America is run by a criminal enterprise

[Cyrano]

If you’re caught with an ounce of weed, you’re a “criminal.” But if you own the majority of people who make the laws, then you’re not a “criminal” no matter what you do.

So let’s get real. You, I, and virtually everyone we know are under the thumb of the biggest criminal enterprise in the history of the world – corporate America. Those who don’t understand that are caught up in a “Matrix-like” dream world.

What’s so frustrating is that perhaps as little as one or two percent of the population controls all the rest of us. For the most part, they decide what people get to read, hear, and see; what we pay for food, water, electricity and almost everything else; and who gets to define “right” and “wrong.”

About the only place where true freedom still exists is right here on the web.

And somehow, while the web is still wide open, we have to figure out how to break free from the bondage under which we all suffer. However, given most of human history, it’s just a question of time before they also control what we can say and see here.

Some of you will agree with me, some of you will call me paranoid, and some of you will bury your heads in the sand. Nonetheless, I’d really like to hear from anyone with an idea as to how we can free ourselves from our corporate masters.

[Angry Dragon]

1. I agree with you

but am also lost on the methods to correct it.

[timtom]

2. There's no doubt about it.

We can only hope to continue educating and bringing the evil to light.

[cali]

3. My kid got caught with about half an ounce of weed last year.

He was fined. It was a misdemeanor charge. If he's in no trouble with the law for three years his record will be wiped clean.

[the other one]

5. The war on kids

[cali]

6. I don't think so. I think it was quite fair.

He knew it was against the law. And his penchant for smoking while driving was cut short. Fine with me.

[the other one]

10. Fair is in context. The context is anything but fair.

The war on drugs, espescially pot, is a hold-over of Nixon's paranoia. The hippies were young liberals who wanted to vote him out of office. By targeting the pot-smokers he was aiming at the next generation of liberal voters.

It is not fair to have a law specifically aimed at the enemy of a political philosophy. In this case that enemy is young liberals.

The war on drugs has a had an enormous and unnoticed effect on american politics, helping to move it to the right.

[Codeine]

54. Not all young liberals smoke pot.

I sure as fuck never touched it, or booze either. None of my lefty friends did either. :shrug: Is being a pothead a liberal litmus test now?

[Sebass1271]

107. I have never touched pot or did any other kin of drugs .. i am

liberal too.. that is another misconception the media/republicans and some pot smokers liberals have instigated in main street america.

[hfojvt]

130. neither did I

but to be fair, I was a young conservative.

[malaise]

92. You missed the point of the OP

to make a trivial point.

Who do you think makes the real money from weed?
Who launders the weed money, etc., etc.

Why the fugg is weed illegal while alcohol and big pharma's death guaranteeing products are promoted and available everywhere?

Rec for the OP - spot on.

[PreacherCasey]

103. And why are US troops guarding the opium fields in Afghanistan? That's $500 BILLION a year in herion

Is it just to keep that money out of the hands of the Taliban? I don't think so. It is a fact that the CIA uses drug money to fund its 'under the radar' operations. This way, they don't have to get appropriations from Congress, nor report to the Intelligence Commitee.

They bring the drugs into this country and then arrest citizens for using them.

[the other one]

4. I agree with what you say

Let me add: We are totally fucked.

See you at the barricades.

[peace frog]

99. Sorry as hell to say I agree 100%

at least we'll see plenty of familiar faces at the barricades.

[tridim]

7. If you get caught with an ounce of weed in Denver you may get a ticket at most

Why? Because the people of Denver demanded cannabis possession be decriminalized.

Those in power might be criminals, but that doesn't mean the people should just give up. We can still beat them.

[Cyrano]

9. Yep, once in a while, we get small victories.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. I think the number is a much smaller percentage.

1% is 3M people. It's likely <50K people.

[hfojvt]

131. yeah, but don't I, myself, get to decide what some people pay for water

After all, some 1000+ people elected me to the water board. So far, I have been the only negative vote on two more 'screw the little people' water rate increases, but ultimately, most of our customers probably don't really care about the $2-3 a month they are getting screwed out of.

[Echo In Light]

11. It's a major crime syndicate

[sasquuatch55]

98. Definitely Organized Crime!

nt

[G_j]

12. got to cut the purse strings

somehow...

[Cyrano]

14. It really is all about money

I knew a "union delegate" a while back and there was literally no distinction or separation between him and organized crime.

But he told me something that I'll always remember. He said: "The most important thing to them in the world is money. You can get away with a lot of stuff, but if you steal from them, you're dead."

Although it was many years ago, I still remember these words. However, over time, I came to realize that the only purpose of the money was to buy power.

Most people think that money makes the world go round. Actually, it's just the admission ticket to power -- which puts you in control -- which let's you make people do whatever you want them to do. There's a word for all of that. Evil.

So when we have a bought and paid for government, the same word applies.

[phasma ex machina]

28. Many big businesses use government as enforcers, while other big businesses act righteous. nt

[dgibby]

48. Gotta have one to get the other. n/t

[Altoid_Cyclist]

13. The real problem is that there are too many enablers in this country.

Way too many Americans have been metaphorically lobotomized either through personal choice, lack of a decent education or just not paying attention.

People who do speak out about the things that you mentioned are too often labeled as "kooks", "trouble makers", "socialists" or some other derogatory term for daring to actually question TPTB.

H.G. Wells original story "The Sleeper Awakes" and Woody Allen's "Sleeper" might be more accurate than is comfortable.

Miles: "That's what I've been trying to tell you! In six months, we'll be stealing Erno's nose! Don't you see? Political solutions never work!

On Edit: I don't think that the term Socialist is a bad thing, but that is the way that many Americans have been taught to view the term.

As far as what to do about things...... we need to somehow return fairness and truth to the corporate run media that presently has a stranglehold on what we receive as "The News".

