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"A Brief Note On Capitalism"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

From Elliott Management's Q3 letter, by Paul Singer

A Brief Note On Capitalism

From time to time we find ourselves compelled to write a few words in defense of capitalism. Capitalism is a system according to which capital is owned by private citizens, who in turn determine its price and flow by interacting with one another. Capitalism implies that private citizens get to keep most of the fruits of their labor or the profitability of their capital. Capitalism is neither a “state of nature” nor a primitive scrum. It can work (i.e., create value for owners and for society while being acceptable to the citizenry, including those without capital) only with appropriate rules of fairness and honesty, and workable standards of disclosure. To these factors must be added the ability for people, in a meritocratic way, to have a chance to participate in capitalism. The proper combination leads society to buy into the concept that the individual freedom to own property leads to the most efficient allocation of resources, which in turn results in the highest economic growth and prosperity. Capitalism is never perfect, but the closer society adheres to its general principles, the better it is for the population at large.

If you take away these elements and put the bulk of power in a society in the hands of a central authority, bureaucracy and/or central banker, then all of the natural imperfections of human decision-making – including the problem of unintended consequences, the inability of central planners ever to have enough information to make wise decisions about the allocation of resources across an entire society, corruption, arrogance, and the fallibility of human nature – are exacerbated and concentrated. It is no surprise that governments do almost everything worse than the private sector, and that private philanthropy has created so much more societal value per unit of human effort and wealth than governments have in terms of efficiently and creatively addressing problems.

When the governmental impulse is to make all major decisions for people and control almost every aspect of their lives, the “cost” is inefficiency, ineffectiveness, unfairness and tyranny (see the old Soviet Union for details). Having the government choose winners and losers does not lead to better or fairer results than allowing merit and private effort to dictate those outcomes. When it is time to take an action related to life, health, work and career, there is no reason to prefer a government decision over a private decision. The distortions imposed by governments’ exercising control over things that do not need to be controlled by governments are almost without end. Shortages and inflation are traditional consequences of controlling prices. Poor growth, emigration and job losses are the repercussions of making the economic environment unattractive for employers and employees by taxation, regulation, corruption, disdain for the rule of law, and rigid employment policies. It is no accident that the more government does, and the more control government has or is given over people’s lives, the greater the level of corruption and cronyism – even (or especially) in those countries that have populism as their (phony) rallying cry.

The question that governments should always be asking is: How can we make the economy work better, grow faster, provide the best full-time job opportunities, allocate capital more efficiently, help the largest number of people get rich or pursue their destinies, and provide the fairest and most open platform for people to live their lives without interference and to experience the worthiness of achievement or career or parenthood and family? Sadly, we cannot think of many leaders in the developed world who are pursuing policies with that combination of goals in mind.

 

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Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:48 | 5413227 yepyep
yepyep's picture

so sick of hearing the constant attacks on capitalism.

Capitalism does not denote central planners, it does not have central banks, it does not have a state monopoly on currency either.

we do not have capitalism, we have state capitalism, and its only the small amounts of genuine capitalism that are still respected inside of this state capitalism that keep us fed and clothed at this point.

 

Sooner or later though you can rest assured the planners in their never ending quest to plan everyone elses lives will take this away from us also if they get half the chance.

Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:51 | 5413237 junction
junction's picture

Hedge fund looter Paul Singer once again lecturing us on the proper role of serfs.  STFU Singer!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:10 | 5413284 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

OT, but thank me.

CNBC, the laughing stock of MSFinancialMedia - interviewing IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan - and Joe Kernan NOT understanding that (a) Ireland uses the euro, NOT pound sterling, (b) Ireland is NOT part a political part of UK, and that (c) Ireland IS a separate island, and NOT on the same island as Britain.

Enjoy the MSFinancialMediaTragedy!

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland-s-ida-boss-faces-biza...

Ireland’s IDA boss faces bizarre CNBC interview

CNBC: You have pounds anyway don’t you still? It is sort of the same, same island isn’t it? It is just too confusing...

IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan has been quizzed on American television network CNBC’s popular business show Squawk Box about whether Ireland’s low tax policy has helped it create so many talented golfers.
In a bizarre prime time interview Mr Shanahan, who leads the successful foreign direct investment agency, reveals that Ireland uses the Euro.

This claim is met with incredulity by Joe Kernen, a co-anchor of “Squawk Box,” who initially insists that Ireland uses sterling, before being repeatedly corrected by Mr Shanahan.

an increasingly strange interview Kernan also expresses surprise that Ireland is not part of Britain and is in fact a different island. “Squawk Box,” is CNBC’s signature morning programme and one of the most popular shows on the dedicated business channel.

The transcript below gives a sense of the type of questioning Mr Shanahan had to deal with while selling Ireland Inc to America, it starts about six minutes into the interview:

CNBC: How does the tax policy turn out such a string of great golfers, Graham, Rory...is it the tax, is this another tax, how does the tax affect the...it is a small place to have so many good golfers?

Shanahan: It is the environment that is probably doing that. It is a pretty good place to live and visit and everything else.

CNBC: What has the weaker euro meant in terms of tourism?

Shanahan: So, I think, em, Ireland is a very globalised economy so we look to what is happening here as much as we do to what is happening in Europe and we look to what is happening in...

CNBC: You have pounds anyway don’t you still?

Shanahan: We have Euros.

CNBC: You have Euros in Ireland?

Shanahan: Yes. We have euros, which is eh...

CNBC: Why do you have euros in Ireland?

Shanahan: A strong recovery....

CNBC: Why do use euros in Ireland?

Shanhan: Why wouldn’t we have euros in Ireland?

CNBC: Huh. I’d use the pound.

Shanahan: We use euro.

CNBC: What about Scotland? I was using Scottish eh...

Shanahan: Scottish pounds.

CNBC: Scottish pounds.

Shanahan: They use Sterling.

CNBC: They use sterling?

Shanahan: They use sterling. But we use euro.

CNBC: What? Why would you do that?

Shanahan: Why wouldn’t we do that.

CNBC: Why didn’t Scotland? No wander they wanted to break away.

Shanahan: They are part of the UK we are not.

CNBC: Aren’t you right next to er?

Shanahan: We are very close but entirely separate.

CNBC: It is sort of the same, same island isn’t it?

Shanhan: And in the North of Ireland they have sterling.

CNBC: They do?

Shanhan: And in the North of Ireland they use sterling.

CNBC: It is just too confusing...

Mon, Nov 3, 2014, 18:25
First published:
Mon, Nov 3, 2014, 18:23
 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:27 | 5413607 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

 

 

"The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency."  Vladimir Lenin.
(Central planners could not possibly have infiltrated our central banks, could they?)
Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:00 | 5413896 NidStyles
NidStyles's picture

Which is why none of this matters as long as the masses support and idolize the thieves that have hoisted themselves as if they were greater than other men. It takes large masses of extremely dim witted humans to pull it off, but they got there through state controlled education and currency.

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:10 | 5413911 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

Elliott Management's Paul Singer wrote:

How can we make the economy work better, grow faster, provide the best full-time job opportunities, allocate capital more efficiently, help the largest number of people get rich or pursue their destinies, and provide the fairest and most open platform for people to live their lives without interference and to experience the worthiness of achievement or career or parenthood and family?

Sadly, we cannot think of many leaders in the developed world who are pursuing policies with that combination of goals in mind.

 

So, Mr. Singer can you name ‘think of’ one nation that’s pursuing these policies?

 

 

 

“War is God's way of teaching Americans geography” -- Ambrose Bierce

 

 

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 11:30 | 5414662 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

.

“War is God's way of teaching Americans geography” -- Ambrose Bierce

 

then "God" must be disappointed, so few amrkns even realise they "support" 900 military bases in over 130 countries. . .

of course, most amrkns believe the whole world is "theirs" - so who needs to know "geography"?  it all belongs to "US". . .

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 05:27 | 5413741 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

Wow, CNBC are too stupid to breath.

They have headphones who should have been feeding him info.  So those guys must not know anything as well.

Just scary.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:41 | 5413856 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

LOL, TIS, thank you for posting this pearl. I'm still laughing

afterwards, this guy says "you guys have to put your act together", followed by a further "it's just too confusing"

"Shanhan: Why wouldn’t we have euros in Ireland?" Too bad he did not get a proper answer to that, I would have loved to hear it

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 13:45 | 5415278 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

TruthinSunshine - Your right OT but worth it! I haven't laughed that hard in a good long time. Of course, as misdirection takes hold the sycophants become dumb as rocks. Good luck with the supposed NWO lol! Same shit, different day..

Thanka for paying attention, I cant stomach watching that anymore. My gf used to watch "The Five" on Fox. There was so much bullshit with a grain of truth buried in it I forbid her subjecting to me to. She would tyen wait until I fell asleep and watch that kind programming and I had dreams of bullshit, no kidding. She still watches it ocassionally when I am not around but I tell her when she talks about it we can have no meaningful or useful debate about the subjects aired.

I did educated her in a few sentences how the world works and to her credit she is now objectively comparing simple reality to propoganda.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:10 | 5413288 Gmpx
Gmpx's picture

The opposite idea is communism. It would be interesting to see Tyler's opinion on communism.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:19 | 5413422 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

American capitalists have to go beg Chinese "communists" for funding government....

