If you've got the time, this interview with the former head economist of the IMF, Simon Johnson, is extremely interesting.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html
If you've got the time, this interview with the former head economist of the IMF, Simon Johnson, is extremely interesting.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html
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hmmm ... Bill Moyer's multi-million dollar PBS salary / bonus / bennies package is paid by the US taxpayers !!! Shouldn't HE have to accept the same $500,000 pay cap as the Wall St execs who accepted TARP funds ?
But I do agree with one of the main undercurrents of this interview ... that the 'changes' being implemented in Washington in regard to gov't financial institutions aren't changes for the better. If anything, the back-door relationships between gov't officials, financial industry lobbyists, and financial industry management have never been tighter !



Democracy means rule by the rich (Oligarchs). The average citizen has almost no say in how the government is run. In a Democracy, the citizens are just slaves who are given the illusion that they are free. What the Oligarchs want, the Oligarchs get.
What Bill Moyers doesn't understand is that The Federal Reserve is a private bank which is owned by the Oligarchs (banksters) and is basically a criminal organization. The Fed is totally unconstitutional and is not part of the U.S. government. The Oligarchs give the illusion that it's part of the government but it's not. The Federal Reserve pretty much owns these bankrupt institutions so I guess these CEOs are now their employees. The Federal Reserve chairmen tells the President of the U.S. the way it's going to be. They just have to make it look like the President is making the decisions. The President of the U.S. is just an errand boy.
As far as the economy is concerned, the U.S. is basically Argentina (bankrupt) right now. Welcome to Great Depression II. This could get worse than the Great Depression since we've exported 4 million manufacturing jobs and 3,000 factories, and we have at least twice the debt as we had during the first Great Depression.
ROFLOL! I'm sure you guys aren't being intentionally hilarious, but I have to laugh anyway.
Mel, PBS is not a government entity. They may get government funding, but so do a LOT of private businesses...like, oh, say CitiGroup. Less than 20% of funding for PBS is from government sources. The remaining 80% is from charitable donations and listener donations. PBS can exist w/o government funding.
Also, Bill Moyers is a best selling author in his own right. He may garner a nice salary for the work he does for PBS, but that is not the bulk of his income.
SteveSmith, you are just plain goofy! I have a role in policy making in my city, which reflects on state wide and national policy making. Don't tell me that an individual can't make a difference, because I KNOW the opposite is true. As a matter of fact, I'm directly involved in the decision making process of how to spend some of the stimulus money that my state is receiving.
If you feel that you are excluded from the democratic process, could it be that you haven't actually tried to get involved? Of course that means working for nothing more than the satisfation of righting wrongs. There is usually no salary involved in low level comminity activism. You gotta be able to take the time to write up your ideas and present them to an organization which in turn puts you in front of your law makers. Yes, it is a lot of work, the hours suck and it is all pro-bono. But ultimately, the work I am putting in is now controlling how my city is run.If you don't like it, I suggest you work for free for the good of your community, to make change in regards to how you think things should be run.
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You might want to consult your dictionary:
Democracy:
Definition: government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
The form of government where only the wealthy elite are in power? Aristocracy.
Definition: a government or state ruled by an aristocracy, elite, or privileged upper class. AKA Feudal system.
Yeah, last I checked the US doesn't have a King or Czar or Ayatollah or Pope or Emperor or Whatever hereditary/ unelected ruler name you prefer.![]()
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How bad is it really?
Keeping me up at night...making me consider stockpiling some food and necessities...growing a garden...buying ammo...buying more silver/gold (although if there is a currency change?) do things I'd NEVER have even thought about before?
I'm a freakin' city girl who has lived damn WELL for the past 20 years and now I'm thinking about buying a survivalist handbook and practicing my shooting skills again.
Two schools of thought are : "It's not really that bad" and that "they" are content to perpetrate "fear" in order to institute changes.
The other opinion is that yeah...it really IS that bad and that unless things find their own level of "worth" on their own, that all the chit they're throwing at us now is simply prolonging the agony.
Putting a band-aid on a cut that requires stitches if you will...
If you start reading the alternative news sources,blogs,looking at charts,and truly trying to make up your mind as to where your future might be,it looks fairly grim to me on a lot of levels right now.
Recovery? Corrections?Quick Fix? I don't think we'll see them for a long time to come and I don't believe we've "hit bottom" yet.
Too many are losing their jobs,the core of what we have built our day to day lives is breaking and being threatened,and honestly? I think people have become lazy and don't care: they WANT someone to come on the TV and simply TELL them what to do.
Am I over-reacting? Possibly...but I'm not going to do nothing and have what I worked years for simply go up in smoke...best to start fighting back a bit in even some small ways.
PLUS,I've got the added concern about what's happening on the Tex/Mex border not far from here...it's no small thing and could escalate.
I'm going to try and become more self-sufficient and get back to what really will make a dif if it all goes to hell.
It will be all about "community" if things don't change rapidly as they will be the ones who come out of the mess because they do help each other.
Last edited by retiredangel; 02-22-2009 at 12:11 PM. Reason: mis-spelling





I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
From Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration speech 1932.
Don't be afraid. Everything is going to be ok.