[phasma ex machina]

29. +1 on M$M propaganda engendering simpleminded enablers. nt

[Altoid_Cyclist]

36. It's sad that so many people still regard their TV as a legitimate source of news.

It's like my brother said the last time that we spoke earlier this year.

He tried to tell me that almost everything that you read on the Internet is leftist lies and BS. BTW, he doesn't own a computer because he gets his "news" straight from Glenn Blech and Lou Dobbs and Jon Stewart is an _ _ _ hole for questioning what CNBC financial experts (Cramer) say.

He did nothing but complain for 8 years that * was the worst President ever. But he was pissed at me because I tried to say something negative about Iquitarod Palin. That was when he hung up on me and we haven't spoken since.

My sister & I have no idea why he fell in love with Palin like he did, but he really went over the edge. We just hope that it isn't early onset dementia, but how else do you explain the Palin obsession?

[phasma ex machina]

41. Palin's ability to connect with people on an emotional level and polarize

makes for interesting study. No answers thus far.

OTOH, talking heads seem rather harmful to one's (mental) health. LOL.

Addendum:

A couple of more thoughts about Palin.

1. She's energetic. You can couple energy with creativity to change reality.

2. She's got a good vocabulary. Textbook Obama shows her scoring highest on
the Flesch Reading Ease Test:

9.5 Palin
9 Obama
9 Reagan
7 *

Putting Palin's score into perspective, IMNSHO most women effortlessly run circles around most
men when it comes to expressing their emotions.

Addendum 2:

Figures of Speech Served Fresh offers additional insight.

However, I really must leave my Palinology for another day and get to work. LOL.

[JackRiddler]

46. What good is simple vocabulary when syntax is mangled & meanings unparsable?

Palin's following take in the image and hear whatever they want to hear. The appeal is not in the ease of words but in their emptiness.

[phasma ex machina]

49. The Figures of Speech Served Fresh link in my prior post talks about that. nt

[ixion]

15. yep...

I think it's been that way for decades...:(

[FarCenter]

16. The first function of government is to maintain a monopoly on the protection racket

When it fail to do so (e.g. in Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan, etc.) you get chaos.

[Hippo_Tron]

17. What exactly would this freedom look like?

If you're saying that corporations have too much unchecked power, I agree. If you're saying that the vast majority of American would prefer a world without corporations, then I don't agree.

The computer you're typing on was probably assembled by a corporation and if it wasn't then the parts it is made out of almost certainly were. Corporations allow us to sustain the lifestyles that we do. Maybe the recent economic crisis has shown us that those lifestyles really aren't sustainable, however. That said, even if they aren't sustainable they are still what people desire or at least think they desire.

[Cyrano]

19. Okay. So where do we go from here?

[Hippo_Tron]

22. I honestly don't know

Social Democracy like they have in Western Europe seems to be the best mix of socialism and capitalism that people have managed to come up with. But whether or not that is even sustainable is up for debate.

I'm not saying you're wrong about the need for change but I don't think there is a will for any sort of anti-capitalist revolution. Even with double digit unemployment, most of the country still has access to lots of materialistic possessions and they don't want to give those up. Socialist revolutions happen in countries where the vast majority of people live in dire poverty and a tiny elite controls all of the wealth. And while the elites in this country control a lot of the wealth, the vast majority do not live in dire poverty.

Furthermore, I think anybody who is 100% certain about these grand economic questions hasn't really looked at them closely enough.

[phasma ex machina]

32. +1 1,000,000 unemployed people losing their benefits at the end of the year ...

will force an increase in American socialism regardless of sustainability.

[Hippo_Tron]

34. 1,000,000 people is less than 1% of the population

[anonymous171]

39. Corporations sustain our lifestyles through their exploitation of 3rd world labor

Somebody, somewhere, has to do the work. Corporations did not assemble my computer. Corporations do no work. They exist (in their current form) to protect the assets of the wealthy, nothing more.

[mike_c]

45. ding ding ding....

:thumbsup:

[Hippo_Tron]

51. Our lifestyle is indeed sustained by third world labor

And corporations are the vehicle that facilitates this. But since Americans aren't third world laborers, I don't see where the will for an anti-capitalist revolution is going to come from. Outside of the socially conscientious among us, which are a vast minority, people would not be willing to give up the vast amount of material possessions that they consume in order to make workers in the third world better off.

Hell, I bet if you conducted a survey of DUers and asked them if they are willing to sacrifice what they would have to in order to live without capitalism, I bet most would say no. Capitalism allows us to consume what we want to consume in the quantities that we want to. I'm not saying it's a fair and just system. I'm just saying that I don't think most Americans could fathom living without it and would have a very difficult time adjusting to any sort of other system.

[PreacherCasey]

106. Once the Governmental-Industrial Complex completes the outsourcing of our entire

manufacturing base, totally devalues our currency, and finishes using our Military as its Corporate enforcer, we will be third world laborers.

Consolidation into fewer and fewer transnational corporations drawing on a labor pool of 3-4 BILLION people, most of whom are literally starving for work. What do we expect to happen?

I agree with you that most Americans can't even grasp the idea of doing with 'less'. I find it quite sad, but hey, we are a 'democracy'. But at least let us not be hypocrites and expect any sympathy from those in the third world, once the cannon gets swung around at us.

We need to grow up.

[Nederland]

58. So the question is...

...if you are opposed to corporations, why did you give a corporation money to buy the computer you used to make that post?

(Unless you are typing from a public library or something, in which case my argument gets blown to bits)

[snot]

18. The web is NOT still wide open.

Numerous, documented instances and varieties of censorship are already occurring; and strenuous efforts by corporations to increase their control are ongoing. We need to stop taking free speech via the internet for granted.

See, e.g., http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/09/att-pearljam-music-tech-cx_pco_0809paidcontent.html and http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/09/11/02/fcc-fine-print-could-undermine-open-internet, or google internet censorship.

