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Javier Lpez

The aftershocks of the Great Recession are still being felt. The trail of suffering in the shape of unemployment and destruction of wealth has transformed the map-making of the western world, ending up by provoking a real geopolitical recession with an Anglo-American epicentre aka the cradle of global capitalism. Likewise, the coordinates of the political agenda are being modified; old conflicts are resurfacing, new cracks appearing. Once again, distribution of wealth, inequality and their effects are returning to the centre stage of public debate. Why is this?

We are reproducing the abnormal levels of inequality of the Gilded Age,precursor to the First World War and the following Great Depression. Fairness and social mobility are linked (The Great Gatsby Curve); in fact, if you want to live the American Dream, you should go to Scandinavia. Similarly, inequality in relation to income and between genders develops along parallel lines. Fairness acts as a social glue creating connections of mutual trust.

With inequality, there are various patterns of correlation that allow us to argue that fairer societies have better social results, as well as being healthier, more peaceful and cooperative (Wilkinson and Pickett). There is a correlation between inequality and infant mortality, life expectancy, unwanted pregnancies and rates of mental illness. Social vulnerability goes hand in hand with emotional fragility. In Spain, the OECD country after Cyprus where inequality has increased most, consumption of antidepressants has tripled in the last ten years.

One of the basic axioms of the dominant mode of thinking has been: inequality is the price to be paid for market efficiency. Until now. Endless academic literature links problems with growth to current levels of inequality. Its connection to secular stagnation has also come up, as inequality distorts demand, holds back family consumption levels and favours over-indebtedness. Therefore, it is worth recalling that an increase in salaries would activate the economy.

According to no less than the IMF, less inequality allows for a faster and more longer lasting growth (see here). All this invites us to transition to the following discourse: a move from growth for redistribution towards redistribution for growth. The left should take note. Only strategies of equal and balanced growth will guarantee recovery in the economies of industrialized countries.

At the same time inequality acts as a solvent for democracy. The decline of the middle class undermines the political order and damages traditional politics. The polarization of income outcomes contributes to political polarization and weakens support for inclusive democratic and economic institutions. Inequality undermines interpersonal trust and encourages the sensation of lack of control. These ingredients are the basis of the reactionary political cocktail that is battering the world.

In this way, the components of welfare that end up defining social class and socio-economic context are being reconfigured (State, family and labour market). We fall back on the family more and require more help from the State due to the lack of quality labour opportunities. Put simply, labour has ceased to be the main source of prosperity and stability: a historical breakdown of the utmost gravity, aggravated by aggressive labour reform, a weakening of collective bargaining, and the consolidation of precarious and poorly paid employment.

Yet when we most need the States help, it faces aggressive processes of fiscal consolidation. Austerity is a painful medicine; it has caused a massive increase in unemployment and a fall in adjusted salaries (2010-2015). At the same time, fiscal consolidation based on cutbacks in public spending exacerbates social stratification.

The fiscal rules institutionalized during the Eurozone crisis (Fiscal Compact) are a deflationary anchor that acts as a straitjacket. The dysfunctional design of the single currency is a machine that worsens divergences, incapable of dealing with asymmetrical shocks. Completing the institutions of monetary union and increasing the member states room for fiscal manoeuvring should be at the heart of any progressive European Project.

Market globalization and liberalization acts in this way. On the one hand, it has taken millions of people out of poverty in recent decades, especially in Asia, yet on the other hand a significant part of the middle classes and workers in the developed world do not feel any benefit (Milanovic). Therefore, the perverse logic of focusing on net profit must be accompanied by the logic of profit distribution.

The automation and digitalisation of the economy act in a similar way. Its clear that technological advances produce profit, but they also generate a strong skills bias in the labour market and renovate the typology of job positions. If public powers do not counteract, compensating and rebalancing the losers and winners, there will always be people prepared to smash machines with hammers or tempted to impose terrible commercial blockades.

This new clothing of inequality also brings with it the opening of new wounds that activate fears and identity crises. Generational and territorial gaps explain to a large extent recent European election results. The mechanisms of intergenerational solidarity are ceasing to function, and in the eyes of many young people the promise on which democracy is built has been broken: that the future is a desirable place to inhabit.

