Saturday, May 12, 2018

Paul Craig Roberts - Trump Is A Disaster

Trump is a disaster for the environment, for wildlife, and for human life.
Trump has handed over to polluters oil and mineral rights in US National Monuments. Mining will now deface what was before Trump protected national monuments, and oil drilling will destroy the Arctic National Refuge. He has appointed polluters to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and he has waived rules in order to comply with the polluting industries’ wish list.
Trump wants to cut EPA funding by 23 percent and to cut funding for restoration programs for the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay by 90 percent. He wants to pay for the upkeep of national parks by expanding oil and gas exploration on public lands. But he doesn’t hesitate to send the equivalent of the annual environmental budget in war criminal missile attacks on Syria and plans for attacking Iran.
To be quite clear, Trump is privatizing national property and allowing a small handful of polluting corporations to plunder public assets while he builds a case for war against Iran.
The assault on the environment started with VP Dick Cheney, but Trump has unleashed private plunder of public assets to an extreme degree.
No one has ever explained how assets owned by the American people can be turned over to a few friends and supporters of the ruling elite in Washington. In what law does the power exist for a president or federal agency chairman to expropriate public assets for plunder by politically connected friends?

17 comments:

Konrad said...

The disaster is not only Trump, but all of politics today; indeed all of American society.

On one side is Trump who wants to serve Israel, join the TPP, and kick people off the Food Stamps that benefit the entire economy, not just the direct recipients.

On the other side is Russia-gate, gassing hoaxes, poisoning hoaxes, political correctness, and the war on white heterosexual males, in which EVERYTHING is saturated with “white privilege” and “toxic masculinity.” This side is what drives people into the hairy arms of the orange orangutan. Their madness gave us the madness that is Trump. (Hillary was just as bad.)

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS WRITES: “Trump is privatizing national property and allowing a small handful of polluting corporations to plunder public assets while he builds a case for war against Iran.”

Of course, since Trump is a neoliberal. So was Hillary and Obama. Sanders is too, but at least Sanders pretends to oppose neoliberalism.

For example, Sanders supports universal health care and a jobs guarantee at the state level, where Sanders knows it will never work, since states are revenue-constrained. But at least Sanders pretends.

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS WRITES: “Existing law prevents the environmental looting, but law means nothing to Washington.”

On the contrary, law means everything to Washington. The law of money. Likewise, democracy means everything to Washington. One dollar in bribes equals one vote. Millions of dollars in bribes equals millions of votes. This is pure democracy. Remember, corporations are people too.

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS WRITES: “The people everywhere in the western ‘democracies’ are powerless. They are never allowed to elect anyone who would do the right things.”

The masses are powerless because they choose to be. Most people claim that they don’t believe the corporate media outlets, but in fact most people choose to believe almost everything they are told. If the corporate media outlets call someone a “dictator,” then the masses do the same. If the corporate media outlets call a populist a “Nazi” (e.g. Marine Le Pen) the masses do the same. Not all the masses, but enough to cripple the herd.

Rather than unite against political corruption, the masses choose to bicker over “gay rights,” “toxic masculinity,” and #MeToo. Rather than walk out of their prison cell whose door is always open, they choose to blame each other for being in the cell in the first place. The cell itself is sustained by their bickering.

The 1% rule the 99% because the 99% insist on it. They choose to be slaves. As I said before, no matter how much you are abused, exploited, and made to work against your will, you do not become a slave until you choose to believe your tormentor’s lies. The master may own your body, but you do not become a slave until you let your master own your mind. Slavery is a choice.

Among average people, the Trump crowd and the anti-Trump crowd are all slaves of the rich. They think what they are told to think, and they bark when they are ordered to bark.

Pavlov would be proud.

Tom Hickey said...

For example, Sanders supports universal health care and a jobs guarantee at the state level, where Sanders knows it will never work, since states are revenue-constrained. But at least Sanders pretends.

Works if the federal government funds and states (and municipalities) administer. I assume that Sanders knows this since Stephanie Kelton explained it to him, and I take that to be his meaning and intent.

Konrad said...

