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An Orwellian America
Via Gordon T Long (pdf)
An Orwellian America
As a young man, I voraciously read George Orwell’s “1984”, Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Alvin Toffler's trilogy which included "Future Shock"', "The Third Wave" and "Power Shift". During the era of the Vietnam War, I wondered seriously about the future and how it was destined to unfold. Now being considerably older, I have the vantage point to reflect back on my early ruminations and expectations. Unfortunately, I am too old to alter the lessons that are now so painfully obvious. Instead, I pass the gauntlet to those who can understand and take action on what I have unavoidably come to expect for America.
A FRAMEWORK OF UNDERSTANDING
THE 'HUXLEY-ORWELL' TRANSITION
I recently read a perceptive paper by Chris Hedges that would have made any English Professor envious, powerfully philosophical but not something an Economics department would pay much attention to. I found it both intriguing and enlightening.
I have borrowed so heavily from it, that I am unsure where the lines diverge. Therefore, below I give full credit to Chris Hedges and take full credit for all the bad ideas.
Chris Hedges of TruthDig.com wrote 2011: A Brave New Dystopia, from which the following evolved.
The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” The debate, between those who watched our descent towards corporate totalitarianism, was who was right. Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second.
We have been gradually disempowered by a corporate state that, as Huxley foresaw, seduced and manipulated us through:
• Sensual gratification,
• Cheap mass-produced goods,
• Boundless credit,
• Political theater and
• Amusement.
While we were entertained,
• The regulations that once kept predatory corporate power in check were dismantled,
• The laws that once protected us were rewritten and
• We were impoverished.
Now that:
• Credit is drying up,
• Good jobs for the working class are gone forever and
• Mass-produced goods are unaffordable,
.... we find ourselves transported from “Brave New World” to “1984.”
The state, crippled by massive deficits, endless war and corporate malfeasance, is clearly sliding toward unavoidable bankruptcy.
It is time for Big Brother to take over from Huxley’s feelies, the orgy-porgy and the centrifugal bumble-puppy.
We are transitioning from a society where we are skillfully manipulated by lies and illusions to one where we are overtly controlled.
Huxley, we are discovering, was merely the prelude to Orwell.
Now that the corporate coup is over, we stand naked and defenseless. We are beginning to understand, as Karl Marx knew:
Unfettered and unregulated capitalism is a brutal and revolutionary force that exploits human beings and the natural world until exhaustion or collapse.
UNSOUND MONEY LEADS TO STATISM
With this as a backdrop let's explore how Unsound Money in concert with the Huxley-Orwell Transition leads to Statism, the path which I believe we are presently on.
THE CATALYSTS BEHIND THE "TRANSITION"
1- UNSOUND MONEY
• Removal from Gold Standard and adoption of Fiat Currency regime (in August 1971 during the winding down of the Vietnam War; the first War ever fought without tax increases to pay for it; the beginning of endless 'conflicts' and the War on "Terror").
• Creation and Fostering of a $67 Trillion Shadow Banking Credit Growth,
• Massive Securitization & Off Balance Sheet Contingent Liability Debt Growth.
2- POLICY FAILURES
• Failed Monetary Policy & Monetary Malpractice,
• Moral Malady,
• Failed Fiscal Policy,
• Failed Public Policy,
• Growth of Political Polarization,
• Entrenched 'Left-Right' Factions,
• An Un-Governable Democracy.
3- CRISIS OF TRUST
• Lost Respect & Confidence
• A Doomed Middle Class
• A Broken Social Contract
4- AUTHORITARIAN ACCEPTANCE
• Central Planning
• Growth in Regulations & Control
• Crony Capitalism & Corporatocracy
• Big Government
• The Huxley - Orwell Transition
CRUMBLING BARRIERS
• The Great Huxley-Orwell Transition
• From Manipulative to Repressive
ROADBLOCKS
• Financial Security through Sound Money REMOVED
• Reduced Personal Freedoms through a Crisis PENDING
• Reduced Personal Security through a Constitutional Crisis FUTURE
DRIVERS
• Globalization & Complexity
o Fragile versus Robust Systems
o Interconnectivity and Counter Party Dependency
• The Productivity Paradox
o Creative Destruction & Job Creation
Let's shift gears and consider what "greases the skids" in enabling this transition in our society to occur.
COLLECTIVISM
In The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek showed how governments, supported by a collectivist mindset, always tend towards totalitarianism. Even the most libertarian government thus far created, the government of the United States, has slipped incrementally towards totalitarianism over the past two centuries. This is because it is an inherent trait of a government.
The degree of socialism in the United States increased substantially after the establishment of the Federal Reserve System (1913) and the measures taken during the Great Depression (1929-46) which it created. Ever since the early 1900's the United States has had a two-party system dominated by 'socialists'. The Republican Party has always advocated conservative socialism. The Democratic Party, which in the 19th century favored libertarianism, advocates social-democratic socialism. So long as people are divided by Left and Right, Democratic and Republican, the US is prone to being influenced by factions who transcend party politics and from behind the scenes could possible exert strong control over the United States. They could do this by maintaining power over public opinion and hence over the course of government. Steadily, the United States has been travelling down the road to totalitarianism, and many people have not noticed, possibly because they are only looking at the position on the Left-Right paradigm.
