Good Grief Occupy Wall Street Imbeciles Release 13 Demands Including “$20 Minimum Wa

[NoNukes]

These people are correct in believing that the Bankers and the Federal Reserve have too much control but seem to have no idea what to do about it.

At least they are out trying to do something, not just sitting at their computers bad mouthing people on message boards.

Yea the French Revolution was great

Some of you disgust me with your knowledge of history and the world

People who do not know the difference between peaceful protest and revolution probably have little knowledge of history and the world either.

 

[theliq]

you ALL SAID THIS garbage WHEN FOLK ARGUED AGAINST THE WAR IN VIETNAM,YOU WERE BULLSHITTED TO THEN AS YOU ARE NOW.....conservatives/REPUBLICANS must be some of the most SELFISH and SELF OPINIONATED PEOPLE WORLDWIDE,it is these very people that have RUINED AMERICA.............GREED IS GOOD TO YOU GUYS...YOU CARE NOT FOR A BETTER AMERICA BUT MERELY HAVE SELF INTEREST IN YOUR MINDS.

BY THE WAY AUSTRALIA HAS 5 OF ITS CITIES OUT OF THE FIRST ELEVEN,AS THE BEST CITIES TO LIVE IN, IN THE WORLD.

OF COURSE ITS AUSTRALIA....A COMMUNITY THAT STICKS TOGETHER THROUGH THICK AND THIN...some of the benefits...Comprehensive FREE Health Care,Excellent Unemployment Benifits,Free Transport and other Benefits for Senior Citizens,Cheap Utility Bills for the retired....I could go on and on.

Australia Land of the Really Free,No Guns and wonderful weather,Yep Australia Great One Day,Brilliant the Next......A Multicultural Society...where everyone gets along,thats why so many of our American Cousins love to come here.......because like everyone THEY ARE ALWAYS WELCOME AT OUR TABLE.

theliq

True enough, but when it degenerates into violence (as it did in the sixties, and as some on the Left have threatened in this case) THEN, the First Amendment no longer applies; that's not speech, that's riot and attempted insurrection, and I still say that should have been dealt with then, and should be dealt with now, with an iron fist. They want war in the streets, I say let's stop talking and start fighting... and this time, FINISH IT, once and for all. This ain't about "peaceful protest", it's about the violent radicals who did (and will again) take it to the next level.

When they break the law, arrest them. Prosecute them. Punish them.

aww come on; can't we just shoot them, this time? I mean, we seriously need to clean out the gene pool here!

 

[theliq]

SORRY MATE,but when you can't keep your own house in order and your outragous spending and debt affects us all,you will take advice from others whether you like it or not.

You could learn much from us,if you bothered to learn and enquire.......Americans should not be in this position,I for one believe that a wonderful nation like the US will come out of this,it will take time but as an educated,innovative people you will not be down for too long...the real question is though DO YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL????

We have close ties with the USA and as a friend,when the occassion arises we can and will give you a mouthful(much like a little brother would to an older one as he matures)

We always succeed above our weight.....its just the way we are,but hey NEVER FORGET we are friends......even if I do kick the seat of your pants on occassion.AND YES I have been to the US many times.Croc Dundee!!!!!!you'll be telling me next that we have Kangaroos running down our city streets!!!!!!!!

Come on BIG,cut the mouth,your venom should be against the Banks and Finiance Sector who RIPPED YOU ALL OFF.....STEALING THE BAILOUT CASH,to enjoy buying MORE FRENCH CHAMPAGNE to quaff down their fraudulent mouths.

But NO you attack decent Americans who....GET UP,STAND UP..STAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS......NICE TO SEE SOME (and growing number) of REAL TRUE AMERICANS HAVE FOUND THEIR BACKBONES AGAIN.

DON'T SAY MUCH THOUGH ABOUT THE REST OF YOU INCLUDING YOU BIGBOY.

This protest will only get bigger and will be better for America.TIME TO WAKE UP "AMERICA"

I'm theliq,I kick ASS because I can and DO.

I'd whoop your pussy ass

I would have let these institutions fail and cut you off of unemployment after 6 months...

