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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
 Posted - 04/09/2009 : 04:15:02
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Hedges says:
America is devolving into a third-world nation. And if we do not immediately halt our elite's rapacious looting of the public treasury we will be left with trillions in debts, which can never be repaid, and widespread human misery which we will be helpless to ameliorate. Our anemic democracy will be replaced with a robust national police state. The elite will withdraw into heavily guarded gated communities where they will have access to security, goods and services that cannot be afforded by the rest of us. Tens of millions of people, brutally controlled, will live in perpetual poverty. This is the inevitable result of unchecked corporate capitalism. The stimulus and bailout plans are not about saving us. They are about saving them. We can resist, which means street protests, disruptions of the system and demonstrations, or become serfs.
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Is this just a sour grapes Nader supporter?
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I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2009 : 05:15:09 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Gorgo
Hedges says:
America is devolving into a third-world nation. And if we do not immediately halt our elite's rapacious looting of the public treasury we will be left with trillions in debts, which can never be repaid, and widespread human misery which we will be helpless to ameliorate. Our anemic democracy will be replaced with a robust national police state. The elite will withdraw into heavily guarded gated communities where they will have access to security, goods and services that cannot be afforded by the rest of us. Tens of millions of people, brutally controlled, will live in perpetual poverty. This is the inevitable result of unchecked corporate capitalism. The stimulus and bailout plans are not about saving us. They are about saving them. We can resist, which means street protests, disruptions of the system and demonstrations, or become serfs.
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Is this just a sour grapes Nader supporter?
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Actually, he's a rather acclaimed journalist with quite a few awards in that endevor.
I don't know enough about economics to comment, but I too am a little nervous about these Wall Street freebies.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2009 : 06:05:25 [Permalink]
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| Yes, thanks, I assumed everyone knew who Chris Hedges was and shouldn't have. He's debated Hitchens. He was a Nader supporter. Like Hitchens, he's wrong about some things, but not someone to be ignored. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 04/09/2009 : 06:38:24 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Gorgo
Yes, thanks, I assumed everyone knew who Chris Hedges was and shouldn't have. He's debated Hitchens. He was a Nader supporter. Like Hitchens, he's wrong about some things, but not someone to be ignored.
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The name was familiar but I couldn't put a face on it -- senile dementia creeps ever closer. So, I looked him up. Everybody, of course, knows Hitch.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2009 : 08:28:46 [Permalink]
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Hedges says:| ...we will be left with trillions in debts, which can never be repaid... |
Where the heck has he been? The National Debt hit a trillion in late 1981, and hasn't gone down since 1955/56. And it'd be tough to say it's been "repaid" since before the Civil War (when it hit a billion dollars for the first time).
I know that's not constructive, but neither is Hedges. The article is nothing but doom-and-gloom. He says, "The bullet to our head, inevitable if we do not radically alter course, will be sudden," but he doesn't make any substantive suggestions as to how to change our course now.
It's not sour grapes, it's just complaining. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2009 : 10:04:19 [Permalink]
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From what little I understand, I don't think the Chinese or the debt would be a problem if they're not just throwing money at the people who made a lot of money screwing up the economy. If they're doing something more than that, the Chinese will ride along and the debt will have an impact, but not a terrible impact. If they're not doing more than that, the Chinese will probably ride along and the debt will have a bigger impact.
We'll see what happens. There's some noise about not having money for things like Social Security. We need to increase these social programs, not cut them. That's where the debt, if any, should be going.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/30/us-economy-china-debt |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Machi4velli
SFN Regular
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2009 : 11:25:57 [Permalink]
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Why does he call it corporate capitalism? It's not capitalism, the stimulus packages mean the corporations receiving the money are becoming increasingly state-controlled, which is the opposite of capitalism. Government monies do not generally come without strings. Some banks are even trying to give the money back to avoid stipulations the government may add whenever it likes. "Unchecked" corporate capitalism would imply no one is regulating or assisting the corporations, which is not the case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/economy/11bailout.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw |
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
-Giordano Bruno
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
-Albert Camus |
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Resist or Become Serfs - Hedges