Upon further analysis, it is clear that Left, Right and Centre, are all forms of socialism. In particular, we may call them "social-democratic socialism" (the Left) and "conservative socialism" (the Right). They are both socialism because they both share the principle that the government should "run" and "mold" society, by using legal force and intervention to transfer property and personal wealth as part of the political scientists' process of 'redistribution of wealth'.
The differences are only in the particular ways the government should run society - the methods it should use, and who, exactly, should be the recipients of government wealth transfers and who should pay. In particular:
• Social democrats tend to prefer heavy taxation, large wealth transfers to the poor, and nationalized industries, and oppose price controls, regulations and behavioral controls.
• Conservatives tend to prefer lower taxation, a smaller welfare state, regulated (cartelized) industries, price controls, product and behavioral controls.
Nolan Charts: Personal Freedom versus Economic Freedom
The modern Republican Party is Center-Right on the Left-Right paradigm. As with the Democratic Party, this obscures the huge range of views Republicans hold on how powerful and how much control the State should be allowed. Their 2008 presidential nominee John McCain, like Barack Obama, strongly favored socialism, though with a Right-wing flavor. Barack Obama (blue circle) and John McCain (red circle) are positioned in the accompanying graphic. Thus, the two main candidates at the 2008 Presidential election represented a false choice - really no choice at all. One candidate, Ron Paul (yellow circle), stood in stark contrast to the candidates, favored by the mainstream media and political establishment. As would be expected, he was neutralized by the mainstream media outlets as a zealot with an unsound political view of America.
THE POLITICAL CONTINUUM
THE EMERGING ROADMAP TO STATISM
Let me now develop and explore the roadmap that outlines the path leading from Policy Failures and Monetary Malpractice, stemming from Unsound Money, to STATISM.
First we will build the outline for the basis of a roadmap on a number of observable continuums.
The more complex that issues become, the more collectivism will dominate and individual needs will be repressed. In turn governments will be forced to be more repressive to maintain control over increasing polarization and diverse views and opinions.
EVOLVING STAGES
When we arrange our various continuums we arrive at the representative grid model shown below.
We will quickly acknowledge it is not ideal, but it allows many concepts currently at play to be shown in relationship to others.
This grid is best described as the social forces at play within Globalization - Financial, Economic and Political.
DRIVER$ - VISIBLE & INVISIBLE
There are both visible and less visible forces at play that are forcing 'greasing' the skids in the movement towards Statism.
The roadmap integrates well into our roadmap from our THESIS 2011: Beggar-Thy-Neighbor / Currency Wars and 2012 Thesis: Financial Repression papers. ()
ORWELL'S 1984 IS HAPPENING
We are one crisis away from a police state. All the powers are in place. Someone will flip the switch. Whether a Cyber Attack, escalating Currency War tensions or a 'terrorist' attack by indebted college youth, it is only a matter of time and circumstance.
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Johnny Cash |Hurt
Excellent article, although such truth still terrifies me.
"We are one crisis away from a police state ... "
Coming to a theater near you this SUMMER......
William Binney and ex NSA official who spent 40 years at the agency has been quoted as saying: "we are like that far (putting his thumb and forefinger together) from a turnkey totalitarian state."
It's over.....
It's really that simple, the system no longer works for you and me.
Articulate it, intellectualize it, even come to peace with it.
It's over, time to move on, what we got can't be fixed.
What's next?
drugs....spice....loss of limbs...robot servants...no taxes...no property...kevlar body suits....sea farns...desalination and depissing plants...underground food...geo thermal power...energy from faeces...?
As interesting and true as they are, I don't find articles like this helpful.
It's sort of like the optimists are always promising utopia just one more year away, right? Well you can't just keep saying that dystopia is just one more year or event away. You will keep saying that forever.
Don't know about you but I'm feeling dystopia in the present.
leaving dattopia alone? :>)
Oregon company to sell Drone defence technology to public.....
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/15/oregon-company-to-sell-dr...
Got some disposible income?
This is the new Venture capital investiment of the century....
Ah, from that liberal bastion that is Oregon... too many people underestimate the level of distaste of the federal govt up in that part of the country.
At least Twinkies will be back before we die to be free.
Absolutley brilliant analysis...
Hitler was the son of a postal employee (burocrat suck when there weren't many), proletarian by birth, a frustrated left wing artist and doodler, a dreamer, a private in the army .... not an officer, a plebe, a union organizer, a political hack who never had a real business or job, he was addicted to shooting up with speed, he was a vegetarian, he was a national socialist, he hated communists because they were a rival to his socialism, he didn't hate communism as a libertarian hates communism, he was a statist control freak, he was a rabble rouser, everything about him was proletarian and leftist and statist .............. Stalin had a twenty year head start on socialism Russia .... but, Hitler had every intention of socializing Germany .... so why do the leftists try to disown him .... they are him ? He was a nobody from nowhere .... just like Obama !
