Charles Darwin:"Ignorance more frequently begets Confidence than does Knowledge".

"Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known."  
Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

 

Charles Darwin once said: "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." This sounds like a strange idea. Is it true that confidence sometimes signals ignorance? Is it true that people who are very confident about their opinions may actually be more ignorant than people who are less confident? Is there evidence that confidence and ignorance may go hand in hand?

What might this mean? When disagreeing with someone who is very confident about his point of view, it may work counter-productively to argue directly against his views. After all, the person is very confident about being right. In other words, he is ignorant about his ignorance.

 

Charles Darwin born in 1809, was a British scientist who transformed the way we think about the natural world.  He published his findings in 1859 in his book On the Origin of the Species. It explained his theory that of all species evolved through adaptation over many millions of years including man evolving from the apes. Most people at the time believed in a Biblical interpretation of how the World was created in seven days and how Adam and Eve arrived in the Garden of Eden and ate the Forbidden Fruit that has caused us problems ever since. Now Darwin had come up with his theory that  all species evolved through adaptation over many millions of years including man evolving from the apes. It turned the Biblical tales into Fairy Tales. The anger and resentment of millions of people after publishing his findings gave rise to his observation that "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."  In other words the dumber people are the more rigidly and fanatically they cling to their convictions and therefore have little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. The fanatic therefore refuses to think further and consequently, there is no way to change course.  

I recall when I was working in the lumber camps in Northern Ontario during the summers when I was a teenager, if I raised questions about a view expressed by a coworker it would commonly be interpreted as questioning his integrity resulting in an angry outburst and on occasion a challenge to fight. It was 1947 and 48 when the work was labour intensive and a few hours on the job sufficed to gain the skills required. The average level of education was much lower than it is today and illiteracy was common in the workforce. This in no way limited their confidence in their many convictions. Just don't humiliate them by asking them for an explanation. In the dining room the tradition in the camps was to eat quickly and to remain silent throughout the meal. The reason for this was the history of fights breaking out when views expressed at the table were challenged.

Darwin of course was right; ignorance begets a confidence that cannot be challenged.

Much of what we interpret as political discourse is nothing more than rigid positions taken by mentally limited politicians expressing a fanatical confidence that cannot be challenged. Nothing changes but it is an opportunity for endless babble.


 

It certainly explains the rigid and uncompromising  political positions taken by Republican extremists as expressed by the Tea Party and the irrational ravings of Bachmann, Perry and others like them that only Fox News can accept. And consistent with these close minded rants has been the endless filibustering without discussion led by Mitch McConnell and John Boehmer, confident in their ignorance and, committed to closing off all debates on the issues at hand. 

  

It helps to be a bit of a Fanatic Sociopath if you want to be a Leader

A fanatic is a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm who displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. The fanatic therefore refuses to think further and consequently, there is no way to change course.

A passionate and dedicated humanist is someone who believes that man can bring about change through his own efforts and might be considered a fanatic with firm convictions but free of any psychopathic tendencies.   

a sociopath is a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.
 

Its okay to be a fanatic, even a fanatic sociopath, if you live as a hermit in a forest because only the wind and the animals have to put up with what you do and what you have to say. And its okay to be a fanatic, and a bit silly if it is simply about something unimportant like rooting for your favorite sports team or reacting passionately to the latest dreamy teenage rock idol. This subject is a slippery slope because if we accept the definition that fanatics live with blinkers on and therefore cannot visualize any alternatives then there are categories of fanatics to consider because some are convinced that they know the absolute truth and have no patience with nonsense, and at the other extreme there are others who are simply blinded by their psychopathic obsession to take control irrespective of any underlying consequences. This essay, as the blog title implies, focuses on fanatical and often psychopathic behaviour in major national and international leadership roles Lets take a look here at some examples of these alternatives but first of all lets look at the unfortunate dumb fanatics.

