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Is There Capitalism After Cronyism?
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
The more the Status Quo pursues the same old Keynesian Cargo Cult script of central planning and free money for financiers, the more self-liquidating the system becomes.
Judging by the mainstream media, the most pressing problems facing capitalism are:
1) income inequality, the basis of Thomas Piketty’s bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and
2) the failure of laissez-faire markets to regulate their excesses, a common critique encapsulated by Paul Craig Roberts’ recent book The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism.
These critiques (and many similar diagnoses) reach a widely shared conclusion: capitalism must be reformed to save it from itself.
The proposed reforms align with each analyst’s basic ideological bent. Piketty’s solution to rising wealth inequality is the ultimate in statist centralization: a global wealth tax.
Roberts and others recommend reforming capitalism to embody social purpose and recognize environmental limits. Exactly how this economic reformation should be implemented is a question that sparks debates across the ideological spectrum, but the idea that capitalism can be reformed is generally accepted by left, right and libertarian alike.
Socio-economist Immanuel Wallerstein asks a larger question: can the current iteration of global capitalism be reformed, or is it poised to be replaced by some other arrangement?
Wallerstein and four colleagues explored this question in Does Capitalism Have a Future? (Oxford University Press, 2013).
Wallerstein is known as a proponent of world systems, the notion that each dominant economic-political arrangement eventually reaches its limits and is replaced by a new globally hegemonic system.
Wallerstein draws his basic definition of the current dominant system--let’s call it Global Capitalism 1.0--from his mentor, historian Fernand Braudel, who meticulously traced modern capitalism back to its developmental roots in the 15th century in an influential three-volume history, Civilization & Capitalism, 15th to 18th Centuries:
The Structures of Everyday Life: Volume 1
The Wheels of Commerce: Vol. 2
The Perspective of the World: Volume 3
From this perspective, there is a teleological path to global capitalism’s expansion beneath the market’s ceaseless cycle of boom-and-bust. This model of ever-larger systems of global dominance has been further developed by Braudel disciples such as Giovanni Arrighi (The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power and the Origins of Our Times).
It is this latest and most expansive iteration of capitalism--one dominated by the mobility of global capital, state enforcement of privately owned rentier/cartel arrangements and the primacy of financial capital over industrial capital--that Wallerstein and his collaborators view as endangered.
Amidst the conventional chatter of social spending countering markets gone wild--as if the only thing restraining rampant capitalism is the state--Wallerstein clearly identifies the state's role as enforcer of private cartels.
This is not just a function of regulatory capture by monied elites: if the state fails to maintain monopolistic cartels, profit margins plummet and capital is unable to maintain its spending on investment and labor. Simply put, the economy tanks as profits, investment and growth all stagnate.
This is why Wallerstein characterizes this iteration of capitalism as “a particular historical configuration of markets and state structures where private economic gain by almost any means is the paramount goal and measure of success.”
Even those who reject this description of free markets and the self-interested pursuit of profit can agree that the prime directive of capitalism is the accumulation of capital: enterprises that fail to accumulate capital lose capital and eventually go bust.
As economist Joseph Schumpeter recognized, capitalism is not a steady-state system but one constantly reworked by “creative destruction,” the process of the less efficient being replaced by the more efficient.
In Wallerstein’s view, Global Capitalism 1.0 could end in the frustration of capitalists to continue reaping large and fairly secure profits. If capital can no longer accumulate capital, this iteration of capitalism runs out of oxygen and creative destruction will usher in a new arrangement. (Wallerstein’s chapter in the book is titled why capitalists may no longer find capitalism rewarding.)
Though the status quo believes that amending the political-financial rules is all that’s needed to maintain the current centralized arrangement, Wallerstein believes that following the old rules will actually intensify the coming structural crisis.
As the state-cartel crony-capitalism that dominates the financial and political realms unravels on multiple levels, it's difficult not to agree with Wallerstein that the more the Status Quo pursues the same old Keynesian Cargo Cult script of central planning and free money for financiers, the more self-liquidating the system becomes.
* * *
This entry is drawn from an essay published in The American Conservative Magazine; a Kindle Edition is available for only $3.98/issue.
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Middle class? What middle class?
Income?
What's income?
Saving people from laissez faire capitalism by regulating it is the same line of bullshit as saving us from gun violence by regulating gun ownership.
It 's only for the benefit of criminals.
I'd file TPS reports for Timmay all day long if he could Tell Lois learner that I was not actually invited to the party for Chuck Grassel's wife either. But we must accept that TurboTax is God. Such is life.
There is Capitalism after Cronyism when the aftermentioned are sacrificed at the Altar of the Guillotine.
The problem then becomes preventing the Moneychangers from becoming reestablished.
