The NewPeople is the peace and justice newspaper of Pittsburgh and the Tri-State area and fills the voids left by the mainstream by providing a media outlet reflecting the reality of progressive, alternative politics locally, nationally and globally.
THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE. PITTSBURGH, PA 15224 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PITTSBURGH, PA PERMIT NO. 458 THE PITTSBURGH‘S PEACE AND JUSTICE NEWSPAPER Published by the Thomas Merton Center VOL. 41, No. 6 August, 2011 CITIZENS DEMAND THEIR SHARE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM By Rob Conroy Storms of all stripes raged inside and outside of the Kingsley Association on July 18. Approximately 600 frustrated local citizens crammed into the packed East Liberty auditorium. They met with representatives from Pennsylvania legislators‘ offices to demand better jobs and better futures for themselves, their children and their grandchildren. The ―town hall‖-styled event-- the latest in a series of fair economy actions at least partially coordinated by the One Pittsburgh coalition-- began with a rally mixing old-fashioned motivational preaching from the Reverend David Thornton of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) and the Hill District‘s Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church. Music was provided by the Wesley Center AME Zionist Church choir, Pittsburgh‘s own heartland protest rocker Mike Stout and socially- conscious rap/video artist Jasiri X. The message from the stage was a simple one repeatedly exhorted by the Reverend Thornton: ―We are sick and tired of being sick and tired! God will keep us keeping on for better jobs, justice, and one Pittsburgh.‖ Dozens of community members formed lines at two separate microphones as the government and community leaders: Jackie Erickson of Senator Robert Casey (D-PA)‘s office, Corey O‘Connor of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Swissvale)‘s office, Darcy Burner of ProgressiveCongress.org and Progressive Congress Action Fund, Rev. Richard Freeman of PIIN and Braddock‘s Resurrection Baptist Church, and Rick Adams of Western PA Black Political Assembly, took their seats on the stage at the front of the room. Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto (D-District 8) and a representative from Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl‘s office were also in attendance, but were not seated with the other leaders. The representatives‘ message was spelled out as part of a PowerPoint slide: ―Every good American worker deserves a good American job.‖ Ms. Erickson brought a more local angle from Senator Casey to the fold, saying, ―We need to get Pennsylvania back to work.‖ Similarly, although the fired-up citizens speakers ran the gamut of age, education and race, their stories affirmed, sometimes heart- wrenchingly, what everyone gathered at the Kingsley Center instinctively knew; a disproportionate share of Pennsylvanians need jobs and many Continued on page 3 Nuclear News Pages 4, 5 Caravan to Cuba – Pages 1, 9 Pittsburgh Coffee Party Page 8 TMC works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice. TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. END THE EMBARGO CAMPAIGN 2011 LEAVES BY BUS FOR MEXICO AND THE UNKNOWN By Michael Drohan As of July 19, 2011, over 100 U.S. , Canadian and citizens of other countries are gathered in MacAllen, Texas readying themselves to cross the Mexican border and on to Cuba. The group is or- ganized by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing (IFCO) and takes the form of a Caravan of buses, trucks and cars carry- ing humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba. The Embargo on Cuba has now been in force for over 50 years, an unprecedented attempt to punish the Cuban people for having the chutzpah to believe that the resources of Cuba should serve their own people and not foreigners. The Embargo is a crime against humanity but, alas, one that has be- come normalized and accepted by the majority of the population. In years past I took part in IFCO Caravans to Chiapas, Mexico in solidarity with the Zapatista uprising of 1994 against NAFTA and the unjust policies of the Mexican government vis-à-vis the Mayan population. This year, however, is my first one to Cuba even though it is the 22 nd Peace Cara- van to Cuba organized by IFCO. Continued on Page 9 Photo by Frank Carr Many of the hundreds gathered at the Kingsley Center to speak out for good jobs.
Transcript
August, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 1
THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE.
PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PITTSBURGH, PA
PERMIT NO. 458
TH
E
PITTSBURGH‘S PEACE AND JUSTICE NEWSPAPER
Published by the Thomas Merton Center VOL. 41, No. 6 August, 2011
CITIZENS DEMAND THEIR SHARE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
By Rob Conroy
Storms of all stripes raged inside
and outside of the Kingsley
Association on July 18.
Approximately 600 frustrated
local citizens crammed into the
packed East Liberty auditorium.
They met with representatives
from Pennsylvania legislators‘
offices to demand better jobs and
better futures for themselves,
their children and their
grandchildren.
