Socialism Is Good For Workers

October 20, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

As the US tumbles into a bad, bad recession, we are having an election. And there is virtually no discussion about what is really wrong. Indeed, the main focus in this election isn't war or our trade deficit or yawning budget deficit, it is nearly all about race. To the fury of many who want otherwise. But then, from day one in the US, it has been all about race and slavery which were embedded within our Constitution and excised very painfully and often, extremely violently. I will discuss this history later. First, the economic news. After central banks nationalized the G7 banking systems, they managed to sort of restart the old status quo. This is bad.

US industrial output plunge steepest in 34 years

US industrial production plunged a shock 2.8 percent in September, the steepest fall in 34 years, due to hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and a strike at Boeing, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hammered the Gulf of Mexico region, a key hub of the US oil and gas industries, and a machinists strike at Boeing that has crippled civilian aircraft production, "severely curtailed output," the central bank said.

The plunge in output far exceeded analysts' consensus forecast of a scant 0.8 percent decline. It was the strongest fall since December 1974.

All summer, the media and our ruling elites trumpeted the great, great news that the trade deficit was declining. It will, of course, continue to decline as the price of oil temporarily retreats. This is because over one third of our trade deficit is energy-related. Also, as people lost their incomes for buying stuff, they bought less manufactured goods as well as energy goods so that causes the deficit to decline. Throughout the last 35 years, the only times our trade deficit declines is during bad recessions.

So it is NOT a sign that we are expanding our international markets. It is more a reduction in US consumer spending. So last summer, we had all this chatter about how our exports have increased. On the other hand, as I expected, we see this fall that industrial production has collapsed! Since the very beginning at Culture of Life News, I have said that Boeing is our major and, aside from other weapons systems, nearly only major industrial export power. The US Presidents spend a lot of time, selling Boeing jets ever since Nixon went to Japan and Boeing got all entangled in bribery of Japanese Prime Ministers afterwards.

The Boeing strike ruins our trade statistics. Since our trade partners have to buy SOMETHING from us, they usually opt to have their governments buy these jets because this doesn't open up their own domestic markets to other US manufactured goods used by ordinary consumers. Recently, Japan chased out a Korean domestic goods manufacturer who has a huge market share in China and the US but ZERO in Japan. But Japan buys lots and lots of Boeing jets. And is gradually prying off of Boeing, significant sections of that company's manufacturing process so that these export numbers are really not real.

They do NOT take into account that the finished jets sold to Japan are partially made in Japan and then shipped to the US for final assembly. This inability to look closely at or understand the dynamics of 'free trade' lies at the very heart of the US banking and industrial collapse. We know that, if free trade is kept in place during this bad, bad recession, when the recession is done, US manufacturing will be a good 10% or more, smaller than before this recession. And since over half of US manufacturing is military, if we stop our endless wars and raising the Pentagon budget by 6% or more a year, that will collapse, too.

But this military budget is a huge burden on US taxpayers and is bankrupting our nation. And exporting all this stuff is not going to fix things since this merely puts off the day when we can't afford to do this any more than Russia could when they went bankrupt. I remember when we could buy all sorts of nifty Russian military stuff like night scopes for very little. We bought a number of Russian military goods during that time including the very warm hats! I kind of miss that now.

But Russia knows that they have to manufacture other things and are slowly changing gears. Also, they have revived their military markets and are selling briskly to people we don't like very much. And are renewing their rocket technology, they fired off more experimental missiles in the Pacific this month and are not only making deals with countries we hope to intimidate but are the ONLY way we and Europe can access that space station! Now, who won the space race? Remember: races don't end when we get to the moon.

McCain, Palin hint that Obama's policies are 'socialist'

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain stepped up his rhetoric against his Democratic rival on taxes in his weekly radio address Saturday, comparing his plan to "socialist" programs. The remarks were part of a theme McCain has used since the final presidential debate, but his most recent comments were the first time he used the word to describe Sen. Barack Obama.

In the radio address, McCain didn't directly call Obama a socialist, but he let the now-famous Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher nearly do it for him.

"You see, [Obama] believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism," McCain said Saturday.

I am a pro-socialist who is also a pro-traditional banking and pro-civilization person. I love the opera, love ballet, love fine arts, good wines and other good things. I also like fighting, shooting, hunting and other things which incidentally, were also enjoyed by the ruling elites in the past. I support traditional banking simply because it worked in the past. When it didn't work was always connected with wars so I assume that wars are bad for good banking. Period. So wars should be avoided and taken on only very reluctantly which is why our Founding Fathers did NOT want a standing army.

The stupid 'Joe the White Skin Head Plumber' business is typical of this election. The guy used to belong to a racist party. He has been arrears in his taxes. He hates 'socialism' and you can bet, he will be screaming for socialism when he becomes old if he can survive that long. There is this very significant number of white racists who love to have 'socialism' but hate SHARING it with others. So they have chosen to hate all socialist systems for the time being. Social systems of ANY sort feature taxes. From the dawn of civilization, the one thing that all civilizations have in common is the concept of taxes and the concept of the government protecting the people during bad times.

If a ruler didn't protect the people in bad times, he or she would fail. Either invaders would destroy the kingdom or there would be uprisings and palace coups. This is why all smart rulers don't crush the workers entirely or let them die if there is a food shortage. This is why smart rulers fear food inflation. This can cause French Revolutions, just for one glaring example. Why so many working class Americans hate 'socialism' annoys me. For it is not sane.

Japan had a very extensive social safety net and a lot of socialism in the past. But then, they have a mono-tone society. But lately, the ruling elites have experimented with ripping up this safety net and at last, the people on the street are beginning to show some signs of unrest. So I expect the LDP to repair this broken net, fast. Our other trade rival, Germany, is very socialist and has high taxes. They have a decent trade surplus with the US and others, too.

China does NOT want to be the US at all. They look at us as a goose to be butchered in the end. If you ask any Chinese what system they want, most would say, 'Germany', not 'the USA.' All sophisticated civilizations that wish to be the top export producers and top social leaders on earth are at least half-socialist societies. The US is seen nearly universally as CHUMPS not CHAMPS. When the traditionalist, Bismark of Germany, understood the utility of socialism, he aggressively embraced it and Germany had Social Security 100 years before the US got it! And instantly, Germany became one of the greatest powers on earth, and this was directly connected to Bismark's reforms.

The Guys From ‘Government Sachs’

Indeed, Goldman’s presence in the department and around the federal response to the financial crisis is so ubiquitous that other bankers and competitors have given the star-studded firm a new nickname: Government Sachs.

The power and influence that Goldman wields at the nexus of politics and finance is no accident. Long regarded as the savviest and most admired firm among the ranks — now decimated — of Wall Street investment banks, it has a history and culture of encouraging its partners to take leadership roles in public service.

It is a widely held view within the bank that no matter how much money you pile up, you are not a true Goldman star until you make your mark in the political sphere. While Goldman sees this as little more than giving back to the financial world, outside executives and analysts wonder about potential conflicts of interest presented by the firm’s unique perch.
snip*
“There is no conspiracy,” said Donald C. Langevoort, a law professor at Georgetown University. “Clearly if time were not a problem, you would have a committee of independent people vetting all of the potential conflicts, responding to questions whether someone ought to be involved with a particular aspect or project or not because of relationships with a former firm — but those things do take time and can’t be imposed in an emergency situation.”

In fact, Goldman’s admirers say, the firm’s ranks should be praised, not criticized, for taking a leadership role in the crisis.

“There are people at Goldman Sachs making no money, living at hotels, trying to save the financial world,” said Jes Staley, the head of JPMorgan Chase’s asset management division. “To indict Goldman Sachs for the people helping out Washington is wrong.”

Goldman Sachs gnomes are 'leading' us to the slaughter. They have destroyed America. All the choices they have made are wrong. We are in the present mess thanks to them! How can anyone sane praise this utter take-over of our Treasury, the Federal Reserve, Congress and many state houses as a good thing? We are way, way down the wrong road and we are there thanks to them! Goldman Sachs should be investigated and the people who are 'serving' us this stew of destruction, they should be arrested for treason.