Get a job at McDonalds and keep looking please

Half of yall don't know shit about struggling, nor a back bone

Oh lookee here, theliq isa real badass all the way from Down Under. Listen up, you Crocodile Dundee wannabe, WE don't tell YOU how to run YOUR country, and you've no business telling US how to run OURS. Go work to make your own land into your "socialist paradise"; we Americans can and will run OUR internal affairs as WE see fit, and if we wanted your opinion, we would ask for it! Now shut up! You just got told by a Southern American how to mind your own business. We aren't "Yanks", we're not polite, we like to fight, and we don't take kindly to outsiders! This ain't your fight, Aussie, so I suggest you stay the hell out of it!

 

[AVG-JOE]

Agree that they're scummy, but I can't agree with wholesale murder. Sorry. Idiots saying stupid things is part of the First Amendment that we both swore to support and defend.

True enough, but when it degenerates into violence (as it did in the sixties, and as some on the Left have threatened in this case) THEN, the First Amendment no longer applies; that's not speech, that's riot and attempted insurrection, and I still say that should have been dealt with then, and should be dealt with now, with an iron fist. They want war in the streets, I say let's stop talking and start fighting... and this time, FINISH IT, once and for all. This ain't about "peaceful protest", it's about the violent radicals who did (and will again) take it to the next level.

When they break the law, arrest them. Prosecute them. Punish them.

The OWS protesters seem to be setting up camp with the tolerance if not the blessing of the NYPD.

The system works. Money and politics NEEDS to be more prominent on the discussion table.

 

[sparky]

people need to realize the flip side of socialism is facism

facism, like socialism, can occur in many insidous forms

there is a balance that needs to be maintained so that slipping into either extreeme is avioded

~S~

 

[theliq]

Don't be SILLY,Facism is the next STEP FROM RIGHT WING CONSERVATISM.....what Planet DO YOU live on?????????????

people need to realize the flip side of socialism is facism

facism, like socialism, can occur in many insidous forms

there is a balance that needs to be maintained so that slipping into either extreeme is avioded

~S~

 

[California Girl]

How much do you want to bet that the "protestors" wander down to a Starbucks from time to time and pay for a large latte with a credit card?

Yea, but I bet their parents pay it off for them.

 

[California Girl]

Really, I mean how ever did we survive before Social Security, the nanny welfare state, and the income tax? Everyone knows expecting personal responsibility and accountability is as radical as expecting everything to be handed to you on a silver platter for doing absolutely nothing at all. That's just crazy talk, man. Crazy

before social security, 50% of senior citizens lived below the poverty line. social security is paid for... it is not charity. it is not a hand out.

you are very, very young. you seem to have no understanding of what a society should be. the randian/tea party would would be an extraordinary ugly one.

but i'm sure the koch brothers would love it.

Most intelligent right wingers know that the problem with SS was that the money paid in was misappropriated by our government. You're right, it is not charity, it is not a hand out. So why is it that the left keep lying about any conservative who claims SS being a hypocrite?

But.... you really shouldn't bitch about the the Koch brothers when you guys have Soros. Seriously. Makes you look quite silly.

 

[CT9]

At least they are out trying to do something, not just sitting at their computers bad mouthing people on message boards.

Yea the French Revolution was great

Some of you disgust me with your knowledge of history and the world

People who do not know the difference between peaceful protest and revolution probably have little knowledge of history and the world either.

lol good point...

But the fact you can't answer to any other of my posts in this thread simply shows you have no footing to debate with me and want to try to belittle me with such a ridiculous statement.

Where do you think revolts like France and the Blosheviks start? A bunch of pissed of people mad at the rich demanding more... I'm not saying it's going to go their but you people are like this is great, but you have no clue what they are after

They are nothing more than a big group of loiters until they get their act together, asshole.

 

[GHook93]

Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending “Freetrade” by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

They want to create a living wage by destroying the system! Has this worked anywhere? Do they realize that American still exports a ton. Better plan. Use the tax system like the 9-9-9 plan, make smart regulations instead of over-burdening regulations and take on China (I would support a tarriff against them)

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

Banning health insurance companies is retarded. Even in the UK and Canada they have insurance companies that enhance people's lives. Maybe a single payor system like Germany's wouldn't be so bad

Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.

This communist ideology doesn't work! In fact it's god damn stupidity. Entitlements like welfare only provide incentive for status quo! That is why welfare and unemployment insurance must be temporary!

Demand four: Free college education.

Something needs to be done with college tuition. Even crap colleges cost $50K a year.

Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.

What do these assholes think that Obama or ANYONE can just whip out a magic wand and make it happen. If they fast track the end of fossil fuels, then they will cripple the economy, not bring about alternatives they believe it will bring and make us a 3rd world country!

Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.

Spending on the countries infrastructure is a good things and necessary. Esp the electric grid. To the tune of $1 trillion? Ouch were do we get it from? If you set aside money without any specific projects, then the money will be squandered. Unfortunately when government spends nowadays, they waste!

Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America’s nuclear power plants.

Yea because this won't be ripe with corruption and waste.

Get rid of all the nuclear power plants? Lets do the count down: Coal, Oil, Natural Gas and Nuclear our! That is about 99% of our energy sources these morons got rid of!

Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.

We have it morons! If the equal protection clause and due process clause! Race and Gender discrimination is protected! FHA, Civil Rights Act and a mountain of case law provide more than enough protection!

I wonder if by racial equality these people believe hiring and contracting on merit! Meaning: Not to affirmative action and providing benefits to minority and female owned businesses!

Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.

You pretty much have and open border! I wonder if they ever examed Mexico's immigration policy. Illegal aliens get 5 years on the first offense!

Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.

We set the standard you pea brain fools! Our elections are some of the most legit in the WORLD!!! Quite crying about stroker joker Al Gore!

Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books.” World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the “Books.” And I don’t mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.

Do they not realize how CRAZY this sounds!

Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

First I and brought 50K people would lose their jobs. Second, credit bureaus aren't perfect, but they are a damn good system. This is the best way for lenders to make an unbaised decision on lending to a person or BUSINESS (don't forget there are commercial credit agencies). More and more countries are picking up credit bureaus, because the system is the most efficent way. My companies expands to 3rd world countries across the globe! Only the clueless would say this!

Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

Do these people not know that Unions have been DESTORYING this country not helping it!



This is the Van Jones inspired movement! Can you believe this asshole was in the Obama administration!

 

[California Girl]

Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending “Freetrade” by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

They want to create a living wage by destroying the system! Has this worked anywhere? Do they realize that American still exports a ton. Better plan. Use the tax system like the 9-9-9 plan, make smart regulations instead of over-burdening regulations and take on China (I would support a tarriff against them)

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

Banning health insurance companies is retarded. Even in the UK and Canada they have insurance companies that enhance people's lives. Maybe a single payor system like Germany's wouldn't be so bad


This communist ideology doesn't work! In fact it's god damn stupidity. Entitlements like welfare only provide incentive for status quo! That is why welfare and unemployment insurance must be temporary!


Something needs to be done with college tuition. Even crap colleges cost $50K a year.


What do these assholes think that Obama or ANYONE can just whip out a magic wand and make it happen. If they fast track the end of fossil fuels, then they will cripple the economy, not bring about alternatives they believe it will bring and make us a 3rd world country!


Spending on the countries infrastructure is a good things and necessary. Esp the electric grid. To the tune of $1 trillion? Ouch were do we get it from? If you set aside money without any specific projects, then the money will be squandered. Unfortunately when government spends nowadays, they waste!


Yea because this won't be ripe with corruption and waste.

Get rid of all the nuclear power plants? Lets do the count down: Coal, Oil, Natural Gas and Nuclear our! That is about 99% of our energy sources these morons got rid of!



We have it morons! If the equal protection clause and due process clause! Race and Gender discrimination is protected! FHA, Civil Rights Act and a mountain of case law provide more than enough protection!

I wonder if by racial equality these people believe hiring and contracting on merit! Meaning: Not to affirmative action and providing benefits to minority and female owned businesses!


You pretty much have and open border! I wonder if they ever examed Mexico's immigration policy. Illegal aliens get 5 years on the first offense!


We set the standard you pea brain fools! Our elections are some of the most legit in the WORLD!!! Quite crying about stroker joker Al Gore!


