It seems that the giant investment bank, Goldman Sachs, is being charged with fraud by the Securities & Exchange Commission. There has been way too little accountability in the financial sector for all the problems caused by these monstrous companies driven solely by profit & greed.
I think capitalism is a supremely functional system of commerce. However the idea of unregulated 'Free Market' is simply insane. Representative government is needed as a check on commercial & financial entities that would use the system to prey on people in a criminal way.
Anyone who says they are a unfettered 'Free Trade' proponent is a zealot that is living in an fantasy world. Even the King of the Scheisters himself, Alan Greenspan admits his unaccountable free-market philosophy was crap.
This significant enforcement of oversight is already being seen as a prelude to the Democrats' push for broader financial reforms. I was reading just now that Obama has said he's going to veto any financial reform bill that doesn't deal with derivatives- the purposefully obtuse 'investments' that were a large factor in the recent financial meltdown.
It's crazy how already the Republican leadership is outright against even this push for major reformation of a dysfunctional system. It's a shame Boehner & McConnell are such jerks they can't see how joining this fight against corruption in banking practices would be better politically than siding with their crooked money lords.
I'm way too cautious and practical to enjoy gambling.
My parents always hounded me to be conservative with my finances. Living on my own since high school has also made me more reluctant to waste hard-earned money on risky endeavors, like gambling on anything. That's one reason I find the rampant greed and irresponsibility behind the world's financial crises to be so offensive.
Unfortunately, huge corporations and financial institutions have neither the guidance of parents nor a natural moral compass to act responsibly. The scale & complexity of the current economic situation makes it hard for people to focus blame or action toward any one entity, whether it be government officials, companies, their CEO's, central banks, or corporate media.
There is all kinds of coverage of dreadful economic news flooding the airwaves and interwebs. I am a visually-oriented person, so the best way for me to generally grasp these nebulous concepts is through infographics. I really don't enjoy dealing with numbers, so graphic interpretations are much more apppealing to me.
Here's a great set of visualizations that I remember clicking on somewhere. Even in semi-simplified form, it's a tremendous amount of information to absorb...
I thought this one was especially clear & easy to follow: Solutions of varying degrees of practicality exist out there for many problems facing the state of America's economy. Right now, Obama still has the popularity to take some pretty drastic measures, but he'd need superhuman will and overwhelming public support to accomplish even a fraction of what should be done.
The title of this post refers to a couple of excellent features from PBS regarding America's recent economic situation.
Yesterday I came home from work tired from a frantic day where I was miserable w/ a sore throat & slight fever. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I turned on the TV & ended up getting sucked into a revealing episode of Frontline. It examined the complex world of unregulated "black box" financial markets that have resembled a high-tech underground gambling den.
I've always seen Alan Greenspan as a scoundrel who was the High Prophet of Greed. He conveniently waited until he retired to publicly realize that his entire worldview of unrestrained free-market capitalism was "wrong." By then, his all-powerful deity, The Free Market, had viciously ravaged the economy of not only the entire country, but the whole world.
Despite personally having a strong aversion to most things involving numbers & finance, I have occasionally commented on the state of the economy in general terms. Although the system of capitalism is an effective tool of social exchange, unregulated free-market corporatism has been proven it can be a parasitic monster. I think it's pretty obvious to the average person that the American citizens have been robbed repeatedly by financial institutions who are supposed to provide them a 'service'.
There were items in the news today that show the ideological gap between Washington, which ostensibly represents The People, vs. the bankers on Wall Street, which only represents God Money.
On the one hand you have The White House trying to grab the reigns on the ravenous capitalist beast:
I think this trader is being honest to the extent that he's giving a clear glimpse into the mind of a sociopathic financial parasite.
He's also right that without checks on their power & influence, Goldman Sachs and the other 'too-big-to-fail' banks & investment firms are an unstoppable cancer draining the wealth from society.
I don't enjoy working with numbers, so I would never work in the financial industry. Trading stocks & managing investments would be like my nightmare job, it just seems so crazy. Maybe, to some extent, it is:
Obviously, not everyone who works for a bank is a greedy lunatic out to pillage mankind.
However, the fact that the looting of our country by these corporate vampires has gone completely unpunished has given rise to the 'Occupy Wall Street' protest in NYC that has been going on for almost 2 weeks.
