Showing posts with label profit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label profit. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Sane vs Mindlessly Angry: A Rebuttal

Staff Writer, DL Mullan
Government / Council on Foreign Relations 
_______________________________________

What have the elite really accomplished that is not worth the masses ire?

I for one cannot find one redeeming quality of the elite social and political class and I am one of them. I can trace my family through a long line of old world nobility, including early Kings of Britain, and some of the most beloved, Kings and Queens of Scotland and France. For one instance of familial lineage, the Thornton Chart can be used to show my family's royal lineage linked to the Earl of Warren that goes back to William the Conquerer in 1066. I know others with more distinguished pedigrees than mine. Royal and aristocratic lineages are robust in the American story, and those instances are not even counting the bastards. So you will speak to We the People with respect.

What happened in 1776 with the birth our nation: the United States of America became a level playing field. Descendants of royalty, aristocracy, and the peasant classes coexisted as equals. With the combination of a common goal to make this the greatest nation on the Earth, We the People achieved greatness.

Not because we are perfect. Not because we haven’t had our social squabbles. Because we are the makers of our own destiny. We are the Sovereigns. We are the royal class.

You, the elite, are supposed to work for us, not for your demented proclivities.

The “sane” elite as you call yourselves have done nothing since 1776 but to undermine our achievements at every turn: If it weren’t for funding both sides of wars to bankrupt our nation... If it weren’t for injecting yourselves into our monetary, political, and social systems in order to dominate and enslave us... If it weren't for creating social classes to control us... If it weren't for your agenda for the world to steal wealth from us... We the People would have lifted the entire world to create a utopia for every man, woman, and child.

We the People of the Earth are not responsible for the elite’s increasing and massive pollution, destruction, and manipulation in order to self ingratiate at the cost of others, their nations, and the Earth herself. You, the supposed “sane” elite, have treated the Earth like vandals, then blame your ignorance and malignity on the rest of us.

No more. We the People are tired of your blatant disrespect and lack of leadership. True leaders do not dumb down others and blame those others for being “mindlessly angry.” We have a right to be angry. True leaders uplift their people to be greater than the generation before them. True leaders educate, inform, and guide. True leaders create wealth and equality for all.

Tyrants are the opposite. Tyrants create strife for social control. Tyrants make activities like gardening, rain water collection, and feeding the homeless illegal. Tyrants spray the sky causing pollution, disease, droughts, extreme weather events, and ozone depletion and blame it on everyone else but the elite’s own idiocy. Tyrants poison the air, water, and food supply in order to reduce the population while making money on the pharmaceuticals that not only do not cure people but kill them quicker. Tyrants cause problems so they can enact their profiteering solutions to the public problems they create. Tyrants are so blinded by their own hubris that they do not see why in the world the rest of us are fucking pissed off.

The problem with the top 1% of the 1% is that you all are ignorant fools. What have you done all your lives but change laws so that the rest of us supplement your extravagant lifestyles while you blame us for your own inadequacies? The elite have become parasitic useless eaters of the resources that belong to We the People.

What have you done with your life? I matriculated at higher learning institutions while holding down a full time job, owning my own home, putting my younger sibling through college, and taking care of an disabled elderly parent. All beginning at the age of 24. I am polymathic and renaissance as I have degrees in geology, biology, small business, history, teaching, learning, technology, as part of my arts, liberal studies, and education degrees. Not to mention my abilities in journalism, creative writing, poetry, art, lecturing, and publishing.

What have you done?

You, the elite, have put your feet up on our backs, told us what to do, and contrived a system that belittles the masses. All for soothing of your depraved egos. That does not make the masses mindlessly angry. That is a natural and healthy reaction to an abusive relationship.

The elite have not held up their end of the bargain: better jobs, better future, better education. The elite are failures. The bread basket of the United States can feed the world four times over, yet there are starving children and families all over this Earth. Tell me why? Why do we need vaccines that are full of mercury and other poisons when disease is corrected by good nutrition, ecologically sound farming practices, and good soil maintenance? Instead the elite have given the masses: pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetically modified foods. The elite said these products would expand food production and solve world hunger. Liars.

If the elites were so “sane,” then why is Fukushima still an issue? If you are so smart, then solve that problem today, but I bet even in your groupthink think tanks no one can come up with the solution to just bury that fiasco with cement and give Japan green technologies that would support their island population.

Oh no, the elite cannot do that. Technologies that do not produce funds through scheming like smart meters are, of course, undermined or made outright illegal.

So how are the elite in any way more than corrupt, evil parasites that live off the biggest ponzi scheme funded welfare system the world has ever seen? Bank cartels, real estate bubbles, Wall Street gambling, and the laws and regulations that support the funneling of wealth from the bottom 99% to the top 1% of the 1% are your welfare meal tickets.

