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Forum Post: They Should Have Let the Banks Fail

Posted 11 years ago on Jan. 20, 2013, 2:04 a.m. EST by TrevorMnemonic (5827)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

They Should Have Let the Banks Fail: How every phony who voted for TARP fucked you over and is still fucking you over to this day.

The permanent bailout state is for the continued empowerment of the 1%, it's not about saving the economy and American jobs.

Your money is backed by the FDIC up to $250,000.... backed by the FDIC thanks to the Glass-Steagall act, which the Wall Street government effectively destroyed most of in 1999 with the Financial Modernization Act. But luckily the FDIC still backs your money.

The banks are fraudulent and fucking people over by stealing their homes, pensions, 401ks, investments, and destabilizing the economy creating massive job loss. They keep you in massive debt with student loans in a society with growing inflation and decreasing opportunity with low wage part time jobs. They keep you in debt with mortgages and much more. These banks buy our government to then further allow them to fuck us over. In some cases, like HSBC, they directly fund terrorism and drug cartels.

The banks fail, the debts to those banks go away.

Money given to banks via subsidies, TARP programs, etc all a waste to keep people in this debt based society where the 1% reign elite and allows the banks and corporations to loot the treasury.

The trillions of dollars of government funds being spent to sustain these corrupt corporations could have been used to renovate the economy. We could have saved 10's of millions of Americans from poverty.

instead of TARP alone we could have started 10 new banks with 35 billion dollars each and a 10 to 1 leverage to open new credit markets. Instead bonuses were paid to CEO's of failing banks and people remain in debt to frauds.

If the government was trying to help you when it comes to the Wall Street hacks, they'd be pushing reforms that block banks from selling debts, they wouldn't make it near impossible to file bankruptcy, or prevent you from getting benefits in your old age due to student loan debts. They'd prosecute HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and the other big banks for their acts of fraud, reform them into smaller banks and break up the monopolies, or like previously suggested create new banks instead. They wouldn't have voted for TARP, instead if they were legit, they'd reform monetary policy to support job growth, societal advancement, social programs, healthcare, and much more. But they are praising the current system that is just printing off trillions for banks and profits for the 1%.

You can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save you from Wall Street.

"You are not a loan" - one of my favorite slogans from OWS.

The good paying jobs are gone and they're not coming back under this system of corporatism. What hasn't been outsourced to foreign labor will slowly or even quickly be turned into part time work so they don't have to pay benefits and further create a desperate work force willing to work for less under an employers market. That's right, they're coming for the full time jobs next. Along with stagnant wages you will slowly get pushed closer to the poverty line, or if you're already there, even further below the poverty line due to inflation.

"So just strap on your job helmet, and squeeze into a job cannon and fire off into good paying job land, where jobs grow on jobbies!"

74 Comments

74 Comments


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[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

In compliment to this excellent thread - http://www.nationofchange.org/trillion-dollar-coin-joke-or-game-changer-1358692579 - from which -

'Time to Take Back the Money Power -

The current economic crisis cannot be solved with the thinking that created it. There is simply not enough money in the system to fund the services we desperately need, pay down the debt, and keep taxes affordable. The money supply has shrunk by $4 trillion since 2008, according to the Fed’s own website. The only solution is to add more money to the real, producing economy; And that means some congressionally-mandated entity needs to create it, either the Fed or the Treasury.

The Fed has declined. In flatly rejecting the Treasury’s legal tender, the Fed as representative of the banks is asserting itself as outranking the elected representatives of the people. If the Fed won’t acknowledge the coins created by the government, perhaps the government needs to charter a publicly-owned bank that will.

We have a chance today to end the charade of big money gridlock politics, as well as the reign of the big banks. We have the power to choose prosperity over austerity. But to do it, we must first restore the power to create money to the people.'

Solidarity @ The 99%! Never Give Up! Occupy Wall Street!

[-] 3 points by Revolutionary (311) 11 years ago

The objective of the contemporary government is to continue to govern people as they are meant to govern.The contemporary governments in capitalist countries are not meant for benefiting the 99% but are meant to benefit the 1% ruling and rich class.Then how come would the contemporary government in USA let the Banks Fail which would have rendered them powerless.Their power(that of the contemporary governments) comes from reinforcing the anti-people institutions like financial institutions,police,anti-people culture ,anti-people values etc.

[-] 2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

That's precisely my point. "You can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save you from Wall Street."