The great populist of our time, Michael Moore, was on MSNBC live from Wall St. earlier & stood up for all the working people who are preyed upon by the nation's banking institutions. He's right on the money, so to speak.
The only thing I've ever been a part of that could be a considered a protest was the awesome huuuuuge rally in DC organized by Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert.
I've got a good job & need to pay my bills, so I've got nothing to get really pissed off about. However, I'm glad there's all those activists who are there. They are helping to bring awareness to the massive injustices happening on in our county, so people feel empowered to speak out and take action against them.
As far as the financial sector aka. 'Wall Street' goes, this video I saw on WRH also succinctly outlines the reality of America's indentured servitude:
I also came across this chart on DailyKos that illustrates the sources of the budget deficit. The 'deficit hawks' who demand cuts to 'entitlement' programs & government services as top priority are wrong.
3) Let the Bush Administration's plutocratic tax cuts expire on those making over $250,000. Of course, some of America's financial elite will bitch & moan about any kind of tax increase, no matter how wealthy they become. As someone who is content to make a modest living, I have absolutely no sympathy for the extra thousands of dollars they may have to sacrifice. They can go hide on their yachts and cry about it into a golden handkerchief for all I care.
This was just one of the countless ways George W. Bush deceived & sabotaged the average plebeians in this country during his regressive 8 years in office. Obama's only had over a year to dig out of the cesspool, but there is still a mountain of crap to clear & he's not digging nearly fast enough.
No one who follows world affairs can deny that it has impacted society in a significant way. Now that the masses have had a taste of the myriad intrigues, scandals, and going on behind closed doors in high places, they will undoubtedly feel the need to get more.
I don't have an opinion on whether this is good or bad. To me, it's just a phenomenon to observe. I'm sure if I was a senior member of the US State Dept., my opinion might be drastically different. That's why I stay happily un-involved in active politics. The world is just too damn crazy to manage on a large scale.
This new info crisis posed by WikiLeaks definitely seems to be one of the many seismic changes that are currently facing mankind and affecting how we manage our world. Generally, open flow of information is a good thing. However, human beings are still individual souls & not part of The Hive Mind... yet. Therefore, there needs to be some degree of personal privacy afforded people, even those in public service. Whether releasing all this classified material of varying significance will have a net positive or negative effect isn't clear.
On the other hand, blowing the whistle on corporate or financial wrongdoing is almost always a positive action. If Julian Assange can keep himself out of jail and the sniper crosshairs, his next target seems to be one of our major creditor overlords, Bank of America.
After reading about him and the whole situation, I'm definitely intrigued by the cognitive shockwaves Assange is making around the world. His stated mission of exposing corruption and shining a light on the "bastards" seems noble enough. Without personal knowledge of Wikileaks operations & Assange's true motivations, though, I admit it's possible there's something more nefarious to it. Really though, how much more nefarious could they be- compared to subversive intelligence agencies, corrupt officials, or parasitic mega-banks?...
I've posted before about the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government program in the 1930's-40's that created work for Americans in meaningful public projects.
Sen. Lautenberg from my home state of NJ has proposed a modern Works Progress Administration or WPA, which was another New Deal initiative by Franklin Roosevelt.
This is the kind of government intervention that should have been implemented awhile ago, instead of shoveling taxpayer money into The Great Casino on Wall St.
I also think there needs to be more of this kind of attempt by Rep. DeFazio to put a reign on some of the shenanigans going on in the financial "industry":
I just got sucked into watching a very thought-provoking (and slightly disturbing) documentary. It 's a look at the psychology of money & how it relates to financial markets.
Basically, we will NEVER fully understand models of economic activity until we completely understand the human mind!
Therefore.... we can all probably look forward to more irrational behavior leading to booms, financial bubbles, and recessions for years to come.
I don't find any joy in dealing with numbers... & the whole stock market scene dealing with 'the markets' does not interest me at all. It all seems a little crazy, actually.
Restless minds, never satisfied, continually driven by intense emotional situations... The swarms of hungry ghosts on the trading floor are like the opposite of Buddhist monks training their mind during a zazen session.
There has been a major focus of attention toward Rand Paul, the winner of Kentucky's Republican Senate primary.
I've felt that Rand's father, Congressman Ron Paul, has made some valid criticisms of the government & financial institutions like The Fed. Especially in the years of Bush/Cheney regressive Republican rule, Ron Paul seemed like a semi-sane voice from The Right. However, I've also seen him make arguments for his "Libertarian" ideals that just aren't practical or reasonable at all.
