Health Care:"Except Farmworkers"- Video
"EXCEPT FARMWORKERS" a documentary by Peter K. Monahan, 1994, (20 min). This documentary explores the exclusion of seasonal agricultural workers from the Washington State Universal Health Care Bill in 1993 and the subsequent struggle to include them. Reasons behind the initial exemption are discussed and support for their inclusion is presented. The Washington State Health Care plan is serving as a model for National legislation and other states. This video is an important educational tool in the struggle to prevent similar compromises. Order from Eastside Productions, 110 N. D St., Toppenish, WA 98948. Dear Penners, This new video has just become available on the exclusion of farmworkers from the Washington State Universal Health Care Bill. The video, "Except Farmworkers" was used in the Washington State Legislature in the struggle to include farmworkers. It is an excellent, short production which will be useful to community groups working on this and related worker issues. Please pass the information along to interested groups. Maurice Foisy Washington State Rainbow Coalition
Re: Health Care:"Except Farmworkers"- Video
A line was cut off of the announcement for the video: "Except Farmworkers". The video is available with a suggested donation of $20 to cover shipping and materials. Eastside Productions 110 N. D St. Toppenish, WA 98948
Re: Low Intensity RAce War
Sid or anyone else, I missed either the reference or the message. If missed, could someone please forward it? Thanks. Maury Foisy On Fri, 28 Oct 1994, D Shniad wrote: > Mike DAvis has a frightening article about what he describes as the > low intensity race war that's being waged against blacks, Latinos and > Asians in Orgne County, California. Sort of puts a perspective on > what's really happening today. > > Sid Shniad >
[PEN-L:3629] Re: Power and Method
An excellent, CONSISE, rundown argument of the politics entailed in social inquiry methodologies is Brian Fay,_Social Theory and Political Practice_, George Allen and Unwin,London, 1975. A 30 p chapter on positivism and technological politics is followed by a 20p critique then a 20 p. ch on interpretive methods and their politics, concluded with a 15 p ch showing how critical theory responds to both inquiry logics but avoids their dominative political tendencies in favor of a critical and potentially emanicpatory one. Chapters 2 & 3 would do what you want. And its clearly put. Unfortunately, its recently out of print. There are ways to deal with that problem though. I think its very much worth some trouble. On Fri, 6 Jan 1995, Marshall Feldman wrote: > Hi, > > I'm teaching a research methods course this spring, and one of the things > I do early on is to have the class understand the politics of methodology. > I would like to have a reading relating "scientific method" to the > development of 20th century capitalism (e.g. focusing on the rise of > big science, the relationship between positivism and the need to control > through indirect means, etc.). Can someone suggest something suitable? > > Thanks. > > Marsh Feldman > Community Planning Phone: 401/792-2248 > 204 Rodman Hall FAX: 401/792-4395 > University of Rhode Island Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Kingston, RI 02881-0815 > > "Marginality confers legitimacy on one's contrariness." >
[PEN-L:6268] Re: New book on Pope and CIA
On Thu, 19 Sep 1996, D Shniad wrote: > Does anyone have any information on the new book out about the ties > between the CIA and the Pope? > > Sid Shniad > No, but I recall one from several years ago "The Murder of John Paul I" which recounts (conspiracy) between the Secretariat's Cardinal Ottaviani and the Vatican Bank's Paul Marcincus to prevent John Paul's concern with morals from interfering with banking practices. I recall suggested connections with mafia and/or CIA. Interesting - my computer froze up after I typed CIA. Maury Foisy
pen-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu
On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Steele Jen, (PA) wrote: > > I am trying to put together a couple of lists relating to economic policy > and could use pen-l's help. > Among others, Andrea Durbin of Friends of the Earth, D.C. has been doing a great deal over the past year or so. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Maury Foisy Bellingham,WA
[PEN-L:9670] re: civil society