President Obama whines on television that Donald Trump who has built his empire through hard work and treating people with respect is an elitist? Give We the People a break. An elitist has billions, trillions of dollars locked away in accounts that will never see an audit or a tax form. We the People understand fully who the elite actually are: spoiled, angry despots.

The true welfare class are the elites that sip champagne while a mother of three working at the local fast food joint cannot even earn a living wage. When in reality, the elite owe We the People more money than they will ever be able to pay back... national debt, my ass.

The only insane people are the ones who write for elite journals like the Council of Foreign Relations’ publication: Foreign Policy complaining about how We the People do not appreciate that you, the elite, have completely and utterly failed as a political and social class because of your hubris, selfishness, and inability to do one thing right.

So the question is: what has the elite class done? What did you do today besides wreck havoc on the world markets to blame Brexit as a temper tantrum to make you feel better? Was the stomping of your feet all you did or did you get your nails done too?

We the People are not mindlessly angry. We know full well what has been going on over the generations while you feign wars and terrorist attacks to try and divert us from your complete lack of skills and abilities to run even a push mower.

Grow the hell up and get off the stage. The elites are way passed their expiration date. Each one of you needs to be indicted, arrested, convicted, wealth that was stolen confiscated, and then hung in every town square around the world to warn other elite psychos of what happens to traitors.

The mindlessly angry masses have a world to clean up and We the People are tired of your useless bigotry getting in the way of our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Now shut up, whiner. You have nothing to complain about from your Ivory Tower. We the People do have a list of grievances. Maybe it's about time the elite abdicate their rotting thrones. 

You are no longer relevant.



Source: Foreign Policy   

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Agnotology: Ignorance is Power

Staff Writer, DL Mullan
Ignorance / Confusion 
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Are you confused about world events? politics? public policy? You are not alone. Governments and corporations employ tactics  to keep the public discourse and political landscape on uneven ground for power and profit:
Agnotology is the study of wilful acts to spread confusion and deceit, usually to sell a product or win favour
In the article: The Man who Studies the Spread of Ignorance*, we learn how and why this wilful spread of ignorance is so important to the criminal mind.
“I was exploring how powerful industries could promote ignorance to sell their wares. Ignorance is power… and agnotology is about the deliberate creation of ignorance.

“In looking into agnotology, I discovered the secret world of classified science, and thought historians should be giving this more attention.” 
But this spread of ignorance and confusion happens in more than the commercial sphere, it happens in the political one as well:
Proctor explains that ignorance can often be propagated under the guise of balanced debate. For example, the common idea that there will always be two opposing views does not always result in a rational conclusion. This was behind how tobacco firms used science to make their products look harmless, and is used today by climate change deniers to argue against the scientific evidence.

“This ‘balance routine’ has allowed the cigarette men, or climate deniers* today, to claim that there are two sides to every story, that ‘experts disagree’ – creating a false picture of the truth, hence ignorance.”
Have you been in the middle of this type of agnotology? It is more common than you realize. 

If you want to keep ahead of the spread of ignorance, then be sure to fact check everything you see, hear, and read. 

The truth is out there.

*Oh and by the way, BBC, there is no climate change based on facts and science. So in your article cited above you allowed two different types of agnotological references to create fallacies in your argument, but good try anyway.

Source: BBC

Monday, November 10, 2014

The Federal Reserve Act Shows How Privately Held Companies Harm American Public Interests

Staff Writer, R. Patrick Chapman
Government / Federal Reserve Act
____________________________________

How the Sixty-Third Congress. Session II. Chapters 4-6: The Federal Reserve Act - Dec. 23, 1913 document shows how the Federal Reserve was already plotting the demise the US Dollar before the Great Depression:



Elastic currency -- Elastic currency is currency the volume of which would be regulated automatically by the demands of business.  Can you say Qualitative Easing?

Rediscounting Commercial Paper -- An unsecured, short-term debt instrument issued by a corporation, typically for the financing of accounts receivable, inventories and meeting short-term liabilities. Maturities on commercial paper rarely range any longer than 270 days. The debt is usually issued at a discount, reflecting prevailing market interest rates. Can you say Stock Market gambling with the dollar without the need of that pesky SEC? 

How the dollar has been devalued as commercial paper:
How much lower is today's dollar value? In 1913 you could buy as much with a dollar as you can with $23.63 in 2014, more than 100 years later. By 1920, the dollar had lost about half its value, and was worth $11.48 in today's value. Deflation (the opposite of inflation) during the Great Depression of 1929 increased the value of the dollar to $13.43. By 1940, the dollar was worth even more -- it could buy as much as $16.40 could today.

By 1950, the dollar's value had dropped even lower than before the Depression. It was worth only $9.53. It has fallen ever since:
1960 = $7.76
1970 = $5.92
1980 = $2.79
1990 = $1.76
2000 = $1.33
2010 - $1.05.(Source: CPI Inflation Calculator)
Why did we need a private corporation overseeing our monetary system? Because the ploy of problem reaction solution to privatized American interests for a complete takeover of the United States appears to be the goal.