Jeremy Corbyn has achieved a spectacular increase in his electoral base, mobilizing young people and those who previously abstained with the pledge to restore that promise. He has managed to be seen as a politician who is honestly worried about the daily problems of many of them, indeed the majority. Quite a rara avis, and he has reintroduced the topic of socio-economic conflict into the electoral conversation.

At the same time, urban/rural cleavages operate powerfully in the political conflict. Diverse urban centres integrated into the global value chain versus a periphery either rural or suffering from deindustrialisation (Guilluy). A breeding ground for Rousseau-istic resentment and identity withdrawal. A new logic emerges from all this globalism versus nationalism/nativism which crosses traditional political conflicts. And all this cannot be understood without one factor: inequality.

This new logic, between defending open and closed societies, has landed on territorial fault lines. Le Pen only managed to garner one in ten votes in Paris. Trump, 4% in Washington DC, theBrexiteers,one in four ballot papers in inner London. Emmanuel Macron skilfully positioned himself as an opposing party in the conflict, becoming the new strong man in a Europe lacking directional signposts.

But the risk provoked by the activation of this axis of conflict is looming in France: a left in total breakdown. To repair the progressive electoral base, it is necessary to put into practice a program of redistribution against inequality. The recipes of the twentieth century have been as follows: Keynesian management of economic policies of demand, state industrial planning, preservation of collective bargaining, fiscal redistribution through taxes and a system of social welfare. This road map remains valid but must adapt to multiple changes: the peculiarities of the Eurozone, an economy and market that is internationally integrated and changes in social structures.

We have to construct a new tax framework of public regulatory spending which redistributes in the most efficient way and inspires a fairer predistribution. And all this must be done tending to the vectors of transformation represented by urban concentration, ageing of the population and climate change. The leverage to rebuild the social contract should be the political threats that torment Europe, just as in the glorious thirty years (1945-1975); without threat, there can be no agreement. Because inequality explains, at least in part, the fracturing of the pillars that have held up the developed world: economic growth, middle classes, liberal democracy and the American order (Lizoain).

Like every Herculean task, the fight against inequality demands a narrative that supports it and gives it shape. A new narrative of equality in defence of economic growth, protection of democracy and the deepest sense of freedom: autonomy and dignity.

This post originally appeared in Spanish in the CTXT contexto y accin blog.

Javier Lpez has been a Spanish Member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is the holder of the Spanish Socialist delegation in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly of the European Parliament.

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Democracy Without Glue - Social Europe

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates saysPresident Trump's comments rippingAttorney General Jeff SessionsJeff Sessions8 things you might have missed in latest Trump interview Trump has confidencein Sessions, White House says Your income paid for welfare fraud from sea to shining sea MORE's recusal from the Russia probeis a violation of the Justice Department's independence.

"POTUS attack on Russia recusal reveals yet again his violation of the essential independence of DOJ, a bedrock principle of our democracy," Yates tweeted Thursday.

POTUS attack on Russia recusal reveals yet again his violation of the essential independence of DOJ, a bedrock principle of our democracy.

"Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said.

Sessions recused himself from the federal investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow inMarch, after it was revealed that he failed to disclose to the Senate two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak while he was a surrogate for Trump's campaign.

Trump abruptly fired Yates earlier this year for refusing to defend in court his original executive order restricting entry to the U.S. for refugees and people from certain Muslim-majority countries.

The former acting attorney general has slammed the Trump administration before for ignoring legal and political norms, saying its behavior should be "alarming to us as a country."

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Sally Yates: Trump attack on Sessions violates 'bedrock principle of our democracy' - The Hill (blog)

"Morning Joe" is in mourning. The deceased is the Republican Party of balanced budgets and international restraint.

