Peace Jam Slam

The goal of Peace Jam is to program that encourages youth to “find their own path to peace.” As part of the program the youth make commitments for peace. This involves four areas of commitment. All of these areas involve a commitment to character development and the goal of building peace both within yourself and with those people in your life. The first is Peace Within, character focus approach to positive youth development. The second is to become a Peacemaker, the process of effective conflict resolution both locally and globally. The third is Justice, using the examples of Nobel Peace prize winners to show the youth how it can be done. And fourth was Civic Dialogue, learning the ability to listen to others viewpoints and reason together.

My role in Peace Jam Slam was a youth mentor. My function was as a facilitator whose role was to encourage the teenagers to discuss the topics they had been learning in school or church and help them communicate with each other. Peace Jam Slam was designed to break the day up from the opening ceremony to workshops and family groups. The night before I had planned some activities to get a discussion going but as I was walking out for the opening ceremony I was assigned to a new family group. So I basically went along with what the other mentor had planned. The activities involved getting the youth to discuss topics such as violence and see the diverse backgrounds they each come from.

The whole concept of Peace Jam is built upon the Global Call to Action on first an interpersonal level, then community level, national and finally world level. The Global Call to Action was developed by twelve Nobel Peace Laureates (including the Dalai Lama, Jody Williams and Desmond Tutu) who discussed the issues and came up with ten areas they felt needed immediate action. In many ways there exists a similarity to the U.N. Millenium Project. The difference is that The Global Call to Action works at a local level. As Tip O’Neil said, “All politics is local” so is the way to end extreme poverty, breaking the cycle of violence, halting the spread of global disease and empowering women.

Muhammad Yunus - Banker to the Poor

Awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 along with Grameen Bank "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below" (Nobel). Beginning in the 1970’s Yunus began making personal loans to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh. In 1983 he founded Gremeen Bank believing that credit is a fundamental human rights with the purpose of “help[ing] poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.” (Nobel)

Born in 1940 in the seaport city of Chittagong, Bangladesh Yunus graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1969 with a PhD in Economics. He developed what has become known as micro-lending or microcredit. Fighting poverty through the use of microcredit has been Yunus’ goal. As he describes poverty, “Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society. For building stable peace we must find ways to provide opportunities for people to live decent lives.” (Nobel)

Grameen Bank has made 7 million loans to poor people in Bangladesh, 97% of which are women; As Yunus stated in his Nobel Lecture, “We focused on women because we found giving loans to women always brought more benefits to the family.” (Nobel)

The strategy used by microfinance is the economic growth model and Grameen Bank has shown that it offers the opportunity for people to move above the poverty line.

As Yunus said at his Nobel Lecture, "In a cumulative way the bank has given out loans totaling about US $6.0 billion. The repayment rate is 99%. Grameen Bank routinely makes profit. Financially, it is self-reliant and has not taken donor money since 1995. Deposits and own resources of Grameen Bank today amount to 143 per cent of all outstanding loans. According to Grameen Bank's internal survey, 58 per cent of our borrowers have crossed the poverty line."

Today the world is looking for ways to combat extreme poverty. Grameen Bank and Muhammed Yunus has shown a long term solution that offers opportunities to permanently raise people above the poverty line without becoming dependent upon outside aide. Groups like Kiva Loans have followed the example of Professor Yunus and has begun replacing the moneylenders.

Business Tax

Client Letter

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Johnson

Thank you again for requesting my advice concerning the tax treatment for your deferred exchange with Paul. I do have some bad news for you. You are required to recognize a gain on the exchange of your property.
In reaching this conclusion, I consulted the relevant Internal Revenue Code and related Judicial Rulings. The facts as I understand them are as follows:
You made an agreement between yourselves and Paul to engage in a 1031 Deferred Exchange. On July 1 you transferred title to a parcel of land with an adjusted basis of $20,000 and fair market value of $75,000 to Paul. The agreement required Paul to purchase and transfer title to you of a like-kind property within 180 days of July 1. On August 1, two parcels of land were identified that was acceptable to you, one near Dallas and another near Houston. Negotiations were begun by Paul with the owner of the Dallas property but no deal could be reached so he began negotiations with the Houston property owner. On January 1 Paul purchased the property and immediately transferred title to you.
Even though a good faith attempt was made to meet the required 180 day replacement period the IRS Code only allows 180 days from the original transfer of title for a like-kind exchange to occur. The reasoning behind this is to prevent an open transaction, with long term exchange periods, from occurring. After 180 days the exchange falls under Section 1001 requiring the recognition of a gain or loss on the exchange of property. Therefore you are required to recognize the gain on the exchange. My research did uncover a similar case to yours in that a “good faith attempt” was made to complete the exchange within the required time period but the court ruled that it did not meet the required replacement period (Knight v. Commissioner, 75 TCM 1992).
Please contact me if you have any further questions.

Memo to File

Client: Fran & Bob Johnson
Subject: Research Problem 19
For: Business Taxation
Research by: Paul Fisher
Date: November 10, 2008

Facts

Fran and Bob Johnson engaged in a 1031 deferred exchange with Paul on July 1 by transferring a parcel of land with an adjusted basis of $20,000 and a fair market value of $75,000. On August 1 two like-kind properties were identified, one near Dallas and the other near Houston, both were acceptable to the Johnson’s. Paul began negotiations with the Dallas property owner but was not able to reach a deal so it fell through. Negotiations began with the Houston property owner but it did not close until January 1. Paul immediately transferred title to the Johnson’s.

Issues

1. Did the like-kind exchange take place within the Identification and Replacement Period?
2. What are the tax consequences for the Johnson’s?

Conclusions

1. The identification period of 45 days was met. The replacement period was not met by the Johnson’s. The statutory period for like-kind exchanges are 180 days from the date of the Johnson’s transferred the property relinquished.
2. Because the 180 day replacement period was not met the property is considered unlike-kind and subject to IRC Section 1001 requiring that you recognize the entire amount of your gain on the exchange of your property.

Discussion of Reasoning and Authorities

1. Section 1031 deals with Exchange of Property held for Productive use or Investment. Section 1031 allows the like-kind exchange of property without the recognition of a gain or loss. Section 1031(a)(3) requires the identification period of replacement property be on or before 45 days from date the “taxpayer transfers the property relinquished in the exchange.” The replacement period is 180 days from the time time taxpayer transfers the property relinquished or “the due date (determined with regard to extension) for the transferor’s return of the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year in which the transfer of the relinquished property occurs.” Which ever is earlier, thus the 180 days applies.
In David A. and Marilyn P. Knight v. Commissioner (75 TCM 1992) the court ruled that even though a good faith attempt was made to exchange the property within the 180 day replacement period it does not entitle them to avoid the application of the plain language of IRC Sec. 1031.
2. Section 1031 provides for the “non-recognition of such gain or loss on ‘the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment if such property is exchanged solely for property of like kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.’” Because the replacement period of 180 days has not been met IRC Sec. 1001 requires recognition of the entire amount of gain or loss on the exchange of property.