 

there is no such -ism...can never purely exist.

the scale is of that of distributed power VS concentrated power.

socialism, communism, capitalism, whateverthehellism, fuedalism, etc....it all depends on the balance of power within groups of people. masses have too much power leads to indecision as a group to make progress, small group of elites leads to tyranny.

rigged game.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:49 | 5413479 BuddyEffed
BuddyEffed's picture

Let's coin a new term.   Capitillusion.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 06:13 | 5413756 Thomas
Thomas's picture

Call me thick, but some of the comments suggest to me disagreement with Singer. He has elevated to hero status in my book. I find his writing compelling and correct. What's wrong with his actions? Possibly his raid on Argentina? Well, I also enthusiastically endorse everything he is doing in Argentina. He bet that the corrupt banking system would not let Argentina do an outright default, which the most certainly would do in a clean, uncorrupt system. He bet the corruption was so deep--the moral hazard so profound--that he could make a buck. I hope he wins big. 

Give me a bunch of bright red checks. The guys is spot on.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 09:01 | 5414019 Incubus
Incubus's picture

I like capitualism

 

"I'm not trying hard enough. Bob makes more than I do."

"My wife left me for Joe because Joe's making bank.  I need to try harder not to be a loser."

"If I think happy thoughts and take the meds the head-doctor gave me, I'll make it."

"just think happy thoughts!!"

"smile!"

Everyone loves a smiling jackass over a brooding smartass. Just give up and smile.  We'll all fucking get bullets to the back of our heads while smiling. 

It's disconcerting how emotional your average idiot is.  They seek immediate emotional feedback.  Revelry. Spectacle. Entertainment. Amusement.

 

George Orwell could've been a prophet.  The proles aren't going to save the day, I'll tell you that much.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:46 | 5413995 Mountainview
Mountainview's picture

Marx spoke about labour against capital. He forgot about the parasite role of public administration. The heavy state apparatus brought down the USSR and will bring down every other form of state if the dynamics are once in place.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:38 | 5413501 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

Yes, junction, regarding Paul Singer, see the comment by JR, and my reply to him, here:

Paul Singer Slams The Fake World: "Fake Growth, Fake Money, Fake Jobs, Fake Stability, Fake Inflation Numbers" | Zero Hedge

The article by Singer above, as well as many of the comments, are ridiculous, since AFTER the public "money" supply can be made by private banks out of nothing as debts, then that kind of "negative capital" has destroyed capitalism. The ACTUAL system is what happens after one adds fraud and murder to "capitalism." There are no good labels that are widely understood for that phenomenon. The public discussions of these issues is nothing more than bullshit fighting bullshit, since it is practically impossible to agree upon the basic social facts, which are that governments are the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gangs of criminals, inside of systems where private property is based on backing up claims with coercions, while money is measurement backed by murder.

The bullshit about "money" being related to being productive deliberately ignores the ways that the production of destruction controls production, i.e., human realities are always organized lies operating robberies, because human beings are always acting as entropic pumps of energy. Of course, the vast majority of people understand that in as backwards of ways as possible, because those who were the best at being deceitful and backing that up with destruction actually dominated society, so that we ended up with a political economy whose foundation is enforced frauds.

All of the various "isms" are bullshit, that were promoted by the biggest bullies, and therefore, all debates between those various "isms" are nothing more than fighting bullshit with bullshit. The ideals of "capitalism" have never actually existed, and could never actually exist, because it is impossible to stop fraud and murder from making their own "free market" that controls the illusions of there being some other kind of idealized "free market."

Our real political economy system has NO good labels to describe it, that are generally understood, however, one thing it is NOT is "capitalism!" Personally, I tend to prefer describing the current system as being a runaway fascist plutocracy juggernaut. In that system the oligarchs have succeeded in persistently applying the methods of organized crime to capture control over the political processes, to the point where the most important public powers have been PRIVATIZED.

The oligarchs that dominate the real American system are actually able to direct how public powers are used to benefit them, while screwing everyone else, while that social polarization in turn is relatively trivial compared to the overall destruction of the natural world, based on strip-mining the planet's natural resources. Since the current public "money" system operates by creating that "money" out of nothing as debts, which can also return to nothing, that monetary system is nothing but government enforced bankster frauds. The total effect of the established systems being based on legalized lies backed by legalized violence is that sort of civilization behaves in ways which are criminally insane. The currently established monetary systems operate through being able to deliberately ignore the basic laws of nature, and the surrounding environmental ecologies and the limits to that environment, because everything is being "paid" for with "money" made out of nothing as debts.

That debt slavery system has generated numbers which are debt insanities, and those are going to provoke death insanities, because the death controls back up the debt controls, while that is still being done through the maximum possible deceits and frauds by the currently established political economy systems. Those systems have become globalized electronic fiat money frauds, backed up by the threat of the force of atomic bombs. That overall situation is runaway criminal insanities, which have no ways to fix their problems, because those established systems are already almost inconceivably crazy and corrupt, as well as terminally sick and insane.

Those who are making "money" within the established systems are doing that by participating in systems of enforced frauds, which are based on attitudes of evil deliberate ignorance towards society as whole, and even more so towards the environment as a whole. The human civilization that we live inside of is based on being able to back up lies with violence. Those who appear to be doing well within that system are only doing so in the short-term, when one is deliberately ignoring the longer term consequences of irreconcilable social polarization, and even worse irreparable destruction of the natural world.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have any sane public debates about the economy, because the language we use is almost totally bullshit, while almost nobody understands any better language. In theory, the human economy should be understood within the human ecology, and that in turn understood within the larger natural ecology. Furthermore, we should be understanding the industrial revolution as the emerging development of a new kind of possible industrial ecology. However, all of those things were actually developed in the most expedient ways, through the application of the methods of organized crime.

The foundation of the American system is enforced frauds, which are promoted by professional liars and immaculate hypocrites, which benefit in the short-term from being able to do that. However, the longer term consequences of controlling civilization with lies backed by violence is that society becomes more and more criminally insane, as it becomes more and more psychotically detached from being able to cope with objective realities. Private banks being legally able to make the public "money" supply out of nothing as debts is the most INSANE system there could possibly be, because it was actually based on the maximum application of the methods of organized crime to control civilization.

From a sublime point of view, "capitalism" could be seen as a way to approach understanding the entropic pumping of energy, in which case that would make sense. However, the actual totally FAKE "capitalism" that exists at the present time is based on covertly operating organized lies, backed by violence, which enables those who do that the best to become the most wealthy and powerful people WITHIN that criminally insane and madly self-destructive system.

Guys like Paul Singer spout utterly absurd nonsense, HOWEVER, since the entire political economy is based on that absurd nonsense, as legalized lies, backed by legalized violence, he, and others like him, were able to become "billionaires" within that system, in ways where they are enabled to deliberately ignore the relatively more objective realities regarding what those established systems were actually doing, and their real roles within those systems.

We are headed towards the PARADOXICAL final failure from too much success at building a civilization based on being able to back up lies with violence. That was always the real basis of the economy, and that was always as deeply buried under bullshit as possible. The great PARADOX is that WITHIN systems of legalized lies, backed by legalized violence, the more successful people are the relatively best professional liars and immaculate hypocrites, who routinely spout absurd kinds of nonsense, like that in the last couple of articles by Paul Singer.

At the present time, all significant political parties are factions of a Private Property Party, which asserts that being able to be the most dishonest, and back that up with the most violence, in order to thereby become "wealthy" is a good idea. It is almost impossible to explain to people whose lives depend upon operating within the established monetary systems that they actually are criminally insane, because the current systems of organized lies operating robberies have become so extremely unbalanced that it is almost impossible to perceive how unbalanced they are.

Generally speaking, the public "money" supply has already been almost 99% privatized, while the public murder system is approaching something like having been about 75% privatized. The global effects of the combined money/murder systems have become that the astronomical SIZE of the debt insanities amounts to there being so much "money" made out of nothing to speculate with that those amounts are greater by a ratio of about 100 to 1, physical realities, to runaway, triumphantly enforced, frauds. For instance, there is probably more than 100 times as much paper gold, and/or electronic gold, as there is actual physical gold, and similar ratios apply to everything else.

There is NOTHING remotely close to the ideals of "capitalism" left in the real world, where the banksters have made quadrillions of notional units of "money" to use to gamble with, to a degree where all of the "money" that flesh and blood people use to buy food and fuel has become relatively trivial, compared to amounts of that "money" made out of nothing to gamble with. The international banksters have succeeding in creating a global casino that manifests the minimum possible morality, because that system is based on the maximum possible frauds, which are enforced by governments.

I REPEAT, the bottom line is that we are living inside of a debt slavery system which has generated numbers which have become DEBT INSANITIES, and therefore, we are headed towards that provoking DEATH INSANITIES. Furthermore, facing that bottom line regarding the objective realities about the natural world is practically impossible, due to all previous social successes being based on operating within social systems based on those enforced frauds. Rather, guys like Singer get to sing the same old silly little love songs about "capitalism," while the ugly realities regarding the fascist plutocracy juggernaut are going to turn the human species into its road kill.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:19 | 5413820 gswifty
gswifty's picture

Wow. Awesome comment.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:41 | 5413860 LULZBank
LULZBank's picture

 

All of the various "isms" are bullshit, that were promoted by the biggest bullies, and therefore, all debates between those various "isms" are nothing more than fighting bullshit with bullshit.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have any sane public debates about the economy, because the language we use is almost totally bullshit, while almost nobody understands any better language.

 

Above says all, how the humanity are held in a trance like form.

But people are even more hopeless, most of the actually WANT to believe these lies. Hence I try not to give a toss about them.

Was talking to a friend, who said he has some savings in his account. And I pointed out, you only have some extra cash in your account and you cannot have any savings because you have debts to pay (Mortgage).

And he got offended and said, what finance are you talking about? Everybody regards cash in bank as savings.

I calmly said, well then, if I withdraw a few thousand in cash on my credit card and put it in my bank, will that be my savings?

Thats where the discussion got really ugly... lol

Initially I thought he was just referring to cash in bank as savings as he didnt know how to describe it maybe but eventually I realised he actually believed that to be actual Savings. He had no concept of aseets and liabilities!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 20:38 | 5417472 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

Yes, your anecdote is confirmed again and again during the first half hour of this documentary from the UK:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcGh1Dex4Yo

97% Owned - Monetary Reform documentary

I spent a few decades talking to tens of thousands of different people from all walks of life about money and politics, (and I continue to do that a little by doing this in the Canadian context of Electoral District Associations.)

Again and again I have been proving that more than 99% of the general public of taxpayers understand vitually nothing about the SOURCE of their "money" supply, since they have been successfully conditioned to NOT WANT to know!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 10:12 | 5414321 TuPhat
TuPhat's picture

Sounds like you agree completely with Singer RM.  Why such a long drawn out comment.  Just write your own article somewhere.  Except Singer says it much better than you.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 20:41 | 5417484 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

It is quite STRANGE, TuPhat, that you think I agree completely with Singer!

I do not detect Singer emphasizing the most important FACT, that private banks are making the public "money" supply out of nothing as debts. He tends to deliberately NOT talk about it, although he appears to have made his own money from taking advantage of that INSANE social situation, where many people are drowning in debts, while guys like Singer acted like vultures to take personal advantage of their situation.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 10:11 | 5414301 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Junction - The receng monied interests see the writing on the wall and now realize that a government that gave them everything can also easily take it away. So while it is self-interest that mainly drives more of the monied class speaking up, I find it useful and refreshing that the long-term is now being considered over the short-term.

You do get efforts even in Central Banking for power sharing such as Milton Friedman's promotion of no reserve currency host and floating currencies instead of pegged. But our collective tendency is to go with the devil we know.

The biggest problem is there are not enough representatives at the national level so they are easily bought. A solution would be 10,000 representatives. Above them now are supranationalist organizations ruling earth. 300 people at the CFR (political union) and 9 at the BIS (monetary union). The general framework of both types of union being required but zero global citizenship representation a necessary portion of political framework. There is no global debate platform and an agenda is steered with talking points at the audience instead of participation in it.

Instead of ruling, it is part of the job of real leaders to educate the public how the world works and invite debate. Centralization locks out problem solvers and crushes that middle class necessary to implement solutions the top no longer has time for or interest in.

The outcome is inevitable and that is decentralization and wider power distribution. A shame our human fallacies put blinders on to work toward that goal instead of reacting out of necessity after the fact.

A shame pain and fear must continue to be the primary driver of evolution instead of the opportunity to benefit to smooth out imbalances.

Our collective behavior in imperfection has a lot to do with mortality, needing to be nut gatherers for old age. The solution being solving that problem as a global focus, channeling our competitive nature to end death itself.

The knowledge now exists to complete this effort and finish our evolution back to energy. If you die at 90 shitting your pants, gathering a few extra nuts only brings very temporal comfort instead of solving the core problem which effects us ALL.

Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:54 | 5413248 Yes_Questions
Yes_Questions's picture

 

 

we have corporatism

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:10 | 5413287 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

Oligarchic governmentalism

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:45 | 5413349 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Klepto-socio-fascist-crony-capitalistic-oligarchism.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:59 | 5413390 Urtica ferox
Urtica ferox's picture

A permanent "elected" aristocracy (complete with courtiers, flunkies, toadies and assorted hangers-on).

Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:53 | 5413244 Steroid
Steroid's picture

Would you want all those current goverment employees to be beggars on street corners and starve to deaths?

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:09 | 5413356 yepyep
yepyep's picture

i would like to see them contribute their labour to the production of goods and services as demanded by the market instead of waste their labour on the predation of those doing so already or consuming goods to provide services to suit political aims instead of economic ones.

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:27 | 5413688 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

Can't have that...we must be merciful and put them out of their misery.

Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:53 | 5413245 blindman
blindman's picture

yea, the problem is the money system/s
and the capacity of this, with the legal
monopoly of it/them, to purchase things,
people and governments; thereby distorting
and perverting everything, absolutely.
monitization, securitization and financialization
(are these terms really words?)
are desperate last resorts or attempts at
stealing in broad daylight, by law.
sad but true.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:10 | 5413266 reader2010
reader2010's picture
"The French Revolution has proclaimed as its slogan the trinity ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ What has in practice happened ever since is that most people have tacitly dropped the ‘fraternity’ part of the slogan, on the grounds that it was mere sentimentality. And the liberal center has insisted that ‘liberty’ had to take priority over (defined in purely political terms) was the only thing that mattered and that ‘equality’ represented a danger for ‘liberty’ and had to be downplayed or dropped altogether. There was flimflam in this analysis, and the world left fell for it. The world left, and in particular its Leninist variant, responded to this centrist liberal discourse by inverting it, and insisting that (economic) equality had to take precedence over (political) liberty. This was entirely the wrong answer. The correct answer is that there is no way whatsoever to separate liberty from equality. No one can be ‘free’ to choose, if his or her choices are constrained by an unequal position. And no one can be ‘equal’ if he or she does not have the degree of freedom that others have, that is, does not enjoy the same political rights and the same degree of participation in real decisions."

The Decline of American Power, by Immanuel Wallerstein

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 10:53 | 5414482 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Reader2010 - Brilliant analysis. I came to the same conclusion a few years back, that we traded equality for liberty. The fraternization part really comes down to giving back to the community with education being the best method. Groups that have dispproportiate power that do not do broad community outreach eventually have direct assault by other groups.

I was fortunate and had a really good business mentor that taught me about giving back to the community. I admit, I really pondered why for a time and tried it. Not only do you get personal satisfaction and growth in the short term for balanced happiness you get it back monetarily in the end.

The path of least resistence which degenerates into stealing is also the one that leads to personal misery, even when wealth is ammassed.

A wise man once said "What purpose is it to gain the entire world and lose oneself?"

I have sat on both sides of the table and I can assure you this quote is true and so is this one "The only life worth living is on behalf of others." That is Einstein.

I do not so easily judge or condemn as I once did because arguing against one's own self-interest for the mutual benefit of all is not easy but I'll reiterate it is worth it.

I can look in the mirror, know some of my shit still stinks and make improvements. But I certainly now have no problems sleeping at night or dying with regrets. Plus the knowledge also acquired doing this pretty much
guarantees avoidance of poverty even if some government found a way to rob me of it all in the short term.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:06 | 5413275 Hail Spode
Hail Spode's picture

"An important point here is that this system is not capitalism.  In capitalism capital is put at risk in hopes of obtaining a reward.  Here, there is the illusion that risk can be eliminated through hedging all bets, and thanks to hedging and wild leveraging, there is very little capital either." - Localism, a philosophy of government  http://www.amazon.com/Localism-Philosophy-Government-Mark-Moore/dp/06922...

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:07 | 5413281 gwar5
gwar5's picture

Free market capitalism, banksterism, and crony capitalism are 3 different things. Hooray for #1. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:25 | 5413313 red1chief
red1chief's picture

Unfortunately the USA is stuck with the last 2.  Reinforced with massive amounts of cash and post-government job offers for politicians and gov't workers that cooperate.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:09 | 5413285 Leraconteur
Leraconteur's picture

"Capitalism is a system according to which capital is owned by private citizens, who in turn determine its price and flow by interacting with one another. Capitalism implies that private citizens get to keep most of the fruits of their labor or the profitability of their capital. Capitalism is neither a “state of nature”

Looks like China, that Communist nation run as Socialist on paper.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:16 | 5413297 DOGGONE
DOGGONE's picture

Capitalism does NOT want to adjust asset prices for inflation, because that looks like cocaine intoxication!
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1223928

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:31 | 5413325 Schmuck Raker
Schmuck Raker's picture

I saw Berlin open for the Thompson Twins at King's Dominion.

#TimeStamp

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:39 | 5413339 baldski
baldski's picture

Paul Singer is a reichwingnut coocoobird who thinks because he is rich he is ordained by god to lead!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:57 | 5413365 Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas's picture

"The problem with capitalism is too few capitalists" G. K. Chesterton

 

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)

Capitalism is reaching its theoretical end as foreseen by Abraham Lincoln. Contiguous with this apotheosis is a passing to fascism/socialism/communism.

That is what is coming next, as Lenin understood.


"Fascism is capitalism in decay"

"The goal of socialism is communism."

 

Capitalism is a punishment from God and is an economic system based on the worship of money in displacement of worship of Our Lord Jesus Christ:   
   

Matthew 6:24


"No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

(Indeed, Hilaire Belloc argues that the advent of Capitalism was not a natural evolution that can be traced to the rise of industrialism, but more to the dissolution of the monasteries in England by Henry V111.)

 

Distributism is the true economics, that subordinates money to man not contraiwise as with capitalism. See: http://distributistreview.com/mag/2012/02/state-capitalism/

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:05 | 5413402 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Interesting how Socialism and Communism seek to kill religion, while Captialism seeks to exploit it by using guilt and fear.