The ―town hall‖-styled event--
the latest in a series of fair
economy actions at least
partially coordinated by the One
Pittsburgh coalition-- began with
a rally mixing old-fashioned
motivational preaching from the
Reverend David Thornton of the
Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact
Network (PIIN) and the Hill
District‘s Grace Memorial
Presbyterian Church. Music was
provided by the Wesley Center
AME Zionist Church choir,
Pittsburgh‘s own heartland protest
rocker Mike Stout and socially-
conscious rap/video artist Jasiri X.
The message from the stage was a
simple one repeatedly exhorted by
the Reverend Thornton: ―We are
sick and tired of being sick and
tired! God will keep us keeping on
for better jobs, justice, and one
Pittsburgh.‖
Dozens of community members
formed lines at two separate
microphones as the government and
community leaders: Jackie Erickson
of Senator Robert Casey (D-PA)‘s
office, Corey O‘Connor of U.S.
Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Swissvale)‘s
office, Darcy Burner of
ProgressiveCongress.org and
Progressive Congress Action Fund,
Rev. Richard Freeman of PIIN
and Braddock‘s Resurrection
Baptist Church, and Rick Adams
of Western PA Black Political
Assembly, took their seats on the
stage at the front of the room.
Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill
Peduto (D-District 8) and a
representative from Pittsburgh
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl‘s office
were also in attendance, but
were not seated with the other
leaders.
The representatives‘ message
was spelled out as part of a
PowerPoint slide: ―Every good
American worker deserves a
good American job.‖ Ms.
Erickson brought a more local
angle from Senator Casey to the
fold, saying, ―We need to get
Pennsylvania back to work.‖
Similarly, although the fired-up
citizens speakers ran the gamut of
age, education and race, their stories
affirmed, sometimes heart-
wrenchingly, what everyone
gathered at the Kingsley Center
instinctively knew; a
disproportionate share of
Pennsylvanians need jobs and many Continued on page 3
Nuclear News
Pages 4, 5
Caravan to Cuba
– Pages 1, 9
Pittsburgh Coffee Party Page 8
TMC works to build a consciousness of values and
to raise the moral questions involved in the issues
of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice,
oppression and environmental justice.
TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and
faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent
struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just
world.
END THE EMBARGO CAMPAIGN 2011
LEAVES BY BUS FOR MEXICO AND THE UNKNOWN
By Michael Drohan
As of July 19, 2011, over 100 U.S. , Canadian and
citizens of other countries are gathered in
MacAllen, Texas readying themselves to cross the
Mexican border and on to Cuba. The group is or-
ganized by the Interreligious Foundation for
Community Organizing (IFCO) and takes the
form of a Caravan of buses, trucks and cars carry-
ing humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba. The
Embargo on Cuba has now been in force for over
50 years, an unprecedented attempt to punish the
Cuban people for having the chutzpah to believe
that the resources of Cuba should serve their own
people and not foreigners. The Embargo is a
crime against humanity but, alas, one that has be-
come normalized and accepted by the majority of
the population.
In years past I took part in IFCO Caravans to
Chiapas, Mexico in solidarity with the Zapatista
uprising of 1994 against NAFTA and the unjust
policies of the Mexican government vis-à-vis the
Mayan population. This year, however, is my first
one to Cuba even though it is the 22nd Peace Cara-
van to Cuba organized by IFCO.
Continued on Page 9
Photo by Frank Carr
Many of the hundreds gathered at the Kingsley Center to speak out for good jobs.
