Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
My headline is, for most people and especially for the status quo, simply unthinkable. How could anyone seriously suggest that the Federal Government take over and sell off the assets of two giant financial services companies?
To which I say: why the hell not? It makes perfect sense and is a much better thing to do than continuously threaten ordinary Americans with slashing the meager benefits they get from their hard-earned tax dollars.
Why not balance the budget on the backs of the undeserving rich?
Americans Have Been Passive
Right now, a million French citizens are on strike and marching in the streets, protesting a government plan to raise the retirement age of the people who work for a living in that country. This proposal is allegedly aimed at fiscal responsibility, but the French know that’s bullshit. They know that idle ultra-wealthy rich people — like Macron and the people he represents — live off of the wealth produced by ordinary French citizens.
And they know that the ultra-wealthy contribute less and less while more and more is demanded — and taken from — the actual productive French citizens. Now, Macron and his cronies are trying to raid the retirements that people have worked their whole lives to earn.
Meanwhile, here in America, there’s a steady and open ongoing plot to slash Social Security — with little visible opposition. The assault has already had some success, with Reagan enacting taxes on Social Security starting back in the 1980s.
But Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase and the like never sacrifice anything. In fact, they get fatter and fatter off the sweat of ordinary Americans.
Let’s Reverse the Equation
I’m tired of being on the defensive. I don’t need to defend anything. I’ve worked for decades. I’ve paid taxes. I’ve been ripped off by corporations and by their corporate representative in government. I’ve put up with a lot.
So have you.
But what gets me isn’t being ripped off. Yeah, that’s bad. But what’s worse is that Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are doing much, much worse than that. They are funding the literal destruction of the habitability of the planet. They are threatening everyone’s children. Your children. Hell, even their own children.
What If We Stood Up For Ourselves and Our Planet?
I’m always trying to figure out how to force change, how to make the world better than it is. I’ve been working with some smart people, growing a movement to save the climate of the Earth and build a civilization based on love and cooperation, to replace the sick “civilization” we have now — one based on greed, and selfishness, and hatred. We are holding Virtual Climate Parties to work out strategies and plan actions. You can attend.
We oppose every system and every regime and every rule that threatens the planet, and that violates human decency. This includes dictators, plutocrats, and other dismal forces. But we are more focused on building something better, and replacing evil with good.
That said, in this essay I’m (for the moment) focusing on putting evil on the defensive. It’s THEIR turn to explain themselves.
We’ve heard the excuses: that they are job creators. That they are good for the economy. That there is no realistic alternative.
We reject all of those excuses. Because they are DESTROYING THE HABITABILITY of the planet. To continue this course is not only evil, but absolutely unrealistic. Any sane person can see where this leads.
Which means, of course, that the ideology that animates Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase is literally insane. The same holds for the petro-dictators of the Middle East and elsewhere — pumping oil without limit for personal power and wealth is death itself. This behavior is insane.
The American Way of Good
We may not duplicate what a million French people are doing right now. Or we may — it’s hard to know.
But I am personally committed to ending all activities that threaten humanity, especially climate abuse. I am equally committed to replacing cruelty and selfishness— which is the modus operandi of dictators and plutocrats everywhere — with humane and caring values.
Do you want to work with our group? Or at least attend one of our Virtual Climate Parties to explore that option? Check it out.