We let this happen.We can change it.The first step is to name it, and we just did.
The Irish fought for 800 years to win their independence from the world’s most powerful empire.Generations came and went before the goal even seemed possible.They never gave up.
Now it’s our turn.
END
Note:This is the first in series of articles on The Money Party.Other topics include why we end up with such lousy leaders, why it’s so hard to get rid of them, and how the party manipulates the public debate with misleading terms and crackpot ideas that seem legitimate. Special thanks to John Arbuthnot and Jillian Hayroot for their input.
Permission granted to reproduce in whole or part with a link to the original article in “Scoop” Independent News and attribution of authorship to Michael Collins.
Race, ethnicity, color, age, gender; it doesn't matter! We keep getting distracted by these issues, and they are important to us, but the very issues that we fight are orchestrated by the money class and designed to keep us off-focus from what is really happening. Just look at the mainstream media. Once in a while we get something important, but it quickly disappears. What remains is Michael Jackson, the Jenna 6, Paris Hilton, etc. Meanwhile, the important stuff is slipping right by and the elites are gaining more control.
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 2:11:50 PM
One of the pillars of Oligarchy - i.e., that money is free speech rather than power, and unearned and unelected power at that. This ruling elite doctrine foisted upon us by the Supreme Court must be overthrown by a public campaign finance system.
Kent Welton,
OligarchyUSA.com
by
Kent Welton (49 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 37 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 3:17:26 PM
...that doctrine is essential. Without it, The Money Party might just melt away in the light of public financing of campaigns. This court has to go in order for a real set of reforms to be put in place. When Roberts political rolebecomes widely known, poeple will see that the stealth Chief Justice is getting a big payback for services rendered. And he'll do what the politicians do, fix it so the money folks stay around. This is such a tired act. Those who don't vote are well aware of this, which I supposed is another tactic of the party - if you vote, they think, you can be tricked; if you don't, well all the better.
by
Michael Collins (81 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 289 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 4:44:42 PM
Some years I once figured how long it would take me, on a teacher's salary with around 15 years experience and a Master's, to match what Bill Gates had then. My answer* is below, in case you want to guess first.
Meanwhile, if you want a more graphic demonstration of where you stand with your own income, check this out:
And of course, we won't even talk about the untold billions of folks making less than $2 a day.
*Making $50G a year, it would have taken me 33,000 years to catch Bill. And by then, I'm sure he would have advanced a good bit further, simply on whatever interest that capital might command.
by
Daniel Geery (26 articles, 55 quicklinks, 121 diaries, 659 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 3:24:19 PM
That makes the point quite well. It just occurred to me what Bush meant when he talkedk about "the ownership society." If you own it, you can do, as the very few show us regularly, anything you want.
Case in point - Hillary and Barack started this nonsense about 12-24 months to withdraw form Iraq. Then, in tandem, they went to 2013. Edwards big chance right, he'd been making noise about 'corporate Democrats.' But if you click the link in the "note" you will see that The Money Party paid Edwards a visit. Here's his comment when asked if an Edwards administration would have us out by 2013 - "I cannot make that commitment," was his comment. Oh really, why would that be;)?
by
Michael Collins (81 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 289 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 4:51:37 PM
The Money Party -- alias America's Dictatorship of the Rich. I agree 100% with your tragic obsevations. It's the perenial have and have not cancer of our species. Our fantasy two party system is a ONE party system dreamed up by the elites to delude Americans into thinking they have some (any!) input into the national and foreign policies of our government. Yeah, right. The "Money Party" (thank your for that name!) controls EVERYTHING. Establishment politics (the dem/pug puppets) is just a smoke screen to distract us from what's really happening and what's really happening is that pig, pig rich people are killing America and the planet. The cancer of cancers in human civilization are the vampire elites. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be?
Of course, we DO have hardball (VERY hardball) political and aplitical hard ball options to save ourselves and our children from these vampires of wealth. Human being have always had these options, but mostly they been too successfuly brainwashed to use them, e.g., crap like "Divine Right" and "Manifest Destiny", etc., etc., etc., but maybe Bush has so unleashed the infinite greed of the elites, that people are now beginning to wake up to these life castrating cons.
God in heaven, 99% of us have our heads and souls up the you know what of the Money Party, and if we DIDN'T there couldn't BE any Money Party. I'ts like being in a prison cell with one wall open to freedom and power, and never walking through it. This one percent is now and always had ruled the human race because we ALLOW it.
