Tweet
Morning, everyone; joyous day after the solstice to you all, and a Happy Chanukah.
I was looking at Dani Rodrick’s new website ‘Economic Dreams, Economic Nightmares’ this morning, and found this concise video explanation featuring Liz Warren on the run-up to the financial crash, how the oligarchs have stolen our democracy and economic futures, and why #Occupy’s pushback is so crucial to regaining both.
Dani offers a warning whose premise I share:
“The “Occupy Wall Street” movement is moving to Main Streets across the globe. It’s about time. But I fear that the movement will be captured by the far left, just as the TEA party movement has been captured by the far right. If Occupy Wall Street will evolve to represent the case of the 99% against the 1% we will have a chance for needed social/institutional change here in the US.”
He adds this quote to his OWS piece:
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
~ Louis Brandeis, Former Supreme Court Justice (1856-1941)
The other day I ran across this new organization dedicated to proving to the public once and for all that ‘businessmen aren’t bad guys‘, as one charter member says about his motivation, but this organization is called “The Job Creators Alliance”, and it’s gearing up to show us how cool they are, and why and how hard-working and patient CEOs really are the ones who suffer until they make their lucre as they create jobs. You’ll get a boot outta some of the quotes and videos; and you’ll likely find their self-aggrandizement very convincing. It sounds as though they will be hitting the PR talking heads circuit soon.
From a piece quoting an op-ed by Jeb Bush:
“Congressman Paul Ryan recently coined a smart phrase to describe the core concept of economic freedom: “The right to rise.”
Think about it. We talk about the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to assembly. The right to rise doesn’t seem like something we should have to protect. [snip]
Have we lost faith in the free-market system of entrepreneurial capitalism? Are we no longer willing to place our trust in the creative chaos unleashed by millions of people pursuing their own best economic interests?
The right to rise does not require a libertarian utopia to exist. Rather, it requires fewer, simpler and more outcome-oriented rules. Rules for which an honest cost-benefit analysis is done before theirimposition. Rules that sunset so they can be eliminated or adjusted as conditions change. Rules that have disputes resolved faster and less expensively through arbitration than litigation.” (my bold)
From John Stossel, Fox Business News (apparently a Charter Member):
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says, “My job is to create jobs.”
What hubris! Government has no money of its own. All it does is take from some people and give to others. That may create some jobs, but only by leaving less money in the private sector for job creation.
Actually, it’s worse than that. Since government commandeers scarce resources by force and doesn’t have to peddle its so-called services on the market to consenting buyers, there’s no feedback mechanism to indicate if those services are worth more to people than what they were forced to go without.”
Ah; qu’elle dommage, mon chere! ‘Taking from some people and fucking giving it to others! (ya know, taxing it to pay some of the freight that allow them to uh…make so much in the first place, including walking over the backs of would-be working Americans?)
This is from Tom Stemberg, founder of Staples, is pretty fun, altogether; he complains that government mostly creates jobs — that kill jobs. He must be an Amity Schlaes fan, whose book on the failure of the New Deal left out all data on jobs created by the government to mitigation the Depression.
“They’re creating $300 million worth of jobs in the new consumer financial protection bureau,” Stemberg said, “which I don’t think is going to do much for productivity in America. We’re creating all kinds of jobs trying to live up to Dodd-Frank … and those jobs don’t create much productivity.”
Ha! Kinda leaves ya speechless, doesn’t it? Again: Qu’elle dommage, mon chere! We are sooo sorry that consumer protection might get in yer way…of making more of that money by forcing a li’l bit of fairness and transparency in the financial industry. Maybe our tax policy and Fed zero-interest loans can help ya out, eh? Or we can take up a collection ta redecorate your Learjets, mebbe, like we did for Nancy Reagan. (I personally raised $400 toward her new Limoges china for Air Force One back in the day…)
But just in case the site’s not selling ya on their wonderfulness, you should just sit quietly, take some deep, calming breaths, and as you exhale…intone…low and slow….’Raaaaaaaaayyyyguuuuuuunnnnnn.’ And you’ll soon see Their Light.
But it’s likely that you’re ready for the Most Entertaining 1%-fights-back fun now, right? Okay, here it is:
On Saturday Dec. 10, JP Morgan Chase aired the equivalent of Big Banking American Idol on NBC. (seriously) I rather maliciously chose the coverage from a Flint, MI newspaper because of the most serious straits the city has been in since the financial meltdown. The writer is beside herself with praise for the event, entitled ‘TV That Matters‘:
“Flint area television viewers were moved by The American Giving Awards which aired live Saturday night on NBC (WEYI NBC25 in Flint). Chase Bank awarded 2 million dollars to the Top 5 charity online vote recipients. The Grand Prize winner got 1 million dollars and the other 4 split another 1 million dollars between them. The 4 runner up charities were: Wish Upon a Hero Foundation, Move for Hunger, The Matthew Shepard Foundation and Let’s Get Ready. The 1 million dollar top prize went to To Write Love on Her Arms.
