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Guest Post: The Fundamental Injustice That Is Poisoning the Nation
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
The Fundamental Injustice That Is Poisoning the Nation
The guilty are powerful and free, the innocent burdened and oppressed: that is injustice.
There is a fundamental injustice that is poisoning the soul of the nation, and if it is not openly addressed then the nation will face the explosive consequences of institutionalized injustice.
Simply put, it is this: those responsible for the nation's financial crisis and its catastrophic after-effects are not paying for the consequences of their actions--it is the innocent, those who were not responsible, who are paying the price.
You can call it whatever you want: the Anarchy of the Super-Rich (as per Paul Farrell), the Financial Power Elite, the financial Oligarchy, Plutocracy or Corporatocracy, or the unprecedented concentration of financial wealth and political power in a financialized post-industrial economy. Whatever you call it, we all know this class of financiers and its minions got away with high financial crimes.
Do the crime, do the time--unless it's "white-collar" financial crime on a vast scale. Then you might pay a wrist-slap fine (a few million dollars from your treasure of embezzled hundreds of millions) and then you're free to go on your merry way.
The after-effects are not just the losses which can be totalled on a calculator: the really catastrophic losses are to the foundations of democracy and the economy. Democracy has been subverted--oh please, spare us the happy-story propaganda about "reform" and "the system worked"--and the economy has been incentivized to favor poisonously addictive financialization and the shadow institutions of corruption, fraud, embezzlement, favoritism, collusion and misrepresentation of risk. This might be summarized as the protection of vested interests, engineered and overseen by the partnership of the ever more intrusive Central State and the nation's Financial Power Elite.
The Central State, designed to protect the citizenry from an oppressive monarchy or Elite, now protects this Elite from the citizenry. That is how thoroughly the injustice has been institutionalized.
There is a second part to this fundamental injustice: look who will pay for the bailouts, guarantees and the interest on the borrowed trillions. Not the banks and bankers, to be sure. Who will pay? Those who the Central State can easily tap: taxpayers who earn most of their income from wages, and those politically weak players dependent on government payments.
Now that the bills of the bailout are coming due, the State isn't going after GE for more taxes. Heavens no--if you try that, the Panzer Division of GE's tax avoidance army would overrun you. No, the politically easy thing to do is raise taxes on wage earners and trim entitlements, because all the government needs to do is send down the orders and it is done: the taxes are withheld and the bennies trimmed.
To go after the Power Elite is just too difficult. They have the tax attorneys, the lobbyists, the campaign fundraisers, and all the rest.
The U.S. is just a third world kleptocracy on an Imperial scale. I explored the parallels with the Roman Empire in Survival+: the Elites increasingly avoided military service and taxation, the bedrock of Roman power, while the taxes on the middle class rose to such heights that this productive class was basically driven into serfdom. The bottom layer of State dependents was placated and made complicit with bread and circuses--yes, Rome had a vast "welfare state" and much of Rome's population received free bread to keep them quiet and pliant.
That is of course a road to ruin: let the Elite plunder at will, protected by the Imperial Central State, tax the productive class to fund the armed forces and free bread, and then buy off the lower class with bread and circuses.
The only successful model of reconciliation and justice we have is the "truth commissions" in other post-oppression autocratic kleptocracies. In countries that were deeply divided and poisoned by institutionalized injustice and exploitation, the healing process requires a public, transparent "truth commission" in which the guilty are brought forth to confess their sins against the innocent and face the consequences of their actions.
If a society cannot rouse itself to cleanse the fundamental injustice at the heart of its institutions, then it is effectively choosing self-destruction.
So far, the U.S. is pursuing the Roman Imperial model with an institutional zeal unmatched since Rome's fall.
Embedded institutional injustice has a price, a price which rises with every passing day of propaganda and prevarication. Some day the bill will come due and a terrible price paid in full. For those in power, the only concern is that it not be today or tomorrow.
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Thanks, Charles H, nice piece.
...but if we cut only $38bil we can have a balanced budget and everything will be ok....!
At 40,000 feet, such is the appearance.
At 100,000 feet, you see the entire globe in a steady creep back to feudalism. The "kings" and "nobles" are no longer constricted by geography.
And so the macro-cycle continues, IMO.
Good observation. The top 1/10 of 1% of the US, LatAm and Western Europe are intermarrying creating a global aristocracy.
It has been less than 100 years since Russia and Asia were feudal as well.
For those with access to, and an appetite for nothing more than power and wealth, feudal society must be nearly irresistible.
I keep thinking of how they must envy those aristocrats who built the chateaux of the Loire. Imagine having Mozart or Chopin dedicate a masterpiece to you, a great patron of the arts--what better way to have your name immortalized? Where all the history that is written is of your family's lineage and noble exploits. Vast estates covered with forests, replete with game for hunting. Those others--they don't exist. Out of sight, out of mind. Yes, that's where we're going. Dahin, dahin, ich moechte ziehn!
All was sweet until the beheadings and hangings started.....
Well said. That also goes to the allegation of an American lack of "culture". When it applies to manners and proper speech, that might be appropriate. But usually it refers to the lack of historic buildings, statues, works of art, symphony, and opera. All very nice things. But in Europe, virtually all were funded by the aristocracy for their amusement or aggrandizement. And that money came from the people.
It's the same argument when it comes to NPR, NEA, etc. in the US. The wealthy don't want to pay the full price for their leisure pursuits. Better that taxpayers subsidize the entertainment of the wealthy (oh, and in return, there often will be reserved $25 seats for the plebes as long as they bring their own oxygen and are not afraid of heights).
If you look at where socialism began, it was the wealthy. My theory is the wealthy in Europe saw how freedom and capitalism were class levelers in the US. To protect their social status, they started socialism. They would pretend to tax themselves with high rates. But written into the tax code were loopholes to allow them to avoid these taxes, so that the burden fell on the middle classes.
The rates for the middle class were not so high as to impoverish them, but would prevent all but a few from ever rising above their social position.
Result: the wealthy keep their money, their subsidies, and their social position, all while appearing magnanimous to most, allowing them the further benefit of sneering at the greed of those in the lower classes with the audacity to improve their lot in life.
DEBT haircut Schedule to be announced on Monday
I call dibs on the dumpster full of dead FRN's. I want to burn them in my fireplace this winter.
http://www.usagold.com/images/hyperinflation.jpeg
Yes, but on Monday the Barber Shops are all closed!
stopping this writing after the first sentence would have been adequate.
thanks for continuing.
Charles, despite the controversial blog yesterday (?), writes brilliant pieces. This one triggers two thoughts that have been swirling in my skull:
(1) In the money line of Denzel Washington's "The Great Debaters", the kid slams home the victory in a debate in which he had to support "civil disobedience" as a viable protocol, he points out that society better hope that it is viable because the alternative really sucks. Well these boys have chosen the alternative in this case.
(2) If we are heading into The Fourth Turning Jim Quinn would say, history will show that the trigger was not the financial collapse but rather the absence of appropriate response to it. This is, I believe, Charles' message.
Exactly and well put. The Fourth Turning will be quickly followed by the Fifth Turning, banksters on a barbecue spit, mmm...tasty.
What a fitting end for Chairsatan Benzebub. LOL
Thanks Tyler, I got a good chuckle out of that this morning.
Are not the banks and banksters merely pawns to the super rich?
Yes.
Most are trained to believe otherwise.
The 100 monkey effect, has only just begun.
Except the lesson of the Roman Empire is that the Patricians of the Empire became the ruling families of the Middle Ages (Feudal lords). They became even more powerful after the Fall, and stayed that way until the Plauge wiped out enough serfs to give the surviving serfs some kind of leverage over the Patricians. The elite of today are looking forward to seeing those of us who grumble about being "wage slaves" get a taste of what real slavery is like - history demonstrates that the death of an Empire is tremendously enriching and liberating........for the elite, and they know it. Personally, I think the combination of extreme population overshoot and fossil fuel depletion could make this Fall much more horrific and much less predicatable than the Roman Fall (which could mean you are right about the cooking arrangements, but not in a way that any of us are going to relish.)
+1
+100
'the innocent burdened and oppressed' They will always be oppressed if most of them watch Fox and CNBC.
I remember a asshole on ZH defending the self proclaimed professor Glenn Beck. The idiot actually believes everything Beck says. How can the oppressed improve if they do not know the truth.
The truth is, working people in this country settle for what the elite let them have. No more, No less.
Knowledge is power. That's why Fox brainwashes the burdened with lies and deceptions hiding reality and truth.
Fox is convinced they can tell people HOW TO THINK. So far it works very well.
Who said this famous quote? "You have to shoot them in the Head". It was on Fox and it worked well.
This country is done. We are now Japan and the elite promise it to be so.
One more funny thing I picked up on. How many people realize the elite have homes in France.
France, the nation they condemm to the oppressed in America. Freedom Fries. LOL on that.
You should watch FOX News more often, it might dull your antagonism toward them. Some of their editorial shows (Hannity, Beck...) have an agenda to be sure, but any intelligent person will respond to their rhetoric the same way they used to respond to Olberman and Matthews. There are extremists on both sides of the political spectrum and they will watch what they choose to watch...FOX is no worse (or better) than any other news station with a bias, but I believe you think they are evil because they don't subscribe to your bias. Who really wants to do the brainwashing? (BTW, I hate the TBTF banks, I am getting my ass kicked in financially so you can't say I am one of the ruling elite).
I don't watch any of them. I repeat. None. But I can assume your small defense reminds me that I spoke truth and you are already mentally corrupted. Next you will tell me they are doing God's work as the professors of dumbness have proclaimed.
I'm curious how you know so much about Foxnews to offer such a critique if you do not watch them? How did you learn about them? How did you become so intimate with the teachings of self proclaimed "Professor Beck"?
LOL, +1 William Wilson by Poe!
Much of what I watch comes from here listening to views. Then I investigate by going to You Tube and searching.
You see, I get my news and views from less that Mainstream news. Mostly BBC, it's all Free like ZH.
Free will live forever on the net. RT is "sometimes" interesting if you throw out any persuasions and keep the facts.
NewsTsar is quicklygaining my respect. They report lots of factual news. So does Max Keiser, great for banking fraud news.
I know what you are trying to say by asking how I offer such harsh critiques of MSM. Listened for 10 minutes and any smart person can confirm what I am saying. MSM is a waste of time. Something I value.
It is MSM's own stupidity that I learn of their failures. For example, News, Congresswomen shot in head.
Go to You tube and type it in. Then see feed that says. Fox news asshole said someone should do same.
