Social Justice Writer

The Man Who Created the Voter Fraud Myth

2012-10-22T17:41:00.001-07:00

The New Yorker has an excellent story about the current frenzy about voter fraud that Republicans get so worked up over, and the man behind it. Check it out, tell me what you think. Is voter fraud a problem, or are Republican solutions cures for an illness that doesn't exist?

What Henry George Can Teach Us

2012-10-22T17:21:00.003-07:00

I stumbled upon a post by Huffington Post blogger Chrystia Freeland today about 19th century economist and intellectual figure Henry George. I think his most well-known book, Progress and Poverty should be reexamined. I put it on my goodreads.com "to read" list. The book is in the public domain and the full text can be found online here.

The Persecuted Rich

2012-09-25T15:00:00.002-07:00

A good story in NYMAG with lots of nice graphs:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/fantasy-world-of-the-persecuted-rich.html

Politics on Facebook

2012-09-24T19:05:00.001-07:00

No Caption Needed

2012-09-24T10:39:00.003-07:00

The perils of writing about politics on Facebook

2012-09-22T07:32:00.001-07:00

Pretty funny:

The perils of writing about politics on Facebook

Voting Wrongs by Elizabeth Drew | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

2012-09-22T07:27:00.001-07:00

A good article about voter suppression attempts by the GOP:

Voting Wrongs by Elizabeth Drew | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

SNL Cold Open

2012-09-21T13:58:00.002-07:00

This is pretty funny, although maybe a little over the top.

Paul Krugman's Op-ed in today's New York Times

2012-09-21T13:55:00.003-07:00

Paul Krugman's NYT op-ed.

Review: Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman

2012-05-02T12:09:00.001-07:00

The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Conscience of a Liberal gives a political and economic history of the twentieth century, highlighting the way economic inequality has been shaped by political activism by far-right "movement conservatives," who got their start in the 1960s but didn't come to political power until the 1980s.

The Good: Krugman's book is well argued and written for a general audience. You don't have to have ever taken an economics class to understand his arguments and conclusion. Krugman goes into a lot of detail showing how "movement conservatism" has aimed to repeal the FDR's New Deal and create a new Gilded Age of economic inequality and has used race issues as a primary distraction, while promoting economic ideas that favor the wealthiest Americans and hurt most voters. It isn't possible to do these arguments justice in a short review. I recommend Conscience of a Liberal because it presents these arguments in ways that are both easy to understand and historically comprehensive.

The Bad: Conscience of a Liberal seems dated now. Written in 2007, it doesn't reflect the rise of the Tea Party, Occupy Wall-Street, Citizens United or the dominance of austerity rhetoric currently floating around. That being said, I think a lot of these events fit in line with Krugman's general premises.

As I said before, Conscience of a Liberal is written for a general audience, so a lot of the criticism against it has been that it is weaker on economic arguments and overtly political. However, this is the entire premise of the book: that political conditions have a great sway over the economy, particularly when it comes to inequality.

The Bottom Line: Conscience of a Liberal is a great book that details the rise of economic inequality and the main reason behind it.

Paul Krugman on Economics

2012-05-02T09:07:00.001-07:00

John Steinbeck Biography

2012-04-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

I just wrote a short biography of novelist John Steinbeck on my other blog: Trevorkidd.com. He deserves mention for his constant concern for the people in the lowest orders of the social and economic spheres. Read it here.

2012-04-13T20:26:00.002-07:00

Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future by Robert B. Reich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Robert Reich's book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future is sectioned into three parts. In the first two sections, Reich offers arguments for why America's growing inequality is bad. The third offers ideas for fixing it.

Part one argues that growing inequality makes it impossible for America's middle class to consume as much as they produce without going into debt. The reason for the 2008 meltdown, he argues, was not that Americans had merely spent beyond their means or that Wall Street speculators had trashed the economy, though these he argues are true. Rather, "their (middle class Americans) means had not kept up with what the larger economy could and should have been able to provide them." This is the reason behind the economic collapse.

Part one is the best section of the book. Reich's analysis is concise, though well supported. The argumentation is spot on. He makes strong points, develops them and supports them without wandering too far from his central thesis. He doesn't simplify things, but manages to explain them well.

Part two argues that growing inequality will have dangerous social implications if nothing is done to change its direction. This section begins with a thought experiment involving a fictional future party of populist radicals. The argument he makes here is that capitalism has to be saved from itself. If the middle class can't achieve the things they used to, radicals will harness their populist anger and the end result will be the destruction of the economy and capitalism.

The specifics of this thought experiment are a little silly, though not entirely implausible. It's also a drawback that he lumps all of the populist anger together into one category. That's a little insulting to middle class intelligence actually, but maybe he is right. In any case, his main point that capitalism needs to be saved from itself is poignant.

Part three cobbles together a lot of small possible solutions, notably changes to tax codes, getting money out of politics and a complete expansion of medicare.

The drawback to section three is that there isn't a lot of connection among the small solutions he cobbles together. For the most part, none of them are politically possible either. Reich ends by suggesting that the only real way forward is if corporations and financial elite heed his warning themselves and save capitalism from itself.

The Good: Reich's analysis of the structural problem under-girding the American economy is spot on. His argument is well supported but concise at only 147 pages.

The Bad: Section two and three of the book simply aren't as good. Section two is purely speculative. The argument is valid, but the specifics get a little silly. Section three disappoints in its presentation of solutions. Few to none of the solutions are politically feasible.

The Bottom Line: Aftershock is required reading for any progressive wanting to understand the structural economic problem behind the economic meltdown and the barriers to fixing it.

Beyond Outrage

2012-04-11T13:43:00.001-07:00

I would like a second this morning to highlight an upcoming ebook from Public Policy Professor, author and political figure Robert Reich.

From the Amazon.com synopsis:

In this eBook exclusive, Robert B. Reich urges Americans to get beyond mere outrage about the nation’s increasingly concentrated wealth and corrupt politics in order to mobilize and to take back our economy and democracy. Americans can’t rely only on getting good people elected, Reich argues, because nothing positive happens in Washington unless good people outside Washington are organized to help make those things happen after the election. But in order to be effectively mobilized, we need to see the big picture. Reich connects the dots for us, showing why the increasing share of income and wealth going to the top has hobbled jobs and growth for everyone else, while undermining our democracy; has caused Americans to become increasingly cynical about public life; and has turned many Americans against one another. He also explains why the proposals of the “regressive right” are dead wrong and provides a clear road map for what must be done instead. Here is a blueprint for action for everyone who cares about the future of America.

Beyond Outrage is available for pre-order on Amazon for $2.99