Values of the Rich

 

I've always considered it important to thoroughly understand other people, in order at bare minimum to know how to act towards them, but more importantly, to learn to appreciate their values, and see what drives their choices in life.

As a successful blogger __ by golly, I have almost 5,000 Facebook friends! __ many of my closest, most intimate buddies are fabulously wealthy. Predictably, the rich regularly devote the major part of their day to Facebook, and hanging out on other social sites. They don't have to work a real job. They jump online, there's my stunning profile picture, they click 'Add Friend' . . . Bingo! Another billionaire for my growing list of ultra-wealthy connections.

So, despite the holes in my jeans, the t-shirts that I wear __ which look like they've been dragged by an 18-wheeler across twenty-three state lines __ I can offer some very valuable insights into the .01%, the folks who are actually pulling the strings here in America for the puppet show we endearingly call the Land of Opportunity.

The other day I started thinking about the way rich people see the world. I was shocked to realize how much we regular folks have in common with them __ how much the filthy rich value the exact same things we do.

Restraint: The rich are conservative. They are emphatically for restraint! They want us to show restraint so they won't have to. If we regular folks go squandering the nation's wealth on silly and unnecessary frivolities __ like food and clothing, education for our kids, a car which doesn't look like it was in a demolition derby __ there won't be anything left for them to buy a Greek Island or sponsor a coup to overthrow the elected government of a country. And OMG! Have you checked out the price of cosmetic surgery these days? Why, it's simply frightening! Liposuctioning away that unsightly inner tube and getting dermal abrasion from head to toe is cutting deep into the money that was going toward buying those beautiful art works stolen by the Third Reich. How frustrating!

 

Turning the other cheek: The rich definitely believe in turning the other cheek! Let's say there's some homeless bum standing on the curb. What an eyesore! Talk about ruining a nice day, having to look at that. The rich will understandably turn the other cheek, thereby averting their gaze. Now they don't have to look at this poor, hungry slob, who probably was laid off from the factory they shipped to Vietnam. This meets the "letter" of Christ's turn-the-other-cheek mandate, if not strictly His intent. It's all a matter of interpretation anyway. Let the Biblical scholars nitpick the thing to death, if that's what they have to do.

Love thy neighbor as thyself: Absolutely! Of course, they mean their neighbors, not ours. Their neighbors belong to the same private clubs, and are less likely to be infected with some awful STD or Ebola, or whatever. There is even evidence that poverty is contagious. Being anywhere close to any common, low-life losers, why all the hard-earned fortune inherited from daddy could go up in smoke . . . just like that! Better safe than sorry.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you: To be completely candid, the wealthy are as confused about this one as the rest of us.  How do you give a blow job to a woman?  So basically they ignore it.

Whew!

Thinking all these deep thoughts is giving me a headache.

I'll just cut to the chase.

I can sum up the whole ball of wax by just laying out for you what I consider to be the basic ethic __ the defining value system __ of our ultra-wealthy class of aristocrats. Here is the simple, forthright maxim I believe sums up the world view of the ultra-wealthy. By the way, this is from page 92 of my recent book on taking back our democracy . . .

"It's all mine!  Screw everybody else."

Now, reach deep into your hearts, folks, and tell me you haven't felt exactly this same way at some point in your life.

Your mom has just taken away from you a huge bowl of candy you grabbed from the coffee table. The bowl is full of the white chocolate bonbons and caramel squares she has set out for arriving guests. You want them, like really bad! So you start kicking and screaming and throwing a window-rattling tantrum.

"I want it!  It's all mine!

 

There you have it. Just like rich people.

Granted . . . you were only three years old at the time.

But you know the feeling.



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Shallow

 

I love all of the hand-wringing, thoughtful analysis, speculation and prognostication surrounding Obama's public addresses.

Though the ADHD American public seems to little notice or be bothered by the lack of consistency or coherence to our president's policies on just about everything, pundits lately seem preoccupied with getting to the bottom of his erratic pronouncements. You know, those policy statements which seem often at odds with the best interests of the country, and even more baffling, at odds with themselves.

I hate to sabotage the good work all of the talking heads and pundits do. Moreover, I understand that they have to keep up the illusion they're doing something invaluable __ after all, we're talking job security. But this whole business of trying to find coherence in Obama's policies is a waste of everyone's time.

There never has been any consistency or sense to it. What can we expect? When he's talking to his "base", he spews progressive platitudes. When he deals with plutocrats, he morphs into the plutocrat he really is. When he pontificates about Mother Earth, now he's the great shepherd guardian of the environment. When he speaks at West Point, Obama becomes the mighty conquering hero, leader of the exceptionalist empire.

It comes down to this. Obama has no core principles, no political philosophy. Most of the time you can just, as they say, "follow the money". Of course, in our enlightened times, money is free speech. So sometimes it's about power and its manipulation. But there's always a "payoff" down the road __ voter support so he can continue wreaking havoc on what's left of egalitarianism and transferring the nation's wealth to his friends in the 1%.

