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Sober Thinking
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#Post#: 206--------------------------------------------------
Money
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 3:41 pm
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October 15, 2013
Speaking of the inability of our lawmakers to negotiate, and
keep our country from becoming the largest default in history,
taking that title from Nazi controlled Germany (another thing
we resemble Nazi Germany in :P) . Well, the Chinese are not
sitting quietly by, watching all of this unfold.
The official state-run Chinese news agency, Xinhua, ran an
editorial on Sunday titled: "A de-Americanized world". Here's a
snippet, and the link to the whole story (in English). "As U.S.
politicians of both political parties are still shuffling back
and forth between the White House and Capitol Hill without
striking a viable deal to bring normality to the body politic
they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled
world to start considering building a de-Americanized world."
;D
U.S. fiscal failure warrants a de-Americanized world
Xinhua writer Liu Chang
BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- As U.S. politicians of both
political parties are still shuffling back and forth between the
White House and the Capitol Hill without striking a viable deal
to bring normality to the body politic they brag about, it is
perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering
building a de-Americanized world.
Emerging from the bloodshed of the Second World War as the
world's most powerful nation, the United States has since then
been trying to build a global empire by imposing a postwar world
order, fueling recovery in Europe, and encouraging regime-change
in nations that it deems hardly Washington-friendly.
With its seemingly unrivaled economic and military might, the
United States has declared that it has vital national interests
to protect in nearly every corner of the globe, and been
habituated to meddling in the business of other countries and
regions far away from its shores.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has gone to all lengths to appear
before the world as the one that claims the moral high ground,
HTML http://www.opednews.com/populum/uploaded/wemeantwell-23439-20130307-234.jpg<br
/>yet covertly doing things that are as audacious as torturing
prisoners of war, slaying civilians in drone attacks, and spying
on world leaders.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/pirates5B15D_th.gif
Under what is known as the Pax-Americana, we fail to see a world
where the United States is helping to defuse violence and
conflicts, reduce poor and displaced population, and bring about
real, lasting peace.
Moreover, instead of honoring its duties as a responsible
leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its
superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world
by shifting financial risks overseas, instigating regional
tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted
wars under the cover of outright lies.
As a result, the world is still crawling its way out of an
economic disaster thanks to the voracious Wall Street elites,
while bombings and killings have become virtually daily routines
in Iraq years after Washington claimed it has liberated its
people from tyrannical rule.
Most recently, the cyclical stagnation in Washington for a
viable bipartisan solution over a federal budget and an approval
for raising debt ceiling has again left many nations' tremendous
dollar assets in jeopardy and the international community highly
agonized.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/www_MyEmoticons_com__smokelots.gif
Such alarming days when the destinies of others are in the hands
of a hypocritical nation have to be terminated, and a new world
order should be put in place, according to which all nations,
big or small, poor or rich, can have their key interests
respected and protected on an equal footing.
To that end, several corner stones should be laid to underpin a
de-Americanized world.
For starters, all nations need to hew to the basic principles of
the international law, including respect for sovereignty, and
keeping hands off domestic affairs of others.
Furthermore, the authority of the United Nations in handling
global hotspot issues has to be recognized. That means no one
has the right to wage any form of military action against others
without a UN mandate.
Apart from that, the world's financial system also has to
embrace some substantial reforms.
The developing and emerging market economies need to have more
say in major international financial institutions including the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, so that they
could better reflect the transformations of the global economic
and political landscape.
What may also be included as a key part of an effective reform
is the introduction of a new international reserve currency that
is to be created to replace the dominant U.S. dollar, :o so
that the international community could permanently stay away
from the spillover of the intensifying domestic political
turmoil in the United States.
Of course, the purpose of promoting these changes is not to
completely toss the United States aside, ;D which is also
impossible. ;D Rather, it is to encourage Washington to play a
much more constructive role in addressing global affairs.
And among all options, it is suggested that the beltway
politicians first begin with ending the pernicious impasse. ;)
HTML http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-10/13/c_132794246.htm
HTML http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-10/13/c_132794246.htm
Oh, those oh so subtle Chinese. ;D
#Post#: 207--------------------------------------------------
The American Public's desires have been TOTALLY IGNORED!