2 - NEWPEOPLE August, 2011
IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE THOMAS MERTON CENTER 5129 PENN AVE., PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
Mana Alibadi, Erica Augenstein, Frank Carr, Nicole Coast, Rob Conroy, Deyja Donohue, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Rory Henc, Steven Green, Charles McCollester, Ken-
TMC MEMBERSHIPS These are organizations or coalitions in which TMC has formal membership, including payment of dues to and fulfillment of other agreed-upon responsibilities as an organizational member
Abolition 2000: W. Pa. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons 724-339-2242 / [email protected]
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Sept. 1, 7:30 pm: RESISTING ATTACKS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION, TEACHERS & STUDENTS Documentary: ―The Inconvenient Truth Behind ‗Waiting for Superman‘‖
Brian Jones - New York City public school teacher, Huffington Post columnist
Kipp Dawson – Pittsburgh public school teacher, union activist
There is a concerted and well-funded assault on public schools, on teachers, and on working-class communities by billionaires and politicians who want to run education like
a business, advance privatization, and break teachers‘ unions. A documentary film, ―Waiting for Superman,‖ is part of this assault. A critical documentary response will
kick off a discussion of the issues. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Oct. 6, 7:30 pm: WORKING-CLASS LITERATURE Nick Coles - Professor, University of Pittsburgh, co-editor of American Working-Class Literature
Alicia Williamson - Graduate Student, University of Pittsburgh, researching socialist novels
Robin Clarke - Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh & poet
Paul Le Blanc – author/editor of Work and Struggle: Voices from U.S. Labor Radicalism
U.S. workers have been singing, reciting, performing, telling stories, writing, and publishing for more than three centuries. As diverse in race, gender, culture, and region as
America's working class itself, working-class literature embraces genres that include fiction, poetry, drama, memoir, oratory, journalism, letters, oral history, and songs –
reflecting varieties of work and struggle. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
NO FORUM NOVEMBER 3 – Please attend MERTON AWARD TO VANDANA SHIVA 6:00-10:00 p.m. at Sheraton Station
Dec. 1, 7:30 pm: NOT JUST A GAME: POWER, POLITICS & AMERICAN SPORTS Dave Zirin - sports commentator (CNN etc.), Nation columnist, author of A People’s History of Sport
Documentary: ―Not Just a Game‖
Sports and Politics Don‘t Mix!‖ Dave Zirin, whom Howard Zinn called ―Most Valuable Sportswriter,‖ exposes, with this remarkable documentary film,
the politics (militarism, racism, sexism, homophobia) actually dominating so much of sports – and highlights rebel athletes who have stood up for
social justice. Zirin will be present for the discussion that follows. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
All Forums at FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE
4836 ELLSWORTH AVENUE
$2.00 SUGGESTED DONATION FOR EACH FORUM
Check us out on: isopittsburgh.blogspot.com (and also find us on Facebook). E-mail: [email protected]
of those that have jobs need better ones.
Michael Heller, a twenty-something South Side
Slopes computer programmer, said that although
approximately half of his friends are technically
employed, only half of them have ―real‖ jobs
about which they could be proud. With that in
mind, he said, the unemployment rate puzzles
him. ―Every job I‘ve ever had has been
understaffed,‖ he said. ―There‘s no reason that
people should be out of work.‖
Andrea Paganie of Economy Borough blamed
corporate greed. ―People should not have to work
until they‘re 70 to receive [Social Security]
benefits‖, she said, when corporations continue to
shirk their share of the tax burden. ―I get so
outraged when I see these corporations have legal
loopholes year after year after year,‖ she vented.
―They try to brainwash us, saying, ‗We have to
keep the money to give good jobs‘, but they don‘t
give good jobs--they keep it!‖
Others did not know whom to blame or how to
solve the problem, but wanted to share their
stories regardless.
Terry Miale, 57, of Bridgeville, was a 30-year
Verizon employee who lost her job to outsourcing
and who has now exhausted all of her
unemployment compensation. After exhaustively
searching for a job in her field, she has lost both
her home and custody of her daughter. Despite
working a part-time $8-an-hour job at Macy‘s,
she relies on food stamps for groceries and her
boyfriend to pay her rent. ―This is not the
American dream that I signed up for,‖ she said.
Benita Johnson of the North Side left school
when she was 14 to take care of her family. She
eventually earned a Bachelor‘s degree, worked
for more than 25 years, and volunteered with
numerous community public-service
organizations. Her last job was as a data collector
with the Census Bureau. When that job ended,
she attempted to enroll for her Master‘s degree
but discovered that the program in question was
cut; she had an opportunity to get another job
serving the public, but the funding for the job was
cut. She is now on Tier 3, the final stage of her
federal unemployment compensation extension,
and is facing homelessness if she does not acquire
a job soon. According to Ms. Johnson, she is at
the end of her rope. ―I refuse to be a statistic,‖
she exclaimed. ―I am a human being!‖
―I figured if my ancestors could survive slavery, I
could survive this,‖ she continued. ―But this is a
different kind of slavery—it takes the moral and
the spiritual will of a human being.‖
Rob Conroy is a Pittsburgh lawyer, advocate,
journalist, musician and activist.
Town Hall Meeting on Better Jobs (cont from page 1)
travelled through 13 routes visiting various cities
and communities in the US and gathering 100
tons of humanitarian aid consisting of medicinal,
mechanical and computer
goods among others.
