Prosperity Amidst the Ruins

Well My ATS Brethren and Sisterhood. This article is a nice little read. Kinda explains All The Good News that's constantly being spewed at us on The MSM.

So, obviously, None of The Politicos or Oligarchs are going to want to change anything. They're quite Happy that we slowly sink into a Quagmire of Despair.

So, what do you thinks My ATS Friends and Family, is Charles Hugh Smith's Analysis of The Sitch here in tThe West Accurate. Or is he Way Off The Mark with his thoughts on what's happening in The Western Old Economies.

Any thoughts, Gripes, Rants or Raves are appreciated here and Thank Y'All for reading

Mods, I put this in Global Meltdown, for any reason if need be More this to where you think more appropriate. and Again Thanks and Peace Arjunanda
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,

The fundamental problem facing the global economy is not slow economic growth but political inequality.

It's striking: as economies stagnate, the top tier is living even larger while the low-income masses sink further into marginalized poverty. I call this widening divide between the vested interests/wealthy and the rest of society prosperity amidst the ruins.

How can the top slice prosper while the rest of the populace suffers from higher taxes, stagnant wages and a collapse of employment/enterprise opportunities?

Just as Greece led the way in the sovereign debt crisis a few years ago, it is also leading the way in showing how oligarchies can expand their wealth and power even as their populace slides deeper into poverty. A recent article, Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece, lays out the key dynamics.

It is self-evident that these same dynamics are playing out in the rest of Europe, the U.S., Japan, China and most if not all of the developing world.

Writer Pavlos Eleftheriadis pulls no punches:
"Greece has failed to address (rising wealth/income inequality) because the country’s elites have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Since the early 1990s, a handful of wealthy families -- an oligarchy in all but name -- has dominated Greek politics. These elites have preserved their positions through control of the media and through old-fashioned favoritism, sharing the spoils of power with the country’s politicians. Greek legislators, in turn, have held on to power by rewarding a small number of professional associations and public-sector unions that support the status quo. Even as European lenders have put the country’s finances under a microscope, this arrangement has held."
This is the same script being used by vested interests everywhere:

1. Control the media so it focuses exclusively on manufactured "good news" ("the stock market hit a new high today, blah blah blah") and ignores the perverse incentives built into the system and the destructive consequences of crony-capitalism/crony socialism.

Anything that undermines the dominant narrative (i.e. thanks to your political-financial elites marvelous management, we have self-sustaining "growth") is buried, discredited or ignored.
2. Buy political favors and influence to insure that "reforms" are superficial public relations exercises rather than than actual reforms that change the power structure.

3. Rig the accounting, regulations and reporting so any scrutiny is misdirected or blunted. This enables the status quo to continue on unfazed, despite the erosion of the economy's fundamentals and the widening gap between those with power and those who are powerless, i.e. the middle class and the marginalized poor.

This simple script is working in China, the U.S. Japan--everywhere.

The vested interests have obscured the cold reality of rising inequality by focusing obsessively on "growth" as the fix-all to inequality.

But this is exactly backward. As Eleftheriadis observes:
"The fundamental problem facing Greece is not slow economic growth but political inequality. To the benefit of a favored few, cumbersome regulations and dysfunctional institutions remain largely unchanged, even as the country’s infrastructure crumbles, poverty increases, and corruption persists. Greek society also faces new dangers. Overall unemployment stands at 27 percent, and youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent, providing an ideal recruiting ground for extremist groups on both the left and the right. Meanwhile, the oligarchs are still profiting at the expense of the country -- and the rest of Europe."
All the blather about "growth" and GDP is just propaganda to misdirect our attention from the real problem: the total domination of governance and finance by a class of vested interests and mega-wealthy cartels/oligarchies.



Textwww.zerohedge.com...

You get my vote S&F!

Thank You Stirling for you answer and A Star For You Peace, Arjunanda a reply to: stirling

a reply to: arjunanda

Somebody once said that war is when the government tells you who your enemy is. Revolution is when you work it out for yourself.