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 3:47 pm
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October 15, 2013
[center]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-151013201429.png[/center]
HTML http://www.sanders.senate.gov/polls/debt-ceiling?utm_source=target&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Should+Social+Security+should+be+cut+back+to+reduce+the+deficit+prompt_url&utm_campaign=Target:+Social+Security+COLA+10-16
#Post#: 208--------------------------------------------------
AGelbert's ⚡ Kilowatt Hour 💰 Monetary Standard?
YES! 🌞
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 3:53 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Last Edit: May 04, 2017, 05:24:36 pm
[center]
HTML https://wampumtrail.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/p1060670.jpg[/center]
--- Quote ---
> Wampum, ke`kwuk, squau-tho-won; all are Algonquian words for
shell beads or string of shell beads. Wampumpeage is a
Narragansett word for "white beads strung". Throughout
northeastern America, wampum was used for jewelry, gifts,
communication, historical record of important events, religious
ceremonies, and trade. It was the earliest form of currency
known in North America. Its value was derived from the
difficulty involved in producing the cylindrical bead from both
Quahog and Whelk, and the scarcity of suitable shells. White
beads were made from Whelk, purple-blackish from Quahog.
>
> The beads were produced from the inner spiral of the shells.
The spiral or column must be thick enough to withstand grinding,
shaping and drilling. The shells were collected along the
coastal shores during the summer, and worked in the winter
months. The inner spirals were cut into cylinders measuring 1/4
inch long by 1/8 inch diameter. Each bead was then smoothed
through grinding, polished, drilled, and finally strung on hemp
fibers or sinew. It was difficult, tedious, and time consuming
work. The proportionate scarcity of the Quahog dark beads
doubled their value to that of white wampum.
--- End Quote ---
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
She sells seashells by the seashore. If she sells seashells by
the seashore, how many seashore shells does she sell? This old
tongue twisting pronunciation trainer underscores step one in
the manufacture of Wampum. You needed a supply of a certain,
special and very attractive type of Calcium Carbonate, which was
limited in quantities, to begin to do WORK=ENERGY INPUT plus
some ARTISTIC CREATIVITY on the seashells in order to produce a
CURRENCY that was BOTH a medium of exchange AND a store of
value.
[center]
HTML http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wampum_ej_perry.jpg/300px-Wampum_ej_perry.jpg[/center]
[center]Wampum[/center]
In a barter economy, the transfer of goods and services from one
party to another is hindered by the lack of liquidity of say, an
animal, a bear skin or whatever. The lack of a medium of
exchange that can be subdivided into small enough units for both
parties to make up perceived different values in a barter
transaction is the need that fosters the creation of "money" in
the first place.
Wampum was initially a form of artistic expression as well as a
form of communication (it was a store of value as jewelry and
venerable truth through news and agreements).
However, as the quantity gradually increased and most natives
agreed more or less on its value, wampum began providing the
liquidity that a barter economy could not.
Consequently the Native Americans along the eastern area of
North Amerca gradually adopted wampum as a currency in addition
to valuing its beauty (jewelry = bling). The Natives that lived
along the beach had an edge on those inland because of easy
access to the raw materials.
[center]
HTML http://wordsmith.org/words/images/wampum_large.jpg[/center]
[center]Wampum beads Photo: Stephen Lang (Source: AINS/NMAI)
[/center]
--- Quote ---
> With the influx of more Europeans in the 17th century, notably
the Dutch and English, metal tools became widely available to
Indians in the east.
>
> Among these tools were slender metal drills which greatly
facilitated the production of wampum. These new tools enabled
the Indians to produce uniform beads more quickly and with
greater ease.
>
> Applying basic economic principles to wampum as a
commodity/currency in the 17th century, it might be assumed that
wampum decreased in value as its production was sped up.
>
> On the contrary, its value remained stable.
>
> Again applying the basic economic rule of supply and demand,
though the Europeans brought tools that helped to increase
wampum production, they also balanced their contribution with an
increased demand for the shell beads.
--- End Quote ---
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
Wampum is pretty and, until the Europeans showed up with metal
hand tools, a good store of wealth because the amount of
energy=work it took to make it as well as the amount of shells
available limited the amount of wampum in circulation.