The National leader of
IFCO is now Rev. Tom
Smith of Monumental
Baptist Church,
Pittsburgh. He replaces
the former leader, Rev.
Lucius Walker who died
approximately one year
ago. Lucius Walker had
been leading these
Caravans to Nicaragua,
Guatemala, Cuba,
Chiapas, Honduras and El
Salvador since 1988
when he was wounded by
a US bullet in Nicaragua as he visited the Meskite
Indians on the Atlantic coast.. He became a
symbol of solidarity with peoples around the
world whom the US government was punishing
either militarily, economically or politically. In
addition to Tom Smith and myself from
Pittsburgh, Lisa Valanti is also a part of the
Caravan, as she has been for every one of the 21
Caravans that have taken place so far. There are
few militants to compare with Lisa in
commitment to the people of Cuba and to the
fight against the embargo.
As we go to the US-Mexico border
on July 20, it is a leap into the
unknown. Officially the foreign
policy towards Cuba has changed
but little. The objective is still to
destroy the Cuban economy and its
social system.
Michael Drohan is a political
economist specializing in
analysis of Third World
economies and a member of The
Thomas Merton Center‘s Board
of Directors.
End the Embargo Campaign (continued from page 1)
Local News
Hi Everyone, Just got word from Michael Drohan who is with the Pastors for Peace Caravan with Humanitarian Aid to Cuba. The caravan just passed from McAllen, Texas across the border into Mexico. At the border, U.S. Customs arbitrarily confiscated seven computers that were meant to go to schools and hospitals in Cuba. Although the group of over 100 participants protested the confiscation, the computers were not returned. The Pastors for Peace Caravan is continuing on its journey, but asking all of us to contact our U.S. Repre-sentatives asking them to look into the situation with the demand for the return of the 7 computers to Pas-tors for Peace. Here are the numbers to call: Rep. Mike Doyle: 202-225-2135 Rep. Tim Murphy: 202-225-2301 Rep. Jason Altmire: 202-225-2565 Rep. Mark Critz: 202-225-2065 Rep. Mike Kelly: 202-225-5406 As you know, the Pastors are against the harmful embargo on Cuba that has lasted over 50 years bringing suffering and poverty to many of the Cuban people and crippling their ability to prosper. Despite that, however, their literacy rate is high and their health care universal. Please call today! It is our way to be in solidarity with those on the caravan. Gratefully, Joyce Rothmerel
A Message from the Pastors for Peace Caravan
The Pastors for Peace Caravan, loaded with aid bound for Cuba, as it gets ready to depart
Seven computers meant for Cuban schools and hospitals were
seized from the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba. The Caravan
asks that its supporters contact their Representatives and ask for an
investigation.
Moshe Sherman
Photo by Pastors for Peace
Photo by Pastors for Peace
10 - NEWPEOPLE August, 2011
Local News
Pittsburgh Community Television seen on COMCAST Channel 21 and VERIZON FIOS Channel 47 inside the Pittsburgh city limits.
―POISONED BY MARCELLUS SHALE GAS WELL FRACKING ―
Featuring Charles McCollester, author of THE POINT OF PITTSBURGH ;
Senator Jim Ferlo, author of Marcellus Shale Moratorium Legislation; Alex Lotorto and James Bonner of Marcellus Protest.org; and mu-
sic by Mike Stout ―The Tale of Marcellus Shale‖
1st week: Monday the 1st at 9 PM
Wed the 3rd at 7 PM
Thur the 4th at 7 AM
Friday the 5th at 5 PM
2nd week Mon the 8th at 9 PM
Tues the 9th at 3 AM
Wed the 10th at 10 PM
Thur the 11th at 10 AM
Fri the 12th at 4 PM
3rd week Mon the 15th at 11 PM
Thur the 18th at 7 AM
Thur the 18th at 10 AM
Sometimes you can get it live stream at www.pctv21.org
some local priests, signed on to an open letter in
support of their fellow embattled priest.
The CTA event opened with a Mass on the Feast
of St. Mary of Magdala celebrated by Bishop
Joan Houk, who was ordained on the Mon River
in 2006 by Roman Catholic Womenpriests. She
is not recognized by Rome and was declared
automatically excommunicated.
The Vatican has forbidden even discussion of
women‘s ordination, claiming infallibility on the
issue.
