Green New Deal

[mspohr]

Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill is about freedom. Why doesn’t he say so? | Jan-Werner Müller

Plenty of empirical comparisons with Europe are cherry-picked and ignore the fact that so many Americans lead more stressful and significantly shorter lives in a society that has for decades failed to invest not just in roads and bridges, but also in a civic infrastructure of shared goods such as affordable care for dependants. So many parts of the Build Back Better agenda actually aim to create more options for working people: they would have a choice about how they rear their children and take care of elderly relatives, with obvious implications for their ability to enter the labor market; they would also have more resources to use as they see fit, if drug prices came down. To describe such measures as antithetical to freedom has things exactly the wrong way around; rather than the state dictating to citizens what they have to do, it generates more choices for them.

And climate? That is about freedom, too. If we fail to act now, future freedoms of how to live – and, not least, where to live – will be drastically curtailed. But, again, the case would be easier if the owners of concentrated wealth were made to pay for a livable future world – after all, they will have to live in it, too, unless they can go to Mars or make that luxury retreat in New Zealand climate-apocalypse-proof.

 

[mspohr]

Doing Economics as if Evidence Matters Opinion | Doing Economics as if Evidence Matters

What they found was that the increased minimum wage had very little if any negative effect on the number of jobs, a result since confirmed by looking at many other instances. These results make the case not just for higher minimum wages, but for more aggressive attempts to reduce inequality in general.

Researchers have taken advantage of natural experiments created by, among other examples, the gradual rollout of food stamps in the 1960s and 1970s and several discrete jumps in Medicaid’s availability in the 1980s. These studies show that children who received aid became much healthier, more productive adults than nonrecipients.

Well, the data provide a clear answer: While there may be some disincentive effects from unemployment benefits, they’re small.

 

[juliusa]

There is absolutely no question Socialism is a better system. The only problem is it always fails.

 

[JRP3]

No one mentioned socialism. Many European social democracies have been quite successful.

 

[mspohr]

No one mentioned socialism. Many European social democracies have been quite successful.

Republicans always mention socialism as if it was a bad thing.
Progressives are trying to improve social aspects of US society by improving health care, housing, child care, education, etc. The Green New Deal ideas are trying to succeed in Biden's plan but getting lots of pushback from Republicans (and a few corrupt reactionary Democrats).
Hopefully something will pass to move us forward to a more equitable society.

 

[juliusa]

No one mentioned socialism. Many European social democracies have been quite successful.

I mentioned it.

Successful at what?
Where did COVID vaccines come from? COVID treatments?
Which major innovation in the past 50 years came from there?
Which stopped Nazi Germany?

We live in the most equitable society in the world. Equity of opportunity, not outcomes.

 

[JRP3]

We live in the most equitable society in the world. Equity of opportunity, not outcomes.

That is false.

 

[winfield100]

I mentioned it.

Successful at what?
Where did COVID vaccines come from? COVID treatments?
Which major innovation in the past 50 years came from there?
Which stopped Nazi Germany?

We live in the most equitable society in the world. Equity of opportunity, not outcomes.

get an epipen, get insulin, “pharmabro” “shriekellie”(spelling)
it’s “the devil takes the hindmost”,
ie
them that have, it shall be given to,
them that have not, even that shall be taken.

privileged, sheltered lives should self reflect

 

[MontyFloyd]

I mentioned it.

Successful at what?
Which stopped Nazi Germany?

The Communist's.

Soviets stopped invasion of Moscow, Stalingrad, Leningrad. Then pushed the Nazi's back, took back all the eastern countries under Nazi, finally invaded Berlin itself.

Yes, Soviets did get help, but the manpower on east front and blood was 100% Soviet.

(PS, the second largest economy in world is (drum roll) a Communist government. Not saying they are better, just 2nd largest)

 

[navguy12]

Which stopped Nazi Germany?

The odd Russian division or two…

 

[juliusa]

The odd Russian division or two…

Yes, thank goodness for the Russian social democrats.

 

[MontyFloyd]

Which major innovation in the past 50 years came from there?

Your question about what came from Europe?

2 small examples
Cassette tape
Compact CD

Big one?
Concord SST (US never built a passenger SST)

 

[navguy12]

Yes, thank goodness for the Russian social democrats.