We the people are going to have to do this on our own. And that means massive levels of civil disobedience. It's time we all step up our game.

Rage Against the Machine was right

It has to start somewhere. It has to start sometime. What better place than here? What better time than now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kJLW2EwMg

[-] 4 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

'FINANCIAL REFORM' (ie 'What Jack Lew Won't Do'!), 10 Points from : http://www.jillstein.org/issues :

  • Break up the oversized banks that are “too big to fail,” starting with Bank of America.

  • Create a Corporation for Economic Democracy, a new federal corporation (like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) to provide publicity, training, education, and direct financing for cooperative development and for democratic reforms to make government agencies, private associations, and business enterprises more participatory.

  • End bailouts for the financial elite and use the FDIC resolution process for failed banks to reopen them as public banks where possible after failed loans and underlying assets are auctioned off.

  • Bring monetary policy under democratic control by prohibiting private banks from creating money, thus restoring government's Constitutional authority.

  • Let pension funds be managed by boards controlled by workers, not corporate managers.

  • Regulate all financial derivatives and require them to be traded on open exchanges.

  • Require banks to use honest bookkeeping so that toxic assets cannot be hidden or sold to unsuspecting persons.

  • Restore the Glass-Steagall separation of depository commercial banks from speculative investment banks.

  • Democratize monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation. This means nationalizing the private bank-dominated Federal Reserve Banks and placing them under a Federal Monetary Authority within the Treasury Department.

  • Establish federal, state, and municipal publicly-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities and focus on helping people, not enriching themselves.

Also - "Hit The Bankers Where It Hurts - My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters", by Matt Taibbi ; http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/13-4?print :

  1. Break up the monopolies. The so-called "Too Big to Fail" financial companies – now sometimes called by the more accurate term "Systemically Dangerous Institutions" – are a direct threat to national security. They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined. There are about 20 such firms in America, and they need to be dismantled; a good start would be to repeal the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and mandate the separation of insurance companies, investment banks and commercial banks.

  2. Pay for your own bailouts. A tax of 0.1 percent on all trades of stocks and bonds and a 0.01 percent tax on all trades of derivatives would generate enough revenue to pay us back for the bailouts, and still have plenty left over to fight the deficits the banks claim to be so worried about. It would also deter the endless chase for instant profits through computerized insider-trading schemes like High Frequency Trading, and force Wall Street to go back to the job it's supposed to be doing, i.e., making sober investments in job-creating businesses and watching them grow.

  3. No public money for private lobbying. A company that receives a public bailout should not be allowed to use the taxpayer's own money to lobby against him. You can either suck on the public teat or influence the next presidential race, but you can't do both. Butt out for once and let the people choose the next president and Congress.

  4. Tax hedge-fund gamblers. For starters, we need an immediate repeal of the preposterous and indefensible carried-interest tax break, which allows hedge-fund titans like Stevie Cohen and John Paulson to pay taxes of only 15 percent on their billions in gambling income, while ordinary Americans pay twice that for teaching kids and putting out fires. I defy any politician to stand up and defend that loophole during an election year.

  5. Change the way bankers get paid. We need new laws preventing Wall Street executives from getting bonuses upfront for deals that might blow up in all of our faces later. It should be: You make a deal today, you get company stock you can redeem two or three years from now. That forces everyone to be invested in his own company's long-term health – no more Joe Cassanos pocketing multimillion-dollar bonuses for destroying the AIGs of the world.

Further, please do read some more Matt Taibbi : http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog & ..

Finally also see : http://ellenbrown.com/ ; http://www.webofdebt.com/ ; http://publicbankinginstitute.org/

radix omnium malorum est cupiditas ...

[-] 8 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Fuck the banks. Default on your credit cards.

Most accounts after being sold to creditors have a one-time settlement rate that’s preapproved (typically 15 to 35 percent on credit card debt). They buy the debts at lower rates than this.

I did it years ago when my card raised my interest rate to 29.9% for paying 2 days late. I said fuck that. I also had a friend who was a creditor who made the suggestion. I ended up settling for about 55% of what I owed.

He told me all about the scams they try to pull on people. Trying to scam families to pay for their deceased family members debts. All sorts of shit. He eventually quit.