• Just plain dumb fanatics. This group is generally poorly educated, lacks knowledge and typically driven by a single issue. They will support any leader of any stripe who will support their cause. Genghis Khan might be acceptable. These include Right to Bear Arms nuts who want to pack a gun wherever they might go, anti gays, racists, and many paranoids exhibiting extreme and irrational fear and distrust of others. They are seduced by the media that convinces these saps to reject all social entitlements, like for example, Universal Health Care and a decent Minimum Wage, that most civilized countries offer.  Addicted to talk radio and Fox News that feeds their confusion, paranoia and anger they act out of spite and harm themselves. These are life's losers who provide the support and cannon fodder for the fanatic sociopaths who posses power. Reference reading: The Legend of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
• 
  
  

Fanatic Sociopaths with intelligence and driven by ego they seize power or gain it through public support. The list is endless on a World scale. Heading this category on any list for the last 100 years would certainly include Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Maggie Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Pinochet and Dick Cheney who in their fanatical promotion and pursuit of their objectives caused, without remorse, the destruction and overthrow of nations  and the death of many thousands of people. 

Of late I feel compelled to add President Obama to this list of sociopaths. His ongoing personal role in ordering drone attacks, supplying weapons to jihad terrorist to destabilize the popularly elected Syrian Government knowing full well that it is causing the death of many innocent civilians, his condemnation of Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange for publicly exposing this murderous truth are clearly signs of the behaviour of a sociopath.

Here is a chilling and devastating YouTube documentary that reinforces my claim that we are being led by sociopaths 

 Here is a rogues gallery of some who have caused the death of many thousands of innocent victims. 

PM Tony Blair of Britain who joined with President George Bush into a disastrous war under false pretenses with Iraq that caused the destruction of a nation and the death of a million people and the refugee flight of another 4 million.

Ton Blair

George Bush

Henry Kissinger

 Incredibly, Henry Kissinger—the man who rivals Pol Pot for the dubious honor of being the person responsible for the death of the largest number of innocent people in South East Asia (and far surpasses Pol Pot in criminality when one factors in Kissinger's various levels of responsibility for wholesale slaughter and repression in other parts of the world)—still wields significant power in the United States; but his role as eager facilitator of mass murder, totalitarian repression and other atrocities is never discussed in polite society.

Dick Cheney

And who can leave out Dick Cheney who as Bush's VP led the "Cake Walk" into Iraq and has been an ardent supporter of all other military interventions since then including the application of torture. His face wears a permanent sneer. His pals include the infamous Chicken Hawks who never had to face an enemy in battle but willingly caused the death of millions.

The Psychopaths - Chicken Hawks who knowingly have caused millions to die - Includes Rumsfeld, Bolton, Perle, Wolfowitz, Kagan, Zoellick,Schmitt

 General and Dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). His years in power were marked by inflation, poverty and the ruthless repression of opposition leaders. Pinochet was also involved in Operation Condor, a co-operative effort on the part of several South American governments to do away with leftist opposition leaders, often by means of murder.

Augusto Pinochet

The Rettig Report found that at least 2,279 persons were conclusively murdered by the Chilean government for political reasons during Pinochet's regime, and the Valech Report found that at least 30,000 persons were tortured by the government for political reasons.




Fanatic Sociopaths with limited intelligence. This category  includes thousands who have gained some power mainly within a nation. Obvious prominent US examples would include George Bush, Victoria Nuland and her husband Robert Kagan, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and a host of Teabagging Politicians who out of spite and ignorance, and a total lack of concern for people, do great harm to populations, and are the corrupt paid servants of the 0.1% who posses great wealth. 

Every country seems to breed this mediocre level of  fanatic psychopathic leader who cares little about the human suffering they cause. Their leadership is supported by the 'just plain dumb fanatics'. 

  This is an example of a fanatic sociopath with limited intelligence (Mitch McConnell)  He operates from a blinkered commitment to revenge and spite and is clearly unconcerned about the human suffering he is causing. As a sociopath this might even be a source of pleasure to him.

