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Finding a way out of the the seemingly permanent global economic crisis is going to require looking at the factors that got us there. Noam Chomsky opines that the downfall really started in the 1970’s and has been on an ever increasing spiral of ruin ever since. One of the interesting parts of his article has to do with the division of the people into the Plutocrats and the Precariat.
“Plutonomy refers to the rich, those who buy luxury goods and so on, and that’s where the action is. They claimed that their plutonomy index was way outperforming the stock market. As for the rest, we set them adrift. We don’t really care about them. We don’t really need them. They have to be around to provide a powerful state, which will protect us and bail us out when we get into trouble, but other than that they essentially have no function. These days they’re sometimes called the “precariat” – people who live a precarious existence at the periphery of society. Only it’s not the periphery anymore. It’s becoming a very substantial part of society in the United States and indeed elsewhere. And this is considered a good thing.
So, for example, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, at the time when he was still “Saint Alan” – hailed by the economics profession as one of the greatest economists of all time (this was before the crash for which he was substantially responsible) – was testifying to Congress in the Clinton years, and he explained the wonders of the great economy that he was supervising. He said a lot of its success was based substantially on what he called “growing worker insecurity”. If working people are insecure, if they’re part of the precariat, living precarious existences, they’re not going to make demands, they’re not going to try to get better wages, they won’t get improved benefits. We can kick ’em out, if we don’t need ’em. And that’s what’s called a “healthy” economy, technically speaking. And he was highly praised for this, greatly admired.
So the world is now indeed splitting into a plutonomy and a precariat – in the imagery of the Occupy movement, the 1 per cent and the 99 per cent. Not literal numbers, but the right picture. Now, the plutonomy is where the action is and it could continue like this.
If it does, the historic reversal that began in the 1970s could become irreversible. That’s where we’re heading. And the Occupy movement is the first real, major, popular reaction that could avert this. But it’s going to be necessary to face the fact that it’s a long, hard struggle. You don’t win victories tomorrow. You have to form the structures that will be sustained, that will go on through hard times and can win major victories. And there are a lot of things that can be done.”
Can we stem the tide? We must, otherwise our struggle will become the struggle of our children.
What do you get when you cross moving to a new house, getting a new dog and still working fulltime? Yes, sadly you guessed it a light blogging week. Please accept my apologies, but unpacking is eating up all of my time thus the posts this week barring any works from the DWR stable of writers, are going to be short and sweet. This fine Victoria day, please sit back and enjoy some humour at the expense of our beloved conservative government.
Spit in the eye of religious stupidity. Proclaim a mighty “Frack You!” to the people who seriously believe in screwed up shite. Mark Twain said it best:
“Will a day come when the race will detect the funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at them–and by laughing at them destroy them? For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon–laughter. Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution–these can lift at a colossal humbug,–push it a little– crowd it a little–weaken it a little, century by century: but only Laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of Laughter nothing can stand.”
– “The Chronicle of Young Satan,” Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts
And of course, let us not forget the blasphemy itself – Enjoy!
Err…may 20th, apparently as soon as I get to use coloured text, my mind turns to goo.
I wonder what colour the sky is in the land of Fox News. I really do. The level in inaccuracy and partisan slant censorship present is an obscene injustice against the American people and their right to know what is done in their name. Certainly we can make fun of our ignorant neighbours down south, but we’re missing the point, we should be ridiculing their fatuous news media for the gross veil of ignorance that twists how Americans see themselves and the world.
Story behind the song:
There are few “hooks” in the movie-music world that are as grabby as the Bourne Identity Soundtrack riff (starts at 0:29). Like the movie series, its intensity commands attention. We just had to figure out a way to use it. In our usual style, we thought we’d create an “action movie soundtrack” that combined this and a piece of classical music. In the early 1700’s Antonio Vivaldi wrote a concerto for an instrument that was then largely “undiscovered” by the music world — the cello. Among the first cello solo pieces ever written, Vivaldi was gutsy enough to write it for not only one, but TWO solo cellos and string orchestra. With no “action movies” in the 1700’s, this piece was probably the closest you could get to one. It has intense and exciting moments between beautiful lyrical moments. It was this piece, among others, that got Steven (the cello guy) excited about classical music—it was one of the first pieces he played with orchestra.
90% of this tune was written in 3 days. We worked on it day and night because it was so enjoyable to write.
Oh, I’ve just been full of anecdata as of late, but important events are important events. Intransigentia and I have qualified to adopt a senior Shetland Sheepdog. Shadow will be joining us on Sunday May 19th. Let the dog-awesomeness begin. Find your local humane services or Shares and donate some $$ or food to their cause, they are creating happy unions for people and pets across Alberta.
A poor quality picture is all we have right now, but rest assured gentle readers hi-res justice will be uploaded very soon.
The burning legion of stupid, led by Harper and his Conservative clown government balefully plods on toward making Canada’s prison system a mirror image of the failed system present in the United States. Do we really need to frack things up Canada-Harper style to get the message that this is a gigantic mistake?
The next election Canadians had better wake up and get this farcical excuse of a governing party out of power.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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