CRONY CAPITALISM

GAITHER STEWART—And here, in order to get a handle on Matteo Salvini and the history taking place today in Italy, in Europe, the observer must first step back and consider the context in which political events are unraveling, not only in Italy, but in all of Europe and much of the world. Non-Europeans are familiar with the Catalan bid for autonomy from Madrid; readers will also recall the bloody fight of the Basques for the same, the same battle which over a half century ago shook Belgium as Flemish people fought for independence from Francophone Belgium. The Lega Nord was founded on a similar political demand: secession from Italy and Rome.

ANDRE DAMON—Despite this overwhelming public opposition, the ending of net neutrality on Monday was met largely with silence on the part of the Democrats and their aligned media outlets, and the implementation of this sweeping attack on democratic rights was not even mentioned on the evening news. As with everything else in America, popular opinion in the end counts for nothing.

ALEX LANTIER—What is unfolding is a historic collapse of diplomatic and economic relations between the major imperialist powers. For the three quarters of a century since World War II, a broad consensus existed internationally in the ruling class that the trade wars of the 1930s Great Depression played a major role in triggering that war, and that trade wars should be avoided at all costs. This consensus has now broken down.

JOHN SCALES AVERY—Human nature seems to exhibit what might be called “tribalism”: altruism towards one’s own group; aggression towards outsiders. Today this tendency towards tribalism threatens both human civilization and the biosphere. Greed, in particular the greed of corporations and billionaire oligarchs, is driving human civilization and the biosphere towards disaster.

JEFF J. BROWN—t was a real treat to have Peter Koenig on the show today. He has been all over the world and seen how the West inflicts its genocidal destruction on billions of victims in the developing world. A lifelong expert at the World Bank, he explained how 75% of its work is dedicated to Western, capitalist plunder of poor peoples’ wealth and exploitation of their natural and human resources (asset stripping at 10 cents on the dollar, while slaving away in Western sweatshops for 25 cents an hour). Nonetheless, he has managed to do good deeds by staying in the 25% that really tries to help those in need.