 Mitch McConnell is the filibuster king, 
master of all that he and his minority minions can obstruct in his zeal to defeat the President. With the filibuster, he zealously bludgeons to death all bills passed by a majority in the House and supported by a majority in the Senate. What was intended to be a precision tool McConnell brandishes as a machine gun, murdering all majority-supported legislation in sight.  

Good Fanatics with high Intelligence
This is a worthy group who demonstrate courageous and wise leadership in human affairs. Franklin  D Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X immediately come to mind, and no doubt you can add to this list. In their zeal they share a conviction that there cause is just and exhibit negligible tolerance for alternatives. In that sense that can be described as having a fanatical commitment. A better term might be to refer to them as passionate humanists but in a sense still fanatics committed and undeviating from their cause despite the knowledge that their actions may sacrifice many lives.

  
 Here are examples of great and highly intelligent fanatics

Conclusion: It takes an almost fanatical zeal and a massive ego that goes with it to rise to a leadership role where there is an opportunity to change the direction of nations. The evil fanatics have no qualms about corrupting the process for personal gain and causing death and destruction but the role more often than not requires that even the good leaders may face responsibility for undertakings that cause great human suffering in pursuit of their cause; for example, Abraham Lincoln's Civil War,  and Winston Churchill's bombing of Germany. In that sense leadership on this scale must accept personality traits that can be best described as Sociopathic.
So as the expression goes "If you can't accept the heat then stay out of the kitchen"

Readers critical comments

1. A fanatic according to my dictionary is “a person whose extreme zeal, piety, etc, goes beyond what is reasonable.”  If you care to be intellectually honest and objective about ‘fanatic’, you cannot cherry pick.  You didn’t include Julian Assange and Edward Snowden in your latest blog.  Because you may agree with a zealot or be pleased with the results of their zealotry, doesn’t make him/her any less of a fanatic.
2. Snowdon is not a fanatic. He is a witness to a crime. Telling on criminals is not fanaticism. Not his life's work. Assange is obsessed and has made it his life's work. 
   
   
   If Snowdon is a fanatic then anyone who reported a crime is a fanatic. To believe in the rule of law does not make one a fanatic. 

Augusto Pinochet

The Judicial Lynching of Bradley Manning

The military trial of Bradley Manning is a judicial lynching. The government has effectively muzzled the defense team. The Army private first class is not permitted to argue that he had a moral and legal obligation under international law to make public the war crimes he uncovered.
 Chris Hedges 

What kind of society do we live in? Deny our guilt, hide our military crimes, protect the guilty and operate Kangaroo courts to punish those who speak the truth. Inculcate in the public the belief that "they hate us for our freedom" rather than for the crimes our governments and its military committed and continue to commit. 

Bradley Manning was a young man with a conscience when he turned over files and videos of murderous crimes  to WikiLeaks. Aiding the enemy? What a farce; how many civilians in these regions were not already aware of our murderous acts? The real reason is that the Government does not want the public in America and its allies to know what this information reveals. Keep the public uninformed, undisturbed and patriotic to the cause, whatever it might be. 

Read here what Chris Hedges -  much hated and vilified by Fox News and the Tea Baggers - has to say.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/10-2

Related readings: George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm;  Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

The Politics of Hate

There exists a subterranean world where pathological fantasies disguised as ideas are churned out by crooks and half-educated fanatics for the benefit of the ignorant and superstitious. There are times when this underworld emerges from the depths and suddenly fascinates, captures, and dominates multitudes of usually sane and responsible people, who thereupon take leave of sanity and responsibility.

John Miller

The world is a rigged game. We found this out in recent months, when a series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector, suggesting the world's largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything.

Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stones

Europe and North America are facing a self imposed downward spiral in the quality of life for 90 % or more of its people.  There is a political standoff; a paralysis has set in where the public see nothing but angry political shouting and stonewalling while the present and future outlook is glum. And all of this has taken place while a fraction of 1% of the population are benefiting from unparalleled opulence. The wealthy few have corrupted politicians to do their bidding and the public be damned. 


