This is the Insurgent Radio Kiosk for Tuesday, September 17th
Higtower Commentary
Action Calendar
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Why would we trust plutocrats to save us from plutocracy
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote of being leery of a fast-talking huckster who visited his home: “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons,” Emerson exclaimed.
Likewise, today’s workaday families should do a mass inventory of their silverware, for the fast-talking CEOs of 181 union-busting, tax-cheating, environment-contaminating, consumer-gouging corporations are asking us to believe that they stand with us in the fight against… well, against them. From Wall Street banksters to Big Oil polluters, these profiteers are suddenly trumpeting their future intentions to serve not just their own greed, but every “stakeholder” (which is what they call employees, customers, supplies, et al).
But vague proclamations are cheap, and it’s worth noting that these new champions of the common good propose no specifics – no actual sacrifices by them or benefits for us. A few media observers have mildly objected, saying it’s “an open question” whether any of the corporate proclaimers will change how they do business. But it’s not an open question at all. They won’t. They won’t support full collective bargaining power for workers, won’t join the public’s push to get Medicare for All, won’t stop using monopoly power to squeeze out small competitors and gouge consumers, won’t support measures to stop climate change, won’t back reforms to get their corrupt corporate money out of our politics… won’t embrace any of the big structural changes necessary to reverse the raw economic and political inequality that has enthroned their plutocratic rule.
In fact, their empty proclamation is what West Texas cowboys might call “bovine excrement,” meant to fend off the actual changes that real reformers are advancing. Corporate elites won’t fix inequality for us – they’re the ones doing it to us.
“C.E.O.s Should Fear A Recession,” The New York Times, August 22, 2019.
“How Shareholder Democracy Failed the People,” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/business/dealbook/business-roundtable-corporate-responsibility.html, August 20, 2019.
Hightower’s commentaries are brought to you by The Hightower Lowdown, the monthly newsletter with Hightower’s take on what Wall Street and Washington are up to. For information, visit hightowerlowdown.org.
It’s today’s Action Calendar!
A free re-entry Service Fair for those rejoining our community after being incarcerated will be held today from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the East Madison Community Center, 8 Straubel Court. This fair will focus on support and treatment service. Individuals aged 18 and older are welcome to attend. For information, phone 256-0906.
All are invited to an 89.9 Social Club Pop-up Party on Thursday, September 19th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Come Back Inn, 508 East Wilson Street. The Come Back Inn offers traditional and non-traditional bar food. The Pop-Up party will feature the Americana music of the group Gin Mill Hollow. The 89.9 Social Club provides an opportunity for WORT volunteers to visit with one another, and for curious listeners to get a sense of what WORT is about. For information, email socialclub@wortfm.org.
WORT needs a weekly volunteer receptionist on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. We also need fill-in receptionists who have some availability on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and who have email access. For more information, email volunteer@wortfm.org with Volunteer Receptionist in the subject line. Or, call Glenn at 608-321-9596. If leaving a message, please provide your phone number and email address.
The Insurgent Radio Kiosk welcomes your commentaries on subjects of interest to the W.O.R.T. listening community. Commentaries are limited to two minutes. If you’d like to do a Kiosk commentary, visit wortfm.org/kioskcommentary.
The Kiosk is available online at wortfm.org/kiosk.
This has been the Insurgent Radio Kiosk heard weekdays at 5:00, 6:30 and 9:00 AM and at 2:00 PM. I’m Greg Geboski. Submit announcements at least ten days in advance of the event at wortfm.org/kiosk/announcements.
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