et al,
MY RANT - The BLUF
Q: What is the top reason for the current US economic problem?
A: The ethics of greed, influence and power. The gullible nature of Americans. The lost of manufacturing and production capacity that once made American strong and prosperous. BUT, the "gullible nature of Americans" and their failure to hold the rich and powerful accountable is probably the biggest. It is how we come to believe there is such a thing as "Too Big to Fail."
(COMMENT)
In 1987, the movie "Wall Street" was made. In it, it had a character named "Gordon Gekko."
Gordon Gekko: said:
The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bull****. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I've still got a lot to teach you.
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.
- The "who" is anybody that catches the brass-ring.
- The "mantra" is to "maximize the wealth of the shareholder."
- The "winner" is the greedy guy that comes out on top with the most power and influence.
But behind it all is the greed for money, which gets you influence, that brings-on the power; that gets you more money, that radiates more influence, and brings more power.
The nation is not run at all. You have to think of it as an environment for the greedy, influential, and powerful. In science, we would call it the fabric of greed. The country runs, not to improve the nation, but as a component for the greedy, influential, and powerful to move, manage and manipulate factors necessary to attain more money. The rest of us are just expendable pawns. Mitt Romney makes millions, not helping to rebuild America and putting people to work --- but by chopping companies and selling it off in pieces (the break-up value). If people (you and me) lose our jobs, our homes our livelihood, it makes no difference to the greedy, influential, and powerful. We are colateral damage - insignificant to and unimportant goal of "maximizing the wealth."
Look at the key factor in the news today:
Obama makes fundraising push to keep pace with Romney
Washington Post - 1 hour ago
Obama makes fundraising push to keep pace with Romney - The Washington Post
Aug. 7, 2012 - President Obama continues to hammer home the message about Mitt Romney's proposed tax plan, while Romney took in $26 million more than Mr. Obama last month. (CBS News)
Romney trounces Obama in fundraising for 3rd month - August 7, 2012 8:50 AM
Romney trounces Obama in fundraising for 3rd month - CBS News
"Over the course of the next three months, the other side is going to spend more money than we have ever seen on ads that basically say the same thing you've been hearing for the past three months," Obama said, then summarized their argument as "the economy is not where it needs to be and it's Obama's fault."
It is not about loyalty, honesty, integrity, wisdom, ethics and values that runs America. These are all showcase concepts - but the money, that is what is important. In America, the nation is run by the greedy, influential, and powerful that buy Congressmen, Senators, and the Presidency. It's like the propaganda movie that portrays the Administration being heroic and saving the nation using public funds (taxpayer dollars) to bailout the banking and financial industries; then the follow-on stories about the how much they paid the CEO's in bonuses for putting the crisis forward in the name of greed.
The defendants in the case – Dominick Carollo, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm – worked for GE Capital, the finance arm of General Electric. Along with virtually every major bank and finance company on Wall Street – not just
GE, but J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, UBS, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Wachovia and more – these three Wall Street wiseguys spent the past decade taking part in a breathtakingly
broad scheme to skim billions of dollars from the coffers of cities and small towns across America. The banks achieved this gigantic rip-off by secretly colluding to rig the public bids on municipal bonds, a business worth $3.7 trillion. By conspiring to lower the interest rates that towns earn on these investments, the banks systematically stole from schools, hospitals, libraries and nursing homes – from "virtually every state, district and territory in the United States," according to one settlement. And they did it so cleverly that the victims never even knew they were being *cheated. No thumbs were broken, and nobody ended up in a landfill in New Jersey, but money disappeared, lots and lots of it, and its manner of disappearance had a familiar name: organized crime.
Read more:
The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone
Do these names sound familiar? These are the guys that were too big to fail. We bailed them out, only to let them loose to do more damage to "America." When you can get the government to do that for you, that is POWER.
It's not a "who" --- but a "what."
OK: I vented, and now I'm back to normal and off the soapbox.
Most Respectfully,
R