Written out of our most recent history is that the moneychangers soon followed Shermans March to the Sea.
Burn it down, then loan to rebuild.
That's what we have to look forward to should our species continue to exist.
Debt Slaves, Bitchez.
Correct me if I am wrong...but what is labeled "Keyensian" all over ZH is bass-akwards....Keyenes was a big proponent of Demand-side, Fiscal Policy....not Supply-side, Monetary Policy....which was brought to us by the Reagan-NWO team and has not left us since...
A spade is a spade....whether is suits your concept-twisting for articles or not.....
...ok now start the Obama cracks....I'm not even gonna try to stem it...
Some previous worthwhile Zero Hedge articles:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-04/keynesian-revolution-has-failed-now-what
The Keynesian Revolution Has Failed: Now What?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-30/guest-post-keynesian-legacy-unravels
The Keynesian Legacy Unravels
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-02/guest-post-dangerous-blindspots-clueless-keynesians
The Dangerous Blindspots of Clueless Keynesians
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-02/guest-post-why-keynesian-political-economy-theft
Why Keynesian Political Economy Is Theft
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-27/dear-keynesians-your-sad-devotion-failed-religion-hasnt-conjured-recovery-heres-why
Dear Keynesians: Your Sad Devotion To A Failed Religion Hasn't Conjured Up A Recovery; Here's Why
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-27/paul-contrafactual-krugman-laureate-keynesian-babble
Paul "Contrafactual" Krugman: The Laureate Of Keynesian Babble
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-24/krugmans-keynesian-crackpottery-wasteful-spending-better-nothing
Krugman's Keynesian Crackpottery: Wasteful Spending Is Better Than Nothing!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/99-years-keynesian-monetarist-winning
99 Years Of Keynesian-Monetarist "Winning"Here is an orthodox BBC documentary about Keynes, which is a typically superficial, mainstream morons' view of the Keynesian recommendations for the "solutions" to economic problems:
http://fullepisode.info/masters-of-money-season-1-episode-1-john-maynard-keynes/
Masters of Money
Season 1 Episode 1
John Maynard Keynes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes
One of my favourite John Maynard Keynes quotes:
" ... engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith
One of my favourite quotes from Galbraith is:
“The process by which banks create money is so simple, that the mind is repelled.”
My experience is that the vast majority of the muppets do not understand that their "money" was made out of nothing, and they have been conditioned to not want to understand. They do not want to understand that their money is backed by nothing but murder. They do not want to understand that they are members of "We the People" that almost all act like political idiots, and therefore, they have allowed the "hidden forces of economic law" to drive everything towards their destruction.
Keynesian economics is one of the rationalizations or theoretical justifications of the fundamentally fraudulent monetary system, which is privatized fiat "money" made out of nothing, as debts, which FRAUD THE GOVERNMENT ENFORCES. Therefore, Keynesian economics is an elaborate charade around a foundation of organized crime. That runaway fascist plutocracy juggernaut is going to turn most people into its road kill. As far as I can tell, our society is already terminally sick and insane, due to the degree to which capitalist free markets have been destroyed and replaced by the inverted totalitarianism of blenderized forms of organized crime, operated by professional liars and immaculate hypocrites.
Keynesian economics is the jargon of the high priests (and now high priestess) of the STATE RELIGION of faith-based "money," which enabled the biggest banks to become insane runaway fascism. I.e., where the power of those private corporations blended totally together with the power of government, to become an integrated system of organized crime, as frauds backed by force, which everyone else had to operate within.
The main point of my comment, as posted below, was that the MONEY-AS-DEBT system exists because of the success of the application of the methods of organized crime to capture control over the political processes, (and to develop the Keynesian school of economics to conceal that under bullshit.)
IT IS A TYPICAL FEATURE OF SUCH AUTHORITIES THAT ALL THEIR WORST POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ARE FOLLOWED, WHILE THEIR BEST POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ARE DELIBERATELY IGNORED!
@WayBehind: "Middle class? What middle class?"
It's called the Middle Class because "They get it up the Middle", and remain... dare I say it?... Way Behind. ;-)
1. The masses can elect politicians that give them other people's money.
2. Corporations can pay politicians to give them other people's money and also to restrict their competition. It really works well when politicians give business "grants" and then the businesses return a portion of the grant as a campaign donation. Rinse, repeat, and hire gov workers to work at business and business workers to work in gov. It's not a revolving door, it's a frigging merry-go-round.
3. Politicians and government workers are the "due process" that citizens are guaranteed. They have the power to sieze property "legally" and property includes land, houses, cars, bank accounts, possessions, children, and you.
I'd say, stick a fork in it.
"Is There Capitalism After Cronyism?"
Yes, all sides of the political spectrum agree that capitalism as currently practiced needs reform.