But those metal thingamajigs the white devils brought made it
EASY (LESS TIME & ENERGY=WORK) to make lots of pretty wampum
(metal hand drills). This new wampum looked just as good or
better than the older stuff made with less sophisticated
(non-metal) tools.
At first everybody prospered. There was more wampum, and
contrary to standard economic theory that when you increase the
currency in circulation, you get inflation, this did not happen
right away. Everybody, including the white devils
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185047.png,<br
/>were happy with the wampum economy.
But time passed and things [i]changed.[/i]
--- Quote ---
> As the New England colonists adopted wampum as their standard
currency, incidents of fraud (wampum counterfeit) increased.
>
> Both Indian and Englishman were known to pass off inferior or
fraudulent wampum to unsuspecting colonials.
>
> In time, regulation and a standardized measure of wampum
strands was implemented. A fathom (6 feet) was the most usual
measurement and instantly denoted a specific monetary value
measured against English shillings, pence, pounds, and so forth.
>
> The fact that legislation was introduced, regulations
regarding wampum manufacture were set down, penalties for
counterfeit or inferior quality wampum trading were harsh, and
in some colonies the rejection of dark wampum for only white
(though its value was greater, it was easier to counterfeit by
way of dye), all illustrate how dependent the colonists and
Indians were on these shell beads.
>
> There was some fluctuation in wampum's value, as is always the
case with currency, but by and large, it remained uniformly
acceptable and desirable to nearly the end of the 17th century
in the colonies and into the 18th century along the frontiers.
>
> Its worth, however, was tenable. Wampum was only good as long
as the Indians prized it. If or when that was no longer the
case, an economic crash could occur throughout the English
colonies that would have had serious consequences in New
England, and subsequently, in the mother country as well.
>
> It was this realization, along with the declining demand for
fur, that moved the New Englanders to gradually phase out wampum
as a currency standard. With silver from the West Indies
beginning to circulate in North America, wampum was slowly being
replaced by that universally valued commodity, metal coinage.
--- End Quote ---
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
HTML http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html
Two things happened:
1) The colonists, who had hitherto absorbed the wampum glut by
their demand for the beads, lost interest in wampum partly
because they didn't require as many furs (wampum was the
currency the colonists used to buy pelts). Wampum lost value as
a medium of exchange as the increase in available currency took
its toll.
Counterfeiting exacerbated the problem of undermining the medium
of exchange value of the currency. A given piece of wampum lost
purchasing power because of wampum glut AND a competing currency
of coinage.
2) The artistic value part of wampum as a store of wealth
suffered as well. Any philatelist can tell you that old stamps
get their "value", not from a pretty painting on the stamp, but
MAINLY from their scarcity.
This was depressing. Imagine all those hours spent painstakingly
making wampum and that neighboring squaw that is all thumbs can
suddenly make several times as much as you can just because she
has a white devil metal thingamajig to goose production! And now
the white devils don't want them as much as they used to either.
:P :(
But as you can see below, despite its disappearance as a
currency, wampum survives to this day as a product of patient
craftsmanship, artistry and historical communication.
--- Quote ---
> It is interesting, if not ironic, to note that wampum remains
valuable even today. A single wampum bead made from Quahog or
Whelk, manufactured in New England coastal areas can cost up to
$10! Overseas wampum is less expensive, but still demands a good
price. Wampum, the first currency of the new world, has survived
as a desired item long enough to be considered a classic.
--- End Quote ---
But it would never regain its position as a medium of
exchange/currency.
[center]
HTML https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bm_vkWbCUAAaoZw.jpg[/center]
[center]Two Row Wampum Treaty from Elder, Yvonne
Thomas.pic.twitter.com/EtjkqHsG9o The patient artistry and
symbolism crafted in this wampum is an example of how wampum is
a store of value. [/center]
--- Quote ---
> Celebrating 400 Years of the Two Row Wampum
>
> Vanessa Parker
>
> May 25, 2013
>
> In an effort to maintain a separate and peaceful coexistence,
an agreement was made 400 years ago between a group of
Haudenosaunee nations and the incoming European settlers who
were rapidly arriving. That agreement remains valid today.