Corporate agents within the government cause havoc and public mistrust in the so-called incompetent government. The people outcry is met with a predetermined solution: private corporations will fix the corruption and return the country to a better way of life. However, corporations do not have the best interest of the People in mind. Corporations have shareholders, stakeholders, and in the case of the Federal Reserve banking system intertwined families. It is all about profit.

For more information, read the VDP Gazette's article:  Who is Running America?

Because it certainly is not the American People.


Source: Congressional Record , Teach Me Finance, Investopedia, About News

Monday, June 9, 2014

Cash Deposits Now Require Fee Charges at Some Banks

Staff Writer, R. Patrick Chapman
Banks / Finance / Glass-Steagall Act
______________________________

It has begun. The crime of cash has manifested at Chase Bank. With bail-outs and now bail-ins, the brunt of sustaining the multinational banks lays at the feet of customers. 

No longer is banking profitable. The Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act limits what fees can and cannot be levied leaving banks feeling the pinch.
The Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation capped debit card interchange fees for banks with assets of $10 billion. Credit card and prepaid card interchange fees were not regulated. The cap, which took effect on October 11, 2011, cut the average interchange fee for covered banks from $0.50 to $0.24 per transaction.
The cap reduced annual revenues from interchange fees by between $6 billion and $8 billion. Covered banks have recouped these losses in indirect ways. In particular, they have:

- Reduced the availability of fee-free current accounts. The total number of banks offering free current accounts fell by 50% between 2009 and 2013. In comparison, fee-free banking actually increased at banks not subject to the Durbin Amendment.
- More than doubled the minimum monthly holding required on fee-free current accounts between 2009 and 2012, from around $250 to over $750.
- Doubled average monthly fees on (non-free) current accounts between 2009 and 2013, from around $6 to more than $12.
- These fee increases and loss of access to free checking contributed to an increase in the unbanked population of approximately 1 million people, mainly among low-income families.
- Consumers have shifted their payment usage from debit cards to credit and prepaid cards, which were not subjected to price controls.

Most large retailers have seen significant cost reductions as a result of the Durbin Amendment, yet to date there is no evidence that those cost savings have been passed-through to consumers. Interchange fees have increased for merchants that make small-ticket transactions, as networks have eliminated discounts that they previously received, and smaller merchants have not seen any reduction in their merchant discount rates. Thus, while consumers have seen large and immediate increases in the cost of bank accounts, to date there is no evidence of reduced prices at the pump or checkout. We estimate that as a result of the Durbin Amendment, there will be a transfer of $1 billion to $3 billion annually from low-income households to large retailers and their shareholders, which have been the primary beneficiaries of the Durbin Amendment to date.
Instead of creating revenue with the large accounts of wealthier clients, Chase has opted to charge anyone for depositing cash. The banks want to stop the fear that bank runs are near due to the recurrent recession and coming economic collapse of the PetroDollar.

It's okay for banks to trash the economies of the world, deepen financial uncertainty, create unstable job markets, and monetize debt based derivatives, but do not dare control how banks rip off customers with fees.

Perhaps if Congress reinstituted the Glass-Steagall Act that banks could be broken up into their regulatory sectors, banking/finance versus speculation/gambling, and then banking with accounts could become profitable again. 
As a result of the bank closings [of 1933] and the already devastated economy, public confidence in the U.S. financial structure was low. In order to restore the banking public's confidence that banks would follow reasonable banking practices, Congress created the Glass-Steagall Act. The act forced a separation of commercial and investment banks by preventing commercial banks from underwriting securities, with the exception of U.S. Treasury and federal agency securities, and municipal and state general-obligation securities. Likewise, investment banks may not engage in the business of receiving deposits.

Investment banking consists mostly of securities underwriting and related activities; making a market in securities; and setting up corporate mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring. Investment banking also includes services provided by brokers or dealers in transactions in the secondary market.

The Glass-Steagall Act restored public confidence in banking practices during the Great Depression. However, many historians believe that the commercial bank securities practices of the time had little actual effect on the already devastated economy and were not a major contributor to the Depression. Some legislators and bank reformers argued that the act was never necessary, or that it had become outdated and should be repealed.
And Americans saw how outdated the Glass-Steagall Act when the law was repealed and the economic crash of 2008 occurred. Of course big business can regulate itself for the good of the people. Not.

Just like in the past where once bank accounts, free ones included and depositing cash, was after all how the banks became Too Big To Fail, so how is it that going back to such a rudimentary system is now unprofitable in this private sector?

Sounds like the banks do not want to abide by the rules or the rule of law. Another bubble is about to burst taking with it the rest of the economy. When will Congress learn that large corporations must be regulated? At this point in corporate greed and lawlessness, never. Congress is lobbied too heavily to do the right thing.

So keep your bounty of pennies in your mattresses. 

It's probably safer there anyway.


Source: Occupy Corporatism, SSRN, The  NY Times