If you're in a religious cult that says you HAVE TO stay married to a psychpath, freedom is as easy as no longer agreeing to play by those dipstick rules. That's what we are doing. We're playing by the rules elaborately created by the elites to keep us living like cattle.
Isn't it time to see that OUR LIVES are more important than these sucidal rules?
Rules not grounded in rationality and morality SHOULD BE BROKEN. Freedom and power are reaching out to us and only the pseudo rules of the vampire elites are keeping us from our human birthright.
by
W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (201 articles, 44 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 436 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 4:10:45 PM
Thank you for that elaboration. I think the vampire metaphor is excellent. Your point on the rapaciousness of the current crew is telling. A friend said to me, "They steal everything that isn't nailed down, then they come back and try to steal that too!"
You can't maintain the facade when you buy Congress to vote against the clear will of the people. I'm referring to the 2006 elections. Somebody, guess who, doesn't want us leaving Iraq now. Voila, we're not because the Democrats elected suddenly realized they report to "a higher father."
The cell is open, we can walk out, and I predict many will.
by
Michael Collins (81 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 289 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 4:57:08 PM
If we are going to try to take back 'government by the people,' one of the first things we need to attend to is taking back language. Free Speech has been hijacked, largely to represent corporate interest. Lobbyists and special interest groups scream the right to 'free speech' every time their bribery is questioned.
If I am denied access to the editorial page of the New York Times with my opinion, I can hardly dare to claim that my right to speech has been impaired. But if I am rich enough, I can buy an entire page at the NYT ($142,000.00) to print those same views.
That's not free speech, that's paid access to speech.
As a nation, we ought to begin with unrelenting legal pressure to take back the definition of free speech. Free speech is the ability and protection by law of anyone to express himself without sanction.
My guess is that ending campaign contributions and lobbyist payoffs on the way to legislative reform won't happen without redefining and taking back large parts of language that have been seized by corporations and media.
by
Jim Freeman (108 articles, 40 quicklinks, 160 diaries, 327 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 6:02:49 PM
I've got to respond again to this wonderful piece. The MONEY PARTY is the God of America. It's a relatively small fraternity/soroity of pig, pig rich people (of BOTH political parties -- watch how Bill Clinton keeps sucking up to Daddy Bush!), who dreamed up "establishment politics", i.e., that these social games actually has input into the national and international dynamics of our governments. Nothing could be more absurd.
Establishment poliltics is the social drug elites use to keep all of rest of us in an obediant stupor. It's what keep us from realizing that nearly all Americans are in a prison cell with one wall missing. WE CAN WALK OUT WHENEVER WE PLEASE, but it will be over the broken world of vampire elites. Notice how well the vampire analogy works. There's never very many of them and they stay alive by DRAING OUR BLOOD.
Do these CEO pigs who make 200 times as much as their catttle workers really "earn" that money? No, they've just convinced all the rest of America to clean their commedes and then hank them for the privilidge. Well I have a better idea what to what to do with those commodes, such as its sticking them where the sun doesn't shine.
We have to stop being cattle! We have human beings with souls and a God given and Constitution given and Nature give birthright and we're living like dogs and cats compared to the Bush/Saudi Royal Families. George Bush is heartless, soulless, brainless human scum, and yet he lives like a God.
Time to leave politics. Time for a quantum jump in human history. Time for the 99% to take the Earth back from the 1% ANYWAY WE CAN.
And we CAN do it whenever we collectively choose.
by
W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (201 articles, 44 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 436 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 7:39:26 PM
I hope that we get some citizens actually asking questions at the upcoming primary debates. One might be about asking the Iraqi's if they want us to leave.
Or, other questions for candidates:
How on earth do you expect us to believe that your votes are not influenced by the cash you collect for campaigning?
Do you have any friends or relatives benefiting from the office you hold?
Would you take a lie detector test about corruption in public office?
You're opposed to drugs. How about random drug testing for you and every single public representative?
How do you protect troops by putting them in a Hell hole where they can get killed or maimed?
Do you ever lose sleep over 1,000,000 dead Iraqi citizens because you allowed this monster to invade even thought you and every other Member of Congress KNEW there were no nuclear weapons in Iraq or other WMDs? (If no, then "What, are you some sort of sociopath?")
It's endless.
by
Michael Collins (81 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 289 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 9:57:49 PM
With Money sponsoring the debates that is a challenge
I have a motto for the Money Party as it relates to the media, the government and the corporations that own them:
"I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine...together we'll keep the fools in line."
Big corporate media first decides for us who is "election material" and worthy of taking part in the national debate. They decide who will make the TV pundit circuit to gain exposure. The media classifies the candidates into tiers. Those named first tier candidates are closest to the Money party's platform.
