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SPECIAL REPORT: How Iraq is Being Destroyed "A weak Iraq suits many." Three years after the US attack, Iraq is breaking apart. Eyewitness report from Patrick Cockburn in Irbil. One of the great left journalists of his time, he was on the front lines in Korea and Vietnam. Chris Reed on Wilfrid Burchett, the man who made Murdoch foam at the mouth. Katrina washes whitest. Bill Quigley in New Orleans reports tales of lunacy and hope. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
Today's Stories April 3, 2006 Roger
Morris April 1 / 2, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin David
Underhill Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff P.
Sainath Fred
Gardner Clancy
Chassay Heather
Gray Greg
Moses John
Chuckman Ron
Jacobs Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 31, 2006 Gary
Leupp Patrick
Cockburn Saree
Makdisi Ron
Jacobs Mark
Engler Curtis
F.J. Doebbler Laith
al-Saud Website
of the Day
March 30, 2006 Uri
Avnery Sen.
Russell Feingold Winslow
T. Wheeler Dave
Lindorff Juan
Santos Frida
Berrigan Joshua
Frank Vonnie
Edwards Neve
Gordon Website
of the Day
March 29, 2006 CounterPunch
News Service Patrick
Cockburn John
Ross Omar
Barghouti William
S. Lind Missy
Comley Beattie Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Website
of the Day
March 28, 2006 Sharon
Smith Paul
Craig Roberts Tariq
Ali Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Ramzy
Baroud Evelyn
Pringle Seth
Sandronsky Patrick
Cockburn
March 27, 2006 Patrick
Cockburn Joshua
Frank Ron
Jacobs Jeff
Lays Davey
D. Robert
Billyard Jim
Rigby Lisa
Viscidi Nick
Dearden Gideon
Levy Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Patrick
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Christopher
Reed Jeff
Ballinger Joseph
Massad Brian
Cloughley Chris
Floyd Elaine
Cassel Dave
Zirin John
Chuckman Sharon
Smith Christopher
Fons Chris
Kromm John
Bomar Ron
Jacobs Maymanah
Farhat St.
Clair / Walker / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 24, 2006 Cockburn
/ Sengupta / Duff P. Sainath Todd
Chretien Marty
Omoto Michael
Carmichael Peter
Phillips Gabriel
Kolko Website
of the Day
March 23, 2006 Charles
V. Peña Joe
DeRaymond Robert
Fisk Jonathan
Cook Tom
Engelhardt Joshua
Frank Norman
Solomon Robert
Fitch / Joe Allen Patrick
Cockburn CounterPunch
News Service Website
of the Day
March 22, 2006 David
MacMichael Juan
Santos Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Ramzy
Baroud Jason
Leopold Dennis
Perrin William
Blum Jeffrey
St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 21, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Winslow
Wheeler Tom
Engelhardt Arnold
Oliver Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Mike
Whitney William
A. Cook Sophia
A. McLennen
March 20, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ralph
Nader Diane
Christian Jeff
Halper Harry
Browne Norman
Solomon Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 18 / 19, 2006 Cockburn
/ St. Clair Werther Chris
Kromm Patrick
Cockburn Elaine
Cassel S. Brian
Willson Fred
Gardner Brian
Cloughley Laura
Carlsen Eamon
Martin Julie
Hilden Alison
Weir Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 17, 2006 Eduardo
Galeano Greg
Moses Richard
Falk / David Krieger Cindy
and Craig Corrie Amira
Hass Mike
Marqusee James
Petas and Robin Eastman-Abaya Website
of the Day
March 16, 2006 Norman
Solomon Tom
Philpott Heather
Gray Amira
Hass Missy
Comley Beattie Sen.
Russell Feingold Lucinda
Marshall Andrew
Bosworth Clancy
Sigal Website
of the Day
Jonathan
Cook Winslow
Wheeler Diane
Christian Ron
Jacobs Missy
Comley Beattie Jared
Bernstein Noam
Chomsky Website
of the Day
March 14, 2006 Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Todd
Chretien Jason
Kunin Thomas
Palley Cockburn
/ St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 13, 2006 Uri
Avnery Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney David
Green Jeremy
Scahill Mike
Ferner Corey
Harris Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul
Craig Roberts Ben
Tripp John
Strausbaugh Landau
/ Hassen Robert
Bryce Gary
Leupp Fred
Gardner Ron
Jacobs Jonathan
Scott Ramzy
Baroud Jordan
Flaherty John
Chuckman Joe
Allen Julia
Kendlbacher St.
Clair / Walker / Pollack / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 10, 2006 Ben
Rosenfeld Lila
Rajiva Saree
Makdisi Elena
Shore Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Aura
Bogado
March 9, 2006 John
Walsh Annie
Zirin Brian
McKenna Chris
Floyd Rachard
Itani Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Wylie
Harris Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 8, 2006 Patrick
Bond Brian
Concannon, Jr. Pat
Williams Lance
Selfa Mokhiber
/ Weissman Walter
Brasch Vijay
Prashad Website
of the Day
March 7, 2006 Werther John
Blair Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney Warren
Guykema Sen.
Russell Feingold Robert
Jensen Norman
Solomon Bernie
Dwyer Website
of the Day
Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin Vanessa
Redgrave Walter
A. Davis Joshua
Frank Nate
Mezmer Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen Steven
Higgs Winslow
T. Wheeler Ron
Jacobs Rev.
William E. Alberts Colin
Asher Fred
Gardner "Pariah" John
Scagliotti Seth
Sandronsky Joan
Roelofs Arjun
Makhijani Ardeshr
Ommani Diana
Barahona Ben
Tripp St.