Future of American Foreign Policy

Today the United States is at a crossroads concerning foreign policy. We are currently fighting two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with a possibility of starting a third with Iran. Presently we have two presidential candidates whose use of power would be quite different. Barack Obama tends to favor the use of soft power while John McCain favors the use of hard power. What future role will the American Empire play in the coming years? What role will the United States be able to play with mounting debt and the growing hesitation of foreign governments to continue to extent credit?

Concerning the Middle East the central question is how to achieve peace between Israel and her neighbors while continuing to look out for American interests? Is this goal achievable? Is present United States policy toward Israel, unconditional support, the reason behind the inability to reach peace?

Traditionally there have been three approaches to viewing foreign policy. The first is Idealism which stresses "consensus on values" that "underpin any stable political order. Thus an idealist would be concerned with human rights, humanitarianism and international justice as guiding principles of America's foreign policy. Liberalism is the second approach which focuses on cooperation with other "mature democracies" and institutions such as the United Nations. The third approach is Realism which stresses "self-interested states compete for power and security." (Snyder, 2004)
As the United States moves forward one of these traditions will move to the forefront. Idealism is "belief that foreign policy is and should be guided by ethical and legal standards." Centered on the premise that American foreign policy can be used to make the world a better place by shaping it to reflect those ideals. This is achieved through debates about ideas and values that are the "fundamental building blocks of international life." (Snyder 2004) Idealism depends upon transnational groups such as Human Rights Watch to expose violations of the accepted moral standards and values while the democracies would give support, at least verbally. For idealism the need for soft power, diplomacy and economic sanctions, would be the main course of action.

The Liberal school highlights the importance of spreading democracy worldwide. The classic example is Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations. Usually this is done with the help of mature democracies and international institutions such as the United Nations. As these new democracies emerge civil violence has erupted usually between competing ethnic groups who want self autonomy. Though once established democracies rarely wage war against each other but they tend to be "prone to launch messianic struggles against warlike authoritarian regimes," (Snyder 2004) as both Wilson and Bush II has shown. And if the election result does not favor the United States we will not recognize the newly elected government. When Hamas won election in Palestine the immediate reaction was not to legitimize the results because of their terrorist past. As with the world how do we push democracy upon these Middle Eastern nations without realizing that these "terrorist" groups are legitimate with the people of these nations?

The final approach is Realism. Realism focuses upon the power struggle that exists among self-interested states. Realism centers on the concept of achieving a balance of power among these states. Presently we have nations coming together to oppose the American hegemony such as China and Russia. A new balance of power has begun to be created. Another example are European powers, members of NATO, who to achieve a balance of power has begun using international institutions, like the United Nations and the World Trade Organization to counter the United States. Snyder mentions his organization, Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy whose stated principle is "the move toward empire must be halted immediately." (Snyder 2004)

When looking at history the Realism approach had been the guiding principle for our early foreign policy. In his farewell address George Washington warned us, "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world..." (http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/) As Doug Bandow says, "Let us make John Quincy Adams' apt dictum the lodestar of our new foreign policy: America 'goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.'" (http://acdalliance.org/)

Presently the United States has over $11 trillion of debt. Over $5 trillion has been created in the last 7 years. The United States has nearly 800 military bases overseas and spending $515 billion per year on military. We have become a nation depended upon China, Japan and oil rich countries to buy our ever growing debt. (Bandow 2008) Whichever foreign policy we decided upon it must be based on the use of soft power. Diplomacy and economic sanctions would be preferred methods in dealing with human rights violations or ethnocide, destruction of a culture. As an aside I am an isolationist who thinks we would be better off placing American interests first than work with transnational groups by using soft power to help people in need.

Over the past 7 years American policy in the Middle East has been one of hard power, using the military to achieve our goals. The coming years will hopefully change this to reflect a more soft power, economic sanctions and diplomacy, approach of dealing with nations. Using diplomacy Jimmy Carter was able to achieve peace between Israel and Egypt. Using soft power Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty. As Stoessinger says about successful empires, “Empires in the past survived only so long as they understood that diplomacy backed by force was to be preferred to force alone.” (2008)

Bandow, Doug. Economic Collapse: The Financial Death of the US Empire. 2008. American Conservative Defense Alliance, Retrieved Oct 15, 2008. http://acdalliance.org/letters/10-11-2008-economic-collapse-financial-death-us-empire-doug-bandow
Snyder, Jack. One World, Rival Theories, Foreign Policy, November/December 2004
Kelleher, Ann & Laura Klein. Global Perspectives, 2006, Pearson Education.

Stoessinger, John G. Why Nations go to War, 2008, Thomson Wadsworth

Imperial Amnesia

Imperial Amnesia is a term used by John Judis (2004) to describe the American remembrance of past military adventures in foreign lands. Using the occupation of the Philippines following our victory against Spain in 1899 Judis (2004) outlines how the Unites States has rewritten the past to justify were we are today in our foreign policy. Comparing Judis’ article with Stoessinger’s Vietnam War essay, “A Greek Tragedy in Five Acts” I have used our special role American plays in transforming the world, the lack of understanding the concept of knowing your enemies before going to war and how politicians rewrite history for their own purposes.

“Americans have always believed they have a special role to play in transforming the world (Judis 2004).” As the Cold War was beginning to heat up and fearing the Soviet Union would take advantage of the anticolonial movements within Europe’s colonies the United States “sought to establish its own neo-imperial reign (Judis 2004)” in Asia. “Instead of permanently annexing the countries they conquered, after a period of suzerainty, [United States] would retain control by vetoing unfriendly governments and dominating the country’s economy (Judis 2004)”

In 1954 the French had been defeated by the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu agreed to the Geneva Accords dividing Indochina into Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and setting a time table for free elections in 1956. In 1954 the South East Asian Treaty Organization was created by the Unites States making South Vietnam an American protectorate, thus recognizing South Vietnam as a separate state. The United States believing Ho Chi Minh would win free elections supported the establishment of a vassal state; the Republic of Vietnam under the leadership of President Diem. In November 1963, Kennedy allow a coup to overthrow Diem, killing Diem and placing in power someone more the America’s liking. When Nixon took office he and Henry Kissinger developed the concept of “Vietnamization” of the war. It would involve the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam to be replaced by South Vietnamese forces with a “friendly government firmly in Saigon (Stoessinger 2008).”

American foreign policy has a long history of not understanding our enemy. Judis (2008) discusses the Neoconservative agenda and their miscalculation of the nationalist sediments within the different groups. American thought we would be welcomed with flowers but instead we energized those nationalist feelings. This same attitude prevailed as we began empire building with our war in the Philippines and Judis (2004) also shows this lack of understanding in Iraq about the motivation of the enemy. Sun Tzu in the Art of War said, “Know thy enemies” which generally was absent during the entire Vietnam conflict. After the end of WWII the French were fighting a colonial war in Indochina against Ho Chi Minh the US was at first opposed to the French because Truman saw it as a return of French power to the area. By 1948 China became an “active theater of the Cold War” (Stoessinger 2008) the United States began to see the French as “defenders of the west” (Stoessinger 2008). Ho Chi Minh who had been describe by an OSS officer as an “awfully sweet guy whose quality was his gentleness” (Stoessinger 2008) was now seen as part of the international Communist threat. Throughout the conflict American politicians would never come to grips that the main motivation of Ho Chi Minh was nationalism with communism taking second place. Ho Chi Minh’s goal was to drive out the imperial powers and achieve national independence.