Crony Capitalists love Christians who guilt themselves into laboring at low wages in the name of God while serving the profits of the corporation.

Socialism/Communism cuts out the middle man and makes the citizen worship the state and/or leaders (just look at North Korea and Kim Jong Il/Un).

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 09:12 | 5414058 Incubus
Incubus's picture

how about we realize it's the fucking 21st century. Two thousand fucking fourteen.

 

How much longer are we, as rational men, going to kneel to the fallacies of "wise old men?"

Put the minds together of honest, fair men and create an eclectic, modern society that doesn't worship figures or gods or abstractions.

Society is you and I.  Not some faraway and removed wise man or holy man, or concept.

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 11:46 | 5414750 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Incubus - Science has a humble saying I appreciate "we stand on the shoulders of giants."

Why recreate a wheel? I think the godhead discussions are really about origination. To me the "how" and "why" is of greater importance. I look at it this way. If there is one then we have something to learn from one another, even if my evolution is at a lower scale, one micron of new learning would prove invaluable to such. If there is no godhead, or perhaps just an eternal evolutionary process where we are all one and interlinked, the micron of learning is still invaluable.

I found the saying "seek God" or seek orginiation valuable. But the hows and whys are more important to me now which I think is some of what your trying to articulate. The hows and whys point toward origination in any event. A lot of yesterdays religion is becoming todays science.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 11:02 | 5414543 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Thomas - Great commentary and spot on, I just can't agree about "punishment from God." From the viewpoint of Christ which you are also quoting the concept of "you reap what you sow" is more fitting.

Whether one believes in a godhead or not does not mean they escape the rules of evolution, they only delay it at the expense of others and ultimately - themselves.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:57 | 5413381 fibonacci's claus
fibonacci's claus's picture

capitalism is material support for the "moderate" syrian rebels, and then letting isis overrun their positions and capture all their american military assets.

capitalism is delaying the fergusen decision

capitalism is the ebola administration dictating to the insurance companies that they must delay telling the public about their premium increases until after the elections november 4th.

capitalism is the ebola administration delaying telling the public that 35 million illegal alien felons will be granted amnesty until after the november 4th elections... and that these same illegal alien felons will be granted welfare, childcare, free education, free state healthcare, ......

capitalism is having the u.s economy run by a banking cartel, the federal reserve, for over 100 years, with generations of hebrew chairmen.

capitalism is qe.

capitalism is twist.

capitalism is supreme court justice robert's unconstitutionally re-writing obamacare.

capitalism is cash for clunkers.

capitalism is myRA.

capitalism is the u.s govt in bed with higher education with 1 trillion + student loan debt and NO GOOD JOBS.

capitalism is the u.s govt ripping off the bondholders of aig, gm, fannie/freddie, etc.

capitalism is hank paulson coming out on center stage with a single piece of paper, blackmailing congress that "there will be martial law"

capitalism is bioweapons development of weapons grade ebola in west african bioweapons labs.

capitalism is the irs strongarming world govt's into fatca compliance.

capitalism is sending the fbi to investigate benghazi.

capitalism is allowing the cia to operate inside the u.s in every major city in america.

...  beuhler?

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:10 | 5413408 yepyep
yepyep's picture

government is all of those things.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:22 | 5413429 silentboom
silentboom's picture

True and government is the opposite of capitalism.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:57 | 5413382 Billy Shears
Billy Shears's picture

All the above would work wonders of it weren't for the Act of 1871...

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 00:59 | 5413389 Cabreado
Cabreado's picture

"It is no accident that the more government does, and the more control government has or is given over people’s lives, the greater the level of corruption and cronyism..."

If you are looking for cause, and dynamics, you have it exactly backwards.

And, that thinking is ultimately a dangerous mistake, as it implicates "government" and neglects the perpetrators. 


Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:02 | 5413395 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

+1 Corruption is a cultural issue, having much to do with enforcement, among others.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:16 | 5413418 Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas's picture

And does not history teach that capitalism goes hand-in-hand with fiat money and usury and concomitantly inflation, instability and failure?

 

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/average-life-expectancy-...

 

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:20 | 5413426 silentboom
silentboom's picture

The opposite.  Capitalism is the opposite of inflationism.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:00 | 5413579 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

Thomas Aquinas, your erudite comments persist in promoting false fundamental dichotomies. There is only one real system, and that is human energy systems match the principles and methods of organized crime, which patterns fractally repeat themselves. "Capitalism," as word for a concept, was merely more of the idealized bullies' bullshit to conceal the realities regarding organized systems of lies operating robberies. The same similarly goes for all other significant "isms."

What actually makes scientific sense is to regard human beings as general energy systems. However, that can not be properly done unless one recognizes that the biggest bullies' bullshit world view also dominated the philosophy of science, the same as all other social enterprises. Sublime "capitalism" considerably overlaps with the ways that human civilizations operate as assembled entropic pumps of energy. However, we generally understand that backwards, because we understand entropy backwards.

The rise and fall of civilizations I tend to see as primarily driven by what makes them, then destroys them. Civilizations are always systems of lies backed by violence, which start off being relatively strong, but then undermine and destroy themselves, with their own internal contradictions, that backing up lies with violence, while socially successful, never makes those lies become true. Therefore, I regard the rise and fall of civilizations as primarily due to their triumphant lying driving themselves insane, whereupon that madness destroys them.

The sublime theory of capitalism does not actually work after fraud and robbery are added to capitalism, while there are no ways to prevent that from happening, due to the paradoxes inherent in the enforcement of any rule of law. After that starts to happen, it automatically happens more and more, faster and faster. Thus, the debt slavery systems in the USA have been on an exponential growth path, especially since 1971. That exponential growth of debts (by "money" made out of nothing as debts) has generated numbers which have become debt insanities. That really had nothing to do with sublimely idealized "capitalism," because making "money" out of nothing as debts can better be thought of as "negative capital," which actual "anti-capital" destroys capitalism. Therefore, I do NOT think that history teaches that capitalism goes hand in hand with the banksters' kind of financial "capitalism," which is based on government enforced frauds, due to the banksters being able to apply the methods of organized crime to the political processes, to result in private banks being legally allowed to "counterfeit" the public "money" supply out of nothing, as debts.

What actually always was happening was always that money was measurement backed by murder, as the most abstract form of the ways that organized lies operated robberies. That was always the basic reality to all economic activities. Paradoxically, it is the excessive success of that kind of enforced fraud which finally destroys itself. I do not think that one can blame that on the idealized, sublime, notions of capitalism, but rather, is the result of the rise and fall of a system of organized lies operating robberies, whose own success at the beginning sets up the conditions for its own mad self-destruction at the ending.

The only things which actually exist are different systems of organized lies operating robberies, and the dynamic equilibria between them. All other well-known "isms" were varieties of bullshit designed to obfuscate that basic reality. Since only that which actually exists can actually evolve, the only possible futures are for the development of different dynamic equilibria between different systems of lies operating robberies, in which process some of the seeds of some of the old systems may provide the basis for some new systems.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:46 | 5413635 yepyep
yepyep's picture

no history teaches that government goes hand-in-hand with fiat money and usury and concomitantly inflation, instability and failure.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 11:53 | 5414796 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Thomas - No, not in my opinion. Any system that starts out good will lead to these things. Imperfection...

Bribing politicians is something the general public readily understands and will remain a problem until we finish our evolution. I did posit system brake solution in commentay above about increasing representation.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:20 | 5413421 silentboom
silentboom's picture

"Capitalism implies that private citizens get to keep most of the fruits of their labor or the profitability of their capital"

Getting to keep the fruits of your labor would mean that theft through inflation would have to be abolished leaving the value of the money in the hands of the earner.  This is the fundamental point at which capitialism breaks down since the workers don't understand monetary mechanics and the theft of private property begins.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:59 | 5413497 Wave-Tech
Wave-Tech's picture

...forgot to mention the taxation, which only serves to compound the affects of monetary inflation

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 12:10 | 5414878 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Silentboom - Good commentary and mainly true but the currency being public is more of a system brake then a private one like Central Ba king that winds up bribing politicians and ultimately destroying national sovereignty. As we're seeing play out, unelected monied interests are not representative forms of government.

Confusion arises conflating monetary systems and political systems. Capitalism is not a Republic or Democracy nor is Socialism or Communism. The 'isms' just promote intentional distraction or cover for robberies as a call to defend it or deny they are occuring in the first place.

So far, a Republic where no person is above the law and has equal representation works bests. Of course this will degrade over time, something the founders of the USA realized, especially Thomas Jefferson but I bet he would have been surprised to see that it lasted this long and I think that the civil war and federalism (another ism again) really began the undoing of the Republic. In the end of that conflic the rich got richer and the poor were cannon fodder on both sides. Yes slavery was abolished (the only good outcome out of the slaughter) but Lincoln was against emancipation before elected.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:23 | 5413427 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

So Mr. Singer, you must support ending the FED, no bailouts for banks/insurers/corporations, and restoring Glass-Steagall and the rule-of-law, right?

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 01:24 | 5413432 Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas's picture
http://www.rense.com/general66/rosen.htm
The Money Power
 
 
When questioned about the ways in which the Jews have gained power, Mr. Rosenthal said:
 
"Our power has been created through the manipulation of the national monetary system. We authored the quotation. 'Money is power.' As revealed in our master plan, it was essential for us to establish a private national bank. The Federal Reserve system fitted our plan nicely since it is owned by us, but the name implies that it is a government institution. From the very outset, our purpose was to confiscate all the gold and silver, replacing them with worthless non-redeemable paper notes. This we have done!"
 
