I am so sick of the lobbyists running this country

The lobbyist force the politicians to pass laws creating cartels and monopolies in exchange for campaign financing. Money talks, everything else talked about with politics is BS. Billionaires are represented in congress. The worker making the median wage has NO representation at all!! We know we have no free-markets because there's no mechanism in the market to eliminate the inefficiencies of exorbitant CEO compensation packages.

Then the corporations also infiltrate government institutions like the Bureau of Labor and Statistics so they can price fix wages. I am so sick of people defending corporations and billionaires. Despite the propaganda machine saying otherwise wages growth was flat:

Real Earnings Summary

"Real average hourly earnings increased 1.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December 2017 to
December 2018. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with no change in the average
workweek resulted in a 1.2-percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this period."

Unfortunately most Americans are completely math illiterate. A 1.2% increase may sound like a HUGE increase except when you take into account inflation:

Purchasing Power of the Consumer Dollar

Why can't Americans understand taxes are only one part of a larger equation!!! It doesn't matter how much you make in wages. It doesn't matter what you pay in taxes. WHAT DOES MATTER is the purchasing power of your take home pay!

In my lifetime, over the last 50 years, there's only been one 4 year period where the purchasing power of the dollar increased. And that was Bill Clinton's second term. If we had any representation in Congress, we would return tax laws and policies back to Bill Clinton's second term era. But instead we have billionaires getting representation by paying lobbyists to pass laws in their favor.

This is why I turn to religion. My religious mentor taught me the path to happiness can only come from accepting your life's situation. To get what you want you have to be absolutely grounded in wanting what you have. Despite my ranting about math illiteracy it's all good.

That's a lot of talk about literacy to end your rant by smashing your face into a bible, eh?

Maybe if we had a currency that wasn't designed from the ground up to rob the average person things coughs be different.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I'm sick of any weak politician that can be influenced by money and greed.

a reply to: DBCowboy

A very rare moment on ATS where I agree with every word you posted.

a reply to: a325nt

I am fully aware by how the currency is designed to keep us shackled:



"Give me control of a nations money supply, and I care not who makes its laws". Mater Amschel Rothschild

originally posted by: a325nt
That's a lot of talk about literacy to end your rant by smashing your face into a bible, eh?

Actually, it's from a Zen Buddhist teaching. "To get what you want you have to want what you have."

originally posted by: dfnj2015

originally posted by: a325nt
That's a lot of talk about literacy to end your rant by smashing your face into a bible, eh?

Actually, it's from a Zen Buddhist teaching. "To get what you want you have to want what you have."

When you have what you want, you have the inner happiness that money can't not replace. Money is a man made creation to control mans behavior of wanting more then what is needed in daily living by the natural laws of nature. MIM

What a crock of snip.

Between worker benefits that never get figured in, and the major role technology plays in modern society.

People don't have snip to cry about.

WHAT DOES MATTER is the purchasing power of your take home pay!

Then stop crying about lobbyists,corporations.

Begin with UNIONS,political parties, and FIAT MONEY.

a reply to: dfnj2015

So sorry but we are way past the point of no return. We are simply on a spiral around the drain socially, morally, and economically.

The best we can do is apply a "brake" every now and then before we go over the cliff.

Will it be next year or 50 years from now I cannot say but at the speed in which all 3 of these are deteriorating, I would not be surprised that our "time of troubles" moves quickly into Revelation levels of biblical proportion.


Prepare accordingly... Both physically and spiritually. When I say spiritually, I mean Yashua /Jesus. It is our only hope.

Who else is gonna run it? The people? Have you met people?

Only half kidding.

The way things are progressing it just might boil down to a black and white debate of whether you prefer corporate tyranny or a totalitarian government. This idea that we can somehow go back to an age of innocence where we believe we can find the sweet spot for either is quickly becoming anachronistic to our modern world. The advancements in technology and how information is disseminated has pulled the curtain back for all to see and some kind of oppressive, ruling force is increasingly inevitable. Why some on either side still clutch on to this silly belief that we can somehow go back to 1940 or 1980 is just madness.

