A Sneaking Suspicion

With the revelation that the Wall Street titans rewarded themselves with BILLIONS in bonuses, while the ship was sinking, I can't get passed the idea that they aren't ready to change.

But turn on the television, listen to the radio or scour the internet and you see this overarching theme of pragmatism aimed at Joe Sixpack. President Obama and Vice-President Biden today both launched a shaming offensive of Wall Street.

Read why HERE

I'm wondering where the outrage is. Not among the politicians. If you followed the link above, you understand why. I'm wondering where the outrage is among the people. Our government, if you follow the strict definition, has devolved into a fascist state. And the "haves" are laughing at us. Our schools have increasingly become less able to educate. That doesn't affect the intelligence of the people, but it diminishes the intellectual curiosity of the people. We are wandering about wondering why this is happening rather than investigating. We are unable to study. And, furthermore, we have no interest in attempting to do so.

Add to that the sensationalism of our media. That doesn't just apply to our news programs which have stopped reporting news and have overtaken the responsibility of telling us how we should perceive the news of the day, but also our programming, in general. 'Who wants to be a millionaire?', 'When Animals Attack', 'Girls Gone Wild'. Sedation via television.

Now there are commercials telling us that we need to return to basics. While the corporations are literally stealing from us, we are being made to believe that the fall is our fault. We, the "have-nots" are shouldering the biggest burden. Bernie Madoff isn't losing his home. Hell, he isn't even losing his freedom. We should all be so lucky to be under house arrest in an 8,000 sf condo in Manhattan.

In Davos, Switzerland, the Chinese and Russians have layed the current world financial failure square at the feet of the United States. While we deserve much of the blame, the intoxicating rush of our brand of capitalism was embraced by the Western European nations. China and Russia, latecomers to the party, are more upset that the party is ending before they could get theirs.

Adopting a more restrained form of consumerism has been long overdo. But it needs to apply across the board. Our way of life is changing. That is a fact. And we have seen the real effects across this nation. Human toll will begin to increase, as well. Change is shocking. Some of us won't be able to acclimate. We've already seen some bizarre cases of individuals faking their own deaths to try to escape the mounting pressure. We've seen others that decided faking it wasn't an option. Suicide and, in a few cases I've read about, murder/suicide, seem the only way out.

An interesting documentary, 'Zeitgeist', has some far out theories. But part 3, offering a concise history of our finance and banking industries in the United States, is particularly important viewing. Do yourself a favor and give it a go.

Where do we go from here? I don't have the answer. But it isn't going to stop me from looking for one.

Alan

*I originally stated that we have devolved into a government of tyranny. While arguments could be made to that effect, I actually intended on stating that we are a fascist state, (a government run by, and for the benefit of, corporations).