The big ideological problem (that his son Rand Paul has seemed to adopt) is the belief that government intervention in almost any matter is negative & should be minimized to practically nothing.
This is the crux of the sudden spotlight following Rand's primary win under the 'Tea Party' banner. He has been on the record repeatedly saying the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is flawed because it intrudes on personal ownership. His argument is that the Civil Rights Act was good for removing institutionalized discrimination, but business owners should not be told what to do by the government. He contends that the conservative Golden Calf, aka 'The Free Market', will sufficiently affect businesses to prevent social discrimination. This is, of, course, f*cking stupid.
Rand is already complaining he's "insulted" that people are insinuating he's a racist. Whether or not he's a racist isn't the issue, however. The real issue is his naïve & dangerous political ideology that sees the federal government as only a problem to be eradicated- instead of a possible source of social solutions. Unlike alot of media nitpicking over the controversial statements of public figures, this actually deserves scrutiny because it is representative of the broader political philosophy of Rand Paul & his fellow Teabaggers.
The very sharp Rachel Maddow devoted ten minutes of her show to the visual spectacle of Rand Paul dancing around the direct question, "should the Woolworth's counter have been allowed to remain segregated in 1964?" He could not say "Yes!" because that would have been a historic political suicide. However, his delusional fantasy of personal freedom & property rights prevent him from saying "No" because he seems to feel a business owner should be able to do whatever the hell he/she wants without government intervention. Therefore, he floundered around the TV screen like a fool without the courage to say what he obviously believes- that a business should be able to refuse service to a person for any reason, such as being black, foreign, gay, or Ginger.
The only problem with Rachel's interview was that she didn't push him enough in defending parallel scenarios. If the government has no place regulating business, than why have health inspectors, building codes, or liquor licenses in restaurants? I guess any place, even Chuck E. Cheese should be allowed to sell booze, build with hazardous materials, & let roaches all over the food. Sure, people may stop patronizing businesses that suck, but the whole system will have devolved into chaos in the meantime with countless people being negatively affected.
Government is not perfect- no human institution can claim to be. However, there are alot of things that the federal government is best suited to deal with. Whose going to maintain public land, invest in infrastructure, & prevent Wall St. mega-banks from preying on consumers?... a bunch of Teabaggers w/ "Obama=Stalin" signs???
This notion of "Personal Freedom" that is so dear to the Libertarian perspective is a silly myth that clouds their worldview. The idea that government doing less will always makes us more "free" is idiotic & counter-productive. No matter what, we humans are always slaves in some way - from birth to death. Freedom is an imaginary concept that has no functional meaning in the real world. If government isn't making us do things against our will, then corporate interests will find ways to enslave us. If we can somehow shake off the shackles of the business & financial world, we will still be inhibited by our environment, other people, or even our own body & mind.
These short-sighted Teabaggers with no sense of social responsibility or ability to reason outside their own narrow & selfish self-interests are hopefully playing their only practical role... winning GOP Primaries. This way, these extreme right-wing dopes can be more easily defeated by more moderate or even progressive Democratic candidates in the general election.
Several years ago, I was at a relative's house for a BBQ.
There was a guy there who was a real "know-it-all" and was going on & on about how the government should stay out of the affairs of business and "The Free Market".
He argued that there was never a place for government regulations, or any other kind of interference with private economic activity.
A person with any common sense realizes that this is simply a stupid idea.
Being someone who enjoys discussing politics & current events, as well as having already had a few beers, I couldn't help injecting myself into his little tirade.
My ultimate point that I kept coming back to was this- without any kind of oversight or regulation, the end result of free-market capitalism is, inevitably, slavery.
I mean this in both a virtual and real sense. Most people in developed countries can be considered virtual slaves, due to the predatory elements of capitalist economies that lead to personal debt. This is probably the most freedom-restricting element of modern society.
In a real sense, also, the insatiable quest for more valuable forms of capital will eventually lead immoral people or corporations to fully exploit the human being itself- seen as just another commodity to be owned.
The other guy's argument was that the public wouldn't let exploitation like that happen. He claimed that the customers would demand ethical behavior from banks & business. This is, of course, completely absurd.
Especially at this point in time, it is painfully apparent that left to their own devices, powerful corporations & organizations will endlessly exploit people for their own financial benefit. That is why the world economy is in the chaos it's in now.