Both are facts. I react to facts. Not views. Example: ZH said Pimco is shorting bonds. I confirmed same, waited for the pull back and today initiated short positions by buying TBT, TBF and PST. Zero hedged I might add.
I might add to satisfy your concern, I do listen to Bloomberg during the day. For the Facts. They seem to be the best at reporting financial news. That said, when commentaries speak the mute button is close by. I don't want to hear bullshit from anybody. I would rather listen to the XtraNormal Bears than MSM. A great feature ZH offers now and then.
My biggest concern in life is how the rich elite rape the average Joe who worked honestly for a living. That being myself. I worked hard for my money and saved a little. I would like to keep it and possibly gain from my efforts. That being said, MSM will never help you do it. ZH offers a better opportunity to learn and prosper.
My Opinion, (inside my brain now), politics are bullshit. Banksters are the scum of the earth. The bigger the bank, the bigger the scumbag, the bigger the crimes they get away with. Period. Now you know who and what I am about.
Have a Good Day !!! Eh !!!
Good Day to you as well Rocker.... I honestly don't know much about Beck ...I have some people tell me about him but the only few times I try to watch him he was very very annoying...tone of voice and mannerism's ....so I couldn't watch him long enough to form an opinion on him.
Much appreciated pazmaker. I noticed that I got trashed well today. That's O.K. by me. I'm tuff enough. As I said, I worked hard for my money. I started with a Marine gym bag in hand and earned everything I own. Nobody gave me anything. I walked until I earned enough to buy my first car. Now I have three, a house, my Harley and a great women at my side. I still have the old Marine gym bag too. It reminds me of what it is like to have nothing and where I started from. To those who trashed me because they did not like what I said. Oh well.
I did as you suggested, and did not see it. Perhaps you would be so kind as to provide the link since you have seen it.
you're assuming that someone who loathes Fox News is "the other side". I don't see any unbiased news available in the media and therefore don't watch any of it. Biased news isn't news, its all propaganda masquerading as news. They effectively promote political division whether it is fox and their plethora of 'conservative' pundit shows bashing "liberals" or "liberal" msnbc type stuff bashing fox pundits.
Its not news nor journalism, it is all propaganda. All propaganda must have an element of truth to it in order to be "believable" by those who don't recognize propaganda and the intent to manipulate public opinion.
Excellent, right out of the military handbook. Divide and conquer. They do it to the sheeple all day long.
Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, Drudge and Huffington, in small doses daily allow each of us to capture the extremes in propaganda on both the right and left.
Nothing wrong with having the "intelligence" on which to base decisions. As long as the ZH community remains strong, it should be the cornerstone for our independent thinking.
Yes, they may not be better than the others- but they actually make up shit and feed it to the sheeple.
Beck is an act, and is far more annoying than wrong.
yesir
Ah, yes, Beck hatred. Disagreeing is not enough; he must be destroyed, and every human being must denounce him publicly!
Makes me want to watch more often.
if it is not openly addressed then the nation will face the explosive consequences of institutionalized injustice.
We will face the consequences of Institutionalized Injustice
Ummm.... we have been for quite some time, haven't we?
Tptb dont give a shit about nothing..They have money to burn..Im sure somewhere in america we could have built a nice bridge or road or something with this pocket change...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_libya_opposition
"Mister Blankfein -- Alaric on line one."
http://magno.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/wpid-visigothsinrome.jpg
That is a pleasant thought. I wonder what sort of Belasarius they have to recall for defense? Something tells me that he's not going to be using boiled hay this time around, either.
Not taking my call? Well then....
He's not there he went to Adrianople for some R&R.
We have reached the point of financial anarchy in many developed countries principally caused by unsustainable total debt loads and regulatory capture. Global financial oligarchies have become masters at sustaining an immoral if not criminal debt load to sustain their revenues. Our markets are being utterly manipulated to the detriment of the people (conservative savers) and the long term health of the country.
Behind this scene are a set of financial instruments resembling neutron super bombs. The current interest rate derivative load in (just) the US is > $150T. If rates rise significantly (to the historic mean) in a short period (a year), the results can be,,,,,,,.
We are sitting atop a 1000 exa ton financial warhead that must be serviced by the ever shrinking, tax paying, middle class if the financial system is to survive.
There is no normal anymore. Not anywhere. The US can not be "fixed" as economic growth is too weak, government/private debt too large, and global competition for increasingly scarce resources too intense. We are in the eye of the storm, it is moving slowly, and it is strengthening every day.
Prepare.
Time for a constitutional convension.,,, "to refresh the tree of liberty"
great post!
I second that.
America’s checks and balances are no longer in play; a private controller of the currency – the Fed – overrides those branches. The Fed has involved, as a secret ingredient, America’s Gross National Product in its world operations. The American people know not where their money has gone nor how much is gone.
However, the one necessary economic ingredient that the Fed cannot provide to solidify its new era of economics is a sustainable economic system – unless it’s a Soros system of ultimate control. And that, IMO, isn’t going to happen in these united but individual states.
