Curious loop

Picking up where I left off nearly two years ago on the much misunderstood topic of 'money' (that commodity, sanctified by god, that you are kept A.) purposefully ignorant of and B.) in perpetual thrall to

What 'new' thing on this nightmarish topic can I share with you? Let's shift our focus for a moment to the 'stated purpose' of 'government' and how things really work.

Given 'A' is 'money' is a 'legal construct', originally intended to 'simplify' barter...but it grew beyond that. The thing to keep in mind is money has evolved with the times. Money didn't start off being what it has evolved into, it didn't start off as an 'instrument of debt.'

But we find ourselves in a world where everything has a price (even if that price is ridiculous) and if you need to survive in the current economic desert (along with 7 billion others) you are, unquestionably, a 'debtor'. Often a debtor living in abject poverty.

Which begs the question 'when does a system stop serving the greater good?'

And I, for one, would opine we passed that point a long time ago...but the self-interested, (the few the system benefits) actively support the 'status quo'.

How unfortunate for the vast majority of us those 'well-off few' have a stranglehold on political power in this nation?

Follow my reasoning, even if you disagree with it (and many, inexplicably, do)

Money is a legal construct that gains it's 'validity' from...government. Controlling 'legal tender' makes debts denominated in money prosecutable in government courts.

Sounds like a no-brainer but it seems the general public fails to consider the causality of this chain of circumstances. It is the backbone of our current debt-driven society.

Now back to my original assertion (which happen to be the facts) All money is 'funny'. Gold isn't money any more than seashells are.

Money serves the purpose of facilitating the 'division of labor' concept, making it possible for us to live in a world where we don't have to do EVERYTHING ourselves.

(Note to self-professed 'job creators', you don't do jack, Mother nature is the one and only job creator! Some don't differentiate between 'spirit in the sky' and Mother Nature and it works out to be the same difference.)

Like Time Travel, it appears we have a bigger problem on our hands than what strikes the eye.

Which is to express another 'unpopular' truth, we live in the perpetual NOW, time (like money) is a human construct. Just because we are aware of the passage of time doesn't make it 'navigable'.

The multiple inconsistencies inherent in the management of our global currency system has caused mammoth mismanagement of our ever more slender resources.

Which is to say, global warming be damned, if we fail to get a handle on population growth we won't be around to worry about environmental degradation!

Once again it is not my purpose/intent to tell you WHAT TO THINK, it is my intention to provide you with something to think about.

Whether you do or not is the difference between ignorance and stupidity...stupid is permanent and ignorance can be fixed.

Thanks for dropping by!

Today's headlines

The blogosphere as well as the corporate owned media is alive with the controversy over the new global trade agreements.

The blogosphere speculates that the latest round of 'secret' trans-oceanic 'trade negotiations' will result in a further erosion of workers leverage against the one tenth of one percent's stranglehold on the global economy.

The misstatement here is the fact that you are already held hostage to their money, what the criminals do after that you have zero control over.

What we're witnessing is the, er, gradual lifting of the longest held 'open secret' out there. They're going to do what they want and there isn't anything (short of revolution) that you can do about it.

Doesn't matter if you like, approve or condone, it's going to happen and if you want to fight about it, well, let's take a look at how it's going to go down.

First, we have the mechanism in place to, er, 're-institute' the Draft. When they start assembling a 'global peacekeeping force' they are going to draft YOUR sons and daughters and ship them halfway across the planet. In the meantime, if you get to 'uppity' over here, soldiers/peacekeepers from some third world hell hole will be deployed in your neighborhood to 'keep the peace'...puts the 'disturbance' in Baltimore yesterday in a whole different light, doesn't it?

Bad enough when the local PD drops civilians for no reason...these UN peacekeepers will be exempt from local laws (just as we exempt our soldiers/mercenaries from the laws of the lands we invade!)

Now imagine your kids stationed in foreign lands where they aren't familiar with local customs (like our soldiers in the Middle East...) When the body bags start coming home you'll be told you child died protecting our 'freedoms' (even if you have no idea what they're talking about because freedom is/has become an 'abstract concept'.)

Let me once again back up to the part where there isn't a single thing you can do about this, it's coming whether you think it's a wonderful idea or not.

Remember, the negotiations are 'secret' (because of the rioting centered on previous illegal trade agreements which usurped local autonomy and had law enforcement shrugging their shoulders and saying 'there's nothing I can do about it' when they could (and should have) arrested the judges who told them they were powerless!

Just a little something to ponder as sit back you wonder what all the hubbub is about.

Humility?

Greetings gentle reader, Kindle countdown deal starts tomorrow for, er, one of my two novels, get your exciting/action packed full length novel for .99 while they last! (One starts on the 28th and the other starts May 2nd so visit early and often, buy more than one, they make great gifts!