Although government is clearly an imperfect institution, Democracy is the last line of defense against the parasitic nature of "The Free Market".
Just because I'm cynical about the Capitalist system, I don't consider myself to be a Socialist or anything like that. I prefer to think beyond labels... & to just do things that work regardless of the system it supposedly belongs to.
Anyway, our semi-friendly debate ended up with neither of us persuading the other.
However, I feel like my argument was based on demonstrable fact. The other guy's argument was basically an Ayn Rand fantasy world- that would, in reality, be an escalation of the financial disaster we experienced from the years of Bush/Greenspan economic policy. These policies were an admitted failure, and we are still trying to deal with the consequences today.
In truth, such things as the economy, budgets, & even money itself are all abstractions, nothing more than tools we use in the real world. Humans are always capable of evil, so these abstract tools can be misused as systems of control to restrict real people.
Fortunately, they can also be improved & changed as surely as we can change our own minds.
Although there's the saying "Love of money is the root of all evil," I consider money to be a practical social tool.
Like the idea of a 'nation-state', currency is mostly an abstract concept that doesn't ultimately exist outside the collective agreement of those who recognize it.
The international banking system, though, has become much more than simply a tool for exchanging goods and services. It has been engineered for centuries to be a system of control over the human race.
There is alot of talk about how to 'fix' the financial system by throwing around theoretical dollars, but no one is directly addressing the root problems of our entire economic system. Ok, almost no one.
I always kind of understood that without gold or physical commodities to back up the value of money, it is all just a game of shuffling numbers. However the more I try to learn about the fundamental nature of such corporate institutions as the central banks, the Federal Reserve, and the IRS, the more it seems like a monumental maze of misdirection for a truly epic Ponzi scheme- cloaked in the appearance of legitimate lending resources. As it turns out, the money that banks lend doesn't physically exist.
This video, concerning the idea of "money as debt", is on the website of Elizabeth Kucinich- the wife of my first choice for President and my personal political hero, Dennis Kucinich, who's in the video above. Elizabeth is just as intelligent and progressive as her husband and this video is a simple, yet revealing look at the madness behind the global economic system.
After seeing information like this and currently watching the completely man-made system going to crap, it's hard to avoid the thought that this whole mess is being purposefully directed toward a unified system of global financial power:
All that I know is that as long as the banks continue to give me the money that's supposed to be in my account, I'll happily keep my pitchforks & torches hidden away.
With mid-term elections coming up & all kinds of political freak-shows going on, the Tea Party factions have added another layer of crazy to the traditional electoral madness.
As an Independent voter, I have no problem with an alternative political party- even what I may personally consider a misguided "conservative" one! However it's disturbing to see the irrationality & childish hysteria many of these Teabagger candidates display toward anything concerning The Government... or history's most notorious marxist black panther muslim terrorist sympathizer -Chairman Barack Hussein Mao-bama.
I also came across an excellent list of general Teabagger priorites to reduce Big Bad Government. Of course, reducing our ridiculously bloated Defense budget would be unthinkable. We all know that Jesusloved unrestrained military spending!
Despite their tirades against the federal government, these so-called "conservatives" don't openly provide an accurate portrayal of their alternative solution - unregulated corporate power over society. This is the ultimate consequence of their policies, despite the fact that Wall Street & big business clearly abuse their power when not countered by a strong government. It's bizarre that there's even a possibility that the most extreme right-wing ideologues could gain some power back after nearly sinking this country with unfunded mandates, financial de-regulation, and ungodly expensive wars. Reckless conservative policies had 8 loooong years to dismantle the country, and moderates & progressives are supposed to clean it all up in less than 2 yrs! It's so absurd.
Although the perception is that it's a grassroots movement, the big money and organization behind the Tea Party movement have come from ultra-wealthy right-wing corporatists & organizations.
While lesser known influences like Koch Industries are pouring money into this election cycle, Fox News is the most visible cheerleader for the Teabagger's cause. Like all right-wing agendas, their main objective is to make money. Rupert Murdoch & Roger Ailes are purposely marketing polarizing perspectives to their viewers primarily to enhance their brand... and therefore their profits. Being an avid news consumer, I realize all the news networks do this to some extent, but Fox News is political advocacy on steroids. Even a former Fox personality acknowledged the company is cynically polarizing the American public to financially benefit themselves.
