The Obama Conundrum: Progress and Protest in the Face of Reality
The Bush Administration has nearly passed into the annals of apologetic history. One might imagine that these last hours of despot rule are akin to the tedious torture of water boarding, wherein the perpetrator promises the end is nigh but the anguished prisoner will not believe it until the torment stops and they are returned to the relative comfort of their urine-soaked bed mat.
As King George secures the stratagem for the chosen elite, President-elect Barack Obama gears up for what may be either a pivotal resuscitation of our failing Nation or the final liquidation of a country that has choked to death on the constant torrent of its own hypocrisy.
Waiting in the wings, like oh-so-many children anticipating the elves' declaration of Santa's arrival, the pundits, protestors, and progressives stand with baited breath, scrolls of hopeful wish-lists dangling to the ground. Obama and his developing staff most assuredly are fortifying their flanks, readying their resolve for the inevitable onslaught of subterfuge that will attempt to render this new Executive impotent within days of the Inauguration. However, it may be those lingering in the wings, invited guests and welcomed constituents, who present the greater distraction to Obama over the first year of his Presidency.
The neo-cons, whatever form in which they choose to appear, are fundamentally predictable--this is the price of the dogmatic design: all roads must lead to the nonnegotiable objective, thus all roads can be traced back from that objective. Obama is surrounding himself with plenty of ruthless people who can attend to that front. Progressives are not immune to the rigid doctrine, but by nature they tend to be more flexible, reassessing and reflecting as reality dictates. However, for the last eight years, along with all of the other more visible transgressions, the Bush Administration has managed to sew a more subtle seed of democratic impairment. When an extreme of ideology remains unmoved before the public for such an unreasonable period of time, it serves as an absolving alibi for every failed progressive effort known to man. There is no greater equalizer of ideas than an authoritarian regime that summarily dismisses all ideas except for their own.
Overtime, progressives have found themselves plotting in a vacuum, ideas and platforms never coming into fruition in the face of such obstinate rejection, the social laboratory having no opportunity to test out the theories fermenting in their inspired minds. Thus, these ideas grow and fester in their own imaginations, at odds with a time period in which exponential change marks every aspect of our external lives. Many of these ideas become religions unto themselves, falling prey to the eternal trap of isolated ego, because the inevitable outcome of repressed beliefs is that they morph into new religion, while the testing and trial of beliefs leads to new reason.
Obama soon will take the bully pulpit while millions of frustrated people wait for "change", somehow missing the overt silliness of the overuse of a term intentionally ambivalent as to outcome. This may have been a clever and concise mantra for the campaign process, speaking broadly and simply to a diverse population, but now a definition for this vague idea must be shaped within the context of reality, and herein lies the rub.
Whether in our hearts or in our minds, the vast majority of us know this to be true: Change isn't coming because Barack Obama is going to be President. Barack Obama is going to be President because Change is coming. While I understand the need for the exhausted electorate to believe it so, Obama was not a proactive choice--if we, the people, really were proactive, Bush and Cheney would be in jail, Iraq would be healing its wounds in peace, the Palestinians would be feeding instead of burying their children, and the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs and his cronies would not be bathing in a kiddy pool full of ill-gotten money.
No, Obama was a reactive choice, because people were suddenly terrified of the change that was upon them, not because they were wishing for change to occur. The change that shook them was not about morality or dignity or global leadership or civil rights; it was simply about money and the absolute certainty that the Bush architects were doing nothing on their behalf. All of the sudden, effect had once again engaged in a solemn reunion with cause, and the populace, their critical thinking skills worn to a nub, found their selves lost.
Electing Obama was the option that presented itself and, indisputably, the choice did represent great progress. We cannot afford such remedial impediments as racial divides when all of us are in the same boat and that evolution in the social mores of our Nation is deserving of celebration. Perhaps we merely graduated from racism to mere prejudice, the former borne of arrogance, the latter of ignorance, but it is a welcomed movement forward, nonetheless.
That, however, is the extent of change initiated by merely electing Barack Obama. The rest of the change was coming anyway. What we would and will do with it remains in question.
Change is always occurring--in fact, totalitarianism, all nuance aside, is simply the process of attempting to neuter change and maintain a static environment, one that reflects the world view of whoever manages to wrestle control of the autocracy. The rigid home life where Dad wields the mighty stick while Mom smothers the children in a protective swathe of rules and limitations is just a scaled-down version of totalitarianism, stemming from the exact flaws and fears that render such domination on a national scale time and time again. Whether one assigns such oppression to the plots of cabals, aliens, or zealots is ultimately unnecessary--we have plenty of evidence as to how this could occur around us in our daily lives, without the involvement of ethereal beings. What matters is how this resistance to change manifests in our reality.
Natural change was suspended over the last few decades, at the same time as monumental and contrived change was being orchestrated behind the scenes. The aforementioned cause and effect was suspended in our lives, replaced with surrogates of entertainment and easy loans. From this illusion of wealth, businesses came to be that never should have been, fed by a fraudulent flow of unbalanced and exploitive credit. Products sold that never had any relevance, but were purchased to placate our excesses of vanity. Houses became automatic teller machines, though history provided no precedent. We stopped working and making things. At the end of the day, we could not hold in our hands the sum of our time. We simply did each other's laundry, seemingly satisfied with the vacuous toil of the daily grind, the empty waste of our precious and finite days, as long as we could get PlayStation XXIV, or whatever it is up to now, with next year's check, via this year's credit line.
Corrections to our economic model were suspended ad infinitum, after the S&L crisis of the late eighties, after the LCTM crisis of the nineties, after the dot-com collapse in 2000, and after the jolting shock of 9-11. Interest rates were collapsed and fiscal responsibility gave way to a new goal--maintaining the illusion of wealth for the American people so that a few could gain control of the real wealth unopposed.
Everyone bought into the grand illusion to some degree, no matter how sanctimonious we may have seemed in our decrees of condemnation. Unless you lived on a co-op in the middle of the Sierras, weaving your clothes from wool and eating cucumbers from your own garden, you bought into it. We took the loans, we took the moronic jobs that should not have existed, and we invested in the companies that had no relevance. We bought big cars and rewarded ourselves for the great job by moving farther away from it. We saved little and we turned a blind eye to a growing and now insurmountable debt. While the productive vocations slipped out the backdoor, we cheerfully entered the front door of Wal-Mart, happy to receive our dividend delivered in the form of cheap crap made overseas by people one footstep away from slavery. Even the contrarian bloggers who managed to eke out a living online have lived off Google ads facilitated by an orgy of consumerism. Everybody got their cut, their trickle down.
All the while, a war raged on for which no one could provide a single righteous, moral, or even pragmatic justification, other than "we have to win", a war replete with torture and atrocities, mercenaries, and madmen. A war as anti-American as any action we have ever taken as a body politic in our brief and diminishing history.
The anti-war effort highlights this Achilles heel of the progressive movement and forewarns as to the problems ahead. All but suspended for the last four months of the campaign, members of the protest movement clung to whispers of Obama's as-yet unrevealed intent to bring this war to a close without delay, as if they were all in on a big secret that no one else was privy to. Cringing as Obama laid out fiery rhetoric directed towards Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, we muttered repeatedly, "Well, he has to say that to get in. But, once he's in..." If I had a dime for every utterance of that defense...well, I could finance the new health care system that we can't afford.
Over time, all of these abated attempts at stopping the war demoralized the movement, as well as other progressive and worthy conservative causes that fell victim to the same frustrations. A hundred thousand marchers, a million emails, a new Congress in '06--nothing seemed to work. Bush/Cheney and the suspiciously ineffective Legislature seemed nearly oblivious to the outcry of the Nation. At some point, those issues became like white noise--people are almost surprised when you bring up the Iraq War now, as if the subject is passé.
Now, with the new Administration measuring the drapes, the progressives are ready to leap forward into action, except many of their ideas have become anachronisms, having remained in suspended animation for way too long. They're chomping at the bit, but are often dangerously myopic in both vision and expectations. These stances will have a hard time effecting useful change within the confines of the reality of our situation.
That reality is that we are bankrupt--that is a euphemism in this instance--we are deeply in the red, so much so that the usual mechanisms for creating debt-facilitated growth have failed. We are facing a systemic collapse of our economy, not because a single crack in the dam compromised the entire edifice, but because of dozens of cracks that formed over the years, cracks that we merely patched lightly and painted over in lieu of repairing and ensuring the underlying soundness of the dam. Our national infrastructure is a disaster, our debt overwhelming, our currency questionable. Our factories are shuttered and our military has been relegated as a security apparatus for a handful of corporate interests.
The waters are now rising, the dam could collapse fully at any moment, the outgoing Administration is looting whatever it can, and Barack Obama is posed in front, a formidable and handsome figure casting a long shadow, no doubt, with a can of putty and a mop. It's picturesque, without question, but it is not a picture of change in the making. It's a picture of unstoppable change coming.