In the United States we see the bizarre spectacle  of the rigid Tea Party financed by the reactionary cabal of the Koch brothers advocating the elimination of 100 years of social legislation. Essentially the Republican political focus is on creating a financial precipice  that will cause Obama to fail. Its hatred that drives them rather than the best interest of the American public. Blinded by their hatred they are willingly or unknowingly  en-route to achieving a Banana Republic status  for the Nation wherein a wealthy Oligarchy runs the show ably supported by corrupted politicians and  a strong military force maintaining law and order over a victimized populace. Since the Republicans controlled  Congress say NO! to all forms of progressive legislation and hoping to dismantle what is left they may unwittingly succeed in realizing their Banana Republic dream. Strident right wing talk radio and Fox News, proponents of right wing agendas, fuel a confused public's anger with distortions, exaggerations and outright lies. Hate sells. The latest news is that Fox News is asking for a license to bring their right wing brand of  distortions and lies to Canadian audiences. What a wonderful gift that will ensure ratings and put  Canadians against each other on the hate scale.  

In Europe hatred is mounting between a rigid Merkel led German government and the rest of the suffering European nations. With staggering unemployment in most of southern Europe and a dismal outlook for the future the political systems are in disarray and resistance has become an expression of anxiety, anger and hopelessness  while seeking alternative ways to resist sch as: mass demonstrations, strikes,  revolutionary movements, anarchy, going-it-alone, etc.  

Europe is Merkel's world. While leading nations such as the US, Canada, Japan and China are allowing their currencies to soften to improve their competitive position in the world, Merkle forbids the central bank in Brussels to issue bonds  and thus the Euro remains rigidly firm, grossly overpriced and noncompetitive for the remaining Euro countries. Tea Party style austerity programs have been imposed by Merkle that are collapsing economies, causing political instability, alarming levels of unemployment, and rising public anger, despair and revolt. As for the Euro it can best be described as a work in process. The working relationships between Euro members has yet to be clearly defined so it's a zoo of uncertainty with corrupt tax havens in their midst.  Lots of room for smoldering resentments and hatreds 

Unregulated Globalization has unleashed financial institutions  to freely pursue through outright theft the  amassing of  immense wealth by manipulating the price of just about everything. What is there not to hate? 

Let's Make April Fools Day a National Holiday

To be fooled:  Tricked, bamboozled, conned, deceived, deluded, duped, flimflammed, hornswoggled, misled, outfoxed, snowed, sucked in  A fool: fool, tomfool, wiseacre, simpleton, donkey, ass; ninny,  chowderhead, chuckle head; dolt, booby, noodle, goose, imbecile; nincompoop,  zany; trifler, babbler; child, baby, infant, innocent, milksop, sap., oaf, lout, loon, dullard, buzzard, blockhead, asshole, dunderhead, addle head, blockhead, , mutton head, noodle head, numbskull, halfwit, lunkhead, lummox, rube, old fogey, old woman, crone, greenhorn, dunce, ignoramus, bungler, fucking idiot Every man is  damn fool for at least 5 minutes every day, wisdom consists in not exceeding the Limit - quote by Elbert Hubbard If you wish to avoid seeing a fool then first break your looking glass - quote by Francois  Rabelais Lord, what fools these mortals be! - quote by William Shakespeare I am proposing that April Fools Day becomes a national holiday so the we can spend enough time to reflect on how many times we  have been fooled and what a fool we were to be sucked in. If you are honest with yourself as you read this I am sure that you will admit that most of these definitions of a fool have applied to you on more than one occasion. I am also sure that you muttered to yourself using one of these expressions from the above list or something more obscene for your foolishness. If you are in denial then you dishonestly deny being fooled. The reality is that our knowledge base is weak on most subjects so despite our expertise on a few things our ignorance is unlimited and we are easily bamboozled and misled. It can be a funny and harmless bamboozlement but it is more often a deception that leads to uniting with others to indulge in dreadful habits or unknowingly supporting evil actions. It is Herd behaviour, that you must admit is a fool's way of non thinking and turns us into dullards and nincompoops. Politicians are very good at this. It's okay if it is nothing more serious than rooting for the home team, but deadly if we all rush off to war. For example the Americans and Brits were badly deceived and misled about Iraq's fictitious weapons of mass destruction  whereas the French clearly saw the lies and the Herd vilified them for it. On reading old news and TV clips I was astounded by the almost universal Herd behaviour of US and Brit pundits and politicians in support for the righteousness of their wartime cause. The Contrarians who were the French and German were viciously condemned for opposing them. Just another example of  thoughtless herd behaviour. Our Herd Instincts get the better of most of us because it is easier and more acceptable to join in with others than to be an unpopular Contrarian. Contrarions range from supporters  of the Flat Earth Society to serious thinkers who sort things out when most don't. Herd members view them as distasteful, disloyal and cussed. Let's accept our ignorance and gullibility as traits we all share at one time or another and use this April Fool's day to unashamedly examine our traits and celebrate our survival. On this day our schools and media should discuss our Herd instincts and celebrate our contrarians

