By Burl and Grandmerry Hall
I conceived this article by Merry, who is the editor and critic of my work. At the time that I began composing this article, I was writing a political article. I was thinking politics was what was important to Oped. Merry said, "No, real change is not about the politicians."
I must say; I wasn't being true to myself. As such, I decided she was correct in her critique. Politics are not going to cut the muster. Gosh, I knew that. My goal in doing a political article isn't going to change a thing. In my eyes, if we get people moving beyond the top-down corporate owned government, we may foster a just, sustainable and equitable future for adults and our children. I agreed with Merry. My quandary is whether or not people want to make drastic change. In that change, we need to go beyond politicians and corporate rule.
Politically, I view our world as being more Feudal than Democratic. By feudal, I mean we are living under a system in which corporations (i.e., their owners) rule this country, and the majority of the planet Earth. In essence, it is the "landowners" that rule the roost (e.g., banks and 30 year mortgages).
Fussing about Trump isn't going to cut the muster. If anything, Trump is a mirror of the insanity (and ignorance) of a large portion of the United States population. Obama was 55% better than Trump. But he too was corporate-driven. I consider him as being "Trump Light". It's the same with Hilary Clinton. She too is Trump Light.
Yes, there are people who "buy" their home. In truth, most of the middle class and poor can't afford to buy a home. They ultimately have to go through a bank and take out a loan. The loan's interest winds up creating a much higher price than most people pay for the house. Indeed loans are generally around 3.8% per year. Many middle class workers pay this mortgage for 30 years.
And how many of those stay in a house for 30 years? Given that the interest is mostly front-loaded, that means the buyer ends up paying at least 200% of the nominal cost of the house. Furthermore banks produce the initial loan by caveat, without having to draw on any bank funds. This is akin to the levies imposed under serfdom.
What do 30-year mortgages for the working class (if they exist anymore) look like? Slavery? Two or three jobs to make "ends meet?" Unions used to fight for benefits and decent living wages and working conditions. Today, the unions, who fought for decent wages and benefits, are going the way of the dinosaur. The technique used by corporations fostering the dis-empowerment of working people. The technique of doing so is called "outsourcing". Slavery is alive and well in our world, it's just masquerading under a different name. Consider cheap labor that corporations use through outsourcing to other countries. https://www.google.com/search?q=average+mortgage+rates&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab.
Who can pay a 30-year mortgage off? Almost nobody. Merry and I must now turn our home over to the mortgaging bank that will now receive the principal on top of the interest. Don't tell us money doesn't defy physics to flow uphill. The result is that all of us are trapped in a psychopathic system.
My question to the reader is, "why do we fall to our knees for corporations, banks, and government?"
Aren't we living in a system of financial slavery? Many people work 50 -- 60 hours per week. I did this when I worked in retail. Of course, now we have outsourcing so corporations can make even more money while diminishing the working or middle classes. Whatever we call it, we are getting socked in the gut.
I encourage the reader to buy or borrow Escape From Freedom, a book written by Erick Fromm. Fromm was a Jewish man who spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. That's where we are heading today. We just aren't fully aware of the trend. https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Freedom-Erich-Fromm/dp/0805031499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511194236&sr=8-1&keywords=eric+fromm+escape+from+freedom.
While Fromm saw the United States as a bit saner than Germany, he also spoke to the potential of fascism in our culture. I read his book in the 70's. It opened my eyes. When Bush was elected (or selected) president (father and son), I realized Fromm was right. And here we are in 2017. We continue to fall into the hands of fascists. The pattern is blatant.
We are owned by corporations, alongside those living within the top 5% of income.
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