SUBHEAD: Hoover was probably one of the best qualified people who ever ran for president. Now it's Obama is wearing Hoover's concrete booties.
By Raul Illargi Meijer on 2 November 2010 in The Automatic Earth -
(http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-2-2010-obamas-wearing-herbert.html)
Image above: Hooverville in downtown New York City alley. Photo by Bernice Abbott in 1935. From (http://gothamist.com/2010/02/08/huts.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery).
Fittingly, on the eve of the World Series, it's show time, game time, take your pick, as in a crucial week for the US, or so we're being led to believe, and most still down it hook line and sinker. In reality, though, the die have long been cast, when the vast majority of you weren't looking, for instance because you were focused on yet another election, a stimulus plan or an Quantitative Easing announcement.
Me, I find it increasingly hard and bitter to pay attention. I see numbers float by like those from the BEA that claim US GDP is almost back to where it once was, and consumer spending is doing great. The only downside of it all, word is, is that poverty rates are soaring. Conclusion: there are a few dozen million Americans that the US economy simply doesn't need anymore. Now, I don't want to get into a discussion about the ethics of this; there's plenty of ass-clowns out there ready to defend the ethical implications of throwing out people by the curb. Still, one thing: some may think you can have a functioning society, with liberty, pursuit of happiness and all, in that situation. And they are dead wrong.
You can't have a society that eats its own and still can last. Such a society necessarily and per definition eats itself too. The only thing that still does interest me in this is that it's all a big headfake. Surging stock markets in the face of millions of 99'ers and various other unemployed and homeless, practically assured by now that their Christmas will consist of trying to find a spot in a manger if they can find one, begging for a few scraps of throw away food for their children, the thought of lights and presents and cheer long re-allocated to the place in their minds where memories reside, if they're lucky enough to have any such memories.
And that's not all. What those GDP and consumer figures tell me more than anything is that some of us have access to the fake virtual money that mark-to-fantasy valuations create, and some do not. That's really the whole entire story. Another fake election between candidates who all have their campaigns financed by the exact same money sources, many of whom they pretend to oppose in their election rhetoric.
Another fake effort, number what(?!), I lost count, in a long line of them, to allegedly "rejuvenate" a real economy that's long since been pushing up daisies, taking more money that could have helped the manger dwellers to a humane existence, and showering it upon the happy few who can get away with losing all their bets and still come back for more time and again.
Image above: Child sits in tire in Circleville, Ohio. Photo by Ben Shahn in 1938. From article.
Hold out your hand for billions, and you will be in high regard and your needs satisfied; hold it out for food, and you will be spat upon and kicked down the road. Everyone's asking if and how the markets will respond to one set of bad actors being replaced by another one, or "the biggest announcement by the Fed in decades" when Bernanke on Wednesday will reveal how many trillions he doesn't own but still has spending power over, will be passed on to a banking, gambling and mortgage lending cabal that's so far in the red it should have been thrown overboard ages ago. All this while Washington Mutual Bank is losing over 60% of its market value in one day today. Bad for JPMorgan-Chase, its new parent since 2008? You'd think so, but really, why should it be as long as CEO Jamie Dimon can suckle at your painful breast anytime he feels like doing so? If you still don't get the name of this game, I’ll say it once again:
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By Raul Illargi Meijer on 2 November 2010 in The Automatic Earth -
(http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-2-2010-obamas-wearing-herbert.html)
Image above: Hooverville in downtown New York City alley. Photo by Bernice Abbott in 1935. From (http://gothamist.com/2010/02/08/huts.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery).
Fittingly, on the eve of the World Series, it's show time, game time, take your pick, as in a crucial week for the US, or so we're being led to believe, and most still down it hook line and sinker. In reality, though, the die have long been cast, when the vast majority of you weren't looking, for instance because you were focused on yet another election, a stimulus plan or an Quantitative Easing announcement.
Me, I find it increasingly hard and bitter to pay attention. I see numbers float by like those from the BEA that claim US GDP is almost back to where it once was, and consumer spending is doing great. The only downside of it all, word is, is that poverty rates are soaring. Conclusion: there are a few dozen million Americans that the US economy simply doesn't need anymore. Now, I don't want to get into a discussion about the ethics of this; there's plenty of ass-clowns out there ready to defend the ethical implications of throwing out people by the curb. Still, one thing: some may think you can have a functioning society, with liberty, pursuit of happiness and all, in that situation. And they are dead wrong.
You can't have a society that eats its own and still can last. Such a society necessarily and per definition eats itself too. The only thing that still does interest me in this is that it's all a big headfake. Surging stock markets in the face of millions of 99'ers and various other unemployed and homeless, practically assured by now that their Christmas will consist of trying to find a spot in a manger if they can find one, begging for a few scraps of throw away food for their children, the thought of lights and presents and cheer long re-allocated to the place in their minds where memories reside, if they're lucky enough to have any such memories.
And that's not all. What those GDP and consumer figures tell me more than anything is that some of us have access to the fake virtual money that mark-to-fantasy valuations create, and some do not. That's really the whole entire story. Another fake election between candidates who all have their campaigns financed by the exact same money sources, many of whom they pretend to oppose in their election rhetoric.
Another fake effort, number what(?!), I lost count, in a long line of them, to allegedly "rejuvenate" a real economy that's long since been pushing up daisies, taking more money that could have helped the manger dwellers to a humane existence, and showering it upon the happy few who can get away with losing all their bets and still come back for more time and again.
Image above: Child sits in tire in Circleville, Ohio. Photo by Ben Shahn in 1938. From article.Hold out your hand for billions, and you will be in high regard and your needs satisfied; hold it out for food, and you will be spat upon and kicked down the road. Everyone's asking if and how the markets will respond to one set of bad actors being replaced by another one, or "the biggest announcement by the Fed in decades" when Bernanke on Wednesday will reveal how many trillions he doesn't own but still has spending power over, will be passed on to a banking, gambling and mortgage lending cabal that's so far in the red it should have been thrown overboard ages ago. All this while Washington Mutual Bank is losing over 60% of its market value in one day today. Bad for JPMorgan-Chase, its new parent since 2008? You'd think so, but really, why should it be as long as CEO Jamie Dimon can suckle at your painful breast anytime he feels like doing so? If you still don't get the name of this game, I’ll say it once again:
"Heads You Lose, Tails You Die".Me, I think it's high time for a new life, a new beginning, a new world, since there's something fundamentally amiss here, it's not just superficial things that an election or a helicopter full of money could ever possibly hope to heal. And yes, it looks like this new life will once again be born in a manger. Or a Hooverville, a Obamaville, or just one of the millions of deserted dilapidated foreclosed (or is it?!) homes across the land. For the sake of the children, I’ll go with a manger.
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1 comment :
You're right! Obama failed to remember that "it's the economy, stupid!" He should have gotten Hilary and the entire democratic crew hitting this point. Leadership failure!
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