Everybody loves freedom for themselves, not so much for others, and that's the misunderstanding. My dad would say that one person's freedom ends where the next person's nose begins. In other words, each person's freedom is only in relation to others; it is not absolute. When some of us have more freedom than others, it is either by acquiescence or mutual agreement, or by force, that we gain it. The acquiescence is through democratic means; the force is by autocratic means.
"Everybody loves freedom." Here in Baghdad By the Sea I can introduce you to the 20% of our population who prefer to be subjects of a caudillo. Masochists of the world unite...
Los Cubanos and now the 2024 version of Los Cubanos, Los Venezuelans are flooding our county. Privileged members of the middle and upper middle class, who (because of sanctions) are no longer privileged, so they use their ill earned money to buy air fare out of Caracas,so they can come here, get citizenship and vote Republican.
I believe there are many, many people out there who have been standing in the shadows-- standing as still as they can, silent, non -commital--out of total fear of triggering the many trap wires that Trump/MAZGA have systematically promised, threatened through their messaging. Simple truth is that their fear mongering has worked, forcing the fearful into silence. A bigger simple truth is that the theme and appeal of the Democratic Convention addresses exactly and on point that which has kept the fearful in the shadows. I expect this will bring those "silent majority" out of the shadows, hearing finally a message they deeply relate to--freedom from. The emphacis on freedom just now is genius politics.
Every who registers and goes into a voting booth or fills out a mail ballot is FREE to vote exactly as they choose.
It doesn't matter if their spouse, parents, co-workers or church members vote another way, they are free to vote for freedom over fear & greed.
If u know people who are eligible to vote, but hesitant to register, talk to them about freedom. It's a power that they have, and many people in the world yearn for. Don't waste it or take for granted!
The current population of this nation grew up in a country that uses democracy as the engine that runs local governments and states. It is very direct---get a ballot and you vote for the sheriff, mayor, commissioners, state legislature, state officers, and governor. We really need to remind people we're surrounded by the democratic process; it even includes that student council Governor Walz mentioned.
That is freedom in the most basic form, so many people have fought and died for it. It's messy sometimes and not direct when it comes to the presidency. There is always room for improvement, but no freedom-loving American wants to give it up.
All the messages are working---the fun, the emphasis on women, helping neighbors, supporting workers/unions, preserving Social Security and Medicare, fighting greed, and keeping them out of our bedrooms and doctors offices. What a beautiful rainbow of delegates. You are so right, Thom; the speakers are doing a fantastic job of explaining what FREEDOM really is.
super rich will do is reduce their freedom - the freedom to bribe
( ooops tip ) politicians to do exactly what they want them to do . We are all equal - but some of us are more equal than others ( more equal to provide a larger gratuity into the pockets of those eager to sell out for cash ) .
Stevie Wonder stole the show last night with his simple, straight from the heart expression of love for all, and hope for peace - not hate and the fear and violence hateful words bring. He then segued into the theme of finding higher ground…leading to a call for all to be ready to ACT to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. This was a masterful performance by a national treasure. Oh, and THEN…he performed the song of that title and got the whole place dancing to his beat. Genius!
Claiming FREEDOM as a Democratic value is wonderful & brilliant. But watch how you use the expression “healthy free enterprise system.” There ain’t no such thing.
Imagine a complex modern industrial/techno society where government imposed no regulations at all on businesses. What about that would be “free?” Just the corporations ripping us off, polluting our air & water, letting groceries sell contaminated spoiled food etc.
I’ll go out on a limb & say no more than 3 people who regularly read Thom’s wonderful columns would want “a free enterprise system.”
It’s like the term “free markets.” It’s total ideological bullshit. Laissez Faire produces poverty & pollution for the many and unimaginable wealth for the 1%.
Capitalism is a rapacious system as it’s based on the exploitation of labor.
What social democracies do is set stringent behavioral standards for ALL firms, establish really amazing social insurance programs that protect kids, parents, single people via health care education housing subsidies & the like. (50% of housing in all the major EU cities is PUBLIC/SUBSDIZED v. US at 3%).
I recommend reading My Year of Living Danishly for a very warm enjoyable insider look at social democracy.
One thing the U.S. has that’s a major advantage over the EU is we are sovereign in our own currency (EU nations are on the Euro which is controlled for all by the EU Central Bank. No EU national issues its own currency anymore). Because of monetary sovereignty & bc the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. does NOT need to tax to pay for things. We can run deficits MUCH MUCH larger than we currently do.
For the US the only reason for taxes is to CURB/REDUCE incomes at the top. Thats it.
The $$ raised thru taxes (federal) can be spent usefully…
But it doesn’t take an advanced degree in economics to see that 50 years of tax cuts + the idiocy of “pay go” (a sop to balanced budget Neanderthals) accounts for the explosion of Oligarchs Hedge Funds & Private Equity … all of them disgusting anti-human anti-nature anti-life PARASITES!
Language is powerful (the point of today’s substack). So stop stop stop using the language of capitalist ideology … “free markets” “free enterprise.”
I’ve written too much already … so I’ll stop here. Thanks for reading. Sincerely, your friendly virtual neighborhood economist. Susan
Ride on Susan!!! We can talk freedom till the cows come in but there are underlying elements controlling the puppet strings . These elements have been in place for75 years.
Yes big out of control corporations that have more money than many governments of the world. Using socialism and the paranoid cries of communism, ginning up the public world-wide to think we have an enemy in these things . The real enemy is Capitalism, we have shown the world that it is unable to provide a just, equal,stable, democracy.