@Mone:
Hitler was the son of a postal employee
Me: he was the son of a customs official,
proletarian by birth,
Wrong, his upbringing was bourgeois, his family was successful and financially secure, So was Adolf until his mother died in 1907, also during periods when his father's estate was distributed.
a frustrated left wing artist and doodler,
He was an unsuccessful architectural/figurative artist during a period of exuberant modernism in an international art capital, Vienna,
a dreamer,
A pan-German nationalist even as a young man,
a private in the army .... not an officer,
He was a corporal in the German army ... a regimental runner who survived the war in the front lines from the beginning by not taking command duties, which would have fallen to a sargeant.
a plebe,
bourgeouis like his family,
a union organizer,
wrong, an 'intelligence officer' for the Reichswehr after the war,
a political hack who never had a real business or job
He was a paid informant before becoming a professional politician. He was a successful author, by the way, becoming what would be considered a millionaire, today.
... he was addicted to shooting up with speed,
Toward the end of the war, Hitler's doctor was a quack who gave Hitler speed among other 'medications' ,
he was a vegetarian,
so am I what of it?
he was a national socialist,
He better have been, he started the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
he hated communists because they were a rival to his socialism,
He believed Soviets were part of a vast Jewish conspiracy, he also believed Russia was once ruled by Teutonic Germans.
he didn't hate communism as a libertarian hates communism,
Libertarians hate all sorts of things, they just wallow in hate.
he was a statist control freak,
He was a dictator. WTF?
he was a rabble rouser
Which was a reason why he was successful while gray-flannel politicians like Stresemann and von Papen failed,
everything about him was proletarian and leftist and statist
Hitler acted to further the interests of German industrialists particularly in the dye- and chemical industries, he also favored bankers particularly UK and US versions. At no time did Hitler ever nationalize any industry including those in acquired territories, these being absorbed by German firms.
Stalin had a twenty year head start on socialism Russia
Stalin took power in 1923, Hitler in 1933, but who actually counts these days?
Hitler had every intention of socializing Germany ....
That's idiotic, Hitler's intention was to create an ethnic German super-state run by big businesses.
so why do the leftists try to disown him ....
Maybe because Hitler executed tens of thousands of German socialists and Communists after he gained power.
they are him ? He was a nobody from nowhere .... just like Obama !
What does Obama have to do with anything?
You clearly don't know anything about Hitler, Stalin, WWII or Nazism. You would be laughed out of any WWII forum or for that matter any modeler's forum.
If you represent the best libertarianism has to offer, (shakes head).
"Maybe because Hitler executed tens of thousands of German socialists and Communists after he gained power."
I am truly amazed at how many people on ZH have completely fuzzy ideas about what Socialism, Marxism, Communism, Fascism and Nazism really are. They seem to mix and match these different "isms" with very little knowledge.
Bankster created puppet "isims" only act to make the puppet-master banksters profit more. All are disposable after usage.
So you still believe its all about tribal politics? As long as you continue to believe there is a damn bit of difference between left and right, you are part of the problem.
Your village called, their idiot is missing.
Well, according to this, dictatorship has to be near, as Skeeter needs a food taster, like all good tyrants:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/14/obama-couldnt-eat-at-hill-meeting-with...
Of course, someone may have used this as a cover story; some Islamic scholars say shellfish are not legit for muslims.
Either way, this guy is insane.
We all know it's happening, what are we going to do about it?
Things ultimately collapse on themselves. Just sit back and watch the wheels fall off the wagon. Carry on puppet n00bs..Hehehehee
The Chameleons UK -Monkeyland
Re-write the Constitution so even Joe Biden can understand it ? Remember, for every mediocre Monedas .... there are 1,000 brain dead socialists .... do the math ! Greenpeace will gladly eliminate 90% of human life .... they'll save 10% as zoo keepers !
I see AIPAC are paying you for each post monedas, hows the weather in tel aviv today, sunny with a 5% chance of rockets?
http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/03/splc-letter-to-doj-dhs-patriot-groups-...
CIA, FBI, NSA get full access to financial data on American citizens and others
Financial institutions that operate in the United States are required by law to file reports of "suspicious customer activity," such as large money transfers or unusually structured bank accounts, to Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
http://homment.com/cia-fbi-access-finance-data
www.fincen.gov/
Worthless organization. Check out the case load vs. the last time they reported to Congress. Let’s just rebrand them as fincenloafers. gov
It must be the weekend, the usual von Mises/Hayekian nonsense about how 'Happy Days' and the Fonz will return all we need to do is get rid of the government.
If Chris Hedges knew what Long was doing he would ask you not to use his name or cite his work: sez Ronald Wright in a recent Hedges article:
See what I mean?
Be careful what you wish for: I'm falling in love with so-called 'sound' money b/c it is harshly deflationary and a crude enforcer of resource conservation. I'll take any collapse I can get, any way I can get it!
Gold, bitchez!
Are you a Chris Hedges, stop the world I want to get off, Greenspeace population control officer ? I think we're doomed to one hell of a mess .... and I'm an upbeat, glass is half full kinda guy !
Chris Hedges put himself on the line when he sued the government over the NDAA:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_ndaa_and_the_death_of_the_democr...