I'm still hoping someone really effing smart comes along, sorts everything out, calms everyone down and shows all of us a way to move into the future that doesn't rely on rehashing the same bloody mistakes of the past.

a reply to: dfnj2015

So many come along and say they will put a stop to it, but no one ever does, corruption $$!

a reply to: dfnj2015

The more you have the more you want.

It is a difficult lesson to learn, but true happiness comes from being content with what you have. The key is limiting excess and giving any excess away to those that need it.

I have hit my minimalist stage and it is not easy downsizing. My mother and I are trying to give away all the things that folks usually fight over when you die. We have given away all the family jewelry, and are giving away the heirlooms and family mementos, the problem is the Millenials of the family that have not set down roots, wants us to hang on to them for them. So much is still in boxes in the attic.

I love living with just what I need. I hate waste, and I am worse than Johnny Appleseed. It is a good thing that every thing I plant doesn't grow, I would never be able to give it all away.

I am so sick of the lobbyists running this country

From your posts , that should read

I am so sick of living in this country

Relax.
Enjoy life.

a reply to: dfnj2015

Good points and I've seen the erosion as well over the last 40 years. People have short attention spans and like the boiling frog analogy dont notice.

My religious mentor taught me the path to happiness can only come from accepting your life's situation. To get what you want you have to be absolutely grounded in wanting what you have.

Yeah been there done that. When I see religious leaders put on ashes and sackcloth and walk barefoot you may have a point.

Acceptance can also breed complacency and resentment - its a fluid ever moving life we live.

Now what i am saying is that no matter how much you have, until you have a higher purpose it will never provide contentment.



www.quora.com...

Each teaching is a stepping stone to take you to the next level of understanding. Holding onto a teaching keeps you in place. It holds you into an identity.

"Kill the Buddha" doesn't mean the Buddha is bad or wrong. It means you don't need him anymore. In order to be done with him, you must first use him up.

Each teacher can only show you what they know. Once you know that, you will add to it what you know and transcend those teachings. Use the truths AND untruths of teachings to help you find your own truths. Then let go of the teachings. Then kill the Buddha. Not before.

a reply to: dfnj2015

A non-Zen saying would be, the ego always wants, its ever chasing an elusive goal.

a reply to: infolurker

Prepare accordingly... Both physically and spiritually. When I say spiritually, I mean Yashua /Jesus. It is our only hope.

Ah...the old "it'll get better in the afterlife scam". Funny how organized religion works hand in hand with the State to keep man enslaved.

Whilst the Jews await the 3rd Temple. Rome/moneyed ruling familial bloodlines still run the show.

Will it be next year or 50 years from now I cannot say but at the speed in which all 3 of these are deteriorating, I would not be surprised that our "time of troubles" moves quickly into Revelation levels of biblical proportion.

The cycles are speeding up - the next financial crash will take generations for the general populace to recover.

This has been going on for millions of years on this earth. Previous civilizations are wiped out and our true history is kept secret.

www.amazon.com...

They Came To Earth Millions Of Years Ago To Spread The Poison Of Hatred, War And Catastrophe... They Are With Us Still...

And religion was created by "them". Maybe even alien parasites that gestate with-in us.


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Mixed Anxiety and Depressive Disorder:

a reply to: dfnj2015

The whole thing is a fkin circus.

a reply to: dfnj2015

The lobbyists do not force politicians to do anything. They lobby the politicians to get what they want. that’s a good thing, because that means you can as well.

a reply to: dfnj2015

President Obama wanted to address this as it was one of his campaign promises...hard to do then when Harry Reid had five of his kids as lobbyists and Hillary's brother was a lobbyist along with John Podesta's brother...all crooks and you are spot on..they are part of the problem.