>
> The Two Row Wampum was made with strings of wampum, or crushed
shells, which were made into purple and white beads threaded
onto strings, forming a belt.
>
> ]The white beads, located outside of two large purple rows of
beads, represent the truth.
>
> The purple beads are separated into two rows, one representing
the canoe of the Haudenosaunee, the other representing the
sailboat of the incoming Europeans.
>
> Each row represents the separate cultures, traditions,
governments and religions.
>
> In between the purple rows run three rows of white beads.
These represent peace, friendship and maintaining a sense of
equality forever.
--- End Quote ---
full article here:
HTML http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/25/celebrating-400-years-two-row-wampum-149469
HTML http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/25/celebrating-400-years-two-row-wampum-149469
[b]What lessons can we take from the above Native American
experience?
1) Money is created in order to ease the transfer of goods and
services. This medium of exchange normally has the following
qualities:
A. Liquidity
B. Durability
C. Portability
D. Agreed upon value per unit
2) The ENERGY it takes to create said money is directly
proportional to a unit of said money as a store of value.
The extreme situation, never reached by wampum because it always
took SOME skill and energy to make, is FIAT currency where it
has ZERO value as a store of wealth.
The case of the US dollar is BELOW ZERO as a store of wealth
because, in addition to it being fiat, the supply is growing
absent any energy input whatsoever. So the dollar loses value as
it sits from Fed inflation (counterfeiting). Legal Tender Laws
force the citizenry to run around trying to preserve some value
in a currency that shrinks in value year after year. Many of
these value chasers go for PMs, paintings, land, antique cars,
Early American antique furniture, etc. They are all looking for
something that meets the criteria of liquidity, durability,
portability and agreed upon value per unit to a greater or
lesser degree.
3) Beyond the basic biochemical needs of proper nutrition,
shelter and health, human culture places a great deal of value
on tangibles and intangibles outside the default requirements of
human life.
Humans will always value creativity and imaginative and useful
innovations that bring beauty, comfort and utility to our lives
as STORES OF VALUE.
What price can you place on a song? What value does a set of
verses have that took a song writer 5 minutes to write after he
had dreamed them versus a painstakingly written flute sonata?
Hard to say, right? One took a lot less ENERGY than the other,
both in KWhs and artistic creativity, but may have sold for a
lot more money.
[center]
What about greed and other economy influencing factors?
???[/center]
The issue of greed, hoarding, the amount of currency in
circulation as a trigger for consumerism or the reverse are all
PRODUCTS of distortions in an economy.
Most economists espouse the view that currency does not simply
encourage certain types of behavior deleterious to an economy,
but DICTATES IT.
I don't feel that way because I view money as an EFFECT, not a
CAUSE. I do agree that the money supply certainly must remain in
a fairly constant proportion per capita to avoid distortions.
Food will never be currency simply because, even if you could
freeze dry it with solar energy and store it also with solar
energy for a hundred years or so to use it as you needed it,
there is only so much food you or anybody else can eat.
People want furniture, tools, culture, beauty, some
entertainment, etc. A prisoner in solitary confinement goes
bonkers even though he has sufficient food, shelter and health
care.
Life is MUCH more than food, shelter and health.
Those who disdain precious metals as a store of wealth feel
that, since gold hoarders can't eat their gold, it therefore has
no intrinsic value. However, as all gold bugs have noticed, gold
has the following "money-like" attributes:
A. Liquidity
B. Durability
C. Portability
D. Agreed upon value per unit
Gold bugs observe, rightfully, that the US dollar retains the
above attributes by the big gun the government has called Legal
Tender Laws, not by reality. This amounts to a government
distortion of the value of the currency to for the benefit of
the owners of the Federal Reserve Banking Cartel and the
detriment (i.e. impoverishment) of the average American citizen.
Consequently they take any excess dollars in their possession
and quickly convert them something besides dollars because the
value of said dollars, like wampum (eventually,) after the metal
hand drills were introduced by the white devils, is going down.