Rand Paul stood up for constitutional rights when he introduced a filabuster over drones in america:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdigger_of_the_week_rand_paul_20...
Would I think that either has a great economic plan? No. And I don't. The markets don't. I'm not sure where we go from here but both of the above imo are noteworthy for putting themselves on the line for standing up for what they believe in.
And the sooner we get over red/blue conservative/liberal labels, the better.
Bingo...
Interesting thing. The original site for this has been rerouted. Here is a fine example of why it is important to back-up copy articles and hard copy them on other pages for posterity purposes. Why do you think anyone would want to hide what is on here, when everybody knows how corrupted the congress and senate is? Never in history has there been so many anti-American things in the business of govt, and THIS is the problem in America today. No oversight at all.
Here is this interesting report.
16 Reasons Why Congress Has a Low Approval rating.March 14, 2013
FBI: Just Existing Living Our Life and Being Born, You Might Be a Terrorist
Congress is useless. We have a crybaby as speaker of the house. We have a mental case as a minority leader. The US Senate is a bunch of empty suits. None of them really represent us. K-street dominates the agenda. With only a handful of brave souls fighting for the rights of the people, and the US Congress is disappointing.
Since the Tea Party victory in 2010, the political establishment in both parties has quashed the agenda. Some have been there so long in congress they have nurses ready to change out an oxygen tanks to keep the person breathing. Many of these people need to go home and live under the laws they pass and impose on us. The low approval of Congress has been a long time coming. Here are reasons why congress is held in much contempt by the public.
1. Congressmen and woman have bounced checks. Nothing was done, only a select few were punished. Many who did it will never see inside a jail cell. A peasant will have the book thrown at them.
2. The House Postal Scandal when Congressmen laundered money using the Post office through stamps. Still no one went to jail.
3. The Congress exempts themselves from the laws they pass like the Social Security Act and Obamacare. Still we will go to jail or be fined heavily if we do not pay our social security taxes on our hired help and will face a costly penalty for refusing to purchase expensive health insurance under Obamacare.
4. Congress insider trades, a thing we can go to jail for by politicians who make themselves immune from prosecution. The US Government owes Martha Stewart an apology for going after her for insider trading they could never prove. They just sent her to prison for another charge lying to the government for a crime they could not prove.
5. Attorney General Eric Holder responsible for operation fast and furious is not arrested or charged for running guns to Mexico. The AG lied to congress and is walking free. Still the US Government goes after Roger Clemons for lying to Congress. Eric Holder walks and Roger Clemons spent a lot of money on lawyer to stay out of jail.
6. There is no objection from Congress when President Obama bypasses Congress with the use of executive orders when legislation fails to pass the legislative process.
7. The Speaker of the House has removed the most Conservative and constitutional members of Congress from key committees and subcommittees like Walter Jones and Justin Amash.
8. The Congress votes themselves pay raises. Something we cannot do.
9. Most of our Representative and Senators are bought and paid for by AIPAC to do the will of Israel against the wishes of the American people.
10. Congress votes for bills they do not read that affect the people, but exempt themselves from.
11. In 2011, the Congress had a chance to balance the budget by not raising the debt ceiling. They caved in to giving the President what he wants increasing the debt 1.4 trillion dollars. Also having a super congress which is not in the Constitution.
12. No banker or Wall Street Oligarch is held accountable by congress because they pay for their reelection campaigns. Illegal foreclosures and other financial crimes, money laundering drug money, john Corzine’s theft of segregated accounts. Congress looks the other way.
13. Congress investigates steroid use in professional baseball but ignores the steroid problem in law enforcement at all levels from the city to the county.
14. They vote for laws that violate Constitution. They passed the NDAA that allows the right of habeas corpus to be destroyed. The voted to keep the Patriot Act law against the wishes of the people.
15. Congress failed to stop Obama launching wars without a declaration of war. They havebeen silent.
16. Congress has done nothing. They are useless to the people, but not to the bankers and Israel.
The trouble is. Congress is in session for way too long. They need to return to their districts and live under the laws they pass more than they need to be in Washington DC being wined and dined by lobbyist of MONSANTO and taking vacations to Israel paid for the Israeli lobby. Maybe if Congress stayed home more with the people they represent and not in Washington, that low nine percent approval rating Congress has will disappear. You agree?
http://www.thelonestarwatchdog.com/2013/03/14/reasons-why-congress-has-a-low-approval-rating/
What is a 'Greenpeace population control officer'?
It's all part of the plan. It's not even a particularly secret plan.
For the most part, social conditioning and corporate media bias/slant has been wildly successful in getting people to be unable to see the obvious.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/fiveisraelis.html
I have to laugh at the 'come and take it talk'. The time to start playing offense began under Clinton, and became crucial after 9/11. For fuck's sake most people think it was OBL. Most people think OBL was a foreign jihadi with James Bond-like tech and wit.
The problem is private central bankers, war profiteers, and Israel and it's highly organized 5th column in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France and elsewhere.