During Kennedy’s administration a study was done by two European experts, Asian experts were considered security risks since the days of Joseph McCarthy (Stoessinger 2008). Rostow-Taylor concluded that the growing conflict in Vietnam was similar to the conventional war we had fought in Korea instead of a political struggle with the Vietminh, using guerilla warfare tactics. The one idea that is seen throughout Stoessinger (2008) is that the United States never looked at the Vietnam question from the viewpoint of the Vietnamese.

John Judis (2004) states, “Politicians often rewrite history to their own purposes.” As the Cold War with the Soviets began to shape American foreign policy our language toward Ho changed. The United States’ “perceptual grid of Cold War categories was… superimposed on the older conflict in Indochina (Stoessinger 2008).” As the United States escalated the war so did the Vietnamese in response. The Chinese would only give enough aide to bring a balance to the war. In early 1965 the United States began reprisal bombings against the North. When asked by Emmett John Hughes, “what he would do if the North Vietnamese retaliated by matching American air escalation with their own ground Escalation.” McGovern Bundy (Johnson aide) replied, “We can’t assume what we don’t believe.” (Stoessinger 2008)

President Kennedy made a prophetic comment, “In the last analysis, it is their war; it is they who must win it or lose it (Stoessinger 2008).” In the end South Vietnam made the decision. As today we see in Afghanistan and Iraq it belongs to those people whether their nations will win or lose. John Judis suggests that in order to transform the world we need to adopt Wilson’s vision of global democracy multilaterally. But isn’t that just replacing one from of imperialism with another form. Who will determine who the nations are we would punish. At present China does not to care about democracy so do we make them an enemy? As is being shown in Afghanistan multilateralism will only work when there is little price to pay among the partners. As NATO members have begun to suffer causalities the desire for transforming Afghanistan has lessened. Wilson’s vision involved to “dismantle the structure of imperialism” (Judis 2004) based upon the European powers abdicating imperialism. In today’s world the only nation using imperial tactics is the United States. In ways Europe has replaced the United States by not looking overseas for monsters to destroy.

References

Stoessinger, John G. 2008. Why Nations Go to War. Belmont, CA. Thomson Higher Education

Judis, John B. 2004. Imperial Amnesia. Foreign Policy July/August 2004

Iraq

I read an interesting article today comparing the Iraq War with the US occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish War. The article appeared in Foreign Policy in 2004 called Imperial Amnesia by John Judis. It showed the parallels not with Vietnam but how we destroyed the Filipino population bringing them to their knees by killing 200,000. We used 120,000 troops and over 4.000 died. Americans suffer from very short term memory while the world has long memories. The hatred that existed in Iraq before the US invasion was opened with the invasion.

Americans wake up to history. Turn off the TV's and learn something for once. The United States has always been a horrible at nation building but we never seem to remember this from generation to generation. We failed in Vietnam and we will fail in Iraq and Afghanistan. Call the troops home and start looking at our commitments overseas. Remember John Quincy Adams remark about we don't go overseas looking for monsters to destroy. Learn to live as a Republic again instead of an Empire.

Electric Bill

I have questions about my Excel Energy bill. What are these charges?

Here is the breakdown:
Energy Charge Summer
Environment Imprvmt Rider
Fuel Cost Charge
Resource Adjustment

I hate environmentalist as a top priority and it is only going to get worse in this country as we elect either another fascist or a communist. The end is near for the American Empire, may it die quickly.

Swine Not

I just finished a fun novel by Jimmy Buffet called "Swine Not." In the usual fashion of Jimmy this novel is fun loving and an enjoyable read. The book has narrative from two characters, Barley a young twin boy from Vertigo Tennessee and the pig named Rumpy. The pig and family end up in New York City when Mom accepts a job as a pastry chef at a fancy restaurant. Enjoy this book and read this book. It is light hearted fun.

Georgia

I heard Condi Rice talk tough against Russia today. Are we willing to go to war against Russia over a nation like Georgia? I concluded sometime ago that the leadership in the United States is insane. Now understand I don't just mean the President and his Republican hacks but also the Democrats along with their band of twits. I could also toss in the batch of religious leaders who are the purveyors of a twisted gospel. There was once a time when Americans cheered when our leaders told us we would not get involved in foreign entanglements. I long for that day to return.

Power of Envy

Envy is “a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.”[1] Envy has been the major driving force behind why some tribes have prospered while others have remained primitive. When a group refuses to allow people to advance beyond the rest of the tribe envy exists. Envy says that if I can’t have it then neither can you. The envious person would rather see something destroyed so no one can have rather than anyone having it. I like what an article in the Wall Street Journal brings out “Do Americans Have Wealth Envy?” I think with the rise of Obama we are reverting back to those days of business versus labor aspect of society. The us against them mentality that existed for many years in this country.

My question is how do you balance the needs of the worker with the needs of business without making workers indentured servants to these companies. Prior to the Great Depression common laborers were treated poorly by business. Charles Darwin reigned supreme in business. Today without government involvement would they continue survival of the fittest still reign. History has shown man is capable to commit great evil against their fellow man. Why would anything be different since Carnegie treated his workers like dung.

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[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/envy

The Autobiography of Ben Franklin

I have been listening to an audio version of Ben Franklin’s Autobiography and have realized something. Over the years “success” books have come out being the “newest” thing in self improvement. I have tended to see them as rip-offs of Napoleon Hill’s material. After listening to Franklin I have concluded it is a vicious cycle in plagiarism. There is nothing new under the sun. The Success Movement started with Benjamin Franklin and continues to this day. I sad part is the modern church is also a product of Franklin’s Religion of Virtue. If you live good enough you will be accepted by God. I hear so many TV preachers talk about self improvement – if you confess the word just right or do this or do that and you will have blessings from God. The blessing of God are based upon His grace. I like Franklin’s ideas but I don’t use them to attempt to earn God’s favor.

We need to begin focusing upon the relationship aspect of the Gospel. I belonged to a club for 17 years were every week it was about how to get stuff from God. If the minister in charge ever talked about relationships it was just plain bad. He to this day doesn’t understand relationships and his whole message is based upon Napoleon Hill and Kenneth Hagin though he calls it the Gospel. I have enjoyed the Hagin’s teaching over the years but today I understand that isn’t the whole Gospel. When I listen to the “Faith” teachers on TV it is insanity. These people have made a quite a living off the gospel. Whatever happened to teaching about saving money as Malachi instructs. I will fill your barns, investments, with plenty and your presses, work, will burst forth with new wine. I suppose in away Franklin taught the importance of saving for the future. On a national level the question is, how can a nation build for the future without savings to buy the capital goods?

Why did the BJP Party Lose?