Treason is NOT offering simple socialist programs like the ones Germany has had since 1860. Treason is free trade which has driven the US into deep debt and destroyed nearly all of our own industrial base. Treason is destroying our entire banking system to a degree not seen since the Great Depression. Treason is trying to restart this very bad status quo. I am glad the NYT is finally telling us about these stupid ruling elites from Goldman Sachs. But note that they confuse readers by praising these clowns!

And that law professor: who says we don't have time to discover exactly how connected the guys 'rescuing' us are to the guys who created this problem in the first place? In my mind, NO rescue is possible without first finding out WHO SCREWED UP. And then punishing them. We don't wait to see if these very same criminals can save us, first! If we want this done in a hurry, I think it can be done in less than one week. When I went to Congress, there was some rather frightened talk about the possibility that Americans might put 2+2 together and attack Goldman Sachs but that has faded. Now, with the media telling us these pirates are rescuers, all is well. The status quo will continue for a while longer.

Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout

Pay and bonus deals equivalent to 10% of US government bail-out package

Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in line to pick up the payouts despite being the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed.

Pay plans for bankers have been disclosed in recent corporate statements. Pressure on the US firms to review preparations for annual bonuses increased yesterday when Germany's Deutsche Bank said many of its leading traders would join Josef Ackermann, its chief executive, in waiving millions of euros in annual payouts.

Goldman Sachs rewarded themselves. So did the JP Morgan pirate community. The gnomes knew they could skim off 10% and hoped to get away with it. It was NOT headline news in the US media until the Brits broke the story. Thanks to the Guardian, most Americans now know the ruling elites used this damned rescue to reward themselves. This last week, the AIG gang went off to Scotland on a multi-million dollar jaunt to shoot grouse and grouse about the peons interfering with their fun. They drank expensive brews and brooded about the unfairness of life. Why, we are criticizing their efforts to cultivate contacts via these wonderful parties where they fly about the planet in their private jets!

This, too, was in the British news, not American news. US newspapers don't send reporters snooping around Bilderberger gatherings or if ABC sent a reporter to check out who was at the Democratic party's corporate parties held by the super-rich, the reporter is beaten up by the cops. At the Republican party, the media didn't even try to do this. Any reporters reporting on the demonstrations was beaten up or arrested, too. So this guarantees the media won't look at anything, anymore. And they don't look much at all. But the news that AIG got tens of billions from US taxpayers and then went off to have expensive parties has leaked out via the internet. Joe the dumb Plumber doesn't talk about this. He hates worker's socialism, not corporate socialism.

Paulson's Capital May Bring Blackstone, Carlyle Back

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury's pledge to inject $250 billion into banks may coax private-equity leaders Stephen Schwarzman, David Rubenstein and Henry Kravis to resume investing after more than a year spent mostly on the sidelines.

The founders of Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group and KKR & Co. LP told investors in Dubai this week that the biggest government intervention in the financial system since the 1930s will help attract private capital to lenders. The U.S. plan, following similar steps by Britain and other nations, may lead to investments of tens of millions dollars, not the $20 billion- plus deals that capped the leveraged-buyout boom of 2006-2007, they said.
*snip*
``There's a crying need for capital, and now there's a chance that the government will invest alongside,'' said Rubenstein, the 59-year-old co-founder of Washington-based Carlyle, whose $80 billion in assets rank it second in the buyout industry after Blackstone and ahead of KKR.
*snip*
Participants described a buyout world that differs markedly from its peak, when debt-laden deals such as the $43 billion acquisition of power producer TXU Corp. and the $26 billion takeover of Hilton Hotels Corp. brought the once quiet industry into the public spotlight. There have been $194 billion in announced buyouts this year, a decline of 70 percent from the same period in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Hooray for socialist spending on pirates and gnomes! Isn't this damn cute? At the very least, one would hope that the GOP working class supporters would figure this simple math out: They PAY $trillions of dollars to bail out and fund corporate banking criminals who plan to CUT social security to the workers supporting them via future tax burdens. On top of this, these cheeky chaps are telling Mr. and Mrs. Joe Plumber that due to this future tax burden, why, THEY must lose social security! HAHAHA.

The only reason I see so many white working class people supporting this insanity is pure racism. I can't fathom any other reason as to why American workers, unlike workers in nearly all other sane nations, are slitting their own throats.

The Federal Reserve's graphs showing how much banks are borrowing to stay alive are shocking:

Here is a close-up look of the critical period from July 17, 2007, when the Japanese carry trade began to seriously unwind, to the end of September when the derivatives risk swaps collapsed in chaos started the present stampede to the Federal Reserve to get 'capitalization':

All past banking crisis eras, we never, never saw this level of bank borrowing from the Federal Reserve. Never. Even the 9/11 savings was only $12 billion and was considered to be a huge, huge intervention. Since then, as Goldman Sachs took over even more parts of our government, we are now enmeshed in a situation where the amount is rapidly heading towards a trillion dollars! Instead of discussing this, again, our media and the politicians won't talk about this at all.

Ron Paul and Kucinich are the exceptions and they seldom are in the mainstream news. Now, I know that many Ron Paul supporters are angry with me because I am mad at Paul for hanging out with a very, very racist Republican Party. I warned him, he should cut his ties if he is sincere about what he thinks and says. But he will NOT. Not even after, in Texas, his own supporters were locked out of the GOP convention! So I am assuming he values something in the GOP and that something is rather ugly. No revolution can happen without embracing the slogan, 'EQUALITY, Fraternity and Country!' Germany's fling with inequality under the National Socialists was a total failure which led Germany into nearly total destruction and the dismemberment of the entire nation.

European leaders press for new economic order

(AP) — The idea is ambitious: World leaders joined by aides to the new U.S. president-elect would gather before the year's end in New York and attempt to forge a new vision for the global economy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has teamed up with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to press for such a summit, and the French leader travels to Camp David this weekend to lobby President Bush to sign on.
Brown, buoyed by the praise he won for engineering a British bank bailout that inspired U.S. and European rescues, is proposing "radical changes" to the global capitalist system, including a cross-border mechanism to monitor the world's 30 biggest financial institutions. Sarkozy has floated the idea of reforming rating agencies and even exploring the future of currency systems.
Details remain vague and the obstacles are many.
*snip*
Behind the lofty rhetoric, Brown and Sarkozy are backed by a degree of clout.

They have proved instrumental in the past two weeks in corralling European governments to dig deep into taxpayers' pockets to shore up banks, unfreeze credit, and soothe markets.

Charming duo. They persuaded Europe to burden the taxpayers to sustain the crummy banking system? HAHAHA. The market Europe wishes to soothe it the unbalanced global trade markets. They need to keep it out of balance and to do this, they have to prop up the present banking system. But they are aware that this is now impossible under the dying dollar regime so they want another Bretton Woods so they can figure out some clever solution. Even desperate enough to talk openly about returning to the gold peg! Only no one can do this and have infinite growth!

The desire for infinite growth has not died at all. Everyone wants this because it is immense fun. This is why I talk about the real roots of all wealth and how the invisible beings who control this system operate. It isn't a joke or an attempt at being childish. It is the harsh truth. The only way global trade has any stability is when an empire can compel some sort of system and using military as well as economic powers, enforce their rules on everyone.

This is what is failing today. Asia and Europe are NOT on the same page here. Europe wants the US to be stronger and stronger, militarily, so it can defend Europe's market shares including the very important shares with the US. All of Europe runs trade surpluses with the US. They intend to keep this no matter what! Asia is the same except China does NOT want US military power in Asia. So this is a very significant split. When world economic leaders meet to hash out how to keep the status quo going, China's only interest is to insure that this status quo continues to bleed the US dry. Europe wants to prop up the US, China wants the US to go bankrupt.

