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, July 8, 2014

A Dark Alliance: European Union Joins Forces With Wall Street

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Wolf Street. (Formerly of Raging Bull-Shit, this is Quijones' new website home.)

I have posted a number of articles by this perceptive author on my website, but I now see evidence of some impairment of his vision in this article. Referring to the watering down water of all forms of financial regulation, he seems to have discovered a new phenomenon:
...contrary to popular wisdom, it’s not the U.S. government that is leading the charge, but rather an unholy alliance between the European Commission, Wall Street, and the City of London. 
Too often, even the most astute political observers accept the fabricated lies that the ruling One Percent must use in order to hide the realities of their class rule behind carefully constructed facades that pretend to represent the workings of "democracy" and national constructs of political institutions. Many have yet to catch up with a new world being constructed by global elites who have a global vision in which national boundaries no longer apply. The following statement in Quijones' article is an example of this type of analysis:
To its credit, the U.S. government continues to hold firm against EU pressure. U.S. treasury secretary Jack Lew has repeatedly stated that he opposed the inclusion of financial regulation in the TTIP on the grounds that “normally in a trade agreement, the pressure is to lower standards on things like [financial regulation or environmental regulation or labor rules]”. He also said that the U.S. would “not allow these agreements to serve as an opportunity to water down domestic financial regulatory standards”, or “dilute the impact of the steps that we’ve taken to safeguard the US economy.”
However, in the very next paragraph Quijones acknowledges:
However, given how often and how easily the Obama Administration has caved in to Wall Street’s demands since the financial crisis, it’s probably only a matter of time before the Commission and banking lobby groups get their way.
And, of course, his headline suggests a very different reality. 

Lew was only playing the "smoke and mirrors" game that elites must play to hide their class rule behind operations of mainstream political institutions. Sec. of the Treasury Jack Lew is a well tested and trusted member of the One Percent who always have loyal members such as Lew assume this role in order to have their hands in our national pocket (Treasury Dept).

The reality is that we now have an Empire governed by US and loyal European capitalist elites who have their own army called NATO. National boundaries are being removed by them and their representatives in secret meetings of the TTIP, TISA, and TTP. For this ruling class national boundaries are only useful in order to control the movement of workers to, and within, their Empire.