Soon-to-be President Obama may well be the placater-de-jour, handpicked by the supposed oligarchy to steer us through the unimaginable. One might reasonably argue so, especially with the bizarre level of self-sabotage undertaken by the Republicans and the in-flows of corporate cash to Obama's campaign. However, all those obvious flaws aside, what do we really think we are looking for in the chief executive of our Nation? Who do we think we are, as individuals, when we ascribe to these leaders such holy mantles of perfection? Unreasonable expectations will kill this Administration and we will become the victims of change, instead of the navigators of change--so far, few have adjusted to the idea that we are entering a Greater Depression, where the entire game changes. You're worried about sending your kids to college when you should be worried about three squares and a pot to piss in. If you can't accept that, then we are doomed as a nation. If the entire country chooses at this point to adopt the role of victim, without any sense of personal responsibility and self-reflection, there is absolutely nothing Obama can do except take us into a greater war, the last mechanism of the failed state, the ever faithful dance partner to the economic melee.
Health care, education, environment...these are things we should have attended to when the money was flowing like honey--these critical issues will now face a series of hurdles detached from philosophy and squarely rooted in a lack of funding. I imagine Obama et al bailing water and building small dams, while an earnest pundit complains that the noise of the surge pumps is disturbing the endangered cockatoo. No one is saying the cockatoo isn't important; we just can't do much for the critter under water. Meanwhile, as a few people attempt scattered rescues in make-shift dinghies, too many bob around flaccidly in the water, complaining that no one has brought them a towel. I know it's a somewhat inane metaphor, but I know a lot of people and it's not a stretch to envision them bobbing aimlessly out there. They are good people, but they have become horribly dependent on tools they do not understand.
When tough times come upon a Nation, it becomes necessary for the people to discern clearly between those instances in life where they have been truly clever and those instances where they have been merely lucky. Dealing with people from day to day, I worry that many have lost that distinction, the excesses of the last eight years rendering them somewhat narcissistic, aggrandizing their sense of control over their environment, and exaggerating their own accomplishments. I've had young friends come to me recently in complete frustration, saying, "I don't understand. I've always been able to leave and find a job whenever I wanted." It's funny because they really do, in the moment, think that it is a personal affront to them--it seems difficult for them to accept the station of being one of many, or to count their blessings in recognition of those who suffer more. As I talk them down from the tree of martyrdom, I am surprised at the resistance to the idea that they need to adapt, change the way they perceive and function in the world. They are too use to slipping in a different disc and changing the world to fit them. It's hard to consider that mindset as being functional within a harsh recession where resources are limited and innovation is the key to survival.
When we emerge from this passage, it will be in an altogether different place then where we have been before. Obama cannot change that, but he can lead the nation through change, by informing us, being candid about the problems, and empowering the people to stand as strong communities in times of crisis. No one can change this future--no one has ever seen it before, there is no precedent, there is no model, just a scattering of myths, prose and poetry that hint to disasters past. All we have are a lot of unproven ideas and very little resources to test them out. We cannot "change back" to the comfortable levels of sustainable illusion provided during the Clinton administration, or the generic Rockwellian image of the perfect and sanitized 1950's American experience. This is a new frontier before us, and like our forefathers who came here in search of the unknown, we have to embrace the same spirit of the frontier. Progressives and protestors have to hold firm to the obvious litmus of social integrity: stop the war, stop the blatant financial fraud in Congress, dissolve the unitary executive and reestablish the strength of our three-branch Republic. Then, and only then, can we begin forming relevant solutions to the myriad of other problems that beset us. The economy is the economy, probably the only truly democratic expression of the people at large. Villains and bad guys abound, and we'll get them, but humility demands that we take our share of the responsibility and open ourselves to changing the way we live. The change is coming regardless. Most importantly, wisdom dictates that we in the progressive movement become champions of reason and reality, our individual visions of utopia set aside in favor of sustainable solutions for all.
Heaven knows, if we thought that the only effort we needed to make in regards to change was electing Obama and giving him our laundry list, his failure is already secured and our Nation will mourn its demise alone. We didn't elect change. We merely elected to change. It's not Obama's job to change our Nation, only to manage the change we bring about. Now let's see if we've really got the collective fortitude to bring that change on without assaulting the rest of the planet or our next door neighbor.
As King George secures the stratagem for the chosen elite, President-elect Barack Obama gears up for what may be either a pivotal resuscitation of our failing Nation or the final liquidation of a country that has choked to death on the constant torrent of its own hypocrisy.
Waiting in the wings, like oh-so-many children anticipating the elves' declaration of Santa's arrival, the pundits, protestors, and progressives stand with baited breath, scrolls of hopeful wish-lists dangling to the ground. Obama and his developing staff most assuredly are fortifying their flanks, readying their resolve for the inevitable onslaught of subterfuge that will attempt to render this new Executive impotent within days of the Inauguration. However, it may be those lingering in the wings, invited guests and welcomed constituents, who present the greater distraction to Obama over the first year of his Presidency.
The neo-cons, whatever form in which they choose to appear, are fundamentally predictable--this is the price of the dogmatic design: all roads must lead to the nonnegotiable objective, thus all roads can be traced back from that objective. Obama is surrounding himself with plenty of ruthless people who can attend to that front. Progressives are not immune to the rigid doctrine, but by nature they tend to be more flexible, reassessing and reflecting as reality dictates. However, for the last eight years, along with all of the other more visible transgressions, the Bush Administration has managed to sew a more subtle seed of democratic impairment. When an extreme of ideology remains unmoved before the public for such an unreasonable period of time, it serves as an absolving alibi for every failed progressive effort known to man. There is no greater equalizer of ideas than an authoritarian regime that summarily dismisses all ideas except for their own.
Overtime, progressives have found themselves plotting in a vacuum, ideas and platforms never coming into fruition in the face of such obstinate rejection, the social laboratory having no opportunity to test out the theories fermenting in their inspired minds. Thus, these ideas grow and fester in their own imaginations, at odds with a time period in which exponential change marks every aspect of our external lives. Many of these ideas become religions unto themselves, falling prey to the eternal trap of isolated ego, because the inevitable outcome of repressed beliefs is that they morph into new religion, while the testing and trial of beliefs leads to new reason.
Obama soon will take the bully pulpit while millions of frustrated people wait for "change", somehow missing the overt silliness of the overuse of a term intentionally ambivalent as to outcome. This may have been a clever and concise mantra for the campaign process, speaking broadly and simply to a diverse population, but now a definition for this vague idea must be shaped within the context of reality, and herein lies the rub.
Whether in our hearts or in our minds, the vast majority of us know this to be true: Change isn't coming because Barack Obama is going to be President. Barack Obama is going to be President because Change is coming. While I understand the need for the exhausted electorate to believe it so, Obama was not a proactive choice--if we, the people, really were proactive, Bush and Cheney would be in jail, Iraq would be healing its wounds in peace, the Palestinians would be feeding instead of burying their children, and the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs and his cronies would not be bathing in a kiddy pool full of ill-gotten money.
No, Obama was a reactive choice, because people were suddenly terrified of the change that was upon them, not because they were wishing for change to occur. The change that shook them was not about morality or dignity or global leadership or civil rights; it was simply about money and the absolute certainty that the Bush architects were doing nothing on their behalf. All of the sudden, effect had once again engaged in a solemn reunion with cause, and the populace, their critical thinking skills worn to a nub, found their selves lost.
Electing Obama was the option that presented itself and, indisputably, the choice did represent great progress. We cannot afford such remedial impediments as racial divides when all of us are in the same boat and that evolution in the social mores of our Nation is deserving of celebration. Perhaps we merely graduated from racism to mere prejudice, the former borne of arrogance, the latter of ignorance, but it is a welcomed movement forward, nonetheless.
That, however, is the extent of change initiated by merely electing Barack Obama. The rest of the change was coming anyway. What we would and will do with it remains in question.
Change is always occurring--in fact, totalitarianism, all nuance aside, is simply the process of attempting to neuter change and maintain a static environment, one that reflects the world view of whoever manages to wrestle control of the autocracy. The rigid home life where Dad wields the mighty stick while Mom smothers the children in a protective swathe of rules and limitations is just a scaled-down version of totalitarianism, stemming from the exact flaws and fears that render such domination on a national scale time and time again. Whether one assigns such oppression to the plots of cabals, aliens, or zealots is ultimately unnecessary--we have plenty of evidence as to how this could occur around us in our daily lives, without the involvement of ethereal beings. What matters is how this resistance to change manifests in our reality.
Natural change was suspended over the last few decades, at the same time as monumental and contrived change was being orchestrated behind the scenes. The aforementioned cause and effect was suspended in our lives, replaced with surrogates of entertainment and easy loans. From this illusion of wealth, businesses came to be that never should have been, fed by a fraudulent flow of unbalanced and exploitive credit. Products sold that never had any relevance, but were purchased to placate our excesses of vanity. Houses became automatic teller machines, though history provided no precedent. We stopped working and making things. At the end of the day, we could not hold in our hands the sum of our time. We simply did each other's laundry, seemingly satisfied with the vacuous toil of the daily grind, the empty waste of our precious and finite days, as long as we could get PlayStation XXIV, or whatever it is up to now, with next year's check, via this year's credit line.