The broadcast brought 5 American charities to center stage and gave them a platform to send their collective message of hope to literally millions of television viewers. This, in itself, was such a moving and miraculous thing.”
(Voting was done via Facebook.)
You and I might be cynical enough to call it ‘Chase greed-washing its reputation’ as Lisa graves did, as quoted by PR Watch, but then you and I tend to not care much for the bank’s part in the economic crash (they give some details here). And you may figure that after posting $17 billion worth of assets last year, a paltry $2 million ain’t a big deal. And never mind the paltry SEC settlement they paid for their peddling of zillions worth of fraudulent junk bonds.
Please focus instead on what this may do for reality teevee: a new and cheaper nod to noblesse oblige. No need to build an art museum, a library…just pit charities against one another on stage, run self-serving propaganda-mercials during the breaks…and voila! Banking Love, Multinational Love…abounds.
This is why we Occupy. Stay strong, patient and loving, everyone. They will stop degrading us.
24 Comments
Nice.
Not bad for a non-hetero country girl :O
Nice piece.
Another one.
You’re on a real roll recently. Thanks for the updates.
Although I did throw up a little in my mouth when I finished reading this.
Another day, another outrage.
Ack, Wendy, recommended, even though it’s too dang early in the day to be faced with Jeb and Stossel and co-President Snowe and all their oligarchy overlords. Warren and Grayson do provide a little balm for all that, but still . . . they aren’t even attempting to present themselves as anything but nobility these days, are they?
I do take a little bit of issue with the fear that the movement will be captured by the far left. I don’t even know what the far left amounts to any longer, given that we have all been jerked so far to the non-existent middle over the past 30 years. And my experience has been that the vast majority of occupiers, even in a heavily unionized and Democratized area like Alameda County, are either recovering Dems turned Independents – or younger people who refused to pledge loyalty to some party in the first place. My prediction is that the 99% are going to be coming out here with us and the encampments will spring back up again as more foreclosures and unemployment force people to abandon political affiliations and join the protests.
Coloraddy queer and proud ‘o mah spurs. Some it’s even true. ;o)
(What a tool that guy is.)
Love to ya, ID.
Some days all that’s left is laughter. It’s keeps our spirits strong and focused.
“Many people believe that it is weapons that make man strong. This is wrong! It is laugh that makes man strong! The laugh of Nagual turns the envelope of the ‘I’ into nothing. The only thing one has to add is calm and love — and then… There is only infinite, flowing, free consciousness…”
“See how beautiful the laugh of Nagual is: it heals souls, ridding them of burden and pain, it makes them capable of flying into the unknown…”
~ Don Juan Matus
It’s so funny, at least on the FB pages and in person at the GAs, most occupiers I know treat Ron Paul and Tea Party fans as if they were vampires with the potential to suck the blood out of our movement. I hear you though, about the centrists. I have purposely avoided those websites and those people unless they show up somewhere I am physically or virtually. It has been so refreshing to not be a Democrat, to go back to my original aspiration of being a thorn (however small) in the side of the oligarchy. I am probably not going to be the person to sway the naysayers, at least not at this moment.
It’s amazing to me that the Oligarchs haven’t figured out that their money is useless in any way that matters. They can’t eat it if they are hungry; it won’t keep them warm if they are cold and it won’t love them when they are sad. The middle class will always survive but the rich are extremely vulnerable – they just aren’t smart enough to know it. They will know it, though, and it’s going to be a cold, unfeeling world for them.
Thank you, Wendy, for everything. I hope that you and yours have a joyous holiday with love and sweetness all around.
Hi Wendy! Good to see you here! What are talking about when you say you “fear” the Occupy movement will be taken over by the far left? The Occupy movement IS the far left! Are you hoping the Occupy movement will be taken over by the idiot middle of the road corporate Democrats? I find your statement odd and inexplicable. If you don’t understand that the far left is people’s movements of this kind then I don’t know what to say. But I, for one, am thankful as hell that there are so many far left people in this country who are ready, willing and able to do what they’ve done thus far in the Occupy movement. If anything, we need more far left activity and growth if we want America to return to democracy and to restore some balance to the political and economic distribution of power in this land.
Nice video find
They mention LTCM (watch the first video, and the second is pretty good too)
I’ve been trying to understand why there’s so much emphasis behind reinstating Glass-Steagall as a remedy to the woes of our financial crisis. Now, I think it’s actually a good idea for a whole host of reasons, but it’s not clear to me how it relates to fixing the problems that lead to the current financial crisis.
One would have to establish specifically that investor/speculator access to depositor funds precipitated or contributed non-trivially to the crisis. Consider that neither Bear Stearns (the prequel trigger) nor Lehman Brothers were bank holdings companies.
Does anybody have any info handy to establish this correlation? I’d love to read it.