Leader in these deceptions : The CIA an international effort to prevent the spread of real democratic values. They've toppled South American governments like the coupe in Chile. Again was an attempt to force the very wealthy to give it back and pay their share to the people.
Of course there are many takes on this but we need to face the music and the music is clear. The wealthy made their mega-money off the backs of the people, off the backs of our shared planet without protecting but polluting our air waters etc.
Do people think for one minute that these huge multinational now criminally inclined corporations will yield to a new world. Tell me how we will cut down the illegal weapons industry?
Tell me how we will cut down the multi trillion dollar fossil fuel industry. I hope Kamala will and others working under her if she gets elected will rise to the occasion..
Freedoms is tangible. Its presence or its absence is experienced in daily living.
Democracy, the foundation on which freedom rests, is more abstract. Understanding how democracy makes personal freedom possible is not necessarily obvious.
Words can be ambiguous. Freedom is perhaps one of the most ambiguous. Government, of which democracy is but one form, can either protect or deny personal freedom. Voting is the language of democracy and the freedom is its lingua franca.
The political party which is dedicated to extending voting rights to the people is the party most respective of the people. The party dedicated to restricting voting does not believe in the collective wisdom, energy, and potential of free people.
At this time in our history which party is which is becoming clearer by the day, and the enthusiasm and joy that we are seeing says the message is being heard.
VOTE as if the quality and your life depends on it because it does!!
Libertarians are obsessed with freedom, of only one kind, freedom from government regulation in the market and business. When it comes personal freedom, they can be downright tyrnnical, even deadly. The Republican party was the party of choice for frustrated Libertarians, and still is. Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, Pete Peterson,Rick Scott are libertarians, 99.5% of billionaires, boards of directors, CEO's are libertarian, financial, econmic, but not social or cultural, there they are NAZI's.
As Thom has pointed out many times, the supposed big bad wolf that the extremists on the right have pretended we should expect to deprive us of freedom is government. I believe it was Tim Walz or Oprah who stated in effect last night or at one of their rallies that government is not the enemy or the oppressor (when democracy is functional). As people who rule ourselves, we may voluntarily relinquish some of our privileges or rights and some degree of our personal freedom to achieve “a more perfect union” and more equality and true justice for the country as a whole.
The following comparisons might be useful in messaging. These are the opposing choices on Nov. 5th submitted as a letter to the editor and not yet approved for publication. The format may not be preserved in transmission via email:
A dynamic duo with joy versus A broken record of doom and contempt for the country
Moral strength and optimism vs. Moral bankruptcy and perpetual gloom
Security and confidence vs. Anxiety and fear-mongering
Equality and respect vs. Imagined superiority, audacity, and disdain
Democracy and rule of law vs. Autocracy, fascism, monopoly, and corruption
Diversity and inclusion vs. Divisiveness, exclusion, and rancor
Compassion and faithfulness vs. Indifference, chronic dissatisfaction, and greed
Open arms and helpfulness vs. Closed minded, judgmental, and rejecting
Kindness and love vs. Cruelty, brutality, and hate
Electricity and excitement vs. Bootlicking, boredom, and boondoggles
Conscience and conviction vs. Amorality, perfidy, and treachery
Freedom loving and peaceful vs. Controlling and aggressively hostile
Sanity and sensibility vs. Clownish, unserious, and insane behavior
Honesty and decency vs. Duplicity and debauchery
Fairness and justice vs. Predatory capitalism, favoritism and atrocities
Rationality and applied science vs. Irrationality and conspiracy theories
Neighborly and appreciative vs. Paranoid, jealous, and resentful
Tolerance and forgiveness vs. Intolerant and unforgiving
Fresh and active vs. Senile, indolent, and entitled
Pride and honor vs. Shame , disrepute, and nepotism
Flexible and compromising vs. Rigid, dogmatic, and uncompromising
Authentic and sincere vs. Fakery, hypocrisy, and mendacity
Congrats to the Demos on another emotionally driven public display. Let’s all feel good about our many selves.
But where was the discussion about wining the Electoral College? Democrats now regularly win the vote in presidential elections. Great. But that doesn’t win elections as we all know.
The Electoral College is the big hurdle and Republicans understand it. They have constructed legal barricades across a swath of purple Republican-led states to block state certifications of elections should they prove “disloyal”.
Look at my state - Georgia. I am concerned while the Democrats smile and congratulate themselves on being so historically correct - they will see eventual defeat by a few electoral votes. All to the credit of a number of unethical legislatures and governors who don’t care about being in the right side of history. They know the victor writes the history.
I can’t remember who first made the statement ‘ Freedom isn’t free’, but they were 100% correct.
Look at the struggle for Civil Rights through the years , just here in America. Not to mention the rest of the world .
How many rules man has devised to avoid allowing freedom to people they designate as not worthy of freedom.
“ The free world” , applied to indicate at least , a nation struggling for democracy .
We apply that brief statement to include the U S and other countries where the Government is of the people , for the people and by the people.
How close are we to that today?
Not very . The struggle continues.
Wealthy people are given freedoms the rest of us do not have.
Take DJT’s criminal charges .
The initial reluctance to charge him for attempting a coup on this, our country because he could not accept loss.
That’s a result of a few hundred things , but chiefly his wealth and his belief that consequences are for those “who cannot buy their way out”.
Why not ? It worked for him , all of his life and through all of his criminal behaviors , charged or uncharged.
Money is our King in this country , many other places as well.
‘Money runs the world. ‘
Individuals with serious wealth run the show but they are not free.
They are , in fact, addicted to money and the rules it changes for them .
Yes , the system is rigged .
The fix is freedom and opportunity for all . Just as it’s stated in our Declaration of Independence. The Constitution.