Then during the handful of debates they determine who will participate, filter the questions, determine who will stand where for the best exposure, and whether or not they will make it into the pictures. After the debate, during the re-interpretation, they edit out whatever doesn't fit into their worldview.
Hey, did you know that the corporate media makes campaign contributions? (I'm sure you did.)
I thought that would surely be a no-no, but my newly elected Dem Senator Amy Klobuchar received money from Fox News/Robert Murdock's PAC, from the Natl Assn of Broadcasters. Time Warner, CBS, and mega Internet communication PACs like Comcast and XO Communications. Whether Dem or Republican, virtually every member of Congress has taken money from corporate media PACs.
by
Kathlyn Stone (33 articles, 204 quicklinks, 19 diaries, 557 comments)
on Monday, October 1, 2007 at 8:21:40 AM
The obviousness of it all is what drives me crazy.
Look, humans haven't been around that long, especially in any so-called civilized sense, and since we crawled out of the caves for the most part it was not the wise but the brutal that got to control whatever it took to sustain life.
After a while the ruthless and clever got control of the brutal and since have been completing their plan to make sure that one day they would indeed be as though God's on Earth.
Welcome to the world of today.
The culmination of man's unexplainable stupidity coupled with his genius for being able to discover the most ingenious ways of killing his species are now in the hands of madmen as the wise weep and the unaware go about their day in denial of what is obvious to anyone with their eyes opened to the truth.
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 1056 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 7:55:50 PM
" the most ingenious ways of killing his species are now in the hands of madmen as the wise weep and the unaware go about their day"
And thanks for the kind words. I recently received my PhD in The Obvious;)
This analysis is nothing new, although the brevity is perhaps. "the wise" need not weep. In fact, they should rejoice, they know the truth. Why weep because of the obvious? Communicating the various truths we know is vital. There's a word of mouth network that compliments the internet and it's powerful.
My guess is that we're headed for a time of total disillusionment with all major institutions; beyond even what we might expect. The 2006 message from voters was clear - get out of Iraq. Now we have the Senate voting 97-0 for the Lieberman Amendment in April and another one is on the table. What part of the message didn't they get? None, they just didn't get it from the right pleace, the donors.
"Legalized bribery" - that's the essence of the message about these misanthropes. They do it in the open and then sit around and complain about having to raise funds all the time. Clever aren't they;)
by
Michael Collins (81 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 289 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 9:46:57 PM
for your achknowledgement for my turn of words ... but the whole stupidity thing and the lack of time is what worriers me most.
I hate to sound so negative but all the intellect in the world combined couldn't stop the inertia in time created by the amount of stupidity that abounds and controls the reins of power that is ending life as we know it.
My fatalism came early, easy and has been confirmed many times over from first hand experience. Case in point; 1969, LA, CA, a Physics Prof. whom I helped create The Institute for Environmental Alternatives confided to me his worst findings and my worst fears, that if we had stopped polluting in every way even at that time we still had altered the climate to point that the best we could hope for is that somehow a few remote groups of people could survive and try this experiment all over again.
Instead we bought SUV's.
There is a saying, and many times I wonder with my attitude I don't follow it more often; "Those that know, don't tell."
So we're aware. So what? For me to get excited I'd have to see Space Aliens land and stop the insanity and give us the technology to reverse the damage we done to this planet.
Okay, I'd get a little excited if at least someone would get indicted or impeached ... but, until then ...
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 1056 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 11:44:54 PM
I wish I could remember where I saw this. It was a list of people (less than 300) who are on multiple corporate boards and thereby control the largest corporations in the world.
Where can I get a t-shirt?
by
Max Girouard (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 7:59:10 PM
Abergavemy, Marquis of. Acheson, Dean. Adeane, Lord Michael. Agnelli, Giovanni. Alba, Duke of. Aldington, Lord. Aleman, Miguel. Allihone, Professor T. E. Alsop Family Designate. Amory, Houghton. Anderson, Charles A. Anderson, Robert 0. Andreas, Dwayne. Asquith, Lord. Astor, John Jacob and successor, Waldorf. Aurangzeb, Descendants of. Austin, Paul.
Baco, Sir Ranulph BalFour, Arthur. Balogh, Lord. Bancroft, Baron Stormont. Baring. Barnato, B. Barran, Sir John. Baxendell, Sir Peter. Beatrice of Savoy, Princess. Beaverbrook, Lord. Beck, Robert. Beeley, Sir Harold. Beit, Alfred. Benn, Anthony Wedgewood. Bennet, John W. Benneton, Gilberto or alternate Carlo. Bertie, Andrew. Besant, Sir Walter. Bethal, Lord Nicholas. Bialkin, David. Biao, Keng. Bingham, William. Binny, J. F. Blunt, Wilfred. Bonacassi, Franco Orsini. Bottcher, Fritz. Bradshaw, Thornton. Brandt, Willy. Brewster, Kingman. Buchan, Alastair. Buffet, Warren. Bullitt, William C. Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Bundy, McGeorge. Bundy, William. Bush, George.
Cabot, John. Family Designate. Caccia, Baron Harold Anthony. Cadman, Sir John. Califano, Joseph. Carrington, Lord. Carter, Edward. Catlin, Donat. Catto, Lord. Cavendish, Victor C. W. Duke of Devonshire. Chamberlain, Houston Stewart. Chang, V. F. Chechirin, Georgi or Family Designate. Churchill, Winston. Cicireni, V. or Family Designate. Cini, Count Vittorio. Clark, Howard. Cleveland, Amory. Cleveland, Harland. Clifford, Clark. Cobold, Lord. Coffin, the Rev William Sloane. Constanti, House of Orange. Cooper, John. Family Designate. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Count. Cowdray, Lord. Cox, Sir Percy. Cromer, Lord Evelyn Baring. Crowther, Sir Eric. Cumming, Sir Mansfield. Curtis, Lionel. d’Arcy, William K.
D’Avignon, Count Etienne. Danner, Jean Duroc. Davis, John W. de Benneditti, Carlo. De Bruyne, Dirk. De Gunzberg, Baron Alain. De Lamater, Major General Walter. De Menil, Jean. De Vries, Rimmer. de Zulueta, Sir Philip. de’Aremberg, Marquis Charles Louis. Delano. Family Designate. Dent, R. Deterding, Sir Henri. di Spadaforas, Count Guitierez, (House Douglas-Home, Sir Alec. Drake, Sir Eric. Duchene, Francois. DuPont.
Edward, Duke of Kent. Eisenberg, Shaul. Elliott, Nicholas. Elliott, William Yandel. Elsworthy, Lord.
Farmer, Victor. Forbes, John M. Foscaro, Pierre. France, Sir Arnold. Fraser, Sir Hugh. Frederik IX, King of Denmark Family Designate. Freres, Lazard. Frescobaldi, Lamberto. Fribourg, Michael.
Gabor, Dennis. Gallatin, Albert. Family Designate. Gardner, Richard. Geddes, Sir Auckland. Geddes, Sir Reay. George, Lloyd. Giffen, James. Gilmer, John D. Giustiniani, Justin. Gladstone, Lord. Gloucestor, The Duke of. Gordon, Walter Lockhart. Grace, Peter J. Greenhill, Lord Dennis Arthur. Greenhill, Sir Dennis. Grey, Sir Edward. Gyllenhammar, Pierres.
Haakon, King of Norway. Haig, Sir Douglas. Hailsham, Lord. Haldane, Richard Burdone. Halifax, Lord. Hall, Sir Peter Vickers. Hambro, Sir Jocelyn. Hamilton, Cyril. Harriman, Averill. Hart, Sir Robert. Hartman, Arthur H. Healey, Dennis. Helsby, Lord. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty Queen Juliana. Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix. Her Royal Highness Queen Margreta. Heseltine, Sir William. Hesse, Grand Duke descendants, Family Designate. Hoffman, Paul G. Holland, William. House of Braganza. House of Hohenzollern. House, Colonel Mandel. Howe, Sir Geoffrey. Hughes, Thomas H. Hugo, Thieman. Hutchins, Robert M. Huxley, Aldous.
Inchcape, Lord.
Jamieson, Ken. Japhet, Ernst Israel. Jay, John. Family Designate.
Jodry, J. J. Joseph, Sir Keith.
Katz, Milton. Kaufman, Asher. Keith, Sir Kenneth. Keswick, Sir William Johnston, or Keswick, H.N.L. Keswick, William Johnston.
Keynes, John Maynard. Kimberly, Lord. King, Dr. Alexander. Kirk, Grayson L. Kissinger, Henry. Kitchener, Lord Horatio. Kohnstamm, Max. Korsch, Karl.
Lambert, Baron Pierre. Lawrence, G. Lazar. Lehrman, Lewis. Lever, Sir Harold. Lewin, Dr. Kurt. Lippmann, Walter. Livingstone, Robert R. Family Designate. Lockhart, Bruce. Lockhart, Gordon. Linowitz, S. Loudon, Sir John. Luzzatto, Pieipaolo.
