Progressive Compass Volume 2, Issue 7

What’s New

Real Progressives is always progressing. Here’s what’s new for us lately and what we’re working on.

The Case for a Job Guarantee

Pavlina Tcherneva, the queen of the Job Guarantee, is an old friend of Real Progressives. Her long-awaited book makes the case that unemployment is neither necessary nor inevitable but is a political choice. The federal government can and should create quality jobs for all who want them. Buy The Case for a Job Guarantee HERE.

Sign In to Dine In

An idea being floated in the Illinois legislature could help track, and reduce, the potential spread of Covid-19 as restaurants begin to reopen in the state. By employing “contact tracing’ measures, restaurants would “sound the alarm” and communicate with patrons in confirmed exposure situations, to avoid spreading the virus to the most vulnerable in the community.

National Outreach Call, July 22: Explaining “The Con

To participate in this webinar presentation, click HERE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Real Progressives & Real Progress in Action welcome Bill Black, Patrick Lovell, and Eric Vaughan to our July National Outreach Call to talk about the upcoming documentary series, The Con. The series chronicles the Wall Street greed that brought about the Great Financial Crisis and caused financial devastation from which millions of people have never recovered. It exposes fraudulent practices like the home loan mortgage crisis; massive credit card debt, student loans, and auto loans; and the revolving door between finance and government that colored the 2008 crisis.
In case you missed last month’s call with Robert Hockett on Community Quantitative Easing (QE), Digital Greenbacks, and the Expansion of Democracy, you can watch it HERE.

 

Under The Hood

This month we’ve begun premiering Bill Mitchell’s MMTed episodes on our social media platforms. We’ve also been testing out various webinar platforms including Livestorm, Crowdcast, and Zoom to determine which one works best for us. Cole Ford and John Siener have been working on getting Studio 6 up and running.


MMT Spotlight

MMT is the cornerstone of the Real Progressives movement. As such it is imperative that the concepts are clearly explained and defended.

The Federal Government Always Money-Finances its Spending: A Restatement

Critics have trouble with the Modern Monetary Theory claim that the Federal Government already finances itself through money creation. Nathan Tankus explains brilliantly (as always) in this piece from his Substack blog, Notes on the Crises

The ABC Act, Platinum Coins, and Seignorage

“Seigniorage” is an old word for an old practice, but the USA can use it in a new way for our modern world. Our mint can issue a platinum coin in any denomination it chooses and then transfer it to the Fed. This is not only a good idea in its own right but also a good way to prove the reality of MMT to the public. Greg Roest explains in this thought-provoking piece.

The Government Can Afford Anything it Wants

It is good to finally see MMT making waves out there, thanks in large part to Stephanie Kelton’s new book, The Deficit Myth. This piece is from NewRepublic and offers a great overview of MMT for beginners.


Real Progressives’ Writers Corner

Propaganda Weaponized

“Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” The political cable news networks blatantly use this tactic. Mainstream media has weaponized propaganda to control us and divide us. It is designed to keep people from thinking for themselves.

I Hear America Mourning

POEM: The violence and inequality suffered by our black and brown comrades has brought artists from all mediums out into the open to express their anger and frustration. Poem by Nancy Kaufman, recorded reading by Elle Beah.


Real Progressives’ Media Library

In case you missed them, we wanted to make sure you saw these four excellent podcasts and an excellent video.

Treatment Options for a Dying Economy

VIDEO: Professor Fadhel Kaboub presents a detailed summation of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), and explains why we need to be “radicals;” we do not have time for superficial, status quo fixes. As MLK said, there’s no time for “the tranquilizing drug of incrementalism.” This video describes all aspects of MMT, policy prescriptions, community currency, and answers attendees’ questions in the webinar from June 29, 2020.

Rights, Justice, Equality and All Things Funky with Irami Osei-Frimpong

PODCAST: Steve Grumbine interviews The Funky Academic, activist/podcaster Irami Osei-Frimpong, to discuss a plethora of pressing issues: racism, police brutality, reparations, canna-business, economic insecurity, and the indisputable necessity of a Federal Job Guarantee. There is also some interesting discourse on the need for a single-payer legal system as much as a single-payer healthcare system. Great discourse.

Navigating the Coming Great Depression with John Harvey

PODCAST: Given that we’re staring down the barrel of a worldwide depression, Steve asks what we can learn from the Wall Street crash of 1929. This interview isn’t entirely limited to the discussion of economics — it would be hard for John and Steve to stay away from politics for a full hour. Their exchange of ideas is interesting because neither of them insists that he has all the answers.

Counterpoint: MMT’s Evaluation of AMI’s Positive Money with L. Randall Wray

PODCAST: Steve Grumbine sits down with Professor L. Randall Wray to set the record straight following a 2017 AMI (American Monetary Institute) article, referencing Wray and critiquing MMT. This interview takes us through the fundamentals of MMT — how money is created, the differing roles of the Treasury and the Fed, the causes of hyperinflation, and why the US will always have a trade deficit. There is also a good discussion on solutions to rampant inequality, including curbing corporate greed and using our government’s ‘power of the purse’.

An Activist’s Quest for Aboriginal Inclusion with Jengis Osman

PODCAST: The effects of austerity are always harshest on the most vulnerable groups, but the living conditions of Australia’s indigenous population also reflect that country’s unique history of brutal colonial oppression. Colonizers tore communities apart. Jengis talks about this, and Pavlina Tcherneva’s story of the “hut tax” imposed by the British in Malawi as a coercive measure providing a labor force, and so much more.


Meme of the Month

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