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Guest Post: This Is What Passes For Democracy In Greece… And America
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man
This Is What Passes For Democracy In Greece… And America
Last night I had quite an unexpected surprise.
You see, at my hotel here in Thessaloniki, there’s a delegation from
some group of the European Parliament called the Committee on Regional
Development. They’re here to help… Hey, isn’t that what they always say?
The Committee wants to supervise Greece working its way out of the debt
crisis and make sure that Greece’s poor are getting the support they
need.
The hotel’s restaurant was filled with these sycophantic parasites
last night– an entire room full of people with a superiority complex who
think that they are entitled to make decisions about other people’s
lives and money.
They sat at dinner drinking fine wine and polishing up steak tartare
making proud, bombastic proclamations about the virtues of foreign aid,
the democratic process, and the great progress of Greece’s austerity
measures.
Coincidentally, not 300 meters down the road, a campsite has been
gathering for economic refugees, Thessaloniki’s former middle class that
has been vanquished by the crisis. Some of the children swung by the
restaurant’s outdoor terrace begging for change, only to be waved off by
one of the delegate’s extended pinkie fingers as he sipped his wine.
It couldn’t have been more ironic… the perfect image of what passes
for democracy today, right here in the country that invented it.
Today’s democracy is nothing more that pseudo-authoritarian rule by
an elite few, executed by legions of self-deluding freeloaders who have
convinced themselves that their current bureaucratic roles are both
necessary and honorable… as well as a stepping stone into the next job
which will be even more necessary and honorable.
With each successive position up the bureaucratic ladder comes more
power, more privilege… until they actually expect to be called “The
Honorable…” so and so, or “His Excellency” so and so, etc.
My dictionary suggests a few definitions for ‘honor’. One of them
refers to a person’s chastity… and I doubt it applies in this case given
the political establishment’s Twitter record. The other definition
says, “conferred as a distinction, especially an official award for
bravery or achievement.”
In the United States, they must be confusing the term ‘achievement’
with ‘destroying the economy and culture of the formerly most powerful
nation on earth.’ President Obama is apparently so honorable that he
can’t even be bothered to hold negotiations anymore about debt
compromise, arguing that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t be doing that…
He seems more concerned about his esteem and rank being respected than facing the grim facts of economic reality.
Simultaneous on Capitol Hill, Comrade Bernanke sent the dollar
plummeting once again. Just to put things in perspective, the entire
eurozone is on the precipice of a meltdown, and the euro had been
falling for days. The second this man opened his mouth, the dollar
plunged… indicating that investors would rather take a chance on
European insolvency than Bernanke.
It was truly pathetic… and yet another example of what passes for
democracy today: One man who has never been elected is essentially given
control of the money supply to do with it as he deems best in his sole
discretion.
All in all, as usual, it’s going to come down to the taxpayers. The
bureaucrats will go on enjoying their steak tartare and ignoring the
huddled masses. The politicians will go on posturing over title. The
central bankers will keep making interest free loans to their friends
and destroying their currencies. We get stuck with the fallout.
In the end, the governments will make it a matter of national
security and patriotism, ensuring that we ‘do our duty to the nation’ by
coughing up more of our livelihood. I stumbled across this WW2
propaganda video a few days ago in which Daffy Duck tells us all that
it’s our patriotic duty to give as much as possible to the government.
Should we expect a new video soon suggesting that it’s our patriotic
duty to buy Treasury bonds…? In what passes for democracy today, you can
bet on it.
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Excuse me, General..., but don't call me mame. Call me Senator. I worked very hard for that title and I expect to be addressed as Senator.
Is it just me, or was the funniest part of that video the fact that Daffy paid his income tax in $10 and $20 bills. To me that just says it all.....
Holly shit.
I thought that American and British participation in the WWII was all about fighting for the Wall Street and the City of London Jewish bankers (like Rothschild, Warburg, Oppenheimer, Schiff) and the Soviet Jewish Bolshevism.
So, we won. The Rothschild family owned FED and UCB now own both America and Europe and we got plenty of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Lebanon. Did I miss any?
Who said we are bankrupt? Ron Paul? He must be delusional. We are the richest country in the whole World. After all, we are printing and spending US$ as if there is no tomorrow. But there will be one with soup-kitchens and civil unrest and even the second American revolution. Otherwise, we all will be working for Chinese communist bosses.
Actually another revolution would be the third. The second was eventually won by the statists who believed lighting the Constitution on fire and pissing on the ashes was the best means of preserving it.
Wow...that was rather creepy to watch. I vaguely remember seeing this (perhaps only once) as a kid long ago, but seeing it now as an adult, and in the light of today's circumstances (economy, overreaching wars, high taxes, insolvent Gov't, etc.), it's just creepy. I wonder how much Uncle Sam's hand was up Mickey and Donald's keisters to force them to "do their part" for the War Effort's income stream.
Am I missing something, or does this short film suggest that income taxes were voluntary in some form back in 1943? If Donald is being asked to forego discretionary spending in favor of giving that money to the government, and the purchase of War Bonds wasn't mentioned, then is it voluntary "tax" giving?
Can anyone shed some (factual) light on this?
Also, there was four different tax payment due dates, on the 15th of the last month of each quarter. Was there no auto-deductions from payroll?
