The Powers That Be have been real all the time. Their names? "ALEC".

reply to post by diakrite


Believe me when you think you understand something YOU REALLY DO NOT...an supposed answer always leads too 100 more questions...good luck...inshalah

Sniper

Bastards!

..Should have known it would be one of the Baldwins.

Originally posted by Cassius666
Unchecked capitalism always results in communism or at least a communist like situation. Eventually you will have a group of winners, who runs everything.

Unchecked capitalism would stay capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system. Capitalism is the private ownership of the means of production, regardless of the political system.

The capitalists through their wealth can influence government, and have been influencing government towards totalitarianism since capitalism replaced feudalism.

Sorry not communism. Communism in classic Marxism is the stage that proceeds socialism. It is the state when production is increased to overcome the artificial scarcity caused by capitalism, and to the point all our needs are met and the monitory system becomes unnecessary.

Communism is one of the forms of socialism, anarchism is the other, it has nothing to do with government as it is ultimately libertarian (anarchist), because the people, not the state, have the power. The only difference in the forms of socialism is the path that leads us there. We all share the same ultimate goal, free association.

Free association (communism and anarchism)

Standardization is a good goal. Much better to have similar laws across states than inconsistent laws.

Privatization is far better than nationalization. If that's their primary goal it's honorable.

Hopefully nationalized healthcare will be defeated as it should. Once government owns your healthcare, any mistreatment of your body costs the government which you may be fined for, and therefore your body has become government property. They might not have your soul, but they would own your physical body.

Great find... best of the month..

reply to post by diakrite


Very informative piece... i did not know such an organisation existed up until i read this. Thanks for the enlightenment.

I have always associated the term TPTB as more of a group of elites / corporatists etc etc for where there was no official affiliation to a unified company or entity. ALEC whilst provides a front, is IMO just the tip of the iceberg. It very much provides evidence that TPTB exist, but i think you can find more examples of this within the very backbone of every political system in the world. Consumer Groups, Lobbyist Groups etc etc all influence our governments via election campaigns, new bills, political movements etc. Whilst i understand the importance of these groups, they as everyone will agree have been hijacked so disproportionately that we, as the people don't have an equivalent conduit to influence government other than corrupt and fraudulent voting system.

Originally posted by diakrite
Don't get me wrong. Free-Market economy absolutely has it's merits, no doubt there, but ONLY if not negatively/unfairly used by a very small clique. Because at that moment it starts to look suspiciously like old-fashioned Communist "Planned-Economy", and we all know how well that went

Glad that we got that clear prior to our next lesson...................

I am still on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes, but even there, "Due Process" should be the norm, NOT the monetary influence of the moneyed elite.

Ok,, So how can you be still "on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes" now?

Adam Smith, as well as Milton Friedman on a later date, were very specific when they subscribed to Free-Markets WITHIN BOUNDARIES OF LAW & REASON. (Very important) and kept Education, Infrastructure and Law VERY specifically independant of this "Free-Market".

So without the right to bear arms, you assume that ctizens will still be granted "Due Process"?

They saw Cartels as detrimental to the whole philosophy of Free-Markets. Every economist, Friedmanist, or Keynesian, agrees about that. They even warned for undue influence of the trader-class upon governance by sheer power of money.

Didn't you just say though that you're still "on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes"?

But. It's 2012 and here we have it: A self-serving elite of Bankers and Corporatist, taking over EVERYTHING.

Yet again, You're in your own words "still on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes", right?

This is scary stuff, people. "ALEC" is THE best example of TPTB, and it fits in seamlessly with every conspiracy I ever heard of ,only, THIS is the real world, these people are REAL!

So why in the hell could you even think for one second that you're "still on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes"?

You see my friend, that is the problem with people like you. You seem to have opened your eyes to the root of the problem, yet you're "still on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes"?

Shakes head. One really has to wonder what it will finally take for you people to comprehend that Freedom will never have a chance to live on, let alone survive, without the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment. Not trying to be rude at all Sister, it's just that all I see in regards to what you have said is repeated mass contradictions.

My point is, You can't call out TPTB, Yet continue to play the fence sitter card. There is no in between, there is only one who stands for freedom and Liberty. There is no sitting up on a fence, as long as it fits whatever political ideology dominates you. No, You either do, or you don't support it. If you would grant those corrupt people the right to strip us of our last form of defense against them, or even question it, then you're not standing up against what you just claimed to have recognized as a lie . ~SheopleNation

Originally posted by diakrite
Paul Krugman is one of the very few opinion-writers who actually has a record of being right more times than being wrong.

Haha, you're joking right? What exactly has he been right about? That we needed to blow a housing bubble to get out of the 2001 recession? That we didn't spend enough stimulus money in 2008?

For every economic problem, his only prescription is to spend more money. That's it.

Free-Market economy absolutely has it's merits, no doubt there, but ONLY if not negatively/unfairly used by a very small clique.

Then it's not a free market then, now is it?

Your far left bias is pretty apparent. And also extremely intellectually lazy.

Nothing to add really other than a "Thanks for posting this."
Definately a peek into the cogs and gears that run this merry-go-round. Utterly disgusting, yet somehow magnificent in it's simplicity, and still manages to answer uncomfortable questions like "How did they write the entire Patriot Act in a matter of days after 9-11?" or "What really comes from those nefarious think-tanks we pay for?"

alecexposed.org...
www.sourcewatch.org...-Profile
www.sourcewatch.org...-Profit_Corporations
www.sourcewatch.org...

Here are some good links. Check them out. These are lists of politicians, corporations and law firms who are on the take with these cats.

