Monetary Economics, as Depicted in The Zeitgeist Movement: Activist Orientation Guide

            I’m sorry, I must apologize for my recent digression, but I’ve come to realize that, aside from my first post, I haven’t really been addressing the overall issue of this blog, and while my other posts are related to this issue, they do not tackle it directly, or in any great depth. So let us take a closer look at what I began to touch on in my first post, the false resources which we so blindly rely upon. The first of which, perhaps the greatest, and certainly the least questioned, is the monetary system.

            Almost all economies in the world today use a monetary system. This system uses an “intermediary exchange medium, known as money, as the means for facilitating employment, production, distribution, and the consumption of goods and services” (AOG 5). There are differential forms of this system however, varying according to governmental control and regulation upon the system itself. There are three main versions of the monetary system in use today. They are Communism (maximum state control), Socialism (partial state control), and Capitalism (little to no state control). It is important to note that Communism in this sense is the realistic, historical form of Communism, not the idealistic vision outlined by Karl Marx, which held all citizens as equals and removed money from the equation.

Capitalism is the most popular and widespread system in today’s world. In this social system, the means of production are privately owned and operated strictly for profit. This system operates under a theoretical concept known as the “Free Market.” The “Free Market” is an “unregulated trading orientation” (AOG 5) where the prices of goods and services are determined by the supply and demand inherent in the system, driven by the interaction, and thus consent, of the buyers and sellers, without government intervention. The most extreme interpretation of the “Free Market,” in practice today, is the Austrian notion of “Laissez-faire.” This concept condones absolutely no state intervention on economic issues; from this perspective, state sponsored, “social,” programs would be considered inappropriate.

In this economic system, the “value” of a product or service is derived from its availability (or scarcity) and the amount of human labor involved in the production process, or service rendered. We now understand today that there are plenty of natural and renewable resources out there, that are practically infinite, and with our current technologies, these resources can be more easily mined or harvested. Furthermore, with the implementation of the machine, during the Industrial Revolution, the labor involved in the production process has steadily declined. As a quick and effective example, farmers can now work 1000+ acres of land, on their own, through use of industrial machines. As I previously said, in my first post, this is also how we have been able to increase our food supply to the point of providing for billions and billions of people.

Now, what if we modified our current economic system to apply to our modern understanding of resources and our modern level of technological innovation? We could rid ourselves of this idea of scarcity altogether, and reduce the need for human labor as well. Renewable energy theorists have already declared that there is really no limit to how much power we could draw from the sun, as well as another equally powerful, but almost unknown, source, in geo-thermal energy. As far as a practical elimination of manual labor, we have to look no further for an example than a modern day automobile manufacturing plant. This production line has been totally automated. The only human involvement consists in the technicians and operators who work on or with the machines. If we would simply adapt our technologies to our economic system, in a sense, we could evolve our society.

“Regardless of your opinion, the fact is, the pattern of constant technological improvement coupled with automated machinery can theoretically create an economic environment where the abundance of materials and production mediums are so high and efficient, most humans will have little need to ‘purchase’ anything let alone ‘work for a living’, in the traditional sense” (AOG 7).

--- All of this information can be found in, and has been taken from, The Zeitgeist Movement, Observations and Responses: Activist Orientation Guide, which can be found on http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/ and http://www.thevenusproject.com/.

"Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%," "Robin Hood in Reverse," and Arrested at the White House

I just want to share a few links real quick that relate to the topic of this blog and the current crisis here in the "freest country on earth," "the land of democracy and opportunity," the good old United States of America...

This first video is from Democracy Now; it is an interview with Nobel prize winning economist, author, and professor at Columbia University, Joseph Stiglitz, to discuss his recent article in Vanity Fair, entitled, "Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent," wherein he addresses the growing class divide and social inequality in the United States. During the interview they talk about, among other things, the current assault on social spending, the pro-rich tax cuts, and the incentive the wealthy have for carrying themselves the way that they do, with, what seems, little or no concern for the masses. The interview also promotes Joseph's new book, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy, which obviously deals with this same topic.

Here are some enlightening excerpts from the interview:

"Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few, yet in our own democracy, one percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nations income, an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret."

“There are only two ways to address the budget deficit: raise revenues or cut spending. And with this one percent getting so much, there’s only one place really to get that extra revenue. The good news is it’s relatively easy. You have 25 percent—almost 25 percent of the income in the upper one percent, you raise their taxes by a few percentage points, and you get an awful lot of money. And in many of these cases, we don’t even have to raise the taxes; all we have to do is to say they ought to pay a fair tax rate.”

“If you have a divided society, you start worrying more—if you’re in the wealthy and you have an electorate system that can use your wealth to affect the politics, you say, "I’d rather have a small government that isn’t able to redistribute money, take money away from me. I don’t need public schools; I have private money. I don’t need public parks; I have private—you know, my large land." So, what you have then is an erosion of the kind of collective action, and that makes a society less efficient, less productive.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/7/nobel_economist_joseph_stiglitz_assault_on

The second link I would like to share is a Truthout article, entitled, "Robin Hood in Reverse in the US: Seven Examples." The title is self explanatory.