Those bedrock principles, that money powered groups , have chosen to ignore . The Supreme Court Justices appointed by Republicans have forgotten who and what they are there for.
Corrupted by money and gifts by wealthy Republicans , they’ve signed on to Project 2025 , which is intended to finally destroy freedom and Democracy for good .
The Harris , Walz ticket , knows this recognizes it and they’re going after it . We must go after it with them .Last chance .
This has an interesting history. Kris Kristifferson, still unknown and struggling, lived in a tiny apartment in an alley in Memphis. Before he left for the day, he cleaned out his trash and put in it bags out front with unbagged trash. When he came home, the bags but not the other trash was gone. He reasoned a quick grab theft. He sat down and wrote this line: "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."
While Biden was declaring the GOP's threat to democracy, Trump came in with, "No, it's the Radical Left DEMOCRATS who are destroying American democracy!!" leaving some voters scratching their heads as to whether they really understand the meaning of the term.
But Freedom - everyone knows what freedom means and it's easy peasy to understand that one party wants to take away the other's freedoms.
Thank goodness for Harris-Walz and their transition to discussing freedom this cycle.
Whoa, Thom. As you said, "As Vice President Kamala Harris WOULD tell you:"
I want to hear Harris say the things you said in this article. I want to hear her say what Bernie said at the convention. You said you would do your homework and read the Democratic Platform. What is your opinion? Mine is that much is implied, and many excuses are made for why the Democrats still fall short of what we need to ensure individual survival, but what do the Democrats plan to do?
It seems that single-payer universal healthcare is off the table. What else should we accept as the "nice things" we can do without? Our only choice is to get Harris elected and hope she hasn't sold her soul to the big donors.
I have read most of your books and look forward to your upcoming one. Although I can only partially agree with everything in them, I'll see if I can reserve a place in Darien on October 9th for your book signing.
It is up to Congress Gloria. W need a Democratic Congres and all they have to do is change the Medicare enabling legislation with two words, replace at age 65, with at birth.
One page, two words, that is all it took,that is all it takes, yet Nancy, Rahm and Obama gave us 600 pages of goobledegook, that pleased and profited the donors of the Association of Health Insurance Providers (AHIP) and PRMA) and that asshole Rahm's response when we complained was"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good", What a bunch of disorienting bullshit.
That sounds like it’s “easy” but it is operationally quite difficult. Take Maine for example. State population 1.3M. Population on Medicare, 500,000!
Those 500k people are in at least 500 “different plans.” Probably 3/4 of these folks have health insurance as a result of public sector employment: police teacher DMV UMS … All state government. And yet there’s such a hodgepodge of plans & benefits managing this mess into 1 Medicare plan sold to us by Medicare, everybody pays the same price & the benefits of top tier become the benefits of all … bc the simplification& jettisoning advantage plans will save that much.
But only after the transition takes place. Nobody actually knows how to get from here to there.
However Taiwan & Switzerland did make this transition so there are models to learn from.
Even the unions the post employment benefits got stingier & stingier so us oldies have a different price per unit plapeople retiring now with same employment profile.
Susan, I don't see how it can be operationally difficult. Medicare for all is simple, just sign the legislation.. Human nature dictates that if something is free they will abuse it, so there has to be restrictions, co pays, since health insurance is a huge slice of the economy, 19.7%, and the insurance industry In 2023, 10.8% of the US workforce was employed in the healthcare sector, including the health insurance industry. This percentage has grown from 7.5% in 1990 to 10.6% in 2010, but has remained fairly stable since. As of 2023, 561,330 people were employed in the health and medical insurance industry in the US.
A half million unemployed people are a great motivation for maintaining the system, but there is room, plenty of it for health insurance.
I am on medicare and pay $169.40 a month, I also have secondary insurance to cover co pays and the 20% medicare doesn't cover and that costs me over $300 a month. I've had surgery, treatment for lung cancer, radiation, immunotherapy and a CT Scan and MRI scan every 6 months since 2017. and other than insurance payments I've paid nothing, except for a co pay for drugs.
My sister died in April from Lung cancer and other complications, all she had was Medicare, she didn't get very good treatment either, partly because she couldn't pay, and partly, maybe mainly, because of where she lives, Wilmington, NC.. When shed died she was thousands of dollars in debt, because she didn't have medigap insurance, and the creditors would have claimed her estate, had not she sold her estate to her grandson, years ago.
The difference is medigap costs hundreds,if you have, like I do, group coverage. Individual coverage has to be at least $1,000.
As I understand it, if not on medicare or medicaid, or group health insurance. An individual policy costs over $1,000 a month. A price few can afford, certainly not self employed contractors.
Ms. Maloney, the wealthy could live with Trump just fine. His empty-headed lunacy gives them only momentary pause. But now that they see the public's enthusiasm for Harris; they are switching their allegiance and sending their money to her. This does not bode well. It means they have bought Harris and that is why the Democrat's "Platform" does not include healthcare for all and why it uses weasel words generally. This enthusiasm for Harris is great because we must stop Trump to save what is left of democracy. But the inevitable back-tracking by the Harris administration shall begin right after she takes the oath of office. Carter did it, Clinton did it, Obama did it. Old Joe is the only Democratic President who is a slight exception. After she is in office...... that is when we must fiercely turn up the pressure on her and congress.
Money is power, power to protect the money. Money inures, immunizes and insulates them from theocratic, racist, excesses and they are intrinsically misogynist, they will of course get abortions for their mistresses and daughters.
Mussolini's fascism was a Chamber of Deputies that represented the interests of the corporations.
