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Add to My Group(s)
Add to My Group(s)
By Richard Girard (about the author)
Become a Fan (23 fans) -- Page 2 of 3 page(s)
According to these individuals, groups including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, Yale's Skull and Bones Society, the Bavarian Illuminati, etc., are directly responsible for an overarching conspiracy that is at the heart of our world's woes: from the destruction of our individual freedoms to the international drug trade to the genocidal slaughter in Darfur. And all of this for some all-consuming “New World Order.”
While I have no doubt that Adam Smith was correct when he wrote that two wealthy men could not meet without collusion taking place; I do not believe that a single monolithic group exists attempting to rule the planet. I can believe that there are several groups (including the ones named above) who contend with one another for power: political, economic, and social. It is their contention for power at any cost that causes much of this world's misery. I can even believe that groups like the Bilderbergers are used as intermediaries to prevent open “warfare” (assassinations, kidnappings, industrial sabotage, etc.) between the plutocratic elites that would make the Sicilian Vespers look like a picnic.
The reason I cannot believe that a single monolithic group for world domination exists is quite simple: who would be the boss? As Bruce Springsteen (the only “Boss” I believe in) wrote in his song Badlands, “A poor man wanna be rich, and a rich man wanna be king, and the king ain't satisfied 'til he rules everything.” I think these plutocrats are out solely for themselves, with alliances continuously forming and breaking up, as everyone jockeys for better position. This certainly has been the case in Athens, Rome, and every other civilization where nothing has been done to check the greed and ambitions of the plutocrats.
So, whether there is a monolithic conspiracy or a multitude of ever shifting cabals struggling for domination: what is the best way to eliminate these overly ambitious corporate pirates as a threat to our freedom?
Taxation.
A return to a truly progressive system of taxation such as our nation enjoyed during its greatest years of economic growth: the 1960's. Or, as Adam Smith said in The Wealth of Nations, taxation “in proportion to the revenue that they enjoy under the protection of the state.” (The Wealth of Nations; Book V, Chapter 2, Part II, Of Taxes)
I can hear all of the libertarians and conservatives out there screaming “Socialism!” at the top of their lungs.
It's not socialism: it's self-defense.
I am supported in this position by a number of prominent historical figures. These include Presidents Jefferson, Madison, Van Buren, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, as well as Alexis De Tocqueville and Thomas Paine. These men continually warned of the danger of the formation of a hereditary upper class among the wealthiest American families, and the ability of that upper class—if permitted to form—to continually aggregate ever larger amounts of capital in nearly immortal corporations.
If these plutocrats do not have access to the massive amounts of money to buy politicians, judges, court cases, and private armies—whether that army is named the Pinkerton's (as it was in the Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century), or Blackwater—they have a much reduced chance of overthrowing our Constitution. The easiest way to do this is with a progressive tax system where those who are most capable of paying the most taxes, pay the most taxes.
One further point concerning this subject and the American Constitution: I have searched, and I have searched the text of that august document, and I have found no clause—or even mention—guaranteeing the passing of vast wealth from one generation of a family to the next. Nor can I find any statement that an individual or a corporation is entitled to retain all of the wealth they earn. Yet, the platform of the Republicans for the last twenty-eight years has been just that, in spite of the fact that this system allows the rich to hoard their money or send it overseas, rather than force them to reinvest it in the United States in order to reduce their tax burden.
Any real reduction of taxes on the wealthiest Americans over the last ninety years has been followed by an economic downturn, as the rich hoard their additional capital rather than invest it. President Kennedy's “reduction” of the top marginal rate from 91% to 70%, did little to decrease the actual tax burden on the rich. JFK's “demand side” tax reforms closed a multitude of loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. After JFK's tax program became law, the actual tax revenues realized by the Federal government from the taxpayers in the top ten percent of the income brackets remained more or less constant.
The American people must get past the ongoing propaganda (that has become a virtual article of faith on the Right) of the last thirty years that both government and taxation are at best “necessary evils.” An adequate level of taxation is as necessary for the well being of our nation's populace and its economy, as adequate levels of food and water are for our own bodies. The catastrophic failure of parts of our infrastructure—including the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis—demonstrates this irrefutable fact. The real leaders of the various “tax revolts” across the nation in the last thirty years, the men who have financed referenda like Proposition 13 in California and TABOR in Colorado, have been selfish plutocrats who want socialism for the rich: privatizing the profit while making the public absorb the costs and the risks.
As to government, if it has become a problem—if it is less responsive to our desires and transparent in its actions than we would like it to be—it is because We the People have not been doing our job. To quote President Teddy Roosevelt, “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.” (Speech, 9 September 1902, Asheville, N.C.) It is our duty as citizens to become more active in our government, and to force it, by voicing our approval as well as our displeasure, into proper actions for our nation's benefit at all levels. We have a sacred responsibility to ourselves and to our country to become ever more aware of what our government is doing at every level. Awareness is the first step towards becoming first the informed, then the enlightened, citizen under which our democracy works best.
For politicians, the equivalent of enlightenment is to become a statesman.