Corrections to our economic model were suspended ad infinitum, after the S&L crisis of the late eighties, after the LCTM crisis of the nineties, after the dot-com collapse in 2000, and after the jolting shock of 9-11. Interest rates were collapsed and fiscal responsibility gave way to a new goal--maintaining the illusion of wealth for the American people so that a few could gain control of the real wealth unopposed.
Everyone bought into the grand illusion to some degree, no matter how sanctimonious we may have seemed in our decrees of condemnation. Unless you lived on a co-op in the middle of the Sierras, weaving your clothes from wool and eating cucumbers from your own garden, you bought into it. We took the loans, we took the moronic jobs that should not have existed, and we invested in the companies that had no relevance. We bought big cars and rewarded ourselves for the great job by moving farther away from it. We saved little and we turned a blind eye to a growing and now insurmountable debt. While the productive vocations slipped out the backdoor, we cheerfully entered the front door of Wal-Mart, happy to receive our dividend delivered in the form of cheap crap made overseas by people one footstep away from slavery. Even the contrarian bloggers who managed to eke out a living online have lived off Google ads facilitated by an orgy of consumerism. Everybody got their cut, their trickle down.
All the while, a war raged on for which no one could provide a single righteous, moral, or even pragmatic justification, other than "we have to win", a war replete with torture and atrocities, mercenaries, and madmen. A war as anti-American as any action we have ever taken as a body politic in our brief and diminishing history.
The anti-war effort highlights this Achilles heel of the progressive movement and forewarns as to the problems ahead. All but suspended for the last four months of the campaign, members of the protest movement clung to whispers of Obama's as-yet unrevealed intent to bring this war to a close without delay, as if they were all in on a big secret that no one else was privy to. Cringing as Obama laid out fiery rhetoric directed towards Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, we muttered repeatedly, "Well, he has to say that to get in. But, once he's in..." If I had a dime for every utterance of that defense...well, I could finance the new health care system that we can't afford.
Over time, all of these abated attempts at stopping the war demoralized the movement, as well as other progressive and worthy conservative causes that fell victim to the same frustrations. A hundred thousand marchers, a million emails, a new Congress in '06--nothing seemed to work. Bush/Cheney and the suspiciously ineffective Legislature seemed nearly oblivious to the outcry of the Nation. At some point, those issues became like white noise--people are almost surprised when you bring up the Iraq War now, as if the subject is passé.
Now, with the new Administration measuring the drapes, the progressives are ready to leap forward into action, except many of their ideas have become anachronisms, having remained in suspended animation for way too long. They're chomping at the bit, but are often dangerously myopic in both vision and expectations. These stances will have a hard time effecting useful change within the confines of the reality of our situation.
That reality is that we are bankrupt--that is a euphemism in this instance--we are deeply in the red, so much so that the usual mechanisms for creating debt-facilitated growth have failed. We are facing a systemic collapse of our economy, not because a single crack in the dam compromised the entire edifice, but because of dozens of cracks that formed over the years, cracks that we merely patched lightly and painted over in lieu of repairing and ensuring the underlying soundness of the dam. Our national infrastructure is a disaster, our debt overwhelming, our currency questionable. Our factories are shuttered and our military has been relegated as a security apparatus for a handful of corporate interests.
The waters are now rising, the dam could collapse fully at any moment, the outgoing Administration is looting whatever it can, and Barack Obama is posed in front, a formidable and handsome figure casting a long shadow, no doubt, with a can of putty and a mop. It's picturesque, without question, but it is not a picture of change in the making. It's a picture of unstoppable change coming.
Soon-to-be President Obama may well be the placater-de-jour, handpicked by the supposed oligarchy to steer us through the unimaginable. One might reasonably argue so, especially with the bizarre level of self-sabotage undertaken by the Republicans and the in-flows of corporate cash to Obama's campaign. However, all those obvious flaws aside, what do we really think we are looking for in the chief executive of our Nation? Who do we think we are, as individuals, when we ascribe to these leaders such holy mantles of perfection? Unreasonable expectations will kill this Administration and we will become the victims of change, instead of the navigators of change--so far, few have adjusted to the idea that we are entering a Greater Depression, where the entire game changes. You're worried about sending your kids to college when you should be worried about three squares and a pot to piss in. If you can't accept that, then we are doomed as a nation. If the entire country chooses at this point to adopt the role of victim, without any sense of personal responsibility and self-reflection, there is absolutely nothing Obama can do except take us into a greater war, the last mechanism of the failed state, the ever faithful dance partner to the economic melee.
Health care, education, environment...these are things we should have attended to when the money was flowing like honey--these critical issues will now face a series of hurdles detached from philosophy and squarely rooted in a lack of funding. I imagine Obama et al bailing water and building small dams, while an earnest pundit complains that the noise of the surge pumps is disturbing the endangered cockatoo. No one is saying the cockatoo isn't important; we just can't do much for the critter under water. Meanwhile, as a few people attempt scattered rescues in make-shift dinghies, too many bob around flaccidly in the water, complaining that no one has brought them a towel. I know it's a somewhat inane metaphor, but I know a lot of people and it's not a stretch to envision them bobbing aimlessly out there. They are good people, but they have become horribly dependent on tools they do not understand.
When tough times come upon a Nation, it becomes necessary for the people to discern clearly between those instances in life where they have been truly clever and those instances where they have been merely lucky. Dealing with people from day to day, I worry that many have lost that distinction, the excesses of the last eight years rendering them somewhat narcissistic, aggrandizing their sense of control over their environment, and exaggerating their own accomplishments. I've had young friends come to me recently in complete frustration, saying, "I don't understand. I've always been able to leave and find a job whenever I wanted." It's funny because they really do, in the moment, think that it is a personal affront to them--it seems difficult for them to accept the station of being one of many, or to count their blessings in recognition of those who suffer more. As I talk them down from the tree of martyrdom, I am surprised at the resistance to the idea that they need to adapt, change the way they perceive and function in the world. They are too use to slipping in a different disc and changing the world to fit them. It's hard to consider that mindset as being functional within a harsh recession where resources are limited and innovation is the key to survival.
When we emerge from this passage, it will be in an altogether different place then where we have been before. Obama cannot change that, but he can lead the nation through change, by informing us, being candid about the problems, and empowering the people to stand as strong communities in times of crisis. No one can change this future--no one has ever seen it before, there is no precedent, there is no model, just a scattering of myths, prose and poetry that hint to disasters past. All we have are a lot of unproven ideas and very little resources to test them out. We cannot "change back" to the comfortable levels of sustainable illusion provided during the Clinton administration, or the generic Rockwellian image of the perfect and sanitized 1950's American experience. This is a new frontier before us, and like our forefathers who came here in search of the unknown, we have to embrace the same spirit of the frontier. Progressives and protestors have to hold firm to the obvious litmus of social integrity: stop the war, stop the blatant financial fraud in Congress, dissolve the unitary executive and reestablish the strength of our three-branch Republic. Then, and only then, can we begin forming relevant solutions to the myriad of other problems that beset us. The economy is the economy, probably the only truly democratic expression of the people at large. Villains and bad guys abound, and we'll get them, but humility demands that we take our share of the responsibility and open ourselves to changing the way we live. The change is coming regardless. Most importantly, wisdom dictates that we in the progressive movement become champions of reason and reality, our individual visions of utopia set aside in favor of sustainable solutions for all.
Heaven knows, if we thought that the only effort we needed to make in regards to change was electing Obama and giving him our laundry list, his failure is already secured and our Nation will mourn its demise alone. We didn't elect change. We merely elected to change. It's not Obama's job to change our Nation, only to manage the change we bring about. Now let's see if we've really got the collective fortitude to bring that change on without assaulting the rest of the planet or our next door neighbor.
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20 Hours of Labor per Week: Fractional Slavery and the True Cost of National Debt
Let's break this down as simply as one can, in a manner that hopes to result in some sense of immediate relevance to the average person who has grown numb to terms like "billions" and "trillions".
Every week, since September 28, 2007, the Government has committed you, the American citizen, to an additional 20 hours of labor to pay your portion of the National Debt. Let me be clear: you owe an additional 20 hours of labor for every week that has passed since that date, with no end in sight. Here's how it works:
As of this writing, our national debt, not including long-term liabilities such as social security, is $10,582,501,387,889.35. (That's just shy of eleven trillion dollars, for those who find it tedious to count backwards through the commas.)
All debt is time owed. Period. Money is, quite literally, representative of time and the only aspects of money that are truly in question are, "What is time worth?" followed by "How can I get more Free Time?"
In the United States, if you are a minimum wage worker, your time, according to government mandate, is worth $6.55 an hour. In a balanced world, you would get a token, coin, note or some other material representation of your time spent, which you could then trade to someone else, in exchange for $6.55 worth of their time, however that may be rendered. For example, it takes me an hour to find, collect and prepare a bushel of berries; it takes you an aggregate hour to plant, cultivate, and harvest a bushel of corn. We make a fair trade. It's not too much more complicated than that, in its simplest form, at least.
