Gerbils and the Dumb-Down

If anyone thinks that what's happening in this country and to the World economy was caused by simple lack of oversight, moronic screw-ups or some other philosophical malaise, try thinking again. Since Ronald Reagan the Republicans have doubled the debt in their predetermined massive transfer of wealth to their enabled elite. What's happening is NO accident.

Here's one of my posts for Friday, August 8, 2008:
How The Stupid Rule

The Wrecking Crew: Thomas Frank on How Conservatives Rule

Frank writes, “Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals. It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society. This movement is friendly to industry not just by force of campaign contributions but by conviction.”

Read the interview to learn how Ronald Regan and GHW Bush dominated Bill Clinton's agenda and how G. Bush Jr. has setup the next President.

Then there's this interview for Thursday, March 12, 2009, on Democracy Now with Michael Parenti that makes my case once again. Only it's his assessment that the goal is to make America and Western Europe just like Indonesia. According to him their doing a pretty good job, so far. You can read who they are in the complete interview here:

Michael Parenti: Economic Crisis the Inevitable Result of “Capitalism’s Self-inflicted Apocalypse” Here's an excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the Democrats and Republicans. You said you’re infuriated by the Republican response, because they just want tax cuts for the rich. But what about the Democrats—I mean, just now we were playing for you Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary—and the approach to this crisis?

MICHAEL PARENTI: Oh, it’s insufficient. I mean, that’s what’s coming out with your questions. It’s insufficient. They’re not dealing with systemic questions. There’s all this debate about the stimulus package. Hardly a word has come out about the Federal Reserve giving away two-and-a-half trillion dollars, just giving it away unaccountably.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain that.

MICHAEL PARENTI: The Federal Reserve just went—while we had this $750 billion stimulus package, which was passed by Congress, the Federal Reserve printed up—it can print up money and create money—and handed out over $2 trillion to the financial community in America, with no accountability, no debate in Congress and very little notice.

AMY GOODMAN: So, what’s the significance of that?

MICHAEL PARENTI: Well, the significance is that we’re going to—I mean, that’s our money, that it becomes real money when it becomes debt, and we’ve got to pay it. You see, the Republicans were never against debt; they were the biggest debt spenders there ever was. When Ronald Reagan came into office, the national debt was $800 billion. When he left office, it was $2.5 trillion. I mean, it was OK with him to spend. He also put in the biggest tax program that ever was, but it was a regressive tax. It was a Social Security tax on tens of millions of people. When George Bush, Sr. came in, the national debt went from $2.5 to $5 trillion. Clinton—I’ll give him credit for that one thing—he did try to go for solvency. But when you got to George Bush, Jr., for eight years, the debt has gone from $5 trillion to $10 trillion. And these Republicans were voting for that all along. All these spending bills were theirs. So, you see, they don’t mind debt, because debt is really a way of upward distribution. You tax the common people, and you give the money to rich creditors. It’s a very regressive way of redistributing wealth upward. So debt is fine with them.

Don't you just love these Republicans? Tell me this wasn't their longterm goal.

What do you see is the future of capitalism?

MICHAEL PARENTI: I see it as a future in which there’s going to be a lot of
suffering. I see it—the goal is to have more and more Indonesias and fewer
Denmarks and such.

And that means?

That means that even in the social democracies in Western Europe, there are going to be cutbacks, there’s going to be privatization, deregulation, greater—growth of inequities, rollbacks of human services and such, in countries that were pretty decent, countries where capitalism was reined in and held in line, to some degree, anyway.

Well, Indonesia, I mean it’s a free market paradise. They talk about free market. In
Indonesia, there are no consumer protections, there are no regulations, there is
no public medical care, there’s no public education. People just die younger.

If that's not enough you can read, Capitalism’s Self-inflicted Apocalypse by Michael Parenti.

Michael Parenti is an internationally known award-winning author and lecturer.
He is one of the nation’s leading progressive political analysts. His highly
informative and entertaining books and talks have reached a wide range of
audiences in North America and abroad.

