All Blog Posts (108)

“Morality, by its very nature, makes it hard to study morality,” writes the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. “It binds people together into teams that seek victory, not truth. It closes hearts and minds to opponents even as it makes cooperation and decency possible within…

OpEd By WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ

Published: May 12, 2012

THERE is an ongoing debate in this country about the rich: who they are, what their social role may be, whether they are good or bad. Well, consider the following. A recent…

Colonized by Corporations

By Chris Hedges

In Robert E. Gamer's book "The Developing Nations" is a chapter called "Why Men Do Not Revolt." In it Gamer notes that although the oppressed often…

Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived of by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Kohlberg began work on this topic while a psychology postgraduate student at the University of Chicago in 1958, and expanded and developed this theory throughout his life.



The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to…

Seven Defects of American Governance -- Part 2

By Harold Hellickson

Sorry about the long delay from Part 1 in this 3 part blog, but here is Part 2.  The concluding Part 3 will be submitted next week. 

Our government's policies of war and empire, the need for restoration of sanity to our monetary, fiscal, and trade policies, reversing the income inequality trend, and improving social justice, these I consider the seven major defects of modern day American…

The True In Spirit But Not Quite Accurate News network 

Newsflash from TISBNQA……………………..The Heritage Foundation announced receipt of development funding from the Koch brothers for concept design of a  two-room addition to the Bush Presidential Library.  The Heritage Foundation will be responsible for the conceptual design of two the rooms to further promote a growing…

The Occupy Wall Street movement claims to be a movement of “the 99%”, challenging the extreme consolidation of wealth and political power by the top one percent. Our opponents, however, claim that the 99% movement is just a bunch of fringe radicals who are out of touch with mainstream America.

They’re not 100% wrong about us being radicals. Young radicals…

Given that big business provides the bulk of the money pouring into the political system, it is no surprise that members of Congress and presidential contenders alike tend to espouse the idea that large corporations are overtaxed. This myth gets repeated despite all the…

By Chris Hedges

NEW YORK CITY—Jon Friesen, 27, tall and lanky with a long, dirty-blond ponytail, a purple scarf and an old green fleece, is sitting on concrete at the edge of Zuccotti…

I was at an event on the Upper East Side last Friday night when I got to talking with a salesman in the media business. The subject turned to Zucotti Park and Occupy Wall Street, and he was chuckling about something he'd heard on the news.

"I hear [Occupy Wall Street] has a CFO," he said. "I think that's funny."

"Okay, I'll bite," I said.…

-By Glenn Greenwald

As intense protests spawned by Occupy Wall Street continue to grow, it is worth asking: Why now? The answer is not obvious. After all, severe income and wealth inequality have long plagued the United States. In fact, it could reasonably be claimed that this form of inequality is part of the design of the American founding -- indeed, an integral part of it.

Income inequality has worsened over the past…

A Few Companies Have Power Over Most of the Real Economy

The idea that the few dominate the many will not come as news to those gathered either to…

On October 3rd, protesters at Occupy Wall Street failed to march. Instead they clumsily lurched. With white painted faces, glazed looks and dollar bills hanging out of some mouths, protesters chanted “I smell money, I smell money…” It was Corporate Zombie Day. Scenes like this and the sight of Guy Fawkes masks, clown suits, drumming circles and surrealistic posters all over the country have left many commentators scratching their heads. Is th…

Seven Defects of American Governance – Part 1 

Beyond the Magnificent Seven, there are a bunch of other sevens; the seven climes, the seven continents, the feast of the seven fishes, the seven dwarfs, the seven deadly sins, the seven sacraments, the seven seas, the seven seals with their seven secrets, the seven virtues and the Seven Wonders of the World to name at least most of them. 

To these I have another seven; our federal government's policies of war and empire,…

The Seven Defects of American Governance 

Just as there are seven dwarfs, seven virtues, and seven deadly sins there are seven major policy defects of American governance; the policies of war, empire, monetary, fiscal, trade, income inequality and social justice.  This article is a summary statement of these seven defects.  A more detailed discussion of each of these defects will follow in four seperate articles.

The war on terror was stupidly enacted and is stupidly conducted.…

Dear Friends,

As I write this, I am watching the economic chaos in Greece. I’m sure we’re all sharing the feelings of fear of economic collapse that is rampant among the other European countries – and in fact, around the world.

These events are classic cases of what I detail in my books – “Confesssions of An Economic Hit Man” and “Hoodwinked.”

Greece has been struck by economic hit men. Set to default on its debts, the Athens government is leading the pack…

Since the summer of 2003 I’ve crisscrossed the country speaking at colleges and theaters and bookstores, first with The Weather Underground documentary and, starting in March of this year, with my book Underground:  My Life with SDS and the Weathermen (William Morrow, 2009).  In discussions with young people, they often tell me, “Nothing anyone does can ever make…