Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle September 13, 2023
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
FTC Hindering Black Economic Achievement
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
T
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Patricia Irvin
Product Manaager
Graphic Designer
Saundra Sorenson
Reporter
Aurora Hernandez
Digital Content
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
weekly publication, published
every Wednesday by IMM Publi-
cations Inc.
415 N. Killingsworth St.
P.O. Box 5455
Portland, OR 97228
Telephone (503) 285-5555
Fax: (503) 285-2900
info@theskanner.com
www.TheSkanner.com
The Skanner is a member of the
National Newspaper Pub lishers
Association and West Coast Black
Pub lishers Association.
All photos submitted become
the property of The Skanner. We
are not re spon sible for lost or
damaged photos either solicited
or unsolicited.
©2023 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in
whole or in part without permission prohibited.
Y
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
LOCAL EVENTS
Updated daily online.
d ay ! • L i ke u s o
n F
ac
it
Hear about it first.
Sign up for
Breaking News
and Events at
to
y •
ebo
m
me
•
nts
o k • learn • co
TheSkannerNews
he Biden Administration
has been pushing hard
for credit for its signifi-
cant economic success-
es. Coining the phrase ‘Bide-
nomics,’ the term is meant
to direct attention towards
the administration’s striking
successful economic agen-
da. Under President Biden,
the rate of inflation has been
more than cut in half, employ-
ers have created more than 13
million jobs, wage growth has
outpaced inflation, and the
unemployment rate of Black
workers is at a record-break-
ing, historic low. Now, the ad-
ministration wants the public
to give them credit.
Yet, the key to widespread
public support is not through
grandiose statements or
flashy catchphrases. Instead,
it is through the ongoing
prioritization of policy that
enhances the everyday, lived
experiences of Americans—
especially Black Americans.
On this front, the FTC can play
a crucial role.
The Federal Trade Com-
mission is charged with pro-
tecting American consumers
from everyday threats per-
meating the domestic market-
place. Appointed by President
Biden, Lina Khan now serves
as Chair of the Commission,
and she has adopted a unique,
ultra-progressive approach
to the FTC’s mandate.
Soon after assuming lead-
ership, Chair Khan de-prior-
itized the consumer welfare
standard, a time-tested prec-
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
edent that puts individual
wellbeing at the forefront of
any and all policy discussion,
deeming it “too narrow.” In-
stead, the Commission has
embraced a broad view of con-
“
reports at a higher rate than
predominantly White or
Latino communities.” Beyond
that, Black and Latino individ-
uals have reported higher in-
stances of fraud via payment
methods that do not have re-
fundable protections. With-
out a solution from the FTC,
they remain at a loss—exacer-
bating income inequality for
consumers already working
in marginalized communities.
Americans are increasing-
ly turning to gig economy
Soon after assuming leadership,
Chair Khan de-prioritized the con-
sumer welfare standard
sumer well-being, focusing
on antitrust cases that could
theoretically have sweeping,
long-term impacts on the
economy.
We have already witnessed
the consequences of a loss of
focus on fundamental issues
at the FTC. As the Commission
focused their energy on theo-
retical risks rather than real
threats posed to consumers,
consumer fraud cases soared.
From 2021 to 2022, fraud loss-
es increased by over 30%. Last
year, alone, consumers lost
$8.8 billion to fraudsters—
and Black Americans are
disproportionately suffering
from the consequences of this
tragic phenomenon.
According to the FTC’s Serv-
ing Communities of Color re-
port, “predominantly Black
communities filed consumer
work to make up for losses to
increasing fraud, to keep up
with rapid inflation, or simply
to gain extra spending money.
In fact, Black and Hispanic
individuals are most likely to
take up gig-work, compromis-
ing over half of workers in the
industry. Nearly one-third of
Hispanic adults have earned
money through the gig econ-
omy, while over a quarter
of African American adults
have earned money through
these platforms.
Despite this trend, Lina
Khan has now turned her at-
tention to gig economy work-
ers, with the commission
vowing to “use its full author-
ity” to investigate gig compa-
nies and worker practices. At
an FTC Open Meeting, app-
based workers warned the
Commission against pursu-
ing unnecessary legislation.
Advocacy groups like the U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Com-
merce and National LGBT
Chamber of Commerce called
on the FTC to consider that
these apps serve as a resource
to members looking empower
themselves through another
income stream.
Yet their pleas went uncon-
sidered, and Khan decided
to release a policy statement
giving the FTC the power to
regulate the American la-
bor market in the form of
gig-worker regulation—de-
spite the fact that opposing
Commissioners claimed the
decision “meanders in and
out of our jurisdiction into
matters of employment law.”
