Redefine Progress

The Curse of Zombie Shopping Malls

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:42:31 -0500

The Curse of Zombie Shopping Malls

African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making A...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:43:35 -0500

African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making

A stupendous development! New ocean, those two words would typically be a paradox in my mind.

The Two-Track Economy: Inequality Emerging From Today’s Recession - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:52:59 -0400

The Two-Track Economy: Inequality Emerging From Today’s Recession - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com:

Well done Simon Johnson!

This article articulates clearly the very short-sighted and dangerous strategy beautifully orchestrated by the Bush administration and it’s accomplice oligarchy. Increased homeownership and consumer debt yields a captive American mainstream subject to unrestrained fees, penalties, advertising and predatory products.

What is completely amazing to me, is that the same people crushed by mortgage debt and finding themselves without work are against “health care reform”. Health care reform is a much needed attempt at wealth-movement against the stream that has been so carefully constructed in the last 15 years.

Like the businesses they run, the corporate oligarchy will continue to exploit the resources of this country until they are depleted and have the potential to become unprofitable. Then they will shift business to more profitable environments. It’s terrifying.

Democrats Demand Obama Keep Government Health Plan - Yahoo! News

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:43:51 -0400

Democrats Demand Obama Keep Government Health Plan - Yahoo! News:

Very nice work 83-member Congressional Progressive Caucus! Bravo!

America’s (Very Small) Small-Business Sector - Economix Blog -...

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:06:06 -0400

America’s (Very Small) Small-Business Sector - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

This is exactly the reason why our country is in trouble. Self-employed people generate the highest proportion of new ideas (patents), and yet this country is designed for it’s citizens to be corporate or government employees. Naturally, innovation stalls and keeps the jobless rate high. Health care and the tax code need to be fixed IMMEDIATELY to correct this problem.

America should have a truly free-market, a single-payer military, and a single-payer healthcare system

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:37:10 -0400

Healthcare is an inherently different industry than providing air transportation, ground transportation or telephone products. Inherently different in that people choose — and market forces define — the choices when flying, purchasing a car or using the telephone. People do not make a choice to participate in healthcare service, therefore market forces cannot define the choice, since “choice in healthcare” is simply a paradox.

In my view, some industries should find the free-market principle applied fully, and others should not. The application of the free-market should be predicated on whether a citizen has a choice to participate in that industry or not. For example, the need to protect our country(military) and the need to be healed(healthcare) when we are sick are not choices. Using an Iphone on the AT&T network are choices. America should have a single-payer military, and a single-payer healthcare system, but not a single telecommunications provider.

Our application of a singular, “free-market” philosophy propped up by exclusions, rationalizations, inequitable provision of government aid has resulted in a failed healthcare industry, a failed automobile industry, a largely failed airline industry, and an arguably failed telecommunications industry. Currently, the US government is providing government support for limited industry participants in banking, insurance and automobiles. This inequitable support creates a false, free-market in which businesses gain an unfair competitive advantage through access to the government. Businesses that should fail because there is not market interest in the products offered, or because they have been inefficiently managed, do not. In this case, the benefits of competition are negated and the “free-market” is simply not free.

America needs to move past it’s singularism in regards to the marketplace, and embrace a pluralist approach which applies true free-market principles to businesses in which citizens choose to participate, and government support for services in which participation is not optional. We need to create competition AND quality of life.

The real-world result of singularism is a limited American job landscape. This landscape is a direct result of anemic innovation, invention, and emerging business. In the simplest terms, it is healthcare that makes hiring an American prohibitively expensive in today’s marketplace. Combine that hiring disincentive with a workforce stuck wherever they happen to be by spiralling healthcare costs, and what you have is a deeply troubled America.

TheHill.com - McCain will lead GOP opposition to ‘cash-for-clunkers’

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:32:57 -0400

TheHill.com - McCain will lead GOP opposition to ‘cash-for-clunkers’:

“My children and grandchildren are going to have to pay for these cars and we’re helping auto dealers while there are thousands of other small businesses that aren’t getting the help,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)

How is that that I suddenly agree with Mcain and Jim DeMint? This program is an outrageous application of government money to an industry that has no other significant problem other than that it’s products do not match demand.

The solution to the car industry is to begin prioritizing a culture of “Design” over a culture of focus groups.

C’mon Obama, I really, really, really want to like what you’re doing.

"Some critics attack single-payer, arguing that under such a program, government bureaucrats will be..."

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:29:48 -0400

“Some critics attack single-payer, arguing that under such a program, government bureaucrats will be between the patient and the physician. In the 40 years I have been practicing under Medicare, I have never encountered an instance where Medicare has prevented proper medical care. On the other hand, insurance companies frequently interfere and block appropriate care.”