If you can find a copy of Ford's book "The International Jew" it is well worth reading. You don't have to agree with it all, but you might be surprised by the astute nature of that work. No, it's not your dentist or the guy who sells furniture on TV. But it very much is your Richard Perles, Abe Foxmans, Doug Feiths, Wolfowitzes, Wurmsers, Cohens, Kristols, Dershowitzes, and on and on and on.
I was very familiar with the Office of Special Plans before Iraq and saw how the mostly Jewish neocons who'd written position papers for Bibi were fabricating evidence to get us into a war that was always about Israel primarily, an secondly the petrodollar/oil companies.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/01/lie-factory
They're still there, you know. Do you really, really believe that all these right-wing, nationalistic Jews in high places are a sheer coincidence? Guys like Perle and Feith are borderline morons... no - it's because they've been bootstrapped up by other members of their little cabal.
The security state is a symptom of the Zionist goal of hijacking the US govrnment, military, and intelligence apparati. This isn't the only thing going on, but it's very much the biggest thing as to Iran and future actions.
I bet a draft seems really unlikely, too, doesn't it. Well, it's coming. And it's about private central banking and Greater Israel...the petrodollar is not a concern of the international banks in the mid term because even if Iran was made to sell its oil in dollars, the writing is still on the wall.
I am not optimistic that 'we' can win with so many ignorant and dependent on a money system and government that enslaves and robs them.
OBL was the greatest bad guy in history. An 8 ft tall, multi-billionaire, cave living, porn watching, shape-shifting, 72 virgin fucking, sand-nigger on dialysis. Hilarious. Did Stan Lee invent him?
I'm still wondering how he was able to wire WTC7 with explosives and bring it down right under our very eyes- and orchestate a complete stand down of the Norad Defense system -while hiding out in caves thousands of miles away undergoing daily dialysys. The guy was amazing. I think he had help from hostile aliens -the kind that are hiding out in underground sea bases under the ocean.
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nfah Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Until Osama Bin Laden came along my favorite fairy tale was Goldilocks and the Three Bears
We all might find out what our true potentials are if we were willing to give up everything and live in a cave. Most seem to think they can overcome huge centrally controlled governments and military powers while setting at our computers, typing away in our pj's.
I've always felt that there is no draft because our leaders know deep down that implementing the draft will blow the US to smithereens.
who will they draft?
the under-30 crowd isn't the same group that were targeted for the draft last time, not in education, nor health, nor relative awareness.
the future cannot be the same as the past, things have changed over time, radically.
you can't get there from here.
Correct, America cannot handle another draft. Too many people, even today's generation knows the score.
Apart from the presentation which reminds me of a 1st yr management lecture, it's a great article. Most of the comments are equally interesting to read, although there are always the usual bipolar arguments about individualism, collectivism, liberals and socialists to a degree so simplified, it's almost infantile. Why can't you all champion individual freedom while applauding the fact that all the great human achievements were done by collective cooperation?
The collective-v-individual paradigm is not the problem imo, it was and always will be the bastards who set themselves up as leaders in the world to impose their will 'for our own good'. When they seize power, not always visible power - it might just be a high ranking civil service job or corporation - they may have started with the best intentions or political philosophy, but those intentions become a distant second consideration to keeping that power for themselves forever. And that's where Huxley and Orwell come in, to facilitate their desire to stay in control for as long as they want.
If you have ever been in charge of a group of people you will know how exhilarating it is to have others do your bidding and how hard it is to give up that position and its associated perks, even if it is sheer drudgery most days. It is incredibly hard to relinquish command once you have it, and you rationalise all sorts of crap to keep it. Therein lies the problem: human nature. The ones who willingly give that up after they achieve their goals for the greater good are so very rare outside charities and religious orders that they may as well be fictional characters.
Whatever your pet politics, the proclaimed leaders - from heads of state to the beaurocrats - are the problem, and the beauty of democracy is not in the hiring of them, but the firing. We really ought to be able to fire anyone who has control over others when they show any signs of domination. Systems that empower individuals, encourage respect for each other, offer opportunities for personal growth and wealth can only exist in a world where leadership is decentralised to the many, and those many make decisions on the collective good instead of selfish reasons. I believe that's what they had in mind when democracy was first envisioned.
"...but those intentions become a distant second consideration to keeping that power for themselves forever"
One of the most important turning points in American history is when George Washington, after two terms, gave up power and returned to his farm. It didn't have to be that way. Many times in history "founding fathers" refuse to give up power and become dictators.
We had to wait 230 years for our first military dictator.
"collective cooperation" by force or by free will, there is a difference. the great pyramids were built by collective cooperation, but it was force cooperation which is slavery. i choose not to live under that collective thank you very much....
Absolutely. But I think you are confusing cooperation with coercion, perhaps deliberately. The building of the pyramids can never be described as being for the collective good when its purpose was one man's grand mausoleum, using slave labour. I know some of you have a mental block against the word "collective" but just read the last paragraph on democracy before engaging your Pavlovian reflexive reaction to seeing that word in a sentence.
Awh it ain't that complicated. People round the world get hungry they all (billions of them) know the Rotheschilds Rockefellers, Haraman and various Soros type vermin are the enemies to go after if they want to stop tyranny in their nations. Whether young or old American, European or Asian everyone knows who to go after in the case of a military threat.