A lamprey…an eel “hides in the weeds in the bottom of a lake. Sometimes it has to hide a long time. When a fat lake trout comes by, the eel shoots up and fastens its round mouth with a circle of teeth into the white belly of the fish. The fish struggles awhile and then goes on about its business, with eel in tow. It swims and feeds and lives for a long time, but it keeps getting thinner and weaker. When it dies, the eel leaves it and goes back into the weeds…” -- John D. MacDonald (Nightmare in Pink)
Fortunately, not all Americans are trouts. America’s heritage is unique to her shores. That 10 percent of people necessary to break this symbiotic, conspiratorial relationship between the U.S. Congress and the international bankers will force the system. These necessary Americans won’t agree to become slaves, hosts to a parasite. When it comes to national survival, desperate men are prepared to go to desperate lengths to turn the tide.
The real strength of this country is in its working people who have a Dream - of freedom - and they’re going to insist on a life - of freedom.
I didn't leave my "ideology"...it left me. Or something like that...
I would like to believe your statement on the 10%. Twenty years ago I would agree with you. Today I an not sure. Maybe yes in the Western or Southern states. The large population states you can forget about it. Bread and circuses are powerful urban tools.
3+ on you comments:
I would like to add for most people -other than for daily needs-financial issues you described, do not resonate. The average person has in the past concentrated on daily living, which does not include knowing or understanding the various financial or governing systems that govern our daily lives.
On top of that the trust we place in our government has allowed the the scammers and bansksters to take advantage of our ignorance. In normal times our government provided a modicum of protection against these predators. This is no longer the case. The reality is that most people have not figured this out as yet.
To conclude, I don't think that it's as much apathy that drives us, but the belief that someone in government is looking out for our interests. Katrina, the financial crisis of 2008, the gulf BP well blowout, etc., are all nagging reminders that this belief may not be true. Like a beacon or neon sign, people need to be constantly reminded. I hope the majority may come to realize our problems so that we can avoid disaster.
If you are content with bread and circuses, then you have no incentive to change... this is part of the problem... I strongly suspect we get no material changes until the social underpinning is removed (either willingly or via third parties/external forces)... the sight of bread lines leads to a different emotional response than catching someone swipe a card... etc. etc.
vote tea party - they are directly confronting this injustice
for those of you who disparage them - you support the oppressors
votes are smoke rings and pressure relief valves... the game is rigged. Look at all the good this latest "victory" by the tea party has brought us.
Collapse is inevitable and hopefully coming sooner than later. Networking is good, but there are many other preparations to see to as well.
Exactly.
Want this fucker to burn faster?
Don't vote in the Tea Party, vote it OUT! Vote in borrow and spend regulars who promise to increase benefits and reduce taxes. Plus, the Tea Party might reduce our spending on military. We need to double that, maybe triple it.
Let's crash this bitch quick, fast and dirty.
Want this fucker to burn faster?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yes; all the way to the foundation and then some.
So, vote Democratic, no budget (they abandoned their responsibility in the house last year ... jusrt sayin), no plan going forward exc borrow and spend ..
so, you are curled up waiting to die - but you still offer advice
Tripe. Take the redpill.
Curling up? Fuck no, I'm waiting for the balloons to go up. For the Jubilee. And getting shit together like beans, rice, a sandpoint well and hand pump, heirloom seeds, wheel weights cast into 2 ogive .455's by the 100's. And watching this site, among other bellweathers.
As for dying, well, we're all waiting for that.
What are you doing?
Yeah vote for the tea party that is funded by the billionaire Kochs. Might have started as a grass roots movement..now just another pawn for the elite.
I'll believe the tea party is credible after they publicly call for indictments of the banksters, and back it up with action.
but in the interim your fine with obama and ben burning things to the ground
If only there was a leader who could reinvograte our culture and stand up for the values of our race. If only someone was brave enough to look our enemies in the eyes without blinking. If only there was a party who understood the great designs the creator has for our homeland.
Good luck with that.
I agree with Chartruese Dog, teaparty candidates must call for indictments of bankers. Or any candidate running for office not paid for by banks. It's how we tell who banks paid for.
You would be more credible with the glasses back on..
wow - like bugs to a light - fried in public and they dont even know what happened
I think the time for voting is over now, it is time to take arms and run the lot out to the nearest lamp post. wait, maybe we should write to your congressman and tell them how you feel
I have great sympathy for the general rabble in the TP, but they are being co-opted by the power elite.
Exactly. They should have been tipped off by Palin getting up on podium and talking about supporting the wars and Israel. But they want so badly to believe. I vacillate between sympathy for them and disgust with thier naivete.
Tea Party is financed by the Koch bros.--members of the oppressor class.
It's expected that popular movement tries to be bought and suppressed, highjacked for their cause.
You have credible numbers? Or just bluster?
If you believe that Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin, both Rothschild agents, are the answer to our political problems, then you are more fucked than are we.
Ya buddy, I can't wait to vote for the party of Palin and Beck.
The sooner the US power leeches (I do not class them as elite because the are scum and not above anyone at all, in fact they are the lowest of the low) cause their own self destruction the better, so we can build a far better place until the next lot of leeches get too powerful again
+1 lb Morton Salt.
For effective resistance you need organized opposition. To counter this, divide and rule works very well: "Let them fight among themselves over scrapings of bread thrown in the dirt....."
Try to build it big and the precious thrones will cast it down. They have the advantage of mass, mass media, mass finance, etc. Smaller, "cell" type structures are what will survive.
the very act of forming a 3rd party politically will result in the same infighting you mention.
Seek to down the current system, then we'll worry about organization beyond a community level. Retract, then rebuild.