Mr. Farrar, in her ground breaking book THE CAPITAL ORDER, Univ. of Chicago 2022, Clara Mattei demonstrates how the phony claim by the Fascists that inter-war Italy needed "austerity" was a response to the fear of the recent Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the complaints, demands and threats of the county's corporate elite about their taxes. Mattei read long neglected original documents in Italian archives doing research for her book. The claim that Italy needed austerity was false, a fabrication which was secretly admitted at the time among the government elite. But publicly the elite claimed austerity was necessary. This was Italy's response to fear of Bolshevism. It led to Fascism and destruction.
Compare it with FDR's response to Bolshevism. He went in just the opposite direction and adopted the advice of John Maynard Keynes. While Italy sank into Fascism and poverty, the U.S. rose to riches and created the first large middle class in history.
As a response to centuries of colonial poverty imposed by European powers; the Chinese freed themselves under Mao and searched for a new program until Mao and his cronies died off. Under new leadership the Chinese have recently done the same thing on an even larger scale than the U.S.; boosting over 800 million people out of abject poverty and into the largest middle class in history through judicious application of Keynesian economics. Now it looks like the Chinese elite are going to wreck it all by backing a dictator. Ce le vie.
Adding on. My major in University was economics,and aside from Econ 102, they force fed the Chicago School, it almost worked,until I saw the result in Chile, Pinochet, and Friedmans theory of economic advantage. And realized that FDR pulled us out of the depression with Keynesian economics, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
. I don't know if he actually read the book, I doubt it, but his advisors certainly did. And the right wing has made him their enemy, the person most hated.
My opinion solidified researcing a paper for my Masters, I obtained pubs from the Fed, Bank of Israel, the Bank for International Settlements and of a book The Credit and Banking System of the USSR, and Soviet Marketing.(eye opening because I learned that the USSR wasn't really communist at all,but dictatorial libertarian,and a combine of seven trusts organized along resource lines.
The USSR respected the neutrality of Sweden because Sweden was in essence the repository of. important state documents, like Trust agreements.
The demise of the Soviet Union, made their role irrelevant, as well as their neutrality.
Mr. Farrar, I did not know you are a Keynesian. But I'm glad to hear it. When I was teaching I was shouted down [literally] by faculty from the Econ. and Business Departments. All they wanted to talk about was Milton Friedman, Allan Greenspan, and the Laffer Curve. I called it the Laughter Curve.
When I started college Econ 101 was taught by a Professor who used Milton Friedman's text book and introduced me to The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)'s quarterly the Freeman, Econ 102 was Paul Samuelson.
Talk about being batted back and forth. But the experience enabled me to sift and sort, separate the wheat from the chaff, Arrive at my own opinion, but of course to pass a course I had to play the game, and I was good at that graduated with a 3.74 GPA.
Democrats and Biden liberals in their corner talk to themselves thinking that talking points and messaging are going to somehow change the fact that the Democratic Party is completely corrupted and amoral. Those are in the religious sect, like Trump supporters, will stay in their corner and believe that it's "brilliant" to take the word "freedom" from the Republicans and use it against them. The problem being that Democrats have failed miserably to demonstrate that they can offer American workers, the middle class that remains, or marginalized communities anything of substance that is equivalent to freedom. Oh sure, you can legislate that Medicare can negotiate pricing of 10 out of 20000 pharmaceuticals in three years from now, and while that cuts the total drug expenditures for Medicare by 5% it doesn't change anyone's life in a real way and we STILL have to go through contortions to get patients the medications they need. In fact, legislation like that makes the problem worse because pharmaceutical companies are jacking up the prices of other medications to compensate because they can. Because Democrats do what the lobbyists let them do and then use people like you Thom to tell us how wonderful it is that Democrats are working for us and Republicans aren't. As we see at the DNC convention, Democrats will tell lies and say all manner of outrageous things, making promises they will NEVER keep (and likely do the opposite, I worked for the Obama campaign in 2008 so i know firsthand), Americans will be more disillusioned, wealth inequality will soar, Democratic Party genocide and imperialism will grow like the malignancy that it is and another right-wing theocrat will loom on the horizon. You and other pundits/elites are trying to convince us of something that Democrats are the lesser of two evils, but when you get to the point that instigating war by interfering with the peace process and committing genocide are the lesser of two evils, perhaps you've compromised too much. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/a-real-horror-show
He has spent every comment on Thom's substack attacking Democrats. Never Trump, never Republicans. It as apparent he is on a mission to disillusion and turn people who would vote Democrat and thus against Putin.
That was one helluvanite. I was enthralled, The speakers everyone of them were great, and I loved Keena Thompson with his oversized book of Project 2025, too bad nary a Republic or MAGAt was watching.
One thing is clear it is a vote for theocratic dictatorship or a vote for democracy, third party votes are in essence, and in reality, votes for a theocratic dictatorship, because one less vote for Harris is one more vote for Trump.
When money is considered speech, the speech isn't free, it costs money.
Everybody loves freedom for themselves, not so much for others, and that's the misunderstanding. My dad would say that one person's freedom ends where the next person's nose begins. In other words, each person's freedom is only in relation to others; it is not absolute. When some of us have more freedom than others, it is either by acquiescence or mutual agreement, or by force, that we gain it. The acquiescence is through democratic means; the force is by autocratic means.
"Everybody loves freedom." Here in Baghdad By the Sea I can introduce you to the 20% of our population who prefer to be subjects of a caudillo. Masochists of the world unite...
Los Cubanos and now the 2024 version of Los Cubanos, Los Venezuelans are flooding our county. Privileged members of the middle and upper middle class, who (because of sanctions) are no longer privileged, so they use their ill earned money to buy air fare out of Caracas,so they can come here, get citizenship and vote Republican.