Absent any general agreement between the groups, the replacement being implemented in front of our eyes is State Capitalism, aka Corporatism aka Fascism. That is where we are today.
That does not mean it will be with us forever, it can be reversed. But since The State is directing it and has all, or most, of the firepower, it will take an implosion or revolution to change it.
" ... the most pressing problems facing capitalism ..."
There are way too many smart people on this blog.
If a person is alone on a desert island, what kind of ism will s/he practice?
What does that person need for any ism to function?
I'll start off your thinking by saying "the most pressing problems facing capitalism is that there are way too many smart people to make any ism work."
If a person is alone on a desert island they are practicing leave me the fuck alone-ism, jal.
"Is There Capitalism After Cronyism?"
No. you can't start the "reform" game when the Bully has all the marbles, is the one "in-charge" of the reform...and pays bigger bullies (with tanks) to make sure he is still King....forever....
"....but the idea that capitalism can be reformed is generally accepted by left, right and libertarian alike."
That trade certainly isn't crowded.
It doesn't really matter how the Plantation is managed so long as all 'agree' to live within a/any/the Plantation economic system.
ask Mad Max.
http://schalkenbach.org/henry-george/the-reconstruction-of-capitalism/
http://www.monetary.org
http://geoeconomics.wordpress.com
Capitalism is mostly just human nature. They tried to change that with communism but it was too deeply rooted and those unable to provide for themselves first, saw little point in helping out with some ideal system.
Part (or a very large part) of out current system is rooted in the way we have structured the money. By forcing folks to save in the same stuff that they use to buy things with, we ensure the destruction of savings. The medium of exchange is always lent and thereby expanded as the loan itself circulates as another bit of the underlying medium of exchange. Separating the medium of exchange from the store of value would allow savers to accumulated something not directly tied in value to the currency.
Freegold sees this happening and we think the Euro is a first effort. The way the ECB has managed the euro indicates they wil resist inflation. They have instituted NIRP and have forced savers to contribute to bank failure (Cyprus). Beyond that however the ECB holds gold MARKED TO MARKET on it's balance sheet. This assures a visible way for all to see if the currency is being over printed. If the price of gold rises in Euros it would prove printing in excess of what is needed.
This cannot be clearly seen now while the dollar still dominates and a paper gold market exists to keep the price of gold suppressed. When the dollar finally hyperinflates, as all fiat currencies have, the picture will become clearer.
Gold can be used then as a store of value, removed from the monetary system. This is not just a few kooks misreading the data. Wim Duisenberg, first ECB president himself made this point as he accepted the Charlemagne Prize (on behalf of the Euro) in 2002.
Duisenberg also pointed out that the Euro was the first currency the was independent of any nation state.
For those who want to go beyond slogans these are serious point for consideration. Thought leads to different interpretation of the data we receive. It can lead to an entirely different way of looking at current events.
As I listen to Draghi, his statements do not conflict with what I believe. Many others must assume he is lying.
There are reasons the PTB want a better system. Look at the Rothschilds. They lost their bank in France twice between 1939 and 1982. Think they are happy with the way the world works now? The monetary system freegold sees is a better one for savers rich and poor....seems hard to believe if you believ everything you read on ZH.
h/t fofoa
My 'nature' is that I am more wiling to support an economic system wherein I voluntarily choose to put a dollar in a 'down-and-out''s cup than in one that forces me to do so with the threat of prison if I voluntarily choose not to do so. I think many here at ZH agree that the USA is currently functioning under a Facist model.
jb
"Capitalism is mostly just human nature."
Bull-fucking-Neo-Darwinist-shit..!!! If "individual competition" were the driving "human nature" force of humanity...then only "the fittest" man....as in "one" man...would be alive today...
Until everyone stops eating this diatribe, busllshit, imprisoning, poison, there will be no recognition of "reality"...the deep-seated "need" to be "included" (as we all type here, need we say more?) in "cooperation" and "planning" of our future....
Don't shit on the "P" word either...Corporations plan...Project Managers plan...the MILITARY..."plans"....
Would this fucking complex world of infrastructure, trillions of phone and data connections per second, trillions of gallons of water and sewage pumped, trillions of tons of food grown and distributed daily be the result of the "human nature" of "individual competition"????
Yeah, right...how many VPs would last 2 seconds in the MMA ring....ha!, ha!, ha!....the "fittest"...ha!, ha!, ha!
Eat up! Want some ketchup with that?
Schumpeter also said, can capitalism survive? I think not... The thesis of his book Capitalism Socialism and Democracy is that capitalism has within itself the seeds of it's own destruction. To paraphrase that tomb... because the moment a capitalist becomes rich he immediately becomes a socialist to close the door he came through for others, Further crony capitalism is needed to maintain high levels of profit and so it will become more pervasive and the unstoppable in an economy is the growth of business. He claimed that eventually all small businesses would be destroyed and giant conglomerations will do everything. That will be when the State can usurp the market by printing money and buying the shares of the few giant corporations that run the world. Then the government will control the entire economy and will only have to pull a few levers instead of running millions of small businesses.
