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We are at an historically important turning point in the understanding of what unbridled capitalism (in play today) has in store for titular democratic countries.
If we don't organize and make changes to our taxation (and voting) system based on this new reality, we will reap what they sow.
And their crops will not be distributed democratically.
But they will be spread with a vengeance by their owners.
The prediction embedded in Piketty's book is that even as inequality has been on a steady rise for the last several decades, the truth is: we ain't seen nothing yet.
As we go forward, according to Krugman, Piketty's thesis says that even though inequality is already a huge problem, it's going to get even worse. "Unless something gets better," he explains, "we're going to look back nostalgically on the early 21st century when you could still at least have the pretense that the wealthy actually earned their wealth. And, you know, by the year 2030, it'll all be inherited."
Writing about his new book at The Nation on Friday, the Economic Policy Institute's Jeff Faux says that though Piketty "is certainly not the first economist to criticize inherited wealth" his "credentials and exhaustive attention to statistical detail make him harder for the pundits and policy elites that protect the plutocracy to dismiss."
Faux concludes that Piketty has re-discovered, and re-stated for a modern audience, is what Marx himself and others long ago realized — that capitalism "is not only unfair, it is relentlessly and dynamically unfair."
As a point of order, however, it seems noteworthy that Piketty is quite prepared to go even further. In an interview last week in Europe, Piketty didn't stop at saying capitalism was unfair, but stated: "I have proved that under the present circumstances capitalism simply cannot work."
Comments:
mmckinl
Dynastic wealth ...
+ political ownership ...
+ the surveillance/police state ...
= fascism ...
It is already here folks ...
Hailey Erikson mmckinl
Don't forget a privately owned central bank that can influence trade deals and hand out over $4 trillion dollars to it's favored citizens.
A country cannot be free or democratic if a privately owned bank controls the money.
What Engineered Scarcity develops is addiction of want. And Pavlov answered with . . . In other words a lie repeating a lie becomes the truth. The word Obama care is an example of that. It is an Engineered illusion. Created by the health care groups to prevent the Government from controlling contractor conduct. So instead of using Proper Nouns they use "Obama care instead of evil. The evil, doctors,the evil government, the evil Obama meaning evil Black.
Not Obama Care, Affordable Care, but for me it's not affordable. You have to actually be middle class for it to be affordable and the middle class is rather small.
geno4321 1marthaa
There is a small, about 2% of the population, around 60 million, bourgeois class in the middle that independently separated as a pseudo elite New Class and Culture from the rest of the population [us], this 60 million people pander to the elite and that is who the Affordable Care Act covers. The rest of us are on our own without political representation.
Taxation without representation is an absolutely correct statement. Through the Democratic Party the bourgeois class in the middle represent their 60 million as the Middle Class as if there are only 60 million people in the USA. The Republican Party represents the elite and big money CEO class that is about 1% of the population or about 30 million people.
The rest of us, the 97% majority population were thrown away as unworthy of our own representation have no representation what so ever since the so called Middle Class separated as their own pseudo elite independent new class & culture. Now the pseudo elite and the elite make their laws to dictate to the 97% Majority. And that is how it is, until the populace wakes up and changes it.
Gizmo7 • Hailey Erikson
This is what the corporate coup d’état has!
"$1.2 quadrillion, or twenty times the GDP of all the countries of the world combined."
Being nice! Will not make them give it up!
You have to devote your resources to eliminate the root cause of the problem!
The wealthy elites have gang raped my country, and the world! Get your priority's in order! You have to do this first!
You have to end the Corporate Coup of my country, and around the world!
"The welfare of the many, mater more than the welfare of the few, or of the one! "
See: The Armageddon Looting Machine: The Looming Mass Destruction from Derivatives. By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt
"The easy subprime scams of yesteryear are no more. The void is being filled by the shadow banking system. Shadow banking comes in many forms, but the big money today is in repos and derivatives. The notional (or hypothetical) value of the derivatives market has been estimated to be as high as $1.2 quadrillion, or twenty times the GDP of all the countries of the world combined.