What were the reasons that the 380 million Indians voted out the Bharatiya Janata Party and elected the Congress Party led by Italian born Sonia Gandhi? During the campaign the BPJ focused on a pro-Hindu religious message along with the strong growth of the economy. According to the Guardian, my personal paper of record, the BJP highlighted the “8% growth, increased development and a surge in high tech industries” (AP). The problem that exists outside the developed areas, Bangalore, is poverty. As Lalita Law tells Friedman “alcoholism if rife and female infanticide and crime are rising” (Friedman, p.539).

The strategy of the Gandhi led Congress party was to focus on the 300 million extreme poor within India who are not benefiting from the economic growth. The Congress party focused on lack of basic infrastructure, electricity and water access for the rural poor. According to political columnist and member of the upper house Kuldip Nayar, “This is a verdict against globalization. Now the next government will have to think how to employ more hands, than machines” (AP)

If you listen to Nayar the vote was against globalization but really it was because the globalization is occurring at a slower pace than desired. The idea of Hindu nationalism used by the BJP was defeated for a more secular form of government. Thus both sides were correct though I saw nothing about environmental issues being part of the issues unless you look at basic infrastructure. One side note, 48 people were killed in election violence down from the 1999 election.

India’s Ruler Concedes Defeat, Associated Press, Guardian, Thursday May 13 2004, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/13/india2

China's Cultural Revolution

Following the genocide from starvation caused by Mao's Great Leap Forward Mao decided he was losing a grip on power inside China. In 1966 using the student population Mao began the Cultural Revolution. Mao's stated goal was to reignited the revolution. Actually, Mao's goal was to rid himself of what he termed the "privileged class" This class consisted of engineers, scientists and anyone else Mao considered a rival. Sounds more like an attack on the middle class that had developed and where enjoying their status.

There are three phases of the CR the needs to be discussed.

The Activist Phase from 1966-68. It was during this time period that Mao purged his enemies. During this time two sides developed. The first was led by Lin Biao and support by the PLA and the other side was led by Deng Xiaoping and the party machine. Mao sided with the PLA and used the students (Red Guard) to destroy outdated symbols and values. These phases would continue until a border clash with the Soviet Union in March 1969.

The second phase with the 9th National Party Congress. With the Maoist in control the rebuilding of the party machine and economic stabilization became priorities. Pragmatism replaced idealism as the central theme. In 1971 Lin Bao attempted a coup that failed and died in a plane crash fleeing China. This led to a purging of all Lin Bao supporters.

The final phase started with Deng Xiaoping becoming vice premier in 1973 until Mao's death in 1976. It was been estimated that between 2-7 million people died during the CR, most during the Activist Phase. (Poon)

I understand that there is presently political discussion inside China about the effects of the CR. Some have used it as a rejection of revolution and Maoism while others are showing more nostalgic toward it.

Poon, Leon. Home Page. 6 August, 2008. http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/welcome.html

Authoritarian Governments

Is democracy a requirement for a Capitalism to flourish? I think a good example of an authoritarian government that created a successful Capitalist system would be Chile. Chile elected a socialist Allende who was overthrown by a CIA led coup by General Pinochet. Over the next 17 years Pinochet allowed a free market economy using the teachings of Milton Friedman. Even after Pinochet returned power to democratic rule the government has not reversed many of his reforms.

Another example comes to mind would be Great Britain who after World War II adopted a socialist form of government. It became know as the “British Disease” (Boyson). British productivity by the 1970’s had fallen behind the rest of Western Europe by 30-40% while inflation for the period of 1972-77 was 120% (Boyson). It was only after the reforms of Margaret Thatcher that the economy began to recover.

Democracy is a messy business with people having the ability to vote themselves programs and authoritarian regimes have created market economies. I think the question becomes can a nation like China sustain a market economy over the long haul? I can think of no regime that has been both authoritarian and capitalist over the long run. I guess one question I would like answered is how can a nation whose political system requires centralized planning, China is communist, allow the long term growth of a free market system without giving up its political power?

Boyson, Sir Rhodes and Antonia Martino. What We Can Learn from Margaret Thatcher, The Heritage Foundation. November 24, 1999,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/PoliticalPhilosophy/HL650.cfm

Conservatism - Death by self inflicted gun shoot

When did the Conservative Movement die? I have thought about this recently watching the election. In 1994 the Conservative movement was at their heights and within 10 years the collapsed had occurred. The only thing I can say is happiness is the death of false politics. Conservativism had died many years before when it allowed men like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh take control and destroy the movement. It moved from an idea generating machine to a hate mongering machine. Ideas are not Hannity's strong point. Every time I see Hannity I realize what Jesus had to deal with with the Pharisees.

Liberal Media Bias

Once again I am hearing those on the Right complain about the Media favoring Obama. I have heard since I was a kid that the MSM was liberal. Who cares. I heard today the NYTimes profits are down 82% and the Evening News the viewers are dying faster every day. I understand talk shows need fonder to talk about. But come on. Get over it people. Get a life. You have unlimited media access with the internet. Seriously why would anyone watch either Chris Matthews or Sean Hannity. Both are blowhards who love to hear themselves talk. Take a little time and read the online newspapers from around the world. See what is happening in Africa or Asia. Maybe even South America. I know this will be tough for people who live inside the United States because the world revolves around you but try.

College Educated Workers

Thomas Friedman states that college educated workers grew through the 1980’s. What has happened since 1993 according to the National Science Foundation has been a 40% increase of college graduates, reaching over 40 million in 2003 up from 29 million. Of those 40 million about 12% have their degrees in science or engineering. Listening to the media I thought the world was coming to an end and America was getting dumber. During this time period the population of the United States population has grown from 257.7 million to over 300 million (NPG). According to The Olympian “in February 2005, USA Today reported that 64 percent of high school graduates go to college, but the number of Americans with bachelor degrees is only 29 percent.” (Yamamoto) I understand this because I like many Metro State students have returned to school to finish my degree.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research since 1980 the supply of college graduates have been growing at a rate of 2% while the demand as been averaging “3.27 to 3.66 percent per year.” This has allowed the wage premium that college grads have enjoyed over high school grads. High schools grads also face increase competition from immigrants. The average American wage has increase from $21,027.98 in 1990 to $38,651.41 in 2006. A debate is raging over whether real income has been keeping pace with inflation as the real inflation has come under scrutiny. Official inflation does not include food and fuel. In researching this item I came across this item on Business Week online, “Real College Grad Wages Plummet 5.5%” for the second quarter of 2008, wages adjusted for inflation (Mandel).

2003 College Graduates in the U.S. Workforce: A Profile. National Science Foundation, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06304/

Negative Population Growth http://www.npg.org/facts/us_historical_pops.htm

Yamamoto, Julie. Only 29 percent of Americans have a college degree
http://www.theolympian.com/columnists/story/227366.html

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The Rise and Fall of the College Graduate Wage Premium. http://www.nber.org/digest/jan08/w12984.html

Social Security Administration. National Average Wage Index
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/AWI.html

Mandel, Michael. Real College Grad Wages Plummet 5.5%. Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2008/07/college_grad_wa.html

China and America's Debt

Thomas Friedman comments in his book (The World is Flat, p.143) that the savings from cheap Chinese imports has “helped the Federal Reserve to hold down interest rates longer” thus allowing Americans to buy homes or refinance, using their homes as ATM machines to buy more toys. As I write this CNN Money online has a headline about the possible collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac called, “The $5 Trillion Mess”(Benner, title) What the Federal Reserve has done is to artificially lower interest rates below free market rates by manipulation of the currency. This helped to create the housing (credit) bubble that has been in the news. .

