The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Glenn Ashton -
Alan Greenspan was wrong. Free market ideology is rotten to the core. There is mayhem on main streets, with jobs haemorrhaging from every sector. It is not only first world working stiffs who are feeling the pain. The poor and working classes are suffering a great deal more, due to problems created on the other side of the world by a system that may as well operate in a parallel universe.
The self serving greed and accumulative gathering of wealth through nefarious instruments of finance...
There's been an outcry in America about the financial rescue plan unveiled by the Obama administration under the leadership of Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. The Obama administration plans to buy up $2 trillion in toxic financial assets. The plan is being denounced by economists in the mainstream press, as well as commentators in the alternative media. Pepe Escobar also provides excellent commentary of Geithner's PPPIP (Public-Private Partnership Investment Programme), which he refers...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Current debates on the motor industry rescue plan remind me of the origins of the term "Hobson’s choice". The phrase draws from a Mr. Hobson that rented out horses, and gave his customers no choice as to which horse they would rent. By limiting the choices available to customers, Mr. Hobson ensured that he both managed his stock, and ensured a rotation of horses.
South African motor industries, through skilful lobbying, are arguing that the rescue plan is the only option...
Fazila Farouk -
The global financial crisis has exploded onto the scene, bringing with it job losses, home losses and family murder-suicides. This crisis may be financial, but its costs are human.
The culprit, ‘capitalism’ has been named and shamed and the casino they call Wall Street, exposed. Under the disapproving gaze of the world’s ordinary people, elites appear confounded.
How did they get it so wrong? Why didn’t they see the writing on the wall? What were the predictions of...
What is the role of the U.S. in the disposition of the world's economic and environmental resources? How are financial markets best defended from economic shock? Does liberalization ensure prosperity? These issues were discussed by journalist, Naomi Klein and economists Joseph Stiglitz and Hernando de Soto, in a conversation moderated by David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Centre - City University of New York. To hear what Klein had to say, please click...
Kim Nicolini -
It's no wonder Revolutionary Road was shut out of the Oscars. As stated in this article from the New York Times, this year the Academy is looking to stories of the “indomitability of human will” to grace with its little gold statues. All of the nominees for best picture are “films built on individual successes” that provide “a nice, big chunk of uplift.” From Slumdog Millionaire to Milk to Frost/Nixon, these are stories where the little guy can beat the big...