Fr. Roy noted that trying to stop it is ―like trying
to stop women‘s suffrage or the abolitionist
movement.‖
In March his superior ordered him to recant or he
would be dismissed from Maryknoll. In April he
replied in a letter that ―I believe that our
Church‘s teaching that excludes women from the
priesthood defies both faith and reason… [and]
implies that men are superior to women.‖
He cited a 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical
Commission, the Vatican‘s top Scripture schol-
ars, who concluded that there is no valid case to
be made against the ordination of women from
the Scriptures. Rather, ―There is neither male nor
female. In Christ Jesus you are one.‖ –Galatians
3:28. Continued on page 14
Fr. Roy Bourgeois of SOA Watch Honored Here
August, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 11
Building Change Film Festival October 13-15, 2011
The mission of the Building Change Film Festival is to open the viewer’s eyes to the injustices that we see in the world by screening films that will celebrate struggle, shed light on these injustices, and show us possibilities for a better future. We are looking for feature length, mid, and short films themed around social justice issues, preferably those relevant to southwestern Pennsylvania. This is open to a full range of issues including; environment, poverty, LGBTQ issues, racial and gender equality, food justice, and human rights issues. Ideal films will demonstrate the power of filmmaking as a vehicle for exploration of social justice issues and moti-vate viewers to promote change.
Films will be screened at several venues across Pittsburgh during this 5-day film festival. It is a component of Building Change: A Conver-gence for Social Justice. For more information, visit www.buildingchangewpa.org. The Thomas Merton is a co-sponsor of this event. Late deadline: August 10th
Local News
"What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do.
And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute--the rights of the worthy and the
unworthy poor, in other words--we can, to a certain extent, change the world
— Dorothy Day
The Thomas Merton Center, Pax Christi Pgh., the Association of Pgh Priests and co-sponsors CLC-Pgh (Ignatian Christian Life Community),
FOCUS (Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve), the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, Sis-
ters of Divine Providence, St. James Wilkinsburg and St. Thomas More Peace & Justice Committees invite
you to attend:
Public lecture: Dorothy Day: a Saint for Our Times
Author Jim Forest will sign his new book, All is Grace
Friday, October 14th — 7:30 p.m.
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral
Boulevard of the Allies and Dawson St., Oakland
Donation requested: $5/scholarships available
Retreat Day: The Intersection of Spirituality and Social Justice
Saturday the 15th — 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Holy Family of Nazareth Retreat Center
Near Perrysville exit, Route 279
$30 includes lunch
Arrangements are underway for a session with high school and college students on Friday afternoon.
Jim Forest, secretary of the International Orthodox Peace Fellowship, is author of All is Grace, the widely acclaimed new and comprehen-
sive biography of Dorothy Day who founded the Catholic Worker Hospitality House in New York City. Its publisher is Orbis Books
www.orbisbooks.com .
Jim worked closely with Dorothy Day for 20 years and was managing editor of The Catholic Worker. One of the Milwaukee 14, arrested in 1968 for
burning draft files, he helped start the Catholic Peace Fellowship, Former Secretary General for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation he lives in
Aalkmaar, the Netherlands.
Jim had a long-term friendship with Thomas Merton, who dedicated a book to him. A journalist and writer, Jim‘s books include Praying with Icons,
Ladder of the Beatitudes, The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life, & biographies of Merton and Day, to name a few.
He met Dorothy Day (1897-1980) in 1960. His affection for and knowledge of her life and work inform All Is Grace, which significantly revises and
expands his 1986 biography, Love Is the Measure.
Jim writes of Dorothy: (She) was a person of contradictions: activist and contemplative, political radical and a theological conservative. Intending
to found a newspaper, The Catholic Worker, she ended up founding a movement..
Today there are over 200 Catholic Worker communities. They provide shelter for the homeless, feed the hungry and participate in nonviolent acts of re-
sistance to war, injustice and nuclear weapons.
Space is limited for the Retreat Day, so sign up as soon as possible. Contact Carol Gonzalez [email protected]; 412.322.2189, Mimi Darragh
If you are able to support Jim‘s visit with a donation for travel and honoraria or scholarships, we will be most grateful. Please write a check to ―The
Thomas Merton Center‖ earmarked ―Jim Forest and send it to Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Thank you.