Friedman also says that Morgan Stanley estimates Americans have saved $600 billion by buying cheap imports. The analytical group Bridgewater Associates now estimates bank losses worldwide from the credit crisis to total $1.6 trillion. The United States have been running a trade deficit with China that currently is over $1.4 trillion. “In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People’s Republic of China” (Fallow).

Because of the cheap interest rates Total U.S. Consumer Debt has grown from $1.69 trillion in the first quarter of 2000 to the most current numbers of $2.56 trillion in May 2008. Mortgage debt outstanding at the beginning of 2000 stood at about $6.9 trillion and today it stands at $14.7 trillion. Federal Debt has climbed to $9.2 trillion from$6.8 trillion. (Federal Reserve) China currently holds over $1 trillion of this debt. There has been talk of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of late. China presently holds $376 billion dollars in these company’s bonds that are subject to US government bailout (Shedlock), so much for the American taxpayer saving from cheap Chinese imports.

Federal Reserve Bank (2008). Statistical Supplement to the Federal Reserve Bulletin.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/supplement/2008/05/200805StatSup.pdf
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/supplement/2004/01/200401StatSup.pdf

Shedlock, Michael. (2008). U.S. Taxpayer Bailout of China over Fannie Mae, July 11, 2008.
http://www.globalstrategywatch.com/independent-insight/85886366ea7628c1b9fc317567dd54e5/

Fallows, James. (2008). The $1.4 Trillion Dollar Question, The Atlantic Monthly, Jan/Feb 2008.

Benner, Katie. (2008). The $5 trillion mess, Fortune, July 12, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/economy/fannie_freddie.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008071209

Mauldin, John. (July 11, 2008). $1.6 Trillion and Counting, Thoughts from the Frontline. Electronic Mailing List

Reason I Left

Once upon a time there was this group of people who would meet. This group was lead by a self-professed “anointed” leader. The leader taught this class every week and talked about spiritual things. The beginning of the group was filled with many people but over time the group became smaller and smaller. Why? You see the leader would decide that people needed to be cleansed from the group so he would drive these people out. Being one of immaturity the “leader” would throw a temper tantrum and give the person the “cold shoulder.” For those not familiar with the cold shoulder it is ignoring a person to punish that person. Over the years the leader would treat people in this manner.

There joined to this group a young man who lacked knowledge of spiritual things and for many years this young man continued in this group. At times the man would disagree with the leader but mostly kept it to himself because he desired the friendship of the leader. On those rare occasion when the man talked about the disagreements with the leader the cold shoulder method of punishment was handed down. So this taught the man to keep things to himself even when he thought the leader was just plain wrong.

Well one day it happened, the man (after many years of bondage) was talking to the leader who was bloviating about something he had heard. The man went home and got to thinking about what the leader had said. The man foolishly decided to send his thoughts to the leader. The thoughts had helped the man in the past so he foolishly thought the leader would want to discuss these thoughts with him.

The man, who had learned much about freedom in Christ and is learning the love of Father, once again experienced the temper tantrum of anger, from the stand, and the cold shoulder of this leader. Why would this leader or any leader do this? Insecurity. Immaturity. The man had mistakenly written the note with the hope of starting a conversation with the leader. Foolish man he had not learned yet that self appointed religious leaders don’t care what you think even if you golf with him. The leader is only in love with himself and his self appointed “anointing.”

The man decided it was time to leave the group. What was different this time with the man? In times past the man would have kept quite until it blew over. Suffering under the leader's self appointed “anointing” and the cold shoulder of punishment. The change was the man had discovered that God loves him and desires an intimate relationship with him and that Father does not give “leadership” permission to treat his children in any way but love.

Let it be said the man does not hate this leader but still loves him and in many ways feels sorry for this leader for the leader judges people based upon them accepting his self appointed "anointing" and self created religious system.

Murray Rothbard at his best:

The basic root of the controversy over slavery to secession, in my opinion, was the aggressive, expansionist aims of the Southern "slavocracy." Very few Northerners proposed to abolish slavery in the Southern states by aggressive war; the objection – and certainly a proper one – was to the attempt of the Southern slavocracy to extend the slave system to the Western territories. The apologia that the Southerners feared that eventually they might be outnumbered and that federal abolition might ensue is no excuse; it is the age-old alibi for "preventive war." Not only did the expansionist aim of the slavocracy to protect slavery by federal fiat in the territories as "property" aim to foist the immoral system of slavery on Western territories; it even violated the principles of states' rights to which the South was supposedly devoted – and which would logically have led to a "popular sovereignty" doctrine.

Murray Rothbard
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard175.html

Lack of Future Growth in America

When I talk about “desire” I mean the people of the United States has become a nation of spenders. We love to consume. Our savings rate is around zero with it going negative at times. How does a nation build the means of production to compete in the world marketplace when it no longer saves? We have a negative balance of payments equal to about 6% of GDP and federal deficits running in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And to fund all this we have become a nation depended on the kindness of strangers, i.e. the Chinese, Japanese, oil producing states, etc. I grew up during the Cold War so the thought that Communists are funding our hedonism just seems strange to me. But China is a nation of savers. “A penny saved may be a penny earned, but in China a penny saved is usually invested in an infrastructure project or an increase in manufacturing capacity. China’s gross domestic savings rate, after averaging 40% or so of GDP for most of the 1990’s, has grown over the past couple of years to close to 50% of GDP (Prestowitz).”

Hu is saving in China? Prestowitz, Clyde. 2008
http://www.econstrat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=169&Itemid=1

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created in 1944 as part of the Bretton Woods agreement. The Purpose of Bretton Woods was to “design a postwar international monetary system” (Hoover). The US dollar was made the worlds currency. The job of the IMF was to stabilize the exchange rate when each country would tie its currency against the gold backed dollar. In 1971 Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard because of nations like France who kept demanding to exchange dollars for gold. From 1971 forward the US dollar and many of the world’s currencies have been allowed to float freely.

The way the IMF works is it allows governments to borrow US dollars in exchange for local currency. Congressman Ron Paul has been an opponent of the IMF even requesting the US stop funding the group. As Paul has said, “the IMF forces American taxpayers to subsidize large, multinational corporations and underwrite economic destruction around the globe” (Paul). The IMF has a long history of funding governments creating economic disasters. A recent example was the Argentine economic crisis in 2001. The IMF lent Argentina over $8 billion of US taxpayer backed loans.

The history of the IMF is one of creating problems. The problem with the IMF in my opinion is the government to government loans that are made. Giving money to corrupt leaders and then expecting them to act rational does not exist. As Congressman Paul states, “The only constituency for the IMF is the huge multinational banks and corporation” (Paul).

