’ Supporters Look to Jill Stein | Observer

[Sheldon Ranz via Marxism]

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"Sanders has betrayed the hopes of the Bernie Army"

No, he has not.  He has maintained from the outset of the race that he
would support the Democratic nominee.  He kept his word, proving that
unlike most elected officials, he is honest.  Most of the "Bernie Army"
supported him precsiely because his honesty set him apart from the rest.

On Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 1:14 AM, Gary MacLennan via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Sanders has betrayed the hopes of the Bernie Army.  But he is only a symbol
> that the built their hopes upon.  He can easily be replaced. Hopefully,
> they will have learned not to put their trust in princes!
>
> comradely
>
> Gary
>
> On Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 5:51 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> http://observer.com/2016/07/clinton-endorsement-backfires-as-sanders-supporters-look-to-jill-stein/
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[Marxism] A Haircut for French Taxpayers? Hollande’s $10,000-a-Month Stylist Is Revealed

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times, July 14 2016
A Haircut for French Taxpayers? Hollande’s $10,000-a-Month Stylist Is 
Revealed

By AURELIEN BREEDEN

President François Hollande, center left, at the Élysée Palace in Paris 
after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Credit Charles Platiau/Reuters

PARIS — As heads of state go, this one appears to be quite expensive.

The investigative and satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné reported on 
Wednesday that President François Hollande’s personal hairdresser has 
been paid 9,895 euros — over $10,000 — per month since Mr. Hollande was 
elected in 2012, about the same amount as a government minister’s salary.


The report is especially jarring for Mr. Hollande, 61, a Socialist who 
campaigned on the promise that he would be a “normal” and exemplary 
president but who has seen his private life spill into the open on 
several occasions.


It would be hard for Mr. Hollande to be less popular. His approval 
ratings, while receiving a bump from the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, 
have been persistently low. He has been forced to agree to a primary 
among left-leaning parties, including his own Socialists, to settle on a 
candidate for president next year — a first for a sitting president.


Mr. Hollande has not managed to deliver on his promise to significantly 
lower unemployment, especially among young people. His government has 
faced months of street protests over an unpopular bill to loosen 
France’s rigid labor laws. And he faces a potential challenge from his 
economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, who has hinted that he may run for 
president next year.


The new controversy — the hashtag #CoiffeurGate, “coiffeur” being French 
for hairdresser, was a trending topic on Twitter on Wednesday — could 
contribute to the image as a president who is out of touch.


Mr. Hollande is certainly not the first politician to encounter problems 
with hairdressing.


In 1993, two of Los Angeles International Airport’s runways were shut 
for nearly an hour so that President Bill Clinton’s Beverly Hills 
hairstylist could come aboard Air Force One to give him a haircut. In 
2007, John Edwards, a former senator, had to reimburse his presidential 
campaign $800 to cover the cost of two haircuts. The Republican 
vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin spent tens of thousands of dollars 
on hair and makeup in the homestretch of her 2008 campaign.


In France, opposition center-right and far-right parties were, 
unsurprisingly, critical of Mr. Hollande, and while reactions in his own 
party were more muted, some struck a harsher tone.


“That’s a lot of money for a hairdresser, and for the French in 
general,” Thierry Mandon, the junior minister for higher education and 
research, told the LCP news channel. “For many people in France that 
really, really, really is a lot of money.”


Still, the revelations have yet to morph into a full-blown political 
scandal in France, where the financial excesses or abuses of politicians 
are sometimes met with a shrug. On Twitter, French observers expressed a 
mixture of amusement and outrage.


“When my 2,600 euros of income tax represent one week of the 
hairdresser’s salary #CoiffeurGate #shameful,” one user wrote. 
“#CoiffeurGate — ah, now I finally understand the expression ‘budgetary 
cuts,’” mused another. Some photoshopped royal wigs, mullets or toupées 
onto the French president’s sparsely adorned head.


The hairdresser, identified by Le Canard Enchaîné only as Olivier B., 
was first mentioned in a book by two French journalists published in 
April that aimed to give a behind-the-scenes look at the Élysée Palace, 
the presidential residence.