If every one of the 305,094,737 citizens of the United States--man, woman, and child alike--shouldered equal weight of the National debt, each person would owe $34,685.95. That is, of course, if we could pay it all off today and instantly suspend the compounding interest. If you make minimum wage, you must work 5296 hours to pay off your portion of the debt. A person fortunate enough to get a couple weeks of vacation each year would have to work 2.6 years, just to pay off their portion of the debt.
For the average non-supervisory skilled worker making $17.01 an hour, 2030 hours are owed in future labor to this debt.
Aw, but the entire population isn't working, so let's assume, if we can without provoking laughter, that we have no intent of saddling today's children and retirees with any part of this debt. That leaves 189.89 million workers.
Now with this adjustment, our minimum wage worker owes 8508 hours of labor and the skilled worker owes 3261 hours. Imagine planning out your life and slotting into your calendar 2-4 years of income-free servitude. Now, scatter that sum about your working life and tell me if it is really more palatable.
This is fractional slavery, not accidentally similar, in ambiance at least, to fractional reserve lending: instead of declaring a few people slaves for life, we render many as slaves for only part of their life. We call them taxpayers because it sounds better.
Within a balanced budget, we, through the euphemistic process of informed consent, agree that some of our labor hours are worth transferring to the community: I do not want to fight fires, I would not be good at it, but I sure do appreciate the need for fire fighters. So, perhaps as a property owner, I invest a small bit of my income into the fire department, in conjunction with many others. Thus, a few minutes of my time are added to the few minutes of my neighbors, resulting in days of service from the fire house. This is not slavery. This is an investment. It's pretty much what keeps a community ticking.
In a fractional slavery system, the Government exceeds the consent of the People, bypassing their self-determination by co-opting their time before it occurs, without due explanation or consensus. It's simply easier to steal from the future, in as much as it hasn't occurred yet. We are rather existential beings and have a hard time grasping the reality of "future". In our Nation, where cognitive dissonance rules, the future was written off a long time ago in favor of more Instant Now. We sure do like our Instant Now in this country, don't we? I worry that we are about to lose both our Now and our Future, for these reasons and many more.
Since September 28, 2007, the Government has committed you, the minimum wage workers, to work off an additional 3.6 billion dollar average per day of National Debt. Like some kind of horrible reverse-vacation policy, you owe an additional 20 plus hours of labor to the Government for each week that has passed. The average skilled worker owes 8.25 hours to the pot, every week.
When the Government passed the bailout bill in spite of popular dissent, they added a draw of 562.8 hours against the future labor of every minimum wage worker. They added 216 hours for the average skilled worker. The average salaried supervisor, in case they are feeling cocky at this point in the diatribe, was charged 183 hours. The less you make, the more time you owe. The more you make, the more likely you can pay your debt with other people's time.
Before you move to take up arms against this clever form of slavery, consider this: Half of the world's population lives on $2.00 or less a week. Apparently, the value of their time is even less than our minimum wage worker. In China, the average worker earns 58 cents an hour in USD terms. Their time is also, apparently, worth a lot less than ours. I suppose someone should ask, "Why?" Oh, that's right, someone is: The Chinese are now asking why, along with dozens of other nations. It would have been wise for us to make that inquiry every time Wal-Mart 'rolled back' more prices.
This brings us back to the question "How can I get more Free Time?" Well, there are several age-old strategies for gaining more free time than your natural allotment in life:
1. Increase Productivity: We call this, wait for it, WORKING HARD. If you can work harder than the next guy and get more bushels of berries per hour, then you can trade for more corn. You can then reinvest the spread in tools that will help you harvest even more berries. This is the only means of fairly increasing time.
2. Consume Less: We call this thrift. If you don't need so many bushels of corn, then you don't need to pick so many bushels of berries.
3. Counterfeit the Measure of Time: We call this printing money. We just create money, gambling that the market will take time to realize that this new money isn't backed by any solid or tradable representation of time. No assets, no gross national product. It's just paper that people still believe represents some relative measure of time. When the amount of time represented by the paper exceeds the amount of time that can be truly harnessed in any foreseeable period, the value of the paper collapses.
4. Create Pretend Time: We call this usury, the derivatives market, credit default swaps, and the whole host of make-believe financial instruments wherein people make money simply by creating fake money. They don't even bother printing a counterfeit measure. They just say "Yep, we own all this time, so give us some more..." and the idiots and the ignorant believe them. Neat job if you can get it.
5. Steal All Time Now: We call this slavery. You take a body of people and declare that their time is intrinsically less valuable than your time. Ten of them work the hours of ten people, no different an output from ten of your people, but you pay them for the hours of one. That is a hell of a return on investment. Slaves aren't free; you have to feed them, it's preferable that they have shelter of some sort and sometimes it's useful to give them a little premium, so they can buy food from you. If they complain, you beat them into submission. In modern slavery, the chains of circumstance have replaced anklets, but the idea is the same. On two dollars a week, where does one hope to run to?
6. Steal Some Future Time: We call this fractional slavery, or at least I do because I like to impress myself, and maybe it will catch on, regardless of my flawed ego. It's the same thing as good old fashioned slavery, except that you aren't so much the victim of ruthless exploitation as you are just a gullible fool on the crap-end of a really bad deal. If you live in a Democracy where the instruments of redress would allow you to stifle the sale of your future time, but you fail to take true action, then you are no more a victim than you are a collaborator.
So, here we are, sliding into an unprecedented Depression in a world with exponential population growth, paying hugely, via debt, for a dishonorable war that the majority of Americans said 'no' to, repeatedly, while we pay out trillions to failed business models reeking of corruption via bailouts that the majority of Americans said 'no' to, loudly, and yet still a good ninety percent of the country continues to accrue 8 to 20 hours a week in future slavery. It's hardly an investment, as indicated by the continuing slow-motion train wreck that we politely call our economy.
I guess the only question remaining is whether we, over the last eight years, during the reign of an Administration that added more National Debt than all of prior Administrations combined, unknowingly shifted from our comfortable, negotiated, fractional slavery system to the full blown unapologetic serfdom of the people of the United States?
Or does the fact that we are still in this war, and that we still keep giving away the future's money to corrupt businesses, and that Bush and Cheney still have not been impeached for heinous crimes against the State, against Providence, and against the dignity of humanity as a whole, stand as testament to our own selfish complicity in this mess? Are we about to reap what we have sewn? The rest of the world thinks so, and, though they should tread delicately in such self-righteous garb, as glass houses are plentiful these days, their positions are not without merit.
Do We the People have an honest debt to settle with the rest of the world, whether we like it or not, one that can be negotiated peacefully, one that will require sacrifice on our part, or do We the People have a debt to settle with our own Government first, one that will require courage on our part?
Or are we just going to call it a draw here at home, everyone having sinned equally, and just blow up some more countries in a bid to balance the books, while a new administration spoon feeds us eloquent hubris, national 'service' programs and stimulus checks? I have a horrible feeling that it is this latter prognosis that will come into fruition. After all, as long as we have the biggest military in the world, who dares collect on our ill-gotten time? Do we really seek change, or do we just want to change the outcome?
Tell me, oh lesser slaves of the new America, because I can't figure it out from your actions, and frankly, I'm all stocked up on rhetoric, so action at this point is all that matters. All I know for certain is that the math would indicate that we are running out of time. It's all been spent, and then some.
Eulogy for a Nation: The Bailout Passes; Democracy Passes on…
The House of Representatives passed the bailout on Friday, 263-171, garnering fifty eight more votes in the affirmative than were captured in Monday’s stunning defeat. Certainly without delay, the President will commit the act to law. Like the coroner’s hand upon a death certificate, Bush’s signature acknowledges the passing of our democracy. And only a scattered few are showing up for the funeral. The rest seem content to join the raging party across the hall, unaware that they attend their own wake.
There was a brief sense of exhilaration among the people as the House struck down the obscene $700 billion bailout bill earlier this week. Years of apparently futile activism were once again inflated with hope—the Congress does listen and they will represent us, we thought. Hundreds of thousands of calls, letters, emails, and faxes inundated Senate and House offices, so much so that they had to shut down the email servers—apparently, their junk mail filter was not efficient enough to sort out our annoying insistence that our opinions matter.
There was elation because we surprised them and we knew it. It was evident that they were shocked—they expected we the people to roll right over when they first presented this plan, but we did not. In fact, we recoiled and then attacked, as all living things tend to do when they sense an eminent threat. The Internet was alive with deep discussion and every day that slipped away without the bailout coming into fruition allowed more and more of the citizenry to educate their selves and each other as to the realities of our economy. Thousands of notable thinkers, economists, journalists, and business leaders warned us that the bailout was a scam, a clear and present coup, an enormous power grab, and an idea completely without merit as a viable financial plan for our country.
