The MLK Memorial, the Occupy Movements, and Social Justice

I was watching/listening to some of the ceremony this morning at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial here in Washington, DC. It was an interesting assortment of voices. Some reflected on the past, taking a stroll down memory lane. Others were grateful to see Dr. King being honored - even though the memorial may have been built with unpaid Chinese labor, something Dr. King would absolutely demonstrate against (not the Chinese part, but the unpaid part - remember, he was very pro-labor). Some tried to keep the message alive by pointing out that MLK was not some simple "can't we all just get along" man, and that he would be outraged by the growing economic and social disparities in American today. He'd also certainly be protesting the wars. In other words, the timing couldn't have been better, considering the massive October 15th protests the day before associated with the Occupy movement across the globe. MLK was not a docile spiritual leader who made this one famous speech on the National Mall in 1963, highlighted by four special words. He was a  tireless social justice fighter. We get our MLK watered down in America, so I wanted to repost something I wrote a while back about the good Doctor, with the hope that people realize, with the attention on MLK and his memorial, that he would have been out there marching the previous day. The Occupy movements are very much in line with the ideal Dr. King fought for, and ultimately died for. Let us not forget the real MLK in these hard times. Read More >>

Podcast Episode 7: Sports, the Lockouts, and Politics

On this episode of the There is No Spoon show, we talk about sports and politics, from connections between owners and the media, the labor politics in the NFL and NBA lockouts, the role of fans, and the connection between American society and the conflicts raging between owners and players in sports. Joining host Fouad Pervez are Dave Zirin and Brian Fredrick. Dave writes for The Nation, The Progressive, SLAM Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. He hosts the Edge of Sports radio show on Sirius XM, has appeared on numerous media outlets (including the Rachel Maddow Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Democracy Now!, All Things Considered, amongst many others) and has written several books, most recently Bad Sports and The John Carlos Story (collaborating with John Carlos). Brian is the Executive Director of the Sports Fans Coalition, a national non-profit organization dedicated to giving sports fans a voice on public policy issues, including public subsidies for stadiums, TV blackouts, the NFL and NBA lockouts, and a college football playoff. Brian has a PhD in Communications and was a senior editor at Media Matters for America. Check out this cool New York Times article about Brian here.

All sports fans (liberal, conservative, or barely interested in politics) should join the Sports Fans Coalition's email list, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. It's an important group, and really the only one advocating on behalf of sports fans. You can email Brian directly if you have ideas or want to get more directly involved: brian@sportsfans.org. Follow Dave and Brian on Twitter as well.

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Podcast Episode 2: On Wisconsin

Protesters pack the State Capital building in Madison

On this edition of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the organizing happening in Wisconsin to prevent the passing of a bill that would end public sector unions from being able to collectively bargain.  We provide a basic overview of the situation, some stories from on-the-ground protesters, and historical context of labor unions and labor organizing in Wisconsin and beyond. Our guests, Awais Khaleel (long-time Wisconsin political organizer and Howard Law Student); Marla Delgado (UW-Madison graduate student and community organizer); and Michael Paarlberg (Georgetown graduate student and freelance writer for the Guardian) discuss important issues such as inconsistencies in budget deficit claims and blames as well as the truth behind who makes more - private or public sector employees. Now that the bill has passed the Wisconsin state assembly, tune into the podcast to understand the national repercussions if it passes the state senate.




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We're SUPPOSED to Lose those Jobs Overseas

Stephen Colbert had a piece on the other night about goats stealing American jobs (see below) that cracked me up, but also got me thinking about posting on this topic. So much has been made about Americans losing their jobs to illegal immigrants (though this isn't exactly true - they do the jobs few Americans are actually willing to do) and workers in China and India, especially in this tough economy. Many candidates use the "I'll keep American jobs at home" line while campaigning. (Other popular campaign tactics this year: bigotry, profanity, and porn - Carl Paladino does all 3! Way to go, Carl!). Of course, the dirty little secret is: we're supposed to lose these jobs. It is a function of larger economic issues. The truth is, you can't fix this problem simply by going at corporations - yes, I know, I can't believe I just wrote that. You have to address the education system, instead, something that most ignore.

So, here's how it works. We're a rich country. We happen to be capital rich (vs. labor rich), like most (if not all) developed industrial countries. If we do the economically efficient thing, we should focus on capital, not labor - capital is our comparative advantage. In the long-run, we want to export our abundant factor, capital, while importing the scarce factor, labor. Pretty simple...do what you're best at, and buy from others the thing you're not so good at (labor), which they happen to be best at. Each part of this maximizes economic efficiency, which lets us all get optimal goods for the lowest price (labor rich countries get capital for lower prices than they would if they decided to produce these factors themselves - hence the importance of international capital in poor countries).