a) the worldwide nature of the economic depression we are already in,
b) the unprecedented speed of the fall,
c) the unprecedented levels of debt incurred by governments in order to sustain insolvent banks and industries, and
d) the unprecedented public deficits,
which will drain resources for many generations to come. --James Petras, Chapter 4.
4. The notion that capitalism and democracy are
one . . is proven a myth by neoliberalism and its "monetary totalitarianism." The primacy of politics over economy has been lost. Politicians
of all parties have abandoned it. It is now the corporations that dictate
politics. Where corporate interests
are involved, there is no longer any place for democratic convention or
community control. Only those with
political power still have rights. And they give themselves the licenses they
need: everything from the "license to plunder" to
the "license to kill." --Claudia Von Werlhof, Chapter 5
5. The mainstream media are now willing to let
those who destroyed the economy continue running the country un-challenged. Every time a new economic indicator comes out
that wasn't "as bad as expected," Wall Street cheers and politicians give their
"we've-turned-the-corner" speeches. Reality
is thus turned on its head.
The
recession is creating a "fight or die" environment for corporations and governments
around the world. The superrich who now
control both corporations and governments are using their influence to ensure
that workers carry the brunt of this burden.
But it doesn't have to be so. The
fight for jobs, a living wage, progressive taxation, social security and single
payer healthcare are all issues capable of uniting the vast majority of US citizens,
if only they can be woken up in time . --Shamus Cooke Chapter 6
6. Murder is instrumented in a detached fashion
through computer program trading on the New York and Chicago mercantile
exchanges, where the global prices of rice, wheat and corn are decided upon. People in different countries are being impoverished simultaneously as
a result of global market mechanisms. Speculative
profitmaking strategies employed by a small number of financial institutions
and global corporations determine the prices of basic food staples quoted on
the commodity exchanges, thereby directly affecting (often tragically) the
standard of living of millions of people around the world.
In recent
years, both prior and leading up to the 2008-2009 financial meltdown, the
prices of staples, including rice, corn and wheat, gasoline and water, have
increased dramatically at the global level with devastating economic and social
consequences among those who can then no
longer afford to buy basic food staples. --Michel
Chossudovsky, Chapter 7
7. Globalization is therefore accompanied by the
growing impacts of world hunger and
starvation. Over 30,000 people a day (85% are children
under the age of five) die of malnutrition, easily curable diseases and
starvation. The numbers of these unnecessary
deaths has exceeded 300 million over the past forty years. --Peter
Phillips, Chapter 8
8. Economic conquest is an integral part of
America's military adventure. In this
context, the US military and intelligence apparatus consults with Wall Street
and the Texas oil giants. Meanwhile, the
IMF and the World Bank, which have a mandate to supervise macroeconomic reform
in developing countries, are in liaison with the US State Department and the
Pentagon.
The
speculative attacks waged by powerful banking conglomerates in the currency,
commodity and stock markets are acts of
financial warfare. These speculative
attacks seek to destabilize the monetary systems of nation states. --Michel Chossudovsky Chapter 9
9. America escaped from the depression of the
1890s by way of the Spanish-American War.
It escaped the Great Depression
of the 1930s by way of the Second World War.
There was even a recession in the late 1940s from which America escaped by
way of the Korean War. So, as we face
the risk of yet another depression, we likely face the danger of yet another major
war. --Peter Dale Scott, Chapter 11
10. As the global economic crisis deepens,
ongoing efforts by the defense and security establishment to shore-up the
empire's crumbling edifice consume an ever-greater proportion of America's
national budget and resources. And now the
"black" or secret portions of the budget are almost as large as the entire
expenditure of defense funds by America's allies, who are no slouches when it
comes to feeding their own militarist beasts.
--Tom Burghardt, Chapter 12
11. In testimony before the Senate Committee on
Intelligence, Obama's new Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, warned
that the deepening world capitalist
crisis poses the paramount threat to US national security and also warned
that its continuation could trigger a return to the "violent extremism" of the
1920s and 1930s. Clearly underlying his
remarks are fears within our massive US intelligence apparatus, as well as
among more conscious layers of America's ruling elite, that a protracted
economic crisis, accompanied by ever-rising unemployment (much of which is now
kept hidden), and reduced social spending, will trigger a global eruption of class
struggle and the threat of revolution.
--Bill Van Auken, Chapter 13
12. National
governments now work directly for the banks; democracy is in decline
everywhere; and the militarization of domestic society, morphing
it into "Homeland Security states," is underway and accelerating. --Andrew
Gavin Marshall, Chapter 14
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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