They were caught off guard. Their computer models didn’t predict a popular uprising. Not yet—they know that’s coming, they’ve prepared well for it, but it wasn’t supposed to be last week. It wasn’t supposed to occur until after they had fleeced the American people one more time. It makes them nervous, these would-be lords, when they cannot render us as binary creatures on a graph. For all of their data, we continue to defy them as complex beings, beyond their arrogant and narcissistic appraisal. We have not grown so used to the routine of non-options as they would have hoped.
Today, our optimism is diminished. You see, in truth, there are those who do hate America and what we stand for. They hate our free will, they hate our resistance to arbitrary authority, and they hate our insistence of self-determination. They hate that we have friends without agenda. They hate that we have love without bribery or gain. They hate that we don’t hate each other, even with our many differences, and in spite of their best efforts to divide us. They hate that we won’t be controlled. They hate that we won’t follow their finite, fear-mongering man-made clay-footed gods into the fiery abyss. They hate us for being random, for being creative, for being beautiful, sometimes in spite of ourselves. They hate us for being the breath of Providence, when they are merely the sigh of decay.
These people are not plotting against us in oversees bunkers. They are not hiding in hobbles in the hills. They are not in Iraq, or in Afghanistan, or in Russia. No, they hide in the shadows right here in our own country, those shadows inevitably cast whenever freedom sees the light of day. They hide on Pennsylvania Avenue in buildings we own. They hide in the Treasury behind stacks of counterfeit bills. Apparently, they hide in Congress, behind hubris and hypocrisy. They hide right in front of us. They are the enemies domestic and the warnings of their subterfuge have accompanied their every action throughout the last century.
“Crises there will continue to be,” President Eisenhower stated in his final speech of 1961. “In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties.”
UPDATE V: THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER: THE BAILOUT BILL IS VOTED DOWN! KEEP FIGHTING!
Today, a moment that should restore a full measure of wind to the sails of activists, true journalists, faithful representatives of the People, and all those who stand rightfully united against the destruction of the people’s Constitutional nation:
After what seems like years of effectual doldrums, especially in the anti-war effort where the adamant protests of the vast majority of Americans have been virtually ignored, the citizens of the United States have once again conjured up the almighty storms of self-determination, capsizing, for the moment, the mighty vessel of fraud and piracy that was to be the bailout plan.
The people may and must lay absolute claim to Monday’s victory, as the House voted down the $700 billion dollar rescue bill, with a final tally of 205-228. The blockage of this bill is the result of the unprecedented outcry from the American people, in hand with a brave number of Representatives holding true to their oaths. This voice was so loud that it shattered their illusion of absolute control, and now many Representatives find themselves fearfully adrift between the uncharted rocks of mass consensus and the menacing hard place promised by a treasonous administration.
Have a toast with your friends, but celebrate briefly, for this is not the time to rest on laurels. First, contact those Representatives who voted against this bill. You can see the roll call here. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml These representatives will be under an immense pressure to give in—they must know that we stand behind them in strength or they may falter.
Then contact those who voted for the bill and remind them one more time that we are clearly telling them, our representatives, our public servants, NO, and that it is their duty to express the will of the people, for if they do not, their offices and authorities are meaningless to us.
Look at the spreads on the voting record—this is not a division between parties; this is a division between allegiances, and only the Nays have show allegiance to the rule of law, and, thus, the American people. Nearly everyone who voted for the bill is the “Corporate Party” and everyone who did not is the “People’s Party”. Get that straight. Democrats must embrace an alliance with Republicans who have stood together in stopping this bill and beat back the media’s assertion that this bill was lost to bi-partisan squabbling. This is the coup’s greatest fear, that we would defy the divisions they have thrust upon us in favor of the unity of our free wills in protecting the covenants that make us a Nation. Our alliance in this regard is a mightier weapon than all of their sinister devices combined.
It is important that you do not fear the machinations of the market. Just protect you investments and savings—there are many, many financial advisors out their like Mike “Mish” Shedlock, who have called this by the numbers with astounding foresight and objectivity. They provide honest information with which you can make decisions.
As the administration threatens you with eminent ‘financial chaos’, remember this, as I wrote in an earlier post:
“There is not enough money in the world to circumvent a massive correction in the market. Literally. That's the problem. There is not a lot of money, actual wealth, at all. There are just a lot of people saying they have money. They hold up a bond that's worth six cents and declare, "This is worth a dollar." You think it is a damnable offense that some family lies on a mortgage application, exaggerating assets, to get a loan? Corporations like Lehman, Fannie and Freddie, AIG, and the whole line up yet to come all did this to the tune of hundreds of billions. But with every default, more of these toxic bonds get found out. You see, the corporations aren't really losing money; they are just being forced to reveal that they didn't have the money in the first place. This is why "the credit" has come to a standstill. That is the usual consequence of lying to your creditors...”
This is not a liquidity problem. This is not a credit problem. This is an integrity problem, and without integrity, the free market is simply a den of thieves, and no one wants to trade with thieves. We are going to have a deep recession regardless of this bailout, but we will adapt, we will grow, and rebuild a better economic model while preserving the veracity of our chosen Governmental model. We will be better for it. This will seem difficult, frustrating at times, but it is an easier path than trying to re-establish our Republic after being completely pillaged by an authoritarian regime. Only if we allow these perpetrators of greed to continue at the helm will we find ourselves with a loss of hope.
Be wary and react quickly to signs of that they are frantically exercising either of these two strategies:
1. The policy-drivers regroup, extend their threats and manipulations towards House members opposed to the bill, drive the stock market up and down like a bungee swing to further panic and disorient the mainstream (it’s not about panicking the Wall Street crew—everyone already knows where they stand on this), and re-present the bill in the next two days.
2. Under the auspices of the ineffectiveness of the bi-partisan house to pass this emergency bill, the executive branch declares a National Emergency and gives the money to the bankers anyway.
I close with the aforementioned prior post’s closing and wish you strength in this continuing battle.
“We are sovereign individuals who consent to be a Nation, through agreed upon rules of law and truthful representation. There is no royalty or papacy that dare lay claim to our free will--that is what our founders recognized, that is the experiment of our democratic republic crafted from their humility, and that is the experiment still left undone. That we would choose to avoid for a short time discomfort rather than secure the integrity of that great experiment is baffling. It renders the acts and sacrifices of those before us as lesser deeds, and resigns the promise of those who will follow to the ambitions of empty men.”
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URGENT UPDATE: REPRESENTATIVES WARN ON BAILOUT DANGERS!
I urge you to watch and listen to Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) on the House floor regarding the unparalled danger posed by this bailout plan and the clear suppression of our constitutional processes. This is critical to the integrity of our nation and the covenants that bind us. Video can be seen at:
http://johncaelan.blogspot.com
Excerpt from Rep. Kaptur:
“We are Constitutionally sworn to protect and defend this Republic against all enemies foreign and domestic. And my friends there are enemies.”
“The people pushing this deal are the very ones who are responsible for the implosion on Wall Street. They were fraudulent then and they are fraudulent now.”
Excerpt from Rep. Burgess:
“Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night.”
FrankenPaulson, RumpelstiltBen, and The Spinning of Gold
Once upon a time, in a dimming city on a hill, FrankenPaulson, a sad assemblage of discarded souls, vacuous principles, and excessive skin, stumbled about the grove, lonely and despondent.
All of his magical woodland friends were in dire straits, (not the ‘80s band, but a tenuous state of being). Their magic was exhausted, having been used in excess to build grand castles, moats, and hordes of zombie-like protégés, and a great flood was soon upon them. Imposing edifices had already fallen as the waters approached. They did not know what to do.
So, the great kings of Crimson Hall decided an unusual pairing was necessary, and thus they called upon RumpelstiltBen, well-known for his unique ability to spin gold from straw, in exchange for the souls of the future-born.
“Go into the villages, RumpelstiltBen, and find us, oh, let’s say 300 million or so naïve villagers, and take all of their straw, so that all of it may be spun into gold. You shall have deed against their future-born.”
“The villager’s will resist,” RumpelstiltBen insisted. “How will we take all of their straw when they cling to it so?”
The great kings motioned to a guard, and in walked the towering FrankenPaulson. “Behold, the FrankenPaulson,” the great kings declared. “We have taken pieces from every treacherous henchman who has served us through the millennia and created this.” The great kings winced, assessing the monstrous specimen before them. “We were in a hurry…” they muttered apologetically.
“Go with FrankenPaulson into the villages. They are naïve and easily scared. Tell them that doom is upon them and only by giving up their straw can they be saved from the coming deluge.”
Days later, FrankenPaulson and RumpelstiltBen returned, forlorn and distressed.
“The villagers descended upon us, oh, mighty king,” RumpelstiltsBen declared. “With pitchfork and crude instruments, they drove us off, saying, ‘You may not have our straw to save the woodland creatures. We need it to build our houses and feed our cattle so that we may survive this deluge!”
The great kings glowered at FrankenPaulson. “We’re you not scary enough? Did you not declare crisis and dark forebodings?”
“Yes, sires,” FrankenPaulson groaned. “But they volleyed upon us a new enchantment, one long since not heard, and it drove us back into the woods.”
The great kings seemed dismayed. “What manner of enchantment did these peasants use, our loyal beasts?”
