STUNNING Al Jazeera documentary on American Income Inequality NAILS IT---Its The OLIGARCHY, Stupid

[kpete]

STUNNING Al Jazeera documentary on American Income Inequality NAILS IT; It's the OLIGARCHY, stupid
byMinistryOfTruth

This video is a must see. If you want to watch Paul Ryan cower in fear of real journalists who aren't paid to be "fair and balanced", if you want real journalistic coverage of the bipartisan robbery of the working class, please watch this and enjoy. If you were floored by Michael Moore's Documentary on this subject "Capitalism: A Love Story", this will be right up your alley. I strongly encourage you to spread this documentary far and wide.

VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdVODFombco&feature=player_embedded

So why do Democrats never have a spine? Because they are competing for campaign donations from the same people who fund the GOP, and those wealthy donors want the same things of the Democrats that they want from the GOP, more money and more power. When push comes to shove, the Democratic Establishment will throw the working class under the bus every time because they are not as afraid of losing their political base as they are of losing their wealthy donors.

What is the cause of America's income inequality crisis, a crisis that has created poverty, harmed the working class and given a disproportionate amount of wealth and political power to a select few wealthy Plutocrats? It's simple! It's that the super rich have spent the last few decades buying our politicians from both sides of the isle, and those investments have paid off spectacularly.

There is a plutonomy that caters to the super rich, the rest of you proles are screwed (me included). The answer to the question of what is wrong with the economy is simple, it's the Oligarchy, stupid. The super rich own BOTH parties and have rigged the political and economic systems in America to benefit only the very wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

The key quote: The rich have a good reason to worry.

"Well they've got to worry, because this degree of inequity will ultimately lead to social upheaval. It's that acute, but the politicians are not listening, they are listening to the lobbyists, they are listening to the wealthy people."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/03/1002554/-STUNNING-Al-Jazeera-documentary-on-American-Income-Inequality-NAILS-IT;-Its-the-OLIGARCHY,-stupid?via=siderec

[NewJeffCT]

1. worth the watch, but unfortunately

since it is on Al Jazeera, nobody will watch it in the US... and, anybody mentioning it will be shouted down for quoting the Al Qaeda network.

[LiberalLoner]

2. I tweeted the link, hope it goes viral. n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

21. Fortunately though, Al Jazeera just got added to New York cable recently.

Within the last week I think.

[katty]

97. yes great news

[katty]

98. luv al-jazz

[TrollBuster9090]

53. In which case John Bolton should be arrested and sent to GITMO immediately

for his association with The Al Qaeda Network!

http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish#p/search/24/LH4KF2hy9_o

[leftstreet]

3. Kill Capitalism before it Kills Us

K&R

[LiberalLoner]

4. I agree completely. n/t

[Rozlee]

41. Talking to a capitalist running dog here. A better phrase would be:

Kill predatory capitalism. I just have three employees (all family and one only works for fast food) and we're not about to sell out to the highest bidder because no ones's even bidding. :(

[TrollBuster9090]

52. FDR saved America from both Communism AND Fascism by using a mild dose of Socialism.

People tend to forget that.

The Social Democrats are usually the people both the Communists AND the Fascists come after FIRST, because they're the biggest threat to their extremist ideologies and irrational nationalisms.

[TBF]

91. In what universe? All FDR did was save capitalism, and here we are with the same problems

all over again. The beast cannot be regulated, it's gotta go.

[vim876]

104. As I always say...

No matter which extremists come to power, the center-left is always first up against the wall after the revolution.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. This should be watched. n/t

[Pooka Fey]

6. BRILLIANT Reporting. So worth 30 minutes of your time. Watch this!!!

K&R

[deutsey]

7. I'll watch later...thanks or posting!

[Kaleko]

8. Same here.

K & R

[nc4bo]

9. Bookmarking for later viewing thank-you!

Never fails to amaze me that we get so much more real news and special reports from outside our M$M.....

[deaniac21]

10. If anyone would know about income inequality, it would be

Al Jazeera.

[nc4bo]

12. and it seems to be ongoing, still.

Great news organization!

[Turborama]

27. Why's that? n/t

[Marr]

11. Tagging for later. n/t

[Hydra]

13. That was an excellent watch

Especially the part where they went to Harvard and interviewed that incredibly out of touch student. ]They really believe that they make the wealth all by themselves, and that all the structures of Gov't(Laws/courts/police, roads, etc) have absolutely nothing to do with their absolutely single person success stories.

