U.S. Healthcare is Profiteered to Death
Only a single payer system can bring U.S. health care into the 21st century, said Dr. Susan Rogers, of Physicians for a National Health Program. Private insurance corporations drain society of health care resources. âIf you look at a large hospital, I bet theyâve got more billing clerks than they do nurses, per patient,â said Rogers. âThat tells you where the money is going; itâs not going to health care, itâs going to billing.â
The Democratsâ Formula for Losing Elections
The Democrats âknow what they need to do to get out the vote,â said Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report. âThey need to raise wages, stop the student loan debt, and protect peopleâs homes. But none of these things are acceptable to their patronsâ among the 1 percent,â said Kimberley, who recently authored an article titled âThe Democratic Party Death Spiral.â The Democrats âcannot depend on corporate money and do what the people want them to do.â
U.S. Canât Rule World by Force
Despite its massive military, the U.S. cannot rule the world by force of arms, said Dr. Anthony Monteiro, the Duboisian scholar from Philadelphia. Chinaâs regional neighborhood includes âthree of the five largest economies in the world,â said Monteiro. Therefore, a war with China âwould be like the U.S. shooting itself in the head.â A war with Iran, on the Persian Gulf, âwould throw the world into a recession or depression.â These are âwars that the United States canât win; wars that the American public donât want; and wars that most of humanity would condemn as wars of aggression,â he said.
Mumia: Back to the Bad Old Days
Mumia Abu Jamal, the nationâs best known political prisoner, recalled being beaten up by cops, as a 14 year-old, in 1968 Philadelphia. It was âa little taste of [former mayor and police chief] Rizzo, and âan introduction to Trump,â Abu Jamal told journalist Chris Hedges, host of the RT program âOn Contact.â âI lived in the âbad old days,ââ said Mumia. âThey were ugly days, and theyâre ugly days, today.â
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.
Kwame Nkrumahâs 1961 speech on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba exposes the the international white supremacist cabal responsible for his death, and for the crisis of the Congo.
It is not surprising that a settler colonial state would practice racism for centuries or that race would be the major factor determining who lives and who dies.
Donald Smith always performed at Black Agenda Report events in New York City. He was a great musician and friend to the Black Agenda Report team. He will be missed.
BAR contributor Ann Garrison reports on conditions in Ethiopia.
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This weekâs featured author is Mercy Romero. Romero is Associate Professor of American Literature and AmericanâŚ