[Cyrano]

20. I get it. I just don't know what to do about it

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CJCRANE]

24. Except no teabagger ever had an original thought in their life.

They mostly just copy what the left said about Bush for the last 8 years.

[treestar]

25. Controls what we read and hear?

that's crazy, especially since you at obviously on the internet.

You can read the news from any country. At the library you can access the newspapers of several countries and just about any book ever written.

There are tons of magazines, from the far right to left to everything in between and nothing stops you from reading them.

[Cyrano]

27. Try rereading the OP. I said that the only place that freedom still exists

is right here.

It's one of the few places where we have access to news from other countries.

Perhaps the best thing I have to say about those who control us is that they haven't started burning books -- yet.

However, don't let me prevent you from your illusion that you live in a "free" country. Enjoy.

[Sinti]

40. What about the 30 second delay on TV

What about the Defense Department's TIA? What about the fact that our news and entertainment is almost entirely owned by huge conglomerates with editorial power? The Chinese don't necessarily understand just what they're being deprived from seeing, and neither do we.

[anonymous171]

42. That's an important distinction. They don't "control." They dilute.

We live in a Brave New World, one where the exploits of celebrities are more important than the exploits of business and government.

[Overseas]

132. So hey, who cares about media consolidation into right wing hands?

If you're rich enough to have a computer with internet access, or have the free time to visit the library between your two jobs, you've got your free press then? Never mind that we had about 50 media companies in the 80's now consolidated into 6 giant media conglomerates in right wing hands? As long as we can scrounge up some decent news on the internet, who cares if our major major broadcast media are owned by right wingers, with a few token liberal shows to prove they're running "a free press" ?

Lets inject a few facts into the discussion:

FACT: Viacom owns CBS; General Electric owns NBC; Disney owns ABC; and News Corporation owns Fox Broadcasting Company. ABC's corporate parent is the Walt Disney Company.

Disney owns 10 television stations, 50 radio stations, ESPN, A&E, the History Channel, Discover magazine, Hyperion publishing, Touchstone Pictures, and Miramax Film Corp. Viacom owns 39 television stations, 184 radio stations, The Movie Channel, BET, Nickelodeon, TV Land, MTV, VH1, Simon & Schuster publishing, Scribner, and Paramount Pictures. General Electric owns 13 television stations, CNBC, MSNBC, and Bravo. News Corp. owns 26 television stations, FX, Fox News Channel, TV Guide, the Weekly Standard, New York Post, DirecTV, the publisher HarperCollins, film production company Twentieth Century Fox and the social networking website MySpace.

Currently, six major companies control most of the media in our country. The FCC could decide to relax media ownership rules, which would allow further consolidation and put decisions about what kinds of programming and news Americans receive in even fewer hands.


FACT: Since 1995, the number of companies owning commercial TV stations declined by 40 percent.

If the FCC votes to relax media ownership limits, it could further erode diversity of ownership at the local level and increase the influence of large media conglomerates. In 2003, the regulations restricting a broadcast company from owning stations that reach beyond 35% of American households were loosened to 39%.


CABLE

FACT: Three media giants own all of the cable news networks. Comcast and AOL Time Warner serve 40 percent of cable households.

Many proponents of deregulation site the expanded numbers of cable stations to argue that media sources are more diverse than they once were. The reality is that -- while there may be more stations -- they are still controlled by a small number of media companies.


FACT: Cable TV rates have jumped 40 percent since the Telecom Act of 1996.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was, in part, meant to increase competition in the cable industry. The Act was heavily influenced by industry lobbyists and has had the opposite effect.

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4923173

[L0oniX]

26. Who needs the Mafia anymore ...we have banksters and gov cronies.

The only way out is a full scale rebellion with everyone stopping work and protesting in the street ...accept that you will most likely be thrown in jail for it because of the asshole cop gov enforcers.

[Cyrano69]

30. I must be missing something here...

Please explain to me EXACTLY how I am being controlled, by whom, and specifically how they are criminals in their control of me? Because I don't get it.

Thank you

[Cyrano]

35. You're asking for far more information than can be covered in a single post

All I can suggest is that you read a whole bunch of stuff on places like Daily Kos, Huffington Post, Buzzflash, Atrios, and so many more progressive sites. They are all linked to other progressive sites. There are also many sites that post nothing but propaganda, but it shouldn't take you long to figure out the difference.

And almost all of them are not trying to peddle the propaganda broadcast by FOX News. They are trying to tell us what is really happening to us and to our country.

So here's my bottom line. READ. And as far as books are concerned, read "1984," "Catch 22," "The Catcher In The Rye," "The Diary of Anne Frank," and every other book that fundamentalists want banned or burned. (The reason they want them banned is their fear that you may start thinking for yourself.)

[Altoid_Cyclist]

38. This reminded me of what happened in Warsaw, IN. in 1977.

My oldest brother and his family live a couple of miles from there and when you mentioned banning or burning books, it reminded me of the story they told me about.

My brother & his wife were both teachers at that time and just couldn't believe that people would still ban and/or burn books that promote actually thinking for yourself. There are other articles that give more detail, but this is a brief review of what happened.


On a wet, dreary day in December, 1977, the Warsaw, Indiana, Senior Citizens Club obtained 40 copies of Simon, Howe & Kirschenbaum's Values Clarification: A Handbook for Practical Strategies for Teachers and Students and ceremonially burned them - and kept their hands warm - in the Warsaw Park Pavilion parking lot.

To some this was a sacred act, symbolizing the divine rejection of a sinister, albeit mushrooming educational movement that some have argued gave birth to and bred the "me" generation with its pro-choice, hedonistic approach to morality.




Do I need to mention that it's a pretty conservative area?

