We need more women in power, listen up check out Sweden post, it can be done

"For four decades, working women have poured into the paid labor force. Yet American society has done precious little to restructure the workplace or family life. The result? Working mothers are burdened and exhausted, families are fractured and children are often neglected. The dirty little secret, we repeatedly tell each other, is that it is both profitable and convenient to our government, business and many men, for women to wear themselves out trying to do the unpaid work of caring for children, caring for the elderly and caring about the social networks of our communities.

It's as though Americans are trapped in a time warp, certain that women will still do all this caring, even though they can't, because more than half are outside their homes working in the paid workplace. And so, we have the mounting Care Crisis.

But somehow male progressives and liberals continue to view these problems as those of a special interest group and part of identity politics. Yet it is the core dilemma faced by most middle class and working class American families, all along the political spectrum."
read more at
Alternet

Be afraid

Ethical economics: GDP is not a good indicator

As Joseph E. Stiglitz points out in his review in Foreign Affairs Nov/Dec 2005 of "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth" by Benjamin M. Friedman, Harvard economist......one doesn't look at a company's revenues alone to determine how well it is doing. A balance sheet shows liabilities. William Greider's "Soul of Capitalism", speaks eloquently on this topic as does the book Greed and Good mentioned in an earlier post.

I would offer this short easy argument:

Deficits are liabilities.
Uninsured citizens are liabilities.
Under-educated citizens are liabilities,
Inadequate public safety services are liabilities,
Degrading air, water, and the earth's climate are liabilities.
Increased crime is a liablity.
Feel free to add more...(that's what "Comments" is for!)

Ironically building prisons and funding their employees is a significant contributer to GDP
GDP is an indicater of growth in money, not how wisely it is spent for the country.
Corporations have an amoral mandate to make money only, there is no moral compass that guides competition.
This moral compass is us, the American people. And this "us" is represented by our government.
Government makes the rules, and fairness (morality) is the higher purpose of rules, whether in games or in life.
For a more thorough definition of GDP, this New Zealand site has an excellent explanation.

Paul Krugman recommends universal Medicare

Paul Krugman who writes opinion columns for the New York Times and is a prize-winning economist, has concluded in his May 1, 2006 column Death by Insurance that providing Medicare to all Americans would immediately save significant money, increase the health and welfare of all Americans, remove the anxiety over changing jobs, eliminate the 46 million uninsured, take health care responsibilities out of the competitive equation for business. And as he concludes...
So here we are. Our current health care system is unraveling. Older Americans are already covered by a national health insurance system; extending that system to cover everyone would save money, reduce financial anxiety and save thousands of American lives every year. Why don't we just do it?

Another analysis of the pros and cons of various permutations on health insurance supports his thesis.( an easier to read pdf version can be accessed on the first page)
Strategies to increase Healthcare Access