By trying to short circuit the boom bust cycle of the market system the New Class has ground the mechanism of growth in our economies to a halt. Crony capitalism is corroding the very foundation, individual drive, that makes our economy work. Why struggle to get ahead if only the politically favored have any chance?
If however, the elite were forced to follow our Constitution and their own laws, we could end this absurdity. Crony capitalism, monetizing the debt and perhaps even the federal reserve itself could be eliminated for free market solutions, to replace the planned economy solutions that are the bread and butter of the New Class.
The solution is in my book The Fourth Branch, 80% of it is free so why not check it out? https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/277193
"80% of it is free..."
I love it! I gave you a +1 anyway....
CHS is the local useful idiot of the Libertarian capitalist mantra.
He understands the momentum and the mindset that creates the race to bottom but he refuses to admit the cause that feeds this effect. Looking at life through the Libertarian key hole...
It isn't Keynesianism cargo cult, its the Chicago school of Friedman, the Shamans of this age, that joined the bandwagon in 1971; of the MIC train cum Oil lobby Jerusalem Templar strain, the basis of Pax Americana power construct since the Saud-US handshake.
Its their Rosemary's baby, lock stock and barrel, spawned in CIA hubris when "we lost China!" : from floating rates and money print w/O gold and subsequent debt and petrodollar recycle to hold Saud tight into the West financial construct.
The current CB plays are just fancy clothes, fabricated in DIRE distress of model's demise, made from "greenback" print profiglacy, that hides the fact that the Emperor and his court are declared naked by the OTHER side.
A side that now exerts its hold on BOTH the Oil and the Petrodollar money nuts of the western world, thus challenging its hegemony, torn to tatters in the flodden fields of Nam and through the desert and river civilizations' destruction of MENA third world; a US led rampage unleashed in Mongol mindset and of Spanish Main proportions.
It has nothing to do with Keynesian logic, which would only work if the private Oligarchy were held in check by a State which had the great balls of fire of the FDR age; Keynes's mentor. That was the Mantra of the welfare state construct.
No balls, no ethics, no Keynes; just an Empire with a big gun and enuff greed to drown the Moby Dicks of the Oceans and a lot of free greenbacks to buy its black gold, now running short and polluting the whole world like a runaway Fuku monster. Frankenstein has two heads; one is MIC destruction the other is world pollution and biosphere poisoning.
And the OTHER side awaits in the aisles to change the paradigm to another despotic model.
The world is not out of the rabbit hole even if current Pax Americana folds.
We are in tipping times of awesome magnitude.
"It isn't Keynesianism cargo cult, its the Chicago school of Friedman"
Bravo, falak, bravo man.
+1
Libertarian keyhole assumes a gov small and poor enough to be unable to fund protracted military expeditions and occupations.
Looking at the wealth pyramid remember that it is financial wealth that is destroyed by hyperinflation.
Where does this leave the evil wealthy 15% then?
Much of todays currency inequality is really a function of the monetary system.
It takes a very insightful person, wealthy or not, to see what is needed to preserve wealth for long periods (many decades and centuries) rather than just scooping up currency and equivalents which the government can give out like party favors.
The really big earners in recent years have benefited greatly from the surging stock prices as much of their income has come from financial markets and gains in equities. Many people seem to think this is the hope of our future.
When you have more than you need or want to put money away for a rainy day where do you store it? If you rated people on a "wealth chart" by how many tangible assets they owned you might be shocked to find much of the wealth people own is in paper and this is full of risk. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/08/where-wealth-is-held.html
"Where does this leave the evil wealthy 15% then?"
Sitting comfortably in their DUMBs, on piles of gold, sipping wine as they admire their stores of food, drugs and captial equipment manufacturing knowledge horded in cavernous rooms and tunnel systems all linked by Mag-LEV transport...
"clink"..."Thank you tax payers of the last 50 years..."
I will be surprised if most of the 'elite' aren't wiped out. I really do not think they are buying gold. I think most have full confidence in the current system. They believe their paper wealth will deliver real goods and services even though there are already too many dollars in existence for that to happen (at least they won't get nearly as much as they thimk they will get.) These folks have bought into the story, are doing well following 'the party line' and will fall with the rest when the dollar hyperinflates.
The 5% yes, maybe even the 1%. I dont consider those groups the elite though. Generational wealth and the .1% will have some level of protection for the reset. They own businesses, structures, homes. Hard assets. It doesnt matter if your house value is crushed by 'deflation' as long as they remain solvent through raising property taxes. Remember that gold isnt the only means to protecting wealth through a reset, it even tends to lose value as things stabilize. You want to be diversified.
