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25006 [lbo-talk] Chomsky: USA "best country in the world" -- rank: 1000

Dennis Perrin wrote: >Actually, Chomsky's been pretty consistent over the years, in both his >written and oral output, about the many positive feelings he has about the >US, and there are many positive things about the US that -- surprise! -- >progressive forces have had a hand in creating. > >I don't think he's looking for rightwing converts. I think that's the way he >really feels. I think I've said before that one of the first times I ever talked to Noam, maybe 10-12 year ...

Document Size:	5944
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Nov 3 06:51:35 PST 2003

25007 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: -- rank: 1000

joanna bujes wrote: >They're net exporters of capital, they're arms markets, they're >dumping grounds, they're sources of cheap labor and raw materials; >they give the military practice opportunities. These are all true, but how important are they to profit-making in general? Total debt service was around $380 billion in 2001 (latest year availailable) - that compares to about $40-50 trillion total world product, $10-11 trillion U.S. alone. Doug

Document Size:	5190
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 19:04:22 PST 2003

25008 [lbo-talk] Chomsky: USA "best country in the world" -- rank: 1000

The conclusion of Deborah Solomon's obnoxious interview with Noam Chomsky in today's NYT Mag <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/02/magazine/02QUESTIONS.html>: >[Q] Have you considered leaving the United States permanently? > >[A] No. This is the best country in the world.

Document Size:	5048
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 17:21:37 PST 2003

25009 [lbo-talk] pain & development -- rank: 1000

Carrol Cox wrote: >It is fairly certain that the bulk of Africans lived better before 1800 >or 1850 than _the bulk_ of them have been living since. Generalizations >are _very_ difficult. Quoting myself from the excerpt from After the New Economy that will shortly appear in The Nation: >According to economic historian Angus Maddison's estimates, African >and U.S. incomes were roughly equal in 1600, but with >industrialization, they started diverging in earnest. U.S. incomes > ...

Document Size:	5191
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 17:05:57 PST 2003

25010 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: REVISITED -- rank: 1000

Jordan Hayes wrote: >You don't think that bringing Iraq back on-line as a major oil producer >is going to have some medium-to-long-term economic benefits? Some, but not that much. Doug

Document Size:	5002
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 16:18:36 PST 2003

25011 [lbo-talk] belief in God -- rank: 1000

[via Michael Pug] <http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/notbelieveingod/no tbelieveingod> Guess Who Doesn't Believe In God? Ten percent of Protestants, 21 percent of Roman Catholics, and 52 percent of Jews do NOT believe in God. That's the surprising word from a new survey by Harris Interactive of 2,306 adults that shows belief in God varies quite widely among different segments of the American public. How often do we go to a place of worship? Not much. Most people att ...

Document Size:	6999
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 16:17:53 PST 2003

25012 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: -- rank: 1000

joanna bujes wrote: >This is beyond debate. Just off the top of my head: African slave >labor in the U.S.; Coolie labor in the U.S.; the Duth and English >colonial empire; current Chinese coolie labor; the unending theft of >natural resources (gold/diamonds/oil/hardwoods/rare minerals); the >current economic (IMF) indentured servitude regime... Not historically - there's no question the colonies made Europe's takeoff possible. I'm talking about now - what is the contribution of th ...

Document Size:	5832
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 15:25:03 PST 2003

25013 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: REVISITED -- rank: 1000

BrownBingb at aol.com wrote: >CB: Why the U.S. wars on Iraq then ? Is it that the U.S. plutocrats >didn't think of what you are saying ? I've been saying all along that I don't think the war on Iraq made all that much sense, economically speaking. I didn't see any significant payoff, and the downside risks were huge. And as we're seeing, they turned out to be. Doug

Document Size:	5258
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 13:33:32 PST 2003

25014 [lbo-talk] Re: RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: -- rank: 1000

John Mage wrote: >but they can be overthrown, perhaps one way to understand what >is happening in Russia. Who's overthrowing them? The KGB gang around Putin? Or is there someone behind them? What is your analysis of all this, John? Doug

Document Size:	5011
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 13:27:05 PST 2003

25015 [lbo-talk] pain & development -- rank: 1000

BrownBingb at aol.com wrote: >What do you do with the fact that there is increased immiseration in >the human population as whole ? There are more poor people under >capitalism now than in Marx's day. Huh? You mean people lived longer and fewer women died in childbirth 150 years ago? You learn something new every day! Doug

Document Size:	4910
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 13:12:14 PST 2003

25016 [lbo-talk] FW: Help Defeat Question 3 -- rank: 1000

nathanne at nathannewman.org wrote: >There is little question that nonpartisan elections in New York will shift >politics to the right, especially at this point where progressives >actually are active within the primaries. I completely agree - I just don't see Bloomie's move as part of a national Republican strategy. I doubt Trent Lott or Tom DeLay would find him very congenial. Doug

Document Size:	5035
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 13:05:28 PST 2003

25017 [lbo-talk] progress in Iraq -- rank: 1000

[from a Reuters story on the downed helicopter] Some Iraqis were jubilant. "The Americans are pigs. We will hold a celebration because this helicopter went down -- a big celebration," said wheat farmer Saadoun Jaralla near the crash site. "The Americans are enemies of mankind."

Document Size:	4786
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 12:21:58 PST 2003

25018 [lbo-talk] Fwd: rally numbers -- rank: 1000

Chuck0 wrote: >Many activists have been critizing ANSWER's strategy for a long time. A friend who interviewed some ANSWER people recently for an article he was writing asked them who their contacts in Iraq were - i.e., wondering if they were talking to either of the two Communist parties, for example, who want to see a US-less UN-led peacekeeping force in the country, and don't support the simple "US out" position held by ANSWER. Their answer: no one, because their contacts are now ...

Document Size:	5178
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 12:03:10 PST 2003

25019 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: REVISITED -- rank: 1000

Michael Dawson wrote: >3. Rich capitalist countries are not dependent on super-exploiting the poor >ones. They do to some degree, but how much? I just don't know the answer to that, and would love to hear what other people think. Doug

Document Size:	5053
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 12:00:32 PST 2003

25020 [lbo-talk] RE HOW THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT IS BLOWING IT: REVISITED -- rank: 1000

Michael Dawson -PSU wrote: >I'm not talking just about that. I'm talking about propping up all the oil >despots, who serve to keep "our" oil out of "their" people's hands. I'm a little skeptical of this argument. If "they" got control of the oil, they'd still need to sell it to "us." They'd have a huge cash flow to deal with, and enormous temptations to siphon it off and/or invest it in London and New York. The material circumstances almost inevitab ...

Document Size:	5239
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Nov 2 11:43:51 PST 2003