Also great was when they interviewed the Tax Think Tank director and he says "I can't control your perception." Right...you're in the BUSINESS of controlling perception, since the facts don't support what you are doing.

[bulloney]

17. That says a lot about our Ivy League institutions and what they teach, doesn't it?

And how many of our highest political leaders come out of those schools?

[TwentyFive]

19. Just finished watching - the biggest arrogant Kool-aid drinker was the Harvard Entrepreneur.

What a delusional fool...and a real prick! He believes his Harvard degree makes him a god who can best allocate capital.

This fallacy leads to the dangerous conclusion that we should to allocate **everything** to this top 1%, where they will make trillions. If the bottom 99% get any resources, they will be squandered. It's schools like Harvard that indoctrinate these suckers into this delusion. This is why the bankers take their phone calls...they're part of the 1% fraternity. They can be trusted to keep it in the family.

Pretty much a closed loop system. Laws don't apply to this top 1%. They're too big to fail. They proved that in 2008-09.

As for the rest of us...we shouldn't have a chance. The more resources they can allocate away from us...and into the top 1%...the better off we are. After all, it's simply a waste of money to invest anything into you or me. Even if we got good enough grades...we still didn't come from the right kind of family, or chose the MBA program at XXX Ivy League school.

[dotymed]

37. You are absolutely right, TwentyFive.

That was glaringly obvious by watching "The Social Network" about the wealthy pricks surrounding the Face-Book "creation.

You can attend a very good state college, make exceptional grades, etc.., and it doesn't matter.

Capitalism is the boil on the ass of humanity. It has replaced Democracy and we have to reclaim it. It amazes me that in poll after poll, the majority of Americans agree on the fundamental issues, yet "our leaders" keep voting for the money.

It Is time for the revolution. Now or never.

[TwentyFive]

38. Amazing how we've become a country of ass-kissers and toadies to these bastards

We should be taxing the hell out of the wealthy.

The other guy that annoyed me was that think tank idiot...saying stuff but not backing it up with statistics. Again all lies.

It makes me mad hearing these same old sound bites..."I never got a job from a poor person" which is bullshit, as the poor spend the money immediately, requiring jobs. And the other deception..."We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem." which is again pure bullshit.

It is time for the revolution. If they fire the first shot...we'll finish the job.

[indurancevile]

55. ass-kissing & toadyism is the predictable outcome of concentrated wealth/power.

it's a survival mechanism.

[TwentyFive]

88. Except when people get into the voting booth. Would you vote for a Wealth Tax?

If conservative groups put anti-gay ballot measures....why can we put a wealth tax on the ballot. I think that would pass in all 50 states....a wealth tax!

You might have to kiss ass in order to eat...but you still have to power to take it out on them at the ballot box.

[dotymed]

67. So true.

All of the smug, entitled bastards saying, without any misgivings, that the wealthy are entitled to run the country because they are (by breeding) the most capable. That is why we had the American Revolution that

founded our country. To get away from the entitled aristocracy and the monarchy. Since that is what they want to create here, it IS time for another revolution. According to the polls, the people are (too damned) slowly, opening their eyes.

Only because they find themselves suffering, while they see the opulence of the wealthy even on "reality tee vee."

[valerief]

65. Yes, it's much better for him to increase HIS wealth a hundredfold than

to take ten percent of it and "squander" on entitlements.

What an asshole.

[TwentyFive]

90. Yeah....squander it on Education for kids....food and health care for 80 year olds.

That guy (more like child) was and is, a major asshole.

[Hydra]

32. As I said once, when Rupert Murdock

Got $27 Million no bid for an educational thing from the US gov't: "All of this is very incestuous."

The 1%ers are all basically in bed with each other in one way or another, and they keep everything in a closed loop around them. To them, we don't even exist. We're like ants or cockroaches to the ones who are drinking the kool-aid, or like pack animals that could stampede to the ones who are doing it with open eyes.

Either way, they think of us at best as an exploitable nuisance that they would rather just disappear.

[TwentyFive]

39. They keep it all in the 1% family.

They believe the 1% is the only group capable of handling money. So they want to take our money...take government money....because THEY are the only ones who know how to handle it.