Gold bugs watch the Fed money supply going exponential in direct
proportion to the galloping inflation the government refuses to
own up to.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-120716190938.png
This is far worse than wampum inflation because this is raw
counterfeiting of fiat! People aware of this start to buy this,
that and the other with those magically shrinking dollars from
collector's items like stamps to maybe antique furniture to
paintings to rare coins to, you guessed it, gold!
Gold is hard to counterfeit. There is a way to use nuclear
physics (this is not a joke, it's the real deal!) to transmute
some cheap element to gold but the energy expenditure is greater
than the energy needed to mine and produced finished gold from
ore. However, when fusion becomes a reality, the equation for
gold may change and, it too, will go the way of wampum. Don't
worry gold bugs, it may be a while yet.*
The Federal Reserve Banking Cartel realizes there are a lot
people out there on to their game so they start manipulating
the precious metals paper prices (tanking them) to drive the
gold bugs back to the Fed fiat fantasy of a strong dollar.
I observed this blatant and economically disastrous distotion of
currency value and, after thinking about it a while, came to the
conclusion that we need something like wampum but without those
hand drills or the counterfeiting dye!
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-051113192052.png<br
/>My wonderful and innovative Kilowatt Hour Monetary Standard
is,
horror of horrors, greeted with hardy harrs and guffaws from
the gnomes of the Federal Reserve. 🎩🍌 Harrumph!
ANY currency that is not BOTH a medium of exchange and a store
of value will be corrupted, distorted, counterfeited and
generally devalued, PERIOD.
The "tokens" or other symbols used for such currency obviously
introduces DEBT because there might be a whole lot more symbols,
tokens or pieces of paper with funny squiggles on them than the
ACTUAL store of value represented. THAT'S JUST A DETAIL. If you
can avoid corruption and insure transparency, that can be
minimized.
The "fear" that hoarders are going to trash the economy by
taking money out of circulation is unfounded. That's merely an
EFFECT of capitalism. It has nothing to do with the concept of
money per se.
This EFFECT is really quite easy to prevent. All you have to do
is progressively tax wealth (NOT INCOME!) above X net worth to
keep a lid on excess capital accumulation. Thomas Jefferson was
in favor of that, as a matter of fact (google it!).
Once everyone is on board with a stable currency like Kilowatt
Hour Equivalents, I would also eliminate the difference between
earned and unearned income (capital gains) and progressively tax
that too. That appropriate and fair tax structure would serve as
an additional DETERRENT hoard and a guarantee that the velocity
of money will remain fairly constant.
Have a nice day.
*
--- Quote ---
> Nuclear experiments have successfully transmuted lead into
gold, but the expense far exceeds any gain.[7] It would be
easier to convert gold into lead via neutron capture and beta
decay by leaving gold in a nuclear reactor for a long period of
time.
HTML http://www.emofaces.com/en/emoticons/n/nuclear-emoticon.gif
:P
--- End Quote ---
HTML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation
#Post#: 209--------------------------------------------------
97% 💰🎩 Owned: How is Money Created | Documentary
Film
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 4:14 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
November 05, 2014
[center]97% 💰😈🎩 Owned: How is Money
Created | Documentary Film[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/XcGh1Dex4Yo[/center]
Independent POV 103K subscribers
When money drives almost all activity on the planet, it's
essential that we understand it. Yet simple questions often get
overlooked, questions like; where does money come from? Who
creates it? Who decides how it gets used? And what does this
mean for the millions of ordinary people who suffer when the
monetary, and financial system, breaks down?
A film by Michael Oswald, Produced by Mike Horwath, featuring
Ben Dyson of Positive Money, Josh Ryan-Collins of The New
Economics Foundation, Ann Pettifor, the "HBOS Whistleblower"
Paul Moore, Simon Dixon of Bank to the Future and Nick Dearden
from the Jubliee Debt Campaign.
[move]Government Control of Money = a SCHEME (i.e. a scam
😈) to make SOMETHING from NOTHING.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183404.bmp[/move]
#Post#: 210--------------------------------------------------
For those who think Banks creating money out of nothing is a
"New trick" 🤔
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 4:24 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
January 28, 2015
[center]
For those who think Banks creating money out of nothing is a New
trick [/center]
--- Quote ---
> "The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it
creates out of nothing." -- William Paterson, founder of the
Bank of England in 1694
>
> After the revolution, the new United States adopted a
radically different economic system in which the government
issued its own value-based money, so that private banks like the
Bank of England were not siphoning off the wealth of the people
through interest-bearing bank notes.