Of course, I think all should note that this is where the 'Greatest Generation' came from, which included my grandparents. That generation understood the need to be frugal and to make sacrifices for the welfare of others and society-as-a-whole. Now the notion of "shared sacrifice" is pure heresy and most are grossly self-consumed. For this, I'm afraid a most tragic price will eventually be paid:
http://thespiritoftruth.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-triumph-of-evil.html
Beginning in 1940, the government extended the income tax to virtually all Americans and began collecting the tax via the now-familiar method of continuous withholdings from paychecks (rather than lump-sum payments after the fact). The number of Americans required to pay federal taxes rose from 4 million in 1939 to 43 million in 1945.
It sounds like the public wasn't fully onboard with this transition thus the propaganda campaign.
"I wonder how much Uncle Sam's hand was up Mickey and Donald's keisters to force them to "do their part" for the War Effort's income stream."
No forcing Walt Disney. He was in on the plan from the start. He was part of inner circle of Anglo-American elite.
Per the last line, just wait until they mandate a certain percentage of all 401k's must be invested in Treasury bonds. If you don't make the minimum requirements, then you have to pay income tax on 100% of your 401k contributions. Think it won't happen? Think again.
I believe I first heard of such an idea on ZeroHedge. I have stated that in emails and conversations to many friends and family. The first time I did one of my friends almost went apeshit, thinking I was nuts. I reminded these people of the mountains of bullshit that has been pulled the past 10 years by the government and big business. I no longer get such a reaction when I pass along the belief that retirement accounts will somehow be funneled to The Treasury.
It is kind of like when I used to tell them that their house prices would go down by 40 - 50 percent. First they mock you. Then they despise you. Finally, they act as if they knew it all along.
the yield on 1 month treasuries is negative. There is no shortage of buyers of u.s. debt.
10 Stages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Z3lmidmrY
Everybody on ZH has to stop smartening up the chumps and giving the suckers an even break. You are right, first they mock you. Then they despise you. You are wrong on the finally. Finally, they act as if YOU caused the problem, and they hate you because you were ready.
Everyone I know is a financial genius. I am the only one in my social and work group that is 100% debt free, can come up with cash for emergencies, can take or leave work, has gold and silver. They hate me for it.
Misery loves company.
Jesus Christ! You hit that one on the head. I've had the exact same experience! Mine is different though, in that I live in China, and am making a lot of cash. So in addition to what you mentioned, all these geniuses are also snidely telling me that things will become much worse here, than in the west. They say we will lose our apartments, and savings as well. I tell them that a good chunk is set aside in Malaysia, and they just laugh and say what devils those Muslims are, and they're gonna rape me where the Chinese didn't. Fucking American peasents. They are getting exactly what they deserve. I wish the american masses only the worst. Maybe it'll even make them into decent humans again. But in the meantime, I hope to see tons of suffering by those backbiting cunts ;)
You seem angry.
Haha! Yeah, maybe a little. These idiots were my friends and family. Their lives are going to shit, and I'm doing super...and they hate me for it. Buncha shitheads.
achtung...tsukato=chicom operative
Oh shit comrade, we've been found out by american intellectuals!!!! Abort! Abort! Abort! Haha! Moron!
The story in Greece seems like something you would have read about the French court just before the guillotine started making members of the aristocracy a little more humble. It is fitting that this shit should be going on today. Bastille Day should serve as a reminder for the out-of-touch fuckwits that consider themselves to be our "leaders". I hate that fucking term. They are not elected to be our leaders. They are elected to be our representatives.
I would say Obama reminds me of Louis XIV but he is probably more like Marie Antoinette. He was hoping Camp David could be his Trianon Palace.
I never realized how much I hated "the cream of society" until I went to a few events and had to be around those scum bags. People who dream of being rich so they can hang out at the big parties and elite establishments of New York City, and the like, crack me up. I would rather eat hot dogs and drink beer with the boys from the neighborhood than spend 15 minutes around these douche bags, and douche nozzles, drinking Dom Perignon and choking down caviar.
The donkeys are leading us to Golgotha.
+1
i wholly concur...these self-important lemmings look down on the common folk...without whom they couldn't even change the oil in their 7 series...i would sit at the table full of salt of the earth folks anyday over the country club set...for years i have said let the folks on the coasts think that flyover country is just filled with a bunch of hillbillies-it will keep the snobs the fuck out of our neighborhoods...
Sounds like a narrative from Atlas Shrugged without the overly long winded John Galt commentary.
The sooner Greece defaults and tells the parasites to fuck off, the better.
God damn world improvers.
The only thing they're intent on improving is their own ill gotten wealth.
GOOG up $64
Nobody cares about Greece.
why is autozone stock at about 301? what is so good about that crappy auto parts store?
How about LULU, PCLN, CMG, FOSL, etc. You can't build a buble without pushing shitty, marginal stocks to overly inflated highs. At some point this water buffalo will be dropped from The Freedom Tower. Just pray all that shit isn't in your 401k.
GOOG has been a loser stock for 5 years. It has basically gone nowhere. MSFT had years of being a great stock for investors. GOOG blew its wad in 1 year. At least GOOG pays out that hefty 0.0% dividend.
Well because Autozone got on some Cramer buy list. O'Reilly and Advanced Auto actually have better profit fundamentals but trade at a third of Autozone. Do you expect the market to make sense?
Either the other two stocks need to go through the roof or Autozone needs to come back down to reality.
And you got to love adjusted earnings to blow away expecations, setting the stage for a triple digit gain in the morning. ALL IS WELL!!! ONLINE ADVERTISING SHOWS THE US CONSUMER IS NOT DEAD!!! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!