Honestly I probably didn't even have to pay it. When I was 19 i became unemployed for a couple months and accidentally over drew my bank account for 9 dollars. They charged me 60 dollars in fees because it was 2 separate transactions. I said fuck that, I'm not paying that, I'm broke and the fine is bogus. They charged me 10 dollars a day until my account reached negative 850 some dollars. They eventually sent it to a creditor and I never paid it because it was all bullshit money. It's been 6 years and they stopped sending me letters about 3 years ago. Friend also said they only take higher debts to court. So if you owe just a couple thousand, fuck the banks. They have no problem fucking over the economy and stealing our government. So fuck them right back.

If the federal reserve loaned me a trillion dollars to put on deposit, like they did in 2008 for BOA, I not only would have been able to pay off my debt, but I would have been able to pay the trillion back as well... along with profiting billions from keeping the trillion on deposit. So why did the banks get bailed out and the people forced to stay in debt? We have a Wall Street government.

That same friend abandoned about 4 grand in credit card debt. It's been years and they stopped contacting him.

[-] 5 points by Renneye (3874) 11 years ago

I'll second A4C's motion below! Now we're talking! The actions you describe above are the one's that would stop the banksters dead in their tracks. It is a BIG action that could not be ignored. How to mass co-ordinate is the question. That being said...I think it would catch on real quick!

This kind of action is one that would expedite matters exponentially! Thanks TM!

[-] 2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

We have to stop the corporate takeover.

We can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save us from Wall Street. We the people are going to have to do this on our own. And that means massive levels of civil disobedience.

[-] 2 points by peacehurricane (293) 11 years ago

I think it is more like civil obedience because to say disobedience depends on what terms and with WE People being civil is being upright and peaceful for love of more than money while remaining polite with equality that includes the acceptance of others doing same

[-] 4 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 11 years ago

Fuck 'em to death! Then tax their wealth at 110%.

[-] 1 points by Justoneof99 (80) 11 years ago

You comment shows impressive insight and a deep understanding of the economic and policy issues involved.

[-] 2 points by agkaiser (2516) from Fredericksburg, TX 11 years ago

You may not see why your sharp comment is so keen.

Too few with too much, and wealth still being concentrated with them at an exponentially increasing rate, is the greatest threat the human race has faced for the past ten thousand years of devolving culture we call civilization.

If we don't rid ourselves of the rich parasites, one way or the other, they will cause our extinction.

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Bingo & http://strikedebt.org/ ! What you say here is what we all need to do! Excellent post & thread! One of the best! We all need to stand up against The Banks and their b.s.! Never Give Up! Solidarity:)

[-] 4 points by caravan (16) 11 years ago

Have you thought about making the "Debt Resistance Initiative" and "Debt Resistance Manual" described in your link above into a special thread of its own? I think many people would jump on board in a heartbeat! Just a thought.

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

I once did a forum post here and it still keeps me busy, as I'm too conscientious in replying lol, so I'm not at all sure that I have time to nurture another thread but please do feel free to do as you suggest. I'd join that 'caravan' :) Solidarity.

[-] 4 points by caravan (16) 11 years ago

Yes, your 'Inside Job' post. One of the best posts here, and it caused quite a commotion as I recall.

As to your comment above, well, I can relate. I can't commit to a thread here either. It wouldn't be fair, as I couldn't do it justice over the long term. Solidarity back!

Van Morrison: Caravan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuwckgO-AZs

[-] 4 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Despite 'The Extremist Cult Of Capitalism' - http://www.nationofchange.org/extremist-cult-capitalism-1358779216 - stay on 'the bright side of the road' & 'In the words of Bertrand Russell, "Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate."!' Thanks for your eponymous tune & solidarity:)

[-] 2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Screw the banks! They don't give a damn about us.

[-] 5 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

They never did & they never will, so - http://strikedebt.org/#initiatives ! Solidarity.

[-] 2 points by LeoYo (5909) 11 years ago

I know of someone who owed over $30,000 in credit card debt and never paid off a cent of it. Even though he knew he was legally responsible for it, the debt had occurred due to a co-authorized card holder running up the debt. So, he did some research and found a cease and desist letter to send to all of the creditors to stop them and the law firms they sold the debts to from contacting him unless they were ready to sue someone who couldn't pay. After 3 years of trying to get him to pay them off at a discount, they had to stop pursuing the debt according to his state's laws. The only creditor that hadn't sold the debt owned to them was American Express. American Express wants their money...but they didn't get it.