>
> "The refusal of King George 3rd to allow the colonies to
operate an honest money system, which freed the ordinary man
from the clutches of the money manipulators, was probably the
prime cause of the revolution." -- Benjamin Franklin, Founding
Father
>
> Following the revolution, the US Government actually took
steps to keep the bankers out of the new government!
>
>
> "Any person holding any office or any stock in any institution
in the nature of a bank for issuing or discounting bills or
notes payable to bearer or order, cannot be a member of the
House whilst he holds such office or stock." -- Third Congress
of the United States Senate, 23rd of December, 1793, signed by
the President, George Washington
>
> But bankers are nothing if not dedicated to their schemes to
acquire your wealth, and know full well how easy it is to
corrupt a nation's leaders.
>
> Just one year after Mayer Amschel Rothschild had uttered his
infamous "Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care
not who makes the laws", the bankers succeeded in setting up a
new Private Central Bank called the First Bank of the United
States, largely through the efforts of the Rothschild's chief US
supporter, Alexander Hamilton.
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/2/3-231021162042.gif
>
> Founded in 1791, by the end of its twenty year charter the
First Bank of the United States had almost ruined the nation's
economy, while enriching the bankers. Congress refused to renew
the charter and signaled their intention to go back to a state
issued value based currency on which the people paid no interest
at all to any banker. This resulted in a threat from Nathan
Mayer Rothschild against the US Government, "Either the
application for renewal of the charter is granted, or the United
States will find itself involved in a most disastrous war."
Congress still refused to renew the charter for the First Bank
of the United States, whereupon Nathan Mayer Rothschild railed,
"Teach those impudent Americans a lesson! Bring them back to
colonial status!" The British Prime Minister at the time,
Spencer Perceval was adamantly opposed to war with the United
States, primarily because the majority of England's military
might was occupied with the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Spencer
Perceval was concerned that Britain might not prevail in a new
American war, a concern shared by many in the British
government. Then, Spencer Perceval was assassinated (the only
British Prime Minister to be assassinated in office) and
replaced by Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool,
who was fully supportive of a war to recapture the colonies.
>
> [move][size=18pt] ALL WARS ARE BANKERS' WARS! [/move]
--- End Quote ---
#Post#: 211--------------------------------------------------
In the year 2014 our democracy was SOLD BY the Supremely CORRUPT
Court to the highest OLIGARCHIC bidder(s).
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 4:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
February 28, 2014
HTML https://youtu.be/2K-8FJ114kU
The iron curtain of the Supreme Court was breached on Wednesday.
Activists from the group 99Rise entered the Supreme Court
chamber. After videoing the session where the justice can be
clearly seen, one of the activists stood up. He said the
following before he was accosted by the Supreme Court security
detail.
“I rise on behalf of the vast majority of the American
people who believe that money is not speech, corporations are
not people, and our democracy should not be for sale to the
highest bidder. Overturn Citizens United. Keep the cap on
McCutcheon. The people demand democracy.” [b] According to
99Rise9
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 26, 2014
Washington, DC - Activists from the grassroots group 99Rise,
entered the Supreme Court of the United States chambers today,
disrupted the proceedings, and demanded the restoration of
democracy in America.
"Generations of Americans have shed blood, sweat, and tears to
win the right to vote and extend the promise of democracy in
America,” said Kai Newkirk, co-founder of 99 Rise and a
participant in today's action, “It's time for our generation to
step up and do whatever it takes to defend that right and end
the corruption of big money in politics. If that means risking
arrest in order to speak truth to power, so be it."
The participants were inspired to act in response to the recent
decisions of the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC, which
demolished the wall of separation between wealth and state, and
the threat that the Supreme Court would make it even worse in
McCutcheon v. FEC, which would remove the cap on aggregate
candidate contributions.