Mackay, Lord, of Clasfern. Mackay-Tallack, Sir Hugh. Mackinder, Halford. MacMillan, Harold. Matheson, Jardine. Mazzini, Gueseppi. McClaughlin, W. E. McCloy, John J. McFadyean, Sir Andrew. McGhee, George. McMillan, Harold. Mellon, Andrew. Mellon, William Larimer or Family Designate. Meyer, Frank. Michener, Roland. Mikovan, Anastas. Milner, Lord Alfred. Mitterand, Francois. Monett, Jean. Montague, Samuel. Montefiore, Lord Sebag or Bishop Hugh. Morgan, John P. Mott, Stewart. Mountain, Sir Brian Edward. Mountain, Sir Dennis. Mountbatten, Lord Louis. Munthe, A., or family designate.
Naisbitt, John. Neeman, Yuval. Newbigging, David. Nicols, Lord Nicholas of Bethal. Norman, Montague.
O’Brien of Lotherby, Lord. Ogilvie, Angus. Okita, Saburo. Oldfield, Sir Morris. Oppenheimer, Sir Earnest, and successor, Harry. Ormsby Gore, David (Lord Harlech). Orsini, Franco Bonacassi. Ortolani. Umberto. Ostiguy, J.P.W.
Paley, William S. Pallavacini. Palme, Olaf. Palmerston. Palmstierna, Jacob. Pao, Y.K. Pease, Richard T. Peccei, Aurellio. Peek, Sir Edmund. Pellegreno, Michael, Cardinal. Perkins, Nelson. Pestel, Eduard. Peterson, Rudolph. Petterson, Peter G. Petty, John R. Philip, Prince, Duke of Edinburgh. Piercy, George. Pinchott, Gifford. Pratt, Charles. Price Waterhouse, Designate.
Radziwall. Ranier, Prince. Raskob, John Jacob. Recanati. Rees, John Rawlings. Rees, John. Rennie, Sir John. Rettinger, Joseph. Rhodes, Cecil John. Rockefeller, David. Role, Lord Eric of Ipsden. Rosenthal, Morton. Rostow, Eugene. Rothmere, Lord. Rothschild Elie de or Edmon de and/or Baron RothschiLd Runcie, Dr.Robert. Russell, Lord John. Russell, Sir Bertrand.
Saint Gouers, Jean. Salisbury, Marquisse de Robert Gascoiugne Cecil. Shelburne, The Salisbury, Lord. Samuel, Sir Marcus. Sandberg, M. G. Sarnoff, Robert. Schmidheiny, Stephan or alternate brothers Thomas, Alexander. Schoenberg, Andrew. Schroeder. Schultz, George. Schwartzenburg, E. Shawcross, Sir Hartley. Sheridan, Walter. Shiloach, Rubin. Silitoe, Sir Percy. Simon, William. Sloan, Alfred P. Smuts, Jan. Spelman. Sproull, Robert. Stals, Dr. C. Stamp, Lord Family designate. Steel, David. Stiger, George. Strathmore, Lord. Strong, Sir Kenneth. Strong, Maurice. Sutherland. Swathling, Lord. Swire, J. K.
Tasse, G. Or Family Designate. Temple, Sir R. Thompson, William Boyce. Thompson, Lord. Thyssen-Bornamisza, Baron Hans Henrich. Trevelyn, Lord Humphrey. Turner, Sir Mark. Turner, Ted. Tyron, Lord.
Urquidi, Victor.
Van Den Broek, H. Vanderbilt. Vance, Cyrus. Verity, William C. Vesty, Lord Amuel. Vickers, Sir Geoffrey. Villiers, Gerald Hyde family alternate. Volpi, Count. von Finck, Baron August. von Hapsburg, Archduke Otto, House of Hapsburg-Lorraine. Von Thurn and Taxis, Max.
Wallenberg, Peter or Family Designate. Wang, Kwan Cheng, Dr. Warburg, S. C. Ward Jackson, Lady Barbara. Warner, Rawleigh. Warnke, Paul. Warren, Earl. Watson, Thomas. Webb, Sydney. Weill, David. Weill, Dr. Andrew. Weinberger, Sir Caspar. Weizman, Chaim. Wells, H. G. Wheetman, Pearson (Lord Cowdray). White, Sir Dick Goldsmith. Whitney, Straight. Wiseman, Sir William. Wittelsbach. Wolfson, Sir Isaac. Wood, Charles.
Young, Owen.
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 1:39:18 PM
