Comments for Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate

Comment on If I Were a Rich Man by mike

mike — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:11:22 +0000

Mike, as always, astute comments. Today, with gold produced with such advanced technology, not too much direct labor is needed. I wonder if there will be a crash in gold prices. What do you think?

Comment on If I Were a Rich Man by Mike B)

Mike B) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:40:15 +0000

Great piece! I’m sharing it on my Facebook page. The focus you put on the social relation of Capital is spot on. Jim makes some excellent points about social democratic reform too.

One observation which I think useful is to point out how the money commodity has inflated since Huey’s day. He was governor of La during the latter part of the ‘roaring 20s’ and assassinated after the last Great Depression began, in ’32. The 20s saw a great, largely unnoticed bubble in asset prices expand to bursting point in ’29. I always like to remember that the US Gov had an ounce of gold pegged at $16 an ounce until 1933 when FDR changed it to $32 an ounce. The USD had inflated since the ‘gold standard’ had been set by the USG in the 19th century and the bubble had to be lanced. After all, a commodity, even money. maybe even especially money, can’t have a price way above its value (socially necessary labour time) for too long before it comes to be noticed within the social relations of Capital.

I guess the point of all this is to say that a million bucks in Huey’s day were unacknowledged inflated bucks. The buck today is 100 time more inflated than it was during the days of the ‘gold standard’…something over $1,600 an ounce last I checked. A million bucks in the 20s was actually closer to 100 million bucks in today’s USD terms.

Comment on Mining by Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate » A Nation in Decline?: Part 4: Mother Earth, What Have We Done to You?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:04:42 +0000

[...] in previous posts, which you can read by clicking on the hyperlinks (The “I” and the “We,” Mining). On this last trip, we saw striking and ongoing examples of environmental destruction: copper [...]

Comment on A Nation in Decline?: Part 2: Signs of Distress by pollyanna

pollyanna — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:22:43 +0000

Thank you for paying attention, I am one of the people that you write about.
I live on $667.00 a month that SSDI pays me because I have an autoimmune degenerative disease. I feel the judgement of people on my back everyday. I feel as though I am an obese woman that is criticized every time I eat a meal. I am of average size but I have an invisible sign on my back that says “wretched poor” As though its always my fault that I am down on my luck. I should “get a job” and although I am willing to work, there is very little I can do. It’s difficult to keep off the pity pot but I keep a positive attitude and carry on….

Comment on If I Were a Rich Man by mike

mike — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:56:01 +0000

Paine, thanks for visiting and for the kind words. I read the Vickrey piece. Paul was a bit too sharp I think. At the time, he was old, and while not yet ill, still feeling cranky. Didn’t enjoy food much, etc. Not too old though not to flirt with pretty women!

Vickrey is hard-hitting in this essay. Heaps scorn on all the foolish notions of the neoclassical true believers. He hits home today with all the nonsense about austerity. Demands that task the system are radical and must be made. Our good liberals won’t ever make them, however. Which is why I get crazy when I see certain leftists singing the praises of a dog like Jeffrey Sachs. Anyway, I thought it was particularly sad when Vickrey died just as he was on such a fine roll.