- Obama’s Doctor Speaks Out for Single-Payer Healthcare Reform (via azspot) (via marco)

"I say it is time for some genuine changes in the music-scenario in the beginning of this new..."

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:11:35 -0400

“I say it is time for some genuine changes in the music-scenario in the beginning of this new millennium. Before the industry wakes up and cones to terms with what is actually going on, It will not be able to prosper. In Danish we have a saying: “When the winds of change blow, there are two types of people – those who build windbreaks and those who build windmills”. – Until the industry begins to build windmills, it will only experience failure and loss.”

- Torben Eik, Yourwaves, Denmark (re: The Music Industry) (via shelbot)

Antitrust Chief Hits Resistance in Crackdown - NYTimes.com

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:08:50 -0400

Antitrust Chief Hits Resistance in Crackdown - NYTimes.com:

Please. Those of you in the way of American progress, get out of the way and let Christine Varney reign in the corporate oligarchy so that innovation can once again thrive in the US. Thank you.

"The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there’s an assumption that..."

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:52:52 -0400

““The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there’s an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they’re shrinking, they’re failing.””

- Bulldoze the ‘burbs? | csmonitor.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Invent, Invent, Invent - NYTimes.com

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:59:22 -0400

Op-Ed Columnist - Invent, Invent, Invent - NYTimes.com:

Aye, Invent, they say. I have two major problems with this article. First, there are a lot of smart people out there in the U.S. that are choosing not to live in the 30,000 foot, 3 hour teleconference, Microsoft Powerpoint world, because it yields no possible value other than a salary and 2 weeks of vacation. And, by the way, just because you graduate from an American High School doesn’t mean you can read and write. I believe America actually does have smarts but Craig Barret and Friedman would have no idea where to find those people, they operate in a different world than the rest of us. It’s much cheaper to look for basic competence in India, than smart people in the US.

Second, why would anyone “invent” anything in the US when they couldn’t possibly profit from the invention unless it was somehow valuable to Google or Microsoft? Inventing made sense when you could bring an idea straight to market with hard work and talent. That, I would argue is simply no longer possible. The best inventions today, Twitter for example, bleed money until and if, the are acquired. Just how does Twitter keep it’s servers running? No, if you’re a smart American, it’s best to keep your ideas to yourself so that they don’t generate any more wealth for the corporate oligarchy. Fix that one Friedman!

Last Virgin Megastore in New York Closes - NYTimes.com Very,...

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:02:43 -0400

Last Virgin Megastore in New York Closes - NYTimes.com

Very, very, very, very, very good news. This industry brought their own demise upon themselves. It will be a good day when music corporations are de-centralized and can begin to think for themselves again rather than their shareholders. There are certain things that do not prosper in an “efficient” market: health care and music are amongst these.

Rethinking the Mall - Allison Arieff Blog - NYTimes.com

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:46:00 -0400

Rethinking the Mall - Allison Arieff Blog - NYTimes.com:

Just the title of this article screams progress, this topic is long overdue. I especially enjoy the discussion of transforming abandoned big-box retail stores into giant billboards!

Public asked to help monitor life on earth | Technology | Reuters

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:04:03 -0400

Public asked to help monitor life on earth | Technology | Reuters:

Conceptual pluralization is the future!

Op-Ed Contributor - End the University as We Know It - NYTimes.com -Mark C. Taylor

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:35:51 -0400

Op-Ed Contributor - End the University as We Know It - NYTimes.com -Mark C. Taylor:

I believe this is quite an important topic. Maybe one of the most important topics — our ability to generate vision for the future has been crippled by our education system.

An Effort to Save Flint, Mich., by Shrinking It - NYTimes.com

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:22:27 -0400

An Effort to Save Flint, Mich., by Shrinking It - NYTimes.com:

This is one of the most exciting ideas I’ve heard in a long time:

The population would be condensed into a few viable areas. So would stores and services. A city built to manufacture cars would be returned in large measure to the forest primeval.

“Decline in Flint is like gravity, a fact of life,” said Dan Kildee, the Genesee County treasurer and chief spokesman for the movement to shrink Flint. “We need to control it instead of letting it control us.”

GM Proposes Standardized Plug for Electric Vehicles -...

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:30:58 -0400

GM Proposes Standardized Plug for Electric Vehicles - Switched

Sometimes the greatest progress is just acknowledging a simple solution to an obvious problem.

Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy (via...

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:48:20 -0500

Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy (via EdwardandBella123)

Tofu-Chili Taco With Kimchi - The New Los Angeles Fusion -...

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:17:14 -0500

Tofu-Chili Taco With Kimchi - The New Los Angeles Fusion - NYTimes.com