‘Commentary’ Archives
Beyond Wisconsin
by Peter Molenaar March 13, 2011”¦ There were pleasant greetings between the handful of neighborhood folk who attended the most recent rally in Hudson. David Bicking was there. His handmade sign read: “Labor Creates All Wealth”. In jest, I pondered out loud, “Oh, I thought ownership of the means of production created wealth.” And then, yet another great semi-truck roared beneath our occupied overpass. Honk. Honk. Honnkkk”¦ Are public workers being unjustly scape-goated? Well, for starters, millions of good paying American jobs have been shipped overseas. And then came huge tax breaks for super-wealthy people in a time of war. To which we must add some wildly irresponsible Wall Street speculations and sub-prime mortgage schemes which culminated in a $700 billion bailout. You be the judge. My own handmade sign read simply: “Tax the rich”. Some long ago training as a draftsman found a nice expression. Requests for photo poses [...]
Millions In Motion
By Peter Molenaar The people in this neighborhood of the world have yet another opportunity to experience an enhanced human connection””to elicit a smile and eye contact from the Arab people among us. For example, don”'t just plop coins on the counter at the corner convenience store, but boldly ask: “What”'s your opinion regarding the Egyptian Revolution?” You are likely to discover a knowledgeable person. Why the commotion in Arab lands? In Egypt, we are told, the corruption of the old regime cost more than $6 billion in public money per year. Estimates of the former president”'s accumulated fortune range as high as $70 billion. Mubarek”'s good buddies became merely billionaires while millions lived on less than $2 per day. Heartless brutality appears as the hallmark of a regime which sadly was considered to have been a “good friend of the United States”. (more…)