Since Europe still will not spend much money on defending themselves and since Japan cannot defend itself due to its size and declining young population, if the US goes bankrupt, Europe will be totally exposed to Russian domination and Asia will be dominated by China. Both Russia and China know this which is why they support Europe's bail out plans for the US. They hope dearly that Europe will go very deep into debt to bail out this system. And burden the taxpayers there with supporting a collapsing capitalist system. While still trying to be socialist, incidentally. All of Europe absolutely adores socialism.

Britain faces deflation for first time since 1960

The Monetary Policy Committee last week unexpectedly cut rates by a half percentage point to 4.5pc in the face of the financial crisis. However, there is also growing evidence that inflation, which has risen above 5pc in recent months, is set for a dramatic fall. The Retail Price Index – the most comprehensive measure of UK high street prices, will drop at an almost unprecedented rate to -2pc by the second half of next year, according to new research from Fathom Consulting.

It said the fall was largely due to the drop in mortgage costs and house prices, which together form a large part of the RPI. However, lower food and energy prices would also play an important role. Since modern comparable records began in 1956, the RPI has dropped into negative territory only once, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but it only dropped as far as a rate of -0.5pc.
*snip*
Whereas high inflation tends to encourage borrowing, deflation encourages saving and, as a result, discourages companies from investing and spending today what they could save for tomorrow.

If the UK is facing deflation a la Japan, so is the US. The only reason we are not facing the exact same fates is simple: our trade partners want us to inflate our way out of this mess so we will resume buying their trade goods. So we will be allowed to reinflate our economy. And China, Japan and others will continue to inflate their FOREX reserves. Which will be used to lend money to the US and thus, buy up all our banking, industrial and infrastructures.

Interest rates to hit lowest level since 1694

The Bank of England faces cutting borrowing costs to beneath two per cent - or even as low as one per cent - within months as it battles to protect Britain from the financial crisis and the worst recession in decades, economists said.

Such a drastic move would bring rates, currently 4.5 per cent, to their lowest level since the Bank was founded in 1694.

The rate cut would be good news for borrowers, who have faced sharp increases in their mortgage rates as embattled banks have raised the cost of borrowing in recent months.

However, it would be a blow for Britain's savers, who have seen their almost £1 trillion worth of deposits eroded by 16-year high inflation.

I keep saying, 0% interest is impossible and even evil. Japan got away with this only because they discovered how to use their FOREX reserves to fund their banking system and they also prevented their own people from getting any cheap loans at all so 100% of this 0% lending went ONLY to their own industrialists who were exporting. And critically, to US and European banks! Who happily slid into this 0% lending trap. Now, our bankers are imitating this 0% interest only we have no FOREX reserves to back this up.

The meeting these clowns are planning to rebuild the global monetary system has to have some historian to stand there and scream, 'YOU CANNOT HAVE ZERO INTEREST RATES! Japan can't do it! You can't do this!'

None of this is going to fix the overinflated real estate markets. Only rising incomes can do this and incomes are going down, like in Japan, not up. This is also all about socialism: it is more important to have good housing and to be careful with national finances than to have wild bidding wars over properties due to super-cheap lending.

Give reckless bankers ASBOs says trade union leader

Mr Fletcher, the deputy general secretary of Napo, the British probation officers' union, said that speculators who had acted irresponsibly should be given an Asbo and banned from working in financial services.

They should also made to sign "acceptable behaviour contracts" like young offenders, in which they would promise never to repeat their offences, he added.

Mr Fletcher said he could not see any difference between the misery inflicted on the public by young criminals and the financial pain brought on by the credit crisis.

HAHAHA. Arrest them all! But why have this wimpy 'sign a good behavior contract' when the real solution is painfully obvious. Now, we go to the rising industrial/economic giant, China, to see how THEY are handling this problem:

Ex-Beijing official gets death sentence

(AP) -- A former Beijing vice mayor in charge of overseeing Olympic construction projects has been given a death sentence for corruption, a court clerk and his lawyer said Sunday.

The Intermediate People's Court in Hengshui, a city outside Beijing, ordered the death sentence Saturday after finding Liu Zhihua guilty of taking bribes, said a court clerk who would only give his surname, Ma.

However, the sentence was "suspended" for two years, Ma said. The reprieve means if Liu shows good behavior, his sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment.

Um, who will succeed here? Britain or China? The fear of a slap on the wrist versus a bullet to the back of the head? If the GOP is at all serious about all those pathetic Joe the Skin Head Plumbers, they would be talking about punishing the bankers the Chinese way, not giving them a 10% cut of all rescue operations.

China to help Pakistan out of economic crisis

(Reuters) - China has assured Pakistan of help to get out of its economic crisis, the Pakistani ambassador to Beijing said on Friday, but he gave no details and did not say if China had agreed to urgently needed new loans.

Pakistan, a nuclear-armed U.S. ally, is struggling to come to grips with a financial crisis. Islamabad's rapidly dwindling foreign reserves are at their lowest level since 2002.

It needs $3 billion to $4 billion or it risks defaulting on a $500 million bond due to mature in February, economists say.

China, not the US, is taking over all global rescue operations. China just announced they are going into a joint nuclear power plant building project with Pakistan. Pakistan borders China. And a province of great trouble for China is the one that borders Pakistan. China does NOT want Pakistan in chaos and most certainly does NOT want Muslim radicals running Pakistan. So China, alarmed at the mess there, is rushing in to save Pakistan and will bend all their will towards this project.

Nor do they want Pakistan broken into pieces like we tend to do to any nation we 'help'. Russia also wants Pakistan intact and non-radicalized. So they, too, are courting Pakistan's rulers quite successfully. And this is what a huge FOREX reserve can do: rescue operations as well as currency controls. And the US doesn't understand this at all. We think, we can just print up money, not buy rubles, yuan or yen.

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Comments

[ralph]

"When the traditionalist, Bismark of Germany, understood the utility of socialism, he aggressively embraced it and Germany had Social Security 100 years before the US got it! And instantly, Germany became one of the greatest powers on earth" Elaine, you left out the fact that 35 years later the entire German economy collapsed and hyperinflation set in because of his assenine SOCIAL PROGRAMS. People should take care of themselves FUCK government. Socialism and central planning is a FAILURE. Sound money and real free-trade is what we need. Not fiat money and unbalanced trade. Abolish the FED. Abolish IRS. Abolish Social Security. Abolish WELFARE SPENDING. Abolish excessive military spending!!! And the Republicans are brutally racist. Democrats arent? Colin Powell endorsed Obama because they are both black men. That isnt racism? Racism is a scam to divide free people and make them not respect the individual.

[igneous]

The reason working class people don't embrace socialism is because they have pride. A working class person has to be tough. Social security makes people weak. A person on welfare is ostracised and seen as a burden. I went to school in working class south London. Some of those guys were as tough as nails. Socialism was for effeminate middle class boys like myself. The working class boys prefered facism. Skin heads etc. They used to be socialists but changed.

Another reason and this is really important. The socialists betrayed the working classes by letting thousands of immigrants in who took over working class neighbour hoods and took jobs and cost welfare. Completely mad. The reason this happened is because the labour party became infested with the cultural marxists who were internationalists more interested in destabilising western society's cultural morays. Political correctness Frankfurt school etc. ralph you shoud read up on them .

Facism is after all a version of socialism it also has a welfare state but instead of a historical directive has nationalism. Difference is that they keep the capitalist machinery and impose socialism by price controls. People keep there assets but guv has complete control of them. Mussolini was a pre-eminant socialist editor.

[Grok]

Elaine, thank you for opening a dialogue that may open the door to understanding and dealing with this mess. As you mentioned in an earlier post, you allow all to opine. Hopefully, as the old adage says, the cream will rise to the top. And maybe most importantly you recognize that all race's, creed's, and classes MUST be included in the solution. The class struggle rages and people of different race's and creed's are its casualties. People of different race and creed must realize that their most important similarity is class. They do have a common foe but it is not skin pigment or abstract religous belief systems. It is the 1% who own and control most everything.

[igneous]

Incidentaly I am not a facist/or socialist. Though I think some protection or income redistribution is ok. I think it has to put before the people. not taxation without representation.