The book identified the hairdresser as Olivier Benhamou, and said that 
his monthly salary was 8,000 euros. When the tabloid magazine Closer 
wrote an article using that information, Mr. Benhamou sued them; that 
case is pending.


The work contract Mr. Benhamou signed with the Élysée Palace was 
recently introduced as evidence in a French court as part of that case, 
and was obtained by Le Canard Enchaîné, which used it as the basis of 
its report.


The contract was signed by Mr. Hollande’s former chief of staff. It is 
unclear whether Mr. Hollande knew how much the hairdresser is paid. On 
Wednesday evening, Valérie Trierweiler, Mr. Hollande’s former companion, 
wrote on Twitter: “Let’s be fair: F. Hollande was not aware of the 
hairdresser’s salary. I can attest to his anger when he learned about it 
later.”


The Élysée Palace confirmed the report, telling Le Canard Enchaîné that 
Mr. Benhamou started his days very early and that “he redoes the 
president’s hair every morning and as much as needed, for each 

[Marxism] In Advanced Economies, Two-Thirds of Population Have Seen Incomes Stagnate, Study Shows

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Wall Street Journal, July 14 2016
In Advanced Economies, Two-Thirds of Population Have Seen Incomes 
Stagnate, Study Shows

By JOSH ZUMBRUN

Across 25 of the world’s advanced economies, about two-thirds of the 
population—more than half a billion people—earn the same as or less than 
their peers did a decade ago.


Between 540 million and 580 million people in 2014 had lower or stagnant 
incomes than similarly situated people in 2005, according to a new study 
from the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the global 
consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The finding presents a break from the 
trend in advanced economies during the post-World War II era when, 
throughout twists and turns, most families ended up improving on the 
standard of living of their predecessors.


“Prior to the financial crisis, all but 2% of people in the Western 
world ended up better off than people like them 10 years ago,” said 
Richard Dobbs, a McKinsey senior partner and one of the report’s 
authors. “But the world changes when you get a cohort of people who are 
no longer advancing.”


The study highlights the extent of the fallout from the financial bubble 
and global crisis it left behind. Incomes a decade ago were boosted by 
that unsustainable bubble, and the ensuing financial crisis plunged the 
global economy into a recession from which it has yet to fully recover.


The damage helps explain why many voters are rejecting the established 
political order, as seen in the U.K.’s vote to exit the European Union, 
in the embrace of nationalist political parties, or the hunger for 
candidates removed from the political establishment as seen in the 
Republican and Democratic presidential races in the U.S.


McKinsey surveyed households in the U.K., France and the U.S. In these 
countries, 30% to 40% of people said their incomes hadn’t advanced, 
indicating that even if transfers and taxes have allowed some families 
to improve statistically, many still yearn for higher incomes. These 
households expressed sharply negative views about trade and immigration.


Research into income inequality has often focused on the earnings of 
those at the very top, such as the work by French economist Thomas 
Piketty, who has highlighted the growing wealth and incomes of the top 
1%. Other approaches to measuring inequality include that of the U.S. 
Census Bureau, which regularly produces data on the share of the 
population in poverty and a measure of inequality known as the Gini 
coefficient. The Pew Research Center has highlighted the shrinking 
number of people earning incomes near the median.


Other researchers, such as Stanford University’s Raj Chetty, have looked 
at whether people born in the lowest quintile of society rise to higher 
quintiles —which would require people at higher levels falling down. The 
McKinsey study sought to distinguish itself by comparing households of 
today to households at the same place in the income distribution a 
decade ago.


These aren’t the same households; new households have formed, young 
workers have entered the workforce, middle-aged workers advanced in 
their careers and recent retirees left the workforce. But overall, most 
income percentiles are lower today than a decade ago.


The report highlights that one consequence, if these current trends 
aren’t reversed, is that “today’s younger generation is at risk of 
ending up poorer than their parents.”


Across the advanced world, about one-third of households bucked the 
trend. Those households varied across countries. In the U.K., for 
instance, the poorest 30% of households advanced. In the Netherlands, 
the poorest 10% and top 20% advanced. In Italy, households across the 
income spectrum lost ground.