[-] 2 points by peacehurricane (293) 11 years ago

I've never paid either. Though my debt was not even as much I am with you. There is NO reason people should work so hard and pay taxes that are used to give the banks that are still charging them money for any reason. It is all the peoples money to begin with.The money actually belongs to the people busting ass in work or putting up with this corruption and suffering too. Maybe refusing to pay taxes is reasonable. Instead of paying for this system people could pay less to help the ones needing social service/food stamps and s.s. for much less..

[-] 2 points by Gillian (1842) 11 years ago

You're right. In fact, even Suze Orman once told someone that it's better to default and settle OR just ignore it and let it fall off your credit than to try and pay off years and years of fees and interest. Toyota tried to screw me several years ago on a lease saying that I owed them 750 dollars for a missing cigarette lighter. I said, ' Fuck you' and I've never paid them a dime. Technically, any bad debt is supposed to come off your credit after 7 years. !!!!!! But, what they do is have some collector call you right at 7 years and IF you answer the phone or acknowledge their threat in any way, that reactivates the debt for another 7 years. !!!!!! So beware..beware and make sure that you ignore them. In many cases you can have the debt removed from your credit report but again, that sometimes will reactivate the debt so make sure it's year 8 when you do that.

Banks are really nasty entities and will always screw their customers- even the small town banks.

Several years ago I kept my business account with BB&T. I deposited cash into that account one morning to cover a check I was going to write to a dealership later that day to purchase a truck for my company. I didn't want to finance the truck and I just wanted to pay cash. So, I loaned my company the cash to pay for the truck and I deposited it into my bus. checking so that I could have a hard record of the check transaction. Even though I deposited the cash at 9am and purchased the truck after noon, they charged me an overdraft of 650.00 because they said my funds were not avail for 36 hours. I was livid of course. For one thing their overdraft fee suddenly went from 32.00 to 10 percent? They told me that it was because it was such a large check. They must think we are truly idiots. Does it take more effort to process a hundred dollar check vs a 5 dollar check? The other thing is that based on the terms of my account, NOTHING should have been approved that was over 500 dollars without contacting me first and yet they approved a 6500 dollar check? What if I had been a crook? OH but they already knew I wasn't a crook. It was so fucking obvious that they knew the money was good, it was cash after all and they approved the check at the dealership. But they were angry that I did not leave my money in there long enough for them to make money on it. So, they punished me. I immediately yanked all my money out of there and yelled a few obscenities and that was the end of that. Stay away from banks and if you think credit unions are going to continue to be better, just wait. They will be forced to impose fees and charges just like other banks do today.

[-] 0 points by OTP (-203) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

Excellent posts...

[-] 0 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Thank you good sir!

[-] -1 points by zippyhorn (-5) 11 years ago

Well that may work for you but not someone else. Many employers check your credit record as a condition of employment. And yes, you'll never find out why you weren't hired. Some insurers have been checking credit and linking the info to insurance rates. There are consequences to bonehead actions. You think these things go unnoticed? Welcome to the big database in the sky... and it's getting bigger and bigger.

[-] 0 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

No it doesn't. I have a good credit record actually. Not that I care because I'm not going more into debt with these banks ever again. The debt mentioned in my previous comment shows up as paid/settled or something like that.

Rough times the first few years on my own had me making minimum payments and by the time I had paid the 55% of the debt that remained after the default - I actually more than paid back what I initially borrowed. I was being scammed and I ended the game. I'm not going to continue getting hardcore scammed just because someone throws some scare phrases out there like "they'll know" - I don't care.

This debt based economy system is a scam. Like I said, if politicians cared about helping people they'd pass laws to protect them, like banning credit checks for employment that you mention. People generally stop paying a debt on time because they can't afford it. Maybe soon enough they'll stop because they'll realize the entire system is a fucking scam. Preventing people from getting a job because of debt is the opposite of what needs to happen. How else are they going to pay it? - further evidence THEY're purposely trying to create an underclass.

We can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save us from Wall Street.

[-] 0 points by OTP (-203) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

and you are fine with this?

Do you feel employers dont do a good job of screening? Or is this more of a big business check point?

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

http://www.occupythesec.org/ & thanx for this post! Never Give Up! Go Occupy!

[-] 2 points by Middleaged (5140) 11 years ago

Sweet. Matt Taibbi is a Force of nature. We need everyone to model him in the OWS movement.