The better way is what groups like Kiva Loans (kiva.org) and Bill Gates Foundation that will loan money to individuals within these poor nations to build a business or buy additional farming equipment. Kiva loans is an organization that allows anyone to participate in helping people become productive.

The Case against the IMF. Hoover Institution. http://www.hoover.org/publications/epp/2845951.html?show=essay

Paul, Ron. Statement on Ending US Membership in the IMF, Feb 27, 2002.
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr022702.htm

Accounting has Changed

How has accounting changed over the last 25 years? When I started studying accounting in 1980 there was no accounting software available. I remember using columned green paper doing accounting problems and doing multiple transactions to cover it all. I would use T-accounts when figuring accounting issues. When spreadsheet software first came out (I think it was called Lotus 1-2-3) I remember asking a teacher if he thought it would change accounting. His answer was he didn’t think it would change anything. When Lotus 1-2-3- came out it was fantastic. It allowed the creation of financial statements so easily instead of using typing up on an 8x11 piece of paper, with correction fluid nearby. I would have to use charts created by the printing department for meetings instead of creating my own in PowerPoint presentation and I can import from other sources in doing it.

I remember when I went to work for a company that used an in-house accounting package. It allowed me to enter a transaction for both sales and accounts receivable in the same. Today the accounting packages available are so amazing. I use Microsoft Dynamics GP at work. GP is an Enterprise Resource Planning software package that allows me to track accounting, projects, human resources, etc. I can do payables, receivables, and general ledger. I can track fixed assets like never before. I don’t need to track these items within a spreadsheet anymore. I enter a payables transactions and it hits the general ledger, payables, vendor account all at one time. I can create projects that allow the tracking of costs and revenue from a particular customer. Today, because of software I can do more than twice what I once was able to do.

Crash of 1929

The stock market crash of 1929 may be the most famous bubble in America. I hold to the belief that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy was to blame for the crash and the resulting Great Depression. During the 1920’s the Federal Reserve inflated the monetary supply to grow the economy. The result was lower interest rates than the free market would have allowed causing the economy to overheat. Then in August 1929 the Fed changed policy and raised the discount rate. This also occurred under Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (Tech and housing bubbles). Speculators entered the market driving the price of stocks higher. It is estimated that approximately 600,000 speculators traded on margins.

The result was not good. On Monday Oct 9, 1929 the reporting could not keep pace with news of the fall. That Saturday margin calls started to go out. By Oct 19, Black Tuesday, shares were dropping vertically in price. The extent of Americans involvement in the stock market even surprised me. I always thought the initial collapse only affected a few but nearly 30 million families were participants in the stock market out of only 120 million people. Investment trusts were being created daily and using high leverage to speculate in the market. When the market started its fall margin calls were made to people unable to pay. By July 8, 1932 the market had fallen from a high of 452 to 58. General Motors had fallen from 73 down to 8. At that time GM was considered one of the best run companies in America.

What followed was an economic collapse as industrial production dropped over 50% and unemployment hit 26.7% in 1934. (Johnson)

Pongracis, Jr., Ivan. The Great Depression According to Milton Friedman

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=8132

Johnson, Paul. Paul Johnson on Rothbard. Ludwig von Mises Institute.

http://mises.org/article.aspx?Id=447

Plague in the Unites States

The Bubonic Plague’s entrance into the United States though minor in comparision to other nations was made worse by politicians. The history of the Bubonic Plague can best be described by Middle Age scholar Ibn Khaldun, who wrote, “the East and the West was visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish” (Echenberg, 2002, p. 429). In recorded history there have been three Bubonic Plague pandemics. The first occurred in A.D. 542 (Justinian’s Plague) in the Eastern Roman Empire, starting in Egypt and attacking Constantinople killing millions and helping to bring about the destruction of the Empire. The second started in 1347 in Naples and spread throughout Europe in only 4 years in what became know as the Black Death. Estimates have ranged as high as half of Europe and the Middle East died. There has also been plague like epidemics reported in China starting with the Ming-Qing Dynasty, approximately 1590 until the 18^th century. The third pandemic emerged from the Himalayan region and traveled in South China including Hong Kong by 1894. It was from Hong Kong that the disease spread via British steamships and the rats they carried, finally arriving in San Francisco in 1900 (Echenberg, 2002).

The plague is caused by the pathogen Yersinia pestis. The pathogen is carried by fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) and transmitted when a rodent is bitten. It is known that hundreds of rodents have been know to carry the infected fleas ranging from rats to rabbits. When the infected rodents get close enough to humans and the rodent host dies the fleas will migrate to humans in search of a blood meal. The key to human infection is getting within range of a hungry and infect flea. The death toll of infected humans without receiving antibiotic therapy is at least 60 percent (Echenberg, 2002). The plague in the United States followed a hierarchical effect by starting in port cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Orleans and spreading into Arizona and New Mexico.

The first reported case of Plague in the United States was a Chinese man who was found dead on March 6, 1900. The Yersinia pesits was identified by the City Health Office. The infected lymph node was given to Dr. Joseph Kinyoun, Chief Quarantine of U.S. Marine Hospital Service in San Francisco. Dr. Kinyoun agreed that it was probably plague. This information was taken to the City Board of Health who immediately ordered the surrounding of a 12 block area of Chinatown, which consisted of overcrowded tenements, suffering severe poverty. What followed was a political firestorm against any idea that plague could exist in San Francisco. The attack was lead by the local newspapers and was joined by the governor of California Henry Gage who used terms such as, “plague scare” when speaking of it, fearing the damage it would do to business and tourism. Gage would continue his opposition right up until the time he left office. Another factor that hindered the investigation was the refusal of Chinese leaders to cooperate by hiding the plague infected bodies from authorities. It took until May of 1900 before these Chinese leaders would begin working with the city health authorities. In January 1901 the Secretary of the Treasury appointed a Commission to deal with the outbreak. A program of cleanup, the burning of clothing and bedding, and fumigation with sulfur was begun. By 1905 121 people would become infected with 118 dying (Lipson, 1972), with overall U.S. deaths hitting about 500 (Echenberg, 2002). How many lives could have been saved had politicians allowed health officials to do there job? As with HIV racism and expedience took priority over people’s lives.

Between 1925 and 1965 human cases of the Bubonic plague numbered fewer than two a year. That changed in 1965 when an outbreak occurred in the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico. Seven people were diagnosed that year with the plague. The number of cases increased with peaks every 5 to 8 years reaching a high of 40 in 1983. Between 1965 and 1989 308 cases of human plague was recorded, mainly in the southwestern United States with most of the infections occurring near the patient’s home including several cases of infected domestic cats. Rodent plague has been reported frequently over the years but with limited human exposure (Barnes, 1990).

In 1979 the City of Albuquerque and the Centers for Disease Control entered into a long term surveillance and control program with the goal of conducting annual surveys of animal and flea populations for evidence of plague activity and the use of Carbayl dusting of fleas to reduce the population within the Sandia Mountains. Another program was started with local residence being asked to report any unusual numbers of sick or dead animals. The study showed a total of 180 plague positives including 21 domestic cats. The result was the “reaffirming the Sandia Mountains as a hyperendemic area” (Barnes, 1990, p.45).