For anyone interested in the history of the development of the concept, see Norbert Elias, _The Civilizing Process_, Chapt 2, Sect 1, "The Development of the Concept of Civilite". The issue, in one broad view, e.g. that taken by Habermas in _The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere", is the issue of an historically specific understanding of the modern category, "publicness". See Craig Colhoun, _Habermas and the Public Sphere_, MIT Press, 1993. "The seventeenth- and eighteenth -century notion developed alongside the rise and transformation of the modern state, as well as on the basis of capitalist economic activity The modern state constituted the public as a specific realm again (as had the Greek polis). In the Middle ages , publicness had been more of a "status attribute". ... This was the heyday of "representative publicity," and lordship was represented "not for but'before' the people". Gradually, however, court society developed into the new sort of sociability of eighteenth-century salons. Aristocrats played leading roles in the early bourgeois public sphere.Habermas does not mean to suggest that what made the public sphere bourgeois was simply the class composition of its members. Rather, it was society that was bourgeois, and bourgeois society produced a certain form of public sphere." p.7, Calhoun "Civil society came into existence as the corralary of a depersonalized state authority. It became possible to recognize society in the relationships and organizations created for sustaining life and to bring these into public relevance by bringing them forward as interests for a public sidcussion and/or the action of the state. In this way a certain educated elite came to think of itself as constituting the public and thereby transformed the abstract notion of the publicum as counterpart to public authority into a much more concrete set of practices. The members of this elite public began to see themselves through this category not just as the object of state actions but as the opponent of public authority." p 8-9 Calhoun So Habermas sees "civil society" in the 18th C as a specifically bourgeois social formation in which the partipants saw themselves engaged in a discourse to determine the "public good". The importance of this occurence to Habermas is that the discourse was a rational-critical discourse on public affairs and possibly could serve as the basis for a possibly emerging democratic spoace in which the "systems" - market and state - may be steered and/or limited. Whether, and the manner in which 19 C. and subsequent expansion of the franchise and communications media would accommodate a genuine base for democratic discourse remained problematic. - Also whether it is an unproblematic model for democracy The relevance of the concept to democracy- a discourse which presumes to represent the people's will in guiding or in opposition to the state is ... Maurice Foisy Political Science Western Washington Univ. Bellingham, WA
[PEN-L:10271] Re: planning and democracy
I've been bothered by a conundrum of planning and democracy in the past decade or so. In our state (and evrywhere in the U.S.) when groups such as labor or the Democratic party attempt to rationalize the use of scarce resources - through targeting on winnable districts, etc.- the only perspective from which this makes sense is a centralized one, i.e. at the state level. The result has usually been that they fail or refuse to respond to grassroots support - focusing instead upon professionalized empirical indicators of success. Both the value committments and "tacit knowledge" which serves as a basis for local support become irrelevant or suspect. The result is much like management's typical disregard of "morale" as a factor in sucess. Do you think this is because the "rationality" we associate with planning is not genuinely democratic, i.e. based on value consensus achieved through discussion or is it something else? -- A more generalized statement of this practical problem is addressed in a couple of articles: Ray Kemp "Planning, Public Hearings and the Politics of Discourse" and John Forester, "Critical Theory and Planning Practice" in _Critical Theory and Public Life_, ed by John Forester, MIT Press, 1985 Maurice Foisy Political Science Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
[PEN-L:3133] Buchannan and brie
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 15:11:01 -0800 (PST) From: Ken Hoover <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Maurice Foisy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [PEN-L:3130] Re: French strike (fwd) Maury, From Maureen Dowd's article in the NYT 2/22/96, p. A19: "Pat Buchanan has a dual persona as well. The old Pat was a charter member of the media elite, known around Washington as a guy who liked chardonnay, cats, walks on the beach, W. H. Auden poetry, dark suits, free trade, Mecedes sedans, and Hermes ties, a guy who was afraid to drive in the snow and avoided the D.C. subway, who lives in a big house in a wealthy Virginia suburb. The new Pat is a sulfurous protectionist populist, fearlessly tromping in the snow in his new casual wardrobe of green parka, fuzzy sweater and Irish cap. He comes across as a boiler-maker and bowling alley guy, a working class boyo flirting with demagoguery, not a wonky cat-loving, chardonnay-sipping, poetry-reading suburbanite. But Mr. Buchanan has fun. He laughs demoniacally -- his face scrunched up with mischief and urges his supporters: "Mount up, everybody, and ride to the sound of the guns." So it goes...Ken