According to Hervé Hannoun, Deputy General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements, investment banks as well as commercial banks may conduct much of their business in the shadow banking system (SBS), although most are not generally classed as SBS institutions themselves. At least one financial regulatory expert has said that regulated banking organizations are the largest shadow banks."
See: Why Washington Is Cutting Safety Nets When Most Americans Are Still in the Great Recession
As knowledgeable commenters begin to comprehend Obama's FCC's impending murder of today's fair and free internet traffic, we learn that even more dastardly plans are afoot. (Remind anyone of the obscured dangers of the highly touted Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed during the Clinton/Gore mentorship?)
I continue to think (grimly) that surely these parties can't really believe that these arrangements will suit all those left out of the free-money tranche.
Or am I being too obtuse?
Common Dreams
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Unless Defeated, New FCC Rules Will Put 'Stake in Internet's Heart'
Critics of the new rules say that this could be the moment the internet as we know it will die if the people do not rise to its defense
- Jon Queally
Defenders of an open, innovative and fair internet are up in arms Thursday after learning the Federal Communications Commission is about to issue new rule proposals that will kill the online principle known as "net neutrality."
The death of net neutrality — which has governed the equal treatment of content since the internet was created — will create, say critics, a tiered internet that allows major internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to cut special and lucrative deals with content providers who can afford to pay for special "fast lanes."
The result will be an internet that will incentivize slower traffic by ISPs and the creation of privatized, corporate-controlled "toll-roads" that will come to dominate a once fair and free environment.
“If it goes forward, this capitulation will represent Washington at its worst.” —Todd O’Boyle, Common Cause
As reported by various outlets, the new rules have been circulated by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to the other members of the Commission and will be officially announced on Thursday.
"With this proposal, the FCC is aiding and abetting the largest ISPs in their efforts to destroy the open Internet," said Craig Aaron, president of the media advocacy group Free Press.
"Giving ISPs the green light to implement pay-for-priority schemes will be a disaster for startups, nonprofits and everyday Internet users who cannot afford these unnecessary tolls. These users will all be pushed onto the Internet dirt road, while deep pocketed Internet companies enjoy the benefits of the newly created fast lanes."
Chairman Wheeler defended the new proposals and denied the rule changes were an attack on the open internet, but Aaron rejected those claims and said that trying to argue these new rules protect net neutrality is an insult.
"This is not Net Neutrality," he stated. "It's an insult to those who care about preserving the open Internet to pretend otherwise. The FCC had an opportunity to reverse its failures and pursue real Net Neutrality by reclassifying broadband under the law. Instead, in a moment of political cowardice and extreme shortsightedness, it has chosen this convoluted path that won't protect Internet users."
"Everyday users will all be pushed onto the Internet dirt road, while deep pocketed Internet companies enjoy the benefits of the newly created fast lanes." — Craig Aaron, Free Press
Those who have fought hardest to protect the idea of a free and equal digital playing field for all users, however, said Wheeler's claims don't pass the laugh test and rebuked the Chairman's proposals in the strongest possible terms.
“If it goes forward, this capitulation will represent Washington at its worst,” Todd O’Boyle, program director of Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative, told the New York Times. “Americans were promised, and deserve, an Internet that is free of toll roads, fast lanes and censorship — corporate or governmental.”
And speaking with Time magazine, Lauren Weinsten, a veteran tech-policy expert and prominent Net-neutrality advocate, said: “This is a stake in the heart for Internet openness.”
She continued: “The nation’s largest Internet service providers have hit the ultimate jackpot. These companies keep secret all of the information needed to evaluate whether violations of Internet openness have occurred, and because the FCC moves so slowly, by the time it acts, a company that’s been victimized could be out of business.”
And Free Press' Aaron put particular emphasis on the perverse incentives the new rules would create, explaining:
“This is a stake in the heart for Internet openness.” — Lauren Weinsten, tech expert
The FCC apparently doesn't realize the dangerous incentives these rules would create. The routing of data on the Internet is a zero-sum game. Unless there is continual congestion, no website would pay for priority treatment. This means the FCC's proposed rules will actually produce a strong incentive for ISPs to create congestion through artificial scarcity. Not only would this outcome run counter to the FCC's broader goals, it actually undermines the so-called Section 706 legal basis for these rules.
