Comments for The Mustard Seed

Comment on Occupy Wall Street by Nalliah Thayabharan

Nalliah Thayabharan — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:06:12 +0000

We essentially have had modern-day bank robbers — except that they wore gray suits and not masks — and there’s been no accountability for it Every day we see energy speculators, war profiteers, managed health-care providers, media propagandists, and/or financiers of Wall Street given some unfair advantage over the average consumers and taxpayers, and the cumulative effect of the American people watching selfishness prevail over the public interest has been an undermining of the public’s trust in government. There’s no question the system is rigged against the little guy. The Wall Street interests have a lot more information. They jerry-rig the system so that they always win. Oligarchy is political power based on economic power. And it’s the rise of the Wall Street in economic terms, that it’d turn into political power. And Wall Street then feed that back into more deregulation, more opportunities to go out and take reckless risks and– and capture huge amounts of money. The American democracy was not given to us on a platter. It is not ours for all time, irrespective of our efforts. Either people organize and they find political leadership to take this on, or we are going to be in big trouble. That’s absolutely the heart of the problem. I would also say and tell you, and emphasize, these Wall Street people will not come out and debate with us. The heads of Wall Street or their representatives, they will not come out. They’re afraid. They don’t have the substance. They don’t have the arguments. We have the evidence. They have the lobbyists. And that’s all they have. Wall Street Corporations don’t make anything. They don’t produce anything. They gamble and bet and speculate. And when they lose vast sums they raid the U.S. Treasury so they can go back and do it again. Never mind that $50 trillion in global wealth was erased between September 2007 and March 2009, including $7 trillion in the U.S. stock market and $6 trillion in the housing market. Never mind that the total amount of retirement and household wealth trashed was $7.5 trillion or that we saw $2 trillion in 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts evaporate. Never mind the $1.9 trillion in traditional defined-benefit plans and the $2.6 trillion in nonpension assets that went up in smoke. Never mind the job losses, the foreclosures and the 35 percent jump in personal and small-business bankruptcies. There are bundles of new money, taken again from us, to make deals and hand out outrageous bonuses. And when these trillions run out they will come back for more until our currency becomes junk
—Nalliah Thayabharan

Comment on Occupy Wall Street by Ross Wolfe

Ross Wolfe — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:50:37 +0000

Occupy Wall Street has so far been successful in enlisting the support of a number of leftish celebrities, prominent unions, and young activists, and has received a lot of media coverage. The protestors have successfully stood their ground against Bloomberg’s attempt to evict them. But this victory can by no means considered final. Rather, it tasks us with the question: “Where do we go from here?” If this successful moment of resistance against the coercion of the State is to signal a turning-point for this movement, it must now address the more serious political problems that confront it. It is crucial that the participants in these demonstrations ask themselves where they stand in history, and more adequately conceptualize the problem of capitalist society. Though Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy [insert location here] in general still contains many problematic aspects, it nevertheless presents an opportunity for the Left to engage with some of the nascent anti-capitalist sentiment taking shape there. To this point, most of the protests have only expressed a sort of intuitive discontent with the status quo. In order to get a better sense of what they are up against, they must develop a more adequate understanding of the prevailing social order. Hopefully, the demonstrations will lead to a general radicalization of the participants’ politics, and a commitment to the longer-term project of social emancipation. To this end, I have written up a rather pointed Marxist analysis of the OWS movement so far that you might find interesting: “Reflections on Occupy Wall Street: What it Represents, Its Prospects, and Its Deficiencies

Comment on About by » Shameless Self-Promotion. The Wily Filipino

» Shameless Self-Promotion. The Wily Filipino — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:53:59 +0000

[...] Jack Stephens — reporter, activist, intellectual — also blogs like a madman, and back when Pinoy [...]

Comment on Oakland’s Gang Injunctions by Whitney

Whitney — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:05:42 +0000

I just wanted to add that the Oakland City Council decided to allow what has already been implemented or introduced in court; that means the temporary North Oakland injunction is allowed and the East Oakland injunction that’s in court right now will be allowed if the judge determines that he’s in favor of it.

The City Council did not allow for any new injunctions, or for any more people to be added to the injunctions (this included removing all of the John Does from both injunctions), and they also stated that the injunction’s impact will have to be assessed by an independent reviewer.

This was not a free pass for any and all injunctions in Oakland. The one that is in place is only temporary and should the one in East Oakland be approved it will also just be temporary.

The struggle continues on many fronts. If y’all want to keep up w/ what’s happening, check out the Stop the Injunctions Coalition blog. We’ll be focusing a lot on supporting/building up community-based alternatives to gang injunctions over the summer. http://stoptheinjunction.wordpress.com

See you in the streets!!!

Comment on Marx on Revolution in the Center and the Periphery by Jack Stephens

Jack Stephens — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:01:41 +0000

Of course you’d say that, your my dad.

Comment on Marx on Revolution in the Center and the Periphery by mike stephens

mike stephens — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:50:24 +0000

good stuff Jack

Comment on Identity, Class Politics, and the Burgis by For AWP: More on Diversity, Publishing, and “White, Bourgeois Values” : Barbara Jane Reyes

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:22:06 +0000

[...] this is giving me more insight into my ideas about Filipino Americans within or in relation to the [...]

Comment on Identity, Class Politics, and the Burgis by on the limits of pride and identity politics « The Commonwealth Cafe

on the limits of pride and identity politics « The Commonwealth Cafe — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:02:00 +0000

[...] and pride can get you–especially when it’s predicated on class positioning–in Identity, Class Politics, and the Burgis,, with good links out to Carlo [last name?], Karin Aguilar-San Juan (via Carlo), Mark Chiang, and [...]

Comment on Bayan USA Podcast: Noynoy’s Stay in San Jose, California by BAYAN USA: Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) » Blog Archive » Bayan USA Podcast: Noynoy’s Stay in San Jose, California

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 21:02:10 +0000

[...] You can listen to the podcast in your web-browser here [...]

Comment on Update on the Philippines: The Urban Poor Sector by Jack Stephens

Jack Stephens — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:21:46 +0000

No AFP forces but folks said that the PNP and local police have militarized the area.