[PEN-L:3212] IPS:Capitalism Under Fire (fwd)
/* Written 6:12 AM Feb 29, 1996 by dgap in igc:econ.saps */ /* -- "IPS:Capitalism Under Fire" -- */ Copyright 1995 InterPress Service, all rights reserved. Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. *** 25-Feb-96 *** Title: US-ECONOMY: Big Business, Capitalism Under Fire By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (IPS) - Big business and global capitalism, the hallmark of the American way of life, are under attack in the United States for the first time in 20 years. Chief assailant, ironically, is the rightwing Republican Pat Buchanan whose presidential election against what he calls the Republican ''establishment'' threatens to split the so-called ''conservative'' movement. But new leaders in the battered U.S. labour movement, and even elements in President Bill Clinton's administration, also appear ready for a drive against the neo- liberal orthodoxy that has prevailed in Washington since Jimmy Carter's election as President in 1976. Some see this populist effervescence as the harbinger of a new political era, when government will once again be asked to tame the violence of the marketplace and revive strong civic institutions - as did the Progressive Movement in the early years of this century. Others simply see it as a dangerous reaction to major changes in world trade patterns and technology that have undermined the middle class and produced the widest gap between rich and poor in the industrialised world. They fear that Buchanan's brand of populism, in particular, could usher in a protectionist regime that will spur trade wars - and worse. Whatever the interpretation, however, the signs of a backlash against big business and global capitalism are everywhere. ''Bashing Big Business: Corporate America is at the centre of a split within the GOP (Grand Old Party)'' is the headline in this week's 'Business Week'. ''Corporate Killers'' screamed the cover of 'Newsweek' and the magazine, noting how Wall Street is bidding up corporations that are firing thousands of workers, warned that ''the layoffs have scared the pants off the public and stirred a political backlash.'' The question of corporate behaviour and responsibility has become a major issue in the presidential primaries and is being embraced by nearly all candidates, including Republican front- runner, Senate majority leader Robert Dole. Before losing to Buchanan in the New Hampshire primary election, Dole, a stalwart defender of business, noted that ''corporate profits are setting records, and so are corporate layoffs.'' A long-time advocate of free trade, Dole also has cautioned against new trade agreements, and even launched a process by which Washington could withdraw form the World Trade Organisation (WTO). For Buchanan, it's a question of ''Main Street'' versus ''Wall Street'' whose barons export American jobs abroad, organise costly taxpayer bailouts of big investors and foreign elites, and conspire to build a ''new world order'' that will end more than 200 years of national independence. It is Buchanan who is now spearheading the populist charge and frightening corporate executives who have long supported the Republican Party. ''He sounds like somebody from the AFL-CIO,'' observed Stuart Butler, director of domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, in a reference to the largest U.S. trade union federation. Indeed, Buchanan, who favours a fervent ''economic nationalism,'' is being accused by former right-wing allies of being everything from a ''liberal'' to a ''socialist'' in his campaign against Wall Street and free trade. A witty and practiced debater, the candidate himself seems to thrill to such attacks. Responding to one, by self-styled 'Tory' columnist George Will, last year, he quoted Karl Marx' observation that ''the protective system...is conservative, while the free trade system is destructive (and) hastens the social revolution.'' After the New Hampshire poll, he exulted: ''They can't figure out where we are - right, left, New Deal.'' He challenged the economic system directly. ''When go-go global capitalism is uprooting entire communities and families, I ask conservatives to figure out what it is we are trying to conserve.'' When he says conservatives, Buchanan clearly excludes the chieftains of international capital who, since the era of former President Dwight Eisenhower, have been pillars of Republicanism. ''This campaign is to make the Republican Party more representative of working men and women in America who are losing their jobs and the middle class, whose standard of living is falling,'' he said. While Buchanan's attacks on big business is dividing Republicans, a more subtle schism is developing within the Democratic Party and its traditional constituencies. Because Clinton has not been challenged for reelection by another Democrat, however, the split is kept behind closed doors. Conflict in the Democrat's ranks
[PEN-L:3288] Made in America?
