Revolutionary Subsidiarity

From Matt Taibbi, a tale of the David of local government taking on the Goliath of the financial sector through the use of powers of eminent domain.

This particular idea is a response to a uniquely American problem -- vast numbers of underwater mortgages. But the idea surely has almost unlimited potential: local governments, responsive to the needs of the people rather than corporate power and drawing on capacities unique to them, taking on issues that higher levels of government cannot or will not because they are beholden to those powers.

Moyers and Hedges Interview

This week's guest on Bill Moyers' show was Chris Hedges. Hedges has had a very high profile over the last year or so and has taken on a sort of guru-like status. Still, he has some very important points to make and his latest book, the graphic novel Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt tells an incredibly poignant story of those most left behind in a wealthy society.

Moreover, Moyers is more able than most to zero in on the faith foundation of Hedges work. Here is the interview in its entirety:

Just Saying . . .

I was messing around with charting software this morning looking at the S&P500 over various time periods, trying to get a feel for where this nowhere market might be going. Here is one I found particularly interesting:

This chart shows the broad based index from the mid-seventies until now in monthly increments. For those of a technical bent, two things stand out here. The first is that two simple moving averages, a 200 period, or about seventeen years, and a shorter 50 period, or about four years, have converged and are about to cross. Such a cross usually signals a long term decline.

The second is an emerging pattern in the price data, which is referred to in the literature as a head and shoulder pattern of a high, at the end of the dot com boom, followed by a somewhat higher high, in this case in leading up to the latest debacle and then a somewhat lower high, in this case the peaks of the previous two years. This too is often indicative of a pending long term decline. What is particularly interesting is that both of these are emerging together and are confirmed by falling volume, which is shown in the second pane of the chart.

It would be the height of folly to base predictions on charting such as this, but together with obvious deep structural problems such as the impending demise of the euro zone, historic levels of inequality and unprecedented levels of public, corporate and personal debt fueled by unprecedented interest rates, the long-term outlook is beginning to look frighteningly uncertain.

Indeed, I have believed for some time that much of the developed world is following the Japanese example with a generational lag. If this is the case, then we may be entering a very long period of deflationary decline -- a sort of semi-permanent state of stagnation, with obviously disturbing social and political implications.

Loss of the Commons, Commodification and Powerlesssness

This excerpt from Illich's work popped up on my RSS feed yesterday. It was a reminder that so much that we lament has roots much deeper than we imagine.


The loss of the commons, for instance, whether through enclosures at the dawn of the industrial revolution or through the capture of vernacular practices and ways of life by technology or professional privilege commodifies that which was once freely available and so forces more and more of our lives into the confines of markets with all of the inequalities and suffering that this implies.


But Illich's great contribution was to recognize that this loss of common space, competencies and tools means much more. It alienates us from nature and from each other. It destroys community by rendering all relations between now commodified individuals competitive, often viciously so, and makes plunder of the environment, now a mere commodity as well, inevitable. And in doing so, he shows us, it leaves us powerless and thus dependent on those who would exploit us. 


Illich's arguments are almost always difficult. And they can be frustratingly vague and open ended. He painted on a very large canvas and sometimes seems impatient with those who don't grasp this larger picture. But I would suggest that several decades after his most groundbreaking work, he has more to tell us now then when he first spoke. Though much of his writing is out of print, it has found new life on the internet. Though there are many sites that host his work, this is a particularly useful one.

Crisis? What Crisis?

In a demonstration of breathtaking denial, RIM CEO Heins Thorsten joined CBC Metro Morning's Matt Galloway to explain that RIM, far from being at death's door, is undergoing a "major transition," continues to be a "world leader" and with the release of its new platform (if it ever happens) will regain a dominant position in the smartphone market.

This from a company that has lost 95% of its market value, can no longer execute on new products and maintains its customer base by deeply discounting its hardware, particularly in the third world where other products remain prohibitively expensive.

To my untrained eye, this appears to simply be a breathtaking denial. The beautiful Norwegian Blue parrot is dead. It is not resting. And it is not pining for the fiords.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Seems hizzoner thinks that those little stop signs on streetcar doors are for other people. You know, people who aren't important mayors. Today's Star  reports that Mayor Rob passed the rear door of a 505 car stopped at Dundas and McCaul, usually a very busy stop. When the driver left his seat to chew out this driver, unbeknownst to him who it was, our fearless leader phoned TTC HQ to complain.

