This is because despite all its declarations, the Democratic Party is not a party of workers. It, as Biden’s transition team attests, is a party of Wall Street, big banks, Amazon, and the military-industrial complex.
Humiliation Awaits Biden Admin at 'Summit for Democracy'
By Star Parker | December 8, 2021 | 12:04pm EST
The Biden Administration is hosting, in upcoming days, a "Summit for Democracy," a virtual event in which 110 nations worldwide have been invited to participate.
The U.S. State Department notes that the purpose is "setting forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies through collective action."
The Biden Administration lists on the White House website as among its priorities "Restoring America's Global Standing."
This summit will accomplish exactly the opposite.
The nations of the world will see on display that those at the helm of leadership in America have barely a clue what their own country is about and then want to impose their fractured understanding of America's mission on the rest of the world.
The State Department brings the phrase from the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, "to form a more perfect union," in noting the aims of the summit.
But the nations of the world are not part of a union, as are our states, bound by a constitution.
They are autonomous nations, each marching to its own drummer, trying to live and, hopefully, thrive together on one planet.
The State Department could have picked a much more relevant phrase from the Constitution's preamble, to "secure the blessings of liberty."
Liberty is the point. And I am sure it is no accident that the Biden Administration chooses to focus on democracy and not liberty.
To appreciate the basic difference, we can turn to our Declaration of Independence that says that, among our God-given inalienable rights, are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Then, continues the Declaration, "that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men."
The principles of liberty, on which our great nation was founded, precede government. Men form government to protect their liberty, not to bestow it or deny it.
But liberals love control. They don't love liberty. So, they want to grow government to impose their values, their worldview, on citizens.
The State Department states that the themes of the summit are "1) defending against authoritarianism, 2) fighting corruption and 3)promoting respect for human rights."
If authoritarianism is about government imposing itself on individuals, what else can we call it when government takes over an increasingly large percentage of our economic activity?
In 2000, the U.S. government consumed, per the Cato Institute, 17.7 percent of our GDP — our national economy. In 2020, this was up to 32 percent. With the passage of the additional trillions that Democrats are now trying to move into law, the proportion of our economic lives taken over by government will ratchet up another several percentage points. Coupled with state and local government spending, Americans are now turning over an ever-larger chunk of their economic sovereignty to government.
The fact that the politicians who are enacting these vast government programs were democratically elected simply says that Americans are choosing authoritarianism; they are voluntarily giving up their liberty.
The Wall Street Journal notes, for example, that the Build Back Better Act just passed in the House contains $555 billion in "grants, credits, and deductions" for green energy projects.
In order to qualify for these funds, firms must pay "prevailing wages," meaning union wages. Nonunion and small contractors will be shut out.
Of course, the reason that this can even happen in a nation founded on the principles of human liberty is because, over many years, our courts and unelected judges have undermined and changed understanding of our Constitution that was originally written "to secure the blessings of liberty."
Now, of course, government looms large everywhere. Employers are told who they can hire and how they must speak and relate to their employees.
No, I am sorry, Mr. Biden. America should be promoting liberty, not government. Our confusion and duplicity will be there for all the world to see.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker."
Biden: ‘All Women and Men Are…Endowed By Their Creator With Certain Unalienable Rights, Among Them Life’... EXCEPT THE UNBORN!
(CNSNews.com) - President Joe Biden initiated a two-day virtual “Summit for Democracy” today by delivering opening remarks in which the “unalienable rights” that God has given to all men and women, including the right to life.
“American democracy is an ongoing struggle to live up to our highest ideals and to heal our divisions; to recommit ourselves to the founding idea of our nation captured in our Declaration of Independence, not unlike many of your documents,” said Biden.
“We say: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident’ that all women and men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” he said.
The State Department has published a statement explaining Biden’s summit. “On December 9-10, 2021, President Biden will host the first of two Summits for Democracy, which will bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action,” it said.
Here is the full text of Biden’s opening speech to this virtual summit:
President Joe Biden: Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the first Summit for Democracy.