FrankenPaulson lowered his head in shame. “I cannot utter such curses, but they applied both to us and the horses we road in on.”
The great kings considered this, mumbling among themselves. Finally, they turned back to their brave soldiers.
“Go back to the village. Tell the Grand Decider of the village that he must win the people’s cooperation.”
A few days past, the duo returned. Again, the pale hue of failure blanketed their brows. Though arguably, FrankenPaulson always had such a hue.
“The Great Decider of the village spoke, but no one listened.”
“No one?” the kings decried.
“Not a soul, dear kings.”
“We thought he was the Great Decider?” they chided.
“The Villagers hold him in…lesser esteem, great kings.”
The kings huddled again, but soon returned to the Court. “Redirect the swelling river, so that a small portion of the flood is upon them. When an imposing building falls, they will have greater fear and give up their straw.”
The plan was executed and the great edifice Wamoo crumbled into the raging torrent. The villagers watched with dismay. But they continued to mill about with pitchforks chanting curses towards the kings.
“They have not been shaken,” RumpelstiltBen exclaimed. “Do they not see the might of our power? Where are my future-souls? How shall I have sustenance?”
The great kings considered the problem deeply, but soon returned to the halls. “Return, oh diabolical duo, and take counsel with the leaders of the villagers. Promise them reward upon success, and death upon failure. They will ignore the Villagers and collect the straw.”
The pair returned shortly. “The leaders fear the Villagers, oh, lords. For the villagers have pitchforks and stand united.”
Grumbling with frustration, the kings declared, “Return, then, and negotiate with these peasants and their cowering leaders. Do not return until you have struck a deal.”
The Creatures of the Kings and the leaders of the peasants huddled for days in the hallowed halls of the imperial temple. Soon, FrankenPaulson and RumplestiltBen emerged, parchment in hand.
“Behold, great kings, we have formed a deal!” They laid out the parchments before them and the words sprawled across the oak table.
After minutes of consideration, the great kings spoke:
“Is this not the same demand we made at the beginning, but with more words?”
“Yes, sires,” the two replied. "Many more words."
“And do those words have no boundaries, rendering them trivial?”
“Yes, sires.”
“And do we not get all of the straw of the Village, which we will spin into gold, leaving them with the debt of the future-born hanging above them?”
“Yes, sires.”
“And does not the ‘oversight’ preclude courts or law, and renders such imposition minimal because the overseers work for us anyway?”
“Yes, sires.”
The great kings mused among themselves. Finally, they posed a final question.
“What, then, is different about this bargain then the one you initially proposed?”
“Nothing, really, sires.”
“Then what was this all about?” they asked impatiently.
FrankenPaulson rolled his eyes. “Democracy, sires.”
“What manner of king is this, this ‘Democracy’?.”
“A king of a million crowns, your lordships. And they march upon us, in defiance of you, the leaders and Great Decider.”
A dark countenance fell upon the kings. “Ready our legions. As soon as you have collected the straw, render it into gold, for the deluge will sweep away all remaining straw.”
A meek voice cried out from the court. “Then, this will not save the villagers, oh lords?”
The kings seemed chagrined. “Of course, it will not. But soggy straw will not feed the spinning wheel, and no gold can be derived from such. So, we must collect up as much straw as possible before it is swept away.”
The voice in the court considered this revelation. “Perhaps the villagers march, pitchforks in hand, because they know this to be true also, my lords?”
RumpelstiltBen cackled nervously. FrankenPaulson regressed into the shadowy corner. The great kings rose to their feet.
“Perhaps, nameless voice, but we are prepared for such an end.” They motion to the guards who ring a bell. On cue, a dim specter drops from the shadows, unfurling is wings with a furious motion as it alights upon the marble stairs.
The kings smile, confident in their treachery.
“Behold,” their voices boomed in unison, as the court trembles. “Count Chertoff…”
To be continued…unfortunately…
John Caelan
All of his magical woodland friends were in dire straits, (not the ‘80s band, but a tenuous state of being). Their magic was exhausted, having been used in excess to build grand castles, moats, and hordes of zombie-like protégés, and a great flood was soon upon them. Imposing edifices had already fallen as the waters approached. They did not know what to do.
So, the great kings of Crimson Hall decided an unusual pairing was necessary, and thus they called upon RumpelstiltBen, well-known for his unique ability to spin gold from straw, in exchange for the souls of the future-born.
“Go into the villages, RumpelstiltBen, and find us, oh, let’s say 300 million or so naïve villagers, and take all of their straw, so that all of it may be spun into gold. You shall have deed against their future-born.”
“The villager’s will resist,” RumpelstiltBen insisted. “How will we take all of their straw when they cling to it so?”
The great kings motioned to a guard, and in walked the towering FrankenPaulson. “Behold, the FrankenPaulson,” the great kings declared. “We have taken pieces from every treacherous henchman who has served us through the millennia and created this.” The great kings winced, assessing the monstrous specimen before them. “We were in a hurry…” they muttered apologetically.
“Go with FrankenPaulson into the villages. They are naïve and easily scared. Tell them that doom is upon them and only by giving up their straw can they be saved from the coming deluge.”
Days later, FrankenPaulson and RumpelstiltBen returned, forlorn and distressed.
“The villagers descended upon us, oh, mighty king,” RumpelstiltsBen declared. “With pitchfork and crude instruments, they drove us off, saying, ‘You may not have our straw to save the woodland creatures. We need it to build our houses and feed our cattle so that we may survive this deluge!”
The great kings glowered at FrankenPaulson. “We’re you not scary enough? Did you not declare crisis and dark forebodings?”
“Yes, sires,” FrankenPaulson groaned. “But they volleyed upon us a new enchantment, one long since not heard, and it drove us back into the woods.”
The great kings seemed dismayed. “What manner of enchantment did these peasants use, our loyal beasts?”
FrankenPaulson lowered his head in shame. “I cannot utter such curses, but they applied both to us and the horses we road in on.”
The great kings considered this, mumbling among themselves. Finally, they turned back to their brave soldiers.
“Go back to the village. Tell the Grand Decider of the village that he must win the people’s cooperation.”
A few days past, the duo returned. Again, the pale hue of failure blanketed their brows. Though arguably, FrankenPaulson always had such a hue.
“The Great Decider of the village spoke, but no one listened.”
“No one?” the kings decried.
“Not a soul, dear kings.”
“We thought he was the Great Decider?” they chided.
“The Villagers hold him in…lesser esteem, great kings.”
The kings huddled again, but soon returned to the Court. “Redirect the swelling river, so that a small portion of the flood is upon them. When an imposing building falls, they will have greater fear and give up their straw.”
The plan was executed and the great edifice Wamoo crumbled into the raging torrent. The villagers watched with dismay. But they continued to mill about with pitchforks chanting curses towards the kings.
“They have not been shaken,” RumpelstiltBen exclaimed. “Do they not see the might of our power? Where are my future-souls? How shall I have sustenance?”
The great kings considered the problem deeply, but soon returned to the halls. “Return, oh diabolical duo, and take counsel with the leaders of the villagers. Promise them reward upon success, and death upon failure. They will ignore the Villagers and collect the straw.”
The pair returned shortly. “The leaders fear the Villagers, oh, lords. For the villagers have pitchforks and stand united.”
Grumbling with frustration, the kings declared, “Return, then, and negotiate with these peasants and their cowering leaders. Do not return until you have struck a deal.”
The Creatures of the Kings and the leaders of the peasants huddled for days in the hallowed halls of the imperial temple. Soon, FrankenPaulson and RumplestiltBen emerged, parchment in hand.
“Behold, great kings, we have formed a deal!” They laid out the parchments before them and the words sprawled across the oak table.
After minutes of consideration, the great kings spoke:
“Is this not the same demand we made at the beginning, but with more words?”
“Yes, sires,” the two replied. "Many more words."
“And do those words have no boundaries, rendering them trivial?”
“Yes, sires.”
“And do we not get all of the straw of the Village, which we will spin into gold, leaving them with the debt of the future-born hanging above them?”
“Yes, sires.”
“And does not the ‘oversight’ preclude courts or law, and renders such imposition minimal because the overseers work for us anyway?”
“Yes, sires.”
The great kings mused among themselves. Finally, they posed a final question.
“What, then, is different about this bargain then the one you initially proposed?”
“Nothing, really, sires.”
“Then what was this all about?” they asked impatiently.
FrankenPaulson rolled his eyes. “Democracy, sires.”
“What manner of king is this, this ‘Democracy’?.”
“A king of a million crowns, your lordships. And they march upon us, in defiance of you, the leaders and Great Decider.”
A dark countenance fell upon the kings. “Ready our legions. As soon as you have collected the straw, render it into gold, for the deluge will sweep away all remaining straw.”
A meek voice cried out from the court. “Then, this will not save the villagers, oh lords?”
The kings seemed chagrined. “Of course, it will not. But soggy straw will not feed the spinning wheel, and no gold can be derived from such. So, we must collect up as much straw as possible before it is swept away.”