That's kinda like the robber taking your money, because he will do a better job of investing it, and therefore the world is better off. Ask kissing conservatives eat tea party garbage up and ask for more. Pathetic.

[Hydra]

44. That's exactly what we are talking about here

Legalized robbery by a group of thugs that think they are God's special children.

We used to have a word this: Royalty and Nobility. With the illusion that anyone can work their way into the big club, they've bought a new and scary kind of "legitimacy." I still think it's old fashioned kool-aid with a twist.

[roxiejules]

49. Cronyism might be what is responsible for much of the public debt

that we are being asked to bear the burden of.

[indurancevile]

56. yep.

[TwentyFive]

87. You mean like Tax Cuts....Wars...relaxed rules on Banking?

Yes, I'd agree. We gave them everything and they blew it.

Over 46% of mortgages here in FL are underwater from the Bush crash...yet somehow Obama is supposed to come up with trillions overnight. And if he doesn't, the only option is to give the keys back to the crooks that crashed it in the first place.

No...I say we screw the top 1% into the ground.

[marew]

74. Absolutely true.

The whole economic structure so favors the wealthy! Tragic!

[provis99]

14. It's odd,

I trust and respect al-Jazeera's reporting more than I do Fox News or CNN. And I don't have to put up with that Lockup shit that MSNBC has on the weekend. Funny how I have to go to a corporation based in Qatar to get accurate info about American politics.

[Chisox08]

89. We outsourced the News

Fox Noise is Right Wing hate propaganda. CNN is mostly infotainment and MSNBC is nothing but lockup reruns once Maddow signs of on Friday.

[closeupready]

15. Will watch later.

K&R - thanks for posting.

[abq e streeter]

16. Saved on you tube "favorites"to watch later (saw first few minutes so far, but

have to head out for a while. looking forward to seeing the rest later and no doubt sharing on Facebook.

[TwentyFive]

18. Seems the top 1% think it's a waste of money to invest in anything but themselves.

The US will continue to go down hill, as our corrupted democracy is less able to invest in it's people.

Look forward to our new world. Austerity for you. But riches like never before for the top 1%.

[lonestarlib]

20. Stunning????? This is nothing new. A lot of people on this

board have been trying to point this out for a long time & taking a hell of a lot of heat for it.

[druidity33]

23. Nobody on DU

has been "taking heat" for saying that the PTB are sticking it to the rest of us.

:shrug:

[rapturedbyrobots]

30. actually, one of my threads was locked down a few days ago

for saying just that.

[druidity33]

62. Where? Link? nt.

[me b zola]

22. K&R

[Karmadillo]

24. Brilliant. K&R.

nt

[democrank]

25. K & R

[florida08]

26. Bookmarked for watching a bit later

Thanks kpete..will definately watch

[YouDontMakeEnough]

28. STUNNING Al Jazeera documentary on American Income Inequality NAILS IT

It's long but worth every second! Uploading it to my site and I too hope it goes viral! www.youdontmakeenoughmoneytobearepublican.com

[Turborama]

29. Amerigo Vespucci has posted it in the videos forum & there's 1 1/2 hrs left to rec it there

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x605747

The full documentary (and all other programs) can be watched live online, here ---> http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now /

Fault Lines is a weekly show and can be watched at these times...

GMT: Monday: 2230; Tuesday: 0930; Wednesday: 0330; Thursday: 1630.

The schedule for other shows is also available at the link above.

[Cleita]

31. Their documentaries are really well done.

They put CNN and MSNBC to shame. I haven't seen it yet, but I stream Al Jazeera a lot and since they repeat their docs several times, I will make a point of catching it.

[ctsnowman]

33. If we all were not so lazy

we'd start our own business' and create jobs and become rich.

[roxiejules]

51. Norway: more entrepreneurs per capita than US

Why? Social safety nets.


http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/in-norway-start-ups-say-ja-to-socialism.html - Inc. magazine


Norway is full of entrepreneurs. Rates of start-up creation here are among the highest in the developed world, and Norway has more entrepreneurs per capita than the United States, according to the latest report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a Boston-based research consortium.

And so the case of Norway—one of the most entrepreneurial, most heavily taxed countries in the world—should give us pause. What if we have been wrong about taxes? What if tax cuts are nothing like weapons or textbooks? What if they don't matter as much as we think they do.

