Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

shadow economics

genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran

I haven't got the educational background to assess this article that was passed along in email today, but if even 50% of it is close to the truth, I think it deserves some consideration. Sorry, it's longer than a Tweet, but some subjects seem to shape themselves in that way.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

Move over "feudalism!"

Comments

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    A very insightful post @Jason but I just wanted to add that this...

    And because the ruling ideas of any age are those of the ruling class, many working people buy into the propaganda they're fed from all sides about capitalism being the best and fairest system,

    ... is perhaps a little US-centric. European attitudes are more socialist in general, and a lot of the ruling ideas here are those that come from the academia. Labour protection rights are stronger as well. It’s not to say there isn’t a strong capitalist tendency and ruling class, but there is a good deal of mobility, and a good number of politicians from the middle classes.

    There are countries around the world where oligarchy is expressed a lot more strongly than the European nations, but I agree that in many places democracy is being subverted and is tending more towards oligarchy. What I find odd is that the people don’t seem to care. Their rights are being eroded almost continuously, and increasingly big business is going hand in hand with government, and we are not seeing much of a protest movement.

    I thought Occupy in the US was going to make a real impact, but they seem to have gone rather quiet over the years after an impressive grass roots start.

    Shak
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator

    I don't think so. While Europe has strong welfare states, one can see this trend happening there as well, with growing privatization and austerity. They're still capitalist through and through. Just look at what they did to Greece. To think that money doesn't rule there as much as the US just because they have paid maternity leave and universal healthcare is a mistake.

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    The fact that money rules has a lot to do with a shift that has been playing out over millennia with respect to resource scarcity in agricultural societies. A few thousand years ago you could just pitch up on a piece of land and start farming. Nowadays property rights and land use laws and land ownership are so pervasive that that’s no longer true, you have to maintain your existence in other ways. Hence the labour market and the idea of wage slavery, it’s more about getting a fair price for your work in spite of the market.

    But you’re quite right it’s the top 1% who reap the benefits of the technological revolution, in Europe as well as elsewhere. With a fairer distribution most of society would be better off and would experience less stress and have more time for practice :)

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited September 2018

    While we're on this topic, I'd like to mention that part of the conservative economic strategy involves maintaining control, and therefore--keeping the tax cut goodies, by means of ever-increasing control of the vote, i.e. voter suppression. A new book details the many ways this is achieved, citing investigations performed after various previous elections. If anyone else is interested in reading this, we could have a little book club here, to discuss it. I haven't read it yet, but I've been following the issue through several election cycles. Here's the link:https://www.amazon.com/One-Person-Vote-Suppression-Destroying/dp/1635571375/ref=sr_1_9_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1535940605&sr=8-9-spons&keywords=One+Man,+No+Vote&psc=1

    One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Say whatever you want about my stance, but Politics and all machinations concerning, leave me numbed and cold, like a rabbit in headlights.
    I just try to do my best within the community I share, on a day-to-day basis with the tools available.

    @Jason: this thread is for you to Moderate, because I can never decide whether people are debating or defaming....

    Keep well and be good, folks - and as Wolfie would have said, "Power to the People!"

    kando
Sign In or Register to comment.