---

Here's a related commentary on SoHum Parlance II in his "WTF???" post about this subject. -- Well, when prodded just a bit he wasn't exactly at "a loss for words." A valid point, neverthe less:

March 11, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Eric Kirk

In spite of this, progressives trust the gov’t more than private industry (which they can hold accountable). Go figure…

Um. Well. The problem here is that government did not keep tabs on private industry. So let’s just say that the culpability is less. The private industry ripped us off. The public sector was negligent in preventing it.

--Joe

The Real Economy, REALLY?

James Faulk wrote in the Times Standard Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008 under: The real economy

The Web is alive with screaming headlines about this or that financial giant going out of business, closing its doors in the face of an economic maelstrom that started somewhere between America's housing and its bubble.

Accompanying the multitude of stories online, in print and on television are blurbs from the various political candidates of all shapes and sizes who loudly proclaim that there is indeed a problem, and that only they -- not that other guy -- know how to fix it.
There was a bubble, and it burst. The explosion left a mess, and it's covered all of us with a three-inch layer of dung.

Times like these, Alan Greenspan takes to the air waves and says, “This is the worst I've ever seen.”

The market is panicking, Fannie and Freddie are befuddled and failing, and all the other financial giants of the world are just trying to stay afloat by selling themselves to Bank of America, who remains impervious to the bad economic times because of their enormous size and overdraft fees.

This is the big picture, and to most Americans, it remains absolutely meaningless. That is, the fate of various financial institutions is meaningless versus the reality of making ends meet. Most Americans don't require massive amounts of capital to get out of bed in the morning, get their kids to school, or get themselves to work.

But they do need a job, or maybe even a raise, to buy enough milk for breakfast in the morning.
to them is the monthly budget, and whether there is enough money in the checking account to handle the car breaking down, or that tooth that needs to be pulled.

For the people I know, the real people with zits and beauty marks, this is the real economy. And this is what needs to be addressed by the leaders of our city, our state, and the nation. Gas costs more. Food costs more. Going to the park costs more, and we all make the same if not less.
This is famously the land of opportunity, but the only opportunity currently offered by our system is to accrue more debt, and become further enmeshed in payments, late fees and interest rates.

The time has come to change, but who's willing to make it? That's the decision before us this November. But then again, judging by the choices, how much change are we willing to make?

His question in closing is, "How much change are we willing to make?" Well lets see what some other people have to say about what's really happening. Take a look at what these people have to say and see if do not come to the same conclusions as Joe does.

US Seizes Control of AIG with $85 Billion Bailout

So, all of you "real people," you know who you are? You're the ones with the "zits and beauty marks. Is the real economy "gas," "food," and "going to the park"? When it comes to your paltry problems you "real people" aren't even in the equation.

Mr. Faulk is right when he says, "This is famously the land of opportunity, but the only opportunity currently offered by our system is to accrue more debt, and become further enmeshed in payments, late fees and interest rates." What he doesn't say that really matters is that is exactly what is happening to our govoernment. Interestingly, he doesn't say who is responsible either.

Do you really think the Elitist Rulers of this nation are that stupid that they give one damn about "real people"? Read this the next chapter in this monumental betrayal.

US Readies Largest Bailout to Date in Financial Crisis

The Bush administration says it’s preparing a new massive new intervention in the US financial system. Under the proposed move, the government would buy up distressed loans from troubled banks and other lenders. The plan is said to be similar to the federal buyout of leftover properties in the savings and loan scandal in the 1990s. The cost could end up dwarfing the multi-billion-dollar government bailouts of financial institutions Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and American International Group. Democrats also say they are pushing for greater relief for struggling homeowners facing foreclosure. On Thursday, congressional leaders gave bipartisan support to the effort after meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats have agreed to passing legislation by next week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “We just had what I believe was a very
productive meeting, where we heard from the administration and from the chairman of the Fed, an initiative to help resolve the financial crisis in our country.
We—our purpose is to do that and, in doing so, to insulate Main Street from Wall
Street and recognize our responsibility to the taxpayer, to the consumer and to
people all across our country.”

Earlier on Thursday, the Federal Reserve also announced it would inject some $180 billion in loans on the global financial market through foreign central banks.

So now the government speculates on worthless paper.

--Joe