Bainful Capitalism, vs. small-scale, dog-eat-dog
Written earlier today:
Excellent Thom Hartmann at the moment, possibly a repeat. http://www.thomhartmann.com/ Thank goodness people want to elect another "businessman," like GWB, with all his failed oil business' shady borrowing, dealings and (scrubbed) connections to Bin Laden and Company. It's so nice that Romney, who doesn't know a thing about REAL economics, will get into office and again run up the debt, and sink the government like his vulture corporation sucked the blood out of other companies, (and their workers, pensions, etc.), and destroyed them. And it's so refreshing that all these idiot two-bit economists are coming out of the woodwork to tell us that, "AUSTERITY IS GOING TO HAPPEN HERE TOO, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE SPENDING UNDER CONTROL." So, they want to screw the people as if they were host companies for their parasitism, until we are all poor and desperate and wanting Mussolini to save us. Just so you know - SPENDING is necessary to help spark an economy out of a (bubble-caused) recession, and especially a DEPRESSION, which we have now, beneath all the quantitative easing. It isn't SPENDING, PER SE, (or the debt per se), which is the problem: IT IS HOW THAT MONEY IS SPENT. Right now, it is spent like an addict snorts crack, TOP-DOWN, but there is virtually no trickle down, instead of PEOPLE-UP. Even with all their cash on hand, banks have restricted credit, or else mainly invested credit into AN IDIOT FUTURE, i.e., TOP-"DOWN", as back into USA, etc., Sovereign Debts, or into mega-corps or into hedge-fund derivatives. Or taxpayers being forced to rescue too-big-to-fail mini-empires. And investors rationalise austerity from the middle class in order to feed this folly. Well, bank/corp CEOs, like Romneyites, all want THEIRS - their bonuses and big pays, etc., so what harm does it do them to destroy smaller companies, and then BIGGER AND BIGGER COUNTRIES, LIKE GREECE, SPAIN, ETC., cashing them out like Facebook? None- they profit more by doing so. Where all are they going to throw the extra capital they have FROM NOT BEING TAXED AT SENSIBLE RATES, except into this rape? It's a safe bet for them. Why should they invest in you or me, or smaller companies, as true VENTURE INVESTORS OR BANKS, when they know that a week from now we could fail because of a BP oil spill, or a lawsuit from the IRS, or a fault in the supply chain, or sudden costs from inflation, or from the fact that our ideas have not been tried yet, and if they have, then BP or GM or GE or Haliburton have bought them, or pocketed the copyrights? But if we truly reregulated banks, and corporate practices, to create an infrastructure which PROTECTS THE SECURITY OF YOU AND ME, AS ONE CLASS, AGAINST THESE RISKS, etc., then they would be encouraged to invest PEOPLE-UP, which is the only way to build a PRACTICAL FUTURE, as a future of energy sense and green tech and a TRULY FREE MARKET. As it is we are investing in the past, in vested interests, and they are all infested with corrupt players. Cuz why? Cuz human beings are like this: If something can be done, they will do it. SOMEONE will do it. It doesn't matter how immoral or insane. Someone - some CLASS - will do it, and they will conjure up ANY kind of ideology or philosophy to rationalise their actions. Hence all these self-appointed, mislead, brainwashed "economists" coming out of the woodwork, telling us that we MUST be responsible for the sins of the banks, of the debt, of derivative bubbles and corruption and Ponzi schemes. AUSTERITY MY FOOT. IN YOUR ASSES. They believe in the "INVISIBLE HAND"? Tell you what: We believe in the OBLIVIOUS BOOT!
I didn't intend to write so much econ. But some of the ideas needed to be stated.
I was thinking of the stuffed dog, which my dog likes to play with, because he has a boring life. Yes, I once drove all about, with that stuffed animal, and its big smile, strapped to the top of my car. Why did I do this? For fun. Another reason was that so many people were keeping their little stuffed animals tucked away INSIDE, under the back windows of their cars. And what did this mean? It was no statement. It was an attempt to make their INSIDE all comfy and safe, and perhaps a tad unconventional. But did it save them from being being boring sheep people. I dare say no, it did not. Not taht some of them might not have been fab interesting people - in fact maybe they were a notch above all the other zombies in town. But the nice thing about not doing scientific studies on such thing is that you don't have to waste years of your life making studies and coming to conclusions. And that's called being free. So, right, I strapped big stuffed animals to the top of my car, saying, "Well, how about making the REAL WORD a fun, safe, comfy place, huh?! And you have no idea what hatred this attracted, but also a lot of laughs, and approval. I also started putting an extra wheel/tire up there, and this was eventually imitated. And so was the way I painted my car. Whatever.