Oleeb, here’s an interesting article that says that Occupy Oakland consists of “adventurers and coalition-builders” – probably an apt description of Occupies nationwide. I agree that the “far left” as it is generally understood is a big part of the movement, but there are also a lot of just plain radicals and, on the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people who have never been politically active before but are attracted for whatever reason to Occupy.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/after-the-fall-of-the-tents/250399/
Also, I miss the edit function.
They are complete narcissists, no doubt about it; they share common space and mebbe DSM IV diagnoses. ;o) No one challengers their self-delusions on a regular basis…but we will! These guys are that layer between the true Oligarchs and Congressional wannabes, I think. And they are addicted to wealth and power, and there is never enough. They also kick puppies (I have it on good authority).
I know more will join the movement, but I read at other centrist Dem sites, and far too many are too flipped out about ‘letting the nose of the Libertarian (for instance) camel under the tent’, la la la.
You live among working people, with a long history of social movements, so I hear what you say. But how many write and speak of the democracy movement as ‘a Progressive movement’? Far too many in my ventures into the blogosphere.
From your lips to God’s ears, though. If we can remain inclusive and not get hijacked by social wedge issues for now. Though, it does not mean I would ever vote for Ron Paul, and since I won’t get a primary vote in the Republican primary… ;o)
And some old-style Tea People share the same outrages we do. We’ll see what pops in the spring.
I lived for half a year or so in San Jose; I swear I’d almost forgotten until you mentioned Alameda County. Wow. Now I’m pinging, hfc. Love to ya, ‘Shirley’. ;o)
It turns out we knew best, Twain. Felt what was true: too much wealth impairs our ability to savor life’s true joys; now science has proven it. Think we should let these folks know what they’re missing? And how vain their lusting for lucre is? ;o)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-money-buy-happiness
All my love to you and yours, Twain. Our daughter and family can’t be here, which a great sorrow to me…it’s been so long since I’ve seen her and my darlin’ grandchildren. And her husband.
But our son and his new instant family are coming for a flash trip, so I’m trying to get some things baked, and wrapping up (ahem: previously owned) books and little treasures I can find for them.
Merry Holidays; I love you, dear one.
Hey, Oleeb; nice to see *you* here; this is sorta one of my homes now.
But boy, howdy, do I disagree with you. I will agree that many of the driving thoughts that hopefully will be learned at the General Assembles concerns how to use socialistic economics to run the engine for jobs, good wages and benefits, wind down the Empire and drive a stake through its heart…make sure everyone has what they need to live well enough throughout their lives, and contribute the energy and talents they posses to the greater, long-term benefit of this nation.
But I think we’ll need to calculate how to utilize some form of Direct Democracy., which would mean everyone’s vote counts, even if we do it like Switzerland, part Representative Republic.
And unless we welcome all the 99% to the movement, and listen to all ideas after the revolution (which is where I see planning NOW and true statesmanship and a rebirth of fine oratory later), what would you have happen to all the others who weren’t your ‘far left’?
Robespierre solutions?
I urge you to think of the members of the union locals in NYC and veterans holding hands with the pissed off students, carrying mountains of student debt with no jobs in their futures…they ARE creating coalitions, and as carol says, they have found common ground, but were by no means all ‘the far left’. This is about right and wrong, life and death, fair and not fair, not even just ‘class’. Most Americans don;t hate the wealthy; they just hate it when they perceive that the game was expressly rigged for them, and now *by them*.
IMHO, of course. ;o)
Thank you, john in sacramento pimento. I’ll have to watch in a bit; got baking to do for my new grandkids right now; I’ll be back. I watch Frontline’s The Warning every six months to keep my anger fueled; this shit was all so avoidable. I can scarcely look at Rubin, Summers, Geithner and Greenspan without smoke coming outta my ears. Never mind The Ben Bernank.
Guess I don;t even know Scholes’ name. But I scanned through the comment thread, and loved this:
“Ha!
Should be “LTCM”
;-)
Bda Spellign ins’t jsut fro dyslexics”
Love to ya, john. See ya soon, hopefully. ‘Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans’ is the rule around here. ;o)
Carol, I haven’t had time to read this, but it came to my inbox a bit ago (don’t remember signing up for their newsletter), but as it is from Oakland, thought you might want to read it:
http://www.nationofchange.org/seed-and-blossom-reflections-occupy-oakland-1324564603
Hah! A tool for sure, and not a very sharp one at that :O
Another awesome post, wendy…! Mahalo…! *g*
Mahalo, CTuttle. All the best to you, dear, and love to you so far away,
wd
I might add, for the benefit of others, that I am referring to a snarky and totally appropriate comment Wendy made on a ridiculous diary about gays and rednecks.
LOL! Guess this might have looked a little strange without the context of Big Dem Tent’s most recent, and decidedly baffling, contest diary.
http://my.firedoglake.com/calross/2011/12/21/i-was-hired-to-turn-a-gay-bar-redneck/
If I were willing to engage with the final commenter, I might have a thing or three to say to him. ;o)
If people could only know what I mean to say instead of what I actually say, the world would be a better place :O
BTW, I think your observations about the FC’s motives are correct.