[phasma ex machina]

56. A kookout, so to speak. ROTFL

Thanks for sharing teh kooky to go with my afternoon coffee. :crazy:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

63. That was good!!!

:crazy: :rofl:

[Cyrano]

95. Thank you for this post. To me, the only thing worse than burning books is burning human beings.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

102. As I said, it was a very conservative area back then.

If there are any DU'ers in the area, maybe they can let us know if it's changed much.

At one point my brother was a School Administrator for I believe a church run school there. The Board called him in for a special meeting when they discovered that he and his family actually owned and watched (HORRORS!!!) a TV set.

They said that it was setting a bad example to the students since TV was evil or something like that. When he asked them how many of them owned a TV, they replied that it wasn't important since the children didn't see them in the halls every day. Therefor, only my brother had to get rid of his TV.

He kept his TV and suggested to them that if you raise your children properly, then knowledge can come from many sources including TV's.
He said that what he really wanted to do was not only keep the TV, but put up a nice high antenna with big lights that said Jesus Saves or something like that just to really tweak their noses.

We were raised in a manner that none of us responds nicely to inane ultimatums or threats.

[Cyrano69]

64. That was not helpful...

I have read all of those books, mostly in high school and college lit. But that is not what I was asking...

The original article states that I am "controlled" by criminal corporations. I am asking how? I would like specifics of what the original poster meant so that we can converse about it.

[Cyrano]

72. I really don't think we have much in common to "converse" about

If you don't get it by now, you never will.

Enjoy your stay here.

[Cyrano69]

83. I think you missed my point...

You made a blanket statement. I disagree. I am not controlled by anyone. No corporation owns, or controls me, nor has one ever. So I am asking you to explain your statement with specifics, but if you are unable to do so, I will understand.

[The Doctor.]

86. Where does your money go?

Taxes? Sure, some. But that's not where the real fleecing is occurring.

In 1977, an average family with one income earner had nearly 33% disposable income. Now, the same family with two income earners has barely 11%.

Where did it go?

In late 1970, CEOs made 30 times the salary of their average employee.
By 2005, CEOs made nearly 500 times the salary of their average employee.

If you don't think you're being controlled, ask yourself; "How come I was never aware of that?"

The wealth is being siphoned out of the middle class, and you are given American Idol, Terrorism, and Faux News to make sure you're not merely good and distracted, but so that you deride those who are trying to enlighten you as well.

So long as they keep you afraid, they control what you think and believe.

Do you understand the simplicity of this concept?

[Cyrano69]

108. Now I am really confused..

What does it matter to me what the CEO of the company I work for gets paid? He doesn't do my job, and I don't do his. I agreed to work for a company, meaning I agreed to exchange the best of my efforts for a fixed sum of money, either per hour or per year. I agreed to that, what someone else makes has no bearing on that. If I want to make more, I find a better paying job, or a second job.

In my case my trade was Factories. I worked my way up from the assembly line to production management to plant manager. I have negotiated union contracts from the union side of the table, and later from the management side. 10 years ago I started my own cleaning company on the side, and raised my income by working harder and smarter. In a own year like last year, I had employees who made more than I did.

But even when I worked for GM, They did not control me. I was free to leave and work somewhere else, whenever I wished, if I didn't like the conditions there. I was free to get my education and work my way into mgmnt.

Where does my money go? Even in a State like NH with no income or sales tax, i lost 49% of my income to TAXES! Mainly Federal and property. Here is the kicker for everyone who thinks owning your own business is easier than working as a "wage-slave", Even in a year when my business LOSES money, I STILL HAVE TO PAY FEDERAL SELF EMPLOYMENT TAX!

Prior to 1965, the Federal government spent 11% of the GDP, this year it will be somewhere around 28%.

Prior to 1965, the average American's total tax burden, Federal, State, and Local represented on 21% of income, now it is 49%.

But nothing you said, Doc, proves the point of the original article.

[Cyrano]

96. Enjoy your illusion. And again, enjoy your stay here.

[peace frog]

100. Make that "delusion"

I am not controlled by anyone. No corporation owns, or controls me, nor has one ever.

I would laugh were it not so f*cking sad.

[Cyrano69]

109. hmmm, still no specifics...

[Jim Sagle]

116. Hopefully a very short one. He had me confused for a brief while.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

101. Maybe not "controlled" but "manipulated".

Does that word fit your preferences better? If you understand using "manipulated", you can then put "controlled" back in and make sense of it.
Read and listen to Thom Hartmann, his book "Screwed, The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class" will explain how we are controlled and
what we can do. Fridays are a great time to listen to Thom's show, Sen. Bernie Sanders has an open "Town Hall Meeting" on air. Sen. Sanders
believes the same.
Listen for just more than one show. How you are controlled by Corporations will become clear. If you can't find him on your local radio (AM),
listen at his live feed at www.thomhartmann.com.

Review your history, read about how Ronald Reagan loosed the controls and regulations on corporate interests and where it has led us to today.
RR was just the guy that got the ball rolling this time around. Presidents after him just re-enforced his policies.

Ask yourself just this one question to start.

Under the current law Corporations are granted the same rights as living humans in America, but they never die as humans do, they basically are immortal.
Is this right to let this be the law? BTW, before the law was changed, Corporation did indeed have a life expectancy, 70 years or so then they had to dissolve,
and reestablish the business.

There is a law on the books in this great land that it is illegal for a corporation to give money to a politician, Teddy Roosevelt wrote it in about 1907.
Called it bribery. Still on the books. Not controlled? Did you even know? If you answer to the negative, you are being controlled.

[Cyrano69]

111. I get what you are saying but I respectfully disagree

The life expectancy of a corporation does not matter to me. No corporation owns, controls, or manipulates me. If a corporation, large or small wants my money they have to earn it. They either provide a good or service that I want at a price I am willing to pay for it, or I just don't give them my money, except by force, as in when the government takes my money by force, and gives it to them.