People have some say on local politics, like what day the garbage will be picked up, etc., but the big decisions are made by the Oligarchs. The Oligarchs can't be bothered with local politics. The Federal Government basically ignores what the people have to say even though 70 to 80% of the people are against what they're doing.
I thought the Federal Reserve scam was common knowledge for political junkies. I probably went over everyone's head on that post. I'll try to stick to surface politics from now on, but here are some very short videos on the Federal Reserve scam:
Not Federal, Not a Reserve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTqDFss24Hw
Who Owns the Federal Reserve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B50-AriBRq0
Ron Paul - Federal Reserve is Illegal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOlSadj8lOo
Welcome To The Money Changers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUuo2CDY_BE


I hate to make people feel like what they have HOPE in.... haha, to use Obamas terms....... is bullshit but Steve is right.
I dont really have time to get into an in depth explaination, but i have worked in Pharmaceuticals and Real Estate/Finance aside from dancing and you see some really shocking facts when you see what goes on in these arenas. The average american is such a sucker that they are content so go along with the lyes and deception as long as its putting money into their pocket. The real truth only comes out when the builders of the lyes and deception start cutting everyone off. Then you either HAVE to admit whats going on or hold onto some false HOPE that its gunna turn back around ........................
Here is a prime example........ when i was in real estate school they actually LIE to you teaching you that the FED (so convenientlly named) is a Govt. agency. If you do some research (not even that much) you will find that this is not true. It is a privately owned organization made up of European bankers- think Illuminati, aka Rockafeller, Rothschild, Bilderburger group. These are the same guys who own the mass media and control everything you 'think' you see on your boob tube. The united states govt. is a business. It was sold off to these guys hundreds of years ago ........ that is what the so called "independance'' is............... Why do you think the rest of the world thinks americans are pigs?????? our whole country is nothing more than a business. We are buyer and sellers of bullshit and these banks are our pimps.
and what do we aaaaaallll know about pimps ladies??? they are nice as hell to you when you meet them, charming and inviting- offering you the world on a platter, telling you whatever you want to hear. But why do we look at girls who roll with pimps as stupid???? because they give ALL their money (hundreds of thousands sometimes) to their pimp, and leave with nothing if they no longer want to play along.



I don't think you went over anyones head, I think that most members do not view the US as being run by oligarchs. At least not yet.
I think you would be surprised at how little power most politicians have. I have seen first hand the amount of help and assistance most civil servants in the EU need. At first it is actually astonishing. Things are simply too complex these days so there is a requirement to outsource many, many functions to others.
I'm not denying that wealthy interests have ways and means of obtaining influence - that will always be the case. But I don't think it is as bad as you make out.
And to answer the question, "How bad is it?" - I think it isn't so bad. I am convinced that there is still much, much worse to come.
Sorry to be a doom-and-gloomer.
Hope everyone is well,
Stuart
Nina, we are on the verge of an entirely new way of conducting business and financial transactions. What that way is, I have no clue, but the old way isn't working for us any longer.
If I had to guess? Global regulatory commissions and international investigative bodies to ensure a level playing field in the global market place. Who will run this Global Business Regulatory Commission? Japan, France, Germany, Canada and of course, the US. It will be based loosely on the WTO, but will require membership of all trading nations. There will likely be levels of trade members; Industrialized Nations, Developing Nations, Emerging markets and 3rd world nations. My guess is that the rules for each level will be unique to best serve the trading partners at all levels.
It is obvious that the whole world is dependent on international trade, and everyone's economy is linked to everyone else's. This is also the begining of the end of conventional warfare. Crazy, I know! But economic warfare is just as destructive and effective, and no one has to be shot.
In 50 years, the world business community will be unrecognizable in comparison to what we have today, much like leaving behind the barter system, then leaving behind the gold standard, money is about to make an equally big transformation, redefining the world monetary system once again!
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And it hasn't even started yet. Heaven help us all if the Saudi's, Chinese or Dubai's (? what is the collective noun for central bankers from Dubai I wonder?) decide it is time to dump their US dollar holdings. If that happens, what we have seen so far will be a bit like a child's game.
Of course, they might decide to buy lots more!!!!




Take a littler truth, take a little fiction, and whalla...comspiracy theory. I'm still waiting for the Jews control the govt to come out, I mean c'mon, Henry Ford said so, and even distributed the book with the purchase of one of his cars.![]()
As soon as they do that, they will also collapse their economy.
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