Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Others on the Bailout, "Socialism", the Media, and More

With such a preponderance of misinformation and aggressive propaganda circulating in the corporate media and political campaigns, it feels important to continue to do posts from truth-speakers. Reframing as "socialism" all efforts to address and begin to do something significant about the enormous redistribution of wealth to the wealthy - and most obviously in the Bush years, but certainly also way beyond that - is beyond the pale unacceptable. We need media reform! We need to be informed! We need to come together! Although there is great effort to continue to keep Americans uninformed and polarized into the "real Americans", the "patriotic Americans", etc., these are obviously not partisan issues. May we come together in increasing numbers to see the issues that plainly affect us all and work together towards finding solutions which will care and work for everyone. Peace ~ Molly

* * *

TERRANCE HEATH: Concentrating the Wealth
While conservatives attempt to whip people into a lather with a liberal use of the "socialism" label — invoking fears of a wealth transfer — it's easy to forget that a huge transfer of wealth has been underway for a while, and is going on even now. We call it "the bailout."

Howard Zinn From Empire to Democracy
http://www.truthout.org/article/howard-zinn-from-empire-democracy
Howard Zinn, The Guardian UK: "This current financial crisis is a major way-station on the way to the collapse of the American empire. The first important sign was 9/11, with the most heavily armed nation in the world shown to be vulnerable to a handful of hijackers."

The Bailout Profiteers
By Naomi Klein - October 31st, 2008
Rolling Stone
Editor’s note: The online version of this story has been amended to reflect developments since the publication of the print edition.
On October 13th, when the U.S. Treasury Department announced the team of "seasoned financial veterans" that will be handling the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, one name jumped out: Reuben Jeffery III, who was initially tapped to serve as chief investment officer for the massive new program... On the surface, Jeffery looks like a classic Bush appointment. Like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, he's an alum of Goldman Sachs, having worked on Wall Street for 18 years. And as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2005 to 2007, he proudly advocated "flexibility" in regulation — a laissez-faire approach that failed to rein in the high-risk trading at the heart of the meltdown.

The Bailout: Bush’s Final Pillage
By Naomi Klein - October 29th, 2008
In the final days of the election, many Republicans seem to have given up the fight for power. But don’t be fooled: that doesn’t mean they are relaxing. If you want to see real Republican elbow grease, check out the energy going into chucking great chunks of the $700 billion bailout out the door. At a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing, Republican Senator Bob Corker was fixated on this task, and with a clear deadline in mind: inauguration. “How much of it do you think may be actually spent by January 20 or so?” Corker asked Neel Kashkari, the 35-year-old former banker in charge of the bailout.When European colonialists realized that they had no choice but to hand over power to the indigenous citizens, they would often turn their attention to stripping the local treasury of its gold and grabbing valuable livestock. If they were really nasty, like the Portuguese in Mozambique in the mid-1970s, they poured concrete down the elevator shafts.

Kevin Phillips on Bill Moyers - Economic crash 2008 (1/3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5dihKOAnIM

Bill Moyers: “Big Media is Ravenous. It Never Gets Enough. Always Wants More. And it Will Stop at Nothing to Get It. These Conglomerates are an Empire, and they are Imperial.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/1/16/bill_moyers_big_media_is_ravenous

* * *

"Destructiveness is the outcome of unlived life. Those individual and social conditions that make for suppression of life produce the passion for destruction." ~ Erich Fromm

"Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations." ~ The Great Law of Peace, Constitution of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Nation