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

Matt Taibbi really is second to none when it comes to unravelling Wall Street's grotesque larceny and affectations of complexity in order to disguise their abject avarice - although Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert come a close second !! As such I append :

verb. sat. sap. ...

[-] 1 points by Revolutionary (311) 10 years ago

Wall street and its counter parts else where control people--contemporary money represents order and control.Its opposite is helping each other and at the same time measuring/recording/processing that(the sought of help/work one does).

[-] 1 points by OTP (-203) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

And yet the people reelect the same fools over and over....90% reelection rates.... Unreal...Incredible....

[-] 1 points by Revolutionary (311) 10 years ago

Elections in capitalist countries are sham only to befool people--how can one reject one thief and vote for the other thief.

[-] -2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

I am for curing the ILL's of society: "this does not require guns - or it really really should not. It Should reduce the need for em."

1 - Influenced government

2 - CorpoRAT goal

Their image of the future

3 - Consider the facts around the country around the world - you should then agree.

4 - if left as is - Wash-up time for breakfast


Food 4 Thought - TWEET - it.

[-] 1 points by Revolutionary (311) 10 years ago

The ills of the society can be rectified only if we shun the contemporary financial/monetary system and that needs a revolution which the twenty first century civilization should not wait for but do but that needs planning for stopping the suppression of the revolution.

[-] 1 points by nomdeguerre (1775) from Brooklyn, NY 11 years ago

Amen. The gangster banksters still rule, still loot, still prey on the populace. Parasites.

"Goldman bankers get rich betting on food prices as millions starve

. . . "While nearly a billion people go hungry, Goldman Sachs bankers are feeding their own bonuses by betting on the price of food. Financial speculation is fuelling food price spikes and Goldman Sachs is the No 1 culprit." " http://www.sott.net/article/256729-Goldman-bankers-get-rich-betting-on-food-prices-as-millions-starve

[-] -1 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

it's despicable. Thanks for the link!

Goldman Sachs are financial terrorists.

[-] 1 points by nomdeguerre (1775) from Brooklyn, NY 11 years ago

No speculation (parasitism) on food and energy.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Solidarity against the banks! Undo the shame of low wages and debt that this insane society places on people. It is not anyone's fault that they make a low wage and are forced into debt in order to survive. That is the result of a failed economic system that only works for the wealthy and corporations. That shame game is how they perpetuate this thing where they exploit the masses. Get out and fight for your wages and your life. Demand an end to usury interest!

I recently read in the NY Times that the average American who earns $20,000 per year is $26,000 in debt. F'ing insanity! We do not have to live like this. This is a sham. Wake up people! Fight for a living wage and a decent life.

The Debt Resistor's Operation Manual:

http://strikedebt.org/The-Debt-Resistors-Operations-Manual.pdf

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

The 'Debt Resistors Operations Manual' ( http://strikedebt.org/The-Debt-Resistors-Operations-Manual.pdf ) is an absolutely critical link and thanx for posting it here on this important thread. The 'DROM' is a very important OWS & 'StrikeDebt' collaboration { http://strikedebt.org/ } and shows a real way forward. Also worthy of consideration is 'Rolling Jubillee' [ http://rollingjubilee.org/ ]. Solidarity !!!

fiat lux ...

[-] -2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

You are definitely right about the rolling jubilee. A brilliant idea. We must stand up to these greedy grubbers and get our lives back. Humans can't live happy healthy lives if they have to go into debt in order to survive.

I also think the fight for a living wage is the most important fight because it solves so many other problems.

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

A 'Living Wage' is of paramount importance for The 99% & standing up to "greedy grubbers" is a must if The US 99% are to reclaim their and their children's future. Further to the links above, I also append :

Nothing is ever granted with largesse by The 0.01% Parasite Class and only through Collective Struggle have Americans attained any of the rights that they once (if not now) enjoyed & with this in mind, see :

per aspera ad astra ...

[-] 0 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

If Americans would quit worrying about their right to carry a gun and worry about their right to a fair wage we might get some place.

Thanks for all the great links. We won't give up until we have a living wage. Solidarity to workers everywhere!

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

"Minimum Wage Hikes Do Not Cause Inflation", by Jeanette Wicks-Lim :

Thanx for your concise truth. Fair Living Wages or guns, Guns, GUNS ?!!! Duhh ?!! Solidarity !

veritas vos liberabit

[-] -2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Businesses would prosper all the more if consumers had more discretionary income. I just don't buy any other argument, unless of course, one is trying to hold onto the debtor society we are currently in. Then in that case, right, don't increase wages. F'd up a little?

