How do you like your police officers with machine guns?

This past month on the 24th of April, the New York police department began patrolling the New York City transit system armed with 9mm machine guns, rifles and bomb sniffing dogs. This increased "security" is part of a 50% increase in a homeland security grant, but I beg to differ this makes anyone more secure.

First off, machine guns don't mix well with crowded settings, that is if you're actually trying to protect people, and then you're trusting the judgment of the officer. Do you trust the NYPD to act with caution, when time and again the police are cited for brutality? Look not further back than to the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell, the 23 year old groom to be, who, upon exiting a strip club was shot dead by three undercover police officers who'd been investigating an underground prostitution ring, claiming they thought that Bell had a gun. Bell was unarmed. The officers unloaded fifty rounds. All three officers involved in the shooting were just found not guilty by the way. These type of acts are condoned.

And this is just one example of police brutality. What we're really experiencing here is the formation of a police state, as our rights have already been eroded. We don't need police officers patrolling the streets with submachine guns. In fact, all this will serve to do is further desensitize the public to such types of "precautionary" enforcement. I mean why not militarize the whole of society? I'm sure we can find potential threats anywhere.

What I'm saying is that we're not that far away from a militarized existence, that were the class structures to break down from, I don't know, the collapse of the dollar, I could see this unaccountable government resorting to militarism. I mean, what would stop it?

What's to stop a submachine gun carrying police officer from misidentifying a potential threat? I know what the true threat is.

The reasons behind all the problems we have: The collapse of America in a nutshell

Never before have our lives moved so quickly, the earth been so highly populated, the rich been this powerful and the world so small. Never before have the stakes been greater for our immediate future and never before has our democratic society been as powerless. We live in a two party system which is a result of a number of factors, but two stand out more than others: Money and Media. And don’t take this lightly; it’s this power structure, the two party system, which is literally leading our country straight to its demise, serving the interests of only a few. Now money and media, what does that mean? Well if you haven’t noticed, the privately owned media outlets in this country, which are nearly all of them, really only cover the two main political parties, save for the occasional brief mention of a third party candidate. And this is intentional, it isn’t by chance. There are vast amounts of wealth concentrated in the hands of a small minority of this country’s population, who have economic and political interests in seeing the republicans and democrats in office, who are really one party, but I’ll get to that in a bit, and neither represents the majority of the people who vote for them. Unsurprisingly some of the wealthiest people on this planet are American media moguls. And just so it’s said, political favor is a two way street, and it’s no coincidence that the wealthiest members of this society have received the greatest in tax breaks over the last 30 years, while capitalism has been almost completely deregulated in that time. You’ve heard of media bias? Well there’s your bias.

The world has become a very hostile place. Some would say it’s always been that way, and for the most part they’d be right. Others might claim that it’s all that ever will be. One thing we can all agree on is the world doesn’t have to be this way, not if we went about things a bit differently. We tend not to tell our stories from the beginning and there are great misconceptions out there on a number of issues where a great deal of life is at stake.

I’m talking of course about issues such as imperialistic warfare, environmental degradation, climate change, special interests, campaign financing, political corruption, the two party system, the rich getting richer while the poor, well, you know. I’m talking about the whole picture, not just bits and pieces, and there is a common thread that ties all these issues together.

At the forefront of all our problems is the economic structure of this country, and I’m not talking capitalism here. Capitalism is different than what we are currently experiencing. We have now entered a state of fascism, it’s just that the current players are different from their historical counterparts. Go Wiki the term when we’re done and you’ll see the correlation.

We don’t live in a complete dictatorship, but as citizens we don’t really have any power.

We elect politicians into office who promise to fight for the man, only to stick it to him once there.

Further our President, while not officially a dictator, has effectively operated as one internationally and domestically, waging an imperialistic war without required congressional declaration, using fear and deception to get his way and infringing on the privacy of our citizens through such unpatriotic acts as the patriot act. We live in a very controlling society, and that’s mostly because our political options are greatly limited.

The American democratic system is broken. Dominated by a two party structure of wealthy elite our system of politics has been overcome by the rich. There are more than two points of view to every argument, but that’s no longer true in this country, not when there are only two dominate political parties in possession of any real power. And what really separates the republicans in office from the democrats? There are a few talking point issues which rarely come into play, but by and large these are wealthy individual politicians who receive lavish fringe benefits in their elected positions, who talk a good game but put profit over social responsibility time and again, looking out for the interests of businesses who contribute to their campaigns and members of their fellow social class, not the interests of you and I. Make no mistake, politics is economics, and everything in this world revolves around money. We American people are not being represented by our politicians, we are being exploited, and the future of our society lies dangerously in the balance.