The voice in the court considered this revelation. “Perhaps the villagers march, pitchforks in hand, because they know this to be true also, my lords?”
RumpelstiltBen cackled nervously. FrankenPaulson regressed into the shadowy corner. The great kings rose to their feet.
“Perhaps, nameless voice, but we are prepared for such an end.” They motion to the guards who ring a bell. On cue, a dim specter drops from the shadows, unfurling is wings with a furious motion as it alights upon the marble stairs.
The kings smile, confident in their treachery.
“Behold,” their voices boomed in unison, as the court trembles. “Count Chertoff…”
To be continued…unfortunately…
John Caelan
The Presidential Debate in a Nutshell: The Thin List of Action
Strip out the hyperbole, hubris, arguments and recollections over record, and take away the commentary on things we already know, then you have this is the list of Action Items actually mentioned by the candidates.
To the best of my ability, I have separated the wheat from the chaff, without prejudiced, and bulleted those statements that actually have something to do with goals or action. In italics, I tossed in direct accusations from one candidate against the other, mostly for context in the timeline, and bolded the main action points.
My threshold for ambiguity was very low. Nonetheless, it was thin pickings, I tell you. I think I counted four things total that would actually be a policy decision. John Caelan
ON THE FINANCIAL RECOVERY PLAN
OBAMA:
"…Series of proposals that protect taxpayers…:"
"…Oversight
… "$700 billion, potentially, is a lot of money.""…Money back and gains for Taxpayers…
if the market -- and when the market returns.""…none of the money to…Golden Parachutes..."
"Helping homeowners
."MCCAIN:
"This package has transparency in it. It has to have…"
Oversight.
Options
for loans to failing businesses: "rather than the government taking over those loans.""I called for the resignation of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission."
ON FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN APPROACH AS PRESIDENT
MCCAIN:
"I'm going to veto every single spending bill that comes across my desk."
"Senator Obama is also proposing some $800 billion in new spending on new programs."
OBAMA:
"
Senator McCain is proposing -- and this is a fundamental difference between us -- $300 billion in tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country, $300 billion.""I've called for is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, 95 percent"
"…close corporate loopholes,"
"…stop providing tax cuts to corporations that are shipping jobs overseas"
"…tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States."
"…a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage."
MCCAIN:
"Senator Obama finds objectionable…the business tax."
"I want to cut that business tax. I want to cut it so that businesses will remain in -- in the United States of America and create jobs."
"I want people to have tax cuts."
"…every family to have a $5,000 refundable tax credit…purchase their own health care"
"…double the dividend from $3,500 to $7,000 for every dependent child in America."
OBAMA:
"…if you make less than $250,000,…,then you will not see one dime's worth of tax increase."
"Senator McCain talked about providing a $5,000 health credit. Now, what he doesn't tell you is that he intends to, for the first time in history, tax health benefits."
MCCAIN:
"We had an energy bill before the United States Senate…It had all kinds of breaks for the oil companies, I mean, billions of dollars worth. I voted against it; Senator Obama voted for it."
OBAMA:
"John, you want to give oil companies another $4 billion."
MCCAIN:
"…give every American a choice:"
"…two tax brackets
, generous dividends,""…the existing tax code or they want a new tax code."
"…again, Senator Obama has shifted on a number of occasions. He has voted in the United States Senate to increase taxes on people who make as low as $42,000 a year."
OBAMA:
"Look, it's just not true. And if we want to talk about oil company profits, under your tax plan, John -- this is undeniable -- oil companies would get an additional $4 billion in tax breaks."
ON GIVING UP PRIORITIES BECAUSE OF THE RESCUE PLAN
OBAMA:
"…plan to make sure that, in 10 years' time, we have freed ourselves from dependence on Middle Eastern oil…"
"…increasing production at home..."
"…invest in alternative energy,…solar, wind, biodiesel,
"…developing the fuel-efficient cars…"
"…fix our health care system"
"…make sure that we're competing in education."
"…invest in science and technology."
"…make sure college is affordable for every young person in America."
"…Rebuild our infrastructure"
"…broadband lines that reach into rural communities."
"…new electricity grid to get the alternative energy to population centers that are using them."
MCCAIN:
"…we've got to cut spending."
"…examine every agency of government…"
"…eliminate ethanol subsidies."
"…do away with cost-plus contracts…"
ON LEHLER REDIRECTING THE QUESTION OF GIVING UP PRIORITIES DUE TO RESCUE PLAN
OBAMA:
"…investing in energy in order to free ourselves from the dependence on foreign oil."
MCCAIN:
"a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs.
OBAMA:
"We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when they have a $79 billion surplus. It seems to me that if we're going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad, that we have to look at bringing that war to a close."
MCCAIN:
"Senator Obama opposes both storing and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel."
"…can create 700,000 jobs by building constructing 45 new nuclear power plants by the year 2030."
(John's Note:
I had to quote Lehrer, because he actually said "rule the country"…I try not to stray from some degree of decorum when writing prose (that what I have music for) but are you f*$%$ kidding?)
ON LEHRER REDIRECTING AGAIN: "Are you willing to acknowledge both of you that this financial crisis is going to affect the way you rule the country as president?"
OBAMA:
"…have to make some tough decision…"
MCCAIN:
"Senator Obama has $800 billion in new spending programs."
"I got plans to reduce and eliminate unnecessary and wasteful spending…"
OBAMA:
"John, it's been your president who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time who presided over this increase in spending."
ON LESSONS OF IRAQ
MCCAIN:
"This strategy has succeeded. And we are winning in Iraq. And we will come home with victory and with honor. And that withdrawal is the result of every counterinsurgency that succeeds."
OBAMA:
"I think the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place."
"…we did not use our military wisely in Iraq."
"…end this war responsibly."
ON AFGHANISTAN
OBAMA:
"…I would send two to three additional brigades to Afghanistan."
"…press the Afghan government to make certain that they are actually working for their people."
"Deal with a growing poppy trade that has exploded…"
"Deal with Pakistan…"
MCCAIN:
"..get the support of the people of -- of Pakistan."
OBAMA:
"…if the United States has Al Qaida, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out…"
ON THE THREAT OF IRAN
MCCAIN:
"…I have proposed a league of democracies, a group of people - a group of countries that share common interests, common values, common ideals, they also control a lot of the world's economic power.
"...impose significant meaningful, painful sanctions on the Iranians…"
OBAMA:
"…We do need tougher sanctions."
"I reserve the right, as president of the United States to meet with anybody at a time and place of my choosing if I think it's going to keep America safe."
ON RUSSIA:
OBAMA:
"…our entire Russian approach has to be evaluated, because a resurgent and very aggressive Russia is a threat to the peace and stability of the region."
"...make clear that we have to follow through on our…six-point cease-fire."
"…affirm all the fledgling democracies in that region"
"…countries like Georgia and the Ukraine…are free to join NATO if they meet the requirements"
"…deal with the proliferation of loose nuclear weapons."
MCCAIN:
"…support the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the natural process, inclusion into NATO."
"make sure…the Ukrainians understand that we are their friend and ally."
OBAMA:
"…alternative energy…plan for us to make a significant investment over the next 10 years…"
ON THE LIKELIHOOD OF ANOTHER 9/11 ATTACK
MCCAIN:
"…a better job in human intelligence."
"…trained interrogators so that we don't ever torture a prisoner ever again."
"…make sure that our technological and intelligence capabilities are better."
"…work more closely with our allies.
OBAMA:
"...We've got to make sure that we're hardening our chemical sites."
"...I…believe that we need missile defense…"
"..focus on…Al Qaida."
"…restore America's standing in the world."
The Presidential Debate in a Nutshell: The Thin List of Action
This is a bullet point list of actual action items presented in the debates. I cannot get it to post correctly to Talking Points. Please feel free to copy and repost if you can.
http://johncaelan.blogspot.com/
http://johncaelan.blogspot.com/
The Presidential Debate in a Nutshell: The Thin List of Action
This is a bullet point review of the Presidential Debate, listing only any stated actions or goals.
Strip out the hyperbole, hubris, arguments and recollections over record, and take away the commentary on things we already know, then you have this is the list of Action Items actually mentioned by the candidates.
The Presidential Debate in a Nutshell: The Thin List of Goals and Plans
Strip out the hyperbole, hubris, arguments and recollections over record, and take away the commentary on things we already know, then you have this is the list of Action Items actually mentioned by the candidates.
Daily Show takes on the Bailout
Tearing into the bailout plan, and Henry Paulson's delusions of regency in particular, Jon Stewart reminds us that he may be the last bastion of honest journalism, even if he keeps professing not to be a news program. You can't write this stuff. That's what makes the show so brilliant. They just grasp the manifest. It's so sad it's funny. Yet horrible.
Keep working to stop this bailout. It is a threat to everything we claim to be as a nation of people. Damn, this is funny. See the video clip here:
http://johncaelan.blogspot.com/2008/09/daily-show-takes-on-bailout.html
Update III: The Hostile Takeover of the United States
[[You can track John Caelan's blog Whiskey and Wine directly at johncaelan.blogspot.com
UPDATE III: STOP THE BAILOUT>NO MEANS NO!
