Category Archives: OpEds

Doomed

(August 2011) – The trend of exploitative capitalism is antagonistic to the needs of ordinary people. Capitalism is based on the utopian wish of a few to control unlimited amounts of wealth. This internal contradiction — unlimited thirst for limited wealth — continues to drive this doomed system toward the abyss of no return.

The recent “debt deal” between US …

Polling Time Again

We have three quick questions for you, but first some facts:

In the auspicious summer of 1989 a leading West-German newspaper conducted a poll asking leading politicians, editors and political scientists throughout Europe if and when they thought the Berlin Wall would fall.

A majority of the experts speculated that The Berlin Wall could be gone some 20-50 years on. …

Gurukula: What the World Needs Now

Human beings are similar to plants in that they require a proper environment in order to grow and blossom. Plants require soil, light and water. Children require love to grow into their full potential. In our educational institutions therefore love should be supplied generously from the nursery onwards.

Already in the kindergarten, curricula should rely on proper human sentiments expressing …

9 Trillion Little Pieces of Paper With Green Ink On

Safety worries have been raised about the assets of China, the largest holder of United States Treasury bonds, after Standard and Poor’s cut the rating on the U.S. sovereign debt from stable to negative.

Any reduction in rating increases the interest rate for US debt which in turn increases interest rates for everything in the USA — mortgages, bank loans, …

Catastrophes Are Bridges

(In memory of those who suffered from the great tsunami on Dec. 27, 2004) – When a major quake hit the Turkish people in the summer of 2000, their traditional arch enemy, the people of Greece, responded with priceless aid. In the wake of the tsunamis that hit countries around the Indian Ocean, we shall once again see a surge …

It Is the Capitalist Climate that Needs Fixing

(On the first day of the Copenhagen climate summit, Dec 15, 2009) – The climate crisis is really part of a greater crisis which includes the financial crisis and the numerous political, social, cultural, existential crises that are now greatly troubling humanity. This compound crisis is the crisis of capitalism, which has reached a state of metastasis. It reproduces its …

California Goes for Progressive Voting

(June 9, 2010) – Voters in California have opted for a new ballot system that sends the top two vote-getters — regardless of party affiliation, or non-affiliation — into a final run-off. All the candidates in a primary election will run in the first round, and the top two vote-getters will then face each other in the general election. The …

Wikileaks: The Public Desire The Truth

(December 2010) – WikiLeaks is not a model institution or something we really desire. As things stand however, it has emerged as a symptom of both a system gone very wrong and the persistent need for people to know the truth. We would probably be correct in saying that WikiLeaks is a harbinger of great truth.

“… a lot of …

Spirit of Toronto

It is fair to say that leaders at the G20 summit in Toronto agreed to sacrifice the welfare of ordinary people world wide for the sake of saving a global economic system that increasingly favours only a very few. National budget deficits were to be cut in half by 2013.

President Barack Obama encapsulated the mood at the summit: “Together …

Signing to Stay

(June 14, 2010) – U.S. President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers on Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid “massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters” and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.

This statement leaves us pondering yet again: Are the huge stimulus packages intended …