This proposal is short-sighted and should be strenuously opposed by the broader Internet community — including millions of Americans who have urged Chairman Wheeler and his predecessors to safeguard the open Internet. The only parties cheering this idea on will be the largest ISPs who stand to profit from discrimination. We urge Chairman Wheeler's colleagues not to support this item as currently drafted and demand nothing less than real Net Neutrality.Both Common Cause and Free Press have already posted petitions on their sites where concerned citizens can voice their opposition and join the fight to oppose the FCC's new rules.
The Free Press petition states, in part:
People everywhere understand that the Internet is a crucial driver of free speech, innovation, education, economic growth, creativity and so much more. They demand real Net Neutrality rules that protect Internet users from corporate abuse.
But the Federal Communications Commission is proposing rules that would kill — rather than protect — Net Neutrality and allow rampant discrimination online.
Under these rules, telecom giants like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon would be able to pick winners and losers online and discriminate against online content and applications. And no one could do anything about it.
We must stop the FCC from moving forward with these rules, which would give the green light to ISPs eager to crush Net Neutrality.
The agency can preserve Net Neutrality only by designating broadband as a telecommunications service under the law. Anything else is an attack on our rights to connect and communicate.
Comments:
John Tredrea
Since September 11, the existence of the open ended Internet has been the only effective means of communication and education for people and groups seeking to slow or block the fascistification of America and Western Europe. Media consolidation by the oligarchical uberclass have rendered both print and electronic outlets virtually impotent for the disemination of truth and alternative points of view. Closing this unanticipated safety valve will be the final step and I have no doubt how this struggle is going to play out. It was nice while it lasted.
M Gjerdrum • John Tredrea
Alternative systems are being developed, and there will be other ones put in service.....the Internet is great, but it is the first in world wide communication systems. Engineers are already working on this, these fools are showing how fearful they are of the people because they work against our best interests every day. We have a dead republic, the vote is a joke, and people need to fight this hard, and find alternative methods of communication. I have no doubt there will be others.....I have great faith in our engineers (word is from ingenuity)............
AlanMacDonald • M Gjerdrum
M Gjerdrum, you say, "We have a dead republic, the vote is a joke".
But we still have the 'right to vote' (hopefully to 2016) --- and we COULD Vote-out the EMPIRE, by simply NOT Voting for either of the 'Vichy' Parties that shill for and carry out the order of the moneyed Empire.
Would you, or any sane American continue to vote yourselves into slavery by voting for an EMPIRE?
M Gjerdrum • AlanMacDonald
Alan, the right to vote has been hijacked. Greedy guts are now allowed to put $3.5 million into the pocket of any candidate they support. How can the people fight that when they get their voting ideas from the TV which is pure corporate propaganda. We no longer have informed voters in charge, the corporations can pour unlimited, unfettered funds into candidates and issues they want passed. The plutocrats own the congress. Look at the idiots they give you to vote for....last time it was Obama vs the Plutocrat/oligarch. That is no choice, certainly neither serve the people.
I just read it takes $100K to meet Ms. Clinton......and she is supposedly a democrat serving the people. Look at her voting record. Look at the records of any idiot they put up, none of them are for the people. That is why the vote is a joke.
The idea they will run that old bag again is beyond belief........and whoever the republicans have will be worse.
Last election, the candidate for the Green party for president, Jill Stein, legally voted as candidate by the people went to the presidential debate. They arrested her.
I am sorry, Alan. People slept too long and let this country run itself. Now awakening, they are not ready to face the fact all civil and voter rights are dead.
nick quinlan • M Gjerdrum
"The republican and democratic parties, or to be more exact, the rep-dem party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences that arise between them relate to spoils and not principle" Eugene Debs
Voting is but an illusion of choice.