From reviews of All is Grace:
Drawing from Day’s recently published letters and many other sources, this expanded edition with copious photos and illustrations chronicles in rich
detail the life and mission of a social reformer, peace activist and ardent campaigner for social justice……a compelling window into the mind, heart and
soul of a woman whose life was indeed grace-filled. – Catholic Book Club Selection, May 2011, America magazine
With All Is Grace, Jim Forest has given us the real Dorothy Day, sensual, confused, hungering, intelligent, radical, and wonderfully graced. – Ed
McCartan
Forest is an accomplished writer and his fluent prose is a pleasure to read…. The accumulation of details and insights in All Is Grace that accrue from
Forest’s carefully chosen and illustrative anecdotes weaves a seamless portrait of Day that mirrors her profound international sensibility. Excerpts from
her writings reveal the almost palpable delight she took in the physical, sensual world, qualities that infused her distinctive prose style with warmth and
clarity. - Rachelle Linnner, Catholic News Service
Dorothy Day Biographer Jim Forest Here October 14-15
Jim Forest, Dorothy Day Biographer
12 - NEWPEOPLE August, 2011
Economic Justice
The U.S. Political Economy: the Trajectory From Democracy
to Plutocracy
By Michael Drohan
Although the United States‘ history as a true
democracy has been fraught with its share of
difficulties, the U.S. arguably achieved its
democratic apogee in the 1960s when it finally
extended democratic rights to a large swathe of
disenfranchised African-Americans in the South.
Our nation began its life of independence as a
slave-ocracy. At the time that our nation was
founded, only property owners possessed the right
to vote, and most of the leaders of the new
Republic were not only property owners, but were
slave owners. Women, slaves and non-property
owning whites--i.e., the majority of the our
fledgling nation‘s population--were excluded
from voting and other democratic rights.
Gradually, the exclusions from democratic rights
were removed and in the 1960s--well nigh two
hundred years after the birth of the nation--such
rights became universal.
As democratic rights were extended to most (if
not all) citizens, so were economic rights, leading
to the formation of what is now commonly called
the ―middle class.‖ Principally through the
reforms of the New Deal in the 1930s and the
introduction of the Social Security and Medicare
programs, income inequality was greatly reduced
and the so-called middle class was firmly
established by the 1960s. However, over the past
30 years, the U.S. government has determinedly
rolled back the democratic achievements of the
previous four to five decades.
With the advent of Ronald Reagan‘s presidency,
the U.S. system began its transition from a
democracy to a plutocracy. At present, there
appears to be a tacitly bipartisan agreement to
steadily institutionalize the new plutocratic
regime, although it should be added that the
Republican Party provides most of the
noteworthy warriors in the plutocratic army. In
2010, the conservative majority of the U.S.
Supreme Court issued its decision in the Citizens
United vs Federal Elections Commission Act case
(558 U.S. 08-205). In that case, the Supreme
Court granted corporations and unions the right to
donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates
for elected office. In a very real sense, this Act
gives corporations an unprecedented level of
control over the election of government officials
and disenfranchises the population at large.
The most recent move toward a total U.S.
plutocracy is the present battle over the raising of
the U.S. federal debt ceiling. For the first time in
U.S. history, the raising of the debt limit is being
used as a battering ram to demolish the final
ramparts of the US safety net system for poorer
and working class Americans. All forms of social
spending , including sacred institutions like the
aforementioned Social Security and Medicare
programs, are under attack. Such a craven use of
the debt limit as a political tool is, of course, rank
hypocrisy. History has repeatedly shown that the
Republican Party (or, to perhaps a lesser extent,
the Democratic Party) cares not a whittle about
the debt, as the raising of said debt ceiling five
times under President George W. Bush with nary
a whimper from either party clearly shows.
Although there are many measures of equality or
inequality in the U.S. and other countries, one of
the most common measures is the share of total
national income that goes to successive fifths of
the population (called quintiles) from the lowest
income receivers to the highest. The U.S. Census
Bureau provides these figures and in 2009, the
most recent year for which figures are available,
the lowest fifth got 3.9% of total national income
while the top fifth received 48.2%. The
percentage of national income attributed to the
lowest fifth is the lowest percentage since the
Great Depression. For the highest fifth, the record
high was 48.5% in 2005, and this figure has been
trending upward since the 1980s. In contrast,
from the 1940s to the 1980s, the income
percentage of the top quintile hovered around
40%.
Another measure of income inequality can be
gleaned from a look at the change in income of
top corporate officials as compared with
production workers. In that regard, the CEO of
Wal-Mart now earns approximately 900 times the
income of a shop floor employee. By contrast, the
1968 income of the General Motors CEO was 66
times that of an automobile production worker.