MSNBC host and former Congressman Joe Scarborough announced last week that he was leaving the Republican Party. In an impassioned piece for The Washington Post, Scarborough cited Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrumps attack on one class of immigrants wont make America great Fox News personality: GOP healthcare plan says ideology is less important than victory' Mar-a-Lago asks to hire more foreign workers MOREs actions and Republican Party leaderships silence as the basis of his decision:

The wreckage visited of this man will break the Republican Party into pieces and lead to the election of independent thinkers no longer tethered to the tired dogmas of the polarized past. When that day mercifully arrives, the two-party duopoly that has strangled American politics for almost two centuries will finally come to an end. And Washington just may begin to work again.

Welcome to the (anti-) party, Scarborough! You are joining the roughly 45 percent of Americans who are abandoningthe Democratic and Republican Parties or never joined them in the first place. Not only are our ranks growing, but political scientists and pollsters are finally acknowledging that independents are not apathetic fence-sitters but engaged Americans concerned about how the parties and partisanship are ruining our country.

But if Ive learned anything about American politics in my 20 years as an independent activist and advocate for electoral reform, its that nothing automatically leads to anything. There are no straight lines in politics. Change is not inevitable. The parties work hard to muffle the impact of this exodus towards independence. Independent voters might comprise 45 percent of the country, but the parties still make the rules.

And heres rule No. 1: Independent voters must accept that they are second-class citizens in our democracy.

Joe Scarborough announces he's leaving Republican party: report https://t.co/Uw0cLwKAsZ pic.twitter.com/iZX5riu5DP

Independent voters in many states cannot register to vote as independents they must choose from derogatory voter registration language like unenrolled or decline to state. Independent voters are not allowed to serve as poll workers in states like New York its a job only Democrats and Republicans can apply for. Independent candidates are locked out of participating in the presidential debates and have to gather many more signatures than party candidates to have their names appear on the ballot.

Independents in dozens of states pay taxes for primary elections that they are barred from. The two forms of gerrymandering that dominate our country partisan gerrymandering and bi-partisan gerrymandering share a common commitment to protecting the parties at the expense of the voters, especially independents. The Federal Election Commission is comprised of three Democrats and three Republicans which guarantees deadlock instead of two Democrats, two Republicans, and two independents, which the current statute allows for and would produce functional oversight of the electoral process. Local and state boards of elections are run by Democratic and Republican appointees.

We do need to elect independent thinkers no longer tethered to tired dogmas, as Scarborough suggests. That is true. And we need to free independent voters from the iron maiden of partisan election laws and practices that keep them from fully participating.

Want to fix American politics? Open up the primaries https://t.co/Cq85lfcmAg

Implementing open primaries is where I start. Its simple and popular. Let all voters vote in all elections. Dont make party membership a condition for participation. Dont let the parties private, non-government organizations decide who can and cannot vote in publicly funded elections. If we can break down this barrier, the American people will be better positioned to take on the dozens of other ways the parties hold on to old dogmas and insulate themselves from independent voices, from change and from progress.

My hope is that Scarborough takes his independence seriously and uses his location in the media to publicize the growing chorus of voices calling for the full enfranchisement of independent voters. While just five years ago the conversation about reform was limited to money in politics, there is a surge of new leaders and organizations who recognize that the party control of the process itself must be disrupted. There are hundreds of articulate, passionate, committed and accomplished independent leaders and reformers working around the clock to reform our political system. The country needs more opportunities to hear from them!

Dont mourn Joe. Join the fight to unleash the power of independents.

John Opdycke is president of Open Primaries, a national election-reform group.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

Originally posted here:
Independent voters have second-class status in American ... - The Hill - The Hill (blog)

Donald Trumps reaction to the news that he is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice was to send out a twitter message claiming that: You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history led by some very bad and conflicted people!

Bad and conflicted people?? Trump is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a man who served honorably as Director of the FBI under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He is an extremely capable, independent, and ethical public servant.

Among Trumps many problems is his fragile ego, his propensity to shoot from the hip, and his inability to keep his mouth shut (or twitter off!) He created this situation by speaking and tweeting evidence of his wish to obstruct the FBIinvestigation into possiblecollusion between his campaign and the Russians.

It appears that Trump is trying to create a false justification for ordering Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Mr. Mueller as independent counsel. Perhaps he thinks he would then be able to order Rosenstein to appoint someone who is loyal to his highness.

Trump is a very immature and unstable person who has the power to seriously undermine our democracy. So far, Congressional Republicans are allowing him to act more and more like a spoiled child who cannot tolerate any restrictions on his behavior. When will they finally wake up to the fact that he is behaving like an autocratic dictator, not the president of a democracy?

Virginia Washburn

Grand Beach

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A danger to our democracy - Harborcountry News

Over the next few months well profile some women in our region doing things... a little differently. These are women with unique perspectives, in new roles, or simply approaching life along the road less-traveled. Like many other women, they are changing the lives of people around them in positive ways. This is the first in the WMRA series 'Women of Interest'.

St. Mark Lutheran Church in Charlottesville welcomed a new pastor in May. Viktoria Parvin is only the second female pastor to serve the church, and as WMRAs Sefe Emokpae reports, her hope is that she wont be the last.

(Church singing)

Its Sunday morning and service is just beginning.

(Pastor Parvin speaking)

Viktoria Parvin is pastor here at St. Mark Lutheran.

VIKTORIA PARVIN: This is a very open congregation, I would say. They are reconciling in Christ. They are openly saying that what holds us together is more powerful than what separates us.

What might separate Parvin from the average member of the congregation here is a lot. Born in the seventies in Communist Hungary, Parvins path to religion to was neither easy nor conventional.

PARVIN: One of my grandmothers would take me to church especially at Christmas. We would sneak out and go to the local church at midnight, it was actually a midnight mass.

Parvin says though her grandmother was the first to introduce her to faith it was her non-religious father who unwittingly led her to the church with a Bible.

PARVIN: My father had a lot of books and I just happened to find it and read it. Something was very powerful about it and I reached out and started to ask people about God. My parents would say some people believe in God and I would say, 'Does God exist and they would say, 'Well, for some people.

Parvin soon became immersed in the church, participating in youth programs, church camps, and Sunday School. She called it an exciting time.

PARVIN: It was almost feeling like being rebellious by sneaking out and not telling everyone that I'm going on Sunday morning to Sunday school in the Catholic Church and in the Lutheran Church.

But simmering under the surface was a call to something greater.

PARVIN: It is a feeling of something different than you ever heard before or experienced before.

Parvin enrolled in seminary school and embarked on the path to becoming the pastor she is today.

PARVIN: I think the biggest step was just finding a woman role model who would say to me, 'have you thought about being a pastor? It is just something that if you don't have a role model around you, you never even try to imagine it or come up with the idea yourself.

But the path, she says, wasnt always easy.

PARVIN: When I first time applied to the seminary in Hungary, Budapest, I remember they advertised in the school as 'we prefer men.' My bishop said to me, I'm not sure how long you would have to wait because congregations are not prepared, most of them, for female ministers, so, they are asking me for male ministers, so what can I do? And that really made me realize, well, education is not enough, having the call is not enough, there's more fight that had to be done.

And fight, she would. Parvin would eventually land her first role as an intern at a church in upstate New York followed by two congregations in southern Illinois. As the first female pastor there, she recalls the difficulty in her sense of isolation.

PARVIN: I felt really alone and people would say you don't look like a pastor which I understood what they meant was I wasn't a man. I had to kind of push and prove myself. I used to wear my collar everywhere so that I would be identified.

(singing in church)

Now in Charlottesville, Parvin is the second female pastor St. Mark Lutheran has seen.

TOM HECMANCZUK : I find her to be very dedicated. Her faith is very strong and she has a good way of presenting her faith to others.

Congregation member and usher Tom Hecmanczuk has been with the church for the better part of 17 years and praises Parvin for bringing her own unique set of gifts and skills to the table.

HECMANCZUK: I think she's very inclusive. She wants to be a part of this community and make sure we stay involved and dedicated to the community as well as the church here itself.

Parvin says she hopes to set an example for the next generation of pastors, male and female alike, and views her role as a grand responsibility.

PARVIN: I see it as a very important opportunity. God is always surprising us with new things and I see those struggles that we have especially at this time that we are separated, as not only challenges but opportunities to prove our faith and to show who we are.

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New Pastor in Charlottesville, Born Under Communism - WMRA Public Radio