The Overpriced Euro Feeding a Voyage of Economic Destruction

I described the Euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries
William Hague
 
"Austerity austerity and yet more austerity reminds me of medieval medicine". Blood-letting often made the patient even sicker. The response was more blood-letting until the patient nearly died. "What's happening in Europe is a mutual suicide pact". 
Austerity is needed when an economy is booming
Joseph Stiglitz

the destructive monetary muddle caused by the Continent’s premature adoption of a single currency. 
 Paul Krugman

In Southern Europe there is a human tragedy of half the young men and women ages 18 to 24 facing a jobless future.  The austerity program imposed by Brussels and their German masters have social implications that are unsustainable and worsening daily. The cut backs and constraints are depressing all sectors of the economy and the lid is finally coming off with political voices as well as thousands in the streets shouting "We aren't going to take it anymore"
The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is demanding that in return for German financial support her southern neighbours must undertake severe austerity measures including wage cuts and layoffs in the public sector, reductions in social benefits and the sale of public assets. While Japan, China, the US and Britain have  devalued their currencies to maintain a competitive edge, Brussels in the meantime to serve its German masters has maintained its head in the clouds with the euro soaring from 0.9 to the US dollar in 2000 to 1.36 today, thus grossly overpriced and undermining Europe's competitiveness (with the possible exception of Germany's automotive and machine tool industries) . To quote George Soros; "If Germany left, the euro would depreciate," he said. "and the debtor countries would regain their competitiveness. Their debt would diminish in real terms and, if they issued euro-bonds, the threat of default would disappear. Their debt would suddenly become sustainable and Europe would escape the looming depression." If Brussels maintains an overpriced euro in response to German demands then this simply carves Europe in two leaving the economies of France, Ireland Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus unable to compete internationally, with excessive unemployment and failing economies. More than half of German exports are to these European neighbours so it follows that in order to preserve this vital market for the German economy and to receive its largess to prop up their banks, the public must accept a continuation of the impossible suffering they are now facing.
 


Now let me as a layman try to figure out the logic in all this.  If Germany left the Euro they would return to the mark. Consensus of German economists is that the value of the mark would soar and German export market to its European neighbours would collapse. The alternative then is to stick with the euro. The euro is overpriced so what can Brussels so about it?  Obviously it needs to introduce policies to reduce the euro to a competitive level. Politically can it be done? The Germans will scream but there is overwhelming evidence that their manufacturers have used their money to line the pockets of politicians of southern nations who would otherwise support devaluation. Read this article from the New York Times that outlines the corrupt practices principally of Germany but also of France, Russia and Sweden flooding money into Greece to buy their politicians in order to sell them items they can ill-afford and neither need nor want, such as defective submarines and many tanks. Add to this aggressively competing casino banking tactics and the management of systems to enable large businesses and wealthy depositors  to escape taxation through tax havens.  There is a prevailing mood among the people of  bewilderment, betrayal, anger and sadness and this is being expressed by a loss of confidence in their politicians, bankers and the European Union, and in some countries near revolt and the formation of divisive extremist movements.