Historically, a reset doesnt mean complete collapse. There are rapid dramatic changes but people are people and they still remember what holds value. The only thing that goes back to 0 is the value of the FRNs you are holding. Most people will just want to be paid for goods produced and services rendered so they can buy the things they need.
I'm beginning to think Pierre Boulle was on to something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_People_(Barjavel_novel)
How can anything written by a woman be of value?
I refuse.
Sorry. The damn ruthless revisionist ass rapers -Cameron - diverted the link to their lie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_People_(Barjavel_novel)
The stack of piracy of literature by hollywood and other revisionists is over the top.
Cockblocked by Asshole Gore. Trying again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_People_(Barjavel_novel)
BARJAVEL
it may be laissez, but it damn sure ain't faire
Absolutely, capitalism will return. It takes time to remove the operatives. Patience is a virtue.
So, "you", of course are "not" an "operative"...and we can all trust you to do the "removing" ...and then, of course, you will "let us know" what we should do next?
One elite replacing another elite....
This is not to suggest that the current elite should not be monkey stomped and scraped of the bottom of our shoes....
It is to point out how difficult a solution to a planetary system of exchange actually is....
We "humans" are still 2-year olds who can only understand (and want) "play ground rules"..."mine!"....wahhhh!
A stall is comming one way or the other. After the stall results will be all that matters.
I'm not sure what he said, and I'm not sure what he's criticizing.
The post title is much clearer, but is that even whant CHS said?
Cronyism, especially banksters but also slimeball con jobs like Solyndra, are supposedly private enterprise systems that actually survive on government handouts. But the institutional capture by public employees unions is crucial as wel, CHS or anyone can't wave that off so easily. And vulture capitalists like Romney who take things apart and ship them offshore and replace them with nothing, fill a normally necessary role but one that is harmful in a prolonged downturn.
So the question is not "Can capitalism survive?" so much as "Can we bring it back to life?"
Depends on what's for dinner.
Cronies, the other white meat.
The problem is thus: Unsound "money".
Chuck, perhaps you can do a "Brief History of Capitalism", by listing and describing the attributes of various cultures, regimes, etc in the last 7000 years.
Compare & Contrast their financial, economic, legislative, executive, judicial, military, social and immigration policies, set against a background of Environment (soil, water, resources).
It would be interesting to see what combination of these attributes led to their rise, plateau and demise, to complete the cycle of Rise & Fall of Dynasties, Countries and Empires.
[Spock's voice] "Well, Captain, it would seem to be the point of fact that "cooperation" is the impetus for humanity's progress thus far..."
You remove the ability to profit off a centralized system that rewards only connected insiders and you fix capitalism. If the only path to wealth is to produce something of value then people with the knowledge of how to produce those items become valuable. Because that production requires skills, it rewards those willing to actually work and learn. Instead of being worthless peons, the general population is required to produce wealth. That is the great equalizer.
What we have now is extremely wealthy that have no knowledge of production and who possess no skills of real value. Skimming off the top and obtaining access to central planners who can print cash to infinity is not a valuable skill for general humanity.
Ending the Fed and forcing the privatization of business is the only course of action. We also have to close the borders and shrink global exposure. Globalization has only acclererated income inequality. The IPO market needs to die a swift painful death taking the stock market with it. If the stock market vanishes and that causes the wealth of the 1% to vaporize, then did the wealth ever really exist?
Just sad that manufactured wealth can buy real prosperity.
"Just sad that manufactured wealth can buy real prosperity."
Yes, and it can also buy a Congress, President, States, the Military, all police and more...
Nobody here calls "Capitalism" what it actually rapidly becomes...."Monopoly Capitalism"...
...which is "specifically" what Marx railed against, for you "center-right" RAND Corp booklet fans....
He actually "praised" Capitalism, admired Smith and foresaw it as a "means" of producing a utopia for all after the technological revolution "freed us from all manual labor"....
Not exactly like how we see robots portrayed in Hollywood, huh?....or Marx portrayed here...huh? then again, nobody here has actually "read" Marx....just the vulgar "interpretation" of his writings....
Majestic12, I am glad you decided, about a month ago, to start posting comments on Zero Hedge, since I think you are making relevant contributions.
Today a big topic is the huge growth in inequality. Those who look closely understand that it is not the 1% at the top stealing the icing off the cake, but the much smaller .1% or .01% that are skewing the numbers and overreaching.
I contend the biggest problem is the massive growth in crony capitalism and corruption in Washington. Much of this can be attributed to the ability of those in control "changing the rules" and positioning themselves to benefit at every corner. In our busy and complex world we have found it impossible to watch all the moving parts. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-empires-collapse.html
Is There Capitalism After Cronyism?