When asked about the term 'non-redeemable notes,' Mr. Rosenthal replied:
 
"Prior to 1968, the gullible goy could take a one dollar Federal Reserve note into any bank in America and redeem it for a dollar which was by law a coin containing 412 1/2 grains of 90 per cent silver. Up until 1933, one could have redeemed the same note for a coin of 25 4/5ths grains of 90 per cent gold. All we do is give the goy more non-redeemable notes, or else copper slugs. But we never give them their gold and silver. Only more paper," he said contemptuously. "We Jews have prospered through the paper gimmick. It's our method through which we take money and give only paper in return." (The economic problem of America and the world is ultimately a Jewish problem, or as Henry Ford stated: "The Money Question, properly solved, is the end of the Jewish Question and every other question of a mundane nature."
 
Can you give me a example of this we asked?
 
"The examples are numerous, but a few readily apparent are the stocks and bonds market, all forms of insurance and the fractional reserve system practiced by the Federal Reserve corporation, not to mention the billions in gold and silver that we have gained in exchange for paper notes, stupidly called money. Money power was essential in carrying out our master plan of international conquest through propaganda."
 
When asked how they proposed doing this, he said:
 
"At first, by controlling the banking system we were able to control corporation capital. Through this, we acquired total monopoly of the movie industry, the radio networks and the newly developing television media. The printing industry, newspapers, periodicals and technical journals had already fallen into our hands. The richest plum was later to come when we took over the publication of all school materials. Through these vehicles we could mold public opinion to suit our own purposes. The people are only stupid pigs that grunt and squeal the chants we give them, whether they be truth or lies."
Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:06 | 5413583 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

Yes, Thomas Aquinas, however, I still feel that it is TRAGIC that is the truth.

The ruling classes appear to be justified in regarding the vast majority of people as Zombie Sheeple, because that IS the way that the vast majority of people actually behave. The long history of backing up lies with violence has resulted in the majority of people adapting to those realities by becoming ignorant and afraid. That social system appears to have already gone beyond its event horizon into a social black hole!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 12:31 | 5414973 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Thomas - Since they conquered the globe there mistake (repeated by any nationality) is two-fold:

1) Failure to establish a representative Republic (the world will always belong to all people not any special government or group).

2) Broad community outreach. Giving back to the community is a way reseed growth.

Instead, they built another golden calf. Think about the story of Moses which he referred to his own tribes as 'stiff-necked' people. Out of most of the tribes, they seem to have to learn the hard way most repeatedly. The biblical story goes like this about the golden calf:

They escape Egypt loaded down with gold and silver. Moses goes up Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments. Aaron, his brother in law hears the people grumble because Moses is gone for a few days. So he tells them they will build a new god to worship in the form of a golden calf and they do it. Now ignore for a moment the spiritual elements for a second of good principles in the ten commandments and think logistics.

Your in the middle of the desert with 800,000 men plus probably another equal amount of women so 1.6 million people in the desert and then animals which are your main food supply. With all your gold centralized, you only get one big trade with traveling merchants or city-state. That means your people starve to death and right before they do they bug out and kill Moses and Aaron. Moses comes down from the mountain and is pissed out of his head. Gee I wonder why? At least there religious example had the brains to figure out why you don't centralize all the wealth. Eventually, people are going to starve, bug out and kill you.

Now you know why DHS has prepared for this possibility.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 02:08 | 5413502 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

If we wanted COKE, we would travel to Colorado to pick up both packages to break down and sell for maximum assurance for medical care services. Scoring on Coke, marijuana, and free health care is a Bankers racket ending in bullets ending the culprit spinning the disease. 

Hello, I'm a banker. I feed the elected officials to grow drugs to expand a perpetual pension issue. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 02:43 | 5413546 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

How is Israel doing? Did they blow thru UK and American Aid to fight ISIL CIA? What happened to Palestinian West Bank Iron dome firecrackers media threat 

Oh you poor Jews. You have run out of propaganda monies and you wait with baited breath until November 4, 2014 election.

We need more monies to fight off kosher Ebola and Jewish cunts claiming 50% of FOMC assets.

.Great job feminist. That pussy will get old as a 30 year old heterosexual marriage. Good luck trying to fuck over your carpet munching partner.

Wearing a strap on and sucking on your partners wet pussy or penis will become laughter.

 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 02:46 | 5413554 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

Wealth transfer was a bad investment, America. The best thing to do now would be to re-appropriate the wealth transfer that the 1%ers took from the public and redistribute those monies back into the general economy and not the 1%er fueled stock market. If QE Infinity was actually directed into the general economy, and not the stock market, we would have a chance to resolve the economic train wreck we all call the USA economy.

QE Infinity and Keynesian stimulus intervention are technically able to help the general economy, but when QE Infinity goes to EM and stock repurchasing it _never_ makes it back into the general economy. O'Bummer sold you out, USA. O'Bummer should be impeached for not dealing with the Banksters and allowing the FED to dole QE Infinity out to corporatists that will not put the money into functional investment that facilitates economic growth in a pragmatic fashion. Whoever planned where to spend the QE is a dolt IMHO. Bernanke should be ashamed of himself for the lack of directed investment into the general economy by the Banksters.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 02:45 | 5413558 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

no one really addresses the 800 FUCKING POUND GORILLA  ; 

 

how can you have meaningful capitalism without STANDARDIZED MONEY. 

 

BULLION is fine, i grew up with gold. but IT SUCKS IF ITS NOT COINED AND RELIABLY. YOU CANNOT BE ACID TESTING AND WEIGHING THINGS ALL THE TIME / 

 

you have SENIORAGE COSTS FOR MINTING/COINING/PRINTING MONEY. you have SECURITY COSTS FOR PREVENTING COUNTERFEITING. and finally even if EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO CREATE MONEY---IT STILL HAS TO COST SOMETHING TO CREATE MONEY. 

 

JUST BECAUSE ONE CENTRAL BANK CARTEL RULES THEM ALL IN THE U.S.------DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE IS SOME SORT OF CAPITALISM THAT EXISTS WITHOUT MONEY CREATION ACTORS. 

 

SOMEONE MUST CREATE MONEY. SOMEONE MUST. -----SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY DO?

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:29 | 5413612 yepyep
yepyep's picture

are you telling me humans are too incompetent to mint coins in the private market?

 

we need competition in currency, not monopoly.

nobody is addressing this problem because it isnt one.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:33 | 5413670 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

teslaberry, I see your "800 FUCKING POUND GORILLA" as being way, way bigger than that, indeed, that GORILLA is now bigger than planet Earth, due to the ways the real monetary system has become globalized electronic fiat money frauds, backed by the threat of the force of weapons of mass destruction, in which the amounts of "money" have become at least a couple of orders of magnitude bigger than the total physically real economy, while the power to back that up is based on being able to kill orders of magnitude more people than actually exist.

THEORETICALLY, the public money supply should be a public utility, controlled by the general public. In the case of North America, both the original constitutions of the USA and Canada stated various forms of what should be the case, and still do. However, the REALITIES have become totally the OPPOSITE! In the case of the USA, the public money supply was supposed to be backed by gold and silver, whose value was set by Congress. In the case of Canada, the government of Canada was supposed to have control over the Canadian money supply. However, in both cases those governments GAVE AWAY the power to make money out of nothing as debts to private banks, while more and more agreeing to run the national monetary policies in line with what the international bankers told them to do.

It is NOT the fiat aspect of fiat money that is the problem, it is that power was privatized, but still enforced by the government. I agree with the various great quotes regarding the THEORY of governments creating fiat money, to serve the general interests of the whole population.

Such as from President Lincoln:

"The government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credit needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of the government but it is the government's greatest creative opportunity. By adoption of the these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity."

Or from the longest serving Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King:

"Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile."

I also agree with the THEORY of the monetary reforms promoted by people like Ellen Brown and Bill Still. The issue is WHO CONTROLS THE MONEY SUPPLY. That is what has been PRIVATIZED, although that legalized counterfeiting by private banks continues to be enforced by the government against the rest of the population!

Creating the money supply, as a public utility, in ways which strives to benefit everyone equally, should be government's supreme prerogative, and greatest creative opportunity, and its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility.

Instead, giving away the power to make money out of nothing to private banks was the most insane domestic policy that a government could ever adopt! However, it is easy to explain the history of how that actually happened. It was simply the history of the application of the methods of organized crime to take control over governments, in a runaway spiral of the success of fraud enabling those who did that to constantly be able to get away with even more frauds. That started more slowly and secretly. However, it was on an exponential growth curve, so that it now is becoming blatantly obvious to even mainstream morons that the banksters have become the new royalty, who are above the law, because they effectively control the political processes.

THE PROBLEM is that after one faces the social facts that the banksters ARE the biggest gangsters, who were able to take control over governments through applying the methods of organized crime, all THEORIES about what monetary reforms should be are still born in that situation. THEORIES of what "money" should be are actually irrelevant when what money IS has already become runaway frauds, backed by force, while those who are able to do that have collectively become a group of trillionaire mass murderers. (Almost everyone who publishes on Zero Hedge tends to base their bullshit "solutions" upon what money should be, in ways which tend to deliberately ignore what money is! Of course, that is far more popular to do, while addressing the realities of what money is has always been extremely unpopular.)