The Tea Party financial ties are illustrated in this chart featured on Crooks & Liars, which is more interesting & accurate than Glenn Beck's incoherent chalkboard scribbles:
The endless stream of bullsh*t flowing through politics & the media who are covering the process is one reason people like me are attending The Rally to Restore Sanity this weekend. It is an expression of the recognition that we are living in an insane world, with the public dialogue being controlled by insane people.
I've always realized that money is fundamentally an abstract tool, that is only as (relatively) good or evil as the actions of the people using it.
After all, it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Money is a necessary & defining characteristic of human society, but unfortunately human greed must inevitably exist side-by-side.
The problem is that once you get to the massive volume of 'money' that governments & central banks deal with, it begins to resemble a super-human abstract game that has real risks. It's like the South Park epsiode where they brilliantly showed the inside of the Treasury as a game wheel w/ a decaptitated chicken.
It's been interesting to see that Eliot Spitzer, who resigned after his embarassing revelations, has come back out swinging at the financial sector. Now that he has nothing to lose, he can talk about the real dirt that is going on while most people & their government turn a blind eye.
I heard him talking on one of the news channels about different policies & I thought he was right on... even if it's tough to get past the sickening image of hookers & tube socks.
People who advocate for a completely unregulated free market are also advocating for human slavery- because that is the logical consequence of reducing all of life to commodities.
I am registered as an Independent & have no love for either political party, but I tend to see the GOP as a more regressive force in modern national politics. This is because their ideology is openly anti-government, so their agenda usually involves making government worse instead of better, while pushing to privatize public services.
Despite the fact that Republicans in the House & Senate have caused much of the political gridlock in DC over the past cycle, the voters mostly place the blame on President Obama & the Democrats for the nation's problems.
I can understand people wanting to change the dynamics of the government if things aren't working. What I cannot understand is how voters can keep re-electing people that are as repulsive as human/turtle/asshole hybrid Mitch McConnell, who has stood for nothing except opposing the President on all matters & enriching his wealthy donors. There are sleazy Democrats, too, but the fact that voters re-elect people like McConnell just boggles my mind.
Because it has the highest ratings out of the entire cable news cesspool, there is no doubt that Fox News (aka. 'The Mainstream Media') has affected the perceptions & opinions of America's voters. I hear people's arguments against the President & for the GOP, and it's clear they are just regurgitating talking points from the right-wing Fox spin machine.
It's funny seeing conservatives think there's going to be some kind of "American revival" now. If anything, the next 2 years are just going to be a bigger shitshow than ever. It's going to be gridlock on steroids.
Republicans love to bitch & complain about how 'progressives' and 'socialists' are ruining the country, but they are completely incapable of creating meaningful legislation that helps the general population. The public is about to see the conservative agenda in action, and it won't be pretty.
I'm sure we'll be seeing Republican bills being sent to the President that:
• further deregulate corporate & financial entities
• roll back environmental laws
• give tax cuts to the wealthiest businesses & individuals
• restrict women's reproductive health choices
• inhibit access to voting
• eliminate social programs
• any other stupid, regressive ideas that form the GOP wish list
We'll have to see just how bad things get over the next couple years, until the next election.
Until then, I'll just be continuing to live my life and trying to do my part to make the world better.
I still stand by my progressive outlook on politics & the perspective of this graphic I made awhile back, showing the "Political Spectrum":
Continuing on the topic of having some fun with conspiracy theories from my last post...
I saw a link to these totally crazy "Truther Toy" parodies that take some of the more nefarious conspiracy theories floating around, and made them into games & other not-so-fun products for kids.
Having years of experience designing products for the toy & game industry, I can confidently say that NONE of these concepts will ever make their way into the toy aisle, at any store!
My favorite, however, is probably the Bank$ters Monopoly Press, which is a goof on the illusory, abstract nature of our entire monetary system:
click to enlarge
Right now, perpetual Presidential candidate Ron Paul & his fanatically loyal supporters are probably the most visibly vocal opponents in this country of the Federal Reserve & the entire fiat system of debt-driven currency. Although I find some of Congressman Paul's policy positions to be questionable, the private control of the issuing of money is one aspect of economy that is untenable & definitely needs major reform.
Although auditing the Fed, while creating more transparency & accountability in the highest levels of the financial sector, would be a good thing- his obsession with gold-backed currency seems antiquated & impractical in the digital age.
Like all things, the global economy & our systems of exchange will continue to evolve- perhaps into processes that we may not be able to even imagine today.