The bottom line: these minimum wage hikes pose no inflationary threat.

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

"Real full employment means an abundance of job opportunities with at least decent wages, fair benefits, and workers having solid rights at their jobs.", from :

More and more 'real businesses' can see the very real advantages of a living wage 'cause the present situation is "F'd up" A LOT !! Also, very pertinently to the subject of Trevor's forum-post, please see :

fiat lux et fiat justitia ...

[-] -1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Unemployment is inhumane. Full employment is possible. Solidarity with worker's everywhere. It is a human right to earn a decent living. Never give up!

Thanks for the link. I started watching and hopefully will finish later. The greedy banksters are not untouchable forever.

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

"Unemployment and Poverty in America : 75 Economic Numbers From 2012 that are Almost too Crazy to Believe …" :

Posted in reply again because of the extreme relevance.

"The workers have nothing to lose but their chains ..."

multum in parvo ...

[-] 0 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Oh, no! Not that depressing list again. Made more depressing by how apathetic Americans are in light of all of this. Wake up people before it's too late!

[-] 0 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

The cultivated apathy of Americans is exactly why "the depressing list" warrants repetition because they need to see that in modern societies in which access to most essential of life from food and water to shelter and health care depends on money - control of money is the ultimate instrument of control.

Fortunately, with the help of 'OWS' - Americans are waking up to an important truth. It is a very, very bad idea to yield control of the issuance and allocation of credit (money) to Wall Street banks run by con artists who operate beyond the reach of public accountability and who view the rest of the population, as simple-minded marks ripe for the exploiting.

By going along with its deceptions, the people passively empowered Wall Street to convert America from a middle class society of entrepreneurs, investors and skilled workers into a nation of debt slaves. Buying into Wall Street lies and illusions, Americans have been lured into accepting - indeed even aggressively promoting, “tax relief” for the very rich and the “regulatory relief” and “free trade” agreements for corporations that allowed Wall Street to suppress wages and benefits for working people through union busting, automation, and outsourcing jobs to foreign sweatshops.

Once working people were unable to make ends meet with current income, Wall Street lured them into making up the difference by taking on credit card and more mortgage debt they had no means to repay. They were soon borrowing to pay not only for basics and current consumption, but as well to pay the interest on prior unpaid debt. This is the classic downward spiral of debt slavery that guarantees an ever-growing divide between the power and luxury of an avaricious Creditor Class and the powerless desperation of a Debtor Class.

WTFU America !!!

radix omnium malorum est cupiditas ...

[-] -2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

I agree that our economic shackles are the most important singular issue we should focus on because all else falls from there, including the environmental degradation that we see occurring today.

Very well said, Shadz. Thanks for all you do here. So, Occupy Wall Street and never give up!

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

The critical distinctions between - the making of money and the creation of wealth ... is The True Key to seeing through Wall Street’s illusions. Real Wealth actually includes fertile land ; pure water ; clean air ; healthy food ; caring relationships ; healthy, happy children ; quality education and health care ; fulfilling opportunities for service ; peace and even time for meditation and spiritual reflection.

These are just a few among the many forms of 'Real Wealth', to which we should properly expect a sound economy to contribute - but Wall Street has so seriously corrupted the language however - that it is now difficult even to express the crucial distinctions between money (which is a facilitator of actual economic activity) & Real Wealth (the purpose of economic activity).

Economists and 'financial commentators' will routinely use terms like 'wealth, capital, resources & assets' when referring to the 'phantom wealth' of financial assets, which makes them sound like something real, substantial and tangible - whether or not they are backed by anything of real value. Similarly, they identify folks engaged in market speculation and manipulation as 'investors', thus glossing over the distinction between those who game the system to expropriate wealth and those who contribute to its creation.

OWS - because Wall Street Has Occupied America (& this bw) - For Long Enough !!!

veritas vos liberabit ...

[-] 2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

I think you have hit the nail on the head, here. The difference between real wealth and money is the key to it all. What do we want out of life? What are our priorities? These are the things we need to decide as a people. Once we decide what is important we must ensure that our government makes it happen.

Right now 'phantom wealth,' as you so aptly put it, is the priority. But, most human beings would not agree, they just simply have been sucked into a power driven system.