Brussels will inevitably be faced in the near future with the choice of either supporting Germany  with an overpriced euro or accepting it's  devaluation. If the Germans have their way the emphasis in Brussels will be on keeping the euro high and for their southern neighbours a continuation of austerity measures and selling off public assets to the highest bidder  (after all the Germans, Chinese and Gulf States have deep pockets) plus downsizing to reduce costs rather than investing in measures for recovery. It can only lead to the breakup of the European Union and a serious economic depression worldwide. As long as the cheats and compliant politicians don't suffer for their crimes the downward spiral will continue and the billionaires will remain secure in their gated communities and on their yachts. The latest fiasco in Cyprus is an example of what is happening; only the public will lose.

A devaluation of the  over-priced euro and none of this fall-out need happen.

More dumb and disgusting Republican quotes

Republicans offer a platform for mentally challenged people to speak out. They are supported by close to half the electorate so by association what does this tell you?  My comments in blue

Allen West: He lost his Congressional seat in Florida and is very upset.
"We need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, (audience boos) and my dear friend the chairman of the Democrat National Committee to ..  get the hell out of the United States of America".

"I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party," Allen West said at a town hall. "It's called the Congressional Progressive Caucus."To be fair you don't need to be intelligent to be in Congress.

In fairness to Allen he is an ignoramus talking to ignoramus's.They believe him and vote for him.   

'I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.''then I guess there are no poor.

 —Mitt Romney (January 2012)

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." --on a Kansas tornado that killed 12 people

-John McCain 
 
“We’re going to keep building the party until we’re hunting Democrats with dogs.” Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)
Good ideas come out of Texas

“Exercise freaks are the ones putting stress on the health care system.” Rush Limbaugh. Aha!! the solution for healthcare is that we should all just become fat and lazy like Rush.

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” George H.W. Bush. Yes he is right!! The pledge of allegiance clearly states UNDER GOD so most of my American relatives should be deported.I assume any version of God will be okay.



“We don’t have to protect the environment; the Second Coming is at hand.” Republican James Watt (Former Secretary of the Interior) He has a good point

“The New York Times and Washington Post are both infested with homosexuals themselves. Just about every person down there is a homosexual or lesbian.” Jesse Helms So what!


“I would like to outlaw contraception…contraception is disgusting – people using each other for pleasure.” Joseph Scheidler (Pro-Life Action League) Unbelievable and shocking that people, even Repugs, should actually enjoy sex.

“George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States, he was appointed by God.” Republican Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin That explains it !! God is a Republican


“Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.” Rush Limbaugh Rush, Mitch McConnell and  Irwin Adelson, all good Repugs, are remarkably ugly too and they have access so we have to be fair about this. 

“Climate change is “ridiculous pseudo-science garbage” Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) It's nice to see David Vitter talking openly about his insatiable appetite for bordello diaper sexy time so it is also nice that he takes additional time to examine climate change. 

“The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know when they do what they do you’ve got more carbon dioxide.” Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) Yes it's true about cows because they fart excessively too. Repugs don't believe in Global Warming anyway.

Michele Bachmann Quotes
 
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here? Now I understand, it's not about Global Warming, it's just God being pissed off with us.

Rick Perry Quotes

"It's a theory that's out there. It's got some gaps in it. In Texas we teach both Creationism and evolution." —Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, in response to a child who asked him if he believed in evolution during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, August 18, 2011
It's a good thing that Noah kept the dinosaurs off the Ark

 Newt Gingrich Quotes

 "I have two grandchildren – Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American." I guess he believes that the evangelists will lose to the Democrat atheists and Allah will finally win
–
Glen Beck
 ''I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. ... No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out. Is this wrong?''  
He disagrees with you so he should die. You are not a nice guy.

''The only [Katrina victims] we're seeing on television are the scumbags.'

 How did they round up scumbags? And what about the non scumbags?

