When it comes to the Euro zone economic crisis, the mainstream media is quick to highlight the ongoing protests, especially those in Greece, Spain and Italy where riots and clashes with police make for great headlines. And the only solutions they mention bounced between austerity for the people and bailouts for domestic banks by even bigger international banks.
But there is another alternative, one which the media seems to consistently overlook: bailout the people instead of the banks.
Iceland’s solution to the economic crisis is being hailed as one of the world’s best recovery stories. Yet this victory is mostly ignored, many believe, because those who run the media simply don’t want us to know about it.
They’d rather we think our only options are to take on the debt burdens created by the big banks’ poor choices. They’d rather we just enslave ourselves for generations to global loan sharks like the IMF. They don’t want us to be empowered and free from the shackles of a tyrannical economic system.
But that’s just too bad. The world’s people are awakening. We are rising up. Together we will be redistributing wealth and power by preventing big money’s long-standing predatory practices. We are co-creating a far more just global civilization.
Patsy politicians pandering to plutocratic priorities threaten to pilfer our precious privacy. Lousy legislation like ACTA, SOPA and now CISPA have come to the forefront of this fight, and these bills will all be, hopefully, crushed without mercy beneath the feet of millions of vigilant citizens.
Still, as disheartening as it may be to hear, these exercises could ultimately prove pointless because privacy is fast going extinct. (more…)
There is a circle of about 70000 people, far less than 1% of the world’s population, who are considered ultra high net worth individuals, meaning they personally control over 30 million in US dollars. Like modern day royalty, these privileged few sit atop the world’s power structures, and have tremendous ability to dictate how the world works.
As top dogs of earth’s largest corporations and overseers of all the major industries, these select few get to expand their already massive fortunes off the backs of everyone else, many of whom are starving.
Yet we rarely hear about this because earth’s financial frontrunners also control the planet’s mainstream media companies, of which there are now 6 – down from 50 just a few decades ago. This big 6 monopoly provides well over 90% of what the world reads and hears as news and information. And every one of these 6 companies share the same general agenda for profits, along with a broader theme of keeping the public uninformed, fearful and distracted, all of which makes the population easier to govern.
Speaking of government, the top 70000 also have incredible sway when it comes to politics. It takes huge sums of money to run for high office, and even more to win. This means politicians are most often indebted to the people and businesses who’ve paid for their election victory. Once in office, they will repay the favor by bending the system towards their benefactors – undermining democracy and corrupting the political landscape.
Over time, as the system keeps catering towards to business interests, the whole world starts to functions like a giant corporation, where everything – people, life, and even the air we breathe – all get turned into commodities from which to extract maximum profits.
So, with that said, it may seem like this super rich circle are the most powerful group on earth, but there is a group with even more influence. It’s an ancient international organization with enough power to completely crush the top tiny percent if they were so inclined. This supremely powerful group is…. the entire human race. Its The 7 billion humans hold the true power, not the super-rich 70000.
But only by working together can we unleash this limitless force. The stronger we make our global community of people, the more we can seize the reigns that control the planet, and help steer humanity towards a brighter future for everybody.
Many a fool have predicted the end of the world in 2012. But you know something? In a way they may be right. The world as we know it – a planet plagued by injustice, inequality, exploitation and corruption – is set to go away forever.
A storm has been brewing for centuries, and now in 2011 we’ve seen the forces finally boiling over. The Arab Spring. The Occupy movement. These unprecedented global solidarity movements show how humankind is starting to fight back against the inherent flaws of the system.
Or how about Verizon’s slick attempt to sneak in an additional $2 transaction fee. The public outcry from consumers was enough for Verizon to drop their ‘convenience’ tax, showing once again how corporations will actually listen to people when enough money is on the line.
Humankind is stepping up to the battle. Now, at least, we are beginning to stop the corporatist oligarchy from further stripping us of wealth and power. Soon enough, as the pendulum continues to swing in the favor of the people, we’ll go on to reclaim what has been systematically stolen from us for generations to usher in an increasingly just global civilization.
There’s been an uproar in the blogosphere about strictly limiting the scope of the intervention in Libya. And by uproar, I mean yesterday’s post on this very blog.