A colleague in Sociology is teaching a segment on multinationals and asked me about the rules for putting "made in America" on products. She purchased some plastic hangers with a small print "made in Mexico" stamped in them and a large print tag on them, PROUDLY MADE IN AMERICA. Can anyuone suggest where I might get an answer if there is a general one? Maurice Foisy Bellingham
[PEN-L:11671] UPS strike and labor coverage (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 17:24:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Norman Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: UPS strike and labor coverage ADAM SMITH: TOO LEFT-WING FOR THE NETWORKS? By Norman Solomon \ Creators Syndicate Twenty reporters asked questions at Bill Clinton's news conference Wednesday afternoon on the White House lawn. One mentioned the nationwide UPS strike -- and zinged the president for failing to intervene against the walkout. "There are a lot of small businesses out there that are suffering right now as a result of this, and they see you standing by ... not really doing anything about it," said CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He added: "Some of your critics are saying that's because the labor unions supported you and the Democrats so overwhelmingly." Blitzer was echoing a familiar media tone. During a major strike, the damage to business is front-page news. But when workers are on the job, year in and year out, the adversity they face is a minor media matter. We're all familiar with tributes to the dignity of working people. Many politicians and pundits are adept at such lofty rhetoric. But the media follow-through is quite uneven. More than ever, big investors and top executives are on a pedestal. Typically, Newsweek began this month with a fawning cover story on "The New Rich." And it's not just a matter of news. Many ads glorify shrewd financiers and elite managers, portraying them as majestic creatures who soar above the rest of us. Writer Thomas Frank has commented that many TV commercials now "star the noble businessman, striding in slow motion across the tarmac at sunset; standing with arms akimbo atop his skyscraper and surveying his domain; relaxing in business class as the thoughtful stewardess gently sees to his needs." The exalted exec is often shown "performing miracles of pie-chart transmission or conference-calling from some improbable place," whether a golf course or an igloo. In sharp contrast, across the mass-media landscape, average workers hardly qualify as noble. Daily papers and hourly news broadcasts keep us well informed of stock-market trends and outlooks for investors. But details aren't nearly as profuse when it comes to what directly affects most of the nation's employees: job-security issues, eroding benefits and stressful working conditions. How often do we hear news updates on the extent of workplace safety? There would be plenty to report. A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that the rate of work- related injuries and illnesses is 13.2 million Americans per year -- along with 6,500 deaths. Meanwhile, media conglomerates are eager to curtail payrolls and benefits. So, for two years now in Detroit, 1,800 reporters and other newspaper workers have been on strike against the city's pair of dailies, owned by the huge Gannett and Knight- Ridder chains. This summer, a court ruling upheld charges that the management engaged in unfair labor practices. These days, news accounts are apt to depict the "cost" of the work force as an impediment to wealth creation. But, way back in the 1770s, Adam Smith openly declared that labor creates all wealth: "It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased." Smith was no champion of workers. One modern scholar calls him "the greatest of all conservative economists." Yet, in 1997, our country's journalistic tilt is so skewed that some of Adam Smith's key precepts would disqualify him from today's media mainstream. In "The Wealth of Nations," published 221 years ago, Smith wrote with realism about manufacturers and merchants. He described them as "men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it." Talk like that is a real turn-off for the producers who decide which political analysts belong on national television. Could Adam Smith get a job as a network TV pundit to talk about economic issues today? Would he be allowed to host a weekly PBS program on the economy? I doubt it. Too left-wing.
[PEN-L:1077] AFL-CIO/NED: Sources needed
I wonder if any on pen-l can help with resources (especially published ones) on two related topics: 1. The extent to which AFL-CIO orientation has moved away from AIFLD counter-subversion orientation in post-NAFTA period. Either in practice or in statements of contending leaders. 2. Any treatments of AFL-CIO participation in National Endowmwnt for Democracy - (I have the policy report of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs and Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center- "NED:A Foreign Policy Branch Gone Awry" and the July/ Aug '95 _Z_ article by Jim Smith). Any references specifically to Mexico would be appreciated. I have been interested since NAFTA first emerged to see change in policy direction and have (debate) students interested in developing a fuller case in connection with this year's national collegiate topic: that the U.S. should fundamentally change its foreign policy toward Mexico. Thanks for any help,Maury Foisy Political Science Western Washington University Bellingham
