To intelligently discuss any aspect of this country’s history or make sense of US foreign and domestic policies today requires that one take into account the sheer power that centralized wealth (money and property) wields at home and abroad in its ability to corrupt (some would say, legitimately buy) the legislative process. Money + Property = Power. And as we know, power corrupts and is quite addictive. More, the assholes cry.
And our Constitution pretty much assured that we’d be looking on what we look at today.
When this country was founded, there were two major blocks of Capital here, Southern Agricultural and Northern Industrial/Shipping. At the time of our “revolution”, their purpose was united in ridding themselves of the British Taxman and installing themselves his place. It didn’t take them long to understand that a centralized Taxman was necessary if any one of the 13 colonies were going to survive in a world of global powers. Thus, the Constitution.
It was a document designed to protect Southern Capital from Northern Capital and, until the War of Northern Aggression, it did a pretty good job of protecting states rights. Lincoln, ever the lawyer, contended that those rights did not extend to walking off with most of the nation’s agriculture, 3/4 of its coastline along with control of the Ohio/Mississippi, the Caribbean and Mexico. Or that they might attract a few border states to join the fun. If that happened, the USG would have ended up back in Philadelphia.
SC, however, was based on slavery which over time had lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Without the ire of the abolitionist movement fueling the Northern cause, the South could have held the North to an easy stalemate. Instead, the South was reduced to third world status and SC was either destroyed or consumed by NC AND the USG was left in its debt , which is to say, NC owned the USG.
Shortly (23 yrs) thereafter, SCOTUS granted corporations citizenship and … ta-da … here we are.
I see somebody’s been reading his Marx. Marx’s problem was that he grabbed a handful of tail and thought he had the whole elephant. Sure there are economic groups in society that have opposing interests. But that doesn’t mean everything reduces down to Capital vs Labor.
Because there are other groupings in society: Black vs White, Men vs Women, Old vs Young, Left vs Right, North vs South, East vs West, Native vs Immigrant, City vs Country, Farm vs Factory, Owner vs Renter, Catholic vs Protestant, French vs English, Team Edward vs Team Jacob. And people that are opponents on one issue may be allies on another.
In the end, it does and I will try to explain below.
Quite so. And this is the genius of the system. If you can keep 90% of the population (the poor and producers) arguing among themselves in culture wars and local self- interest, the wealthy 10% (the parasites) can walk off with the treasury.
There was a time when labor relations in this country amounted to federal goon squads breaking up strikes and labor organizations. Over time, much like slavery, this approach became politically untenable. Unions organized and were eventually responsible for the rise of our middle-class consumer society. Once women and blacks were legally declared consumers, unions had lost any real value and the war on the middle-class and unions commenced in earnest with Reagan’s supply-side economics, corporate deregulation and the destruction of the Air Traffic Controllers Union.
Why should anyone take you seriously when you are spouting this kind of bullshit? The wealthy 10% in the US are ‘parasites’? The bottom 90% are the poor and the producers?? It’s like we are in a fantasy timewarp…
And most of us are. Oh, it’s easy not to recognize when someone in this country who retires on minimum SS and lives below the poverty level has a govt guaranteed income that is in the top 14% of the world’s population plus rent subsidies, Medicare and Medicaid and food stamps. These guys are not dumb.
:eek: But…but he makes such a nice foot rest! Besides, how else could I light my $1000 fine Cuban cigars if I couldn’t scratch the matches across his back? Plus, his hand is perfect for me to set my glass of fine 200 year old scotch on, when I’m kicking back and relaxing.
Oh…and he has another hand that makes a really great ash tray! Are you sure I need to fire him??
“Also called sonogram or ultrasound, is a non invasive method to visualize internal organs utilizing sound waives. Depending on what needs to be visualized, it can be performed with probes that are applied to the skin or introduced in the vagina, rectum or urethra. …”
Um, okay.
Or mutant, hyper-stupid space alien platypus-like beings may have gotten it, ehe?
Are you sure about that top 3%? Or did you mean top 1%? Top 100th of 1% Or is it some other figure you pulled out of your ass? And, the key questions are…did you wipe afterward? And wash your hands? Please tell me you did…