Back to the economic factors contributing to our democracy’s demise. This fascist capitalism which has driven our economy into this recession, which will most likely lead to an economic depression, nearly 10 trillion dollars in debt already against the gold standard due to an exploitative Federal Reserve, growing at nearly a billion and a half dollars in debt per day, this type of irresponsible controlling fascist capitalism by some of the wealthiest members of our society threatens more than democracy.

Now for a brief examination of the Federal Reserve, how the wealthy are made and who holds the ability to shape politics in this country.

Now why is our economy in so much trouble and what factors are contributing to this? Well to begin with, the Federal Reserve is a network of privately owned banks which run the centralized banking system, which our government has put in charge of creating currency, albeit that wasn’t the original intent of the Federal Reserve act of 1913. The Federal Reserve was originally created as a safety defense mechanism against bank runs, which occur when too many people at once wish to exchange hard currency for gold, a problem only because banks lend out much more money than they actually possess, and currency we tend to forget is based off gold reserves. By creating an interlinking network of banks which could cover for one another in the event of a run, unless all banks are run simultaneously, the centralized banking system essentially insures itself against being run. However there is an offshoot effect to this. Because of this network an economic loophole was created. The Federal Reserve serves as an economic safety net for all banks to pool from, but at the same time, since bank runs are a rarity, banks have exploited this resource and used it to loan out many more times the amount of money they can actually account for, banking on the fact they won’t all be run at once. Think of it this way: The dollars you and I trade in the marketplace are worth only as much gold as there is to back them with. There isn’t enough gold in the Federal Reserve to account for the cash in the marketplace.

So where does money come from and why are we in so much debt? Well prepare for a shocker. Money is created whenever a person takes out a loan from a bank. You’re not actually borrowing money from the bank per se, but are borrowing it against the national debt. This is because banks lend out much more money than they actually have, a la the Federal Reserve. Let’s say you get approved for a loan to buy a house. After being approved the bank literally creates this money out of thin air and charges you with the responsibility of repaying it to the government. The bank keeps the free interest it did nothing to earn, other than being well connected, and most of the money is eventually repaid back to the government, save for the $10 trillion or so that hasn’t been. That’s $10 trillion dollars more in currency than we have gold to back it with, because banks have exploited the system and put the worth of the dollar in peril.

Now let’s take it a step further, just what does all this mean, besides an enormous debt which threatens literally to destroy our economy? Well by having a system which for all practical purposes creates free fortunes for those fortunate enough to be born into wealthy banking families, there is a small portion of this society that is doing nothing to earn their keep, simply given a free ride through life along with the power to shape politics, leeching off the backs of the masses. You’ve heard of money as power? Money is power and the system is set up to keep the rich wealthy. These super powerful Americans are then able to take their free wealth and use it shape politics, assuring that the democrats and republicans in Washington are well kept for preserving their fortunes and the system which sustains this.

What we have here is an unsustainable economy run by the wealthy, supporting a two party system which assures the wealthy continuous wealth. It’s like we’re at a ball or some fancy dinner left on the outside looking in, or worse yet, charged with making the meal, and blamed whenever something goes wrong, despite the fact we wanted nothing to do with the stupid ball in the first place.

That is the reason America we have so many problems. The rich have exploited our economy and driven it to the brink of ruin. And the ignorant label me a communist or socialist for such sentiment without understanding the power of the propaganda they’re coming to that conclusion through. Most are headed for a rude awakening. Not me though, I’ve seen this train wreck coming for a while.

Voting for a democrat or republican is voting for the rich. Now that is throwing a vote away.

Shifting gears

I would like to call attention to the first posting I made for this site defining my overall objective. From June of 2007:

I envision this blog to be a series of essays and commentaries on matters of grave importance affecting the present and future state of the economical machine America. I am fascinated with the concept of the American Dream in regards to the nightmare it has become for the ones who support it's existence, and furthermore for how real of a dream it may actually be for the ones who do currently prosper. I do not see our position as the leading global power lasting forever, and feel that our time at the top may be nearer than further to an end, especially with the abuses that occur globally and nationally to support the pursuit of the American Dream. I will delve into accepted thought and offer a revisionist's view on the current state of affairs, highlighting the wrongs that come from the unchecked pursuit of wealth and material gain. This blog will serve as a watchdog over the abuses that stem from the elite, and in general, as a watchdog over the under reported issues normally ignored by the rating inspired media conglomerates. I will hold those accountable whose pursuits encroach upon the personal liberties of others, and illustrate the interconnectivity of the seemingly separate issues affecting our society. I invite you to become a part of a revolution and help push money aside in pursuit of the truth. Education is our only hope.

I recognize the value of journalism, the process of informing the public what is occurring in the surrounding world through objective reporting, and when I began this site I envisioned this form of journalism as being a way to affect change by looking at issues from a revisionist perspective. But I have recently come to the conclusion that calling for change and making change happen are two entirely different things, and we are much more in need of the latter.