But on a more somber note it seems W. has finally (really, well fox news thinks he's been biting his tongue until now) taken the current administration to task for it's handling of the conflict HE created! (Tell me again what Iraq had to do with 9/11?)

This is the thanks the current (lapdog) administration gets for not prosecuting W and his accomplices for war crimes.

Not that many of us labor under the illusion that our vote does anything but give the majority of us the clear conscious of saying 'I didn't vote for him'...just like most of us didn't vote for W...either time. (Problem with a money driven media, it prints whatever it's customers want to hear, the truth be damned... and if you point that out well, you must be some sort of paranoid deviant!

This is Mureca, where the press exists to safeguard your freedom (not that they can name any.)

But I preach to the choir, Like Lenny Cohen says (sings) 'everybody knows'

Kindle countdown set to commence this week

Yes, gentle reader, I put both of my novels on the Kindle countdown plan, Edge of Eternity starting the 28th of April and Unplugged starts on May 2nd, 99 cents get 'em while they're hot!


Now for the piece I was contemplating but didn't get to yesterday, the topic near and dear to all of our hearts, Freedom.

Interesting word as the dictionary defines it as 'the state of being free'...and it stops...free from what? It doesn't say so we stupid humans 'imply' and make up our own (often quite fanciful) definitions, many of them overburdened with the shortest word in every language, 'I'.

Which brings us to the burning question; is 'personal freedom' even possible, considering human beings do extremely poorly when left to their own devices?

TV is filled with 'rugged individuals' taming the wilderness on their lonesome...or so the none too bright would think.

Which is to point out that we all want the 'freedom' to go about our affairs unmolested and in exchange for that 'freedom' we allow others to do likewise.

The problem begins when you live under a system that puts your well-being in direct conflict with your desire not to be molested. First we, since it was here when you/we got here and nobody had a choice in the matter, we have the work for pay, a swap that allows (other) individuals to profit from your labor...often making more off of your efforts than you do (and I don't mean that collectively, in extreme cases this happens individually...and these corporations are quite large! [where did you think billionaires come from?) The common thread here is, believe it or not, is the government.]}

Not to say this is a bad thing, it just means our/everybody's government is corrupt to the core, which extends to our/their justice system, which is also in the pockets of those who would let our civilization crash itself to pieces on the rocks of injustice...

Um naturally this is all tied together, making it difficult to address singular aspects, the cause and effect chains cascade throughout society, which is why the fabric of our civilization is being torn asunder with frightening regularity.

Not to poke the stick into the cage (too hard) but most of us would agree that total freedom is a bad thing, just as total truth is something our species is incapable of handling at this time.

Death to America!

On MSN's homepage they ran another of their famous 'top ten' lists and this time the topic was 'Five countries that hate America most.'

Naturally there are (many) more than five nations that don't share our exceptionalist point of view so they ran with 'Hates us most' followed by the 'stats'; which we have no way to verify.

In last place was our Drone training ground, Pakistan. Sort of a no-brainer but they like us more than the other four 'also rans' at a surprising 65% disapproval rate...guess you had to see the questions to better understand this comparatively lukewarm response.

Hating us more than our bombing buddies is Lebanon; now inundated with refugees from Syria and Iraq after US precipitated events in both countries. Now even there hatred isn't 'crazy bad' as it's only a percentage point higher than it is in Pakistan at 66%

Now we take a major leap in an unexpected direction, guess who hates us more than the Lebanese? Belarus!

What have we ever done to them you might ask? Back when I was researching currency values I found that Belarus had the lowest value of any currency on the entire planet! Wanna make an enemy, devaluing their money is a great way to start!

Doesn't help that this was expressed as one belarus dollar being worth one two thousandth of a US dollar...so you know who exactly is responsible for turning your currency to trash (even if it was just to take advantage of the 'carry trade', that bizarre thing bankers do with the differences between currencies...which logic tells us doesn't exist;but who are we to tell the bankers they're wrong?)

Anyway 69% of Belarusians hate America or more precisely the US government! And the article fails to mention the example I cite but does point at currency trouble being a 'contributing factor' to Belarus's lack of love for the ol' USA.

Who hates us more than the Belarusians? Who do you think, the friend of my enemy is my enemy; so it should surprise no one that Palestine comes in SECOND at a whopping 72 % (and one has to wonder about the accuracy of that figure, are they really claiming 28% of Palestinians LIKE the US? Is it logical to believe that even ten percent of Palestinians are cool with what the US has done (Every UN vote to censure Israel is blocked by the US.))

While you have to give it to them regarding the 'most hated' list the implication that the list is much longer than five is present for the reader to observe or ignore.

We could make the same list using our so-called 'allies' and it wouldn't be wrong.

But who is 'leader of the pack'? Who in the world hates the USA the most? It's like taking a trip in the wayback machine, it isn't an Arab nation (the corporate owned media promises they all LOVE us...despite their involvement in 9/11) it's the republic that Old Ronnie Reagan slayed, the USSR!