Lately, there's been all of these noble attempts at analyzing why Obama is so hostile to Russia and Putin. The obvious answer is that he now fully subscribes to the nefarious vision of American hegemony embodied in Zbigniew Brzezinski's Grand Chessboard.

That may be true. But at the very core of Obama's Russophobic animosity . . . it's personal.
He hates Vlad the Impaler for upstaging him, not just aspiring to the higher moral ground __ shrewdly making some modest gains on the international stage __ but by Mr. Putin's actually achieving it in the eyes of the world. Putin's ratings soar. Obama's plummet.

Snowden . . . Syria . . . Ukraine.  There you have it, my puzzled pundits.

Obama now has a big chip on his shoulder and a very wounded ego. 

Despite a lot of lying, calculating and ruthless propaganda, posing, strutting, bullying, muscle-flexing, employing all of the exceptionalist weapons of the tallest, baddest bully pulpit on the planet, Obama has and continues to make a total fool of himself. And it's such a blow to his hyper-inflated ego that Vladimir Putin won't bow before his childish barbs, Obama simply can't handle it. Poor wittle boy!

We have seen in his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, then his speech before the U.N., and just recently his remarks to the G-7 __ using these extremely visible and internationally honored forums __ our President leveling vituperative taunts and personal insults at the leader of a great world power.
Personal insults!

This is our Nobel Peace Prize President.

This is our "don't do stupid stuff" President.

My eyes were opened to how shallow this man is during a recent interview. I had always been in awe of Obama's vast talents as an orator, delivering noble and moving sentiments, always putting himself in the best possible light, such that many believe him to be a truly great and noble man, a president who cares about the world, the people, world peace. What a shock it was to see the man in the stark personification of a self-absorbed sociopath who evidently has now lost perspective on his own public persona.

He was asked what it's like being President of the United States.

The first words out of Obama's mouth and I quote:  "It's a fun job."

Do I have to break this down for you? Let's just ignore how blatantly arrogant that remark was. The President has vast responsibilities and powers. His decisions affect everyone on our planet. He literally has life-or-death power over millions of people.

And he thinks it's a fun job.

As if we give a flying fuck whether he's having fun or not.

Obama has kept up a good front for longer than I would have expected. Many would have buckled under so much constant attention and adoration. But for seven years, he managed to fool a lot of people, even the people who are now suffering under his catastrophic lack of vision and leadership.

Obama may be a sharp guy. But it always seems that in the end, good judgment inevitably snaps under the dogged badgering of closeted narcissism. And now we have it, though it might have taken a little longer this time around. 

If talk is cheap, and the preferred use of the bully pulpit is self-congratulation over the greater good of the country __ or even an occasional nod to reality __ then the rumors of this President's greatness for the history books are grossly exaggerated, and will inevitably blow away like mere belches of hot air.

Just what the already overheating planet needs . . . more hot air.



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Bye-Bye Miss American Pie

 

I love pie charts!

They are so deliciously informative. A good pie chart makes statistics so digestible!

The short and sweet of it is this:

There are 400 incomprehensibly wealthy people in America which possess more wealth
than the 150,000,000 individuals in the bottom half of our population.

The now infamous 1% controls 43% of America's vast riches. And their share is increasing daily.

By the way, I got the pie chart already baked and ready for consumption from an
article that appears at the website for the Curry County Democrats
based in Brookings, Oregon. You can read the whole article here, and I thank them for their tasty work.

Of course, unlike a lot of the social and political crimes against the average
American by our corporate-government oligarchical junta, income
inequality is no secret.

Elizabeth Warren has railed against it. Obama has thrown his expensive hat into the ring. Even the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, has expressed alarm, a plea for sanity which was more twerking than real love.

From the people themselves, Occupy Wall Street created the most viral meme
in modern history __ the 1% vs. the 99% __ but we saw how that ended
up. The 1% brought some big guns to the skeet shoot and the clay pigeons
turned to dust.

There is hope. But it's down the road. The house of cards, aka the American economy, will collapse and the people at the top will have the furthest to fall.

In the meantime, we can expect more of the same. Which means more to them and less to the rest of us, the slobbering masses who amble idly like anesthetized sheep outside their gated communities and opulent private estates.
 

I will say this. The well-fed titans of economic tyranny at the top get paid well
to stick it to the rest of us. As this graphic shows (sorry it's not a
pie chart but more of a stale cracker), the income ratios between CEOs
and their worker-slaves in America is way off the charts.

When looking at the obsessive hoarding and soul-numbing, society-gutting greed of our privileged patrons of profligacy, we have to ask ourselves: What is the point?

Yes . . . what is the point?
 


To paraphrase that classic song by Don McLean . . .

I remember when the music died
That was the day that I cried 

R. I. P. . . . the American Dream. 

[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Change We Can Believe In

 

According to recent polls . . .

Approval of Congress stands at an all time low. Only 13% think they're 
doing their job.

Almost half of American voters "think their own member of Congress 
does not deserve reelection" while only 25% thought they did.

This is an election year __ perhaps the most important election year in 
recent history __ meaning we have a choice to make.

Will it be more of the same?