Fortunes can be made shorting a lot of these bloated POS stocks. But first many fortunes will be lost trying to short too soon. Timing is everything.
Autozone does well because they cater to the illegal alien demographic. Se hablamos Espanol e Monte Carlo.
I call a lot more people are doing their own oil changes, since everyone's tit (and wallet) is in the wringer right now.
Have you noticed similar increase in do it yourself places like Lowe's, Menards too?
what about lawn care products, since it's essential to make your fucking yard look like a golf green. Toro, Snapper, etc...?
The serfs will have to fix, not buy new cars.
Long bubblegum and bailing wire.
the 1099 processor must be pulling his hair out asking himself why he didn't buy ctc today which was up 12.5%. he could have made a lot of money, or he could have just shorted fnm, fre, bear and leh at the top in 2007 and made more money than he said gentleman jim sinclair could have made had he bought lulu or tzoo rather than gold and silver.
meanwhile, the 1099 processor's widows and orphans portfolio continues to consolidate in its .1% trading band.
Anyone who didn't make bank on LULU should be angry. But give it up dude.
vic, unless you lurked before signing on at zh it appears you're new to zh. the contract 1099 processor aka robottrader has a long history of using every opportunity to cherry pick stocks that happen to be up (or down), and use them as fodder to foil whatever his bizarre brain blinks out at any given moment. many of us simply throw his words back on him to show him the absurdity of his posts, as i just did. lulu is a favorite foil of his as he is a male yoga california dreaming metrosexual.
I've seen your comments many times and as far as I can tell you are a good man with principles. But why do you get so angry and keep taking about Robot as you do above?
Take a chill pill and respect Robot's point of view on the market.
And perhaps you can also kick back with the TLC Show 'Little People Big World'. It's fun to watch and the title of it makes you think...
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/little-people-big-world
robottrader doesn't have a point of view or thesis to what he says or does, except to smear successful people which if you watch closely he does almost daily. robottrader blows in the wind and over the past two years many of us have posted his contradictions which arise sometimes from post to post. no exaggeration. i choose to push back, as do others. keep in mind all the stocks that the 'tard comments on are stocks he would not buy himself per his words, yet he uses said stocks to mock people like jim sinclair.
actually, i'm not angry although i'll concede that a sterile post of words read in vacuum may seem so to fair minded readers.
Fair points. While I don't know what his motiviation is for coming here, I enjoy seeing a fun take on what's going down...
I actually bought a put option on LULU after reading a comment by Robot. His point of view is that the market is overvaluing shitty stocks.I dont think he believes that market is awarding a fair value, he just has a very poor view of the market and public in general as do most of the zh crowd.
and what's wrong with: a male
yoga
california
dreaming
metrosexual?
Because he is gay?
and what's wrong with gay, Mrs. Bachmann?
i'm reading this, thinking, who tf are they talking about? vic? the Lt? Robo?
then, i had to push the little button on because i'd fallen and was helpless...
Good example of legal tax dodging and loopholes. How many billions are they getting out of wpby using off soar accounts and accounting tricks?
I care.
It is now obvious to me that the same thing has been going on in Greece as has been happening here in that the professional class and those who can make arrangements for their Tax, expenses ,bonus ,and various other “earnings” do so via various “tax efficient “ arrangements . This makes them very wealthy at the expense of the country/society that they live in. Meanwhile those who just “go to work” pay their tax and this is what is used to fund the facilities and services in the country/society in which we live. This is obviously not enough and the difference is made up by borrowing on the bond market with all that entails. Meanwhile the tax havens have lots of money in them which can be used to speculate in commodities and hedge funds which will obviously be “Off shore “This in turn will not be to the benefit of those who just “go to work”.
This appeared as a revelation to me when Bob Diamond of Barclays told a UK government committee of the millions that Barclays were putting in to UK in Tax. It was pointed out to him that this money was his employee’s tax contributions and not the company itself.
The solution comes in a variety of actions (In my opinion).
1) Everyone pays taxes ( Possibly a flat tax) or you cannot do business or reside in that country
2) If a country cannot pay their bills, borrow for a fixed term from a government elsewhere who is in surplus (why do we have a bond market?)
This explains the attitude of the ordinary Greek person who has just paid their taxes whilst the rich and super rich have been “tax efficient”. They are angry (and quite rightly so). Meanwhile the Zero tax paying shipping industry magnates of Greece live in London. I presume that everyone one here knows that the largest industry in Greece (Shipping) is tax exempt.
How long can we keep borrowing to allow the non UK tax payers to have a luxurious lifestyle whilst those who “just go to work” have to pay through “austerity measures?”
Well I feel a little better now but it just makes me so angry.
To be brutally honest, most people I come across just can't be bothered to do any tax planning. Why incur the sometimes excessive and seemingly punitive costs and conditions of doing a proper job now when the alternative is to feel wealthier in the short term with cheaper options, or at least until the tax bill drops on the mat?
Fact is that many of those who are tax efficient were born into structures that they have grown up with. They feel comfortable with not owning anything but what they stand up in, but try telling anyone that owns assets of both property and cash that they must give up all rights to their assets and pay outstanding capital gains or estates taxes on transfer if they are to become tax efficient and they'll walk first due to cost, and especially if some other arsehole can suggest a cheaper method no matter how ludicrous and outlandish it in reality is.
Fact is that despite the complaints, most people I know are happy with their tax position. They'd like it to be lower but they aren't prepared to pay anything to comply with the requirements to be tax efficient, and with all due respect Shipley, you just point out the ultimate benefits as if it is a foregone evasive scam and an unfair benefit given to a select few, which in reality is not true.
They are wealthy because at some point someone took the time and incurred the expense (and disadvantage) of implementing a tax efficient plan, not because they took the short term cheaper option of paying income taxes...
just eat your peas and shut up.
Notice the MSM is has been quiet (you NEVER hear anything about) Iceland?
The only country that said "PhukOff" and is still alive and doing ok.
I wonder why the press isn't trumpeting their decision?
Yeah, I thought the Fourth Estate was here to keep the government honest. "Now where did I place that Scotch bottle?"
/see your sarcasm and double it/ :::::
The Washington Post had, indeed, obtained praise in Baden, Baden, Germany in 1991 by David Rockefeller speaking to an international group of insiders known as the Bilderbergers. It is with great irony that America should learn that the very organ of democracy which had publicly protected Constitutional freedoms and process by speaking with a bold voice, was praised not for it's public voice but for it's silence.
As quoted on p.13 from: Operation Vampire Killer 2000, Published by: Police Against The New World Order, 1992
+1
We, in the Hedge, are the 5th estate! Long Live Liberty!
neither Grecians nor Americans want to pay any taxes. Reasons cited are all over the map, but I suspect a bloated sense of entitlement might be the common thread.
Both are looking like chaotic, corrupt, bananna republics.
I hear the upper 1% live quite nicely in the Phillipines. Those giant gates and bars on the windows are not decorative. Go long scrap iron.
I disagree. I think Americans, for the most part, don't mind paying some tax. It is when everything is taxed that they say, "fuck this". When I was a kid they had just hiked sales tax to 4%. This did not make people happy. Today sales tax here in NYC is just under 9%. It cost $80 to get a new drivers license last year. When I moved we got a parking ticket. This is where all the trucks moving in and out of a building must park. It is a license for the city to steal. That ticket was $95. Throw in city income tax. Throw in fees on everything. Thank Reagan and Greenspan for the high payroll tax.
And after looking at all of these taxes look to see what they go for. We pay for shitheads to pop out more shitheads. We pay for losers to make bad choices and blame everybody but themselves. We pay to allow public unions to increase their political power. We pay for corrupt politicians and bailouts and on and on and on.
Yes, I don't think you can just say that Americans don't like paying any taxes.
Beginning in 1940, the government extended the income tax to virtually all Americans and began collecting the tax via the now-familiar method of continuous withholdings from paychecks (rather than lump-sum payments after the fact). The number of Americans required to pay federal taxes rose from 4 million in 1939 to 43 million in 1945. With such a large pool of taxpayers, the American government took in $45 billion in 1945, an enormous increase over the $8.7 billion collected in 1941 but still far short of the $83 billion spent on the war in 1945. Over that same period, federal tax revenue grew from about 8 percent of GDP to more than 20 percent. Americans who earned as little as $500 per year paid income tax at a 23 percent rate, while those who earned more than $1 million per year paid a 94 percent rate. The average income tax rate peaked in 1944 at 20.9 percent
horse shit. I just don't prefer to feed 5 generations of ghetto lice (you know they start cranking out niglets at 14) and trailer park meth whore spawn for nothing but "youth violence" in return.
Your bars idea is good, but it's easier to starve them all.
All wars started by 'false flags' instigated by core banks
youtube for zeigeist : Federal Reserve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmPchuXIXQ
Taxes run the factories?
I guess we need more guns.... unfortunately today the US acts as the aggressor.
greeks have guns but they are buried in the back yards. they do not want to play that hand until the end i guess...........
i remember when i saw the aussies saying they were burying guns in pvc pipes etc.........several years ago. we are the last place on earth just about that has a armed populace.
As a young fool I thought the 2nd Amendment was a little overstated. Now I thank God for it. Of course in NYC they can stamp on the Constitution at will.
Good article link below. Notice the shift from corporate to Individual income tax . During World War Two, income tax receipts from corporations were 50 % greater than from individuals.
http://www.rdwolff.com/content/corporations-government-give-us-more-tax-us-lessWho knew that the financial crisis could be so Dickensian? And at the same time Disneyesque?
The US arrival to power was class warfare: a burgeoning middle class, taking on the upper class, promising the lower class stuff that would never come if they helped to oust the upper class.
Nothing has changed since the US inception. Same song, same story.
Raving about a fabled past is just that, raving.
+1984
Eric Blair knew that the middle manipulates the low to overthrow the upper. The middle becomes upper. The upper disperses and the low stay right where they are.
Maybe they should be. Everyone is free to make the choices they wish. Some choose poorly. I have several minivans full of cousins that I could send over to your home for supper if you'd like to see an example up close.
doublepost
AnAnonymous,
You will get junked every time you make a comment here that does not please those who value their own opinions more than anyone else's.
We are lucky to have this site and the many open-minded and critical thinkers who are present, but please do not be offended by being junked----it may mean that you are saying something that someone does not want to hear.
Also, I agree with you about the myths we were told and read and were taught.
Read the recent pieces by Cognitive Dissonance for confirmation of this unsolicited opinion.
and keep the comments coming, brother om
A_A is talking like a man with a paper asshole and you are a fuking shitheaded moron.
slewie,
excuse me, but do you mean 'fucking' or 'puking' when you write 'fuking'?