There are so many secret police infiltrators the best thing to do is set up resistance cells and charge 500$ in prep charges in the first meeting. of the ten people who answer your craigslist ad, the eight who are ready to pay the initiation fee are infiltrators working for the fusion centers. take the four grand and then never have another meeting. rinse and repeat...
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2003/10/04/16505501.php
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-law-enforcement-a...
thats why the Underground Economy is growing so fast.........complete and total distrust of the "System".....
"Reiterating, all transactions in an UE are not connected to illegal activities; everyday legitimate activities or jobs can also go underground for various reasons, most notably the avoidance of having to pay taxes or receiving government handouts while working at a paid job. The desire to go underground may intensify when people think that they are being unfairly treated by the tax system or do not benefit deservingly from the outcome of economic prosperity. In particular, people get upset when they learn from the news that corporations do not pay their fair share of taxes because of countless numbers of loopholes they can take advantage of or learn about their symbiotic relationships with politicians. The tax-paying consumers feel betrayed when news media report about pay raises for already well-paid CEOs or they hear the phrase "tax cuts for the wealthy." They too try to escape paying taxes by defecting to the underground sector or resorting to cash business.
"Furthermore, the current harsh and long economic slump has created financial hardship for millions of households as well as for business firms, forcing them to craft creative ways to deal with burdensome expenses. Consequently, the UE has become a frugal choice for many individuals as well as business people who have watched their real income, their purchasing power, dwindle down because of escalating costs, a rigged economic system, and an unlevel economic playing field".......
You are so right. I'm helping every way I can. I carry cash to pay the local service station for oil changes, the chiropractor, the hairdresser, the yard service, the computer repairman and anyone else who has his own small business and the option to pay or not pay taxes on it.
Another beautifully written piece Charles.
So if you agree with this article, why do you continue to play the game? Take your chips, and go home. Stop feeding the monster. The only thing the article leaves out is the fact that we the people have the power to stop this whenever we choose. But its too damn hard to change, and we think we have learned the machinations of this paradigm well enough to leave it alone and attempt to profit from it. This is the real reason for destruction of our society and societies of the past. It all boils down to this. Its in simple terms for all to understand but many will continue to think as they have....that this will never affect them...until it does.
THE MOUSE TRAP PARABLE
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. "What food might this contain?" He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning to the other animals, "There's a mousetrap in the house, there's a mousetrap in the house!". The chicken clucked and raised her head, saying, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." So the mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized but said, "I'm so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow, but she said, "I'm sorry for you, Mr. Mouse, but it's no skin off my nose."
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with the farmer's wife around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. But the farmer's wife did not get well and soon died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we all are at risk. In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Abel his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage and support each other.
...especially the useless free cheese eaters. We must help them the most. If only we could find a way to respirate for the poor dears, as WIC, Warm Hearts and RIF are simply not enough.
yeah....just maybe that cheese eater might pull you out of a burning car some day. But who knows, karma is a bitch. So maybe he'll just let you burn and steal your wallet...since that is what you expect him to do. Of course, a banker might just drive by in his Bentley and oblige you by calling the fire department. You could tell him all about how you hate free cheese eaters. He wouldn't care...and wouldn't dare touch a sub-human like yourself, let alone save ya. But he knows the vehicle could be saved and he might have insured it. And a banker knows it would be cheaper to have you burn to death then have you in a hospital for the next year for 3rd degree burns. He just saved the insurance company and/or hospital at least a million bucks. Choose your friends wisely asshat. Maybe you should try and comprehend what you read.
10
4D thinking, +
I like the way you think, but some moron is going to accuse you of a being a socialist .. :)
But all the mouse had to do is not eat the cheese.
"So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we all are at risk. In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Abel his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage and support each other."
The Gita consists of eighteen chapters in total:
namaste....
Yes, Krishna was an incarnation of Brahm but he lied in his teachings of the Gita by holding back the truth about Sat Purush...
In Kali Yuga... Only Surat Shabd Yoga and a Sant Sat Guru can break the wheel of Birth and Death... Its even better than precious metals... :o)
Only Nam takes your home...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30633238/The-Sar-Bachan-Prose-Swami-Ji-Maharaj
start at page 39... read and learn... :o)
+ 10
If you understood the joy I get from my family, you'd understand how much of this sounds like it is for people that are having trouble enjoying life.
Silly mouse could take care farmers fast. This parable not apply to situation. People of US have the power and don't even know. It's hilarious. We all want to not play game and that's what coporatocracy want we do too, we are doing now exactly what they want.
You think only one mice live in house. Hundreds. The mice get together and eat the farmers. Pig saved, cow saved. All mice cheer.
I'm still laughing.
All mice cheer.
Priceless.
yup. do the best you can to extricate yourself from the system. spend as little as possible & make it local. keep your loved ones fed & safe, focus on charity to hungry people, gold, guns & god & this is the big one, people ........ this is the big one ........ please, dear lord, let these people be destroyed by their own actions.
You hide from system. but system wont hide from you unfortunately. That's why you have to get involved. If you hide, then they come take your land, they take your power to have voice.
Nicely stated Dogi...thanks for sharing the parable.
I hate mice and you do realize that the mouse ends up causing everyone to die, right? If anything, the animals should have killed him since all he was is a nuisance that ultimately brought the whole productive system down for no reason. If the mouse is smart enough to be concerned about a mouse trap, he's smart enough to just avoid it. God that was a stupid story and "lesson". I want my 2 minutes back.