[igneous]

At the moment we live in westernised facist states. Governments rule in aliance with corporate divisions or syndicates. Here's an Ayn Rand artical. This pretty much sums up my position very elquently.

http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/fascismandcommunismsocialism.html

[hbkeats]

As one historian put it, multi-causal analysis is a good thing, single cause attribution, not so much.

It seems to me that any analysis of the fall of Germany would need to include WWI and the complicated polical aftermath.

Wise policy does not spring from ideological boxes. The facts and dynamics acting on any given system must be carefully understood before action, or non-action, can be sucessfully implemented. In that respect governance is kind of like riding a bicycle. Experience, knowledge, cooperation, and goodwill are essential.

Economics can not be boiled down to arithmetic. Since economic models are intrinsically dependant on human behavior, moral philosophy is necessarily a factor. The important fact has been lost in today's poisonous capitalist ideologies. Moral philosophy is not merely the domain of "bleeding hearts". It is as essential to civilization as the ability to produce food and shelter. For example, centuries of human experience have proven that slavery is an inefficient way of allocating human resources. Hence, it has become morally repugnant to the vast majority. Unfortunatly, the honor system has not proven reliable in ensuring the moral guidance necessary to allow for a free market to operate correctly, i.e., allowing capital savings to accumulate across the board so the market can grow as it desires, rather than colluding so that workers recieve only that which is able to maintain the barest of subsistance, which is the modern version of slavery.

So this is why the government, i.e., the force of The People, is necessary.

So it is corruption, not the actual government, that is the problem.

[igneous]

[T]he people about us are unaware of what is really happening to them. They gaze fascinated at one or two familiar superficialities, such as possessions and income and rank and other outworn conceptions. As long as these are kept intact, they are quite satisfied. But in the meantime they have entered a new relation; a powerful social force has caught them up. They themselves are changed. What are ownership and income to that? Why need we trouble to socialize banks and factories? We socialize human beings. -Adolph Hitler

[Bokonon]

Dear Ralph,

So how many children in the United States of America (or Australia) should go to bed hungry at night? What about sheer unadulterated bad luck? God forbid that you should ever discover how little it takes for you to be thrown on the scrapheap of life.

As for the collapse of the German economy, this was not due to the social programs but the reparations due to a event called WW1. I will give you that Prussian central planning lead to a superior (to the British) educational system that lead to the rise of German industry which was one of the causes of WW1.

PS. Half the pleasure in life is meeting people who do not agree with me.

[ralph]

Central planning is a failure. Look at Soviet Russia. US and Britains problem is they based their economies on Financial Services that are not based on reality. Mining,Farming,Manufacturing. That is how to create wealth. Socialism,Central planning,redistribution etc... is fraud. Banks skim interest off of inflated fiat currency. That system must end. Land should be paid for in specie. And silver should circulate as common coin. Assets trading for assets, and real wealth can than accumulate and real capital can be saved by corporations in Sinking funds. Private Capital formation will make America great again. Borrowing from banks has destroyed us. Totally.

[Ritchie in Strasbourg]

I have spent time in the US and grew up in the UK (30 now)...conditioned to 'accept' anglo-saxon capitalism. However the UK and US has a collapsing welfare state and is staring into the abyss regarding future costs.

In France and Germany there is a socialist mindset. What does this mean? It is far from a dirty word. People still earn well, people still drive 'posh' cars and go to restaurants god damn it! :)...its almost as if socialists are the REDS of the 21st century. 'Gotta take down those RED socialists..wheres my colt'.

Personally I find it quite amusing that the US 'mob' is lashing out against socialism when they have never lived in or most probably never visited these countries (could most point them out on a map?!). I'm not trying to bash the US as a good portion of France has never even travelled outside their own country for holidays! Sacre Bleu!

If I am correct, one can truly judge a country by how it looks after its vunerable and old, believe me people will be even more vunerable in the near and longer term...in the US/UK this is very bad and will continue to get worse. There must be safety nets for the vunerable and a return to more traditional values.

I am strung between both camps as I run an import/export business and I can see the need to help the fellow man and have fantastic healthcare/infrastructure/education systems. Its a fine line really but someone has and will have to look after those who have not...its coming to you America and the UK...obviously not prepared until the last moment or willing to accept the inevitable.

[CK]

So which are the good socialist operas and ballets? Which the fine socialist wines?
Socialism is good for the workers in as much as it guarantees to the state and the social elites that the workers' offspring will also be workers and their grand-offspring will be food.

[Ritchie in Strasbourg]

I don't understand...many people become wealthy from poor beginnings in France and Germany for example...just in the same way that many people remain poor in the US.

I guess there is no way to regulate the human condition.

[chorddog]

Hi Elaine,
Regaeding tour comments about a Depression in Britian:

It's literally impossible to have a Depression this time around. In 1931, the U.S. Dollar and U.K. were still anchored to Gold. Today, the seizing up of the banking system has frozen lending temporarily, and made capital dear. The response was instant; create money and endless oceans of it. It is the only response that our corporate & political leaders can think of within an economic structure built with fiat currencies. It is the logical, insane conclusion to a financial system set adrift after cutting loose from the anchor that gave money any semblance of being 'real'.

Also, your are using UK Monetary Policy Committee statistics as reported in the Telegraph.

That's kind of like using official US CPI statistics as reported by FOX Business News.

[PLovering]

The coming Depression is no accident. It was planned, orchestrated, and executed by zi juus foreign central bankers.

The Depression of 1929-1939 was no accident either, and again caused by zi juus foreign central bankers.

These same people brought slavery and racism to America. See video 4 of 6 for details.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDt7FSG_Oy8&feature=related

[chorddog]

Elaine,
What's with your constantly insisting that white working class Americans who support Republican candidates are all racist?

You remind me of Bill O'Reilly by dogmatically painting huge geographic and demographic areas of the U.S. with a freaking paint roller, instead of the fine natural bristle brush you are capable of wielding so effectively!

Working class Americans mostly support Republican candidates because FOX explains to them why they should! They don't have time to cruise the net for foreign English-language media, let alone looking for sites like yours. You have been, I'm sure, to many doctors offices and radiology labs during the day. In my area they ALL have FOX on the waiting room TV, all the time!

[Buffalo Ken]

"A light-hearted Poem follows...."

"CHUMPS not CHAMPS"

Chimps, chips, and cramps.
Biscuits, butter, and booze.
Alice in -same old goof-ah wonderland?

Nah - not this time. I don't think.
Fox and Disney (ABC) are now out on a limb -
Who knows bout NBC, CBS, MSNBC and the rest..

Fall is my favorite TV Season (not really)...
Cause "really" I don't watch that much TV....
But others do...."F-O-X" is the most brainless fox I've every encountered...

FOX is not a real fox -
just an endless tedious hatefest...
How sad, but I won't say "too bad" when FOX is gone.
________________

end of poem

Peace,
Ken

[RobG]

'What American's need, is more debt. My fellow Americans, you have done your patriotic duty and went shopping after 9/11. But today we stand on a precipice; before us lies a danger so hideous, so evil, it is almost unspeakable. We are talking about lost bonuses for Wall Street. Therefore today we propose a stimulus package that will be well targeted for the last remaining few of you can take on more debt. Do it for your country, your families, your pets."

Bernanke Signals Support for Second Stimulus

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday threw his support behind a second round of fiscal stimulus by the government to limit the risk of a "protracted" slowdown in the economy.

"With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate," Mr. Bernanke said in prepared remarks to the House Budget Committee. (Read the full text.)

Mr. Bernanke offered many caveats, however. Any stimulus should be "well-targeted," he said, and focused on ways to "help improve access to credit by consumers, homebuyers, businesses, and other borrowers."

[chorddog]

Elaine,
Regarding Congressman Ron Paul:

You insisted that he was a racist because he is from South Texas and you know those people are racist because of your experiences as a child. Again with the paint roller!

When myself and others pointed out to you that Dr. Paul is from Pittsburgh, and graduated from college in Penna., you steadfastly asserted he was a racist because he is on the Republican ticket.
Again with the Bill O'Reilly imitation!