We will miss this guy when he is gone. We will. We really will.

First Impressions on OneCity

Once again, everyone is talking about what is not happening and not talking about what is. Those who are interested in facts rather than spin might check out the website.

First, the plan does not call for an across the board rate hike. Instead it calls for existing rates to be applied to a portion of increases in property value. Specifically, if you $400 thousand condo becomes a $500 thousandone, you will be taxed on a value of $440 thousand or 40% of increased value. This is equivalent to a 1.9% rate hike. It is not a rate increase. We would hope that even the lightbulbs in the press (and the mayor's office) would be able to digest this.

The plan itself is breathtaking. It would make not only Toronto, but the GTA, a truly transit friendly urban region. This would take an enormous load off of a road system that provides what has been judged as the worst commuting experience in North America. And it would provide vastly better services to poorer neighborhoods where most are utterly dependent on transit. It is perhaps the most positive vision of the city since the glory days of the 50s and 60s.

Which brings us to the second thing not being talked about. This is that Counselor Stintz is doing what Adam Giambroni so failed to: turning the TTC chair into a springboard into the Mayor's office. As Ford looks more and more like a one term embarrassment (what were we thinking?) and to the extent that we remember the Miller regimes foibles, a smart, technocratically competent and somewhat more photogenic (less comical) mayor with extraordinary political skills and a willingness to cooperate rather than alienate is going to look extremely attractive. In short, she provides rock solid support for the argument that partisan politics in municipal administration, of whatever stripe, is counterproductive.

A combination of vision and managerial competence. And she won't show up drunk to hockey games,  physically assault opponents or scream obscenities at those who stand in her way.

RIM Death Watch

With the markets opening in a little more than two hours, we are about to see a reprise of the Northern Telecom meltdown last decade. They are now bleeding cash. The stern is in the air and it is about to slip under.

Blackberry 10, if it ever arrives, may be dead on arrival. The release of Google's Nexus, with its $200 price tag and 7" form factor and a real developer community, kills the Playbook. And if the phone that will surely follow is as good and as cheap, then there seems to be little reason for Blackberry hardware.

The seventy million plus subscribers are a selling point, as is perhaps the upcoming OS. And of course the couple of billion cash in the bank. But make no mistake, RIM is over and the impact on Kitchener Waterloo will be devastating.

Taibbi on Wall Street as Organized Crime

Matt Taibbi has an hugely entertaining and informative piece on Wall Street's manipulation of municipal bond markets in the current Rolling Stone.

His book on the banks,Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America, is by far the most entertaining of the financial collapse genre and his feisty and incredibly persistent attacks on the criminal behavior of this class are a constant reminder of how lame the response has been to this theft of trillions of dollars by the teflon dons of the financial sector mafiosi.

What is Unfolding in Paraguay?

The president of Paraguay has been removed in an impeachment process that most neighbouring states are calling into question. Former bishop and noted liberation theologian Fernando Lugo has apparently has left Paraguay and it would appear that members of the opposition Colorado, backed by the military, are in control.

Paraguay was ruled for more than sixty years by the rightist Colorado party prior to Lugo's election victory in 2008 and for most of that period, from 1954-1989, by the truly odious Alfredo Stroessner, an ardent admirer of Adolph Hitler and a standout thug even by the standards of 1970s and 80s Latin America.

Paraguay is among the poorest countries in the world and the poorest in Latin America. Crippling disparities of wealth are rooted in the vast landholdings of a small elite in what is largely an agricultural export economy. Not surprisingly, Lugo's government faced stiff opposition from the start. Land reform efforts were sporadic and had limited success. Of course, they will  end altogether now that Stroessner's Colorado party has returned to power.

Canada was one of three nations who quickly announced recognition of the new government. And the Vatican apparently stopped short of condemning what very much looks like a bloodless coup. What better illustration could there be that fundamentalist belief and conservative religious reaction are not expressions of Christian faith but negations of it.