OK I understand the underlying message but have a few minor issues with this parable:
1. What's the goddam snake doin chasin cheese?
2. Was the mouse a field mouse, a domestic mouse or some sort of crazy GM escapee? Could explain the lack of support from the other farm animals.
3. Maybe the farmer's wife would have survived if he'd tried somethin other than chicken soup or barbecued pork, say catfish pie or filet gumbo. Much tastier in my opinion and he'd still have his pig and cow (and chicken too if he used duck for the filet gumbo).
http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/Cooking/Recipes/Meat/pouledeau_gumbo.htm
Hey Bubbles, My thirty day "cleanse" (low sugar, no alcohol) is only midway but you were hilarious and made me wish that some good bourbon was at hand! Thanks for the laugh....
One critical problem is that the rentier class does not recognize that it is the rentier class. It sees itself as the overseers of society--like Plato's "guardians" of the pure society, entitled to the wealth of society in return for its oversight of it. Talk to the lawyers, the political activists, the government bureaucrats, the bankers, the academics, and they will all be convinced of the good they are doing society in its own best interest.
Until they recognize the reality of how they take from society without giving back (in some cases necessary, in many cases not) there will be no real change.
Yup. Same people often go on at lengths of how 'producers' should be paid 'market' wages, yet the wages of these 'overseers' are not set by markets in any sense of the imagination as artificial barriers are enacted in their occupations to entry.
I'm convinced the only way that this 'class' will be forced to see the error of its ways is for the producing class to simply give up. Which they have largely done (and no, China and the rest of the world cannot prop up the US forever with exports paid for by nothing other than pieces of paper with dead presidents on them!).
Yeah, yeah, yeah - already know all this....
...the question is what are you going to do about it?
It's all fine and good everyone waking up to the fact it's game over - this is a late realisation - you should have already been making plans for what comes next.
...and the oil price is on the rise again....it's almost like "there are consequences to QE" - but we're reassured that it's all 'pain free'.
Funny that "what comes next" readiness. The preparation many ppl are overlooking is the need for overhaul of their belief system. Can one deal with its breakdown adequately? And I am not proposing any help by the other or Brother or whatever...
A comment of interest I noticed on a Russian website the other day: "Many ppl have already clearly understood that in the USSR they were lied to about socialism, but were told the complete and utter truth about capitalism" underneath an article about rampant inflation and a recent increase in the number of ppl in the world not being able to buy sufficient food by 44m.
Very good. Communism and Capitalism are two sides of the same coin.
From the article, above:
Click the grab, below, to watch Sam Richards' A Radical Experiment in Empathy from the PSU TED conference. It is an excellent illustration of, "American Kleptocracy on an Imperial scale." But in this illustration it is not just the rich that are guilty of stealing.
"Can you go there?" he asks.
Thanks for the link hedgeless.
A very interesting presentation of powerful concepts.
Very powerful concepts, indeed.
Along a similar line of empathy, especially for those with Christian, Jewish, or Muslim beliefs, is Bruce Feiler's excellent book, ABRAHAM - A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths.
http://www.brucefeiler.com/books/abraham.html
Either I wasn't properly paying attention or you received an upgrade. If so, congratulation.
Thank you for sharing. Great video.
Ladies and Gents,
I began asking myself the question why on earth would the Federal Reserve and/or US gov't allow another crash to occur just as in 2008. And then it dawned on me, because injecting fear into the hearts and minds of the people is the best way to create reform and/or change. If it was not manufactured in 2008, would Congress have passed the bailout bill and redone the automotive industry overhaul? So the question I am asking is what is the incentive now to bring on another crash? With gov't appearing to be at a standstill for reform in regards to the budget deficit, would another crash create fear in the hearts of the middle class and allow them to again give up their rights and freedom in order to appear to right the ship once more? It will be interesting to see what kind of theft and autonomy comes out of all of this...gov't policies and market volatility appear to me to go hand in hand...
Or it could be just like in 2008, all these Ivy League educated, smartest guys in the room, doing God's work morons just simply screw up again.
Where the fuck is the TEPCO/Japan news? Everyday we had an update and detailed discussion. Suddenly zip.
Those reactors fix themselves?
Ratings dropped; back to Dancing With The Stars.
Yeah. Radiation ain't got tits.
You're wrong Bubbles. It does here in CA.
http://www.goldenstateimages.com/GSI_search.php?srch=san%20onofre%20nucl...
Yep. My previously unblemished record lies in tatters.
Those are ssoooo not real
Whoa, that must be pre-Fuku - that wave wall is WAy too low and I'm certain I heard that the NRC ordered immediate retrofitting! :P
Google does News:
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=fukus...
Do you want me to click that mouse for you as well?
This comment related, so post again one last time, in case someone didn't see early post (wife put together :)
It is corporatocracy fucking up country. Larry Flynt letter some years ago open the eyes. Yes, unusual advisor.
Big banks buy all our politicians, it’s why Obama saved banks.
Wall Street Banks buy candidates. http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F03
So far no candidates talking about corporate money problem in elections, or like article talks no one go to jail. Many bought by corporations. If corporations buy candidates, their stock go up. Corporations don’t like real Teaparty
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhyPoliticia...
House speaker Boehner bought by banks and energy company corrected link.