If that is what you are talking about then we are in agreement. I dont believe that corporations, or labor unions, or any foreign government that acts against our interests should get our tax money.

As for political contributions, I believe the same, I dont believe that any corporation, labor union, or foreign government should be contributing to political persons. However I don't believe you need McCain-Feingold to regulate that, My solution would be to require public disclosure on the internet within 24 hours of a donation being received. Let the people decide if a politicians record reflects the wishes of those who have given him money. The people are smart enough to form their own opinions.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

122. People are smart enough?

Look about you, read some of these responses, you really think people are smart enough?
Gonna get flamed for this, but most everyone here is an ideologue.

Do you really think that you are not at least, slightly, influenced by the media?
That is Corporate Speak. You remind me of my oldest son, wise, but influenced by the
corporate stance. Raised liberal, speaks liberal, acts corporate. A fathers worst nightmare.

The life expectancy of a corporation does not matter to you? It should. Really, think about it.
And I do mean think, thinking is a lost art, I know you are capable. Where are your rights as opposed to the Corporation?
They will be here forever, you will not.
The lessons you send to your kids, your beliefs, your standards, are lost at your death, if they survive, great!
But, you will never know, right?

Corporate policy is different, their beliefs, their policies will survive, they are immortal.

Same rights as a living human? Think not, immortality changes stuff.

You are so right to say no corporation owns you or me for that matter. Tell me what do you own?
Big screen TV? The latest in home gadgetry? iPod, computer, droid or iPhone? A new car or truck? Why did you buy those things?
Product loyalty? Cuz it's the best? Cuz you saw it in print or read about it in Consumer's Report?
Influence is gradual, it's incremental, everyone is subject to it. You cannot be "The Clean One", no one is.

You were influenced, you were manipulated, your mind, was for a minute, controlled.

I am in marketing. I only need 5 seconds of your life, ever, to make me successful. FIVE SECONDS and you will buy my product or service.
Count 1.2.3.4.5. I make money!! Be my message funny, honest, awe inspiring, I have you! You are mine, you buy.
I'm not the best, I'm small, I'm local. Do you believe that you can resist the best? If you do believe that ... they win, they have you!

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

110. heard this morning on MSNBC

suicide bomber kills (some number) in Afghanistan, including 2 children.

I've never heard MSNBC have a headline that states, US bomber kills children or drone attack kills (some number) of children.

If that isn't 'controlled' by a corporation then really...

whatever.


Regarding a post above about libraries and newspapers around the world -

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com

[Cyrano69]

112. I have seen those stories often in the last 8 years.

the difference is that suicide bomber TRIED to kill those innocents, when we do it it is an accident. we weren't aiming for them. As a matter of fact we are the first nation in history to design weapons that are precise enough to spare human lives. We are also the first nation in history to conduct a war in such a manner that puts further risk upon the lives of our soldiers and marines( I know because my son is one of them) in order to spare innocent lives.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

115. so I'm wrong

and you are blind.

btw, thank your son on behalf of all us freedom loving controlled masses.

[Hannah Bell]

121. we've been sooooo careful. the million-plus dead were all evil terrorists.

[Cyrano69]

127. Are you saying We target innocent civilians?

And where did the 1 million stat come from?

[Octafish]

37. Ketchup

Know your BFEE: Cultkeepers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6815834

Know your BFEE: It wasn’t Obama who Looted the Treasury and Banks. It was Bush and his Cronies.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5412616

Know your BFEE: John McCain, Dim Knight Errant of the War Party
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4327875

Know your BFEE: Goldmine Sacked or The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4224612

Know your BFEE: Phil Gramm, the Meyer Lansky of the War Party, Set-Up the Biggest Bank Heist Ever.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4055207

Know your BFEE: The Corrupt Bastards Club… with Lipstick
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4000883

Know your BFEE: Olympic Games Show Who’s Best Friends Forever with Authoritarians and Dictators
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3752583

Know your BFEE: 1984 Death of Outstanding Congressional Staffer Buried Poppy-Moon Relationship
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3645322

Know your BFEE: Forget Rev. Wright! It’s Bush and His Cronies Who Owe an Apology for Rev. Moon!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3249836

Know your BFEE: GW Bush Covers Up His Lying America Into War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3007406

Know your BFEE: Bush and His Crooks with Badges Sent an Innocent Man to Jail
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2968990

Know your BFEE: They Looted Your Nation’s S&Ls for Power and Profit
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2922138

Know your BFEE: War and Oil are just two longtime Main Lines of Business
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2596898

Know your BFEE: Bush has Killed a Million Innocent People for Their Oil.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1812452

Know your BFEE: Scions of the Military Industrial Complex
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1766663

Know your BFEE: Spawn of Wall Street and the Third Reich
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=872755

Know your BFEE: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ford Covered Up CIA Murder of American Scientist
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1224071

Know your BFEE: Money Trumps Peace. Always
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x250447

Know your BFEE: They kill good soldiers like Col. Ted Westhusing for profit.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x126094

Know your BFEE: America’s Ruling Gangster Class
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2969845

Poppy Bush brought up JFK Assassination and "Conspiracy Theorists" at Ford Funeral
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3029417

Know your BFEE: Robert Gates did more than keep the doors open at BCCI
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2810465

Know your BFEE: The Fellowship ‘Preys’ for America
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2591203&mesg_id=2591203

Sink the BFEE: Foley gives us Congress. Condi sends 'em to prison.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2401056

Beat the BFEE: Poppy’s CIA warned about terror plots and did not stop them
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2418621

Know your BFEE: Los Amigos de Bush
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2214484

Know your BFEE: Neil Bush hangs out with Russian Mafiya Godfather
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2082945

Know your BFEE: Poppy Bush was in Dallas the day JFK was assassinated.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1946852

Know your BFEE: Nazis couldn’t win WWII, so they / Bushes.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1547206&mesg_id=1547206

