[CitizensTruth] Are we chumps?

[Hal Snyder]

The Baseline Scenario report has Simon Johnson's view of the  
underlying economics.
http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=1117

Regarding the notion of an entrenched cadre of individuals, amassing  
and holding onto unimaginable wealth and power at any cost to the rest  
of the planet, recall work by Peter Phillips and Project Censored on  
the Global Dominance Group.
http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/the-global-dominance-group/

I think Bill Moyers and Simon (IMF) Johnson are still bumping around  
inside the box. For example the chuckling over how we clearly don't  
want the government running the banks, imagine going to the bank being  
like a visit to the DMV, ha ha ha. Actually, going to private banks  
these days is very much like a visit to the DMV where I live. Also:  
when the government intervenes on a failing (small) bank, the bank is  
promptly re-privatized [what a relief].... And so on.

1. There are at least as many threats to individual liberty in these  
times from the private sector as there are from the government. Or  
have we taken our eyes off: Monsanto,  Choicepoint, Blackwater,  
Pharma, big media, the health insurance industry, predatory lenders,  
etc...

2. I don't think the current mess will be resolved until we realize  
it's not about money. The recent discussion on this list about where  
we put our personal energy, our time, our hearts - that's the real  
currency of the human race. It's time to shake off decades of free- 
market brainwashing and acknowledge higher human principles than  
greed. And not just acknowledge these principles, but elevate them as  
our greatest aspirations.

Putting a dollar amount on every object or act or creature, and  
somehow expecting whims of human commerce (the free market) to produce  
a just or sustainable result makes about as much sense to me as making  
big decisions based on which way the wind blows.

3. Derrick Jensen says that if someone can slide insane premises past  
you, they can use flawless logic to take you to an insane conclusion.  
For example:

How can we get the economy growing again?

This assumes a) we want the economy to grow, b) we want an economy,  
and c) there is some agreement of who "we" are.

Jensen gives reasons we might say no to a) and b) and suggests that  
"we", the implied beneficiaries of a growing economy, leaves out much  
of the human race as well as most other life on the planet.

How do they face their children?
http://growthmadness.org/2006/12/29/how-do-they-face-their-children/


On Feb 17, 2009, at 7:24 PM, Mike Kirk wrote:


> I saw part of this - very honest and to the point.

>

> Americans need to realize we are not immune from financial turmoil.

>

> -Mike

>

> --- On Tue, 2/17/09, Chuck Minne <mincam2 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Chuck Minne <mincam2 at yahoo.com>

> Subject: [CitizensTruth] Are we chumps?

> To: citizenstruth at six.pairlist.net

> Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 6:26 PM

>

> This is worth watching:

>

> http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html

>

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