This gathering has been on my mind for a long time for a simple reason: In the face of sustained and alarming challenges to democracy, universal human rights, and — all around the world, democracy needs champions.
And I wanted to host this summit because here is the — here in the United States, we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institutions requires constant effort.
American democracy is an ongoing struggle to live up to our highest ideals and to heal our divisions; to recommit ourselves to the founding idea of our nation captured in our Declaration of Independence, not unlike many of your documents.
We say: “We hold these truths to be self-evident” that all women and men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to renew it with each generation. And this is an urgent matter on all our parts, in my view. Because the data we’re seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction.
Freedom House reports, in 2020, that it marked the 15th consecutive year of global freedom in retreat.
Another recent report, from the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, noted that more than half of all democracies have experienced a decline in at least one aspect of their democracy over the last 10 years, including the United States.
And these trends are being exacerbated by global challenges that are more complex than ever and which require shared efforts to address these concerns:
By outside pressure from autocrats. They seek to advance their own power, export and expand their influence around the world, and justify their repressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today’s challenges. That’s how it’s sold.
By voices that seek to fan the flames of societal division and political polarization.
And perhaps most importantly and worrying of all — most worrying of all, by increasing the dissatisfaction of people all around the world with democratic governments that they feel are failing to deliver for their needs.
In my view, this is the defining challenge of our time.
Democracy—government of the people, by the people,
for the people—can at times be fragile, but it also is inherently resilient. It’s capable of self-correction and it’s capable of self-improvement.
And, yes, democracy is hard. We all know that. It works best with consensus and cooperation. When people and parties that might have opposing views sit down and find ways to work together, things begin to work.
But it’s the best way to unleash human potential and defend human dignity and solve big problems. And it’s up to us to prove that.
Democracies are not all the same. We don’t agree on everything, all of us in this meeting today. But the choices we make together are going to define, in my view, the course of our shared future for generations to come.
And as a global community for democracy, we have to stand up for the values that unite us.
We have to stand for justice and the rule of law, for free speech, free assembly, a free press, freedom of religion, and for all the inherent human rights of every individual.
My late friend Congressman John Lewis was a great champion of American democracy and for civil rights around the world, learning from and gaining inspiration from other great leaders like Gandhi and Mandela.
With his final words, as he was dying, to our nation last year, he reminded our country, quote, ‘Democracy is not a state, it is an act.’ ‘Democracy is not a state, it is an act.’
So, over the next two days, we’re bringing together leaders from more than 100 governments alongside activists, trade unionists, and other members of civil society, leading experts and researchers, and representatives from the business community, not — not to assert that any one of our democracies is perfect or has all the answers, but to lock arms and reaffirm our shared commitment to make our democracies better; to share ideas and learn from each other; and to make concrete commitments of how—how to strengthen our own democracies and push back on authoritarianism, fight corruption, promote and protect human rights of people everywhere. To act. To act.
This summit is a kick-off of a year in action for all of our countries to follow through on our commitments and to report back next year on the progress we’ve made.
And as we do this, the United States is going to lead by example, investing in our own democratic—in our democracy, supporting our partners around the world at the same time.
From the earliest days of my administration, we pursu- — we’ve pursued a broad-based agenda to prove that American democracy can still do big things and take on challenges that matter most.
That’s why we immediately passed what we call the American Rescue Plan to get shots in people’s arms as fast as possible at home and around the world to help get this pandemic under control, and to stimulate inclusive and lasting economic recovery that’s also helping to drive global growth.
Last month, I was proud to sign a bipartisan piece of legislation, a true act of consensus between Democrats and Republicans in our country: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
This legislation will make a generational investment
to deliver what people need most in the 21st century: clean water, safe roads, high-speed broadband Internet, and so much more—all of which strengthens our democracy by creating good-paying union jobs that will translate to lives of opportunity and dignity for working people, with better access to the tools and resources they need to thrive.
And soon — and soon, I hope — I hope to sign into law a bill we call the Build Back Better plan, which will be an extraordinary investment in our people and our workers and give American families just a little more breathing room to deal with their problems and their opportunities.
Our domestic agenda has been focused on delivering for the needs of the American people and strengthening our democratic institutions at home.
