The 147 People Destroying the World

[marmar]

Blog for Our Future / By Richard (R.J.) Eskow

The 147 People Destroying the World
How the usual suspects perpetuate economic injustice.

March 25, 2013 |




Can 147 people perpetuate economic injustice – and make it even worse? Can they subvert the workings of democracy, both abroad and here in the United States? Can 147 people hijack the global economy, plunder the environment, build a world for themselves that serves the few and deprives the many?

There must be some explanation for last week’s economic madness. Take a look:

Cyprus: The European Union acted destructively – and self-destructively – when it tried to seize a portion of the insured savings accounts of the citizens of Cyprus. They were telling anyone with a savings account in the financially troubled nations of the Eurozone: Forget your guaranteed deposits. If we need your money in order to bail out the big banks – banks which have already gambled recklessly with it – we’ll take it.

That didn’t just create a political firestorm in Cyprus. It threatened the European Union’s banking system, and perhaps the Union itself. The fact that the tax on deposits has been partially retracted doesn’t change the basic question: What were they thinking? ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/147-people-destroying-world

[longship]

1. Near the top is this dude.

What's worse than sharks with fricking LASERs on their heads?

That's easy-peasy. A banker after Glass-Steagall was repealed.

Sorry for the apparent snark. Just wanted to interject some levity into a grave subject.

Read Michael Lewis' The Big Short for some details.

[Mnemosyne]

2. K&R nt

[Kurovski]

3. This too...

"But the circle of right-wing Republicans and corporatist Clintonite Democrats is still intact. That means Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders will keep on promoting the right-wing agenda known as Simpson Bowles until their party loses all its political power at the polls.

Ialso means that Republican extremism will still be reported with straight-faced gravity...
"

[Hotler]

4. Ony three post out of 375 views????????

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah stop picking on the rich.

[Nye Bevan]

5. I eagerly clicked on the article to find out who these 147 despicable people are,

but was sadly disappointed. All I got was this:

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar tried to find out how many people the typical person “really knows.” He compared primate brains to social groups and published his findings in papers with titles like “Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates.”

Dunbar concluded that the optimum number for a network of human acquaintances was 147.5, a figure which was then rounded up to 150 and became known as “Dunbar’s Number.” He found groups of 150-200 in all sorts of places: Hutterite settlements. Roman army units. Academic sub-specialties. Dunbar concluded that “there is a cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships.”

Around 150 or 200 people form a human being’s social universe. They shape his or her world view, his or her world.

That means that 147 people can change the course of history. Not necessarily the same147 people, of course. But the small social groups which surround our world’s leaders have extraordinary power.

I don't really get it.

[happyslug]

6. I have run across this concept before, everyone has a different set of 100-150 people they know

For example I practice law in a small rural county with a small city in one corner (Thus I work in a County with both Rural and Urban areas). We have about 100-200 attorneys in the county, we have Five judges, we have two State Senators, 3-4 members of the State House and my county is split between two congressional districts (Which encompass a huge number of other counties). Do I know all these people? No, but I do know all of the Judges, most of the Magistrates, most of the Court house workers, my secretaries and my clients. Roughly on a monthly basis this base is my 100-200 people I deal with on a constant basis. This is my "Clan", or my "group".

Notice all of them know me, but not all of them know each other. For each has their own set of 100-200 people they know and are members of their "Clan" or "Group". The Judge know me, and know the Governor, the Senators, the member of the State House and State and the Members of the House of Representatives and other state officials. That is their "Clan" or "Group". Notice I am a member of the Judges "Clan" or "Group" and the Judges are members of Governor's, the Senators', the members of the State House and State Senators and the Members of the House of Representatives and other state officials "Clan" or "Group" but I am NOT a member of any of those "Groups" or "Clans".

This is how complex societies are organized, each person has they own "Clan" or "Group" and the members of the "Clan" or "Group" each have their own "Clan" or "Group". There is so much overlap (most Attorneys who practice in my county, will have many of the same members of my "Clan" or "Group", in larger counties the attorneys will be made up of several different "Clans" or "Groups" due to the attorneys breaking themselves into small groups who tend to practice similar areas of the law.

For example the President has in his "Group" or "Clan" the people around him, his cabinet, his fellow party leaders. the head of various committees of the House and Senate. My Congressional Critter will know the Various heads of the House and Senate and some members of their party leadership (and probably the other's party leadership) as while as the Judges of my County, which are high ranking people in his congressional districts. Thus you see, while I am not a member of Obama's "Clan" or "Group" I know people who know people who are in Obama's "Clan" or "Group". If such groups work well, the leadership gets a feel for what most people want do to interaction with other members of his "Clan" or "Group". who in turn interact with members of their own "Clan" or "Group" who are NOT member's of Obama's "Clan" or "Group".

Thus all the person is pointing out how any society is organized, people can move from one group or clan to another, but such changes are slow (Thus it is important to "Network" to expand members in your "Clan" or "Group" by joining other people's "Clan" or "Group". Just a concept how societies are organized, even DU has its "Clans" and "Groups" that interact together in making DU what it is.