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003675
Anyone in Zero Hedge to run in his district? Let’s vote him out.
Ohio’s 8th District includes all of Darke, Miami, and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County.
http://politics1.com/oh.htm
Alec Baldwin pansy for Obama now, but he speak about elections for people not corporations.
The bill would allow federal candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions, big money bundlers, or donations from lobbyists, and would be freed from the constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities want.
http://fairelectionsnow.org/about-bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEzY2tnwExs
This is issue you care about? Do something. Let's not lurk creepy. Of course there is fraud everywhere. But you can do something about it. I spell it out. Start popular voter referendum and put on ballot to ban diebold voting machine. There, or you want to whine and cry all day things are unfair.
Here is right link for article why politicians worth buying.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhyPoliticia...
right on CHS. We must demand full transparency from govt and the multinationals to expose the extent of the problem to the masses who will demand further change or start state by state secession from the fed govt. establishing a fairer system.
re: "I explored the parallels with the Roman Empire" comments...
For those who wish to gain a braoder view of the Roman Empire, I just finished Terry Jone's book, "Barbarians" which was produced along with a documentary on BBC. It is well written and easy to read. It sparked my interest enough to get two more books on the era. Another good one was, "End of Empire: Atilla the Hun" which I borrowed from the library. Both provide insight on colonization and looting.
Many of wouldn't mind paying high taxes if we were even allowed to work. But with the importation of millions of guest workers on the H1-B and L-1 visa programs, and now, importation of workers on the B-1 visa (totally illegal, BTW) in the technology sector -- America's best and brightest have largely been relegated to the unemployment or underemployment lines. Not even to be given the "time of day" from technology companies who send their CEOs, such as Bill Gates, before Congress with claims that there are not enough 'qualified' workers.
H1-B/L-1's are tools of oppression by the financial oligarchy, as they suppress the wages of working engineers, while delivering more value to the financial con-men.
pitz....just a short quick but truthful answer. Many have posted here before much longer and much better explanations...but basically tax on the income I produce is immoral unethical and constitutes slavehood. So count me out of the many that would pay more taxes.
I'm willing to give the elites partial slavery. In their greed, that's not even good enough, they want almost full slavery, and would rather accept nothing, than something.
The same elites often say, "a job is a job, no matter what the pay", but then they refuse to accept little pay themselves when the market dictates, and seek to bypass the normal and free markets by using offshore scabs.
Pitz; - Your comments are right on.
If the majority only knew what goes on behind the closed doors of most Personnel Departments and Immigration Lawyers, they would gag. The "we can't find enough American technical or educated workers game," is a SCAM. The CEO's have no frigging idea of what they are talking about. Its all about saving money on wages and hiring compliant foreign workers who will give their soul to a company for the shot at a US Green card or US citizenship.
The devil is always in the details and the best scams are those that are hidden from public view. The H and L visa programs are one of the biggest scams in the US today, but like most things that affect us many just don't give a shit.
The system is rigged against you. Time for Atlas to Shrug...
True, but a lot of them only want to complain, and NOT to act.
and even more are too stupid...
and even more than that are ignorant...
and even more than that are out of work union types who want nothing more than to go back to their old job and vote for whomever has the best catch phrase which equates to "We the Corporations with a 0% Fed Window Thusly Unlimited Lobby Dollars" make them think that everything is taken care of while they rob them blind!
Anything but learn and act upon real information.. fat, lazy, fucking stupid people that the Fluoride of this country has dumbed down to the point of non-action! Mission Accomplished Bitchez!!
Most don’t want to know or be bothered, not because they feel helpless and can Not affect any real change.. that was the last generation.. the new generation just doesn’t care. Spoon fed cowards is what the politically correct crowd has bestowed upon us, spineless cowards.
We as a Nation are doomed because we allowed an entire 2 – 3 generations to be dumbed down, Fluoride in the Drinking Water or Xanax or Ritalin or Political Correctness.. whatever reason you can name the combined affect has been for the educated minority to suffer the ignorant / stupid Majority whims. Thusly the Crowd / Population Control (Meme’s) that Corporate America Provides.. moves us all!
Game over! We all lose!
Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal: In vitro phase of IMF-Bank Elite experiment.In vivo phase about to start. Once the data are collected who do you think will be the next experimental subject
Once they're flushed down the pan...I mean...restructured....no...I mean flushed down the pan, next stop.....UK banks. Wonder how those capital requirements are comin along?
--------GULLY-------------------------------
Google-----weather japan cloud spread fukushima power plant ----------------------
it is not getting better
I know I've seen some recent stories other places but miss the insight of people like Jim from Mn.
The collapse of the Roman Empire comment reminded me of the great scene in Catch 22 with the Italian crazy man. How fucking prescient.
The Greeks/Italians have it right..."Fuck you world. Loan us trillions of dollars. We'll just default, the banks will collapse, you will move on, and we'll just keep on living the lives we've lived for hundreds of years. In the mean time we will have some fun with your cash..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bjBAez9cm4
This is a perfect strategy: collapse the whole system. Let them pay for the upkeep of the system if they like it so much, as opposed to lettimg them suck everything up and call themselves WEALTH CREATORS.
At least bread has some nutritional value. Today it’s cheap beer combined with the most unimaginable crap entertainment on T.V., including reality shows that are as far from reality for most of us as anyone can possibly get.