Agreed. Total American casualties in the European theatre of operations would have been at least an order of magnitude higher.

 

[mspohr]

Your question about what came from Europe?

2 small examples
Cassette tape
Compact CD

Big one?
Concord SST (US never built a passenger SST)

German Government funded (socialism!)

Fraunhofer Society - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

• The MP3 compression algorithm was invented and patented by Fraunhofer IIS.[8] Its license revenues generated about €100 million in revenue for the society in 2005.[13]
• The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) was a significant contributor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard, a technology recognized with two Emmy awards in 2008 and 2009.[14] This includes the Fraunhofer FDK AAC library.[15]
• As of May 2010, a metamorphic triple-junction solar cell developed by Fraunhofer's Institute for Solar Energy Systems holds the world record for solar energy conversion efficiency with 41.1%, nearly twice that of a standard silicon-based cell.[16]
• Fraunhofer is developing a program for use at IKEA stores, which would allow people to take a picture of their home into a store to view a fully assembled, digital adaptation of their room.
• E-puzzler, a pattern-recognition machine, which can digitally put back together even the most finely shredded papers. The E-puzzler uses a computerized conveyor belt that runs shards of shredded and torn paper through a digital scanner, automatically reconstructing original documents.[17]
• OpenIMS, an Open Source implementation of IMS Call Session Control Functions (CSCFs) and a lightweight Home Subscriber Server (HSS), which together form the core elements of all IMS/NGN architectures as specified today within 3GPP, 3GPP2, ETSI TISPAN and the PacketCable initiative.
• Powerpaste, a magnesium and hydrogen -based gel, that releases hydrogen fuel suitable for fuel cell consumption when it reacts with water has been developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM)
• Roborder, an autonomous border surveillance system that uses unmanned mobile robots including aerial, water surface, underwater and ground vehicles which incorporate multi-modal sensors as part of an interoperable network.[18]

 

[MontyFloyd]

Which major innovation in the past 50 years came from there?

Oh, forgot to mention:

ALL mass produced Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) designs is European (mainly UK) in origin.
The AV-8B is direct descendant of Hawker Harrier.
The F-35B you say?
The engine is UK based Rolls Royce (the non-VTOL F-35A is US Pratt & Whitney)

US did play with some VTOL, but never went beyond some experiments.

 

[juliusa]

Ok, I relent. AT&T (Bell Labs), GE, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Tesla, IBM, HP, Oracle, Dell, Pfizer, J&J, Space-X, Blue Origin got nothing on those socialist democrat companies when it comes to innovation.

NASA pales in comparison - unless you believe they put a man on the moon.
Sloan Kettering, Dana Farber, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic - just following protocols developed in socialist democracies.
Whitney, Ford, Edison, Bell, Wright, Salk, Einstein - inconsequential.

 

[mspohr]

Carbon emissions ‘will drop just 40% by 2050 with countries’ current pledges’

In its annual World Energy Outlook, redesigned this year as a “guidebook” for world leaders attending the summit in Glasgow, the IEA predicted that carbon emissions would decrease by just 40% by the middle of the century if countries stick to their climate pledges. The organisation said the difference between current plans and the change necessary to reach the net zero target was “stark”, requiring up to $4tn (£2.94tn) in investment over the next decade alone to bridge the divide.

The IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol told the Guardian that major economies recovering from Covid-19 were already missing the opportunity to spur investment in clean energy.

 

[mspohr]

Capitalism' s slaves are in revolt.

Is America experiencing an unofficial general strike? | Robert Reich

Another clue: Americans are also quitting their jobs at the highest rate on record. The Department of Labor reported on Tuesday that some 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August. That comes to about 2.9% of the workforce – up from the previous record set in April, of about 4 million people quitting.

Corporate America wants to frame this as a “labor shortage.” Wrong. What’s really going on is more accurately described as a living-wage shortage, a hazard pay shortage, a childcare shortage, a paid sick leave shortage, and a healthcare shortage.

 

[juliusa]

Socialism working its magic. People less inclined to work when they can just get free stuff.

 

[JRP3]

Or to rephrase, people less willing to work for poverty wages when given other choices. Some of us see that as a good thing, you of course want people to suffer and remain in poverty.