I believe there are many, many people out there who have been standing in the shadows-- standing as still as they can, silent, non -commital--out of total fear of triggering the many trap wires that Trump/MAZGA have systematically promised, threatened through their messaging. Simple truth is that their fear mongering has worked, forcing the fearful into silence. A bigger simple truth is that the theme and appeal of the Democratic Convention addresses exactly and on point that which has kept the fearful in the shadows. I expect this will bring those "silent majority" out of the shadows, hearing finally a message they deeply relate to--freedom from. The emphacis on freedom just now is genius politics.
Every who registers and goes into a voting booth or fills out a mail ballot is FREE to vote exactly as they choose.
It doesn't matter if their spouse, parents, co-workers or church members vote another way, they are free to vote for freedom over fear & greed.
If u know people who are eligible to vote, but hesitant to register, talk to them about freedom. It's a power that they have, and many people in the world yearn for. Don't waste it or take for granted!
The current population of this nation grew up in a country that uses democracy as the engine that runs local governments and states. It is very direct---get a ballot and you vote for the sheriff, mayor, commissioners, state legislature, state officers, and governor. We really need to remind people we're surrounded by the democratic process; it even includes that student council Governor Walz mentioned.
That is freedom in the most basic form, so many people have fought and died for it. It's messy sometimes and not direct when it comes to the presidency. There is always room for improvement, but no freedom-loving American wants to give it up.
All the messages are working---the fun, the emphasis on women, helping neighbors, supporting workers/unions, preserving Social Security and Medicare, fighting greed, and keeping them out of our bedrooms and doctors offices. What a beautiful rainbow of delegates. You are so right, Thom; the speakers are doing a fantastic job of explaining what FREEDOM really is.
Excellent
One thing those higher taxes on the
super rich will do is reduce their freedom - the freedom to bribe
( ooops tip ) politicians to do exactly what they want them to do . We are all equal - but some of us are more equal than others ( more equal to provide a larger gratuity into the pockets of those eager to sell out for cash ) .
Stevie Wonder stole the show last night with his simple, straight from the heart expression of love for all, and hope for peace - not hate and the fear and violence hateful words bring. He then segued into the theme of finding higher ground…leading to a call for all to be ready to ACT to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. This was a masterful performance by a national treasure. Oh, and THEN…he performed the song of that title and got the whole place dancing to his beat. Genius!
Claiming FREEDOM as a Democratic value is wonderful & brilliant. But watch how you use the expression “healthy free enterprise system.” There ain’t no such thing.
Imagine a complex modern industrial/techno society where government imposed no regulations at all on businesses. What about that would be “free?” Just the corporations ripping us off, polluting our air & water, letting groceries sell contaminated spoiled food etc.
I’ll go out on a limb & say no more than 3 people who regularly read Thom’s wonderful columns would want “a free enterprise system.”
It’s like the term “free markets.” It’s total ideological bullshit. Laissez Faire produces poverty & pollution for the many and unimaginable wealth for the 1%.
Capitalism is a rapacious system as it’s based on the exploitation of labor.
What social democracies do is set stringent behavioral standards for ALL firms, establish really amazing social insurance programs that protect kids, parents, single people via health care education housing subsidies & the like. (50% of housing in all the major EU cities is PUBLIC/SUBSDIZED v. US at 3%).
I recommend reading My Year of Living Danishly for a very warm enjoyable insider look at social democracy.
One thing the U.S. has that’s a major advantage over the EU is we are sovereign in our own currency (EU nations are on the Euro which is controlled for all by the EU Central Bank. No EU national issues its own currency anymore). Because of monetary sovereignty & bc the U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. does NOT need to tax to pay for things. We can run deficits MUCH MUCH larger than we currently do.
For the US the only reason for taxes is to CURB/REDUCE incomes at the top. Thats it.
The $$ raised thru taxes (federal) can be spent usefully…
But it doesn’t take an advanced degree in economics to see that 50 years of tax cuts + the idiocy of “pay go” (a sop to balanced budget Neanderthals) accounts for the explosion of Oligarchs Hedge Funds & Private Equity … all of them disgusting anti-human anti-nature anti-life PARASITES!
Language is powerful (the point of today’s substack). So stop stop stop using the language of capitalist ideology … “free markets” “free enterprise.”
I’ve written too much already … so I’ll stop here. Thanks for reading. Sincerely, your friendly virtual neighborhood economist. Susan
Ride on Susan!!! We can talk freedom till the cows come in but there are underlying elements controlling the puppet strings . These elements have been in place for75 years.
Yes big out of control corporations that have more money than many governments of the world. Using socialism and the paranoid cries of communism, ginning up the public world-wide to think we have an enemy in these things . The real enemy is Capitalism, we have shown the world that it is unable to provide a just, equal,stable, democracy.
Leader in these deceptions : The CIA an international effort to prevent the spread of real democratic values. They've toppled South American governments like the coupe in Chile. Again was an attempt to force the very wealthy to give it back and pay their share to the people.
Of course there are many takes on this but we need to face the music and the music is clear. The wealthy made their mega-money off the backs of the people, off the backs of our shared planet without protecting but polluting our air waters etc.
Do people think for one minute that these huge multinational now criminally inclined corporations will yield to a new world. Tell me how we will cut down the illegal weapons industry?
Tell me how we will cut down the multi trillion dollar fossil fuel industry. I hope Kamala will and others working under her if she gets elected will rise to the occasion..
Who really killed RFK?