In this respect, the U.S. is more like a Third
World nation than it has ever been, since a typical
Third World nation has a tiny elite siphoning
most of the income and wealth with the vast
majority of the remaining population hovering
around subsistence level. The present struggle
over the national debt limit is only the latest
manifestation of the Republican Party‘s plan to
decimate what is left of our dwindling ―middle
class‖ by removing nearly all of the safety nets
available to lower income individuals. Social
Security and Medicare constitute the bulwark of
lower income security.
Before the institution of those programs in 1936,
poverty was rampant among the elderly
population; Social Security was established as a
national trust fund with its own income stream
from which benefits are paid. Since its inception
in 1936, the Social Security trust has accumulated
a $2.6 trillion surplus. Despite the fact that these
funds are by law not part of the national budget
(these surpluses cannot be used for any purposes
other than Social Security payments), this does
not deter Congressional plutocrats from asserting
that benefits must be decreased in order to
―balance the budget.‖ Although there are a few
politicians (such as Bernie Sanders of Vermont )
vocally defending Social Security and Medicare
from those who would rob these entitlements in
order to grant more tax cuts to the already
wealthy, signs are that President Obama is at least
nominally giving in to the ―budget balancers‘‖
illegal demands.
It is beyond time to fight back against all of the
attacks aimed at the swath of the population that
only too recently emerged from poverty and
misery.
Michael Drohan is a political economist
specializing in analysis of Third World
economies and a member of The Thomas
Merton Center‘s Board of Directors.
By Carlana Rhoten
One of the more famous truisms: ―A capitalist
will sell you the rope you need to hang him.‖
In 1972, when Richard Nixon and Henry
Kissinger came up with their brilliant ―China pol-
icy,‖ the Chinese people were busy destroying
their society and whatever culture they had left
under communism. Knuckleheaded youths were
recruited into the Red Guard and set loose to tor-
ture their teachers and to trash the homes and ca-
reers of anyone they deemed ―counter-
revolutionary,‖ or ‖revisionists.‖
In the midst of this suicidal chaos came Nixon
and Kissinger bearing gifts. These two Americans
chuckled at pulling a fast one over on the Soviet
Union, while at the same time opening up the
Chinese market to American made goods. They
salivated at the vision of increased American jobs
at home and future American profits in Asia.
The Chinese may be crazy but they are not stupid.
Their leaders were so astounded by the audacity
of the Nixon/Kissinger team that they stopped
their own furious self-destruction. Being good
communists, they would have remembered the
rope quote, and would have instantly recognized
the opportunity being offered to them.
One can only imagine with what difficulty the
Chinese kept a straight face. They refrained from
rolling their eyes or laughing out loud as waves of
American politicians, diplomats (such as George
H.W. Bush) and businessmen came to kowtow
before them.
Prior to 1972, the Chinese nation was not project-
ing itself on the world stage. The leadership was
obsessed with their own affairs and defending
themselves against the American sponsored Tai-
wan traitors and any form of dissent or revision-
ism.
Within four short years, the Chinese got over their
shock at the Nixon/Kissinger initiative to declare
that ―to grow rich is glorious.‖ For the past 35
years they have been buying every inch of rope
any capitalist has brought to them.
The peculiar thing about American capitalism is
that we have legally codified the short-term profit
motive. That is to say, the courts have declared
that the first fiduciary obligation of a corporation
is to maximize the profits paid to the shareholders
in the next quarter.
