STUDYING DAS KAPITAL: Part 1 (of 8)

I can’t argue with William Roberts. Reading Capital, Volume 1, feels like Hell. Marx, in the French preface, likens the reading to the climbing of a mountain. I’m taking baby steps, though.

There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits.

Preface to French Edition

STUDYING DAS KAPITAL: Part 1 (of 8)

William Roberts argued persuasively in his book “Marx’s Inferno” that Karl Marx structured Das Kapital Volume 1 to parallel Dante’s Inferno. Look over the diagram below which is taken from Robert’s book.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Deputy Iris Varela warned that the Venezuelan far-right opposition belonging to the Unitary Platform (PUD), together with international news agencies, has a plan to announce alleged electoral results ahead of time on this Sunday, July 28. In Venezuela, the electoral law only allows the National Electoral Council (CNE) to announce electoral results. Only afterwards are media outlets permitted to disclose their estimates.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

Related:

Venezuela: Maduro Denounces Far-Right Sabotage as Machado Issues Election Day Instructions

An allegedly leaked report from pro-opposition pollster Datanálisis predicted a narrow Maduro victory on July 28.

The U.S. is going to dispute the election results and claim that Edmundo González won! The Biden Administration has already been using Lula and Gustavo Petro as intermediaries to interfere in Venezuelan politics!

How to Stop a Coup by Mark Feierstein (USAID)

That said, the United States and other countries could do a lot over the next few days to promote a legitimate election and a democratic transition. Indeed, Washington has already made important contributions to this complex process. Negotiations with the Venezuelan government and the skillful leveraging of economic sanctions persuaded the regime to permit the opposition primary in October. That vote established María Corina Machado as the undisputed opposition leader, forged unity among opposition parties, and revived the Venezuelan people’s confidence in elections as the best way to resolve the country’s prolonged political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The administration wisely coordinated those diplomatic efforts with Colombia and Brazil, whose leftist leaders have greater access to the Maduro regime. To be sure, Presidents Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil have been inconsistent in their support for democracy in Venezuela. Yet their intermittent interventions have been timely and consequential. Were it not for Lula’s engagement, for example, the regime likely would have derailed González’s candidacy, as it did to Machado and the opposition’s second choice, Corina Yoris.

“The Venezuelan opposition is increasingly optimistic that its unity candidate Edmundo González will win the July 28 contest by such an ample margin that Maduro would have no choice but to acknowledge the outcome.”

Fed’s Powell Calls U.S. Economy “Robust” as Personal Savings Rate Collapses to Same Level as in Financial Crisis of 2008

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: October 27, 2022

At Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference on September 21, he made a remark that went unchallenged by the bevy of reporters in attendance. Powell said this:

Fed’s Powell Calls U.S. Economy “Robust” as Personal Savings Rate Collapses to Same Level as in Financial Crisis of 2008

Bill Gates Failed Effort to Feed Africa:Was he even trying to help in the first place?

Healthcare administration students in the United States have no choice but to learn about private vs public interests, and the power that private interests have in crafting the Nation’s healthcare policy. Essentials of Health Policy and Law is a fairly standard healthcare administration textbook that budding health policy experts are given to study in American universities. The text uses health policy decisions made in recent years by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an example of the way private interests control public health policy. According to the book, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation “provides grants to develop crops that are high in essential vitamins and minerals to improve the nutrition of people in developing countries” (Wilensky, 2023). A very uncritical examination of the way investors like Gates use their wealth to make important decisions that affect millions.

Bill Gates Failed Effort to Feed Africa:Was he even trying to help in the first place?

Resources:

Gates-funded ‘green revolution’ in Africa has failed, critics say

Bill Gates: ‘We’re in a Worse Place Than I Expected’

Irish Potato Famine: How Belief In Overpopulation Leads To Human Evil

Serve the people: The eradication of extreme poverty in China.

Federal Reserve System Takes First Step Toward Creating Its Own Digital Currency

Federal Reserve System Takes First Step Toward Creating Its Own Digital Currency

While the Paper examines the potential benefits and risks of a U.S. CBDC, it is not intended to advance any specific policy outcome, nor is it intended to signal that the Fed will make any imminent decisions about the appropriateness of issuing a U.S. CBDC. However, the Paper undoubtedly is the Fed’s first step toward central bank digital currencies via a public discussion with its stakeholders.