Clair / Socialist Worker Staff Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend March 3, 2006 Laura
Carlsen John
V. Whitbeck Chris
Floyd Mohamed
Hakki Pratyush
Chandra John
Scagliotti Website
of the Day
March 2, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Saul
Landau Joe
Allen Steve
Shore Denise
Boggs Norman
Finkelstein Website
of the Day
March 1, 2006 Mairead
Corrigan Maguire Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Faheem
Hussain Antony
Loewenstein Elizabeth
Schulte Mike
Whitney John
Ryan Michael
Donnelly Tom
Reeves Website
of the Day
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April 3, 2006 How Capitalism Threatens Your Health A Terrible Weapon in the Hands of the Rich By JULIAN EDNEY The main event in capitalist free markets
is the creation of wealth. The other event is the creation of
inequality. Under principles of laissez faire this is
not so much a tradeoff, a positive for a negative, as it is two
positives. Inequality, the natural outcome of competition, is
a sign of healthy struggle on which the whole community is said
to thrive. The industrial revolutions raised Western nations to massive wealth. Their stories can be written as a history of progress, and that is the outward appearance. But their entrails also ran with strikes, rights actions, antitrust decisions and labor strife; at times the creation of wealth ruined people. Free marketers will still explain labor mutinies as envious workers bent on random wreckage. But these actions all targeted massive inequalities. Yesterday's and today's conservatives
both say inequality is not bad if it comes from a free and fair
market. They explain that where you land in the economic struggle
for survival depends on your abilities, intelligence or character,
so the blame for pain must be laid on the individual. Actually,
some go further and hold inequality and injustice to be in the
nature of things, so installing ethics or equity is tampering
with natural law and its Darwinian ways, and it's not a good
idea to help weaker players or the less talented because that
slows natural selection. Working conditions have improved of course. We no longer use child labor, nor fourteen hour shifts, nor do we pay workers the absolute minimum they will accept. But every one of these reforms was contested, fought, litigated, and intensely lobbied, because it is not in the nature of laissez faire business owners to want what is moral or humane. They want profit. The basic colors of this conflict have never changed. The arguments that nature is ruthless and cannot be changed and that poverty results from inability or weak character still abound. The rest of society is concerned with morality every day. But businesses are amoral, following utilitarianism, and so we have collisions. (Cardinal Ratzinger once presented the church's moral position in this chronic conflict (3)). In this part of history we are on a rightward swing of the pendulum. Union power is at a low ebb, and corporate culture, materialism, and big money all seem formidable. People struggling for social justice have reason to fear because laissez faire and Social Darwinism are rising again (4). Free market capitalism continues on its fundamentally undemocratic course. The interior landscape of most corporations is authoritarian, often exploitative. As a kind of public relations gesture they regularly serve us those well-chewed paradoxes: that competition is good for everybody, and that what is bad (the unhappiness of poverty) is good because it's a spur. Third, that making wealth by these competitive means raises everybody. But common observation shows that competition is not good for everyone, only the winners; that what is bad is not good; and that unhappiness is not a source of energy, it is depressing. And while this country gets richer it grows more unequal (this has been going on since1774 (5)). So does the free market lift the whole of society up? It does not. It spreads the upper and the lower apart. (We may have wondered about these tricks of reason, but laissez-faire is a powerful ideology, and under its spell we somehow accept that wheels on the same axle can turn in different directions.) The bigger the unfettered free market, the less equal we become. And poor people cannot change this, because even if dependable and hardworking, they are powerless. But now a new player has stepped in. New scientific evidence has been accumulating that inequality itself is bad for our health. It's not so much the qualities of the individual. Nor what he does. It is the system. It's the shape of the community he lives in hierarchical or egalitarian. After years of collecting health
data, Ichiro Kawachi in the U.S.(6), Richard Wilkinson in Britain
(7) and John Lynch in the U.S. (8) and their associates have
discovered that more lethal than cigarettes, obesity, alcohol,
pollution, AIDS, vehicle accidents, suicides and homicides,
is the gradient of inequality in our societies. If we want to improve our health--something that obsesses Americans--it is clear what we must do. We must find a way to raise both affluence and equality. Julian Edney is the author of Greed: a Treatise in Two Essays. Born in Uganda, he now teaches college in southern California and can be contacted through his website. 2. Brandeis actually went more inclusive at one point, stating that curbing bigness was essential to democracy. Strum, P. (Ed) Brandeis on democracy. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1995. 3. Razinger, J., Cardinal (now Pope Benedict XVI) Market Economy and Ethics was presented at a 1985 symposium "Church and Economy in Dialogue" in Rome and can be retrieved at http://www.acton.org/publicat/occasionalpapers/ratzinger.html 4. Edney, J.J. Greed: A treatise in two essays. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2005. See Greed II. 5. It appears in 1774 the top 1% owned 14.6% of the national wealth.~ By 1989 it owned 36.3%. In Gordon J.S. "Numbers game," 1992, Forbes, October 9. p. 48. 6. Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. and Wilkinson, R.G. (Eds.) The society and population health reader. New York: The New Press, 1999. 7. Wilkinson, R.G. The impact of inequality. New York: The New Press, 2005. 8. Lynch, J. and G.A. Kaplan. Understanding how inequality in the distribution of income affects health. In Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. and Wilkinson, R.G. (Eds.) The society and population health reader. New York: The New Press, 1999. p. 202. 9. Kawachi, I. and Kennedy, B.P. The relationship of income inequality to mortality: Does the choice of indicator matter? In Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. and Wilkinson, R.G. (Eds.) The society and population health reader. New York: The New Press, 1999. p. 112. 10. Sapolsy, R. Sick of poverty. Scientific American, 2005, 293, 92-99. (December 2005). 11. Ibid.
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. |