AlanMacDonald • M Gjerdrum
it's hard to argue that there is anywhere near a fair confrontation with the Empire and its candidates, M Gjerdrum, but I hold out the hope that the Empire with the limitless blood-money of bribed candidates locked in phony, scripted WWF matches (where either the 'D' Vichy or 'R' Vichy one always wins for the Empire all the time) may well have 'crossed a bridge too far' (or as I like to describe, tried to put on a "Fozie jumps the shark" episode of its long running series) could itself enflame and ignite the audience, the people, to reject their own 'suspension of disbelief', and for the first time ever reject both these phony choices for a candidate in a true alternative party, which takes no bribery from the Empire - and which campaigns on a loud and overtly Pro-democracy Anti-Empire platform and promise.
But, hell, I may only be dreaming, but I can "Imagine" that, my friend.
johngary66 • AlanMacDonald
Go to JusticePartyUSA.org, Their number one priority is to get money out of politics and fighting Wall Street.
I Pray for Revolution • AlanMacDonald
There's the small issue of ballot access. Most of the rules put in place by the Money Party prevent any other organized party from campaigning nationwide. And to believe that the majority of Americans will, individually, vote for ad hoc independent candidates is probably wishful thinking.
As dissatisfaction increases, more voter rebellions may occur. But the gap between that and physical rebellions occurring may not be a significant one. And physical rebellions don't need a majority to succeed. (At the time of the Revolution, only 1/3 of the colonists supported independence, for example.)
Btw, for someone who had a huge rant about Proper Leftist Terminology a few days back, you do know that roughly 98% of America has no clue what you mean by "Vichy", right? Heck, most of America thinks Empires can be good (the Empire State Building, the Roman Empire lasting for "thousands of years" [actually, barely 500] and being better than the "Dark Ages" after, etc.), Star Wars aside. (And The Empire Strikes Back is my and others' favorite film from that series.)
Lastly, petitions seem like fluttering in the breeze. Wtf do Obama/Wheeler care about public opinion, anyhow? It would seem the best option, IMO, is to fight this crap through legal channels until we get a technological workaround up and running. Maybe we can get lucky and find a sympathetic judge. Any news on that front?
minitrue • I Pray for Revolution
There was an article here the other day (can't remember the exact title) that pointed out, as the result of a several year study of legislative actions, that the 99.99%, aka We the People, have less than 1% effectiveness in influencing our alleged representatives.
The 0.01%, aka the Oligarchy, has 99% effectiveness in influencing our alleged representatives.
It is amazing what a few hundred million bucks can accomplish when put in the right hands, or Swiss banking accounts.
;-})
nick quinlan • OldTulsan
Elections are worthless, and Im not too sure about the freedom of speech anymore
OldTulsan • nick quinlan
More people are coming to that conclusion.
From Charles Ferguson, creator of the "Inside Job" documentary...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Charles Ferguson: The Financial Crisis and America's Political Duopoly
"...My answer is this: far from being in an era of brutal partisan warfare, as conventional wisdom holds and as watching the nightly television news might suggest, the United States is now in the grip of a political duopoly in which both parties are thoroughly complicit. They play a game: they agree to fight viciously over certain things to retain the allegiance of their respective bases, while agreeing not to fight about anything that seriously endangers the privileges of America's new financial elites.
Whether this duopoly will endure, and what to do about it, are perhaps the most important questions facing Americans. The current arrangement all but guarantees the continuing decline of the United States as a nation, and of the welfare of the bottom 90% of its citizens.
[snip]
People who should be aligned in calling for fairer taxes, campaign finance reform, stricter financial regulation, better public education, and investment in America's infrastructure are instead divided by their opposing views on gun control, abortion, and gay marriage. It is a strategy that has worked remarkably well for both parties.
Even so, the American people have begun to sense that the system is rigged, and the recent election results are partially a consequence of this..."
Sensing is one thing, but can this be turned around?
In Case You Missed It
"Rebuilding America's Defenses" Blueprint of the PNAC Plan for U.S. Global Hegemony
By Bette Stockbauer
Some people have compared it to Hitler's publication of Mein Kampf, which was ignored until after the war was over.
But this couldn't possibly be right.
Right?
Wall Street Greed
By Ellen Brown
Sixteen of the world's largest banks have been caught colluding to rig global interest rates. Why are we doing business with a corrupt global banking cartel?
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