Here is a very revealing quote from this article that imparts a disgusting fact about our society:

“Between 1948 and 1979, the richest 10 percent of families in the US claimed 33 percent of average income growth. Between 2000 and 2007, the richest 10 percent claimed a full 100 percent of average income growth in the US.”

http://www.truthout.org/robin-hood-reverse-us-seven-examples

The third link is a YouTube video of the protest I attended down in D.C. a few weeks back. The video documents the reason we gathered as well as the outcome. It is both inspiring and sad, as it shows that people are still willing to gather and protest, and even get arrested if need be, to express their views and be heard; but it also shows how are “benevolent” police force deals with such blatant freedom of expression, which incites not only anger but a kind of hopeless sadness as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYhoSjLMKis&feature=player_embedded

Oh, I just came across this one, so I'm going to add it real quick, it's even worse than the last one... and I'm sorry, I'm a pacifist, just like these protesters, but when I see this, It angers me to the point where I feel that each of these riot police should be put down, for their robotic, anti-empathetic, intolerant insolence. How are these men any different than the storm troopers from Star Wars, honestly, how are they any different, and don't tell me they're human, because they're not, they're nothing but machines, mindless robots who possess a singular programming, obey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHVOu6X21Y&feature=player_embedded

Wow! A Wall Painted Animation and Tool

Wow is all I can say, this animation is just awesome, and beyond words, for me anyway. As I was watching however, the strangeness of the piece and the look of the animations reminded me of the music videos from my favorite band, Tool. I'll just let the videos speak for themselves.

Here is the Wall Painted Animation:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="960" height="750" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uuGaqLT-gO4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And here is the video by Tool:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="960" height="750" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RiV_ue-PbL4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Navel-Gazing Reality TV and "Killing Wolves"

After reading the chapter on navel-gazing, in Keep it Real, I realized why I hate reality TV. It is exactly as they describe it, an overdramatic, self obsessed, circus. It serves no purpose other than entertainment and empty pleasure for the mindless masses. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying everyone who watches reality TV is a mindless idiot, I’m just saying that they enjoy mindless idiocy; there’s a difference. I don’t even watch TV, so I’m sure I’m not up-to-date on the current reality fads being perpetuated right now, but I do know of one show that simply irritates me to no end… the jersey shore. This show is the epitome of mindless idiocy. Every night the cameras follow these scumbags around while they flaunt their egotistical views of themselves, get drunk, pick up one night stands, “smush,” sometimes with each other, and most of all, argue and bicker over melodramatic bullshit. Now you may say I’m being a little harsh, I mean, scumbags might be a little cruel, wait, no, on second thought, they pretty much fit the description. Cruel, I know, but honest; this is reality TV, isn’t it? If you couldn’t already tell, I utterly despise reality TV, mostly because it is the farthest thing from reality, but also because it lacks any real value, and serves to propagate an ideology no better than nihilism, which pretty much holds nothing as sacred. While I don’t believe that people are watching this show in order to imitate these “Guidos,” as they call themselves, but I do think that many people are subtly influenced by their less than noble ways. Most of the shows fans, at least I would like to hope, are fairly intelligent people, and as I said before, only watch for a laugh or two, but I’m sure there are many others who are, let us say, not so bright, whose character may be negatively affected by this garbage; not to mention the children who may come across this show and, not completely comprehending that these people are just modern day clowns, take it seriously and begin to believe that this is the way life is. Now you may say “but this is how life is,” to which I would say, no, it is not. This show over exaggerates and, worse yet, glorifies all that is wrong with our culture. Concerning the egotistical nature of this show, and all of reality TV, and its effect on our society as a whole, Terrence McKenna would have said, “Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual, who is a member of a neurotic culture, against the facts of matter. And culture is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable.” This is reality TV.

And this leads into my next rant, haha…

This may be somewhat of a failure on my part, because I couldn’t separate my personal views from the reading, but I couldn’t even force myself to finish “Killing Wolves,” and believe me, I tried. It’s all in the name, there’s just something disgusting about the title, and I’m sure it has its literary purpose; one I’m falling into right now. I just couldn’t take the author’s subtle attempt to justify the trapping and slaughtering of such a majestic creature as the wolf. I know the wolf isn’t some gentle and peaceful creature, I know it’s a killer, but it kills because that’s all it can do to survive. We kill for money. We do not have to hunt the wolf to survive. We do not even have to eat meat to survive. But I know, they’re in Alaska, and I’m sure you can’t grow much up there, but I’m also sure that they hunt plenty of other animals for meat, such as the animals that the wolf hunts, like moose, or reindeer; and I’m sure they get plenty of pelts from these animals too. I’m not saying that moose or reindeer are any less noble, and should be less respected then the wolf, but I am saying that it is unnecessary to hunt and demonize these animals as we do. I don’t know what it is, possibly my spiritual connection with the wolf (As derived from the Native American Spirit Cards, a book about spirit animals), but I was just disgusted with this essay. To quote Herman Melville, I would also say that "There is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men." The ruthlessness of the wolf doesn’t even begin to compare to the ruthlessness of our culture, and just like the natives before them, we will continue to work diligently in our systematic destruction of not only their kind, but their environment, and subsequently, all their brothers and sisters as well.

And so I leave you now with a very old quote, from a fifth century Mayan Ruler, K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, which I feel perfectly sums up our current global predicament, and solidifies his far reaching insight as a prophet: “Humanity will become disconnected from the laws of the Natural World and will fall ignorant of our sacred interdependence with nature. Humanity will suffer damage because the technological society will cause a collective divergence from Natural Law in exchange for materialist values.”