Know your BFEE: At every turn, JFK was opposed by War Party
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1366764

Know your BFEE: Lies Are the Currency of Their Realm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1170858

Know your BFEE: Cheney & Halliburton Sold Iran Nuke Technology
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=928662

Know your BFEE: The Stench of Moussaoui Permeates the Octopus
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=757860&mesg_id=757860

Know your BFEE: Moussaoui Must Die for Bush and 'His' Government
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=602016

Know your BFEE: Alito is just another word for Mussolini
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=266685

Know your BFEE: Like a NAZI
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=133897

Know your BFEE: The China-Bush Axis
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5333644

Know your BFEE: Bush and bin Laden Clans Together in Bed
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5280903

Know your BFEE: Libby Is the First Big BFEE Turd to Go Down
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5233814

Know your BFEE: WHIG (White House Iraq Group) made phony case for Iraq War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5077403

Know your BFEE: The Secret Government
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5027094

Know your BFEE: Reinhard Gehlen
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4863411&mesg_id=4863411

Know your BFEE: Poppy Bush Armed Saddam
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4813493

Know your BFEE: Killer Businessmen who put Power and Profit before Country
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4401300

Know your BFEE: Nixon Threatened to Nuke Vietnam
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3953519

Know your BFEE: Corrupt Craftsmen Hoover and Dulles
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3908104

Know your BFEE: Poppy’s CIA Made Saddam Into the Butcher of Baghdad
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3853409

Know your BFEE: Hitler’s Bankers Shaped Vietnam War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3832033&mesg_id=3832033&page=

Know your BFEE: Merchants of Death
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3743890

Know your BFEE: R. James Woolsey, Turd of War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3699042

Know your BFEE: Sneering Dick Cheney, Superturd-Superrich-Supercrook
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3627538

Know your BFEE: Bush Lied America into War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3601654

Know your BFEE: James R Bath – Bush – bin Laden Link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3571293&mesg_id=3571293&page=

Know your BFEE: War Profiteers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3493251

Know your BFEE: Dead Men Tell No Tales
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3389867

Know your BFEE: Bush and bin Laden Clans Together in Bed
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5280903

Know your BFEE: Rev. Sun Myung Moon OWNS Poppy Bush
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3355939

Know your BFEE: Homeland Czar & Petro-Turd Bernie Kerik
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2788428

Know your BFEE: American Children Used in Radiation Experiments
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3312956

Know your BFEE: Eugenics and the NAZIs - The California Connection
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2511192

Know your BFEE: The Barreling Bushes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2472759

Know your BFEE: A Crime Line of Treason
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2748315

Know your BFEE: How Smirko Got Rich
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2529964

Know your BFEE: George W Bush did "community service" at Project P.U.L.L.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2956067

Know your BFEE: Vote Suppressor Supreme, the Turd Bill Rehnquist
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2414083

Know your BFEE: George W Bush Knew 9-11 Was Coming and Did NOTHING!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2404049

Know your BFEE: Oliver North, Drug Dealer
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2396787

Know your BFEE: Pat Robertson Incorporated a Gold Mine with a Terrorist
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2397004


These aren’t labeled “Know Your BFEE,” but they’re meant in the same spirit:

Poppy Bush Involved in JFK Assassination -- BFEE's Spooked!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3274455

Vietnam and Iraq Wars Started by Same People
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3193142

BFEE Turd Daniel Pipes tied to DANISH CARTOONS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=417774

JFK Would NEVER Have Fallen for Phony INTEL!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5501005&mesg_id=5501005

Plame Affair makes clear: USA is run by TRAITORS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4200507

How Cheney Got His SNEER: The Curse of Dick Cheney
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x790720

BFEE Is More than Capable of Bombing Their Own Countrymen
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x46709

Frank Church and the Abyss of Warrantless Wiretapping.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3510598


And for all my friends with those hard-to-reach areas between the ears:

A Short History of Conspiracy Theory
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4086438


Note 1: The subject is a work in progress. The entries are not perfect, nor are they complete. They do provide a framework for a who's-who and what's-what and how we got here. Started for educational and historical purposes, these threads are meant to serve the public interest. What gives them a special quality are the contributions of DUers. May they also serve some prosecutor in the future.

Note 2: As no individual is totally evil or totally good, not all Bushes are evil or beholden to the BFEE. Nor are all those who gain by its existence members of the immediate or extended Bush family. Nor are the Bushes at the pinnacle of global power -- it is quite likely they serve an even wealthier class. What they all have in common is the use of the powers of the government of the United States for accumulating wealth and power for themselves, their associates and the other affiliated beneficiaries among the world's financial elite and authoritarian regimes. Always, they gain at the expense of the people and nations of the world, including the citizens of the United States and its Constitution.

[inna]

76. what's BFEE?

[Octafish]

79. Bush Family Evil Empire -- The War Party

Shorthand for the powers-that-be, the secret government, the organized criminal cabal that uses political power for personal gain; traitors the likes of which not even Ian Fleming dared dream, but George Orwell foretold.

[inna]

118. Thank you!

I was familiar with the term, of course, but not the abbreviation.

[Greyhound]

124. Two quotes;

"I freed a thousand slaves, I could've freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves" - Harriet Tubman

"Necessitous men are not free" - FDR

[closeupready]

31. Criminal enterprise is a bit of hyperbole, but you've got the basics, I think.

and yes, it won't be long before what we say here and see here is controlled, censored (by outside authorities).

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

This week is our fourth quarter 2009 fund drive. Democratic Underground is
a completely independent website. We depend on donations from our members
to cover our costs. Please take a moment to donate! Thank you!

