10.19.2008 Essays & Articles Courtesy of http://countercurrents.org

Global Recession Takes Hold
By Patrick OConnor

http://www.countercurrents.org/oconnor161008.htm

The financial crisis has brought to a head the underlying contradictions which have been wracking the capitalist system over an entire period. Notwithstanding the desperate hopes of policy makers in Europe, Asia, and other regions, a severe and protracted recession in the US will inevitably trigger a major downturn in the world economy



Financial Hurricane Batters World Capitalism: System Failure And The Need for Revolution
By Raymond Lotta

http://www.countercurrents.org/lotta161008.htm

This is a highly fraught situation. Things can change very quickly. The system is revealing much about its basic nature. Bigger jolts may come and outrage may suddenly grow and give rise to resistance from all kinds of quarters. We have to grasp the potential of the situation. We have to be out there bringing forward understanding and bringing forward a vision of a liberatory world. We have to rise to new political and ideological challenges in the belly of the beast



The Financial Economy And The Real Economy
By Justin Podur

http://www.countercurrents.org/podur161008.htm

Writers on financial or economic matters rarely see the need to explain the basics of the field or justify them at the best of times, let alone in the middle of unfolding crises. What are these financial instruments futures, options, and swaps? What are they for, and how did they increase the dangers of what occurred? What is the relationship between finance and the real economy? What exactly is wrong with that relationship? Events move so quickly that stories discussing them rarely stop to explain the basics



Protecting Our Families And Future In A Time Of Crisis
By Carolyn Baker

http://www.countercurrents.org/baker161008.htm

Carolyn Baker reviews Sharon Astyk's Depletion And Abundance



The Illusion Of Democracy
By Timothy V. Gatto

http://www.countercurrents.org/gatto161008.htm

It seems like the citizens of this country should be enjoying the proceeds of the largest economy on Earth. Instead, 1% of the families in the United States own 54% of its wealth. This is up from 38% last year. Basing an economy on debt and then subsidizing the very people that profit from that debt is outrageous. One of the main reasons that we are in the predicament that we find ourselves in is that politicians in Washington rely on advice from those that have an inherent interest in the status quo



Reviewing James Petras' "Zionism, Militarism, And The Decline Of US Power"
By Stephen Lendman

http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman161008.htm

Every Petras book is important. So is this one at a time the most powerful Washington Lobby is assured that a new administration will continue and expand the current "Global Wars on Terrorism." Petras explains the dangers. The current disastrous foreign adventurism. America's economic decline as a result, and the calamitous global fallout overall. High-level officials won't read this book, but they should. To realize the dangers of their destructive policies. How they threaten the republic's survival and are heading the nation for insolvency and ruin



A Moratorium On Conversions: Who Decides?
By Joseph Dsouza

http://www.countercurrents.org/dsouza161008.htm

So who decides on a moratorium on conversions? The RSS? The media? Those who come to the table and dialogue on this issue? Or the oppressed Dalit and low caste person in India? Dare we take away this final and most basic of human rights from the most dehumanized group of people in human civilization?