Aristotle once informed the young Alexander of Macedon (soon to be the Great) that there was no royal road (easy way) to learning mathematics. This is equally true for anyone who desires to become a statesman in the world of politics.
Become a Fan (23 fans) -- Page 2 of 3 page(s)
While I have no doubt that Adam Smith was correct when he wrote that two wealthy men could not meet without collusion taking place; I do not believe that a single monolithic group exists attempting to rule the planet. I can believe that there are several groups (including the ones named above) who contend with one another for power: political, economic, and social. It is their contention for power at any cost that causes much of this world's misery. I can even believe that groups like the Bilderbergers are used as intermediaries to prevent open “warfare” (assassinations, kidnappings, industrial sabotage, etc.) between the plutocratic elites that would make the Sicilian Vespers look like a picnic.
The reason I cannot believe that a single monolithic group for world domination exists is quite simple: who would be the boss? As Bruce Springsteen (the only “Boss” I believe in) wrote in his song Badlands, “A poor man wanna be rich, and a rich man wanna be king, and the king ain't satisfied 'til he rules everything.” I think these plutocrats are out solely for themselves, with alliances continuously forming and breaking up, as everyone jockeys for better position. This certainly has been the case in Athens, Rome, and every other civilization where nothing has been done to check the greed and ambitions of the plutocrats.
So, whether there is a monolithic conspiracy or a multitude of ever shifting cabals struggling for domination: what is the best way to eliminate these overly ambitious corporate pirates as a threat to our freedom?
Taxation.
A return to a truly progressive system of taxation such as our nation enjoyed during its greatest years of economic growth: the 1960's. Or, as Adam Smith said in The Wealth of Nations, taxation “in proportion to the revenue that they enjoy under the protection of the state.” (The Wealth of Nations; Book V, Chapter 2, Part II, Of Taxes)
I can hear all of the libertarians and conservatives out there screaming “Socialism!” at the top of their lungs.
It's not socialism: it's self-defense.
I am supported in this position by a number of prominent historical figures. These include Presidents Jefferson, Madison, Van Buren, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, as well as Alexis De Tocqueville and Thomas Paine. These men continually warned of the danger of the formation of a hereditary upper class among the wealthiest American families, and the ability of that upper class—if permitted to form—to continually aggregate ever larger amounts of capital in nearly immortal corporations.
If these plutocrats do not have access to the massive amounts of money to buy politicians, judges, court cases, and private armies—whether that army is named the Pinkerton's (as it was in the Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century), or Blackwater—they have a much reduced chance of overthrowing our Constitution. The easiest way to do this is with a progressive tax system where those who are most capable of paying the most taxes, pay the most taxes.
One further point concerning this subject and the American Constitution: I have searched, and I have searched the text of that august document, and I have found no clause—or even mention—guaranteeing the passing of vast wealth from one generation of a family to the next. Nor can I find any statement that an individual or a corporation is entitled to retain all of the wealth they earn. Yet, the platform of the Republicans for the last twenty-eight years has been just that, in spite of the fact that this system allows the rich to hoard their money or send it overseas, rather than force them to reinvest it in the United States in order to reduce their tax burden.
Any real reduction of taxes on the wealthiest Americans over the last ninety years has been followed by an economic downturn, as the rich hoard their additional capital rather than invest it. President Kennedy's “reduction” of the top marginal rate from 91% to 70%, did little to decrease the actual tax burden on the rich. JFK's “demand side” tax reforms closed a multitude of loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. After JFK's tax program became law, the actual tax revenues realized by the Federal government from the taxpayers in the top ten percent of the income brackets remained more or less constant.
The American people must get past the ongoing propaganda (that has become a virtual article of faith on the Right) of the last thirty years that both government and taxation are at best “necessary evils.” An adequate level of taxation is as necessary for the well being of our nation's populace and its economy, as adequate levels of food and water are for our own bodies. The catastrophic failure of parts of our infrastructure—including the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis—demonstrates this irrefutable fact. The real leaders of the various “tax revolts” across the nation in the last thirty years, the men who have financed referenda like Proposition 13 in California and TABOR in Colorado, have been selfish plutocrats who want socialism for the rich: privatizing the profit while making the public absorb the costs and the risks.
As to government, if it has become a problem—if it is less responsive to our desires and transparent in its actions than we would like it to be—it is because We the People have not been doing our job. To quote President Teddy Roosevelt, “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.” (Speech, 9 September 1902, Asheville, N.C.) It is our duty as citizens to become more active in our government, and to force it, by voicing our approval as well as our displeasure, into proper actions for our nation's benefit at all levels. We have a sacred responsibility to ourselves and to our country to become ever more aware of what our government is doing at every level. Awareness is the first step towards becoming first the informed, then the enlightened, citizen under which our democracy works best.
For politicians, the equivalent of enlightenment is to become a statesman.
Aristotle once informed the young Alexander of Macedon (soon to be the Great) that there was no royal road (easy way) to learning mathematics. This is equally true for anyone who desires to become a statesman in the world of politics.
Richard Girard is an increasingly radical representative of the disabled and disenfranchised members of America's downtrodden, who suffers from bipolar disorder (type II or type III, the professionals do not agree). He has put together a team to (more...)
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