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by Prometheus 6
August 29, 2003 - 7:28am.
on News

Freedom's in 2nd Place?
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
It hurts to say so, but authoritarian orderliness is sometimes more conducive to economic growth than democratic chaos.

Fistfuls of Dollars
By PAUL KRUGMAN
We're about to run out of money in Iraq. Even worse, we're about to run out of troops.

Welcome to Planet Oakland
By ISHMAEL REED
A writer finds another Oakland, Calif. buried beneath the lurid headlines, one dripping with rich heritage and a mosaic of cultures.

Easy Promises, Hard Truths

Promises are easy. Delivery isn't. That's the hard lesson that even the most able would-be politicians have to learn. Ronald Reagan became governor in 1967 with promises to get California out of a fiscal hole by cutting waste, fraud and abuse and using business leaders to make government more efficient. It didn't work. Reagan had to resort to a $1-billion tax increase, which at that time was more than 15% of the total state budget

Cartoons
Ben Sargent shows an inevitable increase in the divorce statistics.
Tom Toles sings "Blowin' in the Wind."
Ann Telnaes gives me hope that Jane Q. Public doesn't want to get screwed again.

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Submitted by terry (not verified) on August 29, 2003 - 10:26am.

Oh jeeze...does Kristof know what he's saying!? He's sort of confirming a theory that I only speak about in whispers to other liberal friends: it's starting to feel like 1933 Weimar up around here.(whew! I said it without invoking Godwin's Law!) by the way, I dig the new digs.

Submitted by P6 (not verified) on August 29, 2003 - 11:27am.

Kristoff knows what he's saying, but I think he's wrong about why China is succeeding where the Ukraine isn't.Capitalism-as-worldview grew out of Europe and fits it and its decendants well. However, it has caused brutal damage everywhere it was externally imposed.China watched Russia try to become a Western-style capitalist nation. China is not doing that at all; it's using capitalism like the tool it is.

Submitted by terry (not verified) on August 29, 2003 - 12:46pm.

I can agree with that China statement. I do wish he hadn't used "authoritarian orderliness". My minds' eye immediately saw goosestepping ...you know.

Submitted by walter (not verified) on August 29, 2003 - 1:26pm.

Reed is so right on about Oakland. It is my favorite city out here. People love SF, and it is pretty, but the people are cold (as oppossed to the mere shallowness of those downhere in LA). When we visit the Bay Area, we hardly leave the East Bay.

Submitted by P6 (not verified) on August 29, 2003 - 4:38pm.

Oakland is where everyone is at. The Raiderettes are reason enough to never leave town.Okay, I'm scum.Truthfully, though Jerry Brown was trying to turn Oakland into some kind of San Francisco clone last I looked. May his efforts end in ignomineous failure.