Creative People,
I'll encapsulate this interview with Michael Hudson, which is available here as a transcript.
Hudson explains that financial capitalism is extractive, not creative as was industrial capitalism. Financial capitalism got the upper hand when the US Treasury gave up its role of creating money to this private corporation, based largely in New York. This was the plan of J.P.Morgan and other globalist bankers. Prior to this industrial capitalism had been gaining power over extractive "rentier" interests, like hereditary landowning "nobles".
American industry, like British and German industry had been doing well by raising the living standards of workers, which became more innovative and productive participants in industry. This was protectionist and Fordist capitalism. The workers had good lives and did good work and could buy the Ford cars they built.
To keep the costs of production down the governments built roads, canals, railroads and ports, and provided education at no cost to those who had the capacity to advance their intellectual abilities in specialized fields like physics and engineering.
Socialism was broadly endorsed in the world before WW-1 and the Federal Reserve banking system, which demanded that all debts be paid by foes and allies for the massive production of weapons sold for the war. The Europeans had not expected to be held to this, tried to milk it out of Germany, which could not pay it, and the Great Depression and WW-2 were largely a result of that.
Hudson says that all monopolies, like water, electricity and sewage, as well as roads and communications, should be publicly owned, to keep costs down for the economy, which keeps it efficient, with low production costs and higher standards of living, "Fordist capitalism". The extraction of "rent" by private rentiers has taken over most western economies, where medical "rent" is very high and housing rent mayne 40% or more of income. This makes production costs high in countries like the US and UK, which have long been on this "privatizing" path.
The most erosive feature of financial capitalism, which assures it's ultimate failure is that it cannibalizes production, like bankrupting GE, which sold off productive divisions and bought its own stock to just give the money to stock-hulders as profits, capital gains, then went bankrupt. This cannibalistic gutting destroyed Sears in the same way.
This kind of system must expand its range into virgin territory with new resources to plunder, or it will collapse. It was starting to consume Russia after the collapse of the USSR, but that was halted, making Russia the "enemy", a prize withheld, a prize to be taken and consumed. China had practiced industrial capitalism while paying tribute to Wall Street, but kept banking in the public domain for the most part, especially the creation of money. This ultimately makes China a competitive threat, even as it pays tribute to Wall Street and London, because it is building up a big, productive economy with public money, as the US did between the Civil War and 1913.
Classical economics sought to eliminate parasitic rent collection, putting all "utilities" and natural monopolies in public control, for the general welfare, and this would include medical care and retirements. Naturally, there are problems with bureaucracy, but those are worse when the bureaucracy is made to extract value from the system, rather than to provide the most value for the lowest cost to the public.
The "neoliberal" financial capitalist system is at a crisis point, where it needs to massively extract value from all of the nations of the world, by raising the price of the $US to where they cannot afford to pay their debts by production, and have to sell off mines, oil wells and public utilities to rentier interest to make the payments, like the Asian Economic Crisis.
Opposing this takeover of assets in debtor countries is the BRICS+ arrangement, which is promising finance for productive project that support national economies, not just export of raw materials to the (still) industrialized countries.
The US/Wall Street interests are creating a new "iron curtain" to contain Europe, which is destroying Europe by cutting it off from inexpensive and reliable Russian natural gas, oil, nickels, wheat, etc.
(This is the crisis which we are all a part of. Practically, the system which is more nationalist, where Fordist capitalism and public banking keep value in the commons, and prevent extraction of value by parasitic rentiers needs to prevail. This will hurt a lot of Europeans and Americans hard, but we must work through this to assure that the new-boss is not just like the old-boss. This will be something like the 1990s was for Russia, I think.)
John Michael Greer, has part 1 of The Great Rehash, The Best and the Brightest. I'd say "Schwab Does Sri Lanka, but Dutch Farmers Resist": Thanks Michael R.
..Most governments around the world thus learned sooner or later that when earnest young Ph.D.s from Harvard or Oxford came calling, the best strategy was to smile and nod, and then make sure your government did everything possible to throw sand in the gears, knowing that eventually the earnest young Ph.D.s would give up and go home. Since the Ph.D.s typically had the backing of an industrial nation with whom it was necessary to maintain good relations, throwing them out of the country or, say, shooting them in the back and blaming the killing on poachers was rarely a viable strategy, but the costs of letting them have their way generally ranged from economic and political crisis straight up the scale to full-on national collapse.....So European intellectuals like Klaus Schwab keep on rehashing the same dreary rhetoric and churning out the same shopworn plans for reordering the planet. Meanwhile European politicians tolerate the metastatic growth of the European Union, which is the sort of ever-expanding bureaucratic sprawl, answerable to nobody, which populates the wet dreams of would-be world-reformers. It’s not surprising that the overprivileged classes here in the United States gaze longingly across the Atlantic, hoping that someday they, too, can establish a bureacratic oligarchy that can ignore democratic institutions and rule by edict the way the EU does—and it’s also not surprising that people who find this prospect less than appealing have turned Klaus Schwab and his Great Reset into a convenient focus for their wrath...