Thanks for not junking me----om
yes, thank you for asking.
and, you're welcome.
Looks like right now, it's the upper class using the lower class as mercenaries in their war against the middle class.
"Hey oppressed minorities, we love you so much we have a special deal just for you: How about you give us the votes we need to rob the evil oppressors who have the skills to compete with us or escape from us. In exchange, we'll give you a cut of minus 50% (you'll be poorer, but you won't know why). You'll get to spend your whole lives eating junk food, watching junk TV, and breeding the ideal citizen: Dumb and dependent. Those of you with ambition can die in our wars, fill our prisons or scare people into giving up their liberties. Those of you with ambition and talent can become celebrities, providing useful distractions and maintaining the illusion of the American Dream. Oh yeah, and we promise that you will always have a SNAP card and a Dollar Menu you can buy from."
..."Uhhhh, can we get fries with that?"
this is simon's attempt to de-louse from the sycophantic parasites at his hotel last night.
tomorrow>>>bankruptcy & bedbugs!
Repost - it's a must...
".... The leveling demands of evil are for a democracy of being, a cosmic democracy in which all distinctions are nullified in favor of a commonality which blurs identity, responsibility, and meaning. Evil men seek to make all thingd evil; men who are failures demand a universal failure. And men unable or unwilling to rise above their low estate seek savagely to raze all eminence into a common democracy of mediocrity and defeat. Democracy is the great love of the failures and cowards of life, and involves a hatred of differences, because freedom is inseparable from differences, distinctions, discernment, and wise discrimination. But freedom is an enemy to those who hate responsibility, and accordingly must be destroyed as an aristocratic principle to make way for the "freedom" of total democracy, which is the end of all meanings, discriminations, and divisions, whether good or bad, in the name of this higher virtue, the mystical oneness and absorption into the mass of a fallen and corrupt humanity. "All primacy has to be paid for," either by total war against a hostile world, or by radical concession and submission to that world...."
RJ Rushdoony (commentary on Daniel 6)
Obama strikes me as a magnificent mediocrity. That must be why so many people love him.
"The philosophy I live by." -- Melissa Moon Gompers
These are what I call "the geniuses". Self appointed narcisistic sycophantic think-alikes who can nod heads in unison. No one, even a true genius such as myself can run a country, an economy a planet. That is the key to proper decision making. Greece has bought more "stuff" than it can or wants to pay for. It was sold to them and the public by the geniuses and they can't make their damn system work.
It will not work here in the U.S. either even though we fancy ourselves the brightest of the geniuses. Our historical genius was that we didn't try to run everything and we rejected the notion of the genius or the right of any elected or appointed geniuses to make any decisions for us.
I hope one day we remember that.
So true
democracy should be legislature and core services only, and all government expenditure should be utterly transparent.
modern technology means we could operate a true democracy where everybody voted electronically, or could choose to delegate their vote to a representative if they so chose but could withdraw that power at any time.
i'm not against taxation but as much as possible, it should be given back to the people to spend on the essential services as they see fit. also, no entitlement without responsibility.
some people just cant see that this would produce the most free, most efficient society, while still providing a safety net for those who get themselves into trouble.
fuck it though, this is never going to change. that's the reality - so wtf, better just accept the law of the jungle and start stacking your gold and keep out the system as much as is possible
I'm 32 now, and I'm no longer so idealistic as to believe the system will improve during my lifetime
The loyal subjects are screwed as long as they grant thier permission to the leaders to do so. Then, when they tire of the abuse that they have agreed to, they invent the latest guilloitine.
The masses are always wrong. One cannot be free, at the same time that one is a member of the crowd.
He who follows the flock, steps in shit.
Let's meet up at the Place de la Concorde for beer and wings. We can invite some of society's finest. They will provide the entertainment.
Ah! The Champagne Socialists. Here, Hugh Hendry tells one off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caI6R4UrDfg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
"It was truly pathetic… and yet another example of what passes for democracy today: One man who has never been elected is essentially given control of the money supply to do with it as he deems best in his sole discretion."
I thought Simon was smarter than that, but apparently he doesn't get it. Bernanke doesn't have the power, he just follows orders from the cartel. Hell, I thought everyone knew that.
Ah, glad to see my personal junker is in attendance today. I get worried when he misses a post or two.
I suspect when they say "Greece's poor" they really mean the immigrant/alien mob that has moved into Greece over the protests of local citizens over the last 20 years.
Am I correct?
Why is nobody mentioning that most of the PIIGS have engaged in mass immigration over the last 20 years and that might be one of the causes of their prolific social spending?
Why work when the state annihilates your wages with heavily imported workers?
In Spain the immigrants were and still are doing the menial work, in the fields, in the trash dept. etc.. The spanish, convinced they had "moved up" the ladder, took jobs in construction, real estate (service) and tourism (service). All of those dried up, while the menial work continued.
The PLANNED mass immigration started in the late seventies, all over europe. Also in countries like the Netherlands, France and Belgium. At first it was seasonal workers, mostly from southern european countries, then more and more from Turkey, and the northern African states. People brought over their families, took on a second passport and remained a workforce. Economies here (in the present form) relied on this cheap labour. A cultural divide was inevitable, as there was until after 2000 no real push to naturalise these workers and their families. Second and third generation male descendants often fall in a rift between indiginous and naturalised, and not naturalised (culturally) groups in society. The response to some of these generations (a percentage) also has had an impact on the northern european states, in that laws were changed in these former liberal countries. This process has yet to take place in the countries around the mediterranean sea.
