Forum Post: An Occupation on the Edge of Prosperity…
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 1, 2012, 8:38 p.m. EST by BradB2
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An Occupation on the Edge of Prosperity…
We have many problems that not only led us to this state… but also lie further ahead… Changing our government will help no doubt… but we still have much more to do…
Why is it that much of today’s corporations, government bodies, court systems, etc. so in-festered with illegal and selfish activities? Is it simply greed? Or could some survival be involved?
We have many problems ahead, and the primary one is job opportunity.. Do we really need 10′s of 1000′s of Health care managers telling our doctors and medical staff what they can or cannot do?… adding trillions to our healthcare costs? … When the Democrats held Congress, they wanted to centralize Healthcare, they had the votes, Obama stopped it… why?… He implied.. I am not going to put another 14% of the population out of work in this recession…
We have also intentionally created a disposable economy… we design built-in failure… so demand replenishes itself… creating mountains of trash… Is that solely for big profits… or can it also be for survival?
Why did we create the biggest building boom in the history of the country when we knew it would eventually collapse? All for jobs… Now granted, Greed plays a big part… as does crime…
How do we fix it?
Change the government?.. yes I agree… replace them all… but then what? We need to advance… We need to be the government….We need to change what we consider valuable… And when we have done that we need to expand it such that there is no need…
Personally I agree with the ideology of the benefits of capitalistic free-enterprise… how-ever I also see the failures of it…
I also agree the ideology of the benefits of common and shared property and resources… and also see the failures of it…
Do we compromise? …Seems a bit unworthy of a People who put men on the moon… I know we can do better…
Let’s think of the opposing Ideologies… the dreams… One reaches for Individual Freedom & Economic Opportunity … while the other reaches for Economic Freedom & Individual Opportunity …
Why do they need to be different, why one or the other? I think we should reach for it all…
Up to this point in time… most everything in a capitalistic system evolves around “economic wealth”….
Is Art not a wealth? Is Knowledge not wealth? Is Health not wealth?..
It is argued that wealth is created when we do labor to transform something worthless into something useful, into something that can be later traded…
Teaching a child to read is also preforming labor… is also useful… is worth something… it is wealth… how-ever it cannot be traded as a commodity… not an economic wealth… but it is still wealth…
Why do we need to evaluate these non-economic Wealth’s to economic realm ? Seriously, Economic Wealth is merely economic… the buying, selling, trading of crap….
Designed to turn into trash once paid for… Designed to fill our Seas with Garbage… Can we not do better than this? …
Our concept of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not measure health, happiness, education, or civic participation.* Where is Gross Domestic Wealth (GDW) ?… We need an advancement…
We have an opportunity to expand wealth beyond mere economic terms, and therefore we have an opportunity to expand currency. Why is revenue contribution based solely on economic income? What does one’s economic income have to do with cost or contribution to society?
Or a corporation’s cost or contribution to society?
Would not it be more accurate to base revenue contribution or incentives on provided jobs? That’s what we really need…
Would not it be more accurate to base revenue contribution or incentives on provided good health? That’s what we really need…
Why do we all need to work in factories? Soon robots will do that all anyway…
Why can’t we paint pictures, write books, invent and discover new vaccines, research and learn whatever we want to..?
In simpler times… everyone had a slot they could fill… there was a need for everyone to participate… everyone had opportunity & purpose…
technology & efficency is changing the old ways…. as new technology is doing our work for us… it is also forcing us to evolve … we need to learn to share, to be benevolent…. to demand equal opportunity, participation and health for all…
a poor consumer makes a poor consumer…
why are even the wealthiest companies worried ? .. because their customer base is disappearing … and they know it… we need to evolve, we need to advance… we need to get enlightened…
the war machine continues to advance… why ?… I can not think of a better business model… build products that blow up… products that immediately need to be replaced… is that too far fetched ? … I mean really.. how many different ways do we need to invent to kill each-other ? … it’s all about cashflow.. economic exchange …
Is it simply greed ? … or is it survival…. trying anything to keep the system going ?
Expansion of governmental positions… Expansion of Legal positions and new Laws on top of new Laws… visits to multiple Medical Specialists, simply to treat a common cold… All for survivial… trying anything to keep the system going… trying anything to keep people employeed…
the answer is truly simple… we need a larger consumer base…. we need a healthy consumer base…. we need to create new opportunity… we need to create new resource… we need to invest in people…we need to invest in culture… we need to invest in that what machines cannot replace ….
We need to reach beyond mere economic wealth… we need a Renaissance…
Is Articulation not wealth?.. Is Integrity & Pride not wealth?.. Is Spare time not wealth?..