..The consequences of this sort of thinking are not good, and this is where we reach Sri Lanka, where the government is sending soldiers into the streets just now in a frantic attempt to restore public order. That was not supposed to happen. In 2018, in fact, Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe published an essay on the World Economic Forum website announcing that his country was going to become rich by 2025. His strategy for getting there involved following a bevy of WEF diktats, and he did it with such enthusiasm that Sri Lanka had a near-perfect 98 ESG (environmental, social, and governance) rating, higher even than Sweden’s.As it turned out, though, the saying “get woke, go broke” doesn’t just apply to corporations; it also applies to countries. Those highly touted WEF programs proceeded to trash the Sri Lankan economy, wreck its agricultural sector, plunge half a million people into extreme poverty, and send furious mobs crashing through the doors of the presidential mansion. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have both resigned and Rajapaksa has fled the country. That ebullient essay by former prime minister Wickremesinghe, by the way, has abruptly vanished from the WEF website in the last few days.
(Those same WEF programs, by the way, are currently being applied to agriculture in the Netherlands, and the government of Canada is moving to put them in place too. Perhaps Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau can call ahead and have Rajapaksa make reservations for them once the inevitable happens.)...
..Like the American soldiers in Vietnam, in other words, most of the people in today’s world are being expected to slog through a nightmare of misery and enforced failure. Those expectations have been laid on them because so-called experts with too many university degrees and too little contact with the real world insisted, like Robby Mook in Hillary Clinton’s foredoomed presidential campaign, that the officially approved models disproved the lived experience of those who actually get to see the consequences up close. That didn’t end too well for Mook or his employer; it isn’t ending well for Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa; and all things considered, it may not end well for Klaus Schwab, whose Great Rehash simply serves up the same repeatedly failed programs under a new label.
European politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels threw their support behind Ukraine “without a democratic debate,” Villin wrote in an op-ed published by Le Figaro on Monday.
“What is worse, they did not even consider it useful to consult with us about the military escalation, or the terrible consequences of the sanctions for our economies,” he said...
..“And the worst thing is that Europe is suffering from the increase of the prices of energy and raw materials far more than the United States or China,” Villin wrote...
..“I hope that, before our people eventually revolt, a quick electric shock will open up a political debate, in which we, citizens and business leaders, could challenge our blind politicians and Eurocrats, who are leading us to ruin by lying to us.” https://www.rt.com/news/559397-france-sanctions-hurt-economy/
Why Nord Stream II Must Be Opened Immediately
OSCE Reports Reveal Ukraine Started Shelling The Donbas Nine Days Before Russia's 'Special Military Operation'
They deny that Ukraine is controlled by extreme right wing elements. They deny that there are full fledged Nazis formations in control of Ukraine even as their own media have for years warned of those.
They are lying to you.
All German natural gas storage sites can be filled to the brim via Nord Stream II if the Germany government would allow for it. It does not do so. That is the reason why you in Europe will to have pay much more for heating and electricity in the months and years to come.Land of make-believe...Former Clinton Advisor Says
Moon of Alabama (German) Why Nord Stream II Must Be Opened Immediately
The German and other European governments have pledged to suicide the German economy and the wealth of their citizens solely out of spite over the Russian government's action in the Ukraine. They deny that it is THEIR action that is causing the crisis.
Here is a neutral source, an Indian diplomat, explaining the basics of the business to the dimwits who are ruling over Europe:
Russia teaches Europe ABC of gas trade
They, and their media, ignore that Russia has had, and has, sound reasons to defend the Donbas republics. They do not tell you that the Ukraine, in late February, had planned and was ready to attack the citizens of Donetsk and Luhansk with overwhelming force.
Here is additional evidence for that:Russia teaches Europe ABC of gas trade
They, and their media, ignore that Russia has had, and has, sound reasons to defend the Donbas republics. They do not tell you that the Ukraine, in late February, had planned and was ready to attack the citizens of Donetsk and Luhansk with overwhelming force.
OSCE Reports Reveal Ukraine Started Shelling The Donbas Nine Days Before Russia's 'Special Military Operation'
They deny that Ukraine is controlled by extreme right wing elements. They deny that there are full fledged Nazis formations in control of Ukraine even as their own media have for years warned of those.
They are lying to you.
All German natural gas storage sites can be filled to the brim via Nord Stream II if the Germany government would allow for it. It does not do so. That is the reason why you in Europe will to have pay much more for heating and electricity in the months and years to come.Land of make-believe...Former Clinton Advisor Says
A very strong official statement from China:
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said further in a press briefing earlier this week that while the US could be pursuing peace and formal talks between Russian and Ukraine, it is busy playing "world police" while fueling the conflict - and all the while trying to confront China - according to the words of foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian...
..The FM spokesman said: "As the one who started the Ukraine crisis and the biggest factor fueling it, the US needs to deeply reflect on its erroneous actions of exerting extreme pressure and fanning the flame on the Ukraine issue and stop playing up bloc confrontation and creating a new Cold War by taking advantage of the situation," according to an official transcript.