[PEN-L:1078] Conference - THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:16:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Donald Alper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Maurice Foisy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Molly Laster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Conference - THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION (fwd) Quite a line-up! Would be good to have proceedings. The stuff on uniting labor and the environment might be worth securing (Molly) in light of the Barrett project. -- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 17:32:07 -0700 From: Michael Howlett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Conference - THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION presents A PUBLIC TEACH-IN: The Social, Ecological, Cultural, and Political Costs of ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION Co-sponsoring organizations: Institute for Policy Studies, the Harriman Institute, the Learning Alliance, Public Citizen, People-Centered Development Forum, Third World Network, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Friends of the Earth U.S., Rainforest Action Network, Council of Canadians, The Ecologist, the Foundation on Economic Trends, the International Center for Technology Assessment, Equipo Pueblo, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Action Canada Network, Daybreak Magazine, Foundation for Deep Ecology, The Humane Society of the U.S., The Humane Society International, World Society for the Protection of Animals, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Program on Corportions, Law and Democracy, The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, International Rivers Network, Greenpeace U.S., ECOROPA, Redefining Progress, Chilean Ecological Action Network, International Society for Ecology and Culture, Cordillera Women's Education and Resource Center, Sierra Club. WHEN: November 10-12, 1995 WHERE: Columbia University New York, New York TICKETS AND INFORMATION: New York: The Learning Alliance 324 Lafayette St., 7th floor, New York. N.Y. 10012 Tel: 212-226-7171 Fax: 212-274-8712 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -or- San Francisco: The International Forum on Globalization 950 Lombard Street, San Francisco CA 94133 (415) 771-1102 THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION: The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) is a new alliance of leading activists, economists, researchers, and philosophers who have joined together to respond to the threats of economic globalization to the environment, communities, human rights, equity, and democracy. We believe the world's corporate and political leadership is undertaking a restructuring of global politics and economics that may be as historically significant as any event since the industrial revolution. If continued, this trend will have grave impacts on every aspect of human life, and on the natural world. This event is the first in a series to be held in the United States, Canada, and abroad, to focus increased attention on the major issues resulting from the rush to globalize. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 8 pm-11 pm International House, Davis Hall, 500 Riverside Drive, New York NY THE CRISIS OF GLOBALIZATION Ralph Nader, Public Citizen - The Assault on Democracy Vandana Shiva, Third World Network - Social and Ecological Impacts on the Third World David Korten, People-Centered Development Forum -The Failed Paradigms of Globalism Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians -NAFTA, and the Dismemberment of Canadian Sovereignty and Culture John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies -U.S. Politics and Corporate Domination Open discussion from the floor. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 9 am-7 pm Columbia University Altschul Auditorium, School of Internationall & Public Affairs 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY PANEL #1: REPORTS FROM THE PLANET Martin Khor, Third World Network -GATT: Neocolonialism in the Third World Sara Larrain, Chilean Ecological Action Network -NAFTA and Chile Agnes Bertrand, Institut d'Etude sur la Globalisation Economique, France -Resistance in the European Union Leah Wise, Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network -Internal Colonialism: The South in the North Carlos Heredia, Equipo Pueblo -NAFTA, the World Bank, and the Mexican Bailout Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Cordillera Women's Education and Resource Center -Globalization's Assault on Native Peoples Open discussion from floor PANEL #2: RELOCALIZATION, DECENTRALIZATION, ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBALIZATION Helena Norberg-Hodge, International Society for Ecology and Culture -The Pressure to Modernize Edward Goldsmith, The Ecologist magazine -The Need to Return to the Local Economy Colin Hines, Co-author, "The New Protectionism" -Th
[PEN-L:1194] Re: Quebec referendum -dum
Today's Seattle P-I article on the referendum (by David Crary-AP) has a tag "Other developments" "House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Quebec's separatist drive served as a warning for Americans. "Allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous", he said in Atlanta. "We should insist on English as a common language That's what binds us together". Maurice Foisy Western Washington Univ. Bellingham, WA
[PEN-L:1391] Mexican social services reform?