If an enterprise creates new jobs… creates new consumers… how is that not as “importent” as providing revenue ? … how is that not as “valuble” as providing revenue ? how is that not adding wealth to the society?
If an enterprise destroys jobs… how is that not removing wealth from society?
Free enterprise and competition does work… and works very well to keep economic exchange moving… however, in our modern world it is not enough… We need not replace it.. We need to build on it..
If we are going to solve these things… we need it all … why dismantle or replace anything that works ?
Why become distructionists ?…that leads to little gain…
The economic wealth based system works, it has worked very well for many, many years… let it continue… but let’s not allow it’s institution to deprive us of additional systems waiting for discovery…
Privatise Prisons ? … so we want to create an incentive for more unjust laws to be written… so more can be broken.. to expand the market of buying and selling people’s freedom ?…
Privatise education ?… higher education is privatised … Is it working for the masses? .. many have multiple degrees and little hope for jobs… personnaly I believe privatising education is a promising idea… but not for economic profit… we need something new…
We speak often of “sharing the wealth”… the current economic wealth based system’s do that… they have stock holders they share wealth with… and that is good… it’s bolsters the economy with healthy consumers… but it’s not enough…
Feable attempts to keep people surviving thru unenployment compensation helps… but what does it really accomplish? Is that what we want… a new social class that sits around and watches tv all day?…
We bail out the big banks, but not the once employed consumers… where will that lead?… just postponing the collapse….the banks are too frightened to invest in unsure development…
we need more… we need to invent new opportunity…
The exodus of the church from the impoverished communities…is but another example of a failing system..
The philanthropy dilema … we are losing worthy solutions because of bottom-line profits … many benevolent inventions, discoveries & research programs do not get funded because of promise of little profit margins… and in economic down-turns there is less and less charitable resource…
What if we elevate what “share the wealth” means ? What if we “share the wealth” by allowing more wealth’s into the picture ? .. providing more transactional systems… more exchange, more currency in circulation… we will see an increase of healthy consumers…
What if we had a “Social Wealth”… and we treated it differently …. not as tax payer subsidised “do good” programs… but new additional systems with capitalistic incentives and gains?
What if Social Wealth enterprises could borrow from the FED at the same rates the banks do? … or even at lessor rates…
Would new Social Wealth enterprise not create new consumers? … supporting not only the social based economy but also the economic profit based economy alike? …
How would we do it?…
Could we not have a “Gross Social Product”, a GSP … based on how much currency has been added into the economy through Social Wealth enterprise ?…
Of course we can… why mix tangible and intangible product ?… or tangible and intangible wealth ?….
Why tax the tangible wealth with the intangible needs ?…
We can make the “intangible needs” an industry.. a self-sustaining and profitable industry… we simply need to provide the venue… the resource to allow it to happen..
Why put the burden of supporting needed social programs onto the economic wealth producers when social wealth producers can create wealth also ?…
There truly is a brave and prosperous new world ahead… We simply need to open the door…
“The mechanics of the Occupation of Social Wealth” is coming soon…
A lot of thought provoking questions - nice to see people thinking outside the box.
Just for the record. When I make references to concentrated wealth, I'm referring to elements of prosperity that are vital to individuals and society in general. Elements that are not multiplied by the stroke of a brush, the turn of a page, the closing of a deal, or the passing of a day. Elements that can be grown over time, but are somewhat limited at any given moment. Elements that in general, leave one set of hands as they enter another. Elements that cause economic and social instability when concentrated.
The ugly truth. America's wealth is STILL being concentrated. When the rich get too rich, the poor get poorer. These latest figures prove it. AGAIN.
According to the Social Security Administration, 50 percent of U.S. workers made less than $26,364 in 2010. In addition, those making less than $200,000, or 98 percent of Americans, saw their earnings fall by $4.5 billion collectively.
The incomes of the top one percent of the wage scale in the U.S. rose in 2010; and their collective wage earnings jumped by $120 billion. In addition, those earning at least $1 million a year in wages, which is roughly 93,000 Americans, reported payroll income jumped 22 percent from 2009.
Overall, the economy has shed 5.2 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession in 2007. It’s the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930’s.
Another word about the first Great Depression. It really was a perfect storm. Caused almost entirely by greed. First, there was unprecedented economic growth. There was a massive building spree. There was a growing sense of optimism and materialism. There was a growing obsession for celebrities. The American people became spoiled, foolish, naive, brainwashed, and love-sick. They were bombarded with ads for one product or service after another. Encouraged to spend all of their money as if it were going out of style. Obscene profits were hoarded at the top. In 1928, the rich were already way ahead. Still, they were given huge tax breaks. All of this represented a MASSIVE transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Executives, entrepreneurs, developers, celebrities, and share holders. By 1929, America's wealthiest 1 percent had accumulated 44 percent of all United States wealth. The upper, middle, and lower classes were left to share the rest. When the lower majority finally ran low on money to spend, profits declined and the stock market crashed.