The REAL SOLUTIONS depend on facing the facts regarding the REAL PROBLEMS, which are that money is measurement backed by murder, and therefore, the best organized gangs of criminals have taken control over the money system. One of the primary ways that they were able to do that was through assassination of the best politicians who refused to be bribed or intimidated, in order to become the puppets of the banksters. Thereby, the governmental powers to rob, and to kill to back up the power to rob, have been effectively privatized, by the effective control over the power to rob transferred to the banksters, through vicious spirals of the profits from enforced frauds being reinvested in more enforced frauds.

The sovereign powers of "We the People" have already been 99% PRIVATIZED, and that is now a runaway situation, which is driving the government to become the worst enemy of the People, because the government is actually being controlled by the banksters. Any REAL SOLUTIONS, therefore, can not actually be through some sort of saner monetary reforms. Rather, what MIGHT happen is the eventual psychotic breakdown of the current runaway frauds, which MAY provoke some kind of monetary revolution. ??? ??? However, given that overwhelming vast majority of the People do not understand, and do not want to understand, any of the basic social facts about their monetary system, it is almost impossible to imagine how BAD that psychotic breakdown could eventually become, and therefore, just as difficult to speculate about what could be rebuilt after that. How can a society have any STANDARIZED MONEY, without a standardized murder system to back that up? Every time that anyone promotes the ideal notions of an honest and sound money system, they should also explain how they propose to have an honest and sound murder system to back that up.

In the case of the USA, it would obviously be necessary to abolish the Federal Reserve Board, and return the creation of the public money supply to Congress. However, it is practically impossible to imagine any way to do that which would not precipitate the collapse into chaos, due to the ways that the government and people of the USA are already drowning and going down for the third time under the overwhelming burdens of debt slavery, due to their monetary system becoming MAD MONEY AS DEBT.

In the case of Canada, the same things are theoretically possible, especially since the Canadian constitution and banking laws all openly state what should be the case. However, the degree to which all the most successful politicians have become the banksters' puppets, while the vast majority of people have become muppets, means that there are no practical ways to fix the problems, other than, perhaps after the established systems are driven by their own madness through psychotic breakdowns.

MacKenzie King in 1938 nationalized the Bank of Canada, returning to government the control of the creation of the nations’ currency and credit. The legislated mandate of the nationalized Bank of Canada states:

“It is desirable to establish a central bank in Canada to regulate credit and currency in the best interest of the economic life of the nation to control and protect the external value of the national monetary unit, and to mitigate by its influence fluctuations in the general level of production, trade, prices, and employment, so far as may be possible within the scope of monetary action, and generally to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada.”

That mandate was followed from 1938 until the mid 1970s, In the mid 70s, a change of policy took place which gradually gave back the control and creation of credit to the private banks - a return to the practice of delegating in blind faith and absolute confidence to financiers, while the policies of the Bank of Canada became subservient to those dictated by the Bank of International Settlements.

Similar things happened in the USA, since the last connection of the American money supply to the limits of physical gold were abolished in 1971. Overall, there has been several decades of runway debt slavery, developing numbers which are now debt insanities, which have no practical ways, which are mathematically possible, for those debts to ever be repaid, especially since all the real wealth of natural resources has been strip-mined to oblivion, as civilization high-graded itself to hell.

That makes answering the questions regarding who should create the public money supply extremely problematic to answer, since before that becomes possible, the current runaway debt insanities are going to provoke death insanities. In THEORY, the best ways to operate the monetary system is to make that be as consistent as possible with our general understanding of energy systems. However, that general understanding has just as much been the victim of the triumph of the biggest bullies' bullshit as every other social enterprise!

The actual situation we face is well summarized by 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."

The basic problem behind any attempts to make any better monetary systems is that the real paths we are actually on are for the runaway debt slavery systems to continue to generate numbers which are debt insanities, until that provokes death insanities. The people that control the people that control the government of the USA are deliberately destroying the American democratic republic, and the Canadian constitutional monarchy, and their rule of law.

It is painfully obvious that the American economy is being deliberately destroyed, while Americans are fooled and tricked by one inside job or false flag attack after another. The deeper realities that money is measurement backed by murder mean that there are no real ways to fix the monetary system without monetary revolutions, while those are not possible unless that includes how there are going to be different murder systems to back up different money systems, because the debt controls will still be backed by the death controls, no matter whatever the new monetary systems might become.

The deeper problems with understanding human civilizations as general energy systems, which have mathematical bookkeeping systems that organize that energy, are problems which can both be empirically observed, as well as theoretically derived from the basic general energy system concepts, as those manifest in the human context. Ideally, a better monetary system ought to be based on energy. (Matter such as gold and silver are actually forms of energy, and therefore, gold or silver backed money is but a tiny aspect of energy backed money. Similarly, money backed by gold or silver, or any other commodity has merely changed the basic reality that money is measurement backed by murder to become the measurement of some commodities backed by murder.)

The de facto situation is that those who control the murder systems will actually control the money systems, through the feedback loops that the money system pays for the murder system, while the murder system backs up the money system. At the present time, it was because the international bankers were the best organized gangs of criminals that they ended up being able to dominate the political processes, and all other social institutions, in order to have the public money supply become privatized, which became inverted and perverted to become "money" made out of nothing as debts.

The reality of the future will continue to be that the real monetary system will necessarily be backed by the real murder system, because the real debt controls will continue to depend upon the real death controls. Ideally, we should make greater use of information, enabling higher consciousness, so that we could develop a monetary system which was based on energy, while that understanding also embraced the view that energy is spirit.

However, realistically speaking, we already have globalized electronic fiat money frauds, backed by the threat of the force of atomic bombs, all of which operates through the maximum forms of frauds and deceits, in the most criminally insane ways possible. Furthermore, given those social facts, we are light years away from the kinds of transformations that we should go through, IF we are going to survive progress in science and technology making electronics and atomic energy, etc., possible for human beings to develop, while the ways those things actually got developed were to advance the privatization of the powers to rob, and to kill to back up that power to rob.

I surely agree that "SOMEONE MUST CREATE MONEY." Tragically, what appears to be the answer to the question "SO WHAT HAPPENS WHTN THEY DO?" is that will probably continue to manifest the facts that the money system will continue to based on the maximum possible frauds, which are backed up by murder systems based on the maximum possible deceits. The only sufficient alternatives to that would require a series of intellectual scientific revolutions, that the overwhelming vast majority of people do not currently feel that they are the least bit interested in, while those who are benefiting the most from their established systems of enforced frauds, in the currently operating monetary systems, do not want anybody to understand more about those system, and do not want any changes, other than even more of the same!

Tragically, therefore, the only reasonable answer to the issue of what kind of better monetary system could replace the existing one has the obstacle in the way that the current systems have generated numbers which are already debt insanities, and that is going to provoke death insanities. The only ways to improve that situation would require better death controls to back up better debt controls, because there must be some combined money/murder systems. However, to get to that point, we will first have to go through severe social storms, of unprecedented magnitude ...

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 13:23 | 5415170 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

RM - The solution is a scientific one, directing currency which is and agree is energy, effort also loosely referred to as production. Death controls are part of it but does not need to be this way any longer. Death itself can now be conquered unlike decades ago.

One area I will exonerate the Jews for is directing a portion of the ill gotten gains in advanced medicine toward this end. If they are wise they should launch "operation eternity" and state that was there goal in world domination. No wonder I gravitated toward PR and Marketing career haha. But first the Jews (and not all of them) need to realize you ARE your brothers keeper and that extends beyond there own tribe as Moses told them.

Christ also tried to warn them that if they didn't stop putting there finger on the scale then the prophesy of Daniel would come true and they would be trampled on by the nations another 2,000 years. Too bad they didn't listen, I dont want any of my people which is all nationalities to suffer.

Daniel was fascinating, one can take a calculator and project the reformation of Israel put to 1947. The UN recognized Israel as a sovereign in 1948. That ability had to do with quantum mechanics. Just stating "god" is not enough and promotes intellectual laziness. How and why are just as important to collective learning and mitigating the pain of evolution.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 16:58 | 5416388 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

RD:

I do not know whether the following is a hoax, or not, but nevertheless what it states appears quite plausible. It talks a lot about the possibilities of advancing biomedical technologies being able to postpone biological death for longer and longer times ... BUT, then gets into what the sociopolitical consequences might be from that achievement!

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/11/leaked-bilderberg-closing-remarks-2014-must-read-2012-whats-the-real-truth-3055480.html

Leaked Bilderberg Closing Remarks – 2014

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 03:56 | 5413650 Ohne Deckung
Ohne Deckung's picture

The fun capitalism is spending does not come from shuffling money.

A more prominent game is interferring in the pleasure to make smile someone by flipping a coin to him.

The quest of power, the competition for domination.

Above capitalism you will not see God waiting but some dark guys struggling, obsessed to end that competition by winnig it.

World domination. If money is useful to reach that goal - that's your place, capitalism.

Go ruling the game. There isn't. Only the winners can make decisions and mocking the losers with rules.

Can it be sadly to miss leaders for an impossible job. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:38 | 5413700 no more banksters
no more banksters's picture

Forget capitalism:

"We are not talking about capitalism, not even neoliberalism. We are talking about the new global, brutal feudalism!"

http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/08/the-dominant-elite-ready-to-b...

