Economics

• With Americans' interest in socialism rising, we need to seriously consider alternative designs to the current system, argues Alperovitz, in this practical critique of some known models.
• Can Civilization Survive Capitalism?

Gar Alperovitz, Truthout

Thanks to Evergreene Digest reader Alan Maki for this contribution. 

This article is made possible with the generous contributions of all reader supported Evergreene Digest readers like you. Thank you!

(Photo: Shira Golding Evergreen / Flickr)

Friday, 12 April 2013 | Little noticed by most Americans, Merriam Webster, one of the world's most important dictionaries, announced a few months ago that the two most looked-up words in 2012 were "socialism" and "capitalism."

Traffic for the pair on the company's website roughly doubled from the year before. The choice was a "kind of no-brainer," observed editor at large, Peter Sokolowski. "They're words that sort of encapsulate the zeitgeist."

Full story…

Related:

Can Civilization Survive Capitalism? Noam Chomsky, In These Times

The countries with large and influential indigenous populations are well in the lead in seeking to preserve the planet. The countries that have driven indigenous populations to extinction or extreme marginalization are racing toward destruction.

There are a few ways fiscal talks could play out, but the probable result is gridlock and blame.

9 New Items including:

• Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide
• March Madness
• We're Not Broke
• Government Sequestration Cuts Pale in Comparison to Rampant Fiscal Abuse
• Sequester: The Rise of Republican Anarchists
• Matt Taibbi | Sequester Makes Me Want to Strangle Both Sides
• Austerity USA Begins March 1st
• Billions for Banks, Nada for the Poor: Not Exactly a Compromise
• The sequester and possible cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security

David Culver, Ed., Evergreene Digest

RJ Matson

Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide, Amanda Terkel & Sam Stein, Huffington Post

The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic.

March Madness, Paul Bucheit, Nation of Change

• The real madness is that human beings are suffering because of the tax games corporations play.
• The Fifth Straight Year of Extreme Corporate Tax Avoidance
• We're Not Broke

We're Not Broke, Films for Action

• An exposé on how the government has allow U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes and the growing wave of discontent that it has fostered.
• Directed by Karin Hayes. Starring Jack Blum, Bobbie Arrington.
• Watch Free Online

Government Sequestration Cuts Pale in Comparison to Rampant Fiscal Abuse, Lloyd Chapman, Huffingon Post

• The practical and logical solutions to solving America's economic problems are simple. The Federal Reserve needs to be investigated, restructured and closely regulated immediately with full and open transparency. Eliminate the tax loopholes that have allowed the nation's largest and most successful corporations to defraud America out of trillions of dollars in tax revenue. And finally, reduce the Pentagon budget every year by the exact amount they seem to lose or can't account for. These three solutions will dramatically cut the federal budget, the deficit and dramatically increase tax revenue. No cuts to government services of any kind will be necessary.
• We're Not Broke
• Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality

Sequester: The Rise of Republican Anarchists, Bob Burnett, opednews.com <>

• The March 1 sequester budget cuts are yet another product of crises manufactured by the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party. These Tea Party extremists have one objective: crush the federal government. Motivated by a strange brew of Old Testament Christianity and Ayn Rand's "Objectivism" they're a lethal force within the GOP -- Anarchists.
• Matt Taibbi | Sequester Makes Me Want to Strangle Both Sides
• Ralph Nader | Why Are Democrats So Defeatist?

Matt Taibbi | Sequester Makes Me Want to Strangle Both Sides,  Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

• There are so many variables that neither side can possibly know the true outcome of a failure to make a deal – which means the only certainty is that what we're watching is irresponsibility on an epic scale.
• Book Excerpt | "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free"
• The Ignorance Caucus

Austerity USA Begins March 1st, Shamus Cooke, Workers Compass <>

• The current plan for the austerity “sequester” cuts is $100 billion of federal cuts every year for ten years, equaling massive cuts to jobs, Medicare, education, and completely destroying federally funded social programs.
• Paul Krugman | Global Austerity 'An Unethical Experimentation On Human Beings' 
• Series | Socialism: Theory & Practice, Part 1

Billions for Banks, Nada for the Poor: Not Exactly a Compromise, Richard Eskow, Blog for Our Future <>

• If you're not 'too big to fail,' you're out of luck, even with Obama's 'sequester.'
• That’s injustice on a medieval scale, served up with a medieval caste-privilege flavor. The only difference is that nowadays injustices are presented with spreadsheets and PowerPoints, rather than with scrolls and trumpets and kingly proclamations.
• Sequester Madness: Into The Vast Inane

The sequester and possible cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, Matt Lockshin, CREDO Action

• The White House is poised to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits, but luckily these Democrats are leading the fight to oppose cuts
• The petition reads: "Thank you for standing up and not only opposing -- but promising to vote against -- any deal that cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits. You are the true leaders in the fight to save our social safety net."
• Pastors: It's Time to Speak Out for the Common Good