The idea that Americans should be more terrified of Norwegian economists than of al Qaeda bombmakers is pretty nutty, but I couldn't help wondering: How bad would European socialism really be?

[Bozita]

34. Watched it yesterday. It's definitely MUST SEE stuff!

[Proles]

35. It can only be sustained for so long.

The natural progression of things is that the proles will unite and protest (perhaps violently to make their point).

The politicians ought to be afraid of the 90% of their citizens who stand nothing to lose when the wealthy loot everything that they have to live for.

It's a short sighted mentality. As it stands, they fear only the wealthy for now.

[certainot]

36. democracy was designed to minimize the influence of money- the question should be

why isn't it working? democracy was designed to counter money in politics.

the reason there's too much money in politics isn't because the people want it or dems want it its because the right votes lock step to obstruct all dem efforts to fix it, and few blue dogs help.

for 20 years the right has had an invisible weapon used to create made to order constituencies, short circuit normal democratic feedback mechanisms, keep the GOP in lock step, get sycophant ayn randian wet dreamers through the primaries, and swiftboat progressives.

AND THE LEFT HAS NO FUCKING CLUE! that is the difference.

all the left has to do is finally recognize that and challenge it

[Rozlee]

47. You forgot the brainwashing of the masses by the right wing echo chamber

and even the general public with buzz news that just fills people's heads with white noise and drowns out the real stories of the day. I'm willing to bet most of the people you meet on the street probably wouldn't even know what you meant if you said "military industrial complex." Democracy can't work if the electorate isn't informed. That's why right-wingers are so successful. They prey on their sheeple's basic, limbic system fears, hatred and wants and run with it. In fact, that's the way they prefer it.

[certainot]

48. here's my explanation

http://youtu.be/HnrfuTUlqVs

[Rozlee]

84. Huh. Was that an acorn dancing over his head or testicles?

[certainot]

100. if you were in the tea party they'd be

testicles

[readmoreoften]

61. It was not designed to minimize influence but to help achieve a stable state of bosses and workers.

Mitigating the tensione between haves and have nots was the purpose of a democratic society. Now its a tool for a new sort of global feudalism. Marx was rigt when he said that capitalism and democracy are antithetical. There comes a point when the rich can accrue enough wealth to purchase the government itself and thus bypass all possibility of regulation and reform. We are at that point. And with global capital and global austerity, we are there worldwide. That's why we have people in Scotland saying things like "students should sell their kidneys." Formal capitalist democracy is turning into a new form of bizarro world global feudalism.

[certainot]

69. if it it's working, they can't bypass unless enough people want it

in this case an authoritarian minority has been convinced to help the rich largely because of a well coordinated propaganda operation lead by talk radio and it only works because hte left ignores the primary tool.

[GliderGuider]

72. Look back to the POWELL MEMO for the roots of the malaise.

While the shift started with the MIC that Eisenhower warned about, the 1971 Powell Memo laid out the roadmap to the place we're in today. Reagan was the implementation tool, and the whole system was tested and refined under the Bushes.

The left, not being corporatist, never knew what hit us. Now it's a done deal.

[certainot]

73. they won't succeed if the left finally challenges the radio, which was instrumental in

this last effort. limbaugh and hannity worked for many weeks to downplay and poo poo the significance and consequences of default and were a big part, essential, for convincing the teabaggers to go to the edge.

the left still analyzes this and every other loss as if the radio is non existent. and absurd and tragic situation.

[GliderGuider]

76. This is why I'm watching the Murdoch scandal with such interest.

If Americans could deal Fox News a serious setback through the uncovering and prosecution of of illegal activities (like hacking the phones of the relatives of 9/11 victims) that would go a long way towards kicking the support out from under RW broadcast media in general.

ETA: The Powell Memo makes it clear that the media are just one part of the plan. Think tanks, astroturf groups, subversion of university curricula all play roles as well. That's how they get RW messages broadcast even on media that aren't RW assets, and train ordinary people into seeing the world through RW filters.

[certainot]

78. our universities and pro sport team give credibility to the propaganda by broadcasting on RW radio

stations, for eg.

[lastone]

40. campaign finance reform

is the main issue we must deal with but as this story shoes - we have no voice so unless we strike and sit in the middle of the street to stop everyone else from working we are fucked.