Nixon gave us detente and now W's fourth term has turned the average Ivan on the street (a colossal 82%) into 'America Haters'.

This list might better be viewed as who is currently in the sights of the tail-gunning US media, an 'enemies list' if you would.

A simpler way of asking the same question is how many nations disapprove of the USA and the simple answer is how many nations are there?

If we were to ask how many nations approve of the USA, in all honesty, leaving 'compared to' out of the equation, the answer would be crickets chirping.

Even we don't approve of how things are done or where they're headed so it's self delusion to think any sane individual does...much less 'spirit in the sky'.

Malcontent

No one is particularly keen on politics these days, it seems nobody (in politics) is looking out for the 'working class' and we're sick & tired of hearing about the 'plight' of the middle class while the working poor are ignored.

Yes, we know we are supposed to 'assume' the middle class includes the 'working class' while the media pretends the only ones that matter are the ten percent that keep an eye on the one-tenth of a percent's 'interests'.

Again, the (corporate owned) media 'advertises' that we live in a 'classless' society but we all know the dirty admission that comes out when the sleazeballs start stumping for your vote: the only ones who matter are the 'Haves' and the 'Have mores.'

Um, there is a movement out there (among those who have to live on the minimum a 'willing buyer' will pay them) to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour...

Growing up the minimum wage was less than a dollar an hour but I was much better off then than now because my dollar bought more...which is to opine the problem isn't in how many dollars you earn but in how much your dollar buys! Having more dollars won't put a dent in poverty, it will only slow the drowning of the impoverished.

Yes, adding dollars to the economy only increases 'debt'...because all of those extra dollars will end up where the other have, in the pockets of those who already have more than they can spend. (Funny how 'purchasing power' isn't a problem when you control pricing power...)

What the average person has zero control over is how much they get paid.

Worse, if you can't live on what your employer pays you, it's not your employer's problem, it's YOURS!

Broken record, I know. I keep saying it but it seems nobody is paying attention. Worse, you all keep repeating the same actions hoping against hope that this time it will be different.

Which brings us to the next 'truism'...stupid is permanent, ignorance can be fixed. If you truly want a different outcome, logic dictates you MUST do 'something different'.

Just chew on that as the next presidential contest revs up with all the usual suspects.

R&R

Pardon my absence, I was busy over the long holiday weekend with spring related chores ['Patriot's Day'(originally called Bunker Hill Day) is a local holiday that few get off, even the trashman comes (but he's a little eccentric when it comes to holidays.)]

Anyway, the Boston Marathon keeps historic Bunker Hill Day on the calendar and I was, er, coerced into planting grass. Being a longtime homeowner one tires of mowing grass...so when the local scourges (japanese beetle grubs and ants) wipe out portions of the lawn it is considered (by those who have to cut it) a 'win'. Sadly, the Mrs. doesn't agree and we all know who is going to win THAT argument, don't we?

Which is to opine that we are the victims of what 'The Eye that Never Blinks' says is expected of us. Most of us (especially golfers) thank our lucky stars when the town declares a water ban! Lawns are thirsty (and this is a major contributing factor to the current sorry state of my carpet of dirt) but when there isn't sufficient water/rainfall, the theory is your lawn will go 'dormant' until mother nature revives it later on in the year with rain.

Either way, the only way to combat the pests that make their home under your lawn is by watering in pest control products and fertilizer to keep your lawn 'healthy'.

Yet, if we take but a short trip in the 'Wayback machine' we'd find that lawns were rare outside the estates of the, er, 'Well-to--do'. Truth be told, acreage in general was rare back in the day for folks not living on a farm and then all that grass had a different name, it was called 'pasture' and it was highly 'functional'.

You didn't grow grass because it was 'pretty', you grew it to feed your livestock...but that's not what the eye that never blinks tells us.

In fact this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to, er, 'marketing' (read manufactured need) the huckster in your living room/den 'shows' you in the idealized world of the Hollywood (soon to be Bollywood) sit-com.

Filling your head with unrealistic ideas is what the corporate owned media does best.

Telling how you should live your life is also a task willingly borne by the corporate 'nanny state', which is also behind the corporate police state popularized by the eye that never blinks.

300 channels and there's still nothing on...but that's mostly due to the corporate blinders the media is shackled with...can't be sending mixed messages, the 'customers' (read the one percent) will complain!

The 'gilded lily' held up as an example of 'how things should be' is the product of the few who can afford it and blame YOU for not achieving it!

Time to take a long, hard look at how our society is (mis)managed and to start discussing how to put a stop to it.

Time to end the paradigm of 'he who cuts the paychecks is A.) a job creator...that's nonsense! and B.) gets to have their 'fantasy' projected onto all of us because they're paying for it, they aren't YOU ARE!

Once again, thanks for letting me inside your head...

Sun's out, time to go water the grass...