e-News bulletin 20 January 2017

INTERNATIONAL

SCANDAL: According To A German Newspaper, Africa Pays 400 Billion Euros Per Year to France!!

“The French government collects from its former colonies each year 440 billion euros of taxes. France relies on the revenues coming from Africa, not to sink into economic insignificance, warns the former president Jacques Chirac.
howafrica.com/

Trinidad oil workers’ union wins pay increase

IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate in Trinidad and Tobago, has won a hard-fought battle for a pay rise, after 5,000 oil workers threatened strike action against state oil company Petrotrin.
industriall-union.org/

Why Don’t Trade Unions Support an Unconditional Basic Income (Precisely When They Should)?

The apparently simple idea of an unconditional universal Basic Income has gotten very complicated. The more mainstream the idea becomes, the more embrangled it is, although at least something has become clear. One of the main causes of the muddle is that, apart from enemies, it has supporters on both left and right… counterpunch.org/

Building the Institutions for Revolt

Politics is a game of fear. Those who do not have the ability to make power elites afraid do not succeed. All of the movements that opened up the democratic space in America—the abolitionists, the suffragists, the labor movement, the communists, the socialists, the anarchists and the civil rights movement—developed a critical mass and militancy that forced the centers of power to respond. The platitudes about justice, equality and democracy are just that. Only when power becomes worried about its survival does it react. Appealing to its better nature is useless. It doesn’t have one… commondreams.org/

TECHNOLOGY AND WORK

47% of Jobs will Disappear in the next 25 Years, according to Oxford University

The Trump campaign ran on bringing jobs back to American shores, although mechanization has been the biggest reason for manufacturing jobs’ disappearance. Similar losses have led to populist movements in several other countries. But instead of a pro-job growth future, economists across the board predict further losses as AI, robotics, and other technologies continue to be ushered in… bigthink.com/

Beware of digital dictatorship

As 2017 begins and we flounder in our mad rush to force all of India into a digital economy overnight, it is worth pausing and reflecting on what the digital economy is, who controls the platforms and lines as well as some basic concepts about money and technology which have moulded our lives and freedoms, based on patented systems that are failing the people of “West”… asianage.com/

Low-budget filmmakers turn to smartphones to shoot scenes

The image quality has improved so much on smartphone cameras that low-budget producers are shooting entire films with the handheld devices… asahi.com/