Do they not realize how CRAZY this sounds!

Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

First I and brought 50K people would lose their jobs. Second, credit bureaus aren't perfect, but they are a damn good system. This is the best way for lenders to make an unbaised decision on lending to a person or BUSINESS (don't forget there are commercial credit agencies). More and more countries are picking up credit bureaus, because the system is the most efficent way. My companies expands to 3rd world countries across the globe! Only the clueless would say this!

Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

Do these people not know that Unions have been DESTORYING this country not helping it!



This is the Van Jones inspired movement! Can you believe this asshole was in the Obama administration!

I think that list of demands confirms where this 'spontaneous' protest comes from. This is not some grass roots group. Those demands are classic of the agenda of STORM. Who was a founder member of STORM? Watermelon Man, Van Jones.

 

[CT9]

SORRY MATE,but when you can't keep your own house in order and your outragous spending and debt affects us all,you will take advice from others whether you like it or not.

You could learn much from us,if you bothered to learn and enquire.......Americans should not be in this position,I for one believe that a wonderful nation like the US will come out of this,it will take time but as an educated,innovative people you will not be down for too long...the real question is though DO YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL????

We have close ties with the USA and as a friend,when the occassion arises we can and will give you a mouthful(much like a little brother would to an older one as he matures)

We always succeed above our weight.....its just the way we are,but hey NEVER FORGET we are friends......even if I do kick the seat of your pants on occassion.AND YES I have been to the US many times.Croc Dundee!!!!!!you'll be telling me next that we have Kangaroos running down our city streets!!!!!!!!

I'd whoop your pussy ass

I would have let these institutions fail and cut you off of unemployment after 6 months...

Get a job at McDonalds and keep looking please

Half of yall don't know shit about struggling, nor a back bone

Oh lookee here, theliq isa real badass all the way from Down Under. Listen up, you Crocodile Dundee wannabe, WE don't tell YOU how to run YOUR country, and you've no business telling US how to run OURS. Go work to make your own land into your "socialist paradise"; we Americans can and will run OUR internal affairs as WE see fit, and if we wanted your opinion, we would ask for it! Now shut up! You just got told by a Southern American how to mind your own business. We aren't "Yanks", we're not polite, we like to fight, and we don't take kindly to outsiders! This ain't your fight, Aussie, so I suggest you stay the hell out of it!

I do agree you have a right to speak your mind and opinion on how we are doing things. How can a country who praises freedom of speech tell someone else simply because they aren't from this country you can't speak on it. Especially a country like America, I hear much worse from foreigners. Some want a right to vote which is insane and if you say you support that I will lose some respect for what you say.

 

[thereisnospoon]

this protest is getting bigger, yesterday i mentioned if the unions joined in they coulkd cause a lot of harm. Well, the word is out the unions are joining in the protest. Could this be the start of something bigger in line for 2012?

you mean you haven't figured that out yet?

and just who the fuck are you cock sucker?

Simple.. he's a tipsy cat fucker.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Blocking traffic started the arrests.

Thanks for playing...................

Blocking traffic is not a first amendment right.

Thanks for playing.

Sure it is.

Driving is not.

Good way to get your sorry useless ass run over.
No one has the right to deny another their rights just because they are pissed off or are involved in a cause.
Protest all you like. But do not think you can violate my right to travel or conduct business.
Once you do that, you are no longer a "peaceful protester". You're a fucking pain in the ass and will be dealt with as such.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Come on BIG,cut the mouth,your venom should be against the Banks and Finiance Sector who RIPPED YOU ALL OFF.....STEALING THE BAILOUT CASH,to enjoy buying MORE FRENCH CHAMPAGNE to quaff down their fraudulent mouths.

But NO you attack decent Americans who....GET UP,STAND UP..STAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS......NICE TO SEE SOME (and growing number) of REAL TRUE AMERICANS HAVE FOUND THEIR BACKBONES AGAIN.

DON'T SAY MUCH THOUGH ABOUT THE REST OF YOU INCLUDING YOU BIGBOY.

This protest will only get bigger and will be better for America.TIME TO WAKE UP "AMERICA"

I'm theliq,I kick ASS because I can and DO.

