In a media-driven society, image is taken as a substance. Nobody wants to admit how much time they waste.

One should be concerned when enemies understand details.

Notes

i. Frontiers mold individuality. No matter how we prefer it, there is no one else.
ii. An individualistic culture facilitates individualism by exploiting societal ideals. There is someone else, but we prefer not to see it.
iii. Adaptation is resisted. Rigidity is stagnation.
iv. Social cohesion is undermined by excess.
v. Eventually, even though there are others, there is no one else.
vi. Absent expansion, Things Fall Apart on their own.

Gentrification leaves nothing but nothing yuppies and gangsters.

Virtue is tiring.

The Joy of Revolution.

A bird in hand can be kinda messy...

("They ain't seen nutin' yet!")

Paul Craig Roberts:

Historically, the definition of a free person is a person who owns his own labor. Serfs were not free, because they owed their feudal lords, the government of that time, a maximum of one-third of their labor. Nineteenth century slaves were not free, because their owners could expropriate 50 per cent of their labor.

Today, no American is a free person. The lowest tax rate, not counting state income, property tax and sales tax, is 15 per cent Social Security tax and 15 per cent federal income tax. The “free American” starts off with a 30 per cent tax rate, the position of a medieval serf.

In medieval Europe, when tax rates reached beyond 30 per cent, serfs rebelled and killed their masters.

And it's even worse when they are unemployed. The proverbial line has been crossed. Obviously, the idiots in power don't get when they've gone too far. Obama has shown himself no different than Bush. Both want to sell out the future so bankers can enjoy another multimillion dollar bonus while running the financial system into the ground. What I find truly amazing is, when called on it, they whine about persecution. ("They ain't seen nutin' yet!")

Saying Nothing

At his news conference on Tuesday night, President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was “not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.” - Link

Talk about saying nothing! Who is going to come out and say publicly that they favor homelessness? This is a familiar political ploy when what politicians really mean is that they are not going to do anything about the problem, because they can't.

Don't Let The Door Hit You...

If that's the best they can do for a threat...

Banker fury over tax ‘witch-hunt’:

Bankers on Wall Street and in Europe have struck back against moves by US lawmakers to slap punitive taxes on bonuses paid to high earners at bailed-out institutions.

Senior executives on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday warned of an exodus of talent from some of the biggest names in US finance, saying the “anti-American” measures smacked of “a McCarthy witch-hunt” that would send the country “back to the stone age”.

There were fears that the backlash triggered by AIG’s payment of $165m in bonuses to executives responsible for losses that forced a $170bn taxpayer-funded rescue would have devastating consequences for the largest banks.

“Finance is one of America’s great industries, and they’re destroying it,” said one banker at a firm that has accepted public money. “This happened out of haste and anger over AIG, but we’re not like AIG.”

The banker added: “It’s like a McCarthy witch-hunt...This is the most profoundly anti- American thing I’ve ever seen.”

5 thoughts:

1. Revenge is a very "American thing."

2. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out! If that's talent I would hate to witness incompetence.

3. It's amazing to hear someone whine, "I can't believe you hate me," after running everything into the ground.

4. They should do the right thing and jump out a window. The world would be a far better place without them in it.

5. Another example of intellectual inbreeding...

Propaganda: On Decadence

On Decadence

i. Decadence is the exhibition of cultural and social decline. It may be considered a manifestation of disorder turned inward. As progress destroys the ordered life, decline is inevitable. The past is idealized and romanticized. Essentially, a symptom of increased isolation from the base physical world, decadence has many shapes and faces sometimes mistaken for something else. Rather than as an expression of apathy, a skilled propagandist may portray decadence as a sign of increased freedom and tolerance. The present social order is maintained at the expense of it culture. Once the decay sets, legitimacy is the next casualty. The idle need something to occupy their time. Mental pursuits simply fall short in a materialistic culture. The isolated feel a need to be part of something. Oppositional solidarity may be divided and conquered through enabling decadent pursuits. The spectacle becomes a need. Some would rather participate than spectate, but all are products.

ii. As long as vested interests profit, cultural decadence represents a safety valve. What happens when the party is over? No matter the effort, the organized opposition will never satisfactorily channel decadent energy. The walking dead do not answer serious questions. The decadent are mostly lost. Some are awaiting something new. One needs to pass the time. Opportunists note failure. Associations are easily exploited.

Classic Propaganda Studies References

Classic Propaganda Studies References. Live it, learn it, know it.

Breaking requires devolution for a time.

No Ethics in a Moral Society

Why Does the World Feel Wrong? describes the reasons behind the complete lack of ethics in a so-called "moral society." There are simply too many psychopaths controlling things and, since these sort are most motivated to claw their way to the top, always have. Only a decentralized society has any chance of escaping their grasp. Unfortunately, "ours" will tear itself apart before becoming so.

Maximum Advantage - The Technical Morality (2008 Revision) #8

Any assertion contrary to the myth of progress will be met with circular arguments or proof by example. However, any system has components neither provable nor disprovable within itself. The whole is different than the sum of its parts. These theorems are true; it requires one sufficiently alienated to document this system created by the technical morality. The only self-awareness required is the extent of that disenfranchisement, and the ruthlessness to pull the wings off a fly... However, most believe such freedom from fear requires strength beyond them. Their perceptions have been lead like cattle. Under Maximum Advantage, "Nothing is forbidden; everything is permitted," may be allowed but will never occur in the resultant mediocre compromise. In truth, rather the opposite, but sweet lies are better. Some errors are necessary as a step forward.

[End]