As the world continues its chaotic dance, governments around the world are trying to deal with the massive upheavals humanity is experiencing: nuclear disasters, financial collapse, and on a more positive note- social media & democratic revolution.
Here in the United States there's alot of the usual political turmoil. Although I try to understand issues from a multitude of angles, I have opinions that I think are more right than certain other opinions.
The important thing to keep in perspective, though- is the fact that we are all just monkeys grunting at each other...
Most people are understandably cynical towards politics & government, but they are still necessary aspects of society.
If politics is an inevitable part of being an active citizen, it's best to try to improve it. There needs to be a balance between institutions like private business & government. Neither one is inherently evil- but unscrupulous people can corrupt either system.
I try to avoid getting cornered into conceptual boxes when it comes to my political thoughts. Although I'm registered "Independent," I usually find Democratic priorities more agreeable. The GOP have gone off the deep end in certain areas, especially "social" issues.
However, their biggest fault is their mindless, unyielding party-line opposition to initiatives that could help the country & its economy. Their primary focus is to unseat President Obama by blocking everything on the agenda- regardless of the havoc it wreaks upon the rest of us.
Anyone who follows Congressional votes, & the battles waged since the 2010 midterm, knows that major legislation is not happening without the cooperation of the Republican-led House.
If you are conservative, you might be happy about the lack of government activity. However, it's therefore much too simplistic to blame the President for the nation's economic problems if Congress is not cooperating with passing jobs bills & effective stimulus measures.
President Obama has done a good job, in my opinion. He's been a business-friendly, centrist technocrat who has bent over backwards to compromise with conservatives- he's definitely not a hardcore socialist, or even extremely liberal. I'm well aware of his failings, the undelivered promises, (...close Guantanamo, end drone strikes, faster economic recovery, etc...) and the fact that he's a politician. I am also aware that he is just a man like everyone else. However, I generally agree with the gist of the legislation he's advocated & overall vision for how the country should be run. If anything, I don't think he's been forceful enough in pushing a "progressive" agenda.
Last night was the best that I've seen Obama in fighting back against the many nonsensical Republican policies & ideas that have dominated political discourse, for which Mitt Romney is now the standard-bearer.
To be fair - in the first debate, Obama was horrible. I really couldn't believe how much of a snoozefest it turned into. I knew everyone was going to declare Romney the winner, because of his borderline-obnoxious manic aggressiveness. He apparently activated the "fear" area of people's primitive lizard brains, overcoming Obama's futile attempt at measured reason.
After the debate last night, I watched & read the many analyses on various websites with their reader comments. I like to get a spectrum of opinions & perspectives, even if they're idiotic.
I thought that last nite Pres. Obama clearly overwhelmed Gov. Romney, stylistically & substantively. The President asserted himself as a thoughtful, responsible, yet tough, leader. This time, he didn't let Mitt Romney continue to be his usual douchebag self, without response. Do I think either of these guys have all the right answers?... of course not. However Romney has no answers to anything. His stated fundamental approach to economic policy is a 3-card monte game. There's no way he can 1) cut taxes 2) increase the bloated Pentagon budget, and 3) reduce the national debt, without crippling the federal government (which is probably the actual goal). It's absurd on its face.
It always cracks me up how government-hating politicians want to attain & maintain power within the government they think's no good. I guess it's about the idea of infiltrating something, to destroy it from the inside out. The problem is... if democratic government is severely limited, society becomes unbalanced, then financial & corporate power is free to prey on the people.
Even though the CNN poll showed Obama 'winning' the debate overall, I was baffled to see the pundits on the different stations were downplaying it. The low expectations for Mitt Romney are Sarah Palin-esque... while Obama apparently needs to heal someone on stage, then punch Mitt out to make an impression. I'm not sure if the media is trying to keep it a horserace, or if people are really that clueless. It's most likely both.
Anyway, I understand why Romney supporters would go into denial. As a candidate, Mitt sucks & so they can't let Obama have any slack whatsoever. For Team Romney, it's better to bullshit your way to imagined victory than to accept defeat. It shows the whole right-wing mentality of winning at any cost, even if it's at the expense of consensual reality & one's own common sense.
When Obama had a lackluster performance last time, his supporters universally acknowledged it & demanded better, for the sake of the national discourse.
This time, The President showed why he has been elected to one of the most difficult jobs on Earth. He handled Mitt as an intellectual, moral, and rhetorical inferior- which he is. Gov. Romney was left awkwardly stammering on several key moments, when Obama gave him an oratorical smackdown.
Mitt just never looks comfortable in his own skin, while Barry O. is usually the coolest guy in the room. I don't know if it's Romney's uncomfortable personality, the disturbing lack of empathetic emotion, or just the fact that he's an out-of-touch plutocrat who acts like a jackass... he just doesn't seem like a person who can relate to the average person's problems. Case in point, his recent comments about people, with no insurance, being able to get care in an emergency.
He has absolutely no clue how society works for most people... yet, he's going to be in charge of running the country?!? Let's hope not.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Romney is totally incompetent. He surely wouldn't be as much of a disaster as Dubya was- or as some of the GOP primary contenders would be. However, the ultra-rich have already had a field day at the expense of society-at-large. These are Gov. Romney's base. Therefore, a vote for him basically concedes the Republic to his special moneyed interests, whose only goal is to reap endless profit from the people.
There's still another debate to come, but I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with "The Long Legged Mack Daddy" After the experiences of the last four years, he has undoubtedly learned lessons on how to govern effectively that will hopefully inform him if he wins a second term.
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only
the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first
existed.
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the
higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of
protection as any other rights."
I would take issued with the last line of the quote in the text, though. I don't think that an conceptual tool like 'capital' should be considered to have rights at all, as individuals or groups of people do.
...that's like saying that computer software has rights.
It could also be argued that capital can be created from sources not normally considered "labor".
The creation of intellectual property can be considered a form of labor, if it leads to further production of goods & services.
What is definitely NOT productive labor? Financial schemes that do nothing but extract value from the economy, for the benefit of manipulative firms & their executives.
People have probably been saying that since the first societies were formed. In reality people are as brutal, selfish & ignorant as they've always been, but the problems societies face today are more complex than in the past. On the upside, our collective capacity to solve problems is greater than ever.
There is no doubt that the number and scale of problems facing mankind seem huge. The constant info stream available to every person with the most basic network connection has compounded everyone's awareness of the entire globe.
Another effect of The Web is that a multitude of voices are now able to weigh in on any given subject. This is neither good nor bad, but it's a complex phenomenon that's clearly affecting the existing perceptions and power structures around the world. Unfortunately, despite public outcry the for-profit insurance companies & the various financial swindlers sucking the lifeblood out of people have shown that they won't be swatted away by our pesky "democracy" anytime soon. Not while they're so firmly attached to their Congressional hosts.
There are answers to these big problems, but they require vision & action even more bold than President Hopey-Change w/ his "liberal" Democratic Congress could ever muster. It can be infuriating for informed citizens to see a cumbersomely ineffective system of bought-off bureaucrats only nominally fixing the crushing problems we face.
To illustrate the chain of causality that has to be intelligently addressed on any big issue, here's an example: As far as health care is concerned, I should be able to visit a doctor or hospital & get any health care I need without any concern for payment whatsoever, no less needing an insurance company to pay for it. The existing system is legally-sanctioned racket, since in a truly enlightened society health care should be the most basic right of any human- citizen or not.
How would such a socialist utopia exist? The only feasible model is through taxes. How else is any functioning government supposed to be funded? The current problem is the particular system of taxation. People's personal income & owned property should not be taxed, but I say tax away on sales of luxury items & non-essential items. That is also how you get a piece of any illicit money out there that wouldn't be gained through income tax. I was just watching a news segment with 2 economists proposing a flat consumption tax in place of the current tax structure. The tax code is one of the things that any President w/ balls would scrap and reboot.
I prefer to think in generalities on these questions of social policy, since there are millions of people out there who could work out details. This is where Obama has come up short so far. He hasn't really brought down the hammer in a forceful way & said:
"This is how it's gonna be, & here's what we're gonna do. Do you love America or not?!"
Even though they were blatantly wrong on the issues, that is one attribute that Bush, Inc. used to its advantage - the ability to be unyielding S.O.B.'s! By not calling out the very integrity of all Congresscritters who block his agenda, Obama's allowed room for antics like those of America's Droopiest Senator, Joe Lieberman aka Senator Palpatine.
Of course, when considering the important issues, it's also important to realize it is all fleeting & crazy anyway. That's where watching The Daily Show & Colbert Report can give me a laugh and the proper perspective.