I'd whoop your pussy ass

I would have let these institutions fail and cut you off of unemployment after 6 months...

Get a job at McDonalds and keep looking please

Half of yall don't know shit about struggling, nor a back bone

Oh lookee here, theliq isa real badass all the way from Down Under. Listen up, you Crocodile Dundee wannabe, WE don't tell YOU how to run YOUR country, and you've no business telling US how to run OURS. Go work to make your own land into your "socialist paradise"; we Americans can and will run OUR internal affairs as WE see fit, and if we wanted your opinion, we would ask for it! Now shut up! You just got told by a Southern American how to mind your own business. We aren't "Yanks", we're not polite, we like to fight, and we don't take kindly to outsiders! This ain't your fight, Aussie, so I suggest you stay the hell out of it!

Hence the reason why I put that crocodile fucker theliq on ignore
He's just a descendant of criminals anyway.

 

[Londoner]

Didn't the banks and the finance sector get its money from the people that the "demonstrators" elected? Didn't "their" representatives hand over massive amounts of money and leave the constituents with the "bill"? Aren't these "demonstrators" declaring their intention to keep the same people in office that actually inflamed this mess? Just sayin'

My friend is in the protest and he will only pull the lever for someone like Nadar. I think this make him an imbecile, but I'm not sure all these people are mainstream voters.

Bush created TARP - 3 pages, zero transparency. Obama executed the 2nd half of it with much tighter controls, and he also intriduced tighter regulations.

The protesters are there because they got Punk'd by Obama. They thought he was going to be their Teddy Roosevelt, fighting against the great malefactors. Instead he turned out to be weak pawn of the private sector, which helped blow up the economy with an unregulated derivatives market about which the Tea Party does not speak.

 

[Londoner]

The basic problem with the protesters is that I'm not sure they understand the problem or know the solution.

The American credit card economy was responsible for massive, unprecedented debt fueled demand (which soaked up global exports at an alarming pace). In short, the world grew very dependent not only on the American consumer, but the US financial sector which created the necessary debt environment for profligate consumption. Study the relationship between cheap Asian exports and the American mall goer, and research who benefits from the arrangement, and finally the amount of consumer debt required to keep this arrangement afloat - and who gets bailed out when it blows up.

Here is the problem. Capitalism's need for cheap labor doesn't create sufficient wages for consumption - so you need a steroidal financial sector to pump one consumer market after another full of credit. This is a crisis waiting to happen, and it explains much of the problems we've had since the 70s, as we travel from one bubble to another trying to keep "money" flowing.

In addition to credit, capitalism has often relied on land markets (real estate) to fuel its booms. Look at postwar suburban expansion. It created a massive multi-decade economic boom. But it was built on the false premise of cheap oil, so it was a bubble waiting to burst, e.g., when energy costs rise, the system, which is over-dependent on cheap energy, is thrown into crisis.

Indeed, real estate bubbles were endemic to our postwar growth, and they were used to fuel the economy in the same ficticious way debt was/is used. Which leads to a more complex point: capitalism doesn't solve its crises so much as move them around.

MEANING: Today's suppliers move globally from one consumption market to another to sell their goods; they do this on the implied assumption that their government servants will pump local economies full of credit and bubbles in order to satisfy the demand requirements of the capitalist. Governments will go so far as to pump up housing values to keep the serfs borrowing and shopping... until they go bankrupt. And then the capitalist will pick up and move to the next global hotspot until it goes into crisis.

A problem arises when you run out of bubble/credit markets and you don't know where the next fake stimulus is going to come from, especially if the entire globe goes into crisis. The problem gets even worse when you run out of consumers who can afford to borrow. Of course, you could do what the US did during the housing bubble, which is loan money to the non-credit worthy, i.e., tap a whole new category of borrower. Eventually, however, you run smack into your borrowed-against future... and the economy dies long term. But this seems to be the fate of a capitalism which grew over-dependent on cheap labor (which undermines consumption) and cheap energy (which is gone, thus making the global transport of goods unaffordable). The reason these structural flaws are starting to burst is because we no longer have the financial resources to borrow and bubble our way out of them.

