How Freedom Became Tyranny

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 20th December 2011

Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.

Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?

In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws(1); big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.

Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others...

http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/

Excuse me if you've seen it before, but it goes to the heart of what is missing in this equation. He details the difficulty of expressing our values to combat it.

Remember Palin's target list?

All for those voting for Death Panels.

Like Giffords.

It worked in 2010, will it work in 2012?

A Good Day

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Bernie Sanders welcomed the ruling. "Today is a good day for millions of Americans who have pre-existing conditions who can no longer be rejected by insurance companies. It is a good day for families with children under 26 who can keep their children on their health insurance policies. It is a good day for women who can no longer be charged far higher premiums than men.

"It is a good day for 30 million uninsured Americans who will have access to healthcare. It is a good day for seniors who will continue to see their prescription drug costs go down as the so-called doughnut hole goes away. It is a good day for small businesses who simply cannot continue to afford the escalating costs of providing insurance for their employees. It is a good day for 20 million Americans who will soon be able to find access to community health centers.

"It is an especially good day for the state of Vermont, which stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional federal funds to help our state achieve universal health care.

"In my view, while the Affordable Care Act is an important step in the right direction and I am glad that the Supreme Court upheld it, we ultimately need to do better. If we are serious about providing high-quality, affordable healthcare as a right, not a privilege, the real solution to America's health care crisis is a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system. Until then, we will remain the only major nation that does not provide health care for every man, woman and child as a right of citizenship.

"I am proud that Vermont is making steady progress toward implementing a single-payer system. I hope our state will be a model to show the rest of the nation how to provide better care at less cost to more people."

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8BEACA2A-EDE7-4ADD-97CA-18865C0EB0C3

Thanks Skinner and Pro Sense for the good news instead of naysaying:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=154256

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002869426

This does not mean there will not still be battles in states, so keep at it Democrats!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=154256

So that is where our traditional divisions are not longer relevant. Despite the idea that NRA members anti-union, some union members reject other beliefs that we feel unions always support.

I know union members who have been voting GOP for years, including federal workers doing military jobs and postal workers. They don't connect the demise of their jobs with the GOP, but think the Democratic Party is the party of blacks, welfare recipients and immigrants. So they will not vote for them.

I prefer unions as a whole deciding how politicians vote, as most of their goals are progressive.

For those who are interested in an article about what he calles negative libertarianism, the opposite of a positive type, you may want to read this by George Monbiot:

How Freedom Became Tyranny
December 19, 2011

Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.

http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/

Once there you can search the site to read other thought-provoking articles by Monbiot.

All riiight!

I'm seeing some good positive comments on the youtube videos about Obama. Just thought I'd check in with the group. GOTV!

This is not a joke.

We need an investigation on Obama's time on Mars. The Kenyan story was just a ruse to hide the real conspiracy!