Rampant Materialism
READ THIS FIRST - this is where I rant about stuff that pisses me off. It is purely my opinion, I am NOT an expert or even reasonably educated in any of the subject matters covered here, and so it is for entertainment purposes only, and possibly devoid of any value whatsoever. Peace.
Previously on this page I had a bunch of trite complaints and grievances such as annoying television commercials and the U.S. military stealing money. These things are what they are, but they are not the core of the issue, and so I'm not posting that stuff here anymore.
REALLY, what Rampant Materialism is about, is the seemingly unstoppable and all-powerful forces of economic expansion, which are literally engulfing this entire planet and enslaving its population, in what can no longer be considered as anything but the bid for complete and utter world domination.
Sound like the ranting of a madman? Good. That's what this page is for. When you have something to say, submit it, and I will single-handedly decide what is going up and what isn't. No democracy here, just like in real life.
ALSO, check out these related articles, written by people who actually know what they're talking about:
War and Corporate Power - the best piece I've read on the state of the world
This War on Terrorism is Bogus
I may not agree with every single word in all of these documents, but they are very interesting and informative nonetheless. Copyright for these works are reserved by their respective authors. I'm just giving them another place to be read.
Of Kings and Black Gold
The All-Pervasive Oil Companies (APOC) have long eyed Afghanistan as the best, perhaps the only, alternative for a pipeline south to the Indian Ocean from the Caspian Sea basin. The previously proposed "Central Asian Oil Pipeline" would allow cheap and easy export of the massive oil and natural gas reserves from the land-locked Caspian region.
In fact, China was planning on building a 3,000 km pipeline from Kazakhstan to its own rapidly growing markets, but now it seems the U.S. has a convenient stronghold in Afghanistan with which to build the new "Silk Road". Would that provide a decisive advantage for APOC over their competitors? Does the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq give APOC access to massive resources and lucrative markets for those resources in one, fell swoop? What do you think?
Let's step back for a minute and take a look at the bigger picture.
1% of the population controls over 95% of the world's "wealth". This hasn't changed in the history of human civilization, despite the advent of capitalism and "free enterprise". Instead of Kings and Lords, we have Majority Shareholders and CEOs.
These people control: oil companies, banks, tobacco companies, military contractors, pharmaceuticals, media conglomerates, and technology companies. In some cases they are simply the most recent generation of royal families, their wealth dating back hundreds of years.
Invariably, they and their cohorts also form the governing bodies of "First World" developed nations - those we refer to as the "authorities". The same people also control: the armies of developed nations, the police forces of developed nations, increasingly the courts of developed nations, the world's nuclear arsenal, the world's mainstream news services; basically anything and everything of profound power and influence in the world.
So 1% of the population controls over 95% of the world. Period.
Money doesn't really exist; it's only a concept, a medium of exchange for goods and services. However, the 1% that has all the money (the Kings) also has all the goods. Especially in developed countries where no one grows their own food anymore, one could say that we are entirely dependent upon our Kings for survival. For example, if for some arcane reason, they decided not to sell us oil/gas at all, how would we transport the massive amounts of food from their sources to the populace who needs it? How long could your city survive on the consumables that are actually in your city at this very moment?
Now, what does everyone else have to offer the Kings in return? Services. Even if we don't work directly for a King, the money we get will eventually end up in a King's hand because we use their banks, oil, tobacco, technology, etc. So we service the Kings in order to obtain money and goods from them. Now immediately upon reading that sentence, you might say, "No I don't! I live in a free country, I do what I want, and I am no one's slave!" This mindset is very convenient for the Kings, because they no longer have to make you work for them, you do it of your own accord. This doesn't change the fact that you are a slave, because you don't really have a choice. Do you? If you don't work, how will you get money? With no money, how will you eat? Even if you are relatively wealthy and don't really have to work, you are still a slave to your King. How?
When you think about it, many of the things we do in life are in service to the Kings. Most obvious is paying taxes. Yes, we all say that taxes are for the benefit of the people, to run our beloved country. But the reality is that through corrupt politicians and government-corporate business dealings, most of that tax money ends up in the hands of the Kings. Every time we make a car or mortgage payment, buy a pack of smokes, box of cereal, bottle of painkillers, or athletic shoes, we put money (our work) in the hands of the Kings. Therefore, when you go to work, you are working for your King.
If you have ten million dollars in the bank, and you invest wisely, maintaining a lavish lifestyle without ever working a day in your life, the bank still makes money on your investments. The automakers still make money on your car. You may make money from those with less than you, but eventually, all roads lead to Rome. And so unless you are a King, you are the subject of a King.
Then, there are people like the founder of that Huge Software Company, who elevated himself to King from being a subject. For that he deserves respect, as it is a rare occurrence. However, he has utilized nefarious and illegal means to maintain that position, and collaborated with Kings in the government to circumnavigate the consequences of his actions. And so, he is no different than any other King. And even he depends on the goods provided by other Kings for his survival.
The point is, the Monetary System is a funnel that is flawlessly designed so that all the money in the world returns to that 1% of the population. That's why they still have it. Their faces may have changed slightly, but they are still your Kings, and always have been.
Money doesn't come from nowhere. There seems to be more and more of it, because the rich are getting richer and richer, but the fact remains that money has to come from somewhere. If they simply printed off all the money anyone ever wanted, the stuff would be worthless and the system would be defunct. So money must come from something of value, a resource. When an automaker makes a car, they take raw materials such as steel, and turn them into something of far greater value. Those raw materials are natural resources dug up from the Earth. The Earth is, in fact, the source of all our resources, and so the source of all our wealth. Or should I say, the wealth of Kings.
Technically, each and every one of us has equal birthrights to this Earth, but for some reason, its resources are the sole property of Kings. Those resources provide the wealth with which they enslave the rest of us. And so they are actually the Rulers of the Earth and we have no rights to it at all. For example, try to develop an alternative energy source that will free us from dependence on the Kings' oil. You will find much resistance to your idea, many obstacles in its realization, and if you get it to work, the Kings will want it for themselves. And they will get it - it's called "hostile takeover".
So you see, we never really had a choice about "Operation Iraqi Freedom". This is evident in the lack of effort on the part of our Kings to provide any feasible justification for the invasion. Their platform for action was the disarmament of the Iraqi leader, yet it seems unlikely that the arms ever existed in the first place. In fact they're not even trying to fake weapons of mass destruction. They knew what they wanted, and that they were going to get it regardless of everyone else. That is the thinking of a King.
Now the Kings have a new toy to play with: Emerging Third World Markets. If they can monopolize the oil and natural gas resources in Central Asia and beat out the other avenues to market, they stand to subjugate those people like they have the rest of us. And that is a phenomenal financial accomplishment, taking them five steps closer to complete domination.
What does all this cost? A lot more than all the wealth of the all the Kings put together.
More to come...
Cost of the War in Iraq
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