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:46 | 5413711 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

Bolllox

“In order to appreciate why this is so, let us recall the definition of the Capitalist State : “A society in which the ownership of the means of production is confined to a body of free (economic) citizens not large enough to make up properly a general character of that society , while the rest are dispossessed of the means of production and are therefore proletarian , we call capitalist ”
Belloc

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 04:52 | 5413717 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

"the closer society adheres to its general principles, the better it is for the population at large."                                                                  Not the case in Tudor England and beyond.                                    

Belloc
“The Servile State”

“How did such a catastrophe come about ? Why
was it permitted, and upon what historical process did the evil batten ? What turned an England eco- nomically free into the England which we know to- day, of which at least one-third is indigent, of which
nineteen-twentieths are dispossessed of capital and
of land, and of which the whole industry and national
life is controlled upon its economic side by a few
chance directors of millions, a few masters of unsocial and irresponsible monopolies ?

The answer most usually given to this fundamental
question in our history, and the one most readily ac- cepted, is that this misfortune came about through a
material process known as the Industrial Revolution. The use of expensive machinery, the concentration
of industry and of its implements are imagined to have enslaved, in some blind way, apart from the human will, the action of English mankind.
The explanation is wholly false. No such material cause determined the degradation from which we
suffer.
It was the deliberate action of men, evil will in a few and apathy of will among the many, which pro- duced a catastrophe as human in its causes and in- ception as in its vile effect. Capitalism was not the growth of the industrial movement, nor of chance material discoveries. A
little acquaintance with history and a little straight- forwardness in the teaching of it would be enough
to prove that. ”

The Industrial System was a growth proceeding
from Capitalism, not its cause. Capitalism was here
in England before the Industrial System came in and of the concentration of the implements of production in the great towns.to being ;before the use of coal and the new expensive machinery

It was not machinery
that lost us our freedom ; it was the loss of a free mind.”                                      

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 13:22 | 5415183 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

Today, the MSM use the word "Luddite" as synonymous with "idiot", yet the Luddites were Englanders who destroyed industrial equipment in the belief that the equipment destroyed jobs.  Gandhi took a different approach.  He urged his fellow Indians to burn whatever English-equipment-made clothing they owned, and not purchase any more, but instead to spin their own cloth.  The Luddites were obviously correct in their belief, but not in their solution.  The Hippies tried to (and some still do) grow their own food and do as much as they could to be self-sufficient, (meaning, to use as few as possible mass-produced products and goods).  The Amish too.  I personally believe that the replacement of human labor by equipment will continue and accelerate.  The only solution for labor that I can think of is to simply stop having babies.  Some labor will always be needed, to design and maintain the equipment.  But there is way more labor than that on the market today.  So labor needs to get itself on the side of the Law of Supply and Demand, instead of vainly trying to fight that inescapable Law, by saying "no" to pumping out babies to provide corporations with consumers, governments with taxees and soldiers, and churches with tithers.  Fewer babies means higher wages for the babies when they grow up and become labor.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 13:35 | 5415237 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

TheGreatRecovery - Already happening with birth control, declining rate of birth in modernized countries. Eugenics just turned into another excuse to rob when evolution carries on and that means slight deviation from each prior cycle meaning the good news is that nobody can ever truly rule the world for long. Collaboration over competition is the best approach but channeling competitive nature cant just be stamped out but can be channeled. Easier said than done :/)

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 21:28 | 5417680 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

I don't know what collaboration over competition means. Maybe it means like sports?  You set rules for the game, and then teams compete within those rules?  I think that's one reason we love sports.  Politics, on the other hand, seems to have no rules; it seems to be Machiavellian: "anything goes".  It seems to me that TPTB are Machiavellian. 

One concern I have is that overpopulation (say, a population of 10 billion humans) could wipe out so many species of other lifeforms on the planet that evolution might be "set back".  But I guess evolution always wins out IN THE LONG RUN. 

But then, another concern I have is if "climate scientists" are correct and overpopulation might result in irreversible changes which turn Earth into another Venus, then evolution would not win out on Earth in the long run.

I have seen that birthrates are dropping in the wealthier countries, and even in many other countries.  I welcome that.  But it also seems to me that TPTB want overpopulation.

I don't believe eugenics can work.  But I guess eugenics is practiced, in a way, in that certain types of people seem to end up among TPTB.  I would agree that that helps TPTB in the short run, but might lead to their downfall in the long run.  Sort of like choosing a monoculture instead of diversity.

Hope I understood most of what you shred.  Thanks.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 05:40 | 5413745 Victor999
Victor999's picture

Capitalism is never perfect, but the closer society adheres to its general principles, the better it is for the population at large.

Really?  And what society follows this general principle closely?  None today.

If you take away these elements and put the bulk of power in a society in the hands of a central authority

You mean central powers like the Fed?  The Congress?  The Supreme Court?  The 'Supreme Commander'?  The Multinationals?  The Banksters?  UK Parliament?

When the governmental impulse is to make all major decisions for people and control almost every aspect of their lives, the “cost” is inefficiency, ineffectiveness, unfairness and tyranny (see the old Soviet Union for details).

You don't have to go back to the 'old Soviet Union for an example - try the current United States of America, or the UK.

It is no accident that the more government does, and the more control government has or is given over people’s lives, the greater the level of corruption and cronyism – even (or especially) in those countries that have populism as their (phony) rallying cry.

I'm sure you don't mean the good old USA or the UK here, do you?

Sadly, we cannot think of many leaders in the developed world who are pursuing policies with that combination of goals in mind.

At last - agreement!!!

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 06:41 | 5413788 Global Observer
Global Observer's picture

If you take away these elements and put the bulk of power in a society in the hands of a central authority

Who is the one taking those elements away and putting the bulk of the power in the hands of a central authority?

 

Those who have power put in or take away elements that serve them, not some ideology. Same goes for centralisation of power. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:06 | 5413812 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

Snickers. I love capitalism. Mine scratched her hoofs and rammed me back into bed at about 3:00 AM this morning. She said, we won; now STFU and goto sleep. 

Tip toed outside to type this. Thank you America. I wasn't kidding about a two month time line. If the newly elected GOP goes soft, we go to the banking throat. 

God bless America! Time to take our country back. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:18 | 5413822 Leraconteur
Leraconteur's picture

Lots of Socialists here that imply that they want to restrict capitalism by infringing on the Rights of those who dare to have more than someone else, impy that society as a whole must be represented by those that own and thus stripping owners of their Rights just because they are not the majority.

...and thus is the Right to Bear Arms justified.

Make me give my stuff to someone with less. I dare you.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:38 | 5413847 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

I digress, the EBT Card is about how many kids you produce to maximize government taxpayer payment subsidizing. Call it credit card point system reimbursement to stay at a time share luxury hotel. 

The more you spend, the more you earn in paybacks. Typical jew based system asking United States for more Aid. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 14:39 | 5415567 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Leraconteur - Really? I don't see that at all. My points are two-fold:

1) Bribing governments always leads to disaster. The rule of law (based on natural law) will be obeyed, I try to educate for posterity to minimize the pain of having to learn the hard way, that is directed to rich and poor.

2) Giving back to the community is a personal choice and beneficial for one's personal happiness and long-term security.

Come now, we all know instinctively stealing is wrong. We have all done it and we all know defense of one's productivity is right. The commentaries I see point to the rule of law being abridged, not some cry for more government social wellfare.

Once the government is successfully bribed what will happen is the fish rots from the head down and then the population will steal sucessfully by hook or crook. Governments set up police states to restrict that from occurring but even at extremis like Stalin's Soviets or Mao's communism, black markets and mafia increase.

Best as an individual learn how to give back to the community for individual balance and prosperity. Doing so also teaches you how to aboid predation, because you see the fallicies of the desperate whatever poaition of power of helplessness they are in.

Wealth redistribution at the point of a gun never generates wealth for the majority, it impovershes them and eventually the host that creates it. Even those that think they "got away with it" have to take great pains and disrupt there lives to protect it. That is also a form of chains, reaping what is sown.

I had a real hard time in my life a few years back. I was robbed by the system and was a learning curve about cycles, human nature. Anyways, My gf at the time said "why do you almost seem cheery?" The answer is because I had the knowledge and gained personal balance to know I was fine whether I dined with kings or my lot was with the homeless for a short time. That it was only temporary and the knowledge I acquired assured it so.

Learning about predation is wise, but wiser still is learning to provide vakue without bribing a governnent because as I mentioned a government powerful enough to give what you want (by bribery) can also take it all away. Then all you may have is your knowledge, skills and a little bit of seed corn to start over but with self-sustainability a lot more confidence to do so.

Socialism at the point of a gun is robbery and the majority of people's commentaries here at ZH seem to reflect that.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:44 | 5413863 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

Don't throw your skull cap off the plantation until you call the credit card customer service department to verify if you have accumulated enough points for a replacement. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 07:54 | 5413882 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

If all else fails, you should contact Progressive/Geieco Insurance to enroll in wind proof hat policy addition. You can never be careless without proper protection. 

Hope you understand, just laughing with sarcasm. 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:02 | 5413902 Wild E Coyote
Wild E Coyote's picture

My Muslim friend say, Islam is a perfect religion if everyone follows it.
This article is talking the same language... If this, then that.
If everyone followed the rules and produced their maximum, then Communism would have been perfect too.
The truth is that there is no perfect system. thus, if we accept a system, we have to accept it with all the shortcomings.
And everyone who accepted a system will not willfully find a suitable or proper way do anything to correct the shortcomings in it.
Every System will have to collapse by itself.
Western Capitalism, as it is practiced is the only way in which it will work and reach its own demise.
The last of part of Article asks what Government should do to allow everyone a fair chance to seek wealth and happiness.
Why? the answer is very simple. The Government should collapse.
Then everyone will have to do everything for themselves. .
Anyone ready for that? seriously?