With the economy in shambles, these guys feign to save government money by privatising services, as the OP has established. S&F. Good work, OP.

I've been saying it for years...THIS is why conservatives want to keep governments out of business. What I mean is government regulation. And for the 3rd time today, blame it on capitalism and what it breeds. The bourgeoisie own the government, as well as the means of production, and this is why these things are happening. And it's speeding up, like they know their downfall is inevitable, which it is, so they are getting the most out of it while they can.

I advocate that all businesses be run in a co-operative fashion, from the top down, by workers, who divide profits relatively equally. Did you know that the average salary of one of these executives is 350 times more than a regular wage worker? There is something wrong with that, and there is something wrong with a system that allows that to flourish. Much of what "they" tell you about the free market isn't true. That it will balance itself out. Ya, of course they will tell you that.

Originally posted by diakrite
Ohkay. Time to fess' up.

I have to admit that I always shrugged when people mentioned "TPTB". It was a bit too far-fetched in my (admittedly limited) experience.

However. Color me baffled upon reading the comments in The New York Times, when my eye got attracted by a Head-line form Dr Krugman.

Paul Krugman is one of the very few opinion-writers who actually has a record of being right more times than being wrong. When HE points-out something, I tend to listen.

Here's a quote from the Op-Ed:

What is ALEC? Despite claims that it’s nonpartisan, it’s very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesn’t just influence laws, it literally writes them, supplying fully drafted bills to state legislators. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 ALEC-written bills have been introduced, many almost word for word. And these bills often become law.

Published: March 25, 2012 in the NYT

Source: www.nytimes.com...

Suddenly it ALL started to make sense. I was always somewhat mystified how states could come-up with the same bills, in the same language EVERY single time the "Free-Market" profiteering (!!) was at risk.

Don't get me wrong. Free-Market economy absolutely has it's merits, no doubt there, but ONLY if not negatively/unfairly used by a very small clique. Because at that moment it starts to look suspiciously like old-fashioned Communist "Planned-Economy", and we all know how well that went.
I am still on the fence as far as Gun-Law goes, but even there, "Due Process" should be the norm, NOT the monetary influence of the moneyed elite.

Adam Smith, as well as Milton Friedman on a later date, were very specific when they subscribed to Free-Markets WITHIN BOUNDARIES OF LAW & REASON. (Very important) and kept Education, Infrastructure and Law VERY specifically independant of this "Free-Market".

They saw Cartels as detrimental to the whole philosophy of Free-Markets. Every economist, Friedmanist, or Keynesian, agrees about that. They even warned for undue influence of the trader-class upon governance by sheer power of money.

But. It's 2012 and here we have it: A self-serving elite of Bankers and Corporatist, taking over EVERYTHING.

This is scary stuff, people. "ALEC" is THE best example of TPTB, and it fits in seamlessly with every conspiracy I ever heard of ,only, THIS is the real world, these people are REAL!

Here's another nice little snippet from the same Op-Ed mentioned above:

ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.

Link:www.nytimes.com...

edit on 3/27/2012 by diakrite because: links added

My name is Alec.

Please don't start a Kony 2012 style hit against me...

If any of you are interested, ALEC responded to Krugman's claims. Take it as you will, but I would hardly consider these people the "TPTB". I mean come on, that's a stretch..

Link

Non of this is particularly new...

Firstly TPTB, meaning the powers that be, does not necassarily refer to some kind of NWO group or conspiracy, it simply refers to the powers (or sovereigns) who rule and is dependent on context (i.e. the Saudi dynasty is TPTB in Saudi Arabia but not China).

Secondly, it is all ready widely known that lobbyist and special interest groups have been heavily involved in the US legislative process and the legislative process of many other states, where they often draft bills, seek amednments, influence politicians and all sorts of other things.

To me it sounds like Krugman is throwing out some half-truths to gain some credibility for future "baffle them with b.s." articles.

I never heard about ALEC, thanks for bringing this to light... However I could care less for Paul Krugman as he's just another parrot in the media jungle.

The real 'powers that be' have written faarrr more than 50 bills. And they don't pledge their allegiance to the right (as this article implies) or the left. They are above, or more accurately, behind, the 2-party system

Originally posted by diakrite


However. Color me baffled upon reading the comments in The New York Times, when my eye got attracted by a Head-line form Dr Krugman.

Paul Krugman is one of the very few opinion-writers who actually has a record of being right more times than being wrong. When HE points-out something, I tend to listen.

He's coming to my college to give a presentation in 2 weeks, maybe I should go check it out.

reply to post by diakrite


This group is conservative?... really?... What's so conservative about all the laws that have been passed in the last 2 years?...

Its hard to convince other people that things arent what they may seem, when you dont fully understand it yourself.

Sometimes its not even worth trying. I found instead to lead them into certain topics without sounding absolutely nuts; and at the same time, keeping it close enough to reality that they may at least consider it instead of shrugging it off and thinking their friend is a complete psycho.

"TPTB"- come on now- if someone came up to me on the street and said "watch out, the powers that be are watching"- I would fall to the ground right there having a heart attack from laughing so hard.

Thats why conspiracy people get the bad rep. Thing is though; some of the times, they are right.

Makes you wonder, just how many people that walk by you everyday are "In the know"? Not many Id guess.

So now that we know- we should just pull their plugs. =) Oh wait, I forgot. Lying Politicians.

For the love of money is the root of all evil... (1Tim 6:10)

btw, Paul Krugman is wicked and part of TPTB himself.

Thanks for playing.