Ron Paul ran for President in 1988 as an Independent!
Lots of people don't know that because he was shut out of the media and the campaign process.

I watched Dr. Paul interviewed on television last year. He said, in his own words, that he ran as a Republican BECAUSE he knew it was the only way he could get any kind of inclusion in the campaign by the press.

The Texas 14th Congressional District is 60% White, 30% Hispanic, and 10% African American. He won re-election this past March with 70 PERCENT of the vote! A Yankee doctor in Texas!

Whether Ron Paul is a racist or not, you were wrong to label him so based on tangential, erroneous and vacillating evidence.

Your only 'mea culpa' was after you again asserted that he is a racist, this time because he courts the "far-right wing nuts in the Christian community". You finished with," I am not flawless at all."

Good to know.

I respect your vast knowledge and thoughtful analyses Elaine, but when you respond to the justified objections to your indiscretion by posting scenic photos of your back yard, you have left something out of balance, in my opinion.

You are a Libra, correct?

I'm a fan of your website, and I am constantly amazed at how you can keep so current and write so prolifically and with such great insite. I hope that I haven't offended you.

You have said that you like debate and free discussion, and you clearly appreciate candor, so I took you up on it.

Keep up the good work of informing and educating.

[ralph]

http://www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com/news/#Obamasupportersareignorant Please watch this short video. These are the clueless individuals who will be left holding the bag of a destroyed worthless currency. "Forgive them my Lord, for they know not what they do." Thank you public school system, and media propoganda. You really have to give it to the Elites. They have dumbed us down so badly. Universal FREE healthcare anyone, how about govt. subsidized pensions? We are fucked as a country. We deserve what we are going to get. CHANGE WE CAN BELEIVE IN. Yep, worthless currency,decimated middle class, and poor. These same poor young blacks will be the ones screaming CHANGE, when they are in the deserts of the middle east fighting for the Warmachine, they so desperatly are embracing. OBAMA is a warmonger.

[JT]

One positive thing about US military spending. You guys still use all kinds of expensive high tech gadgets.
Things aren´t truly bad until you have to adopt the Russian/Sovjet military docktrine:
"The enemy shoots from the front and your own from the rear."
Sovjet Union losses in Afganistan were 14,453 casualties and 54,000 wounded.
Seems to me US can achieve defeat in Afganistan with far less casualties.

[hardrock]

Just listened to a clip by a former AG in Pennsylvania, who is bringing a lawsuit against Obama asking him to prove his citizenship. I had heard a little about it but discounted the authenticity......till I saw the clip. It is titled 'October Surprise', you can find it on the net. With all the other stuff happening I thought I'd make a list of things that could come together to make the takeover of the US a much easier job for those who plan on doing so. It will be a downright bitch for the rest of us.

Let's start with what you are not familiar with: The total dismantling on our Civil Defense. A total lack of knowledge regarding the effects and precautions regarding an attack. The dumbing down of our education system as a whole. The glorification by an 'alien' media of the lowest in our society, the resulting effect being blatant crudity and lack of self respect. Abortion and all that goes with it. Working moms, single parents, sires hiding from the courts, with no sense of shame...or responsibility....seeing as how the gov't always has a 'program'.

The passing of the Patriot Act, a major loss of freedom. New methods of spying on us being implemented weekly. Now we have talk of a 'new' internet system that Lauren Weinstein claims will be much more restrictive. The placing of US troops on native soil, being trained in 'resistance suppression'. Just the nonsense we have to go through to get on a plane, open a bank or brokerage account is time consuming and tedious.

The massive immigration we've allowed, or should I say 'They've allowed' that is tearing at the fabric of entire sections of cities throughout the nation. The tremendous rise in taxes of all forms. The transfer of wealth to the public sector from the private sector has been horrendous even before the nationalization of the entire financial industry...which is a whole story in itself. There are lots of 'shoes to drop' that will be shocking when they do. Just one to mention....the possibility of a default on UST bonds. Another is the possible default of COMEX or the London Bullion Trading Desk. The looming bankruptcies of GM, Ford and Chrysler. The clear and present danger of the dollar tanking, making imports out of reach of most Americans, with no ability or financing [without foreign ownership] to put in place the methods of manufacture. The possibility of a breakdown in our distribution system because of inability to trust the financial structure of trading entities. The Baltic Shipping Index is in the toilet already because of no trust of payment.

The massive inflation which will be the outgrowth of all the efforts to save a corrupt system will hit no later than mid 09, and will grow steadily worse rather quickly. Already, the paper price on gold, silver and some other items is out of whack with the real thing. Spot on gold is 789....try to buy an ounce for less than 950. Silver is even worse....9.70 spot....selling all over, ebay, private auctions for 15 to 20.00. Confusion reigns supreme....just the way the Boyz want it....but nothing compared to what might happen if Obama wins the election, only to be removed by the Supreme Court because he can't prove where he was born. Every city of size in America will go off like a nuke hit it. White folk, Christians, conservatives of all stripes will become targets of revenge and will scream for protection......a new Patriot Act will follow immediately. Millions would go to their death or to a 'gulag', maybe some of those prisons my brother keeps building. The Mexicans will split their loyalties, some will flee to the homeland, other will resort to crime and drug dealing, displacing the already unemployed blacks who will be heading to prison anyway. Currency controls, martial law, restrictions or confiscation of guns, ammo and excess food supply will be commonplace. Pockets of resistance will meet deadly force from woefully armed military police. What chance does a shotgun or even an AR-15 have against a rocket propelled grenade, a 50 caliber machine gun, nerve gas and all the other ordinances that the police state will have at its disposal. Even drones with missiles will find their way back home to control the people. The military will go into full fledged recruitment of the lowest sort to use against the people they recruited them from. Many will join just to eat and have a safe place to lay their head.

Flight from the cities will overwhelm the countryside. Farms will be taken over by roving bands...destroyed and left for more hunting...just like South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the midst of all this a nuclear bomb might go off, the beginning of the fight for the resources of the world and the other cause....the depopulation so the whole scam can have a fresh start....only under the description that Orwell and Huxley tried to show us, in hopes that it wouldn't become a reality.

BTW, if any and all want to know the real reasons we are in this mess, just take the time to read Antal Fekete's piece, posted on Financial Sense.com. When you take 75 years screwing something up, you can't fix it overnight.

[Grok]

From Michael Hudson (Dennis Kucinich's cheif economic advisor). The ABC's Of Paulson's Bailout....Licensed Kleptocracy For Years To Come.

http://www.counterpunch.org/

A good read.

[Pluto]

Speaking of 0 percent interest -- I had something of a brainstorm recently.

I'm trying to refi a property in which I have a lot of equity. I want to invest that equity in something that increases in value.

Meanwhile, I've discovered Sharia (Islamic) banking at Bank of America and Citibank. It's a quiet thing, for obvious reasons, but mortgages are available for 0 percent interest for the life of the loan.

The deal is, the bank becomes your equity-share partner, and takes a certain percentage of ownership when the home changes hands. 10% is not uncommon. Length of the loan is a factor. Although I haven't got all the "what-if" details, yet.

I've done lots of equity-share deals with homes -- using partners and conventional mortgages. With Sharia, you cut out the upfront interest costs (which are huge, as anyone with a mortgage knows) and pay on the back end.

Islamic banking comes to America, and I think I like it. What about you?

[DrKrbyLuv]

Elaine said: “I am a pro-socialist who is also a pro-traditional banking and pro-civilization person.”

Thanks for the clarification. This explains much but also raises some disturbing questions.

Several days ago (October 17) “conspiracy” posted an interesting take on Elaine’s message: “OK, why is all of this news? It was written 30 years ago that USA was designed to go down. You guys are slow to catch on. Also Ms Supkis mentioning evil mofo's like Hegel and Kant is suspicious. Hegelian Dialectics is how the elite control us today.

Thesis->Antithese=Synthese.........Ms Supkis is not one of the lower elites how?!!?!?”