In effect, it transforms the drive for maximum
profit into a juggernaut that cannot be stopped or
diverted. It has no steering wheel or brake, put-
ting decision-making in both business and gov-
ernment policies on automatic pilot. The
brainlessness of this precludes any long range
planning and prevents any investments based on Continued on page 13
Profit Isn‘t Everything, It‘s the Only Thing:
the Secret Cannibals of Capitalism
August, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 13
Another year goes by, and the crimes of graduates
and instructors of the School of the Americas/
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Coopera-
tion (SOA/WHINSEC) continue to strengthen our
resolve to shut down the SOA, a combat training
school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort
Benning, Georgia. This December will mark the
30th anniversary of the massacre of close to 800 in-
digenous villagers in the El Mozote region of El Sal-
vador. Still, graduates of the SOA are leading the
repression, killing hundreds and displacing thou-
sands of Hondurans. Mexicans and immigrants pass-
ing through Mexico are the target of drug cartels and
death squads like the "Zetas" - another product of
SOA training. In the midst of the continuing war in
schedule) Internet=( www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv ) DEMOCRACY NOW= 8 AM: AJ STREAM=9 AM ; FAULTLI-
NES=9:30 AM CITY COUNCIL (COMCAST Channel 13 / Verizon FIOS Chan-
nel 44) Tuesdays Council Meetings; Wednesdays Standing Commit-
tees 10 AM Repeated at 7 PM / Repeated Sat & Sundays 10 AM and 7 PM (www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council Legislative Info Center PA “SENATE JOURNAL” & HOUSE “ I ON PA” = Tuesdays 7 –
8 AM THOM HARTMANN.COM = LINK TV (DIRECT TV Channel 375/ DISH
Channel 9415/ FREE SPEECH TV)
~ INTERNET RADIO ~ ITUNES click ―Radio‖, Double Click ―News/ Talk‖ , and Click ―KPTK 1090 PROGRESSIVE TALK= THOM HARTMANN NOON – 3 PM (Check other programs on KPTK and ITUNES) LYNN CULLEN MON-FRI= 10 AM www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws
~ LOCAL RADIO ~
Information provided by Carlana Rhoten; graphics by Mana Aliabadi
East End Community Thrift Store 5123 Penn Avenue, Garfield
(a few doors down from TMC)
Come in today
Tuesday — Friday: 10 AM - 4 PM
Saturday: Noon - 4 PM
What you donate, what you buy
supports Garfield,
supports the Merton Center.
SUBMIT!
Your stories, letters, poems, essays, cartoon, photos to the NEWPEOPLE or they may never find an audience! Limit submission to 600
words. Photos or art should be sent as JPEG or TIFF. Postage may be mailed to The Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue,
Pittsburgh, PA 15224 Manuscripts will not be returned. All submissions become property of NEWPEOPLE, a publication of the Thomas
SUNDAYS __________________________ Anti-War Committee meeting Every other Sunday 2:00pm - 3:30pm Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield Book 'Em Packing Day Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 7:00pm Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue Join others sending requested books to pris-
oners. Bring a group. For more info call the Thomas Merton Center, 412.361.3022
Human Rights Letter-writing Salon Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 6:00pm Kiva Han, 420 S Craig St Write letters to combat human rights abuses!
Meet local Amnesty International activists and other human rights enthusiasts, change the world, and have a grand old time.
MONDAYS _______________________ Weekly North Hills Weekly Peace Vigil 4:30pm-5:00pm In front of the Divine Providence Motherhouse, 9000 Babcock Blvd., Allison Park
Sponsored by the Pittsburgh North People for Peace & the Srs. of Divine Providence
WEDNESDAYS ______________________ Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition Meets the 1st Wednesday of every month 5:30pm - 7:00pm Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library 5801 Forbes Avenue Meeting Room B Write On! Letters for Prisoner's rights Meets every Wednesday 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Garfield We need help answering our 60 letters a
month from people in prison dealing with abuse and neglect. Come and meet new peo-ple, learn about people in prison while advo-cating for their rights from the outside! Please bring food to share! Info 412-361-3022
PUSH [Pennsylvanian United for Single Payer Healthcare] Meets monthly on the second Wednesday 6:15 pm Health Care 4 All PA office, 2101 Murray Av nue, Squirrel Hill
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) meeting Monthly on the first Wednesday 7:00pm - 8pm First Unitarian Church (Ellsworth/Morewood, Shadyside) For more information, call 412-384-4310. THURSDAYS _________________________ Green Party meeting First Thursday of the month 7:00pm - 9pm Citizen Power's offices, 2121 Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill, second floor FRIDAYS ____________________________
Peaceburgh Drumming Circle 7pm-8:00pm, Weekly Grandview Park in Mt. Washington Raise the Vibration for peace every Friday....
Consciously raise the vibration for peace!! FREE family friendly event. Bring drums, flutes, rattles, a didge (we REALLY need a didge) singing voices, dancing feet, and happy hearts!! Bring some food to share at
the potluck!! We need plates, ice, forks, cups, napkins, and drinks too. BRING A CAMERA — THE VIEW IS AWESOME!!
SATURDAYS ________________________
Project to End Human Trafficking Volunteer signup 2nd Saturday of each month 10:00am - 12:00pm Campus of Carlow University Project to End Human Trafficking (PEHT)
offers FREE public volunteer/information. Please pre-register by the Wednesday be-fore via [email protected].
For more information check out our website www.endhumantrafficking.org
PEHT Information and Training Seminars Second Saturday of every month 12:00pm - 1:00pm Carlow University, Antonian Room #502,