As economic prosperity changes, throughout history, outsiders have been blamed, and most often ostracized.
One can argue that there's a positive impact of this cheap labour on society, but on the other hand it must be clear that allowing immigration in the first place, has had an impact. Certainly this effect is worse in countries that do not have much need for even cheaper labour, with rising unemployment. The population was kept happy with an unsustainable real estate boom, or handouts from the state, while their jobs were taken by people content with much less payment.
A very effective measure to undercut workers' power, is to bring in an outside force, of cheaper labour. It can be divisive in society in the longer run. It's nothing new, however. One thing to note is that the captains of industry in those mediterranean states knew very well what they were doing. Used humanism as argument, and continue up to this day, allowing immigration.
I said cultural rift; that is not always the case. In countries like the Netherlands and Spain immigrants, after an initial struggle, have managed to stay their ground, contribute in a positive sense, and grow closer, culturally towards the indiginous population and previous immigrants. This is also nothing new troughout history.
Greece is an example of how to run a country into the ground. It's elite is squarely to blame for the disastrous state of poor and middle class greek. The state handouts and paternalism only served to cover the fact, that, instead of constructing a system in which economy and a polulation as a whole can thrive, it was a failure, a streched out period of looting, false economic prosperity (prosperity in the form of growth in the service sector of the economy) and also served to make every citizen complicit in corruption and the inevitable failure.
Honest and more or less successful greek and italian run like hell, became immigrants themselves, inside the EU. The ones that stayed have seen their nation transformed in one generation.
Very effective model to ruin (formerly agricultural) economies and transfer wealth to an elite. Every action evoces a reaction so this will not end well. The end of the credit cycle is here, and the party is over.
Just seems to fit here (Let them eat cake):
http://www.salon.com/news/david_sirota/2011/07/13/great_recession_elitism_slideshow/slideshow.html
Via Taibblog...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08halfmill.html
Pete
I have been eating $20 steaks. The bad part is two years ago they were $5 steaks.
How can we be expected to take your perspective seriously, when you don't even know the difference between Daffy Duck and Donald Duck?
Thufferin' thuccotash!
I was about to say the same thing.
I wish those poor greeks had the second amendment.
I'm saddened TPTB believe their modern propaganda is more effective.....daffy was such a sheeple-douchebag.
/waaaay sarc!
It will happen, trust me. They have been trying to get at the 1.5 Trillion in 401K money that is invested in the market. They want it to buy treasuries, I bet real soon it will happen.
Did you know our Constitution was created in secret?
Maybe so, but the "Federalist Papers" were written to persuade the former colonists to ratify it (in the full light of day).
Time to burn them out of Greece. Break out the Molotovs...
I've been following the news in the Greek press recently and every day it seems there is some new revelation about G-Pap that makes me think-- Today is the day they're going to get rid of this government. And yet, it's still there.
A few days ago the news came out that G-Pap's brother was on some strategic committee of a company that dealt with Greek CDS and the company basically bet against Greece. Today, we learned that Russia expressed willingness to loan G-Pap 25 billion euros in early 2010, but G-Pap wasn't interested. He liked the IMF better, I guess.
There was without doubt police brutality and suppression of the right to assemble on the day of the vote in Parliament (along with evidence of agents provocateurs working with the police, giving them an excuse to crack down on the protest, the use of expired tear gas in unreasonable quantities, and beating people over the head who were trying to leave the Square).
There are lingering questions as to the constitutionality of the PM's signing away Greek sovereignty. There are questions as to why Greek CDS was sold by the government, knowing the economy would tank.
What else needs to happen? Are the Greeks even more cynical than we are? Some are very dedicated and idealistic. Will they be able to win? I can only hope!
***** "Some of the children swung by the restaurant’s outdoor terrace begging for change, only to be waved off by one of the delegate’s extended pinkie fingers as he sipped his wine." *****
If he has a nice pinky ring.. cut his pinky off and take it! that way he never waves it again!
JW, obviously you are not dirt poor...you have a computer and post on ZH. Which means there are a lot of people out there with a lot less than you. They may desire to cut something off you to reach something valuable...you ok with that?
if they are capable of taking from me they have earned it.. but this is not about me.. this is about the IMF waving off the poor children they are supposed to be helping but just not during dinner.
so it is far from the same my friend.. far and I reach quite a bit we both know.
Great assessment of the hypocrisy of the system and its components (politicians). Austerity measures for everyone (everyone of the peasants) but rest assured the politicians will be well taken care of. No talk ever of austerity measures for these hypocrites.
tell the chef who his customers are and have him shit in the dish, but don't tell them.
Then write a new story about it later how those bastards were served the dish they deserved.
Elites better learn that they are the ones who depends on the working class. Piss enough workers, workers will work against you albeit behind the scenes.
Ok...so the "Democratic" governmental systems of the world suck....everybody knows that. What type of democracy do you want to see? how would you structure it to deal with the problems you mentioned? and, who is going to run it? you? Don't you think in a few years, you would also be waving your pinky at the poor? The same people who run democracies are the same people who live in them, they have just been subjected to power and money. Take any tattoo and trailer hillbilly or any Harvard MBA and put them running things, they will turn to fucking garbage. So what do you suggest we do? design a democracy that is not run by corrupt people? Right. All people who aspire to lead either are corrupt, or will be. Human nature defines government. Human nature does not cope well with power.