On my first day in office, I signed an executive order to advance racial justice and equality. And my administration recently released our first National Strategy on Gender Equality and Equity.
We’re fostering greater worker power, because workers organizing a union to give them the voice in their workplace, in their community, and their country isn’t just an act of economic solidarity, it’s democracy in action.
We’re making it easy for Americans to register to vote, and we’ve doubled the number of attorneys defending and enforcing voting rights laws through our Department of Justice.
And my administration is going to keep fighting to pass two critical pieces of legislation that will shore up the very foundation of American democracy: the sacred right of every person to make their voice heard through free, fair, and secure elections.
We need to enact what we call the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to prevent voting discrimination, provide baselines for assessing — accessing the ballot box, and ensure the will of the voters is upheld, and so much more.
We should be making it easy for people to vote, not harder. And that’s going to remain a priority for my administration until we get it done.
Inaction is not an option.
And as we continue to work at home to bring the United States closer to what we call a “more perfect union,” we’re doubling down on our engagement with and support of democracies around the world.
Earlier this week, I released the first U.S. government Strategy on Countering Corruption, which elevates our fight against transnational corruption — a crime that drains public resources and hollows out the ability of governments to deliver for the people and just evaporates confidence that the people much need to have in their government.
The strategy includes working with other partners — all of you around the world—to improve transparency, hold corrupt actors accountable, reduce their ability to use the United States and international financial systems to hide assets and to launder money.
And today, I’m proud to launch the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, which will focus efforts across diplomacy—across our diplomacy and foreign assistance programs to bolster democratic resilience and human rights and—globally.
Working with our Congress, we’re planning to commit as much as $224 million [$424 million] in the next year to shore up transparent and accountable governance, including supporting media freedom, fighting international corruption, standing with democratic reformers, promoting technology that advances democracy, and defining and defending what a fair election is.
Let me give you a few examples of the kind of work this initiative is—will entail: a free and independent media. It’s the bedrock of democracy. It’s how the public stay informed and how governments are held accountable. And around the world, press freedom is under threat.
So, we’re committing critical seed money to launch a new multilateral effort—our International Fund for Public Interest Media—to sustain independent media around the world.
And through the—our USAID, we’re going to be standing up a new Defamation Defense Fund for Journalists to help protect investigative journalists against nuisance lawsuits designed to prevent them from doing their work—their vital work around the world.
We’re going to launch new programs to help connect anti-corrup- —anti-corruption activities across civil society, the media, academia, labor, and protect whistleblowers and help partners eliminate money laundering and safe havens.
To ensure that our democracies are strengthening by the voice—are strengthened by the voice of all citizens, this Presidential Initiative includes programs to advance women and girls and civic engagement and political leadership, empowering the LGBTQL [sic] community — plus community—individuals to participate in democratic institutions, promote labor law reform, working or—and worker organizations.
It includes new lines of efforts with our partners to address online harassment and abuse, and reduce the potential for countries to abuse new technologies, including surveillance technologies, to suppress the rights of their people to express their views.
And we’ll stand up two—and we’re going to stand up two rapid-response, cross-cutting initiatives that support the key goals of this summit: the Fund for Democratic Renewal and the Partnership for Democ- —for Democracy program. It’s going to allow State Department and USAID to surge funds to support our partners working on democratic frontlines around the world.
My fellow leaders, members of civil society, activists, advocates, citizens: We stand at an inflection point in our history, in my view. The choices we make, in my view, in the next—in this moment are going to fundamentally determine the direction our world is going to take in the coming decades.
Will we allow the backward slide of rights and democracy to continue unchecked? Or will we together — together — have a vision and the vision — not just “a” vision, “the” vision — and courage to once more lead the march of human progress and human freedom forward?
I believe we can do that and we will if we have faith in ourselves, in our — and in our democracies, and in each other.
That’s what this summit is about.
I’m so looking forward to a productive session and discussions that we’ll have — we’ll have over the next two days. I’m looking forward to the connections we’ll build to support our work moving forward.
So, let’s get to work. Thank you all so very much for your patience.