[Sinti]

43. To deal with the problem

I think we need to set the politics aside and deal with one another as human beings. We have to, as a community of human beings, begin to decide that life has value by merit of existing, and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

I say put politics aside, because a lot of the politics is just sleight of hand, it's a distraction to divide people. Divide and Conquer - it's a truth. The divisions run so deep now that people seem almost divided from themselves, they agree people have the right to survive, but blame their brethren under the Jackboot for their own condition.

We kind of need to realize, as human beings, that no one does it alone. There is no such thing as a self-made man. We, our ideas and actions, are made up of the information we gather as we live. This is true even for Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, which is not to suggest they are not criminals that should be imprisoned. Generally, as an animal, we learn what will best ensure our survival by watching others and nearly all of us are simply trying to ensure survival for ourselves and our family.

Change the Information in people's heads and you change the world. We need an information dissemination plan, like a marketing plan, and a good understanding of precisely what information brings a desire for peace and equality to a human being's mind.

[dreamnightwind]

88. +1

Excellent post, and one of the few on here that deals with the question posed by the OP: What can we do about it?

[Orsino]

44. No, it's not.

It's run by many, many criminal enterprises.

[Vidar]

47. I couldn't agree more! Recommended.

[dgibby]

50. I agree completely.

I hate to say this, but I think it's too late to fix the problems. I think what we're experiencing is the last days of the "grand experiment" that was America (whatever that means).

[dhcave]

52. Then Wake Up..

Wake up and stop voting for their candidates and vote with your conscience. Stop saying, "well I won't waste my vote on an independent or a third party candidate".

[Uncle Joe]

53. You're in good company. Marine Corps General Smedley Butler; a two time Congressional Medal of Honor

winner came to the realization that "War is a racket."

http://search.netscape.com/search/search?&query=major+general+smedley+butler&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D2539fc2b280d0854%26clickedItemRank%3D2%26userQuery%3Dmajor%2Bgeneral%2Bsmedley%2Bbutler%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fas.org%252Fman%252Fsmedley.htm%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSCPToolbarNS%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fas.org%2Fman%2Fsmedley.htm


I believe today, the same dynamics; of greed and the lust for power regarding war against foreign nations that drove the good General to his conclusions, are the driving force behind the asinine, illogical, immoral and insane so called "War against Drugs;" which is De Facto a subliminal war waged against the American People with the dual goals of disenfranchising the people from their government, while also supporting corporate supremacy over the citizens.

Thanks for the thread, Cyrano.

[Cyrano]

73. And thank you for understanding what I'm talking about

Now we have only one problem. What do we do about it?

[Uncle Joe]

119. I believe we are doing something about it,

via the growing power and influence of the Internet and Quantum Mechanics.

The acts of observing, exposing, discussing and enlightening the people without corporate editor filters on a macro level in real time for all the world to see, are generating and magnifying the dynamics of change.

The corporate supremacists know the world is changing because of the Internet, the supremacists know they're viewed as antagonists to progressive/positive change benefiting the American People, they also know the corporate media is viewed by the people with great cynicism and that's why a corporate supremacist wolf; Palin is donning populist sheep/victim's clothing to attack the corporate media as being unfair against her, whenever rare but legitimate questions are asked by the corporate media, which happen to expose her as George W. Bush in drag. The vast majority of the corporate media are in on the game as well, that's why they've marketed Palin's book as the second coming.

We must fight; if need be by tooth and nail any attempt by the corporations and/or their corporate supremacist political puppets to take over, dominate, curtail or neutralize the Internet, in this instance I'm thinking specifically of their opposition to Internet Neutrality.

[Laelth]

55. A general strike is about the only thing that will get their attention.

They depend on our labor. If we could be organized enough to agree to just "stop working," they'd be in deep trouble, and they know it.

Otherwise, I have no other suggestions.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Nederland]

60. It's a codependency

They depend on our labor, we depend on the paychecks the give us.

[anonymous171]

66. Without labor, they could not function. Without paychecks, we could still work.

It's not a codependency.

[Nederland]

67. And who will you work for?

Yourself? Is everyone going to suddenly start being self employed? I'm sorry, but the vast majority of things that people want are not the products of individuals working on their own. If you preclude working for another corporation, there simply isn't enough work for everyone.

[anonymous171]

81. Well, there are other means of business organization.

But I am not arguing against the corporation. I am arguing that the public needs to have more control over them. We created them and grant them rights, and so they should be forced to do some good for the public.

[Nederland]

123. Why?

The public already has the ultimate control over most corporations. If you don't like a corporation, organize a boycott and choke off their money supply. Why do you need more control than that?

[anonymous171]

125. Because personal wealth and consumer power vary by individual.

Which means that if a company is fucking poor people over for benefit of the middle and upper classes, nothing would happen, even if the poor people being fucked greatly outnumbered those in the middle and upper classes. When money replaced the vote everything went downhill.

[Nederland]

128. I can see how that might happen

...but can you give me an example?

[earth mom]

57. Wake up! You are being censored here on DU too! What do you think unrec is all about? nt

[Echo In Light]

59. Just as Bushco was "incompetent," & Dems are "spineless," unrec's Official status is to - - -

Preserve the Sanctity of The Greatest Page, and nothing else

;)

[Nederland]

68. Unrec is about freedom

The freedom to express your opinion that a particular OP is bullshit. If I could, I'd unrec your post because the idea that unrec is censorship is bullshit.

[Echo In Light]

69. It's all about the dominant ideological warfare ongoing @DU

... and that type of shit is to be expected. But if 'they' really wanted to quell some of the distrust, it would be VERY simple to address internally, as many, many DUers have requested it: transparency! ...display both rec & unrecs :thumbsup:

By not displaying both, it makes it seem somewhat...suspect, as to why not

[Nederland]

70. I see your point

I'd be in favor of that. Actually I'd be in favor of even more transparency than that. I'd show the names of the people--it's not like there is a privacy issue--we can be anonymous Internet posters if we choose to be.

