This really should read "Capitalism against the future of the Human Race"

[txlibdem]

If we continue on the path that the 1% have forged, we will all be buying fresh air in little tubes (from guess who), and mega-hospitals will treat the symptoms of environmental pollution and rampant climate change (but never cure any of them).

Naomi's right on target when she says we need to rethink our reverence for the 1% and the Frankenstein's Monster called Capitalism that they have created.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. NWO ,1% ,9/11/01 ,Shrub ,Poppy,Prescott, and Hamilton,Wellington

[Philosopher King]

2. It would appear that someone is in need of a history lesson.

Frankenstein was not created until 1818, while Capitalism's roots can be traced all the way back to the 12th century.

Unfortunately, it takes some longer than others to figure things out.

[txlibdem]

3. Thank you. Thank you so much. Finally I have found the champion of CAPITALISM

Please, oh wise one, tell me why the world economy collapsed in 2008 and still hasn't begun to recover (for the most part)?

I'm sure that "all powerful" CAPITALISM would be stronger than some stupid banksters fraud scheme, a housing bubble, etc. Right?

[Philosopher King]

5. Why...? That's an easy question to answer.

[txlibdem]

6. So it was all those other countries that caused the collapse?

I had this stupid idea that it was fraudulently rated junk bonds sold to all those countries. But I'm no expert like you so what do I know, right?

[Philosopher King]

7. Actually, it has more to do with the people who work in those buildings (e.g., Greece).

...the government wanted to bring disenfranchised left-leaning portions of the population into the economic mainstream.<6> In order to do so, successive Greek governments have, among other things, customarily run large deficits to finance public sector jobs, pensions, and other social benefits.<7> Since 1993 the ratio of debt to GDP has remained above 100%.<8>

To keep within the monetary union guidelines, the government of Greece had misreported the country's official economic statistics.<9><10> In the beginning of 2010, it was discovered that Greece had paid Goldman Sachs and other banks hundreds of millions of dollars in fees since 2001 for arranging transactions that hid the actual level of borrowing.<11> The purpose of these deals made by several successive Greek governments was to enable them to continue spending while hiding the actual deficit from the EU.<12>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_government_debt_crisis

[txlibdem]

8. So it was the lazy Greeks and not fraud by Wall Street?

[Philosopher King]

9. Don't be afraid to see what it is that you see (power corrupts).

In the case of Greece, it was the corrupt and power hungry Greek politicians who negotiated the (hidden) transactions that led to their financial catastrophe.

Many other nations are also ruled by politicians who have yet to discover that money cannot function as money, unless it is backed by legitimate unexpended assets. As you will soon see (if you overcome your fear), there are many more pages to be written in this chronicle of corruption.

[Bill USA]

10. you left a rather a large gap in your recitation on Greek government finances: rampant Tax Evasion

In Greece the favorite game is cheating on taxes (they are almost as profligate in this regard as WE are). The Greek Government has been running annual deficits of about 13%. Over time this has caused the public debt to keep growing. The tax revenues lost are roughly 26% each year.



Distributional Implications of Tax Evasion in Greece

"Income under-reporting is estimated at 10%, resulting in a 26% shortfall in tax receipts. The paper finds that the effects of tax evasion are higher income inequality and poverty, as well as lower progressivity of the income tax system."

see:Table 4. Under-reporting by level of income.

THe higher income inequality means the bulk of the population does not have enough money to produce enough demand to support a healthy economy with adequate economic growth and job creation. Greece's problems are quickly becoming our problems. Since 2000 the median real income has actually gone down in the U.S. This lead to inadequate aggregate demand for the things businesses wanted to sell. As buninesses found it harder to make healthy profits and attractive rates of growth in profits there came to be a dearth of promising business opportunities for investors to invest in. ...So, casting about for places to invest their money, investors moved into commodities causing them to rise markedly (including food commodities) which was in particular, made manifest in 2007 -2008 timeframe. Those with money to invest also moved eagerly into real estate - especially when the reckless promotion of sub-Prime loans produced high return Bundled Mortgages(CDOs).

The availability of unregulated Credit Default Swaps (thank you Phil Gramm and your Commodities Futures Modernization act - added on as a rider to the veto proof 11,000 page Omnibus Funding bill in the last days of the Clinton administration - nobody even knew that the CFMA was IN THERE) greatly enhanced the appeal of sub-Prime Collaterized Debt Obligations (CDOs) to investors as the banks told them, for a few basis points, the investor would be protected from loss of their investment in case of default(!!).

The sub-Prime mortgage was especially appreciated (no pun intended) by the banksters as they knew most Americans couldn't afford many of the properties being built then and the sub-Prime mortgage was a way to keep the housing market 'strong'. In the 1990's almost everybody thought housing prices would keep rising unabated, so many figured they wouldn't sweat the higher payments a few years down the road because they would 'flip' that house and buy another before the higher rates kicked in! The Predatory Lenders couldn't care less if their 'pigeons' couldn't afford the mortages because the Predatory lenders were going to flip the mortgages! The banksters and predatory lenders knew with so many people unable to afford the houses being built that the housing market would flop without some gimmick to keep people buying and borrowing.

Deregulation produced profits - for banks and predatory lenders - until it didn't -- when the bubble exploded. THen came the crash and millions unemployed - but let's leave that out of the calculation of the benefits of deregulation.


Republican policies of cutting taxes for the most wealthy (50% of the Bush tax cut went to the wealthiest few percent in the country) meant more of the tax burden went on the middle class. This in time resulted in inadequate aggregate demand required for a healthy, growing, job-creating economy. Deregulation created the opportunity for anyone so inclined to cheat. So the Wallstreet Banksters and Predatory Lenders had a 'high time' until the false prosperity went pop!

[Philosopher King]

11. Is not the Greek government responsible for the collection of Greece's taxes?

[truth2power]

4. Ummm....nitpick much? ....

"Frankenstein was not created until 1818, while Capitalism's roots can be traced all the way back to the 12th century."

Ok, Oh Smart One...How about this? The Kraken (or Giant Squid) goes back to the 12th century.

Hmm...and didn't Matt Taibbi recently have something to say about Giant Squids in regard to Wall Street?

Naomi Klein is still heads above you and just about everyone else in figuring all this out. Thanks anyway. :eyes: