I was reading an article about how the derivatives market bubble is 1.144 quadrillion dollars, or $190,000 per person on the planet. One of the things this seems to say to me is that no bailout can ever work because the number is simply too high — the artificial systems that created these numbers have to be allowed to collapse. I understand that there will be some trickle down damage from cutting the parasitic upper class, the corporatocracy, the bankers, and the financial aristocracy down to size, but it’s far better than allowing them to continue their blood-sucking status quo.
We have an extreme abundance of resources and productivity on the planet — enough for everyone on Earth to live in reasonable luxury. The problem is that the system we have — the system that allows things like a derivatives bubble — exists to pool extreme wealth in small populations. Another way of putting that is that it’s a system designed to create poverty in large populations (since wealth can’t really be created, but only moved around, when you make one group rich, another becomes poor, duh). Which is pretty messed up since, like I just said, we have more than enough to go around.
I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for the people who’ve lost their “life savings” in these false wealth-creation schemes, be they based on the idea that housing values will go up indefinitely, or be they based on the idea that a stock market investment will pay out twenty or thirty percent or more yearly. The idea that wealth is created out of simply having money — the idea that money creates money, rather than work or product creating money — is an idea that serves only the artificial aristocracy that profits from it, and does nothing for society or the average person.
I repeat myself, but it’s just so messed up that in a historical period where we have so much productivity — energy, food, resources, toys, everything — per person, that we can even consider the idea that we have to worry about “recession” or “global depression”. Argh!
Other than that, Nefarious and I went on a giant bike ride (the first of the year), circling High Park — about three and a half kilometers of hilly paths — and then after we got home, went for a long walk into High Park Village to go to the bookstore. I picked up The Book of Three for us to read, but instead of starting that we ended up reading classic ghost and scary stories.
Nonetheless, she does not seem particularly worried about saying “Bloody Mary” into the mirror three times — “It’s just a story, daddy!” I think I’m probably more irrationally scared to do it than she is. In any case, she got so much exercise today that I’m sure she’ll sleep through any nightmares.
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Haha. Speaking of the “Bloody Mary” legend: https://xkcd.com/555/
I read this last night
https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/15/greene.generation/index.html
It claims we owe a huge apology to older americans for the state of the economy, since they’re not going to recover financially for their retirement. Actually, I think we probably owe them most of the blame. This is the group which has refused to allow sufficient taxes to actually pay government bills. This is the group which has run the government, and ushered in the deregulation which allowed the current collapse. This is the generation which consumed and consumed and never thought to save anything, be it money or the planet. If they want to know who to blame, they have to go no farther than the nearest mirror.
I feel socialism in the air. hmmmm
i get the feeling this is a massive oversimplification of the problems and issues you bring up. i also scratch my head at the idea that wealth cannot be created, only stolen from others. i just dont agree.
i also tend not to agree with the idea that of all the wealth of the wealthly countries were spread around the world, it would come out nicely for everyone. i doubt there is even enough monetary wealth amongst the riches 10% to make a good life for every human on the planet. maybe with some advanced changes in thinking and the distribution of things like food, education, communication, heath care, etc. (and probably way more then i have a clue of)
but certainly not as things stand now.
so, i tend to think that while redistribution of “wealth” and MEANS to aquire “wealth” has some validity. it wont do shit without the redefining of “wealth” and imaginative invention of new forms of “wealth”.
freedom, peace, health, prosperity, joy, etc.
Speaking of books. You should look into geting “Nurk by Ursala Vernon” https://www.metalandmagic.com
Yep! Not only was Karl Marx widely misused and misunderstood, the same goes for Adam Smith! I suspect that at it’s core capitalism and communism are much closer then most people are comfortable admitting. I have nothing against capitalism, I just wish SOMEONE would start practicing it! America currently suffering from industrial protectionism, not capitalism. At least, not REAL capitalism.
I agree that there is MORE than enough wealth in the world to go around. If EVERYONE did their part, and anyone who felt “overpaid” would find some way to use it to HELP someone less fortunate.
I think it is incredibly simple. If we all take care of ourselves, share what we have with others, you’ll find that others will do the same. And there is MORE than enough wealth to go around.
JASON – yes.
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