What could be worse than having newt shape up your social programs? Look south. /* Written 2:33 PM Nov 9, 1995 by [EMAIL PROTECTED] in igc:reg.mexico */ /* -- "Bulletin 47 Analysis" -- */ From: list PAZ EN MEXICO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> MEXPAZ: Bulletin # 47, Analysis November 8, 1995 Alliances for Whom? (Rural Relief/Social Security Pension Reform/Coup Rumors Rock Mexican Economy) On the heels of the announcement of the Alliance for Economic Recovery (Apre), the Zedillo government promulgated two more "alliances": the Alliance for Rural Areas (Alianza para el Campo, October 31) and the Alliance to Strengthen and Modernize Social Security (November 1). Meanwhile, rumors apparently emanating from New York--including an attempted coup d'etat in Mexico--shook financial markets here and abroad. Broadly, the objectives of the Alliance for Rural Areas are: increasing the profitability of the agricultural sector; combatting rural poverty; providing basic staples at low costs; and stimulating self-sufficiency in aliments. Among specific proposals are: - an agricultural budget increase in 1996 of 24% in nomimal terms (that is, 4% in real terms, if the government meets its overly optimistic goal of 20% inflation next year). According to Francisco Labastida Ochoa, Secretary of Agriculture, the budget will increase to 18 billion new pesos in absolute terms, and capitalization will include 30 billion new pesos in subsidies over the next five years (Reforma, November 2). - boost technological sophistication through, for example, a 20% subsidy to farmers who purchase tractors. (However, a 10% increase in the price of John Deere tractors reduces the subsidy by one-half right off the bat.) - alimentary sulf-sufficiency, particularly with respect to milk and meat, where the country imports 40% of its comsumption. Thus, ranchers and dairy farmers will receive the lion's share of the new subsidies, including supports of 40% in grass seeding, 35% in fertilization and irrigation systems, and 40% in storage plants for cold milk (El Economista, November 3). - increase fluidity of land transactions and the number of ways in which land can be transferred. The Alliance to Strengthen and Modernize Social Security is a 30- point document whose purpose is, essentially, to privatize the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS), taking the Chilean system as its model. The alliance's main points are: - transfer retirement pensions from collective funds to individual accounts; workers would then be able to choose among various small financial firms (and not banks) as fund administrators; - increase government contributions to Social Security, rather than increasing the burden on workers or employees. Currently 7% of a worker's salary goes into the system (2% for retirement, 5% for housing). Under the new plan, 4.5 of IMSS salary deductions would go towards retirement and old age reserves, and another 4.5% would be contributed by the government as a "social fee." (Reforma, November 2) - using the individual accounts to increase the level of domestic savings - reducing the "excessive" number of at-will, temporary employees. It is not clear if this will imply an increase in permanent positions with full benefits. However, the Secretary General of the Union of IMSS Employees assured that under no conditions would there be layoffs of unionized employees. - individual choice of family doctors Although foreign investors were quick to praise the new series of measures, criticism in Mexico was not long in forthcoming. The Alliance for Rural Areas has been criticized as basically a welfare program for those who least need it: ranchers and large agricultural producers. Also, and unlike Apre, no specific numerical goals have been set in terms of growth or prices. Although the figure of 18 billion new pesos for next year has been bandied about, there is no indication as to how this money will be allocated. The Social Security alliance, for its part, is basically a speculative gamble with pensioners' money. Despite assurances that the individual funds will be immune from market fluctuations, the Chilean experience demonstrates that such funds are indeed vulnerable. Although initially profitable, Chilean pensions have been jeopardized by the "tequila effect" that the Mexican crisis has precipitated in Latin America (Proceso, November 6). Furthermore, the new privatization plan endangers the historical rationale for Social Security: a graduated redistribution scheme which promotes intergenerational solidarity through collectivization of funds. Lastly, Zedillo is looking to Social Security money as a cash cow in a currency-starved country, apparently not willing to risk private sector profits. Both pacts suffer from the same traditional defects: those whom they will impact most had absolutely no say in the matter. The demands of small farmers represented by independent camp
[PEN-L:1470] Jobs with Justice/Boeing web site
Check out the Jobs With Justice/Boeing Machinists Strike Support Page: http://www.igc.apc.org/jwj-boeing/ JwJ e-mail is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Maury Foisy Bellingham Jobs with Justice
[PEN-L:2134] Politics of Trade: need resources
Greetings Penners, I'm going to be teaching a class on the politics of trade this winter. Primary focus on Canada,Mexico and U.S. Am inclined to Grinspun and Cameron's "The Political Economy of NA Free Trade" and am aware of the new Monthly Review NACLA reader. Would be interested in any new readers/ books out. (I've already got Lustig,Bosworth,et al, but) Also: any articles on politics of culture, especially Canadian and Mexican and any broad, current things on EC. A tall request but if you can help with any part of it with suggestions, I'd appreciate them. Happy Holidays. Maury Foisy/Pol.Sci./Western WA Univ/Bellingham. WA
