28 September 2021
Milley’s Failed Strategy
No wonder it took the U.S. twenty years to leave Afghanistan. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley admitted today to the U.S. Congress that he, too, had been operating under a mistaken understanding of the true American objective for invading “the graveyard of empires.”
An Afghan business friend of mine told me that his nation is confident that the Taliban will run a government that is less corrupt and more popular with his compatriots than the leaders installed by the occupying Americans. Hopefully, under the watchful eye of the U.S. and its implicit threat of immediate military intervention should a terrorist group like Al Qaeda find shelter there again, the mission of preventing another 9/11 attack has been accomplished. Afghanistan conquest strategies like General Milley’s have always failed. Perhaps we have inadvertently done what realistically we could only do—keep America safe.
Booster’s Lower Priority
Yes. it is more important globally to vaccinate and stop the spread of COVID-19. However, administering boosters does not prevent the distribution of vaccines in developing countries. Politics does.
Once Obstruction by pandemic deniers is overcome, funding has to be arranged to complete universal immunization and eradicate this deadly disease. WHO should concentrate on this task instead of accusing wealthy nations of selfishly securing the health if their own populations first.
22 September 2021
Global Vaccine Equity
The Coronavirus pandemic is indeed a global threat. The vaccines that effectively control its spread must be made available to all nations; moreover, it is just as crucial to wealthy countries that all people on the planet be immunized against SARS-CoV2 as that their own residents be so immunized.
Therefore, a worldwide program of vaccination, including all necessary follow-up doses, must be developed and funded ASAP. This is not an issue of equity; it is required for universal self-protection.
19 September 2021
Frontline Was Wrong To Say Obama Failed In Afghanistan
In a recent Frontline report one expert said that the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan failed to accomplish nation-building. Really, they were there to protect our security. In fact, the Taliban does not threaten U.S. security; they are not our enemy. Still, they must be disciplined should they, even mistakenly, shelter an activity that poses such a threat. That is what the Bush and Obama administrations did. Continued armed intervention in Afghanistan afterwards was the product of mission-creep. The Biden administration has correctly put it to an end.
Unfortunately, the unwarranted extended allied incursion into the country has led certain Afghans, particularly educated women, to believe that things had changed forever. Now that the Taliban has returned to power, we all should realize that it will only be up to the Afghans themselves to change their culture. America shouldn’t impose that change; it may only incentivize it with peaceful diplomatic, trade and aid programs.
That will surely take time. In order not to waste that time, demonstrations and protests to emphasize the urgency of Afghans’ issues would better be directed at the governments of the U.S. and its allies to pressure them to strengthen their diplomatic efforts than at the authoritarian Taliban regime. Moreover, those Afghan activists must obtain support from private Western NGOs and political influencers to make their appeal effective.
In today’s interconnected world social change, even in only one country, has to be sought on a global stage using modern tools that rely on more lastingly persuasive means than military occupation.
14 September 2021
How To Finance Social Programs
There are at least two ways to increase federal revenues for more expansive social programs: increase tax rates on the most successful businesses and individuals as in the current Democratic proposal or provide higher incentives for tax-paying companies and residents. The choice depends on whether you believe that economic activity is a zero-sum or a win-win game.
In a zero-sum scenario, the highest income-earning corporations and individuals will have made their gains primarily at the expense of the rest of the economy. Because those left behind have effectively paid to reward the successful players, it is deemed equitable to provide them with social programs they cannot afford by themselves as compensation, financed by taxing the successful players more highly.
The fallacy of this approach is that the higher tax rates constitute a disincentive on successful economic activity. Enlightened government policy would aim at increasing the number of individuals and businesses that are able to earn higher market rewards for their economic activity. In a win-win situation, economic growth benefits all participants in the game. Profit-sharing for employees, customers, contractors and contract principals should be encouraged with tax credits in order to broaden the number of beneficiaries in each transaction, and thereby spread the burden of financing social programs.
This model assumes that it will result in higher overall economic growth and make possible increased social progress. It does not start with lower tax rates, for it avoids punishing surtaxes on economic success by creating a direct linkage between pro-active profit-sharing and stable corporate tax liability. It will also be possible to offer an offset provision in the tax code allowing high individual income earners to reduce their tax liability over a statutory minimum with contributions to approved non-governmental social programs as well as charities.
09 September 2021
Tools of Discontent
Trump, like Hitler, may only have been a useful tool of right-wing conspirators.
As discussed in an interview on Deadline.com 2021/08, Hitler benefited from the newly developed condenser microphone, allowing his speeches to be broadcast to millions at a time, instead of only to those listening to speakers on location. Trump was masterful at using social media like Twitter to spread his message of victimhood. Perhaps no less than der Fuhrer, it wasn’t the content of his spiel that created a movement; but the access that technology enabled for listeners with similar feelings of self-importance and made them recognize that they were not alone.
The next communications technology advance will surely induce exploitation by some other demagogue. Imagine how quickly an ambitious politician would use a means for sending his messages wirelessly directly into the brains of involuntary targets.