[Hippo_Tron]

89. As I recall it was about making sure the front page wasn't filled with Michael Jackson threads

[earth mom]

120. If you believe that then...I've got a bridge for sale. nt

[JuniperLea]

61. Corporate American can't let a bunch of little entrepreneurs make it big...

On a new industry. They were all stupid to let this one get past them, and now they are trying to wipe out the little guy while they make plans making sure they are the only ones who can profit from this.

Same story, different product. If BigPharma is the only purveyor of The Weed, it will become outrageously priced just like every other legal drug. Only this time it will be blatant, because they won't have the "research and development" excuse for the high prices.

That's my guess...

[maxpower]

62. I agree

Everything you said is spot on. Watch out if Comcast buys NBC.



Peace,
Max

[Swamp Rat]

65. Nothing to see here... move along... OBEY

[Agony]

71. Stop buying shit... now.

except... i need a new computer first.

In,
Agony

[conscious evolution]

74. Killing your tv is a good place to start

The boob tube imprints a lot of their bs upon our minds.
Free your mind and soon your ass will follow.

[Cyrano]

75. There's an urban legend that Elvis once shot his TV set

Assuming it's true, I can fully understand it.

[Lorien]

78. I killed mine, but the majority will always suck on the glass teat. That's

why election reform and reinstating the Fairness Doctrine are so critical.

[conscious evolution]

90. I can agree with this for the most part

While I think tv in general is a brain rotter the fairness doctrine would be a ggood thing to bring back.
Election reform is crucial,however.Having elections stolen is not whaat democracy needs to function the way it supposed to.

[Lorien]

77. Demand true election reform and reinstate the Fairness doctrine

And don't tell me that paper ballots and breaking up the media are viable alternatives. Getting corporate influence out of both is the ONLY way. Look to the French for how elections should be run, look to our own past on the media. The problems began when Reagan removed the Fairness doctrine. Having hundreds of banks didn't avert an economic crisis, having hundreds of corporate owners won't make the media return to true journalism.

[anonymous171]

82. Banking and media are not the same thing.

[RagAss]

80. The way to change this is very obvious.

[bertman]

84. Agree. Took a turn for the worse in '63 and hasn't slowed down a bit. Rec.

[tomp]

85. this has been true for a century, at least.

it has involved democrats and republicans creating and sustaining democracy for the rich. there is only a very small percentage of the population that really gets it.

defenders of the democratic party are part of the problem.

[bridgit]

87. Make that 'white collar powdered wig' criminal enterprise and we'll split the difference

^

^

^

^

^

[winyanstaz]

91. Well my first instinct is to say that super-glue and that really good monkey glue....

will fix a lot of problems. (that is a joke for those of you with no sense of humor)
More seriously though....we all need to be more active in any way we can..and where we are at.
Most of us cannot afford to go all the way to Washington..we need to be acting more locally and in bigger numbers.

[butterfly77]

93. K&R..

[ezdidit]

94. Red pill please!

[Cyrano]

97. "Welcome to the world of the real."

[Hannah Bell]

133. "desert"

[Tuesday Afternoon]

104. K&R

yes.

[Abatis12]

105. I will tell you exactly how

If you've ever read Howard Zinn's "A peoples history of the united states" you'll realize that phrase "violence doesn't solve anything" is a total crock. Every suppressive era was ended by an uprising/revolt of some sort. However, in our new age of advanced weaponry, hordes of people marching in protest are little more than an inconvenience for a well equipped army. This was proven in July of 1932 when 45,000 veterans marched on Washington demanding the benefits they were promised. President Hoover ordered the protest quashed, and under the orders of General MacArthur our own military opened fire on our veterans.

That is what happens in this new age when we strive for freedom through physical force. That door is now closed so a window must be found. Since corporations are in control of the government, thus protected by the laws they themselves get to write, we must control them in the same manner that they control us. Through debt and fear. These large corporations depend on the massive inflows of money we give them and run on large amounts of debt justified by those inflows. If we stop paying their bills, and begin disrupting their distribution then they become insolvent in a hurry. Stop paying your credit card bill, block freeways like I-75, clog the streets of NYC with protesters, slash tires, whatever you have to do to prevent them from conducting business. Basically bring the commercial world to a halt. Every hour these super entities aren't collecting and distributing costs them outrageous amounts of money. Then their creditors come after them.

Sure your credit will be shot, but who cares? What are you so afraid of? Entrepreneurs and local banks will step up to issue loans based on real customer research, not this broad risk analysis we have now. Our whole country is controlled by debt, not just the lower and middle class. The key is to organize over the internet so you can deal huge blows. One person standing up to these corporations is ineffective, but coordination to bring cash flow to a stop for a month or so will bring them to their knees.

You want freedom? Unionize the nation.

[PreacherCasey]

113. You want freedom? Unionize the nation.

:thumbsup:

[gtar100]

114. Our hope is in the education of our children.

As much as I would like this right-wing nightmare to end in my lifetime, I don't see it happening quickly enough. Our kids know what kind of world they are waking up to and they will need to do something about it. My generation (circa '60s, '70s and '80s) abdicated to their greed despite the warnings of environmental disasters and our children are inheriting a world in danger of killing them off before the ends of their lifetime. Collectively, we have put them into a do-or-die situation. Our only means of rectification is to educate them with the best ideas we have about sustainable living, renewable energy, and economic fairness. We need to educate them about why the welfare of all people in the world is important to them personally. We need to wake them up to their better angels. Lord knows it didn't happen in their parents generation to enough of a degree.

[WCGreen]

117. Why History is so important...

There has always been a ruling elite and there always will be. What has changed slightly is that there are more power points instead of the tradistional political and religious poles.

[Quantess]

126. The people in control are far fewer than 1%

One out of a hundred people adds up to such a large number it's almost meaningless. One out of a million people may even be too large a number.

[lonestarnot]

129. bookmarking to read all of the responses later. Thanks.