This is because despite all its declarations, the Democratic Party is not a party of workers. It, as Biden’s transition team attests, is a party of Wall Street, big banks, Amazon, and the military-industrial complex.
US: No money for COVID tests, blank check for the military
On Wednesday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki rejected the idea of sending free COVID-19 tests to all Americans to protect against the dangerous new Omicron variant, pressing reporters, “How much would that cost?”
At wholesale prices of approximately $1 per test (the going price in Germany), it would cost approximately $329 million. Sending every single American a COVID-19 test would cost the equivalent of less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the military budget, the largest in history, passed Friday by the US House of Representatives.
In other words, the military budget is 2,000 times more expensive than this critical measure to protect Americans against COVID-19, the single greatest threat to their lives, more deadly than cancer, heart disease, smoking and auto accidents.
The massive budget weighs in at $740 billion, with another $28 billion thrown in for the US Department of Energy to develop additional nuclear weapons.
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly boasted of his record military budgets. But this budget is tens of billions of dollars larger than anything ever passed under Trump—a budget far, far larger than even the Biden administration or Pentagon asked for.
The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, the summary of which alone is over 600 pages, was released just six hours before the overwhelming majority of lawmakers in both parties voted on it.
Included in the bill are, to quote the official summary of its weapons systems:
- “$4.9 billion for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, an increase of $2.9 billion to build three guided missile destroyers in fiscal year 2022.”
- “A $4.7 billion increase for shipbuilding, including 5 additional battle force ships: 2 destroyers, 2 expeditionary fast transports, and 1 fleet oiler”
- “$3.1 billion for the Columbia-class submarine program, an increase of $130 million, for industrial base development and expansion in support of the Virginia and Columbia shipbuilding programs.”
- “$6.6 billion for the procurement of two Virginia-class submarines and advance procurement of future submarines, including an additional $200 million to expand the submarine industrial base.”
- “$4.4 billion for the F-35A program, including an increase of $175 million for the purchase of F135 power modules and the resources to begin upgrading the fleet to TR-3/Block 4 capability.”
- “$1.0 billion for 12 F/A-18E/F aircraft”
It includes further lump-sum appropriations for “great power” conflicts against Russia and China:
- “Extends and modifies the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) to realign DOD efforts towards PDI objectives and identifies approximately $7.1 billion in FY22 investments [to counter China]”
- “Increases funding by $50 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which authorizes the Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, to provide security assistance and intelligence support to military and other security forces of the Government of Ukraine [as part of a military-buildup challenging Russia]”
But the largest portion of the bill deals with funding the United States multi-trillion-dollar nuclear buildup, focusing on the creation of smaller, more “usable” nuclear weapons:
- “Authorizes $20.2 billion for the activities of the NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration]”
- “Authorizes $6.48 billion for the Department of Energy’s defense environmental cleanup activities”
Commenting on this bloated handout to defense contractors, journalist and historian Fred Kaplan asked, “Did anyone even look at the massive defense budget before passing it?”
Kaplan added, “No officials or lawmakers have spelled out why the budget—which includes $740 billion for the Pentagon and $28 billion for the Energy Department’s nuclear-weapons programs—needs to be quite this huge.”
Kaplan adds,
Critics of government spending on domestic programs frequently complain about “throwing money at a problem.” Yet that is exactly what Congress is doing with the defense budget. When Biden submitted his infrastructure and Build Back Better plans, a few legislators from both parties got together with the White House to pare down their size, narrowing the definition of “infrastructure,” reordering priorities, and questioning the urgency of some needs. One can argue about the final result, but Congress subjected Biden’s plan to legitimate oversight and analysis.
There has been almost no oversight or analysis of this defense budget.
With inflation soaring to levels unseen in decades, all US fiscal spending is being reviewed with a fine-tooth comb. The vast majority of social spending projects, including child care and student loan forgiveness that Biden campaigned on, are being thrown out the window, based on the claim that additional government spending will contribute to inflation.
And yet, when it comes to the military, anything goes. The generals simply get everything on their Christmas wish list and then more in the form of unspecified and unenumerated slush funds.