An explanation of the illogical formula (Thesis->Antithese=Synthese) that is “Hegelian Dialectics” may be found at:

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/dialectic.htm

Forward to October 18; Elaine tells us that Ron Paul is a racist and that the "Ron Paul revolution is too reactionary for black people who are clawing their way upwards, not fighting a downdraft.”

Elaine seems to endorse controlled social engineering as a solution to a “problem” that is perpetually fed to us by the media and educational institutions. For example, when Elaine counted the lack of color in the faces of Ron Paul’s staff, are we to conclude that reverse discrimination, a subtle but equally ugly form of racism would be preferred? What was the gender tally of his staff? Were all of these people Christians? Were any of his staff handicapped? Are Ron Paul’s ideas and proposed legislative solution to abolish or control the Federal Reserve System somehow diminished by his supposed racism?

On October 17 “Igneous” posted an interesting question that was never answered: “Just what are your views about how an economy should be run and what is it about Marx that you admire. As somebody who grew up with the cultural Marxism of the 70s (multiculturism(as opposed to pluralism), feminism (radical)) rammed down my throat I hate anything marxist although perhaps its what its become that I hate.”

The same day Elaine wrote that “Nationalism is good when it is coupled not with imperialism but with an understanding of international social systems which are stronger if people work for balance and charity, not control of systems coupled with greed at the very top!” What are “international social systems” and why should supra-nationalist organizations define “balance and charity”?

Also on October 17 Elaine tells us that: “This game is the real game. Not some sort of united front to fix things. This is ruthless capitalism at work. Bloody in tooth and claw.” And she has stated many times that the offending scoundrels should be thrown in jail.

In reality, what we are seeing is anything but capitalism or nationalism. Capitalism simply cannot exist when the markets and currency are manipulated and controlled by the government or other groups. Manipulation and control are the tyrannical tools the banking elite who move to enslave us under their international communist/fascists cabal. Throwing the scoundrels (at least the ones that we see) in jail would be a good starting point, but it misses the bigger point.

GK had an excellent post (October 17) in providing a detailed road entitled "how did this happen' and 'what should be the replacement." The ending summary was right on the mark – “Citizens must control the money so they can participate in a FREE MARKET with a trusted currency they share with their fellow citizens of the nation.”

I agree and think that the solution must be to abolish the illegal Federal Reserve System and to return to the rule of law and civil liberties defined in our constitution. This is the very heart of the Ron Paul movement.

By advocating "pro-traditional banking" do you mean the Federal Reserve System?

Maybe I miss nuanced points and hope you will clarify your basic economic and governing philosophy. And hopefully you will provide some corroborating evidence for slandering Dr. Paul a racist. I enjoy and have learned a lot from you and the many fine people who post at your blog but I’m beginning to think you steer your threads to lead to unsaid conclusions. I respect your right and freedom to advance socialism; I would just appreciate some clarity.

[GK]

I will bet less than 1% of people have ever hear of Islamic Banking.

But if you read this article below, about it, you will find this quote by Dr. Samuel L. Hayes III who is a professor at the Harvard Business School (!). It reads like a who's who of Global Elite bankers.

By bet is that this was the secret deal we cut with the Saudi's in exchange for them still selling their precious oil for toilet paper thin USD Fed Notes.

http://www.augustreview.com/issues/global_banking/global_banks_embrace_islam_2007121282/

“The growing acceptance among Muslims of Halal savings and investment products over the past decade has been impressive.
Consequently, a number of conventional Western financial institutions have eagerly moved into this market as the array of investment vehicles
has broadened.” -Dr. Samuel L. Hayes III

[Pluto]

Thanks GK, for the link. It's didn't print the entire link, so I started at the main website -- which is fascinating.

http://www.augustreview.com/

Very few people know about it. I was in Mexico a few weeks ago, looking at properties, and saw an offer for Islamic Mortgages at Banamex (which is owned by Citibank). That's how I figured out the secret handshake you need to use in US banks.

The way I invest, zero interest loans, with my bank as an equity partner, is an efficient way to make fast money on all kinds of start-ups and investments.

Meanwhile, don't tell anyone. I don't want to end up in Guantanamo.

[chorddog]

DrKrbyLuv,
When Elaine said "...This is ruthless capitalism at work. Bloody in tooth and claw”, I understood her to be describing ruthless free enterprise, unleased between and among the highest echelons of the ruling group that made such a mess of things. Like 'Darwinian Finance'. Eat or be eaten. Degenerate capitalism.

Maybe Elaine will clarify.

[Paul S]

So Obama believes in 'redistributing' wealth. McCain is for redistributing wealth too. From the middle class to the upper 3% percent of the wealthy. And McCain has the nerve-with his record in Congress--to go around talking about all the jobs he's going to create. Right on Elaine about how ANY middle class American could be a McCain supporter. The Republican party is NO friend to the average American. Quite the opposite. Why do the average American STILL support the Repubs? Good question. I can say this though from my own experience. I used to listen to Limbaugh and thought he was great. I bought his propaganda hook, line and sinker. I never realized I was a corporate welfare whore, but that's what I was. And Limbaugh and Hannity were laughing at people like me behind our backs. My eyes are wide open now and I REALLY can NOT believe the jaw dropping lies, stupidity and propaganda vomiting out of the corporate shill mouths of Limbaugh, Hannity and the others. It's a bad habit, but I still monitor Limbaugh's and Hannity's shows, but only in short bursts. Both these corporate whores spend almost ALL of their programming attacking Obama. Liberals and the evil "drive-by" media are to blame for everything that ails this country. I guess we aren't supposed to know how big the Murdoch/Fox "News" media empire is. It floors me. People will throw a fit that lasts for years if they read about a single mother on welfare getting an extra $100 per month she shouldn't. But there is NO OUTRAGE if a defense contractor rips off the taxpayer for $100's of millions. Why? Honestly I have no idea.

[blues]

So tired of this "elite" bullshit! The word sounds too damn nice, rolls off of the tongue like a fine pearl. Is grammatically inflexible. Gets us nowhere.

BUT WE CAN CHANGE ALL THAT!

They are NOT "elite rulers," or "elites" anymore!!! No.

They are "brahminariat rulers," and "brahmins" now!

Lets talk about "the brahmins," "the brahminariat," "brahminariat rule," and "the brahninocracy" from now on! They may not like it. Too bad.

[Reimund from Berlin]

Elaine, I have two questions:

1, has there ever been one socialist who practised traditional banking or do you mean now is the time to try it out?

2, what if the military budget is only a small burden on US taxpayers?

[Grok]

I admire Ron Paul's refresing honesty regarding the financial antics occuring now and for the last several decades. I do harbor some doubts about his solutions however. And I know nothing of his inner feelings about race. But I look at it like this. Say there is a mob gathering to perform a lynching. And I disagree with the action. I don't provide a rope, nor cheer them on, and take no active part in the deed. But I do would gather with them and observe the deed and take no action, am I not somewhat culpable?

[RobG]

@DrKrbyLuv wrote:Thanks for the clarification. This explains much but also raises some disturbing questions.

What was the link you quote?

Wow, imagine Elaine being analyzed like the Bible, citing date and quote. And GK getting a citation too!

I think they are getting too analytical. But that is really cool that Culture of Life is a 'go to' site. I think they miss the fact that Elaine is trying to put a macro perspective on this debacle. 'Why we are here, and here are the big issues'. No doubt some of it is shooting from the hip. But plainly, as she has stated, this is to encourage debate - something the founding fathers of the country wanted - common folk talking over the fence and engaged in democracy.

[Grok]

Sorry..."would" in last sentence is a typo.....please delete the word.

[GK]

It is with a heavy heart I post this link of an interview with Norman Dodd (Andover, Yale) who worked in Banking in the 1920's and who was given the assignment to return the bank to Sound Banking principles and was stopped after 6 weeks.

The he worked on the Reese Commission (run by Congress) to research the impact of Tax-Free organizations like the Carnegie Foundation, Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation and the American Historical Association.

His researcher Catherine Casey read their hand written minutes and found that their goal was to change the course of American education to lead us towards Collectivism with traditional US Efficiency so we could be merged with the Soviet Union (allies in WWII).

