If you're anywhere near interested in the economy, I'm sure you've read some stories by now on what happened. Maybe you understand credit default swaps and the other buzzwords, or need another dose of explanation to get a little closer to understanding.
Well, here's one of the best articles I've read on the subject: The Looting of America: How Wall Street Fleeced Millions from Wisconsin Schools By Les Leopold.
This is the 1st chapter. I'd like to read the rest but, tell ya, for the moment I'm feeling worn down by it all. The sheer magnitude of the problem gives me a headache, and then to see so much ignorance and apathy.
Excuse me, but now I'm going to take a jump over to the core of our problem: our information supply.
Why is it that the information in this article is only available on Alternet? Why isn't it on your "news" channels and in your newspapers? I don't know how many people read Alternet, or this blog for the matter, but I'm quite sure we're talking about a tiny fraction of those who read the Wall Street Journal.
Why isn't the "news" calling for justice for the people who pulled off the biggest heist of all time?
Let's get on with something we should have done long ago: throw out the "news"/information system. Render it moot by simply not watching it or buying newspapers. Get your information from the Internet.
Let's make no mistake about this: our information supply, aka "news" is the core of America's major problems. This system is corrupted, controlled, manipulated, and nothing more then a giant propaganda machine serving it's master's interests.
If we can replace it with Internet TV (we all become broadcasters to real TV sets, not computer monitors), then organizations like Alternet can have their channel with someone reading their news to you. I'm rooting for Alternet to move in this direction. But, until TV's are Internet-ready (i.e. there's just one monitor for both TV and the Internet), will you turn off the TV and stop buying newspapers? That is, starve the beast. If we do this, and we must, then we'll have a chance to get our civilization onto a healthy track.
As it happens, at this very moment we're in a race for control of the Internet. It wouldn't happen in any one single stroke, but a big one is happening as we speak, and I suspect most people don't know and therefore can't know enough to care. The gov't wants to require positive identification to access the Internet. Whether it be a card, a password, a retina scan, whatever means is used, the intent is for everyone who uses the Internet to be positively identified. This means no more anonymous anything. Everything you read, hear, watch, download, message, etc., will all be tied back to you, legally.
Factor in that the entire Internet is (I'm sure) being recorded. And since our digital telephone system uses the same technology as the Internet, there's every reason to think all of our telephone calls are being recorded as well.
Must I or anyone list all of the potential abuses for this information store? Just think about it's potential to control a society. People with access get to peruse everything you've ever said, read, watched, etc. have a whole lot of power.
But the information collected so far isn't very useful for this purpose, as much of it was anonymous or can only be tracked back to a shared IP address and not individuals. That's about to end once the Gov't issues Internet ID cards which will be required for all Internet accesses. There will be no more anonymous and all of your records will be attached to your name.
Bill
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