Of course, the rich threw a fit and started cutting jobs. They would stop at nothing to maintain their disgusting profit margins and ill-gotten obscene levels of wealth as long as possible. The small business owners did what they felt necessary to survive. They cut more jobs. The losses were felt primarily by the little guy. This created a domino effect. The middle class shrunk drastically and the lower class expanded. With less wealth in reserve and active circulation, banks failed by the hundreds. More jobs were cut. Unemployment reached 25% in 1933. The worst year of the Great Depression. Those who were employed had to settle for much lower wages. Millions went cold and hungry. The recovery involved a massive infusion of new currency, a public works program, a World War, and higher taxes on the rich. With so many men in the service, so many women on the production line, and those higher taxes to help pay for it, some US wealth was gradually transferred back down to the majority. This redistribution of wealth continued until the mid seventies. By 1976, the richest 1 percent held less than 20 percent. The lower majority held the rest. And rightfully so. It was the best year ever for the middle and lower classes. This was the recovery. A partial redistribution of wealth.
Then it began to concentrate all over again. Here we are 35 years later. The richest one percent now own over 40 percent of all US wealth. The upper, middle, and lower classes are sharing the rest. This is true even after taxes, welfare, financial aid, and charity. It is the underlying cause. If there is no redistribution, there will be no recovery.
Note: A knowledgable and trustworthy contributor has gone on record with a claim that effective tax rates for the rich were considerably lower than book rates during the years of redistribution that I have made reference to. His point was that the rich were able to avoid those very high marginal rates of 70-90% under the condition that they invested specifically in American jobs. His claim is that effective rates for the rich probably never exceeded 39% and certainly never exceeded 45%. My belief is that if true, those effective rates for the rich were still considerably higher than previous lows of '29'. Also that such policies still would have contributed to a partial redistribution by forcing the rich to either share profits and potential income through mass job creation or share income through very high marginal tax rates. This knowledgable contributor and I agree that there was in effect, a redistribution but disagree on the use of the word.
One thing is clear from recent events. The government won't step in and do what's necessary. Not this time. Book rates for the rich remain at all time lows. Their corporate golden geese are heavily subsidized. The benefits of corporate welfare are paid almost exclusively to the rich. Our Federal, State, and local leaders are sold out. Most of whom, are rich and trying to get even richer at our expense. They won't do anything about the obscene concentration of wealth. It's up to us. Support small business more and big business less. Support the little guy more and the big guy less. It's tricky but not impossible.
For the good of society, stop giving so much of your money to rich people. Stop concentrating the wealth. This may be our last chance to prevent the worst economic depression in world history. No redistribution. No recovery.
Those of you who agree on these major issues are welcome to summarize this post, copy it, use any portion, link to it, save it, show a friend, or spread the word in any fashion. Most major cities have daily call-in talk radio shows. You can reach thousands of people at once. They should know the ugly truth. Be sure to quote the figures which prove that America's wealth is still being concentrated. I don't care who takes the credit. We are up against a tiny but very powerful minority who have more influence on the masses than any other group in history. They have the means to reach millions at once with outrageous political and commercial propaganda. Those of us who speak the ugly truth must work incredibly hard just to be heard.
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=XgygaG87rZY
"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society." -Albert Einstein 1949
"The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions." -Albert Einstein 1949
"The United States economy is like a poker game where the chips have become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and where the other fellows can stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit runs out the game will stop." -Mariner Eccles Chairman of the Federal Reserve under FDR
You're probably wondering. If these guys were right and the wealth was heavily concentrated just prior to the Great Depression, how did we recover?
That's simple but not well known. There was a partial redistribution from the mid '30's to the mid '70's.
So why are we in this mess again?
"The income gap between the rich and the rest of the US population has become so wide and is growing so fast that it might eventually threaten the stability of democratic capitalism itself." Allen Greenspan testifying before congress in the spring of '05'.
Robert Reich and a dozen more prominent economists have gone on record with similar views.
All that progress made after the Great Depression has been reversed over the last 35 years. The richest one percent now own 43% of America's financial wealth. That's way too much. Its caising economic instability. But they absolutely will not stop.
It's very similar in Europe. The rich are too rich. Period.
Greed kills. It will be our downfall.