One day, perhaps decades or even centuries in the future, there will be another global revolution undoing the one that is has been going on for the greater part of 60 years and will continue for another 10- 20 years before its vision is realised.

When it is, about 5-10 thousand people will own whole the world and everything in it including us.

Wow, What a Nice Analysis Learnmatic, I think you're Right On in your observations!!! It's only a timing thing that we cannot be precise about. When The Frogs Have Had Enough Boiling. LOL and A Star for you. EXCELLENT Peace Arjunanda. a reply to: learnatic

Yeah, I'll give you a Big Thumbs up on that, Shavedfish a reply to: learnatic

Great analysis and imo truth, arjunanda
But don't expect any change as most of the plebeians have succumbed to the Stockholm syndrome and love their masters, worship authority and have absolutely no capacity for critical thinking.

This is the way the elite designed our culture thru every type of social manipulation available.

The boiled frog has been eaten and the bones fed to the dogs.

a reply to: learnatic

Somebody once said that war is when the government tells you who your enemy is. Revolution is when you work it out for yourself.

Well said

One day, perhaps decades or even centuries in the future, there will be another global revolution undoing the one that is has been going on

but then you say...

When it is, about 5-10 thousand people will own whole the world and everything in it including us.

But those 5-10000 thousand people do own us, right now. Dont you mean that the global revolution will undo the power structure kept in place by those 10,000?
Or am I not reading your intentions correctly?

a reply to: arjunanda

Arjunanda great thread.

I have travelled to Greece 3 times in the last 5 years and Pavlos Eleftheriadis analysis is truth.
Seeing despair in their eyes but at the same time life goes on and they have some hope...albeit in poverty. It breaks my heart because laws have been placed in Australia where the same will happen here. Its called Bail-in, where depositors money is stolen and they get a piece of paper " a share" of a newly reconstructed bank in exchange for their hard earned AFTER-tax measly dollars.

S&F

No, you are wrong, *golum* *golum* you stupid hobbit, we are here to saves you....precious. *golum* *golum*

Hey Konstruction, U have been to Greece a couple of Decades ado and what a nice place it was. I have friends who live there nowadays and they are in agreement that the Greed and Corruption of The Political and Banking Elite Classes have made the Place A Living Hell. Nice Reply and A Star for you Arjunada. a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: learnatic

But those 5-10000 thousand people do own us, right now. Dont you mean that the global revolution will undo the power structure kept in place by those 10,000?
Or am I not reading your intentions correctly?



My apologies, I don't think I explained my point adequately.

You are right. I meant that it will take another revolution to undo what the world will look like when the vision of the 5-10k is fully implemented, complete and realised.

I appreciate that the rights, freedom and privacy that we currently have do not have long to run before the big iron cage is sprung over us all and all remaining rights etc are extinguished in one fell swoop

a reply to: arjunanda

Inflation is the real problem facing all of us in the middle or bottom. Average car prices are 30,000 US and that is why they are pushing leases and 10 year car loans. The average house is 230,000 US this is why very few new homes are being built. Who can afford a 1,500 a month payment anymore.



The average household income is 55,000 and the average single income is 45,000 this just does not cut it anymore. You need make at least 75,000 to really have a good future. Look at you grocery bill week to week and follow it over time. The cost of everything keeps rising faster than wages. This will eventually reach a point of no return as everyone becomes the poor.


Inflation is the root cause and must be stopped.

Well ConstucKtion, If you know anything about The Taxation Process, that's exactly how it works. We, The Middle/Lower Classes pay taxes to The Wealthy. The Politician/Bureaucrats do The Collecting for them with the Help of Some Heavily Armed Thugs/Police/Military. They, The Pols/Bureau's then provide us with Very Overpriced No Bid (except to Friends/Family/Cronies) Services. Most of The Money (Our Collective Labor) ends up in The pockets of The Wealthiest .001 percent. With A Nice Fat Slice going into The Pockets of The Politicos, of course... Good Post and Peace Arjunanda. a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight