Folks

as many prepare for the festivities of the coming Christmas and New Year days, a little reminder of some age old stuff that bears looking at time and again. It is like the well worn Xmas stocking -- you hang it up and hope somehow something gets in there that you like.

As we review the year we are still told that if 'Greed is not so good', then it's also not so bad. But somehow, most people seem to focus on what is good and heartwarming during the festive year end season. It is a time of giving and gratitude and Christmas sales and a busy time for the advertising and marketing industry.

After all, if 'goodness' can sell, why not? What isn't for sale anyway.

Many a person has mentioned why one needs to be 'realistic' and accept that what is spiritual is for the idealists who think what cannot be seen is real. These are the very same 'realists' who believe that there are such things as 'market forces' (invisible to the mind but can be seen through movement of stock indices and people being thrown out of work due to creating a leaner and certainly meaner work force).

Together with the commercially viable 'magic' of Christmas, you have the magical invocations of the 'free market', 'structural unemployment', and increasing 'productivity'. Yet while the workers who create that 'productivity' are 'structurally' eliminated from the 'work force', the fatcat CEOs and the like are busy planning their own bonuses.

The 'productivity' of the top, lean, mean ultracompetitive managers is shown by throwing out people from work thereby testifying to their everlasting adherence to the neo-occultist force of the 'market'. Their 'productivity' is measured through revenue 'turnover', share 'value' (through a laughably valueless US dollar), and one's golf handicap. 

Someone I know who is a CEO of a company in a conglomerate tells me how the deputy to his Group CEO is busy politicking to help bring down the boss so that the deputy can take over. 'Productivity', old chap, 'productivity'.

It's worth recalling the story of The Little Match Girl (beats saying, please read almost all of Dickens).

And while some of us look out at the world and are greatful for what we have, there are many who would look in and wonder why there is an absence of charity to all.

For the Christians among you, especially those who claim to be true believers, it should be with great understanding that you read these well known words:

"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" -- Matthew 16:26

But many among those who claim religiosity would also say, well good ole Matt was speaking at the time when there were no stocks and mega corporations to run. Life was simpler then. There was no SUV to maintain nor high priced condominium to covet.

They say with a straight face, that there was no real use for accountants to cook, well 'balance', the books and so forth. Those were less complicated times; you could actually believe in God and miracles, this is the twenty first century and, the usual stuff...science and technology is the new spiritualism and economists the high priests of our way of life (or 'freedom, democracy, individual rights', and all that).

Then with some hesitation, let us re-read these also unoriginal lines (compared to the 'new' things the mainstream media bombards us with everyday) --

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
   “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’" -- Matthew 25:35-40

All well and good, but later man, first the handphone beckons and will ask for Help when I really need it, right now...it's bonus time, shopping, a little relaxing. At the end of the day someone wins and someone has to lose. That's life.

Meanwhile, back in Gotham City... the United Corporations of America (a.k.a USA) continues its military adventurism abroad, and we have the strange variation of the Monroe Doctrine coming back to bite itself in the hindmost. It increasingly seems apparent that what happens in America's own backyard, that is within itself, should be of concern to Washington, D.C. (Detective Comics).

And there is that other old fashioned line that goes, 'Charity begins at home'.

So perhaps, while everyone would like to think all is well in the world as long as it's basically still OK with themselves, then please take a closer look (especially for those wanting to emulate the United Corporations of America) at what is really taking place in a country that still has the potential for greatness:

Incidentally, there is the interesting complementary tale to The Little Match Girl called the tale of The Star Money. Here the story is one in which the little girl gives away whatever she has and is rewarded by money dropping from the stars/heaven. It is essentially the Law of Attraction embedded within the story in which those who give in all goodness, only need open their arms to receive abundance (the rewards, however, are not always monetary).

Of course, to the smart science-technocrats of today, this is old hat: even as they lay on their death beds one day contemplating that if death is a constant in the third dimensional world of change and conditioning, and that if apparently there may be eleven dimensions to the universe and parallel realities and that it is theoretically possible to do time-travel -- then are there other dimensions of deathlessness and Freedom?

Good question.

On a less sentimental note for the hard core realists out there, a message/song from the one and only; and, by the way, have a good Xmas, New Year, etc -- you know the drill.

 

Folks,

ONLY last week, Australia lost its Prime Minister -- Kevin Rudd -- to a corporate coup.

His removal by a corporate cabal within his Labour party was not a sign of democracy at work but a victory for big corporate interests.

Mr Rudd's removal and the installing of his deputy as his successor came about when he insisted on his promised 'super' mining tax on Australia's mining industry. As elections are due in Australia soon, the tax which raised a ruckus within the ranks of large corporate interests led to a claim within the Labour party that they may not do well in the forthcoming polls given the negative press being spread by the mining giants.

Then just as you thought you knew how to spell 'democracy', it hit you like a ton of collapsing stock indices that it should actually be spelt as 'corporatocracy'. Who would have guessed?

Whatever his manifest faults, Mr Rudd did the right thing in taking on the mining industry by imposing a 40 per cent “super profits” tax. But it is clear that billionaires finally influence who becomes Australia’s PM (in fact, almost anywhere else) as the first thing the new incumbent has done is to start panicked renegotiations with mining leviathans over the tax.

None of this has to do with the welfare of the Australian people but assuaging the forces of big business and their profit margins.

Much of the revenue from the mining tax could have gone to setting up cleaner alternative sources of energy and be of other use for the Australian people; but what has happened is that the government has cowered under threats by miners to cut off further investments which has been interpreted as lost job opportunities for Australians.

Yet it is mainly overseas markets that seem to benefit from Australian mining activities while citizens face inflationary pressure and a tighter labour market. It is a pity governments in democracies seem largely beholden not to their people but to billionaires, boards of directors and profit maximizing shareholders.

The events in Australia are another in a series of revelations that people in all democracies should take note: democratically elected representatives almost always have to mollycoddle and kowtow to corporate behemoths like BP and BHP rather than stand firmly for the interests of the people.

Probably every major democracy in the world has many of its politicians tucked away within the money filled pockets of big business.

We need to rent the veil of illusion from our eyes and see that what is termed democracy by major countries is essentially government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.

The interview below was done by the inimitable Studs Terkel and was first published in 1970 as part of a collection of unforgettable conversations with those who had some experience or understanding of the Great Depression. The excerpt below is from an interview with Texas Congressman Wright Patman who when the interview was made was into his 21^st term, and was also Chariman of the House Banking and Currency Committee.

This extract is from pages 282-286, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, by Studs Terkel:

“IN THE LATE TWENTIES, the farmers were in distress because all the money went to Wall Street. They were using it up there, manipulating…Less than two hundred men are controlling everything – the fixing of interest, bonds, everything. Members of Congress just don’t step on the toes of these bankers.

That’s why in May, 1929, I introduced the first bill to pay three and half million World War I veterans cash money, direct from the United States Treasury. It took from then till 1936 for these veterans to be paid -- $1,015 each, on the average. They were in such distress, we had to agree on bond payments. They wanted to rob ‘em on interest rates.

…When the poor came to town, they were troublemakers…They step on the grass they are put into jail for stepping on the grass.

…The marchers were good, law-abiding citizens. They built these lodgings down here from waste paper and boxes and things…Those buildings were burnt down by the army, the military, under the direction of Mr. MacArthur and Mr. Eisenhower. Mr MacArthur was strutting down the street like it was a big parade.

The next morning, after driving them out, using tear gas, you’d see little babies and mothers on the side of the road…There was never such a horrible thing happen on earth as that. They killed some of the veterans. They all ought to have been charged with murder.

…Andrew Mellon [Treasury Secretary from 1921-32] was opposed to any payment. He said it would unbalance the budget. They always talked that way…That’s what led me to go after him. I’m against a few people taking advantage of privilege, using it for their own selfishness and punishing other folks.

…January 6, 1932, I rose to impeach Andrew W. Mellon for high crimes and misdemeanors. The Republicans were so shocked and confused, they didn’t stop me…I spoke of conflict of interests. He owned banks, stocks and everything else, and here he was heading the Treasury. It was made a violation a hundred years ago for a Secretary of the Treasury to even own a Government bond.

They voted to refer the proposition to the Judiciary Committee. I sat on one side of the long table by myself and Mr. Mellon and his twelve lawyers sat on the opposite side. The most high-priced lawyers in the United States, the best money could buy. I had a rough time for a couple of weeks.

…At the end of the two weeks, it was Mr. Mellon’s turn to be on the witness stand. The committee recessed until one thirty that afternoon. Well, about twelve-thirty, the papers came out with huge headlines: “Mellon Resigns, Appointed To The Court of St. James” [made ambassador to Britain]. Some members of the committee wanted to impeach him anyway…But the argument was made: Why take up time? He’s not only out of office, he’s out of the country. So they just let it go. They destroyed all the papers.

…Stolen from my office. They robbed my office time and time again…I tried to get the officers around here to do something about it, couldn’t get them to do it.

The security officers around Washington. The Treasury has some. Also the White House and the FBI type people…

…About every three or four elections, they’d lower the boom on me. They could see I was givin’ ‘em trouble on their city-slicking deals. I pictured them as money changers and was after them with sharp sticks...The big business fellas didn’t need me. They got their own paid people around here. They threw plenty of money around and begin to get very popular.

We have two governments in Washington: one run by the elected people – which is a minor part – and one run by the moneyed interests, which control everything.

…It was the big ones closing in on the little ones for the kill. At one time, they thought they’d get a dictatorship here. General Smedley Butler was picked out to be the leader. He was gonna be their man on the white horse. They were gonna close in and take this country over. And they came darn near doing it. They just picked the wrong man*. They’ll get this country in that position again if they can.

…A dictatorship could spring up here over night, if this country got so bad. If another Depression came, we’d have a revolution. People wouldn’t take it any more. They have more knowledge. The big ones, they’d be looking for somebody that’d have the power to just kill people, if they didn’t agree. When John Doe begins to get up, they’d just go down and shoot him…

[Terkel asks: What were your relations with Roosevelt during the Depression?]

I liked him very much. There was an air of optimism. When he got in – getting the fat cats out, getting the money changers out…

[Terkel asks: Do you have the feeling that you’ve been pretty well kept out of the news these past thirty years or so….?]

Why, certainly. I should have been chairman of this committee twenty-five years ago. But they kept me off on account of that fight for the veterans. They knew I knew too much of the money business. They didn’t want a man like that.

Oh, I made news when I authored the Full Employment Bill. They called me a Communist, a Socialist and everything else. But we got the bill through. They all now recognize it as a good bill.

When I get kind of low, I’d think about a verse I learned at one time, when everybody was fighting me. It went something like this:

He has no enemies, you say,

My friend, the boast is poor.

He who hath mingled in the fray

Of duty that the brave endure

Must have foes.

If he has none,

Small is the work he has done.

He has hit no traitor on the hip,

Has cast no cup from perjured lip,

Has never turned the wrong to right,

He’s been a coward in the fight.

I’d often repeat that, you know. (Laughs)

POSTSCRIPT: “I live near the Water Gate Inn, but I’m not in that fat cat area (Laughs). They pay a half million dollars for condominiums down there. Of course, they have to pay ten or fifteen thousand dollars a year just to keep the corridors clean. From my apartment, I can see where the Cabinet lives. (Laughs)”

*In his autobiography, John L. Spivak, a journalist, recounts his investigation of the matter. During his visit to Butler’s home, the General…“an extraordinary man, described ‘what was tantamount to a plot to seize the Government, by force, if necessary.’ ” In 1935, “Butler, on a national radio hookup, denounced the Congressional Committee for suppressing parts of his testimony, involving the names of important men.

Roger Baldwin, who did not look with friendly eyes on communists because they denied free speech and free press, issued a statement as Director of the American Civil Liberties Union: “The Congressional Committee investigating un-American activities has just reported that the fascist plot to seize the government…was proved; yet not a single participant will be prosecuted under the plain language of the federal conspiracy act making this a high crime. Imagine the action if such a plot were discovered among Communists!”

“Which is, of course, only to emphasize the nature of our government as representative of the interests of the controllers of property. Violence, even to the seizure of government, is excusable on the part of those whose lofty motive is to preserve the profit system…” From A Man In His Time, by John L. Spivak, pp. 329-30.