Steak tartare, was it?
Madame Lafarge, to your knitting needle!
I'm really beginning to believe this whole Sovereign Man shit is coming outta some basement of Simon's parent's house in Peoria, Illinois. The shit on Chongqing was just bullshit, and as worldly as Simon acts, I really doubt that Middle class Greeks are camping out, and their kids are begging. Maybe he can't tell the difference between Gyspsies and Greeks?! For such a world traveller, thats hard to believe. I think this guy is just a con man. And the writing and imagery seems like someone with a very vivid imagination, who has watched lots of movies in his parents' basement. Just MHO.
but he is helping bash those that should be bashed, so his heart is in the right place.. whether or not he is where he says he is, is another question that is better left un-asked maybe. LOL
Yeah, I guess you might have a point. Lately though, I'm really starting to see the limits of verbal bashing. I really love coming to this site, reading some interesting shit, and getting some laughs, but without any physical, real action being taken, its starting to seem like pissing into the wind. We could have conclusive proof of every crime committed by the elites, and it wouldn't make a shit of a difference. There is no fear in being caught. I even hear people on here worried about the feds and whatnot listening in on comments here, but to be honest, I think nobody gives a shit about a buncha neutered folks blowing off steam on the internet. Its like the new opiate of the masses. Until somebody bombs sthg, or starts killing some folks, I feel we are wasting our breath and running up our blood pressure for naught.
But, "now we know, and knowing is half the battle!" -- G.I. Joe
This point of view is hated on here. US citizens do not like to face the fact that power does not bother about harmless speech. US citizens are supposed to have freedom of speech.
Yeah, it reminds me of an episode of the old Andy Griffith Show. Andy and Barney run into this paranoid guy that thought the Feds were after him for some reason I can't remember. Andy checked him out, and it turns out, the guy had nobody tracking him. Andy and Barney felt bad for the guy though cuz, his life and personality were very unremarkable, and this paranoia of his, gave him a reason to live, and an identity of sorts. So Andy decided to feed that paranoia to make the guy happy. That's the way a lot of these posters seem to be. Sorry folks, just calls em as I sees em :)
tsukato...i am impressed...you managed to make 3 or 4 posts in rapid succession without using the word 'cunt' or wishing ill will to the 'peasant americans'...you are refining your skills and your boss in peking should give you a raise...
well its been a long day, and I'm in a much more jovial mood today. However, don't you ever tire of this ridiculous chicom thing? What could the chinkies possibly gain from posting with a buncha nobodies on the internet? Nobody here has any sort of power or insight they don't already know. In addition, most of the posters like you are honest to god caricatures of the paranoid american loser. No offence, but with the way you're looking at the world, you could never be an outstanding person in whatever field you are in. Oh, unless you're an outstanding slurpee maker at circle k. Then I take back what I said
I'm in agreement with your comment. There are no Greeks in tents camping... this sounds like gypsies to me. Greeks have parents, grandparents, cousins, etc, They all double up, even sleep on the floor and share expenses in their relation's homes, but in tents? NOPE!!!
There is poverty in Greece. There was before may 2010, and there is more now.
There's also poverty in Spain, the divide between haves and have nots is growing rapidly.
I know this from first hand accounts.
Today’s democracy is nothing more that pseudo-authoritarian rule by an elite few, executed by legions of self-deluding freeloaders who have convinced themselves that their current bureaucratic roles are both necessary and honorable… as well as a stepping stone into the next job which will be even more necessary and honorable...... BRAVO.... Well said......
Facts a fact...Jack.
Imagine, paying for a war.
During the Weimar years in Germany, due to the massive debt of the country and reparations payments to France, UK and USA, it was considered patriotic to NOT pay taxes.
From each according to his abilility, to each according to his needs.
Besides, those street urchins couldn't appreciate a good bottle of wine if struck by it upside their 'eads ;)
They can keep their FRELLING democracy!
I will take my Constitutional Republic anyday!
By the way, where did I put that CR? Oh, the fed bought it and turned into a feudal system with serfs. There we go!
When the few rule the many, this corruption is what we get. It doesn't matter if they are dictators, or they are elected. I'm indignant just like they are in Greece and Spain, and I want real democracy.
Maybe you should hang out in Greece a bit more. There are very few ways Greece is similar to the USA. The most obvious is that Greece is a working democracy. The USA is a failed democracy. The EU and Greece is a great target for those racists, imperialists, anarchists and naive ones.
But Greece is different from any other place; so judging Greece or the EU from USA-empire-tinted glasses will only bring illogic to the conclusions.
The European Union's number 1 goal in forming was to avoid any other confrontations like WWII. So far so good. The EU has enabled travel and trade and made the amount and quality of scientific research extremely valuable.
What didn't it do? The EU did not foresee the degree to which Wall Street white collar criminality would destroy the global market. I doubt in their meanest moods the EU wouldn’t image such illegal and immoral activities; let alone block banks from business on mainland Europe “just in case.”
It's true that at this precise moment no tried and true ways to build walls against the cutely named financial products imported to the mainland with their unregulated consequences on honest people around the world.
The EU has not been able to get the monkey off its back yet either: the USA. Who has no business determining who gets into the EU when they get into the EU based on loans loaded with expensive caveats or who gets to have the biggest military base - wait a minute - yes, America does. Another wall must go up but with Germany and France denying their culpability in banking fiascos and corporate frauds - and teaming up with the seemingly unending bombing of Libyan's people - the employees of the EU have tough work using diplomacy and reason to progress toward a just Europe.