The Bubonic Plague has shown itself to be a resilient pathogen that has survived the millennia always waiting in the wings for the right time to strike again. Three times in recorded history this plague has produced devastation on humanity. Modern medicine has given us the ability to fight the disease with much success. Though we look through a glass darkly, the history of the plague has shown us a possible future. Used in the past as a biological weapon, catapulting corpses over city walls and dropping infected fleas from airplanes, the possibility exists today for such use by terrorists or nations set on destroying an enemy. Like so many other bacterium there has been “recent observation of the presence of multidrug-resistant plasmids, almost identical to those acquired by Y.pestis” (Stenseth, 2008, p.12). The possibility exists for a drug resistant Bubonic plague.

By focusing on the introduction of this killer in the United States I wanted to show that politics have no place in fighting these deadly zoonotics. A future pandemic of a plague like disease is real. History has shown we have not destroyed these menaces but have only kept them at bay.

Lipson, Loren George (1972). Plague in San Francisco in 1900. Annals of Internal Medicine, 77, 303-310.

Echenberg, Myron (2002). Pestis Redux: The Initial Years of the Third Bubonic Plague Pandemic, 1894-1901. Journal of World History, Vol. 13, No. 2, 429-449.

Barnes, Allan M. (1990). Plague in the U.S.: Present and Future. Proceeding of the Fourteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1990, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 43-46. Retrieved from http://digitialcommons.unl.edu/vpc14/5

Gage, Kenneth L. (2000). Cases of Cat-Associated Human Plague in the Western US, 1977-1998, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 30, 893-900.

Ruiz, Alfonso (2000). Emerging Infectious Disease, Vol. 7, No. 3. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/ruiz.htm

Stenseth, Nils Chr. (2008). Plague: Past, Present and Future, PLoS Medicine, Vol. 5, No.1, e3

John Lofton Speaks

I am fascinated by the likes of John Lofton. He attacks Bob Barr using name calling on his blog but Barr basically agrees with Lofton. Barr is Pro-Life but that isn't enough for Lofton. Lofton set out to show his religious superiority over Barr. You see Barr doesn't go far enough. For the Pharisee it is never enough. Instead of showing any respect for a brother in Christ Lofton shows arrogance. You see for Lofton Barr is the wrong kind of Christian. Another issued Lofton brought up was Terri Shiavo. The Congress of the United States overstepped its authority when it tried to stop here death. Pharisees like Lofton. who worship the State as there god, like to see government interfere in peoples lives. Just watching something on TV means you know nothing of the circumstances of this case. Did Lofton meet Terry? I realize his religion will prevent Lofton from understanding anything. O Well Life goes on. And it truly is a good life in Christ.

What also interests me about John Lofton is here is a man who goes out on the internet and looks for people who reference him so he can comment. An eight year old does that. And to think I use to read men like this and followed their teaching. And why did I stop reading these men... I met there offspring.

Outsourcing at Home

The trend has to outsource to India has begun to slow. Companies have begun to outsource at home according to Business Week. The reason is increasing wages and the falling dollar. Also, the fear exists that wages in India will be on par with America within 5-10 years so companies have begun looking for low cost centers within the United States (i.e. Boise, ID or Fargo, ND). One problem these companies are experiencing is our lack of experienced highly skilled IT people. As an example AT&T decided to open a call center back in the US from India but had trouble finding qualified people to handle the jobs so AT&T started a training program.

I hear people in the United States complain about sending jobs to India or China but at the same time I see little effort being made on the home front to reverse this trend. If America wants to compete than the desire must be there. I just don’t see it anymore.

King, Rachel. (April 7, 2008). Outsourcing at Home, Business Week

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc2008043_261385.htm?chan=search

The Fool Lofton Has Spoken

I received a message from the Pharisee John Lofton today. What an honor. His primacy of Law instead of Grace continues. When I hear fools such as Lofton speak I understand why people are leaving the church in droves. There is no love in his message only arrogance. Such sadness that he had taken the teaching of Jesus Christ and produced such hatred. Lofton talks about idle words but he is the king of idle words. For the message of Jesus Christ was to reveal a Father to us who loves us dearly. A Father who wants to have a intimate relationship with us. There is nothing in those idle words Lofton speaks. No wonder this nation is dying. We don't have discussions with people but point the finger in the face and then hate.

When I was young I read these fools, teachers who had the appearance of godliness but deny the power thereof. I allowed myself to be trapped by religion instead of getting to know the God who Loves me. God is Love and He wants to reveal His Love to us daily not by a bag of rules but through the person of Jesus Christ. What amazed me that Lofton doesn't even attempt to Love people. But I understand for when I was a Pharisee I couldn't Love people either.

Another Religious Moment

I heard Bob Barr, Libertarian Presidential Candidate, being interviewed by the arrogant "Christian" leader John Lofton. I can understand why people are rejecting this crap being propagated by the holy fools like Lofton. It is because of religious arrogance that I left the institutional church. What a sad day it has become in this once great land. I do wonder if God loves us enough to let us lose?

I am reading The Shack, something the fool Lofton would hate. Lofton has made Christianity about morality and not about Christ. For Lofton the Law is primary not the beauty of God's wonderful grace.

You know you've made God in your image when He hates the same people you do.

Source Unknown

Love is patient, Our Wonderful Father is Patient with us. He knew what he was getting when He got you. Ask Him to show you His Love Today.

Love is Kind, Papa is Kind to you. He Loves you because He is love not because of anything you have done. He Loves because He is Love.

Outsourcing to India and Such

The outsourcing of accounting is an ongoing concern for those of us in the field. Friedman talks about the outsourcing of tax preparation to India, he forgets that with new tax software the average American has the ability to prepare taxes themselves. Today in the United States accounting functions are outsourced ranging from payroll, payables and receivables. Payroll giant ADP has already opened the second offshore facility in India (McDougall). And with more U.S. companies building production facilities overseas the inventory and manufacturing accounting will soon follow.

Offshoring allows companies to take advantage of two key areas. The first is low cost talent; as Friedman has pointed out Indian labor is much less then American. These low wages both in India and other developing nations will put downward pressure on U.S. wages. The second key is that technology driven processes allows companies to move accounting to India. This has allowed American Express and GE to lead the way by moving operations to India. As research and development continues to move to India and China new technology will bypass the U.S. (Prestowitz, 2005.).

Prestowitz, Clyde (2005). Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East. New York, NY. Basic Books.

McDougall, Paul (2007). ADP Opens Second Offshore Facility in India, Information Week, January 9, 2007. Retrieved June 22, 2008, from http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/outsourcing/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196802294

Guns, Germs and Steel: A Review by Danny Yee

Yee does a wonderful job outlining Diamond’s book and then turns his pen to his criticisms. Yee starts with the statement, Diamond “achieves [avoiding pitfalls] this by avoiding some areas rather than engaging with them.” Another criticism is that Guns, Germs and Steel “doesn’t even begin to be a general synthesis of historical causation.” An example used is the capture of Atahuallpa by Pizarro at Cajamarca by not explaining it. A final criticism is that Diamond though covers an amazing range of disciplines including those we is not well informed. Yee uses religion which Diamond describes as a “handmaiden of the state.”