With the stock market closing higher for the day in spite of the piercing shrieks of doom emanating from every hollow of Punditville , you would think that the dollar must be sinking uncontrollably, as investors around the world convert their dollars into hard assets, like companies with land, buildings, and inventory of useful commodities, because who on earth would be buying stocks right now. In fact, the dollar has been bouncing up and down wildly over the last two weeks, the poor creature's final hissy fit before it is told sternly by the world to go take a nap. The endless stream of money (read 'debt') being pumped into the system by the Federal Reserve has allowed it to be persevered for yet another weekend respite, dollar still pulsating, stock market still breathing, the Constitution still somewhat legible.
Every news update seems to be packaged around the same precept, that the bailout plan must happen and this is simply a matter of negotiation. Well, as far as I can tell, from polls around the country, especially local news channel polls, the citizens are not saying, "Hey, come up with better details for the $700 billion bailout." Their answer seems to be decidedly "No Bailout." Even FOX NEWS (heaven help me) acknowledges that most Americans oppose the bailout plan.
Apparently, we need to adopt the mantra of those long-empowered ladies of our world who have grown used to the constant onslaught of self-aggrandizing men and have long since understood the need for great simplicity when communicating with these would-be overheated assailants: "No means no."
It doesn't mean "No, unless you add more taxpayer debt to the bill to help us, instead of just helping us taxpayers (Democrats…No means no…)
It doesn't mean, "No, unless you shoot in from the flanks with an investment plan for the taxpayers, hoping that we won't wonder how anyone can create an investment plan for $700 billion in a couple of days (Republicans…No Mean no!...)
It doesn't mean "No, unless it's all about you! You, you, you! (McCain, No means no...)
It doesn't mean anything except "No".
Opponents to the bailout are holding their own right now, but there is always Plan B. A rational opponent always has Plan B. You see, if the administration and Congress acknowledge to the people that they hear us, if they acknowledge that we are against this bailout period, and if they acknowledge that we are going into a deep recession, and if they decide to start concentrating on that plan together instead of spending weeks trying to figure out how to hide golden parachutes in language and footnotes for failed confidence men, then it might actually strengthen the nation. We might start great debates in the Congress about how to fix things instead of how to shape things. People might feel somewhat empowered because they actualy understand what is going on around them and feel they have some control over it.
So, the media pours out story after story highlighting the dissension, and the political parties, and the candidates, and this group from that state who does this…and that group from that committee that wants this…I'd like to hear one Senator or Representative say, "I've voting no because practically everyone in my district said 'no'."
Let's flash forward a week or so. The economy has crashed in a way that causes a seizure in the market place. It's a big stock market drop, FDIC needs more money, the dollar is tanking, and no one is buying our debt. A national emergency is declared, and I acknowledge in advance that this a paraphrase, but I suspect you may hear:
"The nation now faces an extreme crisis, one that could have been controlled had the Congress taken action in a timely manner. You all witnessed how a simple emergency procedure, that would have supported the credit market and allowed us to dispose of these assets in an orderly manner, was undermined by partisan politics, even when the American way of life was being threatened, even when experts and economists around the world pleaded for a quick resolution. Our citizens cannot afford this kind of slow response in the face of clearly stated emergency situation.
"Now a crisis is upon us, and government must respond without hesitation, to come to the aid of every citizen. Our commerce is frozen and we need to make sure the people have the necessities as we transition through this crisis, without delay...national emergency...Patriot Act...a bunch of other laws we slipped in behind your back in the last eight years while you were watching American Idol...curfews... Consequence Response Management...soylent green…."
Fire insurance from the mafia. Go ahead. Don't buy the insurance. See what happens.
This is why we must stay focused on broadcasting that it is the citizenry saying "No means no", and that we are going to stop this bailout, not the politicians. I bet they are bothered to no end on how much this issue has brought together Americans from across the spectrum. It would seem that we do have a lot in common, after all, especially the instinct that kicks in when we sense that our free will and self-determination is in jeopardy. It's the same instinct that inspired our ancestors and family to cross the ocean into the unknown to seek their liberty, whether four hundred years ago or last month, it's the same instinct that drove out the British and the East India Trading Company in the Revolution, it's the same instinct that drives us to refine our respect for each other, breaking down barriers of slavery and oppression one at a time for the last two hundred years, and it's the same instinct that forged our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And when they see us react with that instinct en masse, they panic, because it scares them. I think they thought we were more subdued than we are. So the media blames it on the Congressional circus.
The only way to restore full faith in the credit of the United States of America is for us to show the world that We the People can control this government, especially this administration. If we demonstrate to them and the world that the bailout was stopped according to our will, then our neighbors may not have to treat us like ogres who have lost their collective minds. This insistance of our self-determination is a threat to those who would rule, but it should be a comfort to those who would lead. We'll see if we have any leaders left. In the meantime, assume not and keep pounding away at this endlesslessly.
Find your Reps: www.congress.org
John Caelan
http://johncaelan.blogspot.com
We don't need a new revolution.
We're in the one that never ends.
Stop the Bailout: The Hostile Takeover of the USA
UPDATE TWO: IT'S NOT OVER!
The headline's oscillate between proclamations of bailout success and dark forebodings--the visual representation of this is conveniently graphed for us on the stock indexes for the day. "See?" they taunt. "See how the market gets better when we say the bailout is at hand? See how it gets worse when word of your stonewalling gets out?"
We cannot let up on the Congress, and, frankly, at this point we should be calling our state representatives as well. We must accept the reality of this situation: This bailout has minimal impact on the American people; it is primarily about paying off foreign interests before the collapse, even if that process is to be heavily veiled and masked by transactions. The $700 billion dollars is nothing in the face of the problem at hand. It is enough to save a few prominent corporations, leaving them in position to sweep up the remnants at fire-sale prices.
The great rush to get this bailout through isn't about saving the markets. It's about sucking in as much capital as possible before the market collapses. As quickly as the Treasury writes the check, the recipient corporations will retrench and shift their money out of the U.S. Dollar. Foreign funds will buy stock rapidly, in companies that hold solid assets, because they need to buy something fast with those dollars.
It is the collapse of the derivitives market that looms, trillions of dollars in "credit default swaps" (62 trillion in the Unites States alone, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association), basically insurance bonds against losses in other credit instruments, bundled and sold over and over again, like some kind of world-wide Ponzi scheme. It's not just the taxpayers holding the bag here; it is mutual funds and pension plans and savers from here and other nations who are all about to get flattened. So far, every time the true market price of these bonds rears its ugly head, it is pennies on the dollar, and this unveiling is what they have been fighting off since Bear Sterns.
The great lie is that this bail out will 'unclog' the credit pipes--as if other people are sitting around with trillions of dollars ready to buy out junk bonds at above-market prices. This is an almost laughable theory being presented to the people of the United States. "If we buy $700,000,000,000 of these bad, severely overvalued bonds at above-market prices, then others will buy the remaining $61.3 trillion of bad, severely overvalued bonds at above market-prices." Right. Come on, kids..Follow the piper down to the river...
But this isn't the dialogue that is happening in the public forum (yeah, I use that loosely). President Bush all but confessed that the sins of the world market seizure are borne by the USA, though he makes it sound like an unforeseen consequence, like all gamblers do when the pot goes the other way. And he did a great job of redirecting attention towards mortgages as the entirety of the problem, instead of merely the first crack in a dam made of cheap clay. What he cannot say is this: "It is the derivatives market that has created hundreds of trillions in false wealth, and it is this market that is imploding. We are entering a severe recession that will result in the collapse and restructuring of the economy in ways you cannot imagine, though many people have imagined it and you probably should have listened more. As far as the bailout, if you knew what we know, you'd be looting, too..."
President Bush met with McCain and Senator Obama today. This isn't about negotiating the bailout; this is about negotiating with the voters. I wish it was different on either front. By the way, President Bush, if you ever wanted to have your Anakin Skywalker moment, veto the bill no matter what and tell people what's really going on. Your father would become a footnote...
There is not enough money in the world to circumvent a massive correction in the market. Literally. That's the problem. There is not a lot of money, actual wealth, at all. There are just a lot of people saying they have money. They hold up a bond that's worth six cents and declare, "This is worth a dollar." You think it is a damnable offense that some family lies on a mortgage application, exaggerating assets, to get a loan? Corporations like Lehman, Fannie and Freddie, AIG, and the whole line up yet to come all did this to the tune of hundreds of billions. But with every default, more of these toxic bonds get found out. You see, the corporations aren't really losing money; they are just being forced to reveal that they didn't have the money in the first place. This is why "the credit" has come to a standstill. That is the usual consequence of lying to your creditors...
Your friends and family must understand these things and take action. We need whatever flimsy credit we have left to help our fellow taxpayers when misfortune lands upon them above and beyond the sum of their choices. That's why we pool our money, that's why we hire these people to manage the People's operations. We, as a nation, need to seriously review our hiring practices...