The piece is written with a sense of urgency, as I’d only just recognized the foul stench of the military complex trying to sink its corrupt claws deeper into Libyan soil. The gist of post was states how we need yank back on the war machine’s leash right now, because if we don’t, we might find ourselves wondering how to get out of Libya a decade from now.
But let me expand upon these thoughts.
Speaking out against escalation in Libya doesn’t mean abandoning support for the innocent civilians. There is no doubt that preventing a massacre is indeed a high priority, but this bid to save lives should not provide the pretense for another long, drawn out war.
And, considering how another years-long, blood-soaked money pit is precisely what the war industry desires most, we would do well to make sure this newest armed conflict doesn’t run away on us.
So that’s why we should say no to escalation right now – to strike a preemptive blow against an entity that will take a mile when given an inch.
People are dying in the streets! Seriously, millions of humans perish every year from starvation and millions more succumb to diseases that would cost pennies to treat.
Sure, it’s fantastic that we’ve halved the number of people living in extreme poverty in the past thirty years. That is great! But lets pull together, as a species, to ensure extreme poverty is completely eradicated within 15 years from now.
Wondering where the money is going to come from? Ending starvation could be done for an estimated $195 billion a year, which may seem like a lot but it amounts to just 15% of what the world already spends on war.
Yet money is just a small piece of the puzzle. A bigger issue preventing us from creating a more just global civilization right now is the pessimism that permeates the world’s consciousness.
Not enough people believe that ending extreme poverty is possible, nor do they believe that humans can get along well enough to create a world of peace. This lack of optimism leads to a lack of willingness, leaving one’s natural talents, voice and willpower to be squandered.
But this pessimism will cease as more people come to see how great things already are, and how awesome they will soon become. For example:
The Internet has brought our world together like never before and it’s helping to reveal our common humanity
As these and other rational reasons to be optimistic come to light, we’ll see a revolution of optimism gradually unfold around the world. More of us will awaken to the real, growing power we have to make a difference, and more of us will contribute our energy to improve the world in which we live.
Together, we will stamp out injustice from our world.
Toxicological research from Ann Arbor has linked US weapons to birth defects in Iraq. As if the bombs blowing up civilians weren’t bad enough, now the bomb residue is poisoning the survivors.
Wars are senseless and they need to stop.
Come together, people of the world, and see how we are really only fighting ourselves! See how wars only hurt us as individuals and as a species!
The time has come to embrace our global citizenship and forever banish war from our world. It’s not impossible.
In fact, it has already begun to happen. The Internet has already brought our world together like never before. With this newfound interconnectedness, we’ll see how most of the world’s people aren’t all that different and we don’t massive armies to resolve our disputes.
As well, this migration online will make our world more self-aware, so much that we’ll be able to feel the pleasure and pain from the rest of humankind. When awareness of the world’s suffering increases, it will be eased by an equivalent response from humanity’s inherent compassion.
On top of this, we’ll ultimately see how we aren’t alone. In fact, we have a whole world of fellow humans willing to openly say “NO!” to injustice, provided others are saying it too. And this is perhaps the most important step… learning of the tremendous power in numbers and how, once united, there is nothing the human race cannot accomplish.
About 1 in 4 people have Internet access today. Projections show that every second person is likely to be online 10 years from now. Within 20 years, thanks to humanitarian efforts and the declining cost of technology, rudimentary Internet access could be made available to the entire world.
The implications from this will be incredible! For one, every single human will have access to humankind’s extensive knowledge base, helping any ambitious individual realize their true potential.
On top of this, as our globe transitions into the online realm, our species will become increasingly self-aware. The joys and pains from the entire world will be shared and felt by all. As our individual minds become more and more aligned to what the rest of the world is thinking, a global consciousness will emerge.
During this process, one voice – that of the world’s poorest – will continue to grow louder. Words like “we’re starving here” or “we suffer tremendously” will be heard at increasing volumes, prompting an equivalent response from humanity’s inherent compassion.
The world’s people are coming together to heal the world’s people. A more just global civilization is in our future, and the Internet is helping make it happen.