Once again, Khan prioritized
her own agenda despite what
Americans were telling her
they needed on the ground. In
the name of individual Amer-
ican wellbeing, this trend can-
not continue.
The Biden administration
claims its goal is to “lower
costs and help entrepreneurs
and small businesses thrive.”
To achieve this, the FTC must
recommit to its most funda-
mental pillar: the consumer
welfare standard. This com-
mitment will especially bene-
fit Black Americans, who have
become innocent bystanders
as foolhardy legislation ren-
ders them even more vulnera-
ble at the hands of scammers.
When Americans feel the
impact of thoughtful policy,
they will be vocal in support.
The Security Dilemma: A Spiral of Mistrust
Local News
Pacific NW News
World News
Opinions
Jobs, Bids
Entertainment
Community Calendar
in y o u r c o m m u n
Opinion
ou probably couldn’t
have asked for a more
thoughtful Chair of the
Joint Chiefs than Mark
Milley, whose term ends on
September 30. He was one of
the good guys who repeatedly
restrained President Trump
from veering into dubious
schemes—such as a war of
choice with Iran.
But there is also no mistak-
ing that Milley is a general, a
military person through and
through. From a recent inter-
view in the Princeton Alum-
ni Weekly (Milley graduated
from Princeton in 1980):
“Milley and others believe
that new technologies such as
precision-guided munitions,
global positioning systems,
artificial intelligence, quan-
tum computing, robotics, and
hypersonic weapons are al-
ready transforming how mili-
taries are trained, supported,
and operate, and that the pace
will only accelerate.
‘All these technologies are
coming at us very, very quick-
ly,’ Milley argues. ‘And we, the
United States, need to be on
the front side of that curve.
We don’t have to be perfect,
but we have to be better than
our enemy.’”
In a world of hypersonic
Winslow
Myers
PeaceVoice
Columnist
missiles tipped with nuclear
warheads, what exactly does
it mean to be “better than our
enemy”?
As Stephen Kinzer argues
in an op-ed in Boston Globe:
“In the coming years, Chi-
na and its partners will work
intensely to strengthen their
military power—only to
counter American threats,
of course. So will the United
States and its partners—only
to counter Chinese threats.
Each side insists that it seeks
only to defend itself. Neither
believes the other, so both
prepare for war. That makes
war more likely.
“Because this spiral of mis-
trust is so common, it has a
name: the security dilemma.
It tells us that steps one coun-
try takes to increase its secu-
rity often provoke rivals to
take countersteps. That leads
to competition that makes all
parties less secure.”
The security dilemma puts
generals, no matter how
cautious and intelligent, in
an ever more impossible
position. Is there any other
way out except for military
officials in opposing camps
to openly acknowledge the
issue and begin to talk with
one another about how to re-
solve their nations’ conflicts
in ways other than mutual
suicide?
Ultimately, the only way to
be “better than our enemy”
is to think in a new way: to
accept that security is inter-
dependent: mine depends on
yours and yours depends on
mine. And to accept that the
way to rethink global security
cannot be through technolog-
ical competition, which will
never end except in a general
conflagration.
And finally, to turn to the
cooperative realization of
shared goals: survival and
the transformation of energy
sources in order to mitigate
global climate change.
Of the hundreds of scien-
tists who worked under Op-
penheimer to develop the
first atomic bomb, only one
ceased his research and left
Los Alamos on moral grounds
once it became clear that Hit-
ler had been unable to make a
weapon. His name was Joseph
Rotblat. He is not mentioned
in the popular film.
Rotblat went on to be in-
strumental in developing the
Pugwash Conference, where
scientists meet yearly to en-
gage in a frank exchange of
ideas—exactly as the militar-
ies of the world’s superpow-
ers ought to be doing. Rotblat
was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1995, a half-century
after the first nuclear bombs
were dropped on Japan.
There are technologies nec-
essary to confirm that arms
control agreements have not
been violated. And it remains
crucial to further develop
technologies that can help
stop the illegal transfer of ra-
dioactive materials.
But ultimately it is not
technological advance, it is
only people, like Rotblat or
Mikhail Gorbachev, who will
enable us to move beyond the
security dilemma. I wonder
if Mark Milley, ideally along
with equivalent military lead-
ers in China or elsewhere, as
they lie awake pondering the
paradoxes of military force in
the nuclear age, will see the
flashing “No Exit” sign before
it is too late.
There is still time, brother.
nt •
lo c a l n e w s •
eve