Best Thing For New Grads :Get Out And See Some Of The World Before The Work-Spend Treadmill

After graduating with my astronomy degree from Univ. of South Florida - Volunteering for Peace Corps was the optimal choice made at that time. It also enabled me to see another part of the world and work there.

Graduating from university in a recession year with any kind of degree other than medical, law or business, is a recipe for letdown and disaster.  In my case, I knew the odds and though I already scored high on my GRE, preferred not to go on to grad school - just yet-  as I was essentially drained and wanted something different. The Peace Corps provided it as well as an opportunity to serve overseas.  As per JFK's immortal words: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."

Reading Noah Smith's piece in The Sunday Denver Post, 'Pay For Kids To See The World' (p. 4D) I see he too agrees now is the time to get Americans in the 18-26 age range out of their little cubbyholes.  He asks, for instance, what would be a better alternative than blowing $8b on acquisition costs alone for the F-35 (in fiscal year 2015, on a "plane that doesn't work yet") and he advises

"We give every young American a trip overseas".

He goes on to write:

"Much of the world is clamoring to move to the U.S.. But the problem is more that Americans don't get outside the country enough, Fewer than half of Americans have passports. Few U.S. students study foreign language, and the number seems to be shrinking.

The insularity may have political and social costs. Americans' lack of understanding of the outside world fuels isolationism and could lead to ham-handed foreign policy mistakes. It might make the country less likely to support global initiatives like the fight against global warming."

The last is especially germane given it's likely that most of the knot heads who inveigh against global warming as a genuine threat have done very little global travel. Hence, they've not been exposed to many of its effects, from bleaching (and killing) coral reefs in the Caribbean to receding glaciers in Switzerland and Alaska.

Noah Smith's solution then is to propose a "reverse birthright" program (to Israel's "birthright" program where young Jews around the world are enabled to visit Israel via a subsidy). This would apply to "every American ages 18 to 26 who would get a certain amount of money toward an overseas choice trip of his or her choice."

He suggests $2,000 each but this may well be on the short side, especially if the youngster wants to go off to Katmandu. He figures if 4 million children are born each year in the U.S. this would ultimately come to $8 billion - "about the cost for each F-35". . But again - it's going to cost lots more if it is to be more than a one year, one off. Figure in at least twenty years - plus inflation - starting from next year, and you are likely looking at least at $200 billion. Sounds like a lot, but it's still ten time less than the U.S. has blown in Afghanistan - and I warrant with very little positive effect.

Granted these trips "would be exciting adventures for sure" but in addition "an overseas trip can have a huge impact on a young person". He goes on to aver: "Foreign travel can increase people's understanding of other cultures, open them to business and career ideas and create the sense that the world is a wider place than they had ever realized."

A point I can vouch for, given that in my first Peace Corps tour I visited a number of Caribbean island nations, including Martinique and St. Lucia. Thus I must agree with Smith when he concludes:

"The U.S. population in general is suffering from a decline in geographic mobility, which may be hurting economic dynamism. If that lack of mobility is in any way psychological, overseas trips can help."

Which I can certainly attest to after making no fewer than 13 overseas trips, including to Guyana, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Bratislava, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic and Austria as well as Liechtenstein.


Approaching the Pitons in St. Lucia, August, 1972.


Me observing waterfall near volcano in St. Lucia. Aug. 1972. The best time to see some of the world is when you're still young and formulating your impressions of your place on the planet.

Of course, college grads don't have to wait for a reverse birthright program to travel overseas.. They can follow JFK's advice not to look for what their country can do for them (offer them a free trip abroad under Smith's plan) but instead join an organization like the Peace Corps.

They will not only get the chance to see another part of the world, but put their talents to use there and equally important, broaden their once provincial outlooks to a global perspective.

Latest Budget Deal Seeks to Preserve Military Bullshit Spending - Spare it from Sequester

"No one has recently said to me, 'You can only get so angry,' and escaped with their hide intact, probably because I tend to spend my time with people who know better, and the people who know me know better than to try and tell me I'm making too much of things in this diseased day and age, when "things" make plenty of themselves without my help."- William Rivers Pitt, in 'It Only Hurts When I Laugh' - on smirkingchimp.com


Well we now know, after Paul Ryan's conscious (or maybe unconscious) admission this morning on CBS Early Show, that this new budget deal is designed to spare the military -defense enclave about $23 billion in sequester cuts that otherwise would have gone into effect. Hence, any deficit savings are on the backs of the poor, hungry kids, the unemployed. 

Ryan openly admitted his "concern" about military spending cuts in the sequester so was "pleased" that $63 b of defense sequester cuts are "offset" by $85b in gov't "automatic spending". Unmentioned is that unemployment extension was off the table, as were any new tax increases - which would have helped limit the deficits by nearly $150b within two years. But oh no, none of the Reepos want higher taxes - so the Demos obliged them. The above offset - or rather spending cut imbalance between defense and "discretionary budget allocations" amounts to nearly $23b. That amount will now allow the defense industry-Pentagon to go ahead with the building of 2,335 F-35 bombers at a cost of 3/4 billion each. But oh no, can't cut this piece of waste! Too important to line the pockets of defense contractors! See also:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/09/joint-strike-fighter-lockheed-martin

The fact is that in real terms, military spending has exploded the past 11 years, thanks to the American people being scared shitless into believing them there "terrorists" will get them if they don't have massive, sustained and insane  "defense" spending.  Back in 2011 it was noted that Pentagon spending had doubled since 2000, to $790 b a year. This number included both yearly "supplementals" to fund the Afghan conflict and occupation, along with $553b for the base Pentagon budget.

Over the past decade this translates into a pure growth factor of nearly $2 trillion. Thus, Repub Tom Coburn (OK) was correct (for once) when he admitted in a 2011 statement that Pentagon spending :

 "is higher in constant dollars than at any time in the last 60 years, including the Korean War, Vietnam and all the Defense Dept. spending during the Reagan years ($2.2 trillion)".

It is also more than the next 25 nations' military spending combined. The gist of all this? In fact there are no real cuts to military spending in any absolute terms, but only an estimated "trim down" of roughly 23% in the projected INCREASES in Pentagon spending over the next ten years! The point here? Contrary to the bloviators' bollocks of "jeopardizing national security", just the opposite is true: the Pentagon base budget will still be larger than it is today by 2021! This necessarily means, given the zero sum resources we have, everyone else will be much poorer. That means an even more shattered and useless infrastructure with crumbling roads, cracking sewer and water mains and collapsing bridges....and a much more likely intolerable domestic environment over all.

 Anyone who doesn't see this as the distinctive symptom of a nation in decline is a foursquare idiot.

Does the U.S. REALLY need 702 military 'installations' in 63 foreign countries (it has 4,471 bases altogether), according to the Defense Department's  2012 budget statement? ( Figures that don't include bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.) We're talking about our military presence in nations like Germany, South Korea, and Japan. ALL of these represent redundant costs since the wars that incepted the bases are now more than a half century over! While the total cost of these bases is kept secret, the best analysis I've seen estimates their ten-year cost at approximately $1 trillion. Cut that fat and waste, and unemployment insurance could easily be extended and a Farm Bill could be passed that doesn't kill food stamps to the tune of $40 billion over 10 years.

So why the fuck are we blowing so much on this military  bullshit when our own people need help - with 16 million kids going to bed hungry each night - and our infrastructure falling into massive disrepair?  The reason is simple: the defense contractors know if they can squirrel away some amount of jobs into every congressional district they essentially have all the politicos in those districts - now numbering in the thousands - by the brains and balls. They know that being seen to surrender jobs in this low aggregate demand environment would likely see a congress critter getting "primaried"  by some military spending whore, like our own Doug Lamborn here in Colo. Springs, e,g,


Lamborn in his most recent comments to The Denver Post ('Defense Cuts Put Lamborn in Tough Fight'. Nov. 8  p. 5A) on the importance of military spending,  is on record as saying he:

 "intends to find other places to chop, including entitlements like food stamps and Medicare, to shield the military."

The Post piece also went on to note:

"Lamborn receives his heftiest campaign contributions from military contractors. Just in this election cycle, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman- both with offices in Colorado Springs - gave him a combined $10,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has also received contributions from Honeywell International and Boeing."

Where will it end? Sadly, as the yen to further bloat the military curries more favor from political Jacobins, traitors and numbskulls, the target of  REEP austerity hawks will continue to be "entitlements".  That essentially is what Ryan implied this morning, as he professed so much "concern about our debt". Funny.....,these fuckers when in power don't worry about debt or deficits at all. Wasn't it Dick(-head) Cheney who actually said: "Deficits don't matter!"  No, I guess they don't when Reep-Turds are in power and blow up the budgets with unpaid for "wars" and tax cuts so the next Dem Prez gets the blame and has to clean up the mess - by cutting  domestic spending!  These Rat fuckers won't be satisfied until we're all homeless, sick, dead or maybe ....walking dead.

Am I angry"? Fuck YES! And if you're not then either you're not paying attention or you're already among the Walking Dead!

John Kass Better Hope He Never Gets Old

Chicago Trib hack John Kass has shot another round to try to launch an inter-generational war with his piece 'Geezer Zombies, Soon to be a Reality' (Denver Post, Oct. 6, p. 5D) While comparing Senate "geezers" (let's recall the Senate is the biggest, most elite millionaires' club in the country) John McCain and Dick Durbin to zombies and even extending the comparison to "the old woman crawling across the ceiling in the hokey horror film 'Legion') he then loses his way entirely by conflating the example with ordinary seniors.