Meanwhile, back in Chicago...we're puttin' the band back together...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTXszRHc0qs
FREEDOM!
And channeling Robert Johnson.......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_KkgPRo4wA
Shake those blues....If we get out the millions of unregistered folk who trend Democratic, and those that failed to vote in 2020, we win.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Need help phone banking today. https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/?q=phone%20banks&tag_ids=20038
The Blues Brothers is one of our favorite movies. Thanks for cheering me up this morning.
Freedoms is tangible. Its presence or its absence is experienced in daily living.
Democracy, the foundation on which freedom rests, is more abstract. Understanding how democracy makes personal freedom possible is not necessarily obvious.
Words can be ambiguous. Freedom is perhaps one of the most ambiguous. Government, of which democracy is but one form, can either protect or deny personal freedom. Voting is the language of democracy and the freedom is its lingua franca.
The political party which is dedicated to extending voting rights to the people is the party most respective of the people. The party dedicated to restricting voting does not believe in the collective wisdom, energy, and potential of free people.
At this time in our history which party is which is becoming clearer by the day, and the enthusiasm and joy that we are seeing says the message is being heard.
VOTE as if the quality and your life depends on it because it does!!
Libertarians are obsessed with freedom, of only one kind, freedom from government regulation in the market and business. When it comes personal freedom, they can be downright tyrnnical, even deadly. The Republican party was the party of choice for frustrated Libertarians, and still is. Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, Pete Peterson,Rick Scott are libertarians, 99.5% of billionaires, boards of directors, CEO's are libertarian, financial, econmic, but not social or cultural, there they are NAZI's.
As Thom has pointed out many times, the supposed big bad wolf that the extremists on the right have pretended we should expect to deprive us of freedom is government. I believe it was Tim Walz or Oprah who stated in effect last night or at one of their rallies that government is not the enemy or the oppressor (when democracy is functional). As people who rule ourselves, we may voluntarily relinquish some of our privileges or rights and some degree of our personal freedom to achieve “a more perfect union” and more equality and true justice for the country as a whole.
The following comparisons might be useful in messaging. These are the opposing choices on Nov. 5th submitted as a letter to the editor and not yet approved for publication. The format may not be preserved in transmission via email:
A dynamic duo with joy versus A broken record of doom and contempt for the country
Moral strength and optimism vs. Moral bankruptcy and perpetual gloom
Security and confidence vs. Anxiety and fear-mongering
Equality and respect vs. Imagined superiority, audacity, and disdain
Democracy and rule of law vs. Autocracy, fascism, monopoly, and corruption
Diversity and inclusion vs. Divisiveness, exclusion, and rancor
Compassion and faithfulness vs. Indifference, chronic dissatisfaction, and greed
Open arms and helpfulness vs. Closed minded, judgmental, and rejecting
Kindness and love vs. Cruelty, brutality, and hate
Electricity and excitement vs. Bootlicking, boredom, and boondoggles
Conscience and conviction vs. Amorality, perfidy, and treachery
Freedom loving and peaceful vs. Controlling and aggressively hostile
Sanity and sensibility vs. Clownish, unserious, and insane behavior
Honesty and decency vs. Duplicity and debauchery
Fairness and justice vs. Predatory capitalism, favoritism and atrocities
Rationality and applied science vs. Irrationality and conspiracy theories
Neighborly and appreciative vs. Paranoid, jealous, and resentful
Tolerance and forgiveness vs. Intolerant and unforgiving
Fresh and active vs. Senile, indolent, and entitled
Pride and honor vs. Shame , disrepute, and nepotism
Flexible and compromising vs. Rigid, dogmatic, and uncompromising
Authentic and sincere vs. Fakery, hypocrisy, and mendacity
Congrats to the Demos on another emotionally driven public display. Let’s all feel good about our many selves.
But where was the discussion about wining the Electoral College? Democrats now regularly win the vote in presidential elections. Great. But that doesn’t win elections as we all know.
The Electoral College is the big hurdle and Republicans understand it. They have constructed legal barricades across a swath of purple Republican-led states to block state certifications of elections should they prove “disloyal”.
Look at my state - Georgia. I am concerned while the Democrats smile and congratulate themselves on being so historically correct - they will see eventual defeat by a few electoral votes. All to the credit of a number of unethical legislatures and governors who don’t care about being in the right side of history. They know the victor writes the history.
Trump and his MAGAts are actively hijacking Georgias Elections, from the Rolling Stones.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-georgia-maga-election-takeover-1235080073/
I can’t remember who first made the statement ‘ Freedom isn’t free’, but they were 100% correct.
Look at the struggle for Civil Rights through the years , just here in America. Not to mention the rest of the world .
How many rules man has devised to avoid allowing freedom to people they designate as not worthy of freedom.
“ The free world” , applied to indicate at least , a nation struggling for democracy .
We apply that brief statement to include the U S and other countries where the Government is of the people , for the people and by the people.
How close are we to that today?
Not very . The struggle continues.
Wealthy people are given freedoms the rest of us do not have.
Take DJT’s criminal charges .
The initial reluctance to charge him for attempting a coup on this, our country because he could not accept loss.
That’s a result of a few hundred things , but chiefly his wealth and his belief that consequences are for those “who cannot buy their way out”.
Why not ? It worked for him , all of his life and through all of his criminal behaviors , charged or uncharged.
Money is our King in this country , many other places as well.
‘Money runs the world. ‘
Individuals with serious wealth run the show but they are not free.
They are , in fact, addicted to money and the rules it changes for them .
Yes , the system is rigged .
The fix is freedom and opportunity for all . Just as it’s stated in our Declaration of Independence. The Constitution.