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:04 | 5413905 esum
esum's picture

capitalism built the ussa..... socialism is destroying it

the ussa is the 2nd MOST corrupt state in the world...China being the first

just ask Ron Perelman/SIGA whose company beat out ZNAPP to develop an ebola drug...

jsut ask Solyndra and the slew of kickback schemes draining taxpayers wallets ..

this is why i vomit everytime the clintoons open their pie holes and start pontificating about "investing" taxpayer money.... hitlary cant even walk without assistance, cant put together a coherent statement without immediately saying she used "shorthand" and the words dont mean what they mean..... good fucking riddance... two cheap political whores who would suck ya dick for a dolla... 

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 08:05 | 5413908 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

 A "Government Centered Economy", who deserves credit for this very descriptive phrase? The first person I heard using this phrase was Mitt Romney. The phrase may of been around for years or conjured up by one of his speech writers, but it describes what America has become. More on this subject in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2012/06/government-centered-economy.html

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 09:06 | 5414037 Last of the Mid...
Last of the Middle Class's picture

Capitalism is a great system. Perhaps one day after all the bankers are gone we can return to it.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 09:34 | 5414154 yrbmegr
yrbmegr's picture

These 'principles" are useless.  They exclude nothing.  All you need are "rules", "chance to participate", and keep "most" of the fruits of their labor (why are we talking about labor?  WTF?) or capital.  All human activity is encompassed by these "principles".  Really?  The litmus test for "capitalism" is "How can we make the economy work better, grow faster, provide the best full-time job opportunities, allocate capital more efficiently, help the largest number of people get rich or pursue their destinies, and provide the fairest and most open platform for people to live their lives without interference and to experience the worthiness of achievement or career or parenthood and family?"  Who doesn't "pursue" policies with these "goals in mind"?  Please talk to the wall.  The hand is busy with more important matters.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 09:35 | 5414162 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

I think Paul Singer is saying that the USA is NOT a capitalist country, because the Fed exists, and creates money out of thin air, and that money devalues the savings of citizens, which savings is the BASIS of capitalism.  The way to return the USA to being capitalist is to get rid of the Fed, which is what James Madison did and what Andrew Jackson did.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 11:55 | 5414815 yrbmegr
yrbmegr's picture

Well, he didn't, actually, say anything about the Fed.  So, he's clearly NOT talking about the Fed.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 12:53 | 5415064 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

He said: "If you take away these elements and put the bulk of power in a society in the hands of a central authority, bureaucracy and/or CENTRAL BANKER, then all of the natural imperfections of human decision-making – including the problem of unintended consequences, the inability of central planners ever to have enough information to make wise decisions about the allocation of resources across an entire society, corruption, arrogance, and the fallibility of human nature – are exacerbated and concentrated."

The CENTRAL BANKER is the Fed.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 12:05 | 5414862 BigStupid
BigStupid's picture

Capitalism does not exist in any form on earth. Capitalism has never existed in any form on earth. Central to capitalism is a FREE market. Any trade regulation, product certification, intellectual property right, or immigration control destroys capitalism. You can't have tariffs and call your system capitalism. You cant have safety standards and call your system capitalism. You can't have arbitrary restrictions on who can use that stupid clicking sound from an iPod protected by law, and pretend your system is capitalism. Restricting labor to a market - not capitalism. Capitalism is as much a failed pipe dream as communism. We exist in a system dominated by ENERGY, not capital.

Our system of 'modified capitalism', as many MSM junkies would like to promote it, produces the 'best' product as the cheapest, most likely to need replacement, with fewest innovations. Our system does not allow the private sector to do a better job providing services BY DEFINITION. Medicine/healthcare, infrastructure (communication, utility, transportation), justice (private security/corrections) do not work as a for-profit industry. It is not possible to take a cost recovery service, maintain existing standards of quality, and tack on a profit - the basic (elementary even for a common core grad) math does not allow this.

On a very basic level capitalism has a chance. Regionally, supply and demand based markets allow for highly efficient price discovery (even with market speculation). We exist in a global society (get over yourselves nationalists). Global markets do not work on a capitalist-market basis, efficiency drops off too quickly with distance. There is no justifiable reason that I should be able to get oranges and limes cheaper than potatoes in the middle of winter, allowing this has cost at least 10% of that crop in waste (due to transport, damage, rot). Meanwhile, wheat grain from my region gets loaded onto a freighter (10% loss, one way from spoilage on transport) and shipped around the world to produce flour in China (production loss added to transport). Then the flour is loaded onto trucks, then boats, shipped to Mexico and baked into bread (more production, transportation losses), and then shipped back to me so I can buy a loaf for lunches. This system is promoted by capitalism, not because it produces a better loaf or uses fewer raw materials, because it can be done for a profit.

The other key area that our system of capitalism fails is in regards to innovation and advancement (more than just technologically). The champions of 'capitalism' will go and throw out SpaceX, Apple, Facebook/twitter as key tech/social giants that exist thanks to the wonders of the market. SpaceX is a government subsidized company, they didn't want to go to space until someone was willing to pay them to do it - the people who originally paid for the space program (YOU). Apple is not even remotely a bastion of innovation - from iCrap 1 to iCrap 64 we've gotten what? A finger print scanner, a slightly better camera, slightly better storage, slightly better transmission/reception. The garbage still is designed to break in time for you to buy the iCrap 65, the price hasn't dropped due to hyper-effective manufacturing processes that have been perfected over 64 cycles of digestion of the parts. Apple is better at bitching about another company potentially 'stealing' an idea, concept, color than actually producing a better product (Samsung is no better). Facebook and twitter are worth billions. WHAT THE FUCK. Glorified custom advertising, privacy-destroying, social-interaction-faking platforms. Innovation, research & development are damned expensive, and only get more so as a system grows in complexity. It's easier to put money into stock buybacks than even pretend the company cares about innovation - Kind of like a politician saying they support change (BULLSHIT!)

Private companies will never put a man on the moon - unless they can claim the land and resources. Private money will never see a universal cure for cancer - too much profit in oncological pharmaceuticals. Private money will not solve any world problems (hunger, war, trafficking) because there is no profit to be made from feeding the poor, protecting the innocent.

The closest we have managed to get to true capitalism is represented in the black market. Anyone who claims to love the 'free-market' system and yet promise to crack down on the drug trade is a hypocrite. (Aside - Since drugs, prostitution now are considered GDP contributors wouldn't that make policing of these activities contrary to the national interest?)

As a society (globally) we need to move away from this dream of the utopian capitalist society, it will never exist. The problems of global governance go beyond a simplistic representation of the economy as defined by Capitalism/Communism/Fascism/Libertarianism/(Insert simpleton economic worldview here). Look at world history through glasses tinted by the scientific method. All we can say for sure is that what we know now is wrong, what we will replace it with is wrong. Change is the only immutable social force that has persisted for all of human history and will continue to do so. Clinging onto one of the above mentioned ideologies is equivalent to grabbing a concrete life preserver as the ship is going down (it might make you feel better but it won't count for shit in the end). The world needs a period of self-examination, time to re-define the social order (beyond the haves and have-nots). This can happen peacefully or violently. For a peaceful solution open minds are required, honest discussion, challenging our base social assumptions. Revolution is the alternative - this represents the absolute failure of all society, not just the political class, but of every last person.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 13:02 | 5415106 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

TPTB are at war with language as a tool for understanding and making decisions.  For example, above the Speaker's Chair in the USA House of Representatives are two large fasces.  Yet the members of the house, addressing that Chair, speak frequently and energetically about "defending freedom and capitalism", knowing full well that they are really defending fascism, and calling it "freedom and capitalism", both of which are contrary to fascism.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 15:04 | 5415714 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

BigStupid - I agree with most of what you wrote. As mentioned in another comment the best government has produced is a representive republic. None above the law. But that is not what I see on a global basis. I see a global monarchy and yes like usual it will collapse and end up in war.

I am ready for a world Republic but those in charge don't seem to be. Debate is not promoted globally, it is discouraged and now such people trying to encourage it are being labeled as dissidents. Not a good sign sir.

Not all of them at the top agree with stemming global debate (I have talked to them) but most do. I gave some credit here for Jeb Bush trying to set me up to do just that with the Rockerfellers which shot it down.

So widespread violence at this stage is a more likely outcome, because those at the top are generally behind the curve. I am human also and we are a reactive species so I try not to condemn.

Nationalism is a response to global monarchy, it is a short term solution to long-term human imperfection and if we Americans are to be part of a global Republic we need to clean up our own backyard first. Our shit stinks more than others right now. Being reserve currency host has a corrupting influence. First restore the national currency, promote debate instead of killing it and then open debate for a global Republic. First things first as they say.

Wed, 11/05/2014 - 21:37 | 5417713 TheGreatRecovery
TheGreatRecovery's picture

Jeb Bush is a mystery to me.  I don't think I ever understand "which side he's on".

I think nationalism is preferable to internationalism, in the same way a Republic is preferable to a Nation.  It provides more diversity, and therefore more opportunity for the individual to move to a different State or nation, that is trying to succeed using a different system.  Internationalism ends up forcing all nations to use one system.  I think there is more freedom and more health in diversity.

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