[erodriguez]

42. k&R

[lonestarnot]

43. How long before it breaks out?

Is Wall Street going to burn?

[Mosaic]

45. Social Upheaval

Is already happening in many parts of the world. Even the UK had some talk of revolution. With the robber barons stealing all the country's wealth in the United States, it won't be long now before the masses fight back.

[lastone]

46. just finished watching -

we are totally screwed.
we need to revolt.
this is not the USA.
fuck I am fucking mad.


ps. paul ryan is the devil.

[xiamiam]

50. excellent..al jazeera miles ahead of our media..in every way..nt

[TrollBuster9090]

54. Technically it's "It's the PLUTOCRACY, stupid." Since an oligarchy is

a society ruled by a few people, but technically they don't have to be wealthy. Whereas, a PLUTOCRACY is, by definition, government by wealth, or the direct translation of wealth into political power.

[KansDem]

77. Thanks for the distinction

I was using those two terms somewhat interchangeably, but will now use them as appropriate.

[Mimosa]

57. K&Ring (and borrowing for dissemination) another brilliant KPETE OP! n/t

[Sherman A1]

58. Thanks for posting

I will have to watch it a bit later, but I am sure that they have it nailed.

[Douglas Carpenter]

59. thank you for posting...kick and recommend

[GliderGuider]

60. Utterly stunning. Thanks a billion (or two) kpete! nt

[peace frog]

63. Thanks

[disillusioned73]

64. k&r

:dem:

[TheUnspeakable]

66. k&r-Thanks so much for posting this!

[xchrom]

68. recommend

[LittleGirl]

70. Stunning is correct. AJ nails it.

why can't our MSM do that? Instead they run some stupid story about a hijacker 30 yrs ago. Argh.

[riverbendviewgal]

71. AJ reminds me of CNN when it first started

Ted Turner owned it...when he sold it then CNN changed.

The original CNN was full of facts and had no commericals.

[cyberpj]

75. Wish I could recommend +100. nt

[midnight]

79. We could stop poverty when we stop the millionaires from stealing....

[GliderGuider]

83. We could reduce poverty if we could stop millionaires from redefining what's legal and what isn't

It's their ability to purchase legislators that is most of the problem. If you reformed campaign financing and the tax system, and took away corporate personhood the problem would be cut at least in half.

The problem is you have to get the people who are already in power to agree...

[cyberpj]

80. I'm sharing this with everyone I know and hoping it does go viral. Also

wish I knew how to send it to Rachel, Ed, Al on MSNBC to help spread it around.

[cyberpj]

82. Sent to MSNBC's Hardtalk, Rachel Maddow, O'Donnell and Ed Show - can't find Sharpton contact. nt

[gateley]

81. K&R - you wouldn't be able to convince most Americans of this, though. nt

[Warpy]

85. If all you watch is the first 15 seconds, watch that much

You can't study inequality by looking at poor people.

Poor people don't have the wherewithal to stop being poor.

[Octafish]

86. Kick for the rich and unfiltered news.

The rich have a good reason to worry.

[Vanje]

92. Bookmarked! Thanks!

[woo me with science]

93. Great link. Thank you for posting this.

Shame that Americans have to go to Al-Jazeera to bypass our own corporate media.

[BNJMN]

94. "So why do Democrats never have a spine? Because they are competing for campaign donations..."

Campaign Finance Reform, where is it?

[Atypical Liberal]

95. One of the most powerful, short videos I have ever seen.

This video is truly amazing.

[timefortherevolution]

96. Imagine any US reporter questioning Ryan the way this one did???

No one he thought she was rude!
He's never been questioned with the facts that way!

[Uncle Joe]

99. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[cstanleytech]

101. I trust Al Jazeera as much as I trust News Corp/Fox News usually

but in this case they got it pretty close to the mark imo and its one reason why we need to get a tiered inheritance tax into place asap on anything over 2 million dollars.

[upi402]

102. seriously?

seriously seriously??? Fox news as valid as AJ?

[cstanleytech]

107. ok ok I trust them usually as much as i trust fox news, the national enquirer or the onion

Happier?

[Karenina]

103. . .

:kick:

[closeupready]

105. Excellent piece.

She did a terrific job on that.

[Chimichurri]

106. Outstanding.