<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">The Baseline Scenario report has Simon Johnson's view of the underlying economics.<div><a href="http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=1117">http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=1117</a></div><div><br></div><div>Regarding the notion of an entrenched cadre of individuals, amassing and holding onto unimaginable wealth and power <b>at any cost to the rest of the planet</b>, recall work by Peter Phillips and Project Censored on the Global Dominance Group.</div><div><a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/the-global-dominance-group/">http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/the-global-dominance-group/</a></div><div><br></div><div>I think Bill Moyers and Simon (IMF) Johnson are still bumping around <b>inside the box</b>. 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,<b> going to private banks</b> 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 [<i>what a relief</i>].... And so on.</div><div><br></div><div>1. There are at least as many <b>threats to individual liberty in these times from the private sector</b> 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... </div><div><br></div><div>2. I don't think the current mess will be resolved until we realize <b>it's not about money</b>. The recent discussion on this list about where we put our personal energy, our time, our hearts - that's the <b>real currency of the human race</b>. 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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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:</div><div><br></div><div><b><i>How can we get the economy growing again?</i></b></div><div><div><br><div><div>This assumes a) we want the economy to grow, b) we want an economy, and c) there is some agreement of who "we" are.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>How do they face their children?</div><div><a href="http://growthmadness.org/2006/12/29/how-do-they-face-their-children/">http://growthmadness.org/2006/12/29/how-do-they-face-their-children/</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>On Feb 17, 2009, at 7:24 PM, Mike Kirk wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">I saw part of this - very honest and to the point. <br><br>Americans need to realize we are not immune from financial turmoil.<br><br>-Mike<br><br>--- On <b>Tue, 2/17/09, Chuck Minne <i><<a href="mailto:mincam2@yahoo.com">mincam2@yahoo.com</a>></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">From: Chuck Minne <<a href="mailto:mincam2@yahoo.com">mincam2@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject: [CitizensTruth] Are we chumps?<br>To: <a href="mailto:citizenstruth@six.pairlist.net">citizenstruth@six.pairlist.net</a><br>Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 6:26 PM<br><br><div id="yiv2035269612"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; -x-system-font: none;" valign="top"><div>This is worth watching:</div> <div> </div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html">http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><pre><br></pre></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></div></div></div></body></html>