When the US realized that the money was not trickling down to consumers from the unprecedented profits made possible by Reaganomics, a choice was made to sustain consumption through borrowing. For a while it worked and we thought it was morning in America. Indeed, I loved the 80's: I got 3 credit card offers a week when I was in college. I loved Reagan, and I shopped my balls off. But now the bill has come due and the game is over. Thanks for the wild ride Ronnie.

We got punk'd by the voodoo.

 

[Toro]

Didn't the banks and the finance sector get its money from the people that the "demonstrators" elected? Didn't "their" representatives hand over massive amounts of money and leave the constituents with the "bill"? Aren't these "demonstrators" declaring their intention to keep the same people in office that actually inflamed this mess? Just sayin'

My friend is in the protest and he will only pull the lever for someone like Nadar. I think this make him an imbecile, but I'm not sure all these people are mainstream voters.

Bush created TARP - 3 pages, zero transparency. Obama executed the 2nd half of it with much tighter controls, and he also intriduced tighter regulations.

The protesters are there because they got Punk'd by Obama. They thought he was going to be their Teddy Roosevelt, fighting against the great malefactors. Instead he turned out to be weak pawn of the private sector, which helped blow up the economy with an unregulated derivatives market about which the Tea Party does not speak.

The 3 page, zero transparency TARP was withdrawn since it would not have passed either chamber. That was pushed by Paulson.

 

[Toro]

The basic problem with the protesters is that I'm not sure they understand the problem or know the solution.

The American credit card economy was responsible for massive, unprecedented debt fueled demand (which soaked up global exports at an alarming pace). In short, the world grew very dependent not only on the American consumer, but the US financial sector which created the necessary debt environment for profligate consumption. Study the relationship between cheap Asian exports and the American mall goer, and research who benefits from the arrangement, and finally the amount of consumer debt required to keep this arrangement afloat - and who gets bailed out when it blows up.

Here is the problem. Capitalism's need for cheap labor doesn't create sufficient wages for consumption - so you need a steroidal financial sector to pump one consumer market after another full of credit. This is a crisis waiting to happen, and it explains much of the problems we've had since the 70s, as we travel from one bubble to another trying to keep "money" flowing.

In addition to credit, capitalism has often relied on land markets (real estate) to fuel its booms. Look at postwar suburban expansion. It created a massive multi-decade economic boom. But it was built on the premise of cheap oil - so it's starting to look like a major misallocation of resources. But the point is the same: real estate expansion was used to fuel the economy in the same way debt was used. Capitalism doesn't solve its crises so much as move them around.

MEANING: Today's suppliers move globally from one consumption market to another to sell their goods; they do this on the implied assumption that their government servants will pump local economies full of credit and bubbles in order to satisfy the demand requirements of the capitalist. Governments will go so far as to pump up housing values to keep the serfs borrowing and shopping... until they go bankrupt. And then the capitalist will pick up and move to the next global hotspot until it goes into crisis.

A problem arises when you run out of bubble/credit markets and you don't know where the next fake stimulus is going to come from, especially if the entire globe goes into crisis. The problem gets even worse when you run out of consumers who can afford to borrow. Of course, you could do what the US did during the housing bubble, which is loan money to the non-credit worthy, i.e., tap a whole new category of borrower. Eventually, however, you run smack into your borrowed-against future... and the economy dies long term. But this seems to be the fate of a capitalism which grew over-dependent on cheap labor (which undermines consumption) and cheap energy (which is gone, thus making the global transport of goods unaffordable). The reason these structural flaws are starting to burst is because we no longer have the financial resources to borrow and bubble our way out of them.

When the US realized that the money was not trickling down to consumers from the unprecedented profits made possible by Reaganomics, a choice was made to sustain consumption through borrowing. For a while it worked and we thought it was morning in America. Indeed, I loved the 80's: I got 3 credit card offers a week when I was in college. I loved Reagan, and I shopped my balls off. But now the bill has come due and the game is over. Thanks for the wild ride Ronnie.

We got punk'd by the voodoo.

A few things right in this post but many things wrong, too many to respond to typing on an iPhone while sitting in an airport.