JP Morgan says 100’s Town’s & City’s in U.S. Won’t ‘Make It’ Out of Debt Crisis http://goo.gl/HO8Xb / http://goo.gl/L9Gjd So expect a Corporate Land Grab!
It is a Fundamental Privatization of any and all Public Lands! Beach Front ='s Condo's (post default of course).
The Republicans have used catch phrases that tested well to create meme's that have inundated the sheepish masses!
Less Taxes!! It sounds GREAT! And the Sheepeople came out in MASS to Vote for these Republicans who promised Less Taxes! And the Republicans did NOT! LIE! They passed legislation for Less Taxes! The Legislation just did NOT! Include “We the People” it did however cover “We the Corporations with Lobby Dollars”!
Tax Incentives for Business! Everyone Voted for Tax Incentives for Business! And once again! It was not a Lie! The tax Incentives where for Corporations to Move Jobs from the United States to Offshore! 50,000 a Month! And Tax Breaks to go with the Job Loss!
If the Jobs Moved Offshore and the Government Gave Tax Breaks for Corporations to make the Move? Who is going to Pay the Taxes? No Jobs? No Workers Paying Taxes and the Government Giving away Money so that it can Lose more Tax Base! http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/28/us-usa-democrats-offshore-idUSTRE68R40I20100928 and the Republicans! JUST BLOCKED stopping this Bullshit Practice of undermining the Tax Base / Job Base AGAIN! Tax Breaks for Anything and Everything for the RICH! And the poor people get more Austerity!
I can NOT wait for the Masses to catch on and open season to begin on you Fucking Bush / Drill Baby Drill Fuckers! I will have a reward of one piece of silver for every sticker and scalp!
Every! Mother Fucking! One! Of! You! Bush Voters! Are to Blame!
Wait a moment...Bush was perhaps the worst presidency in...forever. But he did not start these entitlement programs. He did not set in motion a system where 50% of the taxpayers pay no federal tax. He massively pushed up the deficit in his time, only to be eclipsed by the maniac now in charge, who has added $4 TRILLION in two years to the deficit. The rot in this pathetic country has been fult tilt since Bretton Woods was destroyed.
Ben Frankin calimed the republic would be finished if the public could vote the Treasury. That is what happened. And democracies get the government it deserves. Saying it was Bush's fault is a simpleton's way of thinking about the problem. We have a pathetic country that wants to feed on the tittie of everyone else, use our children's money to pay for useless luxuries, and waste precious resources on SUVs tract mansions etc.
Put the blame where it is desrved: on the feckless public who has lost all sense of personal accountability and demands socialism.
Jim you are a fucking Moron.. but I am a big believer in education.
1. Bush did Balloon / Inflate The Cranston Gonzales Act. Which was something His Daddy Started!
2. Bush did increase the American Dream (and or other name used) by 100’s of % every year. This allowed for no money home loans to be made because it paid the 5% - ? to get people in for free.
3. Bush did pump all of these programs up and did say publicly time and time again that the programs would continue. Bush did cut the programs to nil / nothing 2 years earlier than promised.
Now if you don’t understand that or cannot Google the facts for yourself thusly becoming self sufficient, it is not my fault.
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Cranston+Gonzales+Act&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=f&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=f441d7c040dfef71
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=bush+american+dream+downpayment+act&aq=0&aqi=g4g-v1&aql=f&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=f441d7c040dfef71
I dont recall a lot of democratic opposition.
what you should have said is that Obama Voted for it as well! better line than broadly painting the democrats!
besides you have been here long enough to know what I am doing!
You really are stupid. You focus on these acts like all the ills are due to mortgages. Did you read what I said about Bretton Woods. Do you even know what I am talking about? You're on of the uneducated masses destroying this country. Go get your unlemployment check and get back on the tittie
Destabilizing the Markets!
Allowing JP Morgan to come in and Squeeze all the lil turds like Bear / Lehman for all those extra pennies… therefore causing panic / shaking the faith or full faith that the World had in the mighty green back!
The domino that started this all, which was perpetuated by greed and ego… was in fact! Wall Street going cold turkey off the Government Tit! Lehman like everyone else was LONG Real Estate, synthetically squared long with insurance that everything would be ok.. call it absolute returns! LMFAO! LONG!
But it was the beginning. But it is like everything else, you have to want to believe and then see it yourself before it becomes real to you.
You really are stupid. You focus on these acts like all the ills are due to mortgages. Did you read what I said about Bretton Woods. Do you even know what I am talking about? You're on of the uneducated masses destroying this country. Go get your unlemployment check and get back on the tittie
You really are stupid. You focus on these acts like all the ills are due to mortgages. Did you read what I said about Bretton Woods. Do you even know what I am talking about? You're on of the uneducated masses destroying this country. Go get your unlemployment check and get back on the tittie
What is the demographic of the 50% that do not pay income tax--oh yes, the poor pay taxes, unlike the rich- as 100% of their income is subject to some type of taxation even if it is hidden in price.
The 50% of Americans that do not pay income are made up of primarily two classes:
Many of those that earn less than $34,000 are retirees living on fixed Social Security and recent Hispanic immigrants that the mega rich encourage to enter into this country as guest workers(surprise, they eventually get to vote too). In the meantime local communities are stuck with all the social costs that are borne out of hiring cheap laborers.
The solution should be obvious to even ameoba brains: tax the rich.