Perhaps some people are a little jealous of EU employees and their steak tartar (yuk). I would suggest a guest internship or a volunteer 6 month stay at the EU and find out what it's all about.
But if you are against George Papandreiou and want Greece to lose her Sovereignty - keep beating up on the people we need to protect her sovereignty and democracy.
And be ready for whatever it takes to get rid of the Euro because the Dollar-military-maniacs don't seem to have any self-control. Take a peek at Iraq and Libya. Do you really think Greece and Ireland have any more respect from Americans than Iraq and Libya?? Get ready to accept more refugees too, Woops, how politically incorrect of me - - Who is ready to add more multi- culturism into their country? What? Wha? Speak up someone. Anyone? . . . .
Maybe you should hang out in Greece a bit more. There are very few ways Greece is similar to the USA. The most obvious is that Greece is a working democracy. The USA is a failed democracy. The EU and Greece is a great target for those racists, imperialists, anarchists and naive ones.
But Greece is different from any other place; so judging Greece or the EU from USA-empire-tinted glasses will only bring illogic to the conclusions.
The European Union's number 1 goal in forming was to avoid any other confrontations like WWII. So far so good. The EU has enabled travel and trade and made the amount and quality of scientific research extremely valuable.
What didn't it do? The EU did not foresee the degree to which Wall Street white collar criminality would destroy the global market. I doubt in their meanest moods the EU wouldn’t image such illegal and immoral activities; let alone block banks from business on mainland Europe “just in case.”
It's true that at this precise moment no tried and true ways to build walls against the cutely named financial products imported to the mainland with their unregulated consequences on honest people around the world.
The EU has not been able to get the monkey off its back yet either: the USA. Who has no business determining who gets into the EU when they get into the EU based on loans loaded with expensive caveats or who gets to have the biggest military base - wait a minute - yes, America does. Another wall must go up but with Germany and France denying their culpability in banking fiascos and corporate frauds - and teaming up with the seemingly unending bombing of Libyan's people - the employees of the EU have tough work using diplomacy and reason to progress toward a just Europe.
Perhaps some people are a little jealous of EU employees and their steak tartar (yuk). I would suggest a guest internship or a volunteer 6 month stay at the EU and find out what it's all about.
But if you are against George Papandreiou and want Greece to lose her Sovereignty - keep beating up on the people we need to protect her sovereignty and democracy.
And be ready for whatever it takes to get rid of the Euro because the Dollar-military-maniacs don't seem to have any self-control. Take a peek at Iraq and Libya. Do you really think Greece and Ireland have any more respect from Americans than Iraq and Libya?? Get ready to accept more refugees too, Woops, how politically incorrect of me - - Who is ready to add more multi- culturism into their country? What? Wha? Speak up someone. Anyone? . . . .
Maybe you should hang out in Greece a bit more. There are very few ways Greece is similar to the USA. The most obvious is that Greece is a working democracy. The USA is a failed democracy. The EU and Greece is a great target for those racists, imperialists, anarchists and naive ones.
But Greece is different from any other place; so judging Greece or the EU from USA-empire-tinted glasses will only bring illogic to the conclusions.
The European Union's number 1 goal in forming was to avoid any other confrontations like WWII. So far so good. The EU has enabled travel and trade and made the amount and quality of scientific research extremely valuable.
What didn't it do? The EU did not foresee the degree to which Wall Street white collar criminality would destroy the global market. I doubt in their meanest moods the EU wouldn’t image such illegal and immoral activities; let alone block banks from business on mainland Europe “just in case.”
It's true that at this precise moment no tried and true ways to build walls against the cutely named financial products imported to the mainland with their unregulated consequences on honest people around the world.
The EU has not been able to get the monkey off its back yet either: the USA. Who has no business determining who gets into the EU when they get into the EU based on loans loaded with expensive caveats or who gets to have the biggest military base - wait a minute - yes, America does. Another wall must go up but with Germany and France denying their culpability in banking fiascos and corporate frauds - and teaming up with the seemingly unending bombing of Libyan's people - the employees of the EU have tough work using diplomacy and reason to progress toward a just Europe.
Perhaps some people are a little jealous of EU employees and their steak tartar (yuk). I would suggest a guest internship or a volunteer 6 month stay at the EU and find out what it's all about.
But if you are against George Papandreiou and want Greece to lose her Sovereignty - keep beating up on the people we need to protect her sovereignty and democracy.
And be ready for whatever it takes to get rid of the Euro because the Dollar-military-maniacs don't seem to have any self-control. Take a peek at Iraq and Libya. Do you really think Greece and Ireland have any more respect from Americans than Iraq and Libya?? Get ready to accept more refugees too, Woops, how politically incorrect of me - - Who is ready to add more multi- culturism into their country? What? Wha? Speak up someone. Anyone? . . . .
OK Vicki
Very nice post and true from what I understand---Thanks.
"And be ready for whatever it takes to get rid of the Euro because the Dollar-military-maniacs don't seem to have any self-control. Take a peek at Iraq and Libya. Do you really think Greece and Ireland have any more respect from Americans than Iraq and Libya?? Get ready to accept more refugees too, Woops, how politically incorrect of me -"
the above was especially well written and how some of us comprehend reality. Unfortunately, we are few and have no voice with the exception of a few sites such as ZH-----thanks, again om
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