 

 

A Culture of Greed Out of Control - Gangster Capitalism

The late Justice Louis Brandeis’ warning to the nation:” We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the  hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”

An era era of gangster capitalism has arrived; the inevitable result of unregulated Globalization. The 0.1% have taken control, another 0.9% ride on their coat tails and the 99%, face a bleak future. Democracy is now only window dressing to tame the masses. Think of it as a reverse Robin Hood movement where the rich steal from everyone else. The US statistics are startling. While the richest 1% of Americans take home almost a quarter of national income today, in 1976 they took home just 9% -- meaning their share of the national income pool has nearly tripled in roughly three decades.with the share of the nation's wealth by top 1 % now 40%. Those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall, millions have fallen out of the middle class and have found work in box stores where the minimum wages have been declared below the poverty line or they have joined the growing ranks of the unemployed. And this at a time when there is a record demand by the 1% for ocean going yachts and luxury goods. 


The roots of the economic crisis are pretty clear. Globalization without regulation has allowed the owners of large corporations in Western economies to accumulate and hold on to their wealth. Political crooks and cretins their pockets stuffed with money from the oligarchy and their heads filled with half baked and self serving ideologies,  provide the controlling votes and legislation to open the floodgates. Here is what the 0.1% and their carpet-baggers of lobbyists, lawyers and bankers are doing to plunder the wealth of nation states:

•  They have emptied their factories in America and Europe and passed on the their technology and work to lower cost producers principally in China and India thus putting millions of people out of middle class jobs.
• To gain public support they have aggressively marketed an absurd view of Freedom!! influenced by utopian and simplistic Libertarian ideals and Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" that denies any form of regulation, declares Governments as the enemy of private enterprise by obstructing the freedom to pollute; evade taxes, eliminate unions, employee benefits and minimum wages, disallow casino banking, The good news!! is that a PayPal billionaire inspired by Ayn Rand and Libertarian principles, has announced plans to build a whole new libertarian colony off the coast of San Francisco. Click and read about it here. We can only hope there will be ample space to house The Tea Party and Rand Paul.
  
  
  
• Forget about trickle down economics; the rich hang on to it and with the aid of corrupt banking systems, accountants, lobbyists and lawyers find ways to avoid their responsibilities as corporate citizens by operating and placing  their earnings in a web of tax havens outside their respective nation states. A grotesque example, only one of many, is Apple Inc.who is reportedly sitting on 137 billion dollars in tax havens and paid taxes in 2011 at a rate of only 9.8% on 13 billion dollars of profits.
• The substantial productivity gains in America have been fully absorbed within corporate offices and not passed on to workers  Totally corrupt politicians and their cretinous followers pave the way for this grand larceny to take place.  Eventually much of this money is laundered into tax havens and eventually ending up in The City in London and Wall Street. In that sense the corporate owners are no different from the drug dealers and 3rd world kleptomaniacs. 

The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security—they can buy all these things for themselves. In the process, they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may once have had. They also worry about strong government—one that could use its powers to adjust the balance, take some of their wealth, and invest it for the common good.


The reason we have so much inequality is that the top 1 percent want it that way. The most obvious example involves tax policy. Bush by lowering tax rates on capital gains, which is how the rich receive most of their income, has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride. 

I've drawn on US references in this discussion but the theme is  much the same with variations better or worse in the UK and Western Europe;

The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Justice Louis Brandeis was right ” We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the  hands of a few, but we can’t have both." Eventually history has shown that when people have had enough they finally force a change. This greed and injustice produced the Russian and French revolutions and today we are seeing revolutionary changes in the Middle East and massive angry demonstrations throughout southern Europe. Hopefully some visionary leaders like another Mandela will show up to peacefully force the obscenely wealthy off their pedastels; otherwise violence is inevitable and with an uncertain outcome.