I will continue to post from time and again on here, when something strikes me as essential to revise, but for the time being my twice a week pace will more than likely be reduced to once per month. I am undertaking a new project, one involving a series of documentaries surrounding a revolutionary concept I will discuss on here once the project in further along.

I bring up my first posting because of the following line from above:

"I will hold those accountable whose pursuits encroach upon the personal liberties of others"

That is the overall plan.

Check back once per month. I'll shoot for the first.

Knowing this can't go on forever

What troubles me most about the world we live in, particularly in regards to consumerism and the driving force behind this of capitalism, is that we are on a one way road to our end in regards to what this planet can sustain, and we are doing it at breakneck speeds. Start crunching some numbers and it becomes painfully obvious that consumerist capitalism will bring about our end. To begin with scientists have estimated that the earth can sustainably support 1.5 billion people, and while we're at roughly 6.5 billion people worldwide today, the Earth's population will hit 7 billion people sometime around 2012. Doing some basic math we will be just under 5 times the sustainable limit come 2012, and that number will only continue to increase at a continually greater pace as more human beings are born and continue to breed. And with this increased population comes increased consumption.

So knowing that we're already overpopulating the planet and living beyond our means, you'd think the accepted wisdom would be to scale back our consumption and live sustainably, but the opposite is true and it's capitalism which is driving this. Look no further than the amount of aluminum cans consumed in this country. Americans consume 106,000 aluminum cans every 30 seconds, coming out to 305,280,000 every day, which taking it one step further equates to 111,427,200,000 aluminum cans every year. That's 111 billion per year, of which only a fraction of the aluminum used comes from recycling, and this is only counting the consumption in the United States. Currently less than 50% of aluminum cans are recycled after consumption.

http://www.container-recycling.org/images/alum/graphs/recrate-percent-96-06.gif

Now where does capitalism come into the equation? Not long ago mankind lived without Mountain Dew. We didn't have Pepsi and Coke invading our living rooms and intruding every second of the living day into our lives, urging us to buy and consume more and more, altering the markets demand. We didn't have marketing teams brainstorming ways into subliminally manipulating consumers into purchasing their products, brainwashing by another name, but business as usual in modern capitalist America. We once had a system that worked on supply and demand, though with the societal changes we have undergone through this wasteful consumerism we have culturally embraced, now, essentially, the market supplies the demand! And that is where wasteful products like soda, which make up most of the aluminum can consumption, conflicts with our better interests.

And why is it wasteful you ask? Soda isn't a beneficial product. Not to be the fun police but soda is one of the main reasons behind American obesity, which is mainly due to high fructose corn syrup used in producing it. I once saw a graph which showed the sharp increase in obesity in this country during the 1980's coincide perfectly with another line which charted the introduction of high fructose corn syrup into our diet. And while soda may be something to sip on, there are other alternatives which are not as commercially driven or commercially available, which do not come onto us as forcibly as socially acceptable. Soda is everywhere. It's what many people drink because it's what they always have, introduced to it early in childhood and used to it ever since. It's what they see other people drinking through images on TV and in print which create a sense of normalcy in the consumerist mindset, and it's this which pushes people to consume. People drink so much soda because there is so much soda available, as it's cheap and profitable, and therefor plentiful. They drink it not so much because they like it, but because they've been conditioned to use it. And the end effect is we wastefully consume this product, while mankind survived contented for ages on non-commercialized beverages.

My point isn't to outlaw soda but to point out how much of a consumerist product it is and why it's become that way. There is a very deceptive connection between over consumption and capitalism, and 106,000 cans every 30 seconds says enough. That's more than a soda per day for every American, though I recognize that not every aluminum can accounts for a soda, though not every American uses a can, meaning many are using more than one. That's excessive, not the way it was and not the way it should be, but is the result of commercial capitalism and the excessive amounts of products it produces. And just to tie it all together all those cans have to go somewhere, and aluminum cans are the tip of the capitalist landfill. We have a very serious garbage problem on this planet, and it's only going to get worse if we continue to embrace this consumerist capitalist system. This can't go on forever. Somebody is going to have to deal with it. That's why revolution is inevitable. The question is how long should we allow this to drag out?

Bankruptcy law and the system which condones it

To say that I am opposed to the interests of Business and Industry is to phrase it lightly, that I'm in the favor of equality and justice would be to phrase it better. One mustn't look hard into the corporate world to find corruption and deception in action, to find rules that favor the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the rest. Corruption is everywhere though in many cases what should be constituted as illegal is in fact legal on the books, and few places is this more apparent than in the world of bankruptcy.

I've been devoting a lot of my time recently to studying the W.R. Grace-Libby, Montana story, and the ways that the executives at W.R. Grace were able to divest their holdings into the pockets of shareholders and smaller companies they spun themselves off into is absolutely appalling. The year W.R. Grace declared bankruptcy Grace CEO Paul Norris earn $3.4 million. Before that Grace spun their assets off into two subsidiaries: the National Medical Care company and Cryovac, freeing themselves of assets that would be seized in the event of an expansive lawsuit, should they be found guilty. Thus what was left of Grace from the billions earned off the health of those miners amounted to a pittance to help clean up the town and aid the health of the victims they effectively assaulted. And then there's the millions bled to the shareholders, who put their own financial interests above the very families and town they used to profit off of, who as victims are the ones in real need of financial dividends.

These executives deserved to be jailed and all their assets sold to cover the destruction they wrought. The shareholders should be forced to repay what they bled, and if it means garnishing their assets then so be it. Don't forget W.R. Grace and all those involved at the management level knew exactly what they were doing and intentionally, deceptively exposed their workers and their workers' families to what they knew was a deadly substance, and there is a paper trail a mile long to confirm this, which is quite blatant throughout in how they went about discussing what they knew and what they could do to circumvent the law. My point is this is absurd! This company has ruined so many lives, brought billions of dollars in damage to a town they profited handsomely off of and their response has been to take the money and run. But to blame the company is shortsighted, it's the system which has allowed them to get away with this. If we lived in any type of a just society, bad businesses like this would be driven out of existence and the employees would be criminally held liable for intentionally disregarding public welfare in favor of profit, but here in the United States the accepted practice heralded by the elite is to do whatever is possible to keep such businesses in operation because they are capable of generating large amounts of cash. Thus money reigns supreme, which ultimately is the cause of our problems. The only solution is to completely overhaul the system through a more liberal economic stance. We'd have a little less money but a whole lot more.

Nearly 20 years later Exxon Valdez heads to Supreme Court

After 19 years of bureaucratic finagling, one of the largest environmental disasters in modern history will finally get it's day in the highest court. I'm of course referring to Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, the Exxon Valdez oil spill case which happened all the way back in 1989, when I was in first grade. To date Exxon Mobil has pulled in hundreds of billions of dollars in profit since that time, roughly $40 billion alone in 2007, yet they have been successful avoiding payment of the $5 billion in punitive damages levied against them in 1994. Since that time the fine has been cut in half to 2.5 billion after bouncing back and forth between court systems. The disaster created irreparable damage to both industry and the environment alike. The operator of the tanker was intoxicated at the time.

I'm at a point now where I'm less troubled by the actual act than I am by the bureaucratic and fascist institutions which have allowed it to go this long unpunished. If we lived in any type of a just society, negligent companies like Exxon Mobil would atone for their mistakes, and if the economic costs were too high, they would simply be put out of business, their assets sold to cover the damages, like we do to the poor in this country who default on loans. But instead in our backwards, pro-business society, such companies use the legal system and their manipulative know-how to circumvent such justice, and we are left with for-profit institutions who do as they please without any serious legal ramifications hanging overhead, for their precious capital is protected by a like minded government. And even if Exxon ends up paying out here, the fine will not take into account the 19 years of lost interest the victims in Alaska have experienced, 19 years of interest Exxon Mobil managed to turn into hundreds of billions of dollars. America, this is fascism, and it's our economy which has led us to here.

Worthless American values and other complaints

There are few greater indications of how backwards our society has become, with misplaced values both socially and economically, than in the fortunes spent and made photographing and capitalizing off the children of celebrities. I fail to see why such photographs should or could matter to anybody, but I'm apparently in the minority here with such lucrative deals being struck.

It's being reported that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have worked out a deal in the area of a $6 million contract to give People magazine exclusive rights to publish photos of their recently born twins. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt secured $4 million from People in 2006 to photograph their child, and Christina Aguilera recently secured $1.5 million from People to run a cover photo of her son. What extremely worthless wastes of resources, both human and economic! It's beyond troubling that our society is fascinated and drawn in by such trivial and worthless forms of entertainment, if that's what it's to be called, what with the numerous global and social concerns that should be occupying our collective conscious. Think of how many people worldwide those millions of dollars could feed, but that is not the direction of American capitalism.

Not to be such a downer but I just don't get it. There are real life atrocities occurring out there, real human beings dying from the lack of basic medical treatment worldwide, millions starving to death, an ignorant public unwilling to react to a factually changing global climate, millions more dying in imperialistic wars driven by morally corrupt governments, and here in America we give a shit what the children of celebrities look like and spend our resources here. We put our attention here, our values here, and pretend that we live worthwhile existences. I may be American but I don't identify with this culture. It's just sad that such children are exploited for millions of dollars in this country, and the masses gobble it up, seemingly unaware or unconcerned with what it all means.