Money is the root of all evil.
The Atlantic slave trade was of course all about money. African Kings in Nigeria and Ghana captured and sold their own people to the Europeans. It was a key part of the economy of that era. Amistad ancestors made a huge profit selling slaves. The Europeans brokered the deals and transported the slaves to the Americas where they were sold to plantation owners. The plantations got free labor which enabled the economy of growing cash crops, like cotton.
War has always been made profitable by those who, without conscience, profited from war. During the Civil War those known as the Shoddy Millionaires, sold recycled wool uniforms and cardboard shoes to union soldiers. George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. During the Iraq war Halliburton Corporation made a fortune while overcharging for war contracts.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Freakinoutmics
What do we stand for in America today? There are many things which culminate towards a cultures identity, such as the arts; music; mass media; trends; and beliefs both spiritual and political. Let's start with economics.
In many ways Americans today mirror the views of 1920’s and ‘30’s Americans. Today’s Americans are tired of taking care of everybody else after WWI Most Americans did not want to hear about Europe and international peace organizations any more. This much the same as the way we feel today. According to Rick Cohen of Nonprofit quarterly, “Fifty four percent of the American people say we are spending ‘too much’ on ‘foreign aid’”. In the last 10 years we have seen the aftermath of a horrific terrorist attack, a war that just won’t end, and an economy in the toilet. Not much different than WWI, the Depression, and other facts of life in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s.
The aging work population has struggled in the face of this new economic reality, and has been nicknamed the new unemployables. 40% of this population think they are worse off than ever before (Sloan Center for Age & Work - Maria Heidkamp, Nicole Corre & Carl E. Van Horn).
77% of those are willing to take a pay cut to get back to work. Suddenly the American dream has crumbled. The golden years they dreamed of faded into a kind of hopeless reorganization of their belief system.
“The economic situation (of young adults) is completely parallel and analogous to the (Depression-era) GI generation — raised in relative affluence, and then just as they are to start in that affluent world, it all comes crashing down," says Morley Winograd, who has co-authored several books on Millennial’s, the generation born from 1982 to 2003. This generation was raised in the suburbs, rollicking in the jet fueled Gordon Gekko era that exploded with the S&L Crisis in the late 1990’s. It took Junk bonds and the Enron scandal to bring down the façade that was our economy since WWII.
We are angry with our own government for forsaking us this way. The 1%er’s and those in their ranks manage to stay above the fray with shear ruthlessness. Watch television on any given night and you get hammered with ads for BMW’s, Mercedes, and other luxury goods. Everybody on TV seems unaffected by our economic horror show. We hold a collective grudge against bankers and politicians, yet you rarely hear it in the news. We are self-medicated by news diversions. We’d rather put our attention on the woman who drove “too close” to the Whitehouse, that we don’t look at what is really going on in this country.
Yes, we have no bananas!
In many ways Americans today mirror the views of 1920’s and ‘30’s Americans. Today’s Americans are tired of taking care of everybody else after WWI Most Americans did not want to hear about Europe and international peace organizations any more. This much the same as the way we feel today. According to Rick Cohen of Nonprofit quarterly, “Fifty four percent of the American people say we are spending ‘too much’ on ‘foreign aid’”. In the last 10 years we have seen the aftermath of a horrific terrorist attack, a war that just won’t end, and an economy in the toilet. Not much different than WWI, the Depression, and other facts of life in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s.
The aging work population has struggled in the face of this new economic reality, and has been nicknamed the new unemployables. 40% of this population think they are worse off than ever before (Sloan Center for Age & Work - Maria Heidkamp, Nicole Corre & Carl E. Van Horn).
77% of those are willing to take a pay cut to get back to work. Suddenly the American dream has crumbled. The golden years they dreamed of faded into a kind of hopeless reorganization of their belief system.
“The economic situation (of young adults) is completely parallel and analogous to the (Depression-era) GI generation — raised in relative affluence, and then just as they are to start in that affluent world, it all comes crashing down," says Morley Winograd, who has co-authored several books on Millennial’s, the generation born from 1982 to 2003. This generation was raised in the suburbs, rollicking in the jet fueled Gordon Gekko era that exploded with the S&L Crisis in the late 1990’s. It took Junk bonds and the Enron scandal to bring down the façade that was our economy since WWII.
We are angry with our own government for forsaking us this way. The 1%er’s and those in their ranks manage to stay above the fray with shear ruthlessness. Watch television on any given night and you get hammered with ads for BMW’s, Mercedes, and other luxury goods. Everybody on TV seems unaffected by our economic horror show. We hold a collective grudge against bankers and politicians, yet you rarely hear it in the news. We are self-medicated by news diversions. We’d rather put our attention on the woman who drove “too close” to the Whitehouse, that we don’t look at what is really going on in this country.
Yes, we have no bananas!
Friday, October 4, 2013
21st Century Zeitgeist
Hello,
Welcome to my Blog!
I enjoy observing people and culture and writing about my take on modern man.
I may write about technology, trends, or the media.
Check back tomorrow for my first entry!
Steve
Welcome to my Blog!
I enjoy observing people and culture and writing about my take on modern man.
I may write about technology, trends, or the media.
Check back tomorrow for my first entry!
Steve
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