Suchergebnisse

"This book explores changes in rural households of the Georgia Piedmont through the material culture of farmers as they transitioned from self-sufficiency to market dependence. The period between 1880 and 1910 was a time of dynamic change when Southern farmers struggled to reinvent their lives and livelihoods. Relying on primary documents, including probate inventories, tax lists, state and federal census data, and estate sale results, this study seeks to understand the variables that prompted farm households to assume greater risk in hopes of success as well as those factors that stood in the way of progress. While there are few projects of this type for the late nineteenth century, and fewer still for the New South, the findings challenge the notion of farmers as overly conservative consumers and call into question traditional views of conspicuous consumption as a key indicator of wealth and status"--

Four "rules" that consitute the basis for constructing a democratic & egalitarian society are proposed as standards for evaluating & analyzing countries: (1) politics must be rigorously democratic, including guarantees that protect minority rights & ensure that private wealth cannot be used to influence political debate & decision making; (2) democratic politics should apply to the structure of the economy, particularly with regard to the degree to which either markets or planning mechanisms are employed; (3) a minimum income must be guaranteed to all individuals; & (4) there should be strict limits on inheritance. In applying these rules to the cases of the US, Cuba, & the transitional societies of Central & Eastern Europe, it is found that the Central & Eastern European countries, in moving to increase use of markets, do not seem to be sensitive to the danger of self-reinforcing income inequalities. In Cuba, there is insufficient democratic discourse over the appropriate role for markets, & in the US, there is inadequate protection against the disproportionate use of private wealth in political decision making. 4 References. Modified AA

Considering the failure of Reagonomics to restore United States economic competitiveness, this article advances a left strategy to accomplish that goal. The strategy involves controls on international capital mobility, a reduction in the military budget, a stimulative fiscal and monetary policy, and an incomes policy. With those in place full employment can be achieved; the condition which must be satisfied to create a high rate of productivity growth and to strengthen those struggling to achieve enhanced democratization and egalitarianism.

Proposes a left strategy to restore economic competitiveness.