The answer is probibly not ~ when the cronyism system takes your wealth at the barrel of the gun and you are left without a hand in the eventual investment, you become no less 'poorer'.
What would Mises say about nationalizing any net worth over a billion?
Yeah, I know it wouldn't do any good, but if left in the incompetent hands of the State, at least we would have a shot at getting it back.
When capitalism ruled in America, wealth and greatness were achieved through intelligence, competence, hard work, persistence and focus. The Napoleon Hill interviews of Firestone, Carnegie, Ford, etc... in "Think and Grow Rich" are good examples. They may have not been popular but they were respected for their accomplishments. Their dedication and desire created millions of jobs for those of lesser ambition - in a sense they invented the "trickle down" concept.
Now that cronyism rules in America, wealth is more easily achieved by being a well connected parasite. Legalized theft by "Just Us" - i.e. MF Global, Countrywide, etc... over hard work, no proof of competence and milestone performance reviews for large government contracts - i.e. Obummercare - just who you know and how much are you willing to kick back in political donations, etc... etc... and etc...
The first group creates, the second destroys.
There is no "fix" for the current system of cronyism and corruption. The constant propaganda propping up intrinsically worthless scrip, domestic and international government thuggery, draconian taxation and regulation only delay the inevitable.
Tomorrows happiness must be earned today. Invest in yourself. There will be plenty of opportunities after various currencies collapse and "Just Us" lose their ability to bribe and coerce their puppets and thugs by pressing "control p".
Once the currencies collapse the "Just Us" crowd will have to instruct their puppets and thugs to openly raid and steal from producers, must likely calling producers un-whatever, anti-this or that, terrorists, etc... to justify domestic attacks by the alphabet soup agencies. However, at that point, spin and optics will not put food and fresh water in their or any of their puppets and thugs bellies.
Throughout human history, events are driven by a few determined, dedicated and resourceful individuals working together to lead and motivate others toward a common cause.
The actions of "We the People" over the next few years will decide our fate - renaissance or a dark age. Regardless of the "Just Us" propaganda, real power is derived from applying our minds and abilities and working together to solve the problems at hand - not by redefining GDP or inventing a new financial derivative...
Those are nice thoughts but don't address the reality of the situation.
Reality is, the banking families of the world have a multi-generational, multi-century plan which has been working beautifully for the last 200 years, at least.
They've crashed world economies in the past, have survived perfectly unscathed, and then continued on with their plan of world domination via central banking and fake money.
They've killed 10's of millions of Europeans and Americans by creating wars and funding both sides. By this time they certainly have 100's of trillions in "real" wealth stashed away in gold, resources and ownership of anything material.
When the next war ends, we'll all be dead or starving and they will be fine. The only solution is to find and "liquidate" every single one of them and their children. The probability of this happening is miniscule.
That's our reality.
This kind of article merely emphasizes the degree to which it is NOT possible to have a rational public debate about these sorts of issues, since the generally accepted language that most people use is BULLSHIT.
For background, I repeat this quote:
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/silent_weapons_quiet_wars.htm
Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
"Energy is recognized as the key to all activity on earth. Natural science is the study of the sources and control of natural energy, and social science, theoretically expressed as economics, is the study of the sources and control of social energy. Both are bookkeeping systems: mathematics. Therefore, mathematics is the primary energy science. And the bookkeeper can be king if the public can be kept ignorant of the methodology of the bookkeeping. ... In this structure, credit, presented as a pure element called "currency," has the appearance of capital, but is in effect negative capital. Hence, it has the appearance of service, but is in fact, indebtedness or debt. ... if balanced in no other way, will be balanced by the negation of population (war, genocide)... They must eventually resort to war to balance the account, because war ultimately is merely the act of destroying the creditor ... War is therefore the balancing of the system by killing the true creditors (the public ...) the economy has been transformed into a guided missile on target."
After the international bankers were able to successfully corrupt governments to legalize private banks counterfeiting the public "money" supply out of nothing as debts, then "capitalism" was obviously dead, because "capital" was able to be created out of nothing! Since most of the significantly established schools of economics do their best to deliberately ignore that fact, they are all operating within specialized kinds of fantasy lands, where the most important social fact, the SOURCE of the public "money" supply, is not paid attention to. Instead, there are the hermetically sealed bullshit worlds, where ordinary people and businesses are forced by the government to use that fundamentally fraudulent public "money" supply to engage in transactions, which steadily become less and less "capitalistic" over time, because the SOURCE of the "capital" is fraud.