The dominant thinking driving this insane level of military spending was outlined in a new book by Elbridge Colby, a lead author of the US 2018 national defense strategy, as well as the 2018 essay, “If You Want Peace, Prepare for Nuclear War.” In his latest book entitled The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict, Colby writes,
Pandemics do not put geopolitics on hold; power politics exists even during and after such outbreaks. They may even intensify geopolitical competition. … This means that, while the effort and expense required to control the threat of pandemic disease may be very great, these efforts do not logically trade against national security requirements.
But, as economists like to say, “All dollars are green.” A $70 million spent on an F-35 is 70 million Americans who do not get a COVID-19 test.
What is behind America’s binge in military spending? As the World Socialist Web Site warned in October, “Under conditions of deepening social, political and economic crisis, dominant sections of the American ruling class see a conflict with China as a mechanism for enforcing ‘national unity,’ which means, in practice, suppressing and criminalizing domestic opposition.”
If American capitalism cannot afford to protect the population from COVID-19, it at least has the resources to use a foreign conflict as a pretext for a crackdown at home.
This is because despite all its declarations, the Democratic Party is not a party of workers. It, as Biden’s transition team attests, is a party of Wall Street, big banks, Amazon, and the military-industrial complex.
VAERS Data Indicates the Covid Vaccines Have Killed At Least 140,000 Americans
To get an idea of just how dangerous the current Covid vaccines are, we only need to look at the numbers in the government-authorized VAERS database.
As you may know, VAERS is an acronym for Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. This system is co-maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is how the FDA describes this facility on its website:
“VAERS is an early warning system used to monitor adverse events that happen after vaccination. VAERS is the frontline system of a comprehensive vaccine safety monitoring program in the United States… VAERS gives vaccine safety experts valuable information so they can assess possible vaccine safety concerns, including the new COVID-19 vaccines. It is especially useful for detecting unusual or unexpected patterns of health problems (also called “adverse events”) that might indicate a possible safety problem with a vaccine.”
Established in 1990, the idea behind VAERS is to capture as many adverse reactions to vaccines as possible in order to alert health experts to potential issues and problems.
The graph below traces the number of deaths that have been reported to VAERS every year since its inception. As you can see, the yearly levels have held relatively steady from 1990 until 2020 and were generally under 400 cases. The cumulative total of all reported deaths during those years comes to 5,178 (see VAERS analysis here).
This, however, changed dramatically toward the end of 2020 when the Covid vaccines were introduced. At that point, we see a rapid explosion in reported deaths. So exponential was the increase that the graph line shoots up almost vertically.
See the link for the chart source here.
As of November 26, 2021, the number of deaths reported to VAERS in connection with the Covid vaccines was 19,532. It is both astonishing and revealing that in the last 11 months there were more reports of vaccine deaths related to Covid shots than to all other vaccines combined during the previous three decades.
This should raise all kinds of red flags because it is a good indication that there may be something seriously wrong with the Covid vaccines, and that these hastily authorized pharmaceuticals are causing death on an unprecedented scale.
The 19,532 tally does not, however, give us an accurate picture of the situation. To get a sense of the true state affairs, this number needs to be adjusted for two very important factors. The first concerns the nature of VAERS data itself, while the second relates to the way in which it is collected.
Adjustment for causality
To begin with, we need to recognize that not all deaths reported to VAERS are due to the vaccines. To see why, we must understand the difference between a temporal and causal connection. Even though the bulk of reported deaths normally occurs within a relatively short time of vaccination – usually from days to weeks – it does not necessarily mean that all those who have died after having taken the vaccine perished because of it. In some cases, people who appear among VAERS entries died of causes unrelated to the vaccine, and they just happened to receive their injections in temporal proximity of their passing.
In order not to overstate the case when considering VAERS data, it is, therefore, important to keep in mind that reported cases do not necessarily imply causality. The question, then, becomes in what proportion of VAERS entries a causal link can be established.
To help us make this assessment we use the findings of a peer-reviewed study that examined this issue. The title of the study is “Causality Assessment of Adverse Events Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).” The study was published in 2012 and you can view it at this link at the National Library of Medicine.