..The FM spokesman said: "As the one who started the Ukraine crisis and the biggest factor fueling it, the US needs to deeply reflect on its erroneous actions of exerting extreme pressure and fanning the flame on the Ukraine issue and stop playing up bloc confrontation and creating a new Cold War by taking advantage of the situation," according to an official transcript.
Thanks for this article, Red. I’m becoming enamored of Irina Slav from oilprice.com , who cuts to the point that Africans really know that they need to use African gas for African economy, because this game has been played for a very long time, and the countries that export energy and other resources remain impoverished. That’s the plan, but those enforcing the plan have been weakened, confused and are becoming desperate…
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Europe-Does-A-Complete-U-Turn-On-African-Oil-And-Gas.html
A very good interview with Sergey Lavrov is worth reading for perspective. A few high points:
* It can hardly be in Europe’s interests to fully cut off ties with Russia and switch to liquefied natural gas supplies from the US;* If the EU suddenly changes its position and proposes Russia to restore relations, Moscow needs to decide if this is beneficial to the country;
* The geographical area of the special operation has changed and expanded beyond Donbas due to Kiev receiving the US-made HIMARS and other weapons.
The Power Troika Trumps Biden in West Asia, Pepe Escobar (this is a very big deal)
The presidents of Russia, Iran, and Turkey convened to discuss critical issues pertaining to West Asia, with the illegal US occupation of Syria a key talking point. Oil and gas, wheat and grains, missiles and drones – the hottest topics in global geopolitics today – were all on the agenda in Tehran this week.http://thesaker.is/nasrallah-if-lebanon-is-denied-its-oil-and-gas-resources-we-will-shut-down-all-israeli-platforms/
Khan has stunned his detractors and political opponents by taking control of the crucial Punjab provincial assembly. His party won 15 of 20 seats up for grab in by-elections, trouncing arch-rival Pakistan Muslim League-N (which incidentally heads the federal government in Islamabad also since April after Imran Khan’s ouster) on its home ground.
The result is not only a major blow for current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but is also widely regarded as a foretaste of what could happen in a general election. Imran Khan has been demanding an early general election which is otherwise due in October 2023.
Effectiveness of a previous pre-Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 15.1% (95% CI: -47.1-50.9%), and against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection irrespective of symptoms was 28.3% (95% CI: 11.4-41.9%). Effectiveness of a previous Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 76.1% (95% CI: 54.9-87.3%), and against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 79.7% (95% CI: 74.3-83.9%).
Eleni sends this encouraging story from Pakistan. Imran Khan is not dead. His political take-down has not reduced his popular support. He is a true natianalist, not a foreign tool of manipulation.
..The mammoth crowds that follow Imran Khan everywhere are indeed turning into votes. Without doubt, it is after a very long time that a truly charismatic politician has appeared on the Pakistani political landscape. Khan has stunned his detractors and political opponents by taking control of the crucial Punjab provincial assembly. His party won 15 of 20 seats up for grab in by-elections, trouncing arch-rival Pakistan Muslim League-N (which incidentally heads the federal government in Islamabad also since April after Imran Khan’s ouster) on its home ground.
The result is not only a major blow for current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but is also widely regarded as a foretaste of what could happen in a general election. Imran Khan has been demanding an early general election which is otherwise due in October 2023.
The conventional wisdom that the Pakistani military establishment would feel challenged by such a spectre has been proven wrong this time around (which also augurs well for the country’s political future.)...
..Imran Khan has rewritten Pakistan’s political history by knocking at the doors of political power so soon after his ouster by an unholy alliance of time servers with foreign patronage.
Results using all diagnosed infections when BA.4/BA.5 dominated incidence confirmed the same findings. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for vaccination status confirmed study results. Protection of a previous infection against BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was modest when the previous infection involved a pre-Omicron variant, but strong when the previous infection involved the Omicron BA.1 or BA.2 subvariants.”
Hillary is Preparing to Run Again in 2024 , "One of the great political rematches of all time."
“Much like Biden’s surprise entrance in 2020, Democrats will see her as their savior, an experienced politician able to bridge the left and more moderate wings of the party.” https://summit.news/2022/07/20/former-clinton-advisor-says-hillary-is-preparing-to-run-again-in-2024/
Natural immunity remains superior... You are better protected from current strains if you had Omicron.
Effectiveness of a previous Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 76.1% (95% CI: 54.9-87.3%), and against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 79.7% (95% CI: 74.3-83.9%). Results using all diagnosed infections when BA.4/BA.5 dominated incidence confirmed the same findings. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for vaccination status confirmed study results. Protection of a previous infection against BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was modest when the previous infection involved a pre-Omicron variant, but strong when the previous infection involved the Omicron BA.1 or BA.2 subvariants.”
Effectiveness of a previous pre-Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 15.1% (95% CI: -47.1-50.9%), and against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection irrespective of symptoms was 28.3% (95% CI: 11.4-41.9%). Effectiveness of a previous Omicron infection against symptomatic BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 76.1% (95% CI: 54.9-87.3%), and against any BA.4/BA.5 reinfection was 79.7% (95% CI: 74.3-83.9%).
Do It Yourselfer (Pictured with bifold door and walls of kitchen pantry just finished with polyurethane)
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