According to Kass:

"The prospect of McCain and Durbin scurrying on the ceiling followed by Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid is horror indeed. So it's a guaranteed money-maker. And that hit will prompt others like 'You Better Kill Everyone Over 30 Before They Drink Your Blood'.

Really, Kass? Why everyone over 30? I can think of select subsets right now that - with stakes driven into their hearts - would make this nation a whole lot better, but you neatly skirt the issue. But you expose your crappy hand when you claim "the real conflict isn't partisan, but inter-generational" then add this claptrap:

"Establishment pols continue bickering over crumbs while refusing to do much about those fiscally ravenous and unsustainable entitlement programs like Medicare, Social Security and Obamacare"

And thereby he places himself in the same category of other Neoliberal rats trying to make us believe seniors can easily do without essential social insurance - thank you very much - while turning a blind eye to the military -industrial- spy complex which is gobbling up massive chunks of the treasury each year.  This Military malignancy has already drained us of over $4 trillion via 2 unpaid for occupations  and it may well be much more, when all the medical needs of the returned Iraq and Afghanistan vets are tended to, as well as their future disability benefits finally paid for.

But does Kass even try to impute the defense -spy state nuts? Oh no, that's off base. But let's take aim instead at ordinary seniors who can end up destitute with one fall, or god forbid, Alzheimers. Instead, Kass piles it on even more, scribbling:

"Unfortunately, the unsustainable federal spending ...will drain today's teenagers and 20-somethings of vital nutrients like cash and jobs. Among the young unemployment rages, job prospects are poor and many figure they will never own a home. Young people know this, or at least feel it as Washington continues to print money."

While Kass appears obsessed with the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy ("printing money") he takes his eyes off the real ''ball': vast defense contracts (for toys like the F-35 at $600m each, to build 2,400 of them) and a surveillance state whose budget has now grown to a half trillion a year, including to pay thousands of private contractors to compile meta-data on Americans, and with black budgets.

How can any columnist be so patently blind? Perhaps he willingly does so and wants an inter-generational war on top of the new Civil War brewing now between Southern Tea Party types and northern style liberal governance where all get a piece of the pie.  To confirm this he goes on to spew nonsense about the "baby boomer undead and the teenage zombie hunters" then - to make sure we know he's as crazy as shit house rat, he writes:

"Less than 50 years ago, nearly 30 percent of America's elderly lived below the poverty line. No more. They've switched places with the young and the young don't get it yet. But they will. And if that's not a recipe for conflict, I don't know what is."

So wait, Kass,  you really want to return us to the era of thirty percent elderly poverty?

In fact, the poverty rates for those over 65 and the younger set (21- 34) are nearly exactly the same: 15.6% vs. 15.4% (according to 2012 Census stats) so it's not as if they've "switched places".   Kass' narrative is that greedy seniors are robbing the young blind, but the truth is that the military-industrial spy state is robbing both blind. Rather than put the tail on the military-surveillance expansion it's much easier not to rock the boat of the Neolib paymasters - and blame oldsters instead. Never mind, whatever the predicament of the Millennials now they are much more resilient than the elderly. They have much more TIME and opportunity to bounce back from a setback - economic or physical (especially if they have the sense to sign up for the ACA) than the elderly do. They aren't looking at a prolonged death from Alzheimers, after all, or being confined to a nursing home after a fall. (Or paying more than $4,000 a month to stay under nursing home care!)

Given this, we need to be aware of how the entrenched Neoliberal political Elite continues to make up lies as it attempts to destroy our social insurance infrastructure. If you want to see the real swine behind it go to www.petersonPyramid.org )

The next time Kass or any other overpaid, self-important hack thinks of playing the "generational war" card they need to be reminded of the following:

Seven million children currently live with grandparents - who depend on Social Security to care for them

- 8.5 million other children (including college kids that find themselves jobless and live at home) who live with elder parents that depend on Social Security to make do.

- The tens of millions of 50-plus Americans who, through their tax dollars and Social Security monies, pensions, provide voluntary contributions to support public schools, child health programs, grandparent guardianship programs as well as other charities that care for homeless kids (e.g. Covenant House).

 Concocting war between the generations, pitting young against old, therefore serves no useful or moral purpose. It is merely a cheap, malicious tactic to take attention from the REAL problem: the malignant growth of the Military Industrial Complex to the detriment of all of us outside it!

Meanwhile, the best strategy for right thinking Americans is to fight on for a single payer, Medicare- for- all system, which ultimately would save us at least a trillion over ten years, and eliminate the 120 Americans per day who perish for lack of health insurance. 'Socialized medicine' ? Not any more than the healthcare provided by the VA!