Those bedrock principles, that money powered groups , have chosen to ignore . The Supreme Court Justices appointed by Republicans have forgotten who and what they are there for.
Corrupted by money and gifts by wealthy Republicans , they’ve signed on to Project 2025 , which is intended to finally destroy freedom and Democracy for good .
The Harris , Walz ticket , knows this recognizes it and they’re going after it . We must go after it with them .Last chance .
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose." I will always love Janice.
This has an interesting history. Kris Kristifferson, still unknown and struggling, lived in a tiny apartment in an alley in Memphis. Before he left for the day, he cleaned out his trash and put in it bags out front with unbagged trash. When he came home, the bags but not the other trash was gone. He reasoned a quick grab theft. He sat down and wrote this line: "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."
I didn't know that. I thought that was Janice Joplin's idea in Bobby McGee.
Kristofferson wrote the song, not Joplin.
While Biden was declaring the GOP's threat to democracy, Trump came in with, "No, it's the Radical Left DEMOCRATS who are destroying American democracy!!" leaving some voters scratching their heads as to whether they really understand the meaning of the term.
But Freedom - everyone knows what freedom means and it's easy peasy to understand that one party wants to take away the other's freedoms.
Thank goodness for Harris-Walz and their transition to discussing freedom this cycle.
Whoa, Thom. As you said, "As Vice President Kamala Harris WOULD tell you:"
I want to hear Harris say the things you said in this article. I want to hear her say what Bernie said at the convention. You said you would do your homework and read the Democratic Platform. What is your opinion? Mine is that much is implied, and many excuses are made for why the Democrats still fall short of what we need to ensure individual survival, but what do the Democrats plan to do?
It seems that single-payer universal healthcare is off the table. What else should we accept as the "nice things" we can do without? Our only choice is to get Harris elected and hope she hasn't sold her soul to the big donors.
I have read most of your books and look forward to your upcoming one. Although I can only partially agree with everything in them, I'll see if I can reserve a place in Darien on October 9th for your book signing.
It is up to Congress Gloria. W need a Democratic Congres and all they have to do is change the Medicare enabling legislation with two words, replace at age 65, with at birth.
One page, two words, that is all it took,that is all it takes, yet Nancy, Rahm and Obama gave us 600 pages of goobledegook, that pleased and profited the donors of the Association of Health Insurance Providers (AHIP) and PRMA) and that asshole Rahm's response when we complained was"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good", What a bunch of disorienting bullshit.
That sounds like it’s “easy” but it is operationally quite difficult. Take Maine for example. State population 1.3M. Population on Medicare, 500,000!
Those 500k people are in at least 500 “different plans.” Probably 3/4 of these folks have health insurance as a result of public sector employment: police teacher DMV UMS … All state government. And yet there’s such a hodgepodge of plans & benefits managing this mess into 1 Medicare plan sold to us by Medicare, everybody pays the same price & the benefits of top tier become the benefits of all … bc the simplification& jettisoning advantage plans will save that much.
But only after the transition takes place. Nobody actually knows how to get from here to there.
However Taiwan & Switzerland did make this transition so there are models to learn from.
Even the unions the post employment benefits got stingier & stingier so us oldies have a different price per unit plapeople retiring now with same employment profile.
Susan, I don't see how it can be operationally difficult. Medicare for all is simple, just sign the legislation.. Human nature dictates that if something is free they will abuse it, so there has to be restrictions, co pays, since health insurance is a huge slice of the economy, 19.7%, and the insurance industry In 2023, 10.8% of the US workforce was employed in the healthcare sector, including the health insurance industry. This percentage has grown from 7.5% in 1990 to 10.6% in 2010, but has remained fairly stable since. As of 2023, 561,330 people were employed in the health and medical insurance industry in the US.
A half million unemployed people are a great motivation for maintaining the system, but there is room, plenty of it for health insurance.
I am on medicare and pay $169.40 a month, I also have secondary insurance to cover co pays and the 20% medicare doesn't cover and that costs me over $300 a month. I've had surgery, treatment for lung cancer, radiation, immunotherapy and a CT Scan and MRI scan every 6 months since 2017. and other than insurance payments I've paid nothing, except for a co pay for drugs.
My sister died in April from Lung cancer and other complications, all she had was Medicare, she didn't get very good treatment either, partly because she couldn't pay, and partly, maybe mainly, because of where she lives, Wilmington, NC.. When shed died she was thousands of dollars in debt, because she didn't have medigap insurance, and the creditors would have claimed her estate, had not she sold her estate to her grandson, years ago.
The difference is medigap costs hundreds,if you have, like I do, group coverage. Individual coverage has to be at least $1,000.
As I understand it, if not on medicare or medicaid, or group health insurance. An individual policy costs over $1,000 a month. A price few can afford, certainly not self employed contractors.
Ms. Maloney, the wealthy could live with Trump just fine. His empty-headed lunacy gives them only momentary pause. But now that they see the public's enthusiasm for Harris; they are switching their allegiance and sending their money to her. This does not bode well. It means they have bought Harris and that is why the Democrat's "Platform" does not include healthcare for all and why it uses weasel words generally. This enthusiasm for Harris is great because we must stop Trump to save what is left of democracy. But the inevitable back-tracking by the Harris administration shall begin right after she takes the oath of office. Carter did it, Clinton did it, Obama did it. Old Joe is the only Democratic President who is a slight exception. After she is in office...... that is when we must fiercely turn up the pressure on her and congress.
Money is power, power to protect the money. Money inures, immunizes and insulates them from theocratic, racist, excesses and they are intrinsically misogynist, they will of course get abortions for their mistresses and daughters.