The study found a “definite” or “probable” causal link between the vaccine and the adverse event in 23 percent of entries in the VAERS database. In another 20 percent of cases, a causal link was “possible.”
In order not to inflate our numbers, we will assume that a definite or a probable link exists in only 20 percent of death entries entered into VAERS in connection with the Covid vaccines. In other words, we will assume that in 8 out of 10 entries, the vaccines were not responsible for the demise of the person. We will take this cautious position despite the fact that in most cases the filing party – mostly health care professionals – believed that the reported deaths occurred as a result of the vaccine. To put it in a different way, we will assume that the filers were mistaken 80 percent of the time.
When we adjust the 19,532 figure for this variable, we obtain 3,906 (19,532 x 0.2). This would be the number of deaths that were definitely or likely attributable to the Covid vaccines per the VAERS records.
Adjustment for underreporting
This number, however, does not accurately reflect the real death toll of the vaccines. This is because it is well known that the VAERS numbers are vastly underreported.
The under-reporting is due to a host of reasons. Most doctors, for example, are hard pressed for time and they do not wish to go through the time-consuming administrative process of filing claims, which is a task for which they receive no compensation. Doctors are also generally discouraged by the environment in which they work from reporting this kind of data in order not to shed a bad light on pharmaceutical products, which are the lifeblood of modern medicine. Be that as it may, it is an undisputed fact that only a very small fraction of the actual adverse events end up being reported to the VAERS database.
A number of authorities believe that fraction to be one percent or less. One of them is Dr. David A. Kessler, a former FDA Commissioner who – in support of his 1993 article thesis – referenced a study that found that “only about 1% of serious events are reported to the FDA.”
Kessler should know of which he speaks since in addition to his high-profile appointments as a public health official he also holds a Medical Degree from Harvard and a law degree from the University of Chicago.
Kessler’s view was reaffirmed by a 2010 report by Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which concluded that "fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported" (see page 6 of the report).
Ronald A. Kostoff is another high-profile scientist who believes that one percent is the correct estimate. In a recent paper he observed, “historically, VAERS has been shown to report about 1% of actual vaccine/inoculation adverse events.”
If these authorities are correct, then the underreporting factor (URF) of the VAERS database is 100.
To ensure that they err on the side of caution rather than the other way around, some researchers use a more conservative URF in their analysis. Steve Kirsch, for example, generally uses the underreporting factor of 41 in his calculations. The lowest URF factor this writer has come across in the work of credible analysts is 36. In order to be as conservative as possible, we will use this figure in our analysis.
If we, then, adjust our VEARS number for this variable, we will obtain the result of 140,616 (3,906 x 36). This would represent the number of Americans killed by the Covid vaccines in a period of fewer than 12 months starting in mid-December 2020 through November 26, 2021.
Observations
Please keep in mind that the above is a very conservative estimate, which we have arrived at by assuming a 20 percent causality link in reported death entries in the VAERS database and the underreporting factor of 36. This, however, is likely a gross understatement of the actual situation.
Using less conservative assumptions, many researchers have come up with a higher death toll. Steve Kirsch, Jessica Rose, and Mathew Crawford, for example, estimated in their paper that the vaccines have likely claimed 150,000 lives as of August 28, 2021.
If we use the underreporting factor of 100 (one hundred) advocated by David A. Kessler, Ronald Kostoff, and the Department of Health and Human Services we would arrive at the figure of 390,600 deaths attributable to the vaccines.
It is quite probable that these figures are closer to the actual vaccine death toll than the one we obtained based on our cautious assumptions.
Be that as it may, we can say with a considerable degree of confidence that based on the VAERS figures, it is very likely that the Covid vaccines have killed or directly contributed to the deaths of at least 140,000 Americans.
By claiming the lives of so many people in such a short time, the Covid vaccines are the deadliest pharmaceuticals ever released into wide circulation.
Correction: comparison of causialties in Vietnam War was deleted.