'Real wealth' such as the things you list out: fertile land, pure water, clean air, healthy food, happy and healthy children, quality education and healthcare, fulfilling opportunities for employment, peace, meditation and spiritual reflection are the things most human beings really want. We need to re-focus our priorities onto accumulating real wealth, not phantom wealth.

So well said, Shadz. Thanks for all you do here. You have hit the crux of the matter with that comment.

[-] -3 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Yes - WTFU

[-] 0 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

"Wrist Slap for 'Too Big to Fail or Jail' JPMorgan Chase", by Tom Burghardt :

I append this above article here as it is in keeping with the subject of Trevor's forum-post & to further help Americans to ... WTFU !!

fiat lux ...

[-] -2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

TWEETED

Wrist Slap for 'Too Big to Fail or Jail' JPMorgan Chase http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33692.htm#.UQQjd3GpRKc.twitter FOOD4WTFUpeople pls Share/Circulate

[-] -2 points by oldJim (-96) 11 years ago

American scientists should simply modify Americans genetically to include guns as part of their bodies. Inside the wrist, and it can be shot like Spiderman shoots his web.

[+] -4 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Right-On BW - Living wage to support promote a healthy society.

[-] -2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

A living wage would foster a sustainable life without needing to go into debt to survive as well as much less need for "entitlement" programs. Keep in mind, I think the only "entitled" ones are the wealthy and corporations.

[+] -4 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

As well as let kids in school know that after graduation that they will have a life that does not require illegal activities to support - make possible. BTW - I think entitled is how they feel ( corpoRATions ) but what they receive is ( OBSCENE ) unwarranted coddling.

[+] -8 points by auargent (-600) 11 years ago

Every American should be concerned when politicians ( dems) want to do away with the 2nd amendment. Salaries and the Bill of Rights are different things.

[-] 0 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Really? With a name like yours? Au argent = to the money. I have news for you, your economic rights are much more important than your rights to carry a gun. That's why the cons talk about gun rights so much while the wealthy and corporations run off with all the money.

[-] 1 points by OTP (-203) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

I think both sides have run away with the guns rights issue. Its a great move for both.

[-] -2 points by auargent (-600) 11 years ago

Auargent means " to the money"? How do you come to that ?

[-] -3 points by auargent (-600) 11 years ago

The 2nd amendment is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. What you get paid for what ever it is you do, is not a constitutional right. It's market driven , as it should be.

[-] -2 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution that we must have a market driven economy. It does say, in the Preamble, that the Constitution must promote the general welfare of the people. People who earn so little that they have to go into debt in order to survive are not having their general welfare promoted, they are being treated like animals.

[-] -2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

PEOPLE not golems - good one BW

[-] -3 points by auargent (-600) 11 years ago

Well obama has certainly promoted welfare, more on it than ever before.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23767) 11 years ago

Funny. Promoting the "general welfare" would mean people not needing the kind of "welfare" you refer to. And, DKA is right, below, there are only more people receiving government benefits because of the Global Financial Crisis and near economic depression.

[-] -2 points by auargent (-600) 11 years ago

The reason that more people are on welfare is very simple,............all planned by the obama adminstration to make more and more people dependent on the govt, and make them dem voters for life.

[-] -2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Hmmmmm economic meltdown due to wallstreet practices. Hhmmmmm - BUTT - U can't see a connection. Huh...... dick.

[-] -3 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Smoke and Mirrors - look - a shiny object................

[Removed]

[-] -1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

deregulation
tax cuts
pro business


harding = coolidge = hoover = reagan = bush = bush

[-] 0 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

No Habeus corpus

Warrantless Spying on US citizens

NAFTA

TPP

GLB ACT

WAR

Bailouts

Permanent bailouts

Keystone XL (watch the speech in Oklahoma)

One chooses Jack Lew the other chooses Henry Paulson and they all choose Ben Bernanke.

A good addition recently shared with another user on the forum:

Manufacturing consent is the name of the game, The bottom line is money, Nobody gives a fuck.

Modern globalization, Coupled with condemnations, Unnecessary death, Matador corporations, Puppeting your frustrations, With the blinded flag!

4000 hungry children leave us per hour, From starvation, While billions are spent on bombs, Creating death showers.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, Every time you drop the bomb, You kill the God your child has born

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l60b6LqfLk

You can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save you from Wall Street.

[-] -1 points by mideast (506) 11 years ago

Yes- exactly like hover did in 1929
hover saved America! or do I have that sdrawkcab