Are we going to be obedient little robots again and pull the lever for the 
guy with the clever campaign ads and teeth-whitened smile?

Or is it time to take this seriously?

Our situation is certainly serious. Despite the massaged statistics we are
fed and the latest Wall Street bubble courtesy of our Federal Reserve,
our economy is in shambles. Popular and highly successful programs 
like Social Security and Medicare are still under attack by the viciously
selfish 1%. The rich still don't pay anywhere near their fair share of
taxes, and they seem bent on starving the most vulnerable among us by
cutting food stamps, heating oil subsidies, unemployment benefits, child
care, school lunch programs. Jobs continue to be shipped to slave wage
countries in Asia and profits bankrolled in tax havens around the world.
Corporations get the royal treatment and we regular citizens get the
shaft.

Had enough of this?

It's time for some major change in this country.

It starts November 4th.

Here are some related blogs:

Trust No Incumbent
It's Nothing Personal
VIDEO BLOG: It's too complicated
VIDEO BLOG: "Take me to your leader!"
Guillotine or Exile?
Real News
The Day That Changed The World



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Bullies Can’t Be Domesticated

 

We all love our cats, dogs, birds, gerbils.

However, regardless of how cuddly other members the animal kingdom might seem, some just can't be domesticated.

We can go into all sorts of reasons for why this is. It's instinct. It's part of their wiring. They had a bad time in school (I guess that would only apply to fish).

We can find countless stories which confirm this. Here is one extremely gruesome one about a wolf hybrid which killed a 5-year-old in Cincinnati.

There's a lesson in this for all of us. If something bites your head off, then proceeds to eat you, best not make a cozy place for it in front of the fireplace.

There are certain animals in our society who have made it very clear they aren't hanging around to be cute and fill our lives with canoodles and love. They have bitten off the head of our government by destroying democracy, and are now proceeding to eat the decaying corpse by strip mining our nation and its citizens of all of the wealth.

These predators are leaving a trail of carcasses. Towns like Detroit, Camden, New Orleans, Scranton, Buffalo, Youngstown, Cleveland, Flint, and St. Louis have been gutted of their capacity to survive and offer any kind of life for their residents.

These sociopathic bullies are literally ripping America to shreds and sending the choice morsels off someplace else __ the money to offshore tax havens and our jobs to miserable impoverished countries so they can treat their workers like animals.

These are vicious, self-serving, rapacious individuals who by sneering at our appeals to their humanity make it clear they don't have any humanity.

What to do? Should we try to sit down and have a nice talk with them about what kind of country America is suppose to be and how we all need to do our part? How about some new slap-on-the-wrist tax code regulations which create the illusion that we're requiring them to contribute to rebuilding a strong and just America? How about some new laws which guarantee equal opportunities for everyone, protections of the vulnerable against the predations of the powerful?

Naw! Waste of time. We've tried that. Doesn't work.

How about if we drop them off in some jungle where they can fight for survival with their own kind __ other undomesticable beasts with no conscience, no morals, no noble values, nothing driving them but kill or be killed?

Ah yes . . . the law of the jungle . . . or the free market system as it's sometimes called.

The problem is we're the ones in the jungle. They're in their plush mansions, exclusive club houses, gated communities, yachts and resort spas. We're the ones, who ill-equipped and at enormous disadvantage, are forced to try to survive undomesticable beasts with no conscience, no morals, no noble values, nothing driving them but kill or be killed.

THEM!

There's only one way to defeat a bully.

Isolation.

Ignore, avoid, shun, ostracize, exile, quarantine the thug.

Starve the beast!

There's no secret to any of this. It's no mystery.

We actually know what we have to do to stop the rampage on America. We know exactly who is behind the systematic destruction. We know that even though they like to portray themselves as all cuddly and concerned about the rest of us, they can't be trusted. We know they are insatiable and will attack and devour everything and everyone they can get their claws on. We know that there's been a class war going on in this nation and the rich bullies, who now own our government and the vast majority of America's wealth, will not slow down until every last shred and morsel of our once great country has been carted off.

Some people say, "Live and let live." Or, "Turn the other cheek." Noble sentiments which have a lovely ring to them, for sure.

I prefer, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Coming from a family of pretty decent people who taught me that I am my brother's keeper, I'm more than happy to share the wealth with everyone. There's plenty to go around. Plenty!!

For those rich elite who feel no responsibility for their fellow citizens, who regard hunger, poverty, educational opportunity, a livable wage, justice, peace, fairness in the work place and the voting booth, equality, good affordable health care for everyone, personal privacy and freedom, as someone else's problems, for those bullies who use America's resources, its government, its people, its military, its institutions, only for their own enrichment and aggrandizement, I used to feel pity.

Now I only feel contempt and loathing.

It's just not America to be so selfish.

It's not America to be so insatiably greedy.

It's not America to game the system.

It's not America to buy the politicians, bully the public.

At least it's not the America I grew up believing in.

It's not the America you and I know is possible.

We didn't start this class war. These folks are extremely dangerous.

We can't just let them wander around the house.

Bullies can't be domesticated.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]