July 12, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 188

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Topics: News media consolidation in the US (including University of Delaware research); legal protections for retail workers on part-time on-call/zero-hour contracts. People: Bill, Rachel, and Nate Produced: July 10th, 2017.

Episode 188 (47 min):
AFD 188

Some links on US media consolidation

NY Magazine on the Sinclair deal
– Research by Danilo Yanich for UD/CWA on Local TV Service Agreements, Duopolies, Mega-Mergers: (download the full paper, which is very readable)

Some links on on-call scheduling reform

Oregon: Oregon Passes Pioneering Worker-Rights Bill
NY: A.G. Schneiderman and Eight Other State Attorneys General Probe Retailers Over Use of On-Call Shifts
– Forbes: Is On-Call Scheduling In Retail Coming To An End?
– CNBC On-call scheduling debate: Where retailers stand
– National Jobs With Justice: Why It’s Time for Just Hours and Stable Schedules
– San Francisco JWJ: Full-Time Hours Offer, Predictable Scheduling, Minimum On-Call Pay
– Dissent magazine: “The New Working Class”
Read more

July 5, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 187

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Bill and Nate discuss the 1953 US-British coup in Iran following the June 2017 release of CIA and State Department documents about it. Produced: July 3rd, 2017.

Episode 187 (49 min):
AFD 187

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For the many, not the few

An excerpt from the spring 2017 Labour Party manifesto


So yes, this election is about what sort of country we want to be after Brexit. Is it one where the majority are held back by the sheer struggle of getting by? That isn’t the Britain Labour is determined to create.

So let’s build a fairer Britain where no one is held back. A country where everybody is able to get on in life, to have security at work and at home, to be decently paid for the work they do, and to live their lives with the dignity they deserve.

Let’s build a country where we invest our wealth to give everyone the best chance. That means building the homes we need to rent and buy, keeping our communities safe with more police officers, giving our children’s schools the funding they badly need, and restoring the NHS to its place as the envy of the world.

Don’t let the Conservatives hold Britain back.

Let’s build a Britain that works for the many, not the few.

Creating An Economy That Works For All

Labour’s economic strategy is about delivering a fairer, more prosperous society for the many, not just the few.

We will measure our economic success not by the number of billionaires, but by the ability of our people to live richer lives.

Labour understands that the creation of wealth is a collective endeavour between workers, entrepreneurs, investors and government. Each contributes and each must share fairly in the rewards.

This manifesto sets out Labour’s plan to upgrade our economy and rewrite the rules of a rigged system, so that our economy really works for the many, and not only the few. Britain is the only major developed economy where earnings have fallen even as growth has returned after the financial crisis. Most working people in Britain today are earning less, after inflation, than they did ten years ago. Too many of us are in low-paid and insecure work. Too many of us fear our children will not enjoy the same opportunities that we have.

Labour will turn this around. We will upgrade our economy, breaking down the barriers that hold too many of us back, and tackling the gender pay gap. Our National Transformation Fund will deliver the investment that every part of Britain needs to meet its potential, overcoming years of neglect. Our industrial strategy will support businesses to create new, high- skilled, high-paid and secure work across the country, in the sectors of the future such as renewables. We will stop our financial system being rigged for the few, turning the power of finance to work for the public good. And we will put small businesses at the centre of our economic strategy.

The growth created by our national investment plan, underpinned by the responsible economic management embodied in our Fiscal Credibility Rule, will create good jobs, drive up living standards and improve the public finances.

It is a plan that will deliver Labour’s vision of an economy that works for the many, not just the few – a Britain in which no one is held back.

Jeremy-Corbyn

June 28, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 186

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Bill interviews returning guest Emily Robinson (@see_em_play), a Socialist organizer in Scottish Labour from the US, about the June 2017 UK election results and aftermath. Produced: June 25th, 2017.

Episode 186 (53 min):
AFD 186

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June 21, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 185 (Public Eldercare)

Posted by Bill on behalf of the team.

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Big Idea for Reforming American Governance: The mounting crisis in U.S. long-term eldercare and our proposal for a universal public eldercare provider system funded by estate/inheritance taxes on the wealthy. People: Bill, Rachel, and Nate Produced: June 21st, 2017.

Episode 185 (52 min):
AFD 185

Selected reading materials and notes (PDF).

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June 14, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 184

Posted by Bill on behalf of the team.

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Topics: The complexity of the U.S. housing crisis and its solutions (construction, land trusts, public housing corporations, Georgism and more). This is hard to cover when everyone uses the same heated rhetoric on all sides. People: Bill, Rachel, and Jonathan Produced: June 14th, 2017.

Episode 184 (55 min):
AFD 184

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Selected reading materials

Georgism (Wikipedia)
YIMBY Darlings of the Real Estate Industry
– The Nation: Socialize American Housing
– Public housing authorities/affordable housing corporations in Austin TX
– Community Land Trusts: Building Livable Boston (PDF auto-download)
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
– Washington Monthly: The Decline of Black Business

June 7, 2017 – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 183

Posted by Bill on behalf of the team.

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Topics: Hunger crises in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria; Trump’s move to privatize air traffic control. People: Bill and Nate Produced: June 5th, 2017.

Episode 183 (50 min):
AFD 183

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Selected reading materials on the humanitarian crises

Washington Post: UN aid chief in Yemen warns of cholera rise without more aid
Washington Post: UN: 3,000 to 5,000 suspected new Yemen cholera cases daily
Washington Post: UN food agency warns South Sudan conflict is fueling famine
Washington Post: The untold story of how Africa’s poor are rescuing people from famine
Washington Post: UN food agency warns South Sudan conflict is fueling famine
Washington Post: Somalis are fleeing famine — only to find death in a place of refuge