I agree with Yee concerning Diamond’s use of Religion. By placing religion as an agency of the State limits the role religion has played in human history. Religion formed and out of this religion the State formed. The question I think of was Confucius or Buddha agents of the State or did the State use what already existed to its advantage. Yee brings out the strength of Diamond’s work. The book covers a range of topics from archaeology to zoonotics. As for the criticism of historical causation [causality – how event A leads to event B, etc] I think Diamond does a good job of building his case in those areas he understands.

I think by attempting to use environmental factors in the development of society Diamond downplays the power of culture [religion and beliefs]. In some societies envy prevents a person’s ability to move beyond others within a culture. Envy says if I can’t have it then neither can you. Diamond brings out some cultures are more conservative and other are more progressive toward new innovations. I think he fails to understand why some groups reject innovation while others embrace it.

Out of this Furnace by Thomas Bell

Below is a paper I wrote for a history class I had on working people in America.

George Kracha came to America in 1881. This begins a wonderful novel by Thomas Bell that covers the hardship, despair and love of three generations of an immigrant family working in a steel mill in Pennsylvania and the desire of earning a fair wage and the ability to make a better life for themselves. Like so many other from Eastern Europe Kracha came to America to flee the endless poverty of being a Slovak in the Austria-Hungarian Empire. After finally walking to White Haven, PA he began his life as a rail worker but after the advice from a friend moved to the steel towns. The reason for moving was the pay was better in the steel mills than the railroads. Kracha was introduced to the hierarchy which existed within the steel mills when he needed to buy an Irishman a drink to get a job at the mill, a Scotsman (Carnegie) owned the mill, an American (Frick) ran the mill and the Irish were the foremen with the Slovaks taking the bottom.

There is a brief mention of the Homestead Strike but it didn’t affect the Slovaks because the union only included skilled workers. After the strikers were defeated Henry Frick would message Andrew Carnegie, “We taught our employees a lesson.” That lesson lasted until 1937 when the Union was finally recognized. The Panic of 1893 caused by the collapse of the Reading Railroad caused hardship as the company lowered wages and cut production, a typical response during downturns in the economy.

In many ways the hope of the Slovaks were similar to many immigrants, to save enough money to go back to the old country and buy a farm or to buy a farm in the United States. Kracha develops the entrepreneurial spirit by starting a butcher shop and learns that “money makes money.” If not for greed and lust he would have maintained that spirit. There is a fear of getting involved with politics as with Mike when he was going to vote the Socialist Party ticket but feared retaliation if found out. As Kracha told Mike, “Think what you like but keep your mouth shout.” By John’s generation this would change as people came out in mass to support the Democrats in 1932.

In December 1900 the hierarchy that existed was American, English and Irish who were the department heads and Slovaks who made up half the mill but had no skilled jobs. The goal of these immigrants was to come to America, find work and make a living. The living conditions were such that when Mary returned from the ocean for the first time she realized how smoky and dirty the mill town was. One night after drinking heavily Mike shows the despair that existed within the unskilled workers at the mill. The hierarchy system did not allow the Hunkies to move upward within the mill. Tied to a life of hardship and no hope the toll it took upon the people, as one older woman complained all she had done was work all her life to the point she could not longer use her hands. After the death of Mike, Mary, like so many others, suffered due to the World War I Wartime Inflation. At the time prices of groceries more than doubled causing the ever present poverty to consume Mary as she struggled to live off her sewing, savings and what John could earn. Like most widowed women throughout history she could not find enough work to provide for herself and the children. Mary contracted Tuberculosis and was sent to a sanitarium. After Mike’s death she was never the same and died in the sanitarium. During the war John, to show his patriotism was forced to buy Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps. He would have to sell at a discount in the early 20’s.

The possibility of a strike in 1919 actually split the Catholic Church in the area. It also created a “Red Scare” promoted by the newspapers, as Unionism was tied to Bolshevikism. During this time period the company decided to bring in the Blacks to work the mills. A common strategy used by many companies to continue the ethnic division that existed. Thus the Slovaks were replaced on the lowest wrung of the ladder. Later on Dobie would tell Kracha as the Irish looked down at the Hunkies now the Hunkies looked down on the Blacks. This hierarchy was repeated within industry throughout the United States. Even to this day an order exists within some production facilities, Whites, Blacks and finally Hispanics. After the strike was called off the Pittsburgh Catholic Charities received $25,000 fro US Steel.

The Crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression caused the steel mills to literally shut down. The people were starving and were aimless with no hope. After the election of Roosevelt we see the passage of the National Recovery Administration specifically Section 7(a). Section 7(a) allowed the organization of unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. This recognition of right to organize by the government was required for any long lasting success of the unions. As has been shown throughout history when the force of government was used to end strikes and always favored business. The American Federation of Labor attempted to organize a union but in the preparation for a strike the AFL’s William Green called off the strike. Plus the union tossed 75% of the steel workers out of the union. The union was finally created when John Lewis and Sidney Hillman started the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). One benefit the union members enjoyed was that all were members of the union and there was no ethnic divide.

The book focuses on the lower class workers within the steel towns of Pennsylvania who lived in poverty. Bell could have chosen any industry within the United States to make his point that unions lead to a better life for workers. For the poverty and treatment of the mill workers was repeated within industries ranging from rail workers to the meatpackers. The significance is that without the government backing the right of workers to organize and the right to collective bargaining no such rights would exist as history has shown that employers will use everything in their power to keep workers down. It was only with the passage of the Wagner Act that exempted unions from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that unions could finally not fear the use of government force to breakup strikes.

The book shows two areas that have existed since the early 1800’s in the United States. The first is the desire of foreigners to migrate to this country and the second is the anti-immigration stance of people already here. These opposing views allowed employers to use ethnic groups against each other to achieve their goals. The railroads used this when bringing in Asians to build the rail lines causing friction with native born and European immigrants.

The novel is a well written and interesting work. In many ways it almost seems that the characters are real and possibly based on real persons or family members. It allows the reader to put a human face on the hardship that immigrants faced to find a better life in America and the disillusionment that occurred when hopelessness set in when they finally realized there was not a better life ahead. It shows the effects of ethnic division when groups look down upon another base on nothing more than a birthplace.

Thomas Bell wrote a novel that has a place in the library. As I read the book I kept thinking about modern day China and the struggles of industrialization that the country is facing. Many of the labor issues that faced America in her history are now facing China. Factory workers in China are treated similar to factory workers were treated in the United States before Roosevelt. How China responds to these growing pains will be interesting to watch. In the United States today we have similar classes of people, the Slovaks and Polish have been replaced by the Hispanics. We as a nation leave the dirty jobs to the Hispanics as we struggle as a nation to decide the future of these illegal’s, thus since Kracha came to America we as a nation continue to argue about the same issues as we did then.