She eventually lost her mind due to this information.

Makes you wonder what Mr. Buffet's fortune will be used for...

Interviewer is Edward G. Griffin the author of "Creature from Jekyll Island" one of the finest analysis of the Federal Reserve System.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7373201783240489827

This really knocked the wind out of me.

[carli]

Reimund from Berlin: "2, what if the military budget is only a small burden on US taxpayers?"

This is a leading question. The real question is, are you aware that all US bases and overhead are HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED by Japanese and European nations? Including pay, fuel, etc.

On your 1st question, of the cuff, what kind of banking is practiced in Sweden other than traditional banking? It's an honest question.

[Kartius]

I don't understand why any discussion of reforming the current US economic structure always lead to utter useless debates regarding useless labels. Maybe its the best way to pacify a brain dead audience to ensure the stability of a rigged regime. Maybe Americans do not have the desire to overload their TV addled minds with difficult questions with no clear answers. Over and over again, the conversation always return to cliches, slogans, and catchphrases.

Socialistic elements can exist in a market economy and capitalistic elements can exist in a command economy. They are not mutually exclusive. The important questions are not boiled down to whether it be socialism or capitalism. What we need to ask ourselves is how should a society be designed to reward innovation and still provide adequate protection for all of its members. How do we balance and allocate resources including human capital to satisfy short term needs with the long term goals? Can our current regime on its own avert or at the very least lesson the effects of the looming economic and environmental crisis? If not, what other systems should be in place to achieve it?

This blog has provided many examples of how socialist elements can be incorporated into our current system to improve the lives of its people. Please don't dismiss the ideas outright simply because of the preconceived notions of "socialism bad; capitalism good." We have been taught utter crap and propaganda through the years and that is very disheartening. We desperately need an open national dialogue on how to fix what ails this country.

I have still to live the vast majority of my life and I hope that they are spent in the US. However, I am wondering more and more if my future lies in Asia.

[Karmaisking]

Please don't embarrass yourself anymore with ignorant negative comments about Ron Paul. A few comments:

(1) Ron Paul explained why he couldn't break away from the Republican party. He would be slaughtered if he went out on his own. He is interested in the next generation - in ideas.

(2) He is not racist. Read his book. Read anything about him.

(3) The most judgmental Americans are smug North-Eastern whites. I lived in the US for several years and I was AMAZED at the hostility of the preppy Ivy League kids against ALL Southern students. There is white-on-white hatred that is every bit as poisonous as white-on-black racism (the Civil War scars have yet to fully heal) and there is NO WAY OUT of this cycle of hate unless you start seeing ALL people as individuals rather than members of a group. Even Southerners.

Please do not post ignorant, mistaken, stereotypical crap about Ron Paul again. You shame me, given I've recommended your blog to others. I cannot believe you've read his stuff and yet you can write some of the shit you've deposited on your blog. Please don't do it again.

[CL]

Well said, Kartius.

"...essentially a pragmatic approach - where markets work, markets are used, and where social approaches work, socialism is used. The overall motto is "opportunity for all, poverty for none." It is a system in which those well-suited to employment can pursue and benefit from it, while those not suited to economic work are not enslaved by it. It is the reconciliation of the wealth-producing power of capitalism with the humanity of socialism."

http://tinyurl.com/636pxd

[frederich der grosse]

It's simple:

in a proper, non-fractional, non-inflationary economic environment, investments without meaningful IRR require collective capital, since private capital has no incentive to invest in such projects.

socialism is necessary unless you want monetary chaos and wastrels controlling your banking system.

Or, you can do what the yankers do, and watch people die in the streets.

[CEO Nutcracker]

Wow, what happened here?Have not been on in a few days.

The Ron Paul bashing does not become you, Elaine. It is divisive and ignorant, and serves no purpose. I suggest you write the man and confirm your suspicions. We would be glad to hear his response to your, as of yet, unfounded accusations. Please back up what you are saying with something more than ersatz diatribe.

When you are in over your head, stop digging!

[Simon]

And what, get a form letter response?
Does anyone really think they'll get a straight answer on something like this from a politician?
Please

[CEO Nutcracker]

Kartius- Asia, if they will have us. Doubt it. But, we might have a future right here in The Corporate Socialist States of America with Asia as our CEO. That's close, huh?

Socialism and Capitalism would be fine if the Federal Reserve was abolished and the taxpayer had control of how and where their taxes were spent. We should have an elective tax, i.e., less or none for military, more for healthcare, more on domestic programs, less foreign aid to support apartheid terrorist regimes and despots. Less for "Wars on (fill in the blank)" and more for Peace. NOT a PENNY for Wall St BAILOUTS, only a good Chinese neck-stretching will suffice here!

I’ve read a long piece regarding the on-going 'coup d'etat' to put the final death-stamp on the US Constitution. Quite simply, it covers the erosion of our moral fiber as a nation at the hands of individuals such as Leo Strauss and more recently, "neo-Jacobins" like Richard Perle and David Frum (PNACer's), to name a few.

Prof. Claes G. Ryn, in his article, describes the subversive means used to supplant these bizarre alien philosophies in stark contradiction to American traditionalism. Now traditionalism and history were ‘old-school, out-dated and backward beliefs. Our very moral beliefs were being replaced by universalism and collectivism, all in the name of “defending” the framers Constitution. Not a difficult task with Christians and Catholics at the time, according to his research.
Ayn Rand preached laisse-faire capitalism and objectivism practiced by the cultish, Rand Corp. She was from Russia and came to the US to help ring in the "me first", "me only" society we have adopted today. She was heavily influence by Marx. I've read some of her books and find her belief system to be ID-ish, fundamentally flawed, and extremely egocentric. But the US was apparently ripe for the taking and is still gobbling it up. We have lost connection with our entire value system of family, helping neighbors and living clean. Greed and hate have replaced it. It will take a major crisis to shake people out of this form of brainwashing.

Strauss' non-traditional, history-be-damned, collectivism tripe is taught in universities and to our dear military. The pulpit-pounders, Hagee and Robertson have done a number on their flock as well. All hail the Militarist’s and religious extremists. They are ill informed, weak and fight wars against themselves.

Kissinger puts it so eloquently here:
“Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.”
Henry Kissinger, quoted in “Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam”

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” - Sinclair Lewis

Go figure! If anyone cares, here is the article regarding the ‘coup’:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21040.htm

[CEO Nutcracker]

That's the attitude Simon. Really looking for change are you?

Looks like you've accepted your hopeless lot in life.
Most of us here are trying to change that attitude.

Your kind don't help.

[Simon]

I guess most people are looking for CHANGE
we'll see at the polls :)

[Zulu]

Might as well weigh in on the subject of Racism, which I simply call hatred for another race. First of all -- "Love for your own Race is NOT Racism." Think about that. They didn't teach us that in school, did they? I wonder why? Ah, who cares? Our useless Gooberment, which has done nothing but consolidate power in the Few hands to the great detriment of the Whole, decrees that Businesses must hire so many people of a certain race or face extinction. As soon as they did this, the constitution became a worthless piece of paper. Economic freedom was destroyed. When men are not free to do with their own money as they see fit, we live in a Feudal system of Lords and Serfs. All in the name of Equality. Equality my butt. Stupidity would be a better word. The Stupid Opportunity Employment Agency. It's this kind of activity that breeds what the idiots in the Media call Racism. So now it's Racist to simply want freedom and fairness? The system is DAMNED!

This and countless other reasons are why the current System will inevitably be destroyed and replaced with something else. It's up to us as sentient beings to decide whether the Replacement will be sinister or truly equitable.

Another day has come and gone and the Elites still haven't repented of their sins? No kidding? I was hoping they'd see the light and give us back our country.

[Richard]

Elaine, thanks for another great and timely article.

Julie Creswell and Ben White of the New York Times in article 'The Guys From Government Sachs' document the bloodless political and economic coup effected by Hank Paulson to overthrow the neoliberal laissez faire capitalism established by University of Chicago professor Milton Friedman.