The banksters are the biggest gangsters, who succeeded in applying the methods of organized crime to the political processes, in order to capture control over the powers of governments, and ratchet that up to dominate all of the other public institutions, such as the school systems, and mass media, so that the vast majority of people were reduced to Zombie Sheeple, who adapted to living inside of social pyramid systems that automatically drove debt slavery to generate numbers which became debt insanities, as "money," allegedly the symbol of "capital," was being created out of nothing as debts.
When one does a deeper analysis, then it becomes clear that the superficial view of "capitalism" is an idealized version of how economics should operate, when there is no fraud and murder. However, in fact, fraud and murder DO dominate the actually existing systems. Furthermore, an even deeper analysis demonstrates how and why human beings operate as entropic pumps of energy, which IDEALIZED views regard as being "capitalistic." I.e., energy is invested to be able to generate more flows of energy, as all entropically pumping energy systems must do in order to survive.
IDEALIZED "capitalism" is superficially consistent with the laws of nature. However, that IDEALIZED "capitalism" is a specialized kind of the biggest bullies' bullshit social stories that deliberately ignores, as much as possible, the ways that the REAL "free market" included a free market in fraud and murder, i.e., warfare. That history of warfare created sovereign states, through the long processes of the surviving War Kings being able to enforce their rule of law. That rule of law was inherently paradoxical, since the only connection between human laws and natural laws is the ability to back up lies with violence. All human realities are organized lies operating robberies. Warfare was organized crime on larger and larger scales, and thus, gradually, the best organized gangs of criminals, the international bankers, were able to apply the methods of organized crime to the political processes, in order to capture control over the powers of governments, in order to legalize the current monetary system, based on the enforced frauds of private banks being able to create the public "money" supply out of nothing as debts.
A basic summary of the REAL situation is:
Private property is based on backing up claims with coercion. (There is no private property outside of some system of public violence.) The most abstract from of private property is money, which is measurement backed by murder. The political economy is always inside of the human ecology. The debt controls are backed up by the death controls. The actual accounting systems of the flow of energy and matter necessarily include fraud and murder. Governments are the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gang of criminals. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE ADDS FRAUD AND MURDER TO CAPITALISM!
It is NOT possible for there not to be fraud and murder within human realities, and any theories based on stopping that are bullshit. The only things which exist are dynamic equilibria between different systems of organized lies operating robberies. The bullshit IDEALIZED "capitalism" is based on deliberately ignoring that, by presuming that there is, or could be, and should be, some sort of idealized "rule of law" which did not suffer from its paradox of enforcement, that only those who are the best at being dishonest, and backing that up with destruction, can enforce that "rule of law" against other groups. REAL "capitalism" includes the ways that NOBODY GUARDS THE GUARDIANS, which is why governments are the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gangs of criminals. The only REAL capitalism operates within the principles and methods of organized crime, because those are the REAL ways that human energy systems actually operate, and must necessarily operate!
The actually existing systems have NO good labels which are generally understood. Almost all public debates are utterly absurd, because they continue to respect the banksters' bullshit world view, because they were the ones who captured control over the powers of governments to rob, and to kill to back up that power to rob. Since almost everyone else has adapted for generation after generation to living inside of those established systems, while mainstream economists were mercenary intellectuals, paid to promote the bullshit that the banksters approved of, which sustained the vicious spiral of ACTUAL "CAPITALISM" which includes fraud and murder at its foundations, the ways that we discuss these issues in the public spaces are all almost totally bullshit based, where the language that we use is pretty well totally backwards to what really exists.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-17/control-language-and-you-control-mind
Control the Language and You Control the Mind
"It is the effective manipulation of our belief systems that enslaves us to the present day insanity."
"Capitalism" was destroyed when private banks were allowed to make the public "money" supply out of nothing as debts. THAT WAS NEGATIVE CAPITAL, THAT ANNIHILATED CAPITALISM, at an exponentially accelerating rate, which different people tended to finally notice to different degrees, at different times. The belated perception of "crony capitalism" continues to presume that there still was some "capitalism," after the SOURCE of the public "money" supply became government enforced fraud.
THEREFORE, I REPEAT, THIS KIND OF ARTICLE ACTUALLY EMPHASIZES THE DEGREE TO WHICH IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO HAVE ANY RATIONAL PUBLIC DEBATES ABOUT THESE ISSUES, BECAUSE THE LANGUAGE THAT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED AND USED IS BULLSHIT!
The language that we should use is that of general energy systems. However, since doing that reveals that human realities are always systems of organized lies, operating robberies, we are currently being sucked into the social black hole of the history of success in warfare based on backing up deceits with destruction, becoming the foundation of political economy becoming success based on enforced frauds, which are things that the established systems, and their controlled opposition groups, want to continue to deliberately ignore and deny, as much as possible, for as long as possible.
What you have is a TOP-Down economy.