"The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision was a betrayal of
the American people and of our democracy. It took the systemic
corruption of our government by big money interests to an
obscene new level. If the Court eliminates the cap on aggregate
donations by an individual in an election cycle - the question
at hand in the McCutcheon case - it would put another round of
shots into the dying body of our democracy." >:(
[b]The group is calling for a restoration of free and fair
elections in America, an end to the corruption in our politics,
and the restoration of representative democracy in America.
Using nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, such as
was used in the Civil Rights Movement, they have been drawing
attention to this issue with actions from coast to coast.
At today's action, Newkirk made this speech during the
proceedings: “I rise on behalf of the vast majority of the
American people who believe money is not speech, corporations
are not people, and government should not be for sale to the
highest bidder. We demand that you overturn Citizens United,
keep the cap inMcCutcheon, and an end to corruption. We demand
free and fair elections and a real democracy now.”
99Rise.org is a grassroots organization fighting to end
corruption and win real democracy through nonviolent resistance.
For more information, including pictures of previous actions,
please visit 99Rise.org.
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/27/1281027/-Watch-heckler-inside-Supreme-Court-shout-money-is-not-speech
#Post#: 212--------------------------------------------------
The Love of Money REALLY IS bad for you
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 4:47 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Does Being Rich Make You a 👹 Self-Centered
Lawbreaker? [/center]
Posted on Mar 18, 2015
[move]Work by social psychologist Paul Piff suggests that the
more money people have, the more likely they are to cheat or put
their needs before those of others. :([/move]
--- Quote ---
>
> BBC News:
>
> In the past, public perception has tended towards the notion
that the very poor are more likely to break the rules because
they are under financial pressure and face more difficult
circumstances.
>
> But Piff’s work suggests the opposite - that having more money
makes you care about others less and feel entitled to put your
own interests first…After nearly a decade researching this
field, Piff has come to the controversial conclusion that being
wealthy, rather than transforming you into a benevolent
benefactor, can actually be rather bad for your moral fibre…“It
isolates you in certain ways from other people psychologically
and materially. You prioritise your own needs and your own goals
and become less attuned to those around you.
>
> When we feel wealthy, Piff concludes, we need other people
less. In the real world, when people have less money, they rely
more heavily on their social relationships to get by. Therefore
interpersonal relations are prioritized. The rich, by contrast,
can buy themselves peace, quiet and space - plus a solution to
most problems. There’s nothing like a fat wallet to cheer you up
in a crisis. But that tends to isolate them from others’
experiences.
--- End Quote ---
Follow the link, if you dare ;), for evidence proving that
greed IS BAD for YOU, as well as everyone else in society:
HTML http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/heres_how_we_know_being_rich_pretty_much_makes_law-breaking_jerk_20150318
#Post#: 213--------------------------------------------------
😬 everyone facing a dime in higher costs is jacking up
their price by a dollar.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 4:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY, FEB 19, 2022 - 10:30 AM Authored by Charles Hugh Smith
via OfTwoMinds blog,
[center]
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/4/3-080222203101-4026211.jpeg[/center]
[center]
HTML https://media.tenor.com/images/926c7a7fd37a2d72b10bc8e1252980b5/tenor.gif<br
/>The Winter Of Our Discontent:
Hubris
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-130418193910.gif<br
/>Is
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.pnghttp://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-140415130805.png<br
/>Ascendent[/center]
We're constantly assured everything's on the mend but this
trying-too-hard marketing has the opposite effect: it confirms
everything's unraveling. We're told inflation is transitory (you
mean like terminal cancer is "transitory"?), the economy is
opening up and growing smartly.
None of this is remotely persuasive. OK, we get it: the pandemic
shutdown crushed supply chains and demand, and then trillions of
dollars, yen, yuan and euros of monetary and fiscal stimulus
boosted pent-up demand which then snarled creaky supply chains.
Inflation is transitory because the effects of this massive
stimulus is temporary and the global supply snarls will all be
unkinked shortly.
But this happy story only accounts for a thin wafer of global
supply issues. Yes, a few items may be restored to low-cost
production and shipping, but all this rah-rah ignores the
primary dynamics: all the cheap, easy-to-get resources have been
extracted and consumed, and labor costs, crushed for the past 45
years, have reversed: after being stripmined by capital for the
past 45 years, labor is now demanding some modest restoration of
decades of diminished purchasing power, not just in the U.S. but
in China and other production nodes in global supply chains.
