We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Class Warfare On Two Fronts

Click here to access article by Mark Ames from The Exiled and ConsortiumNews.
"Yes, there’s class warfare, all right," warns Warren Buffett. “But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
The author provides many more details about the class war that has occurred in real estate affecting, as usual, some very vulnerable members of the 99 Percent trying, albeit naively, to serve their country in the military. While doing so, some soldiers appear to express their frustrations by committing war crimes.  He contrasts the disasters suffered by these "losers" in the real estate game with the rewards and celebrations of the sociopathic winners located in the One Percent. 
Army Sgt. Robert Bales stands accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians, a crime that some trace to the financial pressures his family faced back home. However, to the rich financial swindlers, the ruining of Bales’s family – and many others – is just another day’s work....
Meanwhile, "back at the [capitalist] ranch"...
Hayes Barnard and Paramount Equity Capital are doing better than ever. In 2009, Hayes Barnard was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Roseville Chamber of Commerce, the wealthy Sacramento suburb where Paramount Equity Mortgage is headquartered. In 2010, the Sacramento Business Journal honored him as one of Sacramento’s “40 under 40” leaders.
Among other crimes and deceptions, officially,
Paramount stood accused of charging and collecting unearned fees, charging consumers to buy down interest rates without actually reducing the rate, failing to make required disclosures and making state and federally-required disclosures in a deceptive manner.