That is a big difference compared to the old Hi Ho Hitler days. Additionally when things start to break, with the tech available to thousands of military commanders, any one of them could start a coup to challenge the status quo. It ain't like it used to be mostly because high powered technology is easily accessable to millions.
I do believe those with influence and power will choose not to go down a path with such risks. Unless of course the idiot stepson with the families deletarious genes has taken control.
Could you imagine if it was factual and everyone knew that when you died that you just came back again in a new body and lived another life on planet Earth, and that this just happened over and over again?
The human instinct of preservation of self would really kick in as regards the future and people would be a LOT more concerned about what effects their current actions will have on their future (ie. their next lifetime). Destroying the forests; polluting the lakes, rivers and oceans; pumping hydro-carbons into the atmosphere, using up all the natural resources, etc. etc. would not be happening as man does not like to poop in his own bed.
Riverworld ?
make interest only debt (mortgages and governments) compulsory, no need to ever repay the principle!
The Law of Karma. Research it.
New headline for today...
It’s a good thing that we just pinned down the Higgs Boston God particle to bail out the EU.
http://home.web.cern.ch/
{dot ch[a] ching}
You bitches think europe funds god palticle? I have most honorable Obama stimulas blidge to no were to sell you and empty ghost cities.
Listen carefully, what you hear is truth - OBEY COMRADES and conform now.. Your chair is waiting.
It seams to me that they are trying to bring back the cold war.
This for example: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/15/17327806-us-to-deploy-more-gr...
Seems more like they just need plausible excuses to spend more money, and they may well get desperate. You know what they say about desperate men..
Sequestration is only the beginning of Austerity. We're about to see very big changes coming our way. Keep your head down and your powder dry mates.
Excellent summary, really pulls the pieces together.
My analysis of these charts reveals an effective strategy for future returns. Go long 'beautifully restored Third Reich swizzle sticks'.
Now is a good time to reflect on the weakness of power. This is that power can only be effective if those who it is exercised over actually agree to this happening...and if we all disagree the power will fail. All is not yet lost.
And the USA is HUGE historically with a multitude of independent free thinking people. I don't see it being centrally controlled from Washington DC.... in a socialist authoritarian sense anyway...
I'm still down and out in London and Paris.
“The stars are a free show; it don’t cost anything to use your eyes”
That's my halting place.
Overall, an excellent and thought-provoking post,
A small quibble. No "technophilia" on the right? Hmmm. The military-industrial complex survives on pandering to technophilia. Gun-owners frequently gush over the technical features of their favorite arms. Etc.
"I lived for 5 years under the surveillance state. I was charged with espionage. The only thing that saved me was alternative media."
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/311537-1#
I went and checked out 1984 at the library for this very reason. This was in early 2011. I was still many years too late.
it was originally titled "1948" but orwell was persuaded to retitle it...
i think that both these authors exhibited manic depressive tendencies and could not articulate a positive narrative.
a problem that plagues all sci-fi fantasy writing.
my imagination can still find positives (like the invention of anti-gravity transportation or anti-aging health treatments or body free/brain activated "meaningful" existence, all for free of course) bu there ya go..i also liked "atlas shrugged", love heavy metal and R&B and my favorite movie is the original conan the barbarian, so what would I know!
down vote = potential or current sci fi writer? :>)
mustn't forget that Winston Smith rewrote history at the mInistry of Truth in the novel 1984
shadow stats is still published so that's a plus.
people want to be left alone; governments wants to dominate people...bleh
viva spartacus!
Now now, with the DJIA hitting home runs and Dr Krugman telling us that the solution is being fabricated by Uncle Ben's rice pudding fabricated in Q-infinity mode, as consumerism running wild so requires, why on earth all this doom and gloom?
With minds like that what could go wrong?
not much different from witch doctors and catholics...can't bring muself to take up buddhism or shinto or hinduism either..thought life was supposed to be about the little things making you happy!
Thank heaven for little things like zee leetle girrrls, as Maurice sang, and this modern medicine....No Trepanning!
DAVID ZERVOS: I Feel Sorry For The Bears - Business Insider
And, he is taking a direct poke at zH !
We all want austerity - though it's implementation could likely lead to riots and trigger the police state enforcement to 'protect us'. It could eminate from many sources but it looks unavoidable.
Get ready to stop at the state line and be asked "Show me your papers!" (insert German accent)
i reckon if you sold it .. in a truthful way..with a clear end date and the desirable goal (pride and freedom from debt servitude?) people would "fight on the beaches"...people are tough and resilient and not stupid. i find the sheeple meme one that demeans/belittles peoples inherent "goodness".
Financial Repression = Debt Slave (but hey, you've got the latest blackberry and a piece of paper with your college's name on it)
Yen Carry Trade Risk on Bitchez
jb
long gold short yen seems to be the trade "de rigeur" for nominal gains
i think i would be short rates, long "government/central bank drivel/spending planned companies" for the next year or two
Remember corporations are people now. So it is, Of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation. Only difference is people go to jail. Corporations have rights.