If that is his meaning and intent, I wish Sanders would say so.

People cheer for such things at the level of state government, which is revenue constrained. But at the level of the U.S. federal government, which can create infinite money out of thin air, the masses and elitists all shout, "How will you pay for it?"

Konrad said...

Make no mistake: the oligarchs who own the corporate media outlets fully understand MMT.

For example, when someone suggests a social program at the federal level, where there is infinite money, the corporate media outlets immediately nip it in the bud by asking, “How will you pay for it?”

By contrast, when someone suggests a social program at the state level, the corporate media outlets let it stand, since it generates controversy, and thereby “sells copy.”

When the state-level program inevitably fails from lack of funding, the masses feel more hopeless than ever.

And the oligarchs smile.

Tom Hickey said...

I am pretty sure that Sanders understands the MMT point of view at least somewhat anyway. It also seems clear that he regards it impolitic to spring it all at once and he is a pretty experienced politician who knows what it takes to get elected and reelected.

There's a whole lot invested in making the voting public stupid and kept stupid so TPTB can continue to dupe the rubes.

Noah Way said...

The "moderate" branch of the MIC fronted by BO (assassination by drone; invasion of Syria; overthrows of Ukraine and Libya; bombing of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somali; etc.) has been ousted.

The radical branch of the MIC formerly fronted by Bush (killed the ABM treaty, invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, instituted radical increases in military budgets, etc.) is back in control.

Meanwhile "defense" contractors and Wall St. are happy either way and the left-wing of the neocon party (DEM) is using right-wing neocon party (REP) tactics in an attempt to regain power.

Almost makes one miss the "moderate" neocons ...

Matt Franko said...

You guys are misreading Trump because you didn’t vote for him...

Matt Franko said...

Here Trump already got a nibble from Iran this week:

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/995001619258527746

Let's see how NK goes... if that deal settles then its on to Iran...

Khamenei looks like he is taking the bait.... Trump will get him on the hook...

Noah Way said...

Franko, you put the #bigly in #stupid.

Tom Hickey said...

Matt, maybe your misreading him because you voted for him.

But I agree that in the end everyone would prefer a deal rather than war, excepting the US crazies like Bolton and the Zionist crazies in Israel, who should be distinguished from Israelis in general. DJT is savvy on this.

Noah Way said...

If Trump is savvy then Franko is Stephen Hawking.

Sorry Tom but I'm not with you on this. Savvy about his own short-term survival, maybe. It's not like he has much choice.

Matt Franko said...

You don’t understand who you don’t vote for...

I never understood the Obama people... I understand Trump though...

Tom that whole “Armageddon “ thing is not an Israel idea that comes from Christendom.. it’s the John Hagee wing of Christendom...

Israel will take political advantage of it if they can and have been imo....

I just see our national interests in MENA deminishing quickly ..not Europe though and Trump is trying to hand it off back to Europe imo...

Europe is not up to the job... so if we leave MENA and Europe can’t get the job done then Israel is going to be left hanging...



GLH said...

Matt, I voted for Obummer one time and for Trump one time and I think that they are both shits. I'm with the other guys.

Konrad said...

"You don’t understand who you don’t vote for."

I see.

Therefore everyone who voted for Trump didn't understand Hillary.

Brilliant as always.

Matt Franko said...

Well I certainly don’t understand Hillary....

GLH then you have a different understanding is all...

Watch your use of figures of speech towards what you don’t understand.... they are a tip off ..

If you don’t understand Trump you would say “he’s an asshole” .... or as I would say “Hillary is a witch”.... or these disgraced nations are “USD zombies” as I don’t understand them...

Matt Franko said...

PCR here “Trump is a disaster”... he doesn’t understand Trump...

Noah Way said...

"You don’t understand who you don’t vote for..."

More nonsense. To the contrary, many people who voted "for" Trump were voting against Hillary because they understood very well what she represents. And vice versa - many who voted "for" Hillary did so despite that to try to keep tRump out.

For decades elections have largely been about voting the bums out. Unfortunately there are only bums to replace them. The common expression is 'hold your nose and vote'.