Forum Post: Giddian

For the past few decades a well organized and disciplined coalition of powerful people and groups (CPPG) has been working, with extraordinary success, to promote its programs. Its tactics, strategy and rhetoric are well suited to poorly informed, manipulatable people with short memories and excess credulity. Its spokes persons are always on message, repeating inanities and attack mantras, promulgating absurdities (for example: Pigs fly.) and bull$#!T (myths and fabrications) to hoodwink the people. Here is a sampling:

Absurdity: Markets are “intelligent”; left alone (meaning unregulated) the “magic of the market” will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.

Reality: Markets are stupid; here’s why: First, when left alone, markets including banking, are easily manipulated and abused by ruthless operators. Second, the pursuit of profit frequently degenerates to practices that have disastrous consequences such as counterfeiting everything from medicines to aircraft parts, shortcutting safety and health practices, selling food contaminated by non-food substances, environment destruction, slavery or something like it when and where possible. So regulations are needed: (1) to protect free markets from exploitation; (2) to save lives, avert disasters and protect the helpless. Some places traffic lights are necessary.

The CPPG does not really want to protect free markets; it wants to protect predatory and manipulable markets, which cause tragedies and economic crashes.

bull$#!T: Tax cuts, for the wealthy, create jobs and are the only way to promote growth and prosperity.

Reality: What stimulates economies and creates jobs is demand. When sufficient demand is seen entrepreneurs will fill it, no matter what -- think illegal drugs. When there is no demand they will not invest, no matter what. Companies that have cash or access to credit do not need tax cuts to take advantage of opportunities. Without a reason to invest any tax cuts would go to instead to owners and officers. Companies that do not have cash need access to credit. The most stimulative funds are those that are spent right away because they immediately add to economic activity. Dollar for dollar nothing is more effective than unemployment benefits and small business loans. Nationwide, infrastructure badly needs attention. With current low interest rates repair can be done more cheaply than ever and would provide millions of good jobs. Yet the CPPG fights to prevent extension of unemployment benefits, fights to prevent using government funds to promote lending for credit-starved businesses and shows no interest in infrastructure repair.

Truly, CPPG economics are almost as good as Ebenezer Scrooge economics, well characterized thus: tax cuts, mainly for the wealthy; service cuts for everyone; screw the people generally.

bull$#!T: “Government is the problem!”. The CPPG has been saying this since mid 1970s.

Reality: It spent the last decade demonstrating how bad government can be by inflicting on US eight years of pigheaded incompetence followed by three years of vindictive paralysis.

Ours is a republic, a government of, by and for the people. That is the government which is a problem for the CPPG. It is not what they want! They want a plutocracy, a government of, by and for the wealthy. They’ll soon have it, too! According to multiple sources, “The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate” -- the goal of the Screw the People Party!

The CPPG opposes government because government interferes with its drive for unrestrained exploitation.