Capital's screams
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3/3-101121203748.png<br
/>of agony are laughable, as the top tier of capital has added
trillions in wealth at the expense of the bottom 99.5%. The
wealth of the few has metastasized into hyper-wealth--$100
million yachts and villas barely scratch the surface of the
billions gained by gaming financialization and the Federal
Reserve's financial fentanyl.
Although nobody benefiting from the Fed's financial fentanyl
seems to have noticed, hyper-wealth has extinguished democracy
and destabilized the economy and society. With trillions gushing
into the wealthiest families and corporate insiders, "democracy"
has been reduced to an invitation-only auction of political
favors.
[center]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-120818184306-16302042.png[/center]
If you didn't get your desired favors, then increase your bid.
Big Pharma, the "defense" (heh) industry, Higher Education, Big
Ag, Big Tech, et al. are all willing to pony up millions in
bribes--oops, I mean "donations"-- to multi-millionaire
politicos profiting from insider trading (cough, Pelosi, cough).
Revolving doors ensure the right people get fat speaking fees,
cushy do-nothing slots in philanthro-capitalist foundations,
etc.
The decay caused by hyper-wealth is systemic: the moral decay of
a thoroughly corrupted "leadership," a sham facade of
"democracy" (vote for whomever you want, the ownership of power
doesn't change), an economy dominated by profiteering cartels
and quasi-monopolies, a class system in which privilege is
hidden in plain sight, a society of haves who have broken the
rungs of the social-mobility ladder, leaving the have-nots
unaffordable housing, unaffordable higher education,
unaffordable healthcare, unaffordable childcare, etc., all to be
paid out of wages that have lost purchasing power for decades
and continue to lose ground as "transitory" inflation is
embedded in essentials and fripperies alike.
Meanwhile, back in the wintry real world, everyone facing a dime
in higher costs is jacking up their price by a dollar.
"Inflation" is a handy cover for jacking up prices just to see
how much the panic-hoarding, desperate consumer will pay: hmm, a
used truck costs more than a new truck cost two years ago? I'll
take it! A mattress-in-a-box has doubled in price? I'll take it!
A fast-food burger is now 50% more? Give me four, and charge it
to my credit card.
Oh, but wait--everything is being fixed by speculative bubbles
that enrich everyone who bought assets long ago. That's
obviously a solution that benefits everyone, right? So the newly
enriched can buy overvalued assets from other newly enriched,
all funded by the Fed's financial fentanyl.
Yes, it's time to distribute victorious wreaths to the purveyors
and profiteers of financial fentanyl. Hubris is ascendent just
before the fall.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
HTML https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/winter-our-discontent-hubris-ascendent
[left]
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/4/3-190222135622.png[/left]
[left]💣
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/2/3-090520201754.png[/left]
#Post#: 214--------------------------------------------------
Oh, and those jobs the bipartisan Scrooges want folks to grovel
back to? Surprise! They don’t pay enough to live on.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 5:00 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
February 27, 2022
SNIPPET:
It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is heading for
ordinary people trying to make ends meet.
Read more:
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-120818204150.gif
[center]Priced Out of the Market and Other Housing Woes
HTML https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/25/priced-out-of-the-market-and-other-housing-woes/[/center]
#Post#: 215--------------------------------------------------
"U.S. and Global economy 🥺 already facing Slow
growth + Rising prices before Putin invaded Ukraine."
😬
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2022, 5:01 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
FRIDAY, MAR 04, 2022 - 02:06 PM
[center]Powell's Pivot To Nowhere[/center]
Authored by MN Gordon via EconomicPrism.com
SNIPPET:
Consumer prices were already at a 40 year high before this
latest bout of war madness was triggered. Now, with oil and gas
prices going through the roof, consumers will soon be tapped
out.
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-040718162656-14241872.gif
Read more:
HTML https://media.tenor.com/images/5423e809b1a22096b6925bf9bc3fd1cb/tenor.gif
HTML https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/powells-pivot-nowhere
[center]
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3/3-270122135220.png[/center]
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