* I revere Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital (1974) because it proves two points: (1) technology is not neutral, and, in fact, is part of the structure of a given society's political-economy. This is why, in the US, cellphones become slave drivers for professionals and most workers in the information society type jobs, to take one example; and (2) businesses often want to turn the workers into automatons or machines, and compound that with automation technologies to replace workers altogether, forgetting how a consumer society has been previously built, i.e. people need to work to buy products and services.
Braverman's insights continue to reverberate through today, with this story about Instacart, a high tech Uber type company, and its insidious "algorithms." Then, there is this article from The New Republic ("Life Under the Algorithm") explaining the history of scientific management to discuss what is continuing to happen with workers today, particularly in the retail service and warehouse industries.
* Did Andrew Yang take Mayor Pete neoliberal pills? First, there was Yang's opposition to any federal minimum wage, worrying wrongly about rural areas having workers be provided a decent wage. Then, he revealed his love affair with nuclear power, believing in Elon Musk style hucksterism about thorium that would solve the nuclear waste maintenance issue that bedevils the industry to this day. Then, there was Yang's cynical walk back from supporting Bernie's Medicare for All, worse than Warren or even the now thankfully departed from the primary race, US Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). Now, Yang is worried that he should look tough for the National Security elite in saying he would prosecute Julian Assange. Yang had two great ideas, Universal Basic Income (UBI), and Democracy Dollars. From there, he is more like Obama, Clinton, Biden, and Mayor Pete. Sad.
* Next time, Amy Klobuchar or some neo-lib candidate tells us about how we should further implement cap and trade to combat the effects from climate change, they should read this article in today's LA Times op-ed section. As the article title says, "Cap and trade isn't cutting it."
* Homelessness in Southern California has gone on for decades, and is now worse than ever. The answers are a multi-prong approach, starting with public housing, loosening "not in my back yard" (NIMBY) zoning regulations, mental health services, drug rehabilitation, and job training. Lawsuits such as this have finally been heard and will have some salutary effects. But maybe let's start shining a light of blame onto those who are never blamed in corporate media presentations, that is landlords. Yup. Rents have risen in Los Angeles County over the past decade by 65%, at a time when many of these landlords (and big corporations like Disney) continue to pay ridiculously low property tax rates due to the effects from Proposition 13 (1978), which put large corporations and landlords into a favored position. Prop 13 was the brainchild of the late Howard Jarvis, then president of the apartment owners' association. Renters did not see benefits from Prop 13 protections over the decades, but apartment owners have reaped tremendous profits at the expense of the renters.
* I like this young man, Nathan Robinson. He gets it.
* When watching Dark Waters, I was stunned to see a few of the actual people depicted playing themselves in several scenes. This article in the LA Times provides some background. It is a shame that, while everyone is falling all over themselves with the jerk Scorsese film about Jimmy Hoffa's murder that is based upon a liar's, Frank Sheeran, account, Dark Waters, which is a much more factually accurate account of a major corporation, DuPont, poisoning masses of people, starting with workers in a small West Virginia town, is getting relatively marginal attention. Ah, the ways of corporate media.
NOTE: As readers of this blog may know, Dan Moldea, the top expert on the Hoffa murder, among other investigative work he has done over the years, publicly endorsed my novel, A Disturbance of Fate, before it was published. I did not personally get to know Dan until after the book was released. I had been a fan of his investigative work over the decades and was amazed when he told my publisher he would endorse my novel. Moldea's reaction to the film has been to praise the Scorsese film as entertainment, but bad history. And iconic actor Robert DeNiro is being foolish for his own personal gain. Oh well.
* Life in Trump Republican America has not gotten better for the struggling lower working class and poor. Are you better off now than four years ago? Or a decade ago? For many, the answer is...not.
* Sigh. I never thought in my lifetime I would begin to worry about being a person of Jewish religious heritage. First we had the white supremacists and now it is that portion of African-Americans in urban areas who imbibe on Christian-based anti-Semitism to attack Jews. I have said from the start of Trump's candidacy in 2015 that Trump is calling up the demons in American society to blame and scapegoat vulnerable "others." At the time, I felt Jews were relatively safe, though I spoke out against Trump's racism, anti-Muslim attacks, and xenophobia. I was wrong. It was far easier to go from hating Mexicans and Muslims to Jews in American society than I anticipated, and we are now seeing the effects. Trump gave permission for this behavior, and he will continue to double down on this in 2020. American Jews who are backing Trump, or who are anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican/Latino, should be having a Niemoller Moment, but most are not.