Vasko Kohlmayer was born and grew up in former communist Czechoslovakia. You can follow his writings by subscribing to his Substack newsletter ’Notes from the Twilight Zone’. He is the author of The West in Crisis: Civilizations and Their Death Drives.
This is because despite all its declarations, the Democratic Party is not a party of workers. It, as Biden’s transition team attests, is a party of Wall Street, big banks, Amazon, and the military-industrial complex.
Billionaires increased wealth by $3.6 trillion in 2020, as millions died from global pandemic
The World Inequality Report 2022, released by the global research initiative World Inequality Lab, found that the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the financial gap between the rich and poor to a degree not seen since the rosy days of world imperialism at the turn of the 20th century.
The world’s billionaires enjoyed the steepest increase in their share of wealth last year since the World Inequality Lab began keeping records in 1995, according to the study released Tuesday. Billionaires saw their net worth grow by more than $3.6 trillion in 2020 alone, increasing their share of global wealth to 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, the pandemic has pushed approximately 100 million people into extreme poverty, boosting the global total to 711 million in 2021.
“Global inequalities seem to be about as great today as they were at the peak of western imperialism in the early 20th century,” the report said. “Indeed, the share of income presently captured by the poorest half of the world’s people is about half what it was in 1820, before the great divergence between western countries and their colonies.”
The report showed the wealthiest 10 percent of the world’s population takes 52 percent of global income, compared to the 8 percent share of the poorest half. On average, an individual in the top decile earns $122,100 (€87,200) per year, while a person from the poorest half of global earners makes $3,920 (€2,800) a year.
Global wealth inequality is even more pronounced than income inequality. The poorest half of the world’s population only possess 2 percent of the total wealth. In contrast, the wealthiest 10 percent own 76 percent of all wealth, with $771,300 (€550,900) on average.
The ultra-rich have siphoned a disproportionate share of global wealth growth over the last few decades. The top 1 percent took 38 percent of all additional wealth generated since 1995, whereas the bottom 50 percent have only captured 2 percent of it. The wealth of the richest individuals has grown between 6 to 9 percent per year since the mid-1990s, compared to the global 3.2 percent average.
Inequality levels vary across the regions. In Europe, the top decile takes about 36 percent of income share, while it holds 58 percent in the Middle East and North Africa. However, inequalities between countries have declined in the last two decades, whereas inequality within “rich” countries has risen sharply. In the United States, the top 1 percent owned 35 percent of the country’s wealth, approaching Gilded Age levels of inequality.
This massive accumulation of capital has come at the expense of public wealth over the last four decades. The share of wealth held by public actors is close to zero or negative in “rich” countries, indicating that the totality of wealth is privately owned, a trend exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The report also studied connections between wealth inequality and inequalities in contributions to climate change, showing the top 10 percent of emitters are responsible for close to 50 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, while the bottom half produces 12 percent of the total. This disparity is also seen within nominally rich countries. The bottom half of the population in Europe, East Asia, and North America is responsible for an average of 3 to 9 metric tons of emissions per person a year. This contrasts sharply with the emissions of the top 10 percent in these regions: 29 metric tons in Europe, 39 in East Asia, and 73 in North America.
Given this diverse and severe inequity, the authors of the report propose a series of “modern progressive taxes” on wealth used to invest in education, health, and ecological restoration.
But such a path is a dead end; All the official and semi-official institutions of government are subordinated to the interests of the financial aristocracy and serve to constrain and block any measure that threatens their hoards of wealth.
This is demonstrated by the disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with governments around the world declaring the pandemic over and eliminating remaining protective measures. Rather than being driven by concern for public health, the actions of governments have been driven by the effort to protect the wealth and privileges of the upper echelons of society.
The glaring contradiction between the world’s richest people and the precarious circumstances billions are living in is fueling a growing wave of working class militancy. The working class must demand the massive amount of wealth and resources hoarded by the wealthiest layers be seized and directed to fight the global pandemic.
The chief obstacle to solving the world’s burning social questions—whether the devastating impact of COVID-19 or the widespread growth of inequality—is the private profit interests of the capitalist ruling class. To save lives and avert even further disaster, workers must build an international socialist movement based on the interests of the working class.
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