Mussolini's fascism was a Chamber of Deputies that represented the interests of the corporations.
Mr. Farrar, in her ground breaking book THE CAPITAL ORDER, Univ. of Chicago 2022, Clara Mattei demonstrates how the phony claim by the Fascists that inter-war Italy needed "austerity" was a response to the fear of the recent Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the complaints, demands and threats of the county's corporate elite about their taxes. Mattei read long neglected original documents in Italian archives doing research for her book. The claim that Italy needed austerity was false, a fabrication which was secretly admitted at the time among the government elite. But publicly the elite claimed austerity was necessary. This was Italy's response to fear of Bolshevism. It led to Fascism and destruction.
Compare it with FDR's response to Bolshevism. He went in just the opposite direction and adopted the advice of John Maynard Keynes. While Italy sank into Fascism and poverty, the U.S. rose to riches and created the first large middle class in history.
As a response to centuries of colonial poverty imposed by European powers; the Chinese freed themselves under Mao and searched for a new program until Mao and his cronies died off. Under new leadership the Chinese have recently done the same thing on an even larger scale than the U.S.; boosting over 800 million people out of abject poverty and into the largest middle class in history through judicious application of Keynesian economics. Now it looks like the Chinese elite are going to wreck it all by backing a dictator. Ce le vie.
Adding on. My major in University was economics,and aside from Econ 102, they force fed the Chicago School, it almost worked,until I saw the result in Chile, Pinochet, and Friedmans theory of economic advantage. And realized that FDR pulled us out of the depression with Keynesian economics, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
. I don't know if he actually read the book, I doubt it, but his advisors certainly did. And the right wing has made him their enemy, the person most hated.
My opinion solidified researcing a paper for my Masters, I obtained pubs from the Fed, Bank of Israel, the Bank for International Settlements and of a book The Credit and Banking System of the USSR, and Soviet Marketing.(eye opening because I learned that the USSR wasn't really communist at all,but dictatorial libertarian,and a combine of seven trusts organized along resource lines.
The USSR respected the neutrality of Sweden because Sweden was in essence the repository of. important state documents, like Trust agreements.
The demise of the Soviet Union, made their role irrelevant, as well as their neutrality.
All I can say is Things are not as They Appear.
Thanks, how did you know I was a Keynesian? wasn't always, no until I did a deep dive into financial institutions and gold.
Mr. Farrar, I did not know you are a Keynesian. But I'm glad to hear it. When I was teaching I was shouted down [literally] by faculty from the Econ. and Business Departments. All they wanted to talk about was Milton Friedman, Allan Greenspan, and the Laffer Curve. I called it the Laughter Curve.
When I started college Econ 101 was taught by a Professor who used Milton Friedman's text book and introduced me to The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)'s quarterly the Freeman, Econ 102 was Paul Samuelson.
Talk about being batted back and forth. But the experience enabled me to sift and sort, separate the wheat from the chaff, Arrive at my own opinion, but of course to pass a course I had to play the game, and I was good at that graduated with a 3.74 GPA.
I guess that the unspoken slogan of the GOP then, is : '1984's" . . . Freedom is Slavery.
That slogan's ideal for the GOP's low-info, malleable, under-educated, utterly confused constituents .
Democrats and Biden liberals in their corner talk to themselves thinking that talking points and messaging are going to somehow change the fact that the Democratic Party is completely corrupted and amoral. Those are in the religious sect, like Trump supporters, will stay in their corner and believe that it's "brilliant" to take the word "freedom" from the Republicans and use it against them. The problem being that Democrats have failed miserably to demonstrate that they can offer American workers, the middle class that remains, or marginalized communities anything of substance that is equivalent to freedom. Oh sure, you can legislate that Medicare can negotiate pricing of 10 out of 20000 pharmaceuticals in three years from now, and while that cuts the total drug expenditures for Medicare by 5% it doesn't change anyone's life in a real way and we STILL have to go through contortions to get patients the medications they need. In fact, legislation like that makes the problem worse because pharmaceutical companies are jacking up the prices of other medications to compensate because they can. Because Democrats do what the lobbyists let them do and then use people like you Thom to tell us how wonderful it is that Democrats are working for us and Republicans aren't. As we see at the DNC convention, Democrats will tell lies and say all manner of outrageous things, making promises they will NEVER keep (and likely do the opposite, I worked for the Obama campaign in 2008 so i know firsthand), Americans will be more disillusioned, wealth inequality will soar, Democratic Party genocide and imperialism will grow like the malignancy that it is and another right-wing theocrat will loom on the horizon. You and other pundits/elites are trying to convince us of something that Democrats are the lesser of two evils, but when you get to the point that instigating war by interfering with the peace process and committing genocide are the lesser of two evils, perhaps you've compromised too much. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/a-real-horror-show
We hear you Barry, vote Putin, err Vote Trump
Mr. kaufman, I tried to respond to your Stephen King essay but could not submit my words. Your blog would not accept them.
Well said, Barry.
Boris is a Putin asset, and you are a fan.
He has spent every comment on Thom's substack attacking Democrats. Never Trump, never Republicans. It as apparent he is on a mission to disillusion and turn people who would vote Democrat and thus against Putin.
That was one helluvanite. I was enthralled, The speakers everyone of them were great, and I loved Keena Thompson with his oversized book of Project 2025, too bad nary a Republic or MAGAt was watching.
One thing is clear it is a vote for theocratic dictatorship or a vote for democracy, third party votes are in essence, and in reality, votes for a theocratic dictatorship, because one less vote for Harris is one more vote for Trump.