Corrupt Capitalism. Time to take to the streets

 "While globalism has it's benefits, the flaw is that there is no good governance at that level, meaning that it ends up being a playground of the powerful" David  Creelman,

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” 
― Edward Abbey, The Journey Home

“Fascism is capitalism plus murder.” 
― Upton Sinclair


The .01% want to run the world and want the 99.99% to either help out or get out of the way. The only roles they see for for the nation state are to release their national assets for private  acquisition  and  to police a labour force offered at the lowest cost to service their needs and fight their wars. Their corporate mandate is solely profits and growth and it is assumed that any benefits to nations and their citizenry will naturally trickle out as corporate needs are met.

By their terms Globalization has been a phenomenal success. It has industrialized the Far East, opened new markets and massively improved their profits by closing up services and production in the West and moving it to areas where labour costs are much lower and social benefits are virtually non existent. It accounts for about 7 million middle class jobs being taken out of Europe and the United States


Capitalism is beginning to come apart at the seams. What is happening in Greece, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere has become intolerable and German/French demands reducing these nations to long term penury can't continue. There is a similar build-up of middle class impoverishment in France and the US while we tolerate the rich hiding their wealth offshore, compounding it with hedge funds and bribing politicians while the young increasingly face a dim future and politicians obey their masters and advocate cost cutting of social benefits, letting the infrastructure and ecology deteriorate and selling off the nation's heritage to carpet baggers as the only solution. As with the Greeks and Spaniards it is time to take to the street and bring to a halt this rape. If only the Greeks do it then the gang in Brussels can cut them off but if this mass movement spreads the oligarchies and bankers will have to capitulate. Democracy started in Greece and maybe they can lead in fixing it.

D

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/26-8

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/26

Globalization and The Divine Right of Kings

I'm getting impatient with economists who always put growth at the top of agenda.  Why don't we have an economy like say, 2004.  People were busy, living well, kids could get jobs.  If that existed only due to great liquidity well, why not recreate that kind of liquidity?  We don't need a bigger economy than 2004, just the same one. (David Creelman - Creelman Research)


My response;
I have to conclude that we are systematically building a human disaster. It makes no sense so why are we doing it? The answer is that a small number of obscenely rich people are benefiting and they have the financial means to corrupt our politicians and courts to do their bidding and control the media to baffle the public. They are seeking a return to the 17th century when the Divine Right of Kings ruled the land. It was a political doctrine of royal and political legitimacy asserting that a monarch was subject to no earthly authority thereby deriving the right to rule directly from the will of God. Like these ancient kings the obscenely rich don't want the nations they live in touch any of their wealth. It has been estimated that this off shore theft amounts to between 21 and 32 trillion dollars; a staggering amount exceeding the GDP of the US and Europe.

In the United States the rationale for this modern day Divine Right has been packaged in a witches brew from the philosophy of Ayn Rand (an ardent atheist, a hack writer of pot boilers, and worshiper of male power) , Milton Friedman (a naive believer in unregulated markets that will eventually work things out for the best) and Religious Fundamentalists (who proclaim the Divine Right of  their leaders).  Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan were Rand's and Friedman's ardent cheerleaders. Financed by their kings (the Koch brothers and others) the Tea Baggers enthusiastically repackaged this rubbish and have led the political charge with leaders like Paul Ryan, Mike Huckabee, Sharon Angle, and Sarah Palin all professing divine inspiration and a return to a marriage of church and state, long discarded by the Founding Fathers. I suspect the Libertarians and visible spokespersons on Fox News and talk radio don't necessarily buy into all this rubbish and take a deep breath to let it wash over them in order to support their shared neocon agenda of enriching the rich ( and their paid servants) at the expense of the rest of us.

It took revolutions to end the Divine Right of Kings in Europe, Russia, and Iran (and it removed a few heads). With youth unemployment and underemployment in Europe and the United States running as high as 50% , wages and social services collapsing, public anger and demonstrations mounting, there is no end in sight. All of this is happening while the 1% become richer each year, It is only a matter of time before this anger spills over with unpredictable outcomes. The demand for reform has become violent in parts of the Middle East (The Arab Spring) and something like this (hopefully without the religious part) could happen here.