The Secretary of the US Treasury has appointed Wall Street Goldman Sachs investment bankers as stakeholders in state capitalism, that is state corporatism, to be taskmasters enslaving Americans and the world to debt.

Soon, a world wide financial system breakdown is coming.

The US Government will be carrying out state corporate rule through the CPFF lending facility at the nine banks it acquired. Lending which use to come from the commercial lending marketplace, will now be coming from the Federal Reserve, that is the Banks of Banks, and flowing to corporations deemed essential for the purposes of the security and prosperity needs of the North American homeland, that is combined Canada, Mexico, and America, that, is CanMexAmerica.

Lots more of commentary can be found in my linked article 'Federal Reserve Dollar Surge Takes Stocks And Gold Higher Providing The Death Rattle of Capitalism'

Best to you and all

[hardrock]

Zulu,
Excellent observations. Stupid, sinister and shitty is how our gooberment 'doesn't' work

The key to it all, again, is the production of fake money out of nowhere, which creates a debt that has to be serviced by the remaining years of our life and all of those yet unborn for the remainder of their lives. The creators of the 'system' really don't care about the principal...just service the debt. The 'principal' was created from nothing....it will return to nothing....but the service on the debt is the key to the riches and control these banksters have over us and our political system. Take that away and the 'scales shall drop from our eyes'....as well as the chains and shackles from our limbs.

But, to the main point: None of the government programs that Elaine and a lot of other socialists are endeared to could come about or survive at all without the creation of this 'funny money'. Every gov't program since the days of FDR have incrementally, taken away our freedoms, cost us untold billions, established a sleazy, bureaucratic monster, staffed with people of credentials who know nothing of substance other than to suck up and back stab....and, lest if forget...pretend. All the while, the proposed mission is left undone, more money and time is spent on getting more money and time in order to make excuses for 'more money and time'. [ Example: see "Modern Education"]

It has totally corrupted our political system, ruined our educational system, burdened our work force with unproductive and unmotivated workers, destroyed the black men and most of their families, pitted men against women, race against race, allowed an 'alien' religion to propagate a destructive cultural revolution, corrupted long held business standards to a point that the little guy, especially manufacturing, tooling, specialty shops have been destroyed. The system has created a legal system that has as great a stranglehold on us as the IRS has. It has ruined medicine and the family, which used to be skilled in home care and medical knowledge as well as caring for extended family members. All of this and a thousand other things could be cited to show the destructive force of government and its interference in the lives of Americans. None of it could have happened without the 'funny money'. This is the point that all of us have to understand. Without that understanding we will only watch this thing sink into the abyss of barbarism.

Elaine and others will immediately go on to tell of all the abuses of the businessmen of old....those old 'white guys'. Well, some of those old white guys were smart enough to put in place some checks and balances that should have prevented what we now face had we had the love of freedom they thought we would have. Little did they know, we love comfort, things, self esteem, lack of exertion more than we love freedom....that is why we lost it....along with all the other things we thought we had. Let somebody else do the heavy lifting, and thinking...I've got a ball game to watch.

All you socialists are the products of envy. You lack confidence and try to make up for it by pretending to care about your fellow man and his plight. Ayn Rand and her twisted perception of capitalism is just as bad. Greed, envy, aspiration for power over others is the worm inside capitalism and socialism that always brings them to the pit...or as Elaine would say....'the cave of death'.

The agrarian life style may be where we will have to return if the world is lucky enough to come to its senses. But, who in America is willing to WORK, WORK PHYSICALLY in order to maintain freedom?

[Neon Vincent]

Elaine and fellow readers:

I have another article for you to read. It's by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, and it's about the fools who run the country (Elaine's gnomes among them.) Note the the elite most mocked are the WASPs who attend the Ivy League. Also note that Chris Hedges is a Brit, so he knows something about class.

From Truthdig: The Idiots Who Rule America

Our oligarchic class is incompetent at governing, managing the economy, coping with natural disasters, educating our young, handling foreign affairs, providing basic services like health care and safeguarding individual rights. That it is still in power, and will remain in power after this election, is a testament to our inability to separate illusion from reality. We still believe in “the experts.” They still believe in themselves. They are clustered like flies swarming around John McCain and Barack Obama. It is only when these elites are exposed as incompetent parasites and dethroned that we will have any hope of restoring social, economic and political order.

“Their inability to see the human as anything more than interest driven made it impossible for them to imagine an actively organized pool of disinterest called the public good,” said the Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul, whose books “The Unconscious Civilization” and “Voltaire’s Bastards” excoriates our oligarchic elites. “It is as if the Industrial Revolution had caused a severe mental trauma, one that still reaches out and extinguishes the memory of certain people. For them, modern history begins from a big explosion—the Industrial Revolution. This is a standard ideological approach: a star crosses the sky, a meteor explodes, and history begins anew.”

Our elites—the ones in Congress, the ones on Wall Street and the ones being produced at prestigious universities and business schools—do not have the capacity to fix our financial mess. Indeed, they will make it worse. They have no concept, thanks to the educations they have received, of the common good. They are stunted, timid and uncreative bureaucrats who are trained to carry out systems management. They see only piecemeal solutions which will satisfy the corporate structure. They are about numbers, profits and personal advancement. They are as able to deny gravely ill people medical coverage to increase company profits as they are able to use taxpayer dollars to peddle costly weapons systems to blood-soaked dictatorships. The human consequences never figure into their balance sheets. The democratic system, they think, is a secondary product of the free market. And they slavishly serve the market.

Andrew Lahde, the Santa Monica, Calif., hedge fund manager who made an 870 percent gain last year by betting on the subprime mortgage collapse, has abruptly shut down his fund, citing the risk of trading with faltering banks. In his farewell letter to his investors he excoriated the elites who run our investment houses, banks and government.

“The low-hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking,” he said of our oligarchic class. “These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.”

“On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal,” he went on. “First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have [reined] in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government.”

Democracy is not an outgrowth of free markets. Democracy and capitalism are antagonistic entities. Democracy, like individualism, is not based on personal gain but on self-sacrifice. A functioning democracy must defy the economic interests of elites on behalf of citizens. This is not happening. The corporate managers and government officials trying to fix the economic meltdown are pouring money and resources into the financial sector because they only know how to manage and sustain established systems, not change them. Financial systems, however, are not pure scientific and numerical abstractions that exist independently from human beings.

“When the elite begin to think that money is real, the crash is coming,” Saul said in a telephone interview. “That is just a given in history. Because what they’ve done is pull themselves out of the possibility of looking in the mirror and thinking, this is inflation, speculation, this is fluff. They can’t do it. And when you say to them, gosh, this is not real. And they say, oh, you don’t understand, you’re so old-fashioned, you still think this is about manufacturing. And of course, it’s basic economics. And that’s what happens every single time.

“The difficulty is you have a collapse, you have a loss of face by the people who are there, and it’s not just George Bush, it’s very, very deep,” Saul said. “What we’re talking about is the need to rethink the departments of economics, of political science. Then you have to rethink the whole analytic method of the World Bank. If I’m the secretary of the treasury, and not a guy like [Henry] Paulson, but I mean a sort of normal secretary of the treasury or minister of finance, and I say, OK, we’ve got a real problem, let’s get the senior civil servants in here. Gentlemen, ladies, OK, clearly we have to go in another direction, give me some ideas. Well, those people don’t have any other ideas because at this point they’re about the fourth generation of what you might call neoconservative globalist managers, unfairly summarized. So they then go to the people who work for them, and you work down; there’s no one in there with an alternate approach. I mean they’ll have little alternatives, but no basic differences in opinion. And so it’s very difficult to turn anything around because they’ve eliminated all opposing ideas inside. I mean it’s the problem of the Soviet Union, right?”

More here.

[OC]

Vincent,

Moves are on the way in the academic circles to 'erase' social, political, economic ideologies from the 1970s. They are currently being viewed as moving in the wrong direction for 4 decades and review of the future directions will start from the 1960s - back to the future has began.

[igneous]

OC are you talking about stuff like radical feminism and radical multiculturalism etc. If you are.
Thank god ..