In the U.S., households from the 80th to 95th percentile gained, 
underscoring the extent to which America’s upper middle class has 
thrived. Households from the 60th to 80th percentile were little 
changed. Households in the bottom 60% lost ground, as did those at the 
very top. To be sure, these households earn dramatically more than those 
at the median, but most of those gains occurred before the recession, 
and hadn’t been fully regained as of 2014 by this measure.


Governments in most advanced countries have cushioned the declines, at 
least in part. When measured in terms of disposable incomes, after taxes 
and transfers, disposable incomes were lower for only 20% to 25% of 
households.


With slow economic growth, and potential disruptions from the aging of 
the workforce and workplace automation, McKinsey cautioned these trends 
could continue in the decade ahead, and that most households in advanced 
economies 

[Marxism] Fwd: How Bernie spent his millions was anything but revolutionary.

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The organizer, who said he spent almost a year working full-time to 
promote Sanders’ movement, told Slate, “The extent to which this 
campaign was not innovative, but actually did the traditional kind of 
campaigning … that’s kind of the hidden side of things.” He said that 
the campaign failed to take full advantage of the grass-roots 
“revolution” it sparked. One of the myriad volunteer groups that sprang 
up across the country, People for Bernie, which was organized by 
veterans of the Occupy movement, claimed to have generated more than 2.5 
billion engagements online. People for Bernie said activists organized 
over 150 events “around the country before the official campaign had an 
events tool,” and that “the people from those events formed the backbone 
of volunteer run efforts across the country.”


But after the New York organizer and his team spent months canvassing, 
they went to the campaign with their voter data—which Sanders’ paid 
staffers didn’t integrate into their own database. “Not only didn’t they 
have staffing in place in most states until like three or four weeks 
before [the vote],” the organizer said, “but they also didn’t have 
staffing at headquarters who were in charge of dealing with the massive 
grassroots energy that was taking place in states. So, OK, maybe you 
haven’t hired staff in New York three months out, but at least have 
someone for us to talk to, so that we can be coordinated and seamlessly 
transition from a volunteer-based operation to working closely with paid 
campaign staff. And I would say that was a point of failure for the 
campaign not just once, but again and again.”


full: 
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/how_bernie_spent_his_millions_was_anything_but_revolutionary.html

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[Marxism] Fwd: Syrian rebels stunned as Turkey signals normalisation of Damascus relations | World news | The Guardian

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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So Erdogan is patching things up with Assad in order to tighten the 
screws on the Kurds. If there was ever a case to be made on the need for 
a revolutionary movement that transcended ethnic and religious 
differences, it is this naked Machiavellian maneuver.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/13/turkey-pm-greatest-goal-is-to-improve-relations-with-syria-and-iraq
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[Marxism] Fwd: Brexit, TTIP and TTP | Michael Roberts Blog

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The idea that ‘free trade’ is beneficial to all countries and to all 
classes is a ‘sacred tenet’ of mainstream economics.  In his new book, 
Capitalism, Anwar Shaikh (Chapter 11), analyses in detail the fallacious 
proposition that if each country concentrated on producing goods or 
services where it has a ‘comparative advantage’ over others (so its 
‘comparative costs’ were lower), then all would benefit.  Trading 
between countries would balance and wages and employment would be maximised.


Shaikh shows that this is not only demonstrably untrue (countries run 
huge trade deficits and surpluses for long periods; have recurring 
currency crises; and workers lose jobs from competition from abroad 
without getting new ones from more competitive sectors).  Shaikh also 
explains why: namely that it is not comparative advantage or costs that 
drives trade, but the absolute costs.  If Chinese labour costs are much 
lower than American companies’ labour costs in any market, then China 
will gain market share, even if America has some so-called ‘comparative 
advantage’. What really decides is the productivity level and growth in 
an economy and the cost of labour: “free trade will lead to persistent 
trade surpluses for countries whose capitals have lower costs and 
persistent trade deficits for those whose capital has higher costs”. 
(Shaikh p 514).


full: https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/brexit-ttip-and-ttp/
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