Yes corporations are people now, so please don't say anything to hurt their feelings
fuck capitalocialism?
economics 101 or room 101??????
A darned good article.....
Presenting Huxley as a prelude to Orwell on the road to totalitarian government makes the whole state sponsored bollox more easily understood. Huxley and Orwell are not simply two different views of the future, they are one continuum. And it explains why so many of the previously dispossessed feel more free during the Huxley phase; the bread and circuses work wonders on the unthinking and wilfully ignorant.
ZH-ers and others all know that sooner or later the only sovereign power in the nation "The People" will have to impose its supremacy onto the big state and bring it to heel. Sadly, I do not believe this will be achievable without violence. The State is already gearing up for the inevitable clash that is coming. Obama's anti-gun claptrap is part of that. Armoured vehicles being ordered by the Dept of Fatherland Security is another part.
And lest we forget, exactly the same process is playing out right across Europe including the UK and in Australia.
Bookmarked.
Nicely done.
to think that only two hundred and two score years ago the founding fathers of nascent US sang...there is a tide in the affairs of men...
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
As now they sing : every man for himself and may the devil take the hindmost. The devil being that concept we call the federal state; a concept that runs the whole world to achieve the opposite of this iconic preamble to the Declaration of Independence.
Cyprus: Bankrun
Thousands of desperate people tried to get as much money from their bank accounts as they could. They were upset and furios. But the automatic tellers were soon empty.
http://homment.com/Cyprus-Bankrun
Could this be the spark that starts the crash?
Thomas Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency (NSA) who was charged under the espionage act after he highlighted waste, fraud and illegal activity at the intelligence agency, spoke at a National Press ..
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/311537-1#
.
Chill With Dave
http://tradewithdave.com/?p=15897
I've been delving into areas of law and historical events. Correct me if I'm am headed down the wrong path.
The US was bankrupt by the end of 1932 as the Treasury continued to pay off the debt with gold reserves as it was the only form of "money" payment the bankers would accept as full payment.
The banker's withdrawal of credit ( like today ) constricted economic activity and thus reduced tax revenues to pay on the debt. This is why Roosevelt got Congress to confiscate gold bullion from public and private sources making anyone who possessed bullion an enemy of the State. The gold confiscated was used to pay the debt to the creditors, mainly the BANK OF ENGLAND. This is when the FED became the sole source of currency by regulation of the creditors though bankruptcy law. Paying taxes in FED notes is not full payment of debt since it is not money but a promissory note.
We have never emerged from bankruptcy because the debt is not paid off. Perhaps any gold in Fort Knox is actually owned by the banks as part payment of assets collected by the government and handed over per bankruptcy law. I saw something about Harvey Firestone paying off the debt and then he sold the debt to the Bank of England. The FED is a branch of the Bank of Eng.
So, what does anyone think???
One problem with all of this
The authors start with Orwell / post ww2
Or 1913 Or With Marxism 1860
The tyrants of the 1600's / 1700's brought
Their world to crises
State religion persecuted and killed
John Locke fled for his life
Endless wars
We the people are better equipped than the patriots were
We the people have been fooled all of the time
Sure there are control freaks on the left and on the right
But we have a reasonable constitution
Has Cyprus just become the "Template" and why did the Irish people take on all the Bank losses . Will this cause a bank run in Spain and Italy. Your bank deposits are no longer 100% yours . By Tuesday the Cypriot who has over 100 K get hit with almos a 10% tax! I am sure all the well informed Russians got their money out over the past few weeks. Enjoy your bank holiday weekend .
Irishlink,
Cyprus was certainly a wake up call this morning ! Tyler Durden must have been partying all night and slept theough it so far.
Going to be curious how this goes next week !
Big problem with the whole control scenario.
Flyover country.
They'll have the coasts and the major cities. Control the food you control the people. Ain't gonna happen in in breadbasket country because WE will control the food and a lot of power generation is local. Cushing, Oklahoma will be the center of the resistance and Okla has a 500,000+ bbl/day refining cap. Texas has much more.
Rural folks are not the same as city denizens by a long shot. We have community roots and will defend our own against any outsiders. There's a lot of Nat'l Guard guys who are very unhappy about the recent turn of events in the last ten years.
Quislings will end up in a pond feeding catfish.
Hang tough though...It might take a while for we'uns to get to you.
+1000 You got it....
Pretty good attempt to describe the social/political path we are on. Don't subscribe to it? Remember this . . . DHS has a big 'ole purchase order for 1.6 BILLION rounds of small arms ammunition that they claim is for training purposes. That's enough to put five (5) bullets in every American citizen.
but but but Bush did the exact same thing.........so ZH is right!!!!
Both parties are exactly the same!
It's beyond left/right politics; the article makes a good case that the gridlock facilitates the migration to statism. I won't try to support my case ( it' a Saturday), but I am pretty sure that the there has NEVER been a non-military purchase of 1.6 billion rounds. I first heard of this from a retired USMC general, and it has received some press. Additionally, DHS is procuring 2,000 refurbished MRAPs from the DoD--these are overkill for domestic policing actions--especially in this number. Lastly, the domestic adaptation of military drone technology is growing rapidly. I don't think people understand the size of the order. I read that the USMC hasn't used that many rounds during its entire campaign in Iraq. Regardless of personal beliefs, it evidence would suggest that the "state" is gearing up to "police" its own citizens.
FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA..........
Don't you Ron Paul types listen?
Obama isn't a populist. A real populist would have jailed the banksters.
Jail the teat from which he suckles?
"There's never been a better time then now to .... travel."
Swiss tourist gang-raped while camping in India: police"BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - Four men raped a 39-year-old Swiss woman camping with her husband in an Indian forest, police said on Saturday, turning the spotlight anew on the security of women in the world's largest democracy.
One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. But police estimate only four out of 10 rapes are reported, largely due to victims' fear of being shamed by their families and communities.
No arrests have been made."
http://news.yahoo.com/swiss-tourist-gang-raped-while-camping-india-polic...
Ya wonder how much of this stuff is going on all over and not reported. Is this what our "civilization" has come to?
As well planned, the babylonians have made America look worse than nazi germany to the world. The country of America is probably the most hated on earth now after all the wars of aggression so the banksters and MIC could profit. Ask, who in gov IS NOT connected with these evil industries?
Flow My Tears, the Politician Said.
With apologies to the finest author that America has arguably ever produced.
sure hope "they're" toolin' up the underground arms/munitions shops.
Time to fire up the motorcycle and start my around the world trip.
http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/
A Final Warning from George Orwell
I agee 100 pecernt we are heading for a Orwellian society
Why is it that, if we are so "socialist", the "redistribution of wealth" has been from the bottom to the top? What do the rising inequality and the marginalizing of the middle class in the U.S. have to do with "socialist" meme? Since when does socialism mean the working class getting screwed?
"Upon further analysis, it is clear that Left, Right and Centre, are all forms of socialism. In particular, we may call them "social-democratic socialism" (the Left) and "conservative socialism" (the Right). They are both socialism because they both share the principle that the government should "run" and "mold" society, by using legal force and intervention to transfer property and personal wealth as part of the political scientists' process of 'redistribution of wealth'."
Another look at "socialism" in the US, and the enormous wealth transfer to the elites:
http://socialistworker.org/blog/critical-reading/2012/12/20/how-federal-...
Socialist bullshit shields engaged! Wealth is being redistributed from the middle class to the extremes.
So, where do classical Judaism and Christianity fit on these maps?
I had no problem sticking The Messiah (Jewish or Christian) in the place of Joseph Stalin, but some other maps got tricky.
Excellent article for the vast majority of it. I was surprised by, and must take issue with one comment: "We are beginning to understand, as Karl Marx knew: Unfettered and unregulated capitalism is a brutal and revolutionary force that exploits human beings and the natural world until exhaustion or collapse."My jaw dropped when I read this. It doesn't at all fit with the rest of the article. First of all even at the founding of our republic we didn't have unfettered and unregulated capitalism. Contrast the statement with the following one in the section of the article on collectivism:
"Even the most libertarian government thus far created, the government of the United States, has slipped incrementally towards totalitarianism over the past two centuries. This is because it is an inherent trait of a government. The degree of socialism in the United States increased substantially after the establishment of the Federal Reserve System (1913) and the measures taken during the Great Depression (1929-46) which it created."
I wholeheartedly agree with this latter statement, but it totally confounds the authors' comment about what Marx knew. I don't understand, in an article such as this where the author is making such strong and lucid points, how they could make such a colossally wrong observation.
Free market capitalism as we had in the U.S. for most of the first 150 years (though with ever increasing government intrusion and corporate cronyism) necessarily had some government oversight (e.g., courts, local and state legislatures, national defense.) But by design government's role was to be relatively minimal; just enough to protect the citizenry's ability to freely interact together, most notably in commerce, but also in their other endeavors (e.g., protecting free speech, religion, etc.)
It may seem I'm being hyper sensitive on this point, and making a mountain out of a molehill. I simply cannot abide when history is revised to make capitalism, and therefore the free market system, the fall guy for our present ills. On the contrary, it's our continuing rapid move away from individualism oriented free market capitalism and toward crony capitalism, socialism, statism and ultimately totalitarian collectivism that is responsible. However, I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater since despite this one lapse the article is otherwise very well thought out and articulated and the graphs quite illustrative.
I agree with you. I had the same reaction you had. I wish people would cease using the term "crony capital" when "mercantilism" is the proper term. I suggest that we haven't had anything remotely resembling real laissez faire capitalism since antebellum US and even that was imperfect since the founding (Bank of the US # I & II???, etc.). We ought to give it a try sometime!
You're both right. Only an ignoramus would make the statement that author did. He's taking from a chaotic buffet of ideas, and because he can cobble together some charts that seem based on common sense, people will listen to him and he thinks he's an expert. Ridiculous.
Huxley leads to Orwell?
I've heard it the other way round as well.
Prepare accordingly and never speak of it.
Tyler(s)
I would like to get any feedback/reseach you [may] be able to dig up on "Common Core" curriculum. Good luck! It ties in perfectly with this thread.