And then I thought about Mitt Romney, and I realised he is the exact opposite of me. A natural-born sociopath, Romney actually strapped his OWN DOG up on the top of his car, drove for miles and miles, hosed the dog down, did this again. He also was a pathological JOB DESTROYER, and ENEMY OF QUAINT LOCAL BAKERIES, Mexican food, and so on. This reminds me of SCOTT WALKER, who runs ads saying he created 30,000 jobs in Wisconsin, when the Bureau of Labor Stats reported that HE LOST 33,000 jobs - UM, THE WORSE IN THE NATION. Sociopaths. Lie lie lie. Kill kill kill. Ha ha ha. Invisible hand jerk us off amen. Oh - and UK's Tony Blair, (Godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch's grandkids or something), was "testifying" before a committee seeking to know more about the incestuous relationship between media and government. When it goes to committee, that usually means the meat of the issued is being buried now. Well, a protestor popped up, and shouted a few things. The USA press quickly noted that the protester was complaining about war profits, which he probably partly was. They didn't mention the name of the nefarious connection to a certain bank called JP.Morgan. It would be nice to find the text of that protestor's protestations. (I can't run videos or audio).
This morning, I was out with dog. I had decided to clean up the dog-dirt before it rained. My local custom is to gradually accumulate the dog dirt in a secret pile where it is supposed to cook dry. Then, one day, I bag this and tuck it under the porch. (I can't put it out every week since I usually have no other garbage to put out, he said proudly). Some older guy walked by and remarked how well-behaved my dog is. We began talking. About his hat, his manic depression, his getting hit by a car, etc. Memorial Day, hot weather, a storm approaching, falling barometer - perfect time for Nether Guy to mess with me, but instead they were probably hiding behind their curtains, musing and fuming over how adeptly I converse, and how damn nice I am, and how Nether Guy is, surprise, a complete ass for messing with me. I will later submit my post to you about how "nature" so often comes to my aid, magically. So - no major problem downstairs, yet. But some trouble down the street presently.
This afternoon, out with the dog. Rain is quickly beginning. I want to get it over with. Three big guys from next door are walking up from behind the houses, looking at us. No smile or hello. These may be associated with the shooter. And this may may have been a casing of me/dog/place, or maybe not. Keeping mind astute. And so was dog, cuz even though I urged him inside, he was instead standing looking back at them, sniffing the air. Well, maybe they were barbequing in the back. Don't think so. I think my dog was simply trying to get an olfactory I.D. on them, for future reference. But I was disappointed, and also knew it's bad to look like I'm not MR. TOUGH GUY IN CONTROL OF HIS BIG BLACK DOG. So, after a few small tugs and voice commands, I ended up giving the dog a BIG tug, which made him fall a bit into the porch steps. I always regret times like these. Times when my dog doesn't know that human sense can sometimes be more usefully chess-like than immediate dog-sense. Well, I did get him inside, and we played, and I apologised, etc. I mocked myself and my command to him. I offered him baloney. When I conversed with him about how he should come inside when I ask or tell him, he conveyed to me that he had his reasons for standing there smelling the air, which I realise now. He sat down, offered me his paw, etc., and he also did this:
He gave my left forehead a sniff. He always does this to let me know that he is aware of my illness. And so, by doing this, he was saying a number of things, of which may have been:
1 - "I realise you have your difficulties, and I am always trying to be considerate of them."
2 - "I was sniffing the air as part of my mission to take care of you and your safety!"
3 - "I'm sorry, too."
Etc. I know these seem like anthropomorphisms to people, but I have learnt that they are not. He puts up with his boring life cuz he is perfectly aware of my CFS and his role in my sad life. The only time he ignores me is when his nose gets in the way, but that's part of his crucial mission and biology and mental health. He is just difficult to control, then. But he is learning from watching other dogs to act all compliant, as is the local custom. I can't wait to move to a freer place for him. Soon afterwards, a white fellow across the way comes out with his dog, and plays horseshoes, while his dog languishes in the grass. My dog looks sadly, impatiently at this free dog. He likes this dog, from what he's seen. The white guy may have been symbolically spiting me for being cruel to my dog, or he may have been impressed, also by this morning, cuz he looked in this direction several times. Meanwhile, Nether Girl has upped her music volume downstairs, probably thinking I am no saint to after all, and that is the danger of appearing bad in public around here. Which Nether Guy knows overly-well, I guess. Small towns you know. Small towns which think they are bad-ass Chicago. Anyway, my adroitness of averting possible issues with Nether People today has been a bit tarnished by this outside incident with the dog, although it really was no big deal.
Can't find a better link to video, but Robert Reich gives a good explanation of steps in vulture cow-pie-talism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leveraged_buyout