1% er's PRINT the money and LOAN it to the sectors of the ECONOMY that THEY SEE FIT TO SURVIVE.
Everyone else either receives those Loans or Dies Poor.
Thats why the wealth distribution is a parabola, all that "pent up" wealth the 1%er's have is just counterfeit money waiting to be LOANED or SPENT into circulation.
It's like collectively we ELECTED a bunch of idiots to hand out the money as they see fit, to decide what sectors of the economy grow and what sectors shrink. . . there is no real FREE market in the grand-scheme of things.
Most of this money ends up in massive economic black holes, like billion dollar Yachts for no reason, because the 1%er's are terrible at allocating the money to its most efficient destination (the point where it creates the most REAL wealth for as many people as possible).
Creating singular things like 600,000$ sports cars, 90,000,000$ houses, and Billion dollar Yachts is probably the LEAST productive point the species as a whole could drop its money(economic power).
There should be a DISTRIBUTION PLAN that we all vote on:
IE: Everyone votes that
10% of GDP goes to Medical Research
20% of GDP goes to Energy Research and Extraction
30% of GDP goes to Food Production
25% of GDP goes to Maintenance and Expansion of Infrastructure
10% of GDP goes to War Machine and Weapons research
3% of GDP goes to Space Exploration
1% of GDP goes to Aid / Welfare /Old People
1% of GDP is discretionary (the idiots who print the money out of thin air can buy yachts)
or something like that. . .
Atleast make some kind of plan, don't just give the least responsible portion of our population the ability to print infinite money and spend it however they please (the system we have now pretty much. . . . )
The only regulated part of an economy, should be the financial sector/banking sector . . . because without regulation, the bankers will just pillage the country. . . . thats how it always ends, this country has gone broke almost every 30~ 50 years in cycles because of these banking scum on average every 40 years we have to "reset" the system with a new form of currency standard to allow them to start pillaging again everytime the exponential curve of money starts to warp the economy too badly.
All the economy is based on the economy of paying attention. It's easy to dedect incompatibilities on this layer.
For to pay attention you will have a return, a reason, consisting in getting something that can be resolved, bringing butter to the bread, a roof to the house, a spouse into the bed. If you suck, press, coerce attention out of people with no return, calling it a system, the system must collaps.
Cattle managers know of this. They feed the herd. Better they hold up to such knowledge in regard to their cattle, the tradition is telling, than in respect to teir own children, let alone with people that easily can be replaced.
How replaceable is the middle-class in a competition to find out just that, how far can you go in the matter.
What never can collapse is the search for the best solution attention is set up to find it. So, what could be the best solution then if "that system" collapses.
Back to reason, housing and shelter, food for the enslaved. Have you heard of such. We are discussioning about capitalism 2.0. What the hell could it mean other than exactly that.
But is it possible. All the energy of the system is running to extract the most attention out of people. That pays. A competition of reason isn't running. That would be compliant with a competition about do not max out people.
High heeling over the stake of the burnt moral trying to sell the spectacle in moderate terms we see our PhD's at work to leech your attention at base of that hope that is famous for as to die at last and therefore thus by then will be able to grant an income.
All those made-up words: "cronyism", "socialism for the rich" describe the same thing: Capitalism in its later stage, where corporations have gotten so big that they don't compete and they control the government. Why can't anyone admit agglomeration and cartels are a natural process, and need to be broken down to make competition work again?
competition = wages attenuation for the masse.
competiiton = social dumping....delocalization... this behavior killed the balance.
the world cannot accept the fact his salut only comes from global sharing, accepting to let indian in amazony, nigger in africa, isis crazy beheaders alone in sand and respect ground propriety of ressources...
if this was done nothing would have happen for centuries.
so the human being is.... fight to kill for domination.
nothing can be done to change that it is genetically in our blood. end of story. period.
Just look one hundred years back. Great factories in the center of cities are now empty or flipped into modern leisure areas. Where thousands of people were digging one century ago, now work 10 professionals riding big digging machines. Where one people had to manually answer all the letters now automatic spambot just immediately deals with any request, even in various languages.
I have read McAfee's book and I believe that his analogy to Moore's law is appropriate. With the current trend, services will be handled over to the robots fast enough. Of course, McAfee very clearly states that there is still enough of jobs in other branches of industry - especially in infrastructure upkeep and construction, which represents one of the biggest challenges. The problem is obviously with the wages. Low wages go down and less people is needed, which creates big pressure that would eventually burst into a violence. This is something we will be dealing with in the next couple of years, or decades.
The topic has very little to do with capitalism. This article is asking whether Socialism can be reformed. If Europe is any guide - no. Increasingly rotten from within, like Rome, China, or the Austro-Hungarian empire, it may linger for centuries til some external stress topples it.