The Elites Have Lost the Right to Rule

Thomas Friedman, establishment mouthpiece, has written one of the more arrogant and telling pieces ever to come from his august pen: Can't Keep a Bad Idea Down.

I confess, I find it dispiriting to read the polls and see candidates, mostly Republicans, leading in various midterm races while promoting many of the very same ideas that got us into this mess. Am I hearing right?

Let’s have more tax cuts, unlinked to any specific spending cuts and while we’re still fighting two wars — because that worked so well during the Bush years to make our economy strong and our deficit small. Let’s immediately cut government spending, instead of phasing cuts in gradually, while we’re still mired in a recession — because that worked so well in the Great Depression. Let’s roll back financial regulation — because we’ve learned from experience that Wall Street can police itself and average Americans will never have to bail it out.

Interesting that while he disparages anything that would limit the power of the government and allow people to keep more of their money away from government pickpockets, he seems so lacking in self-awareness that he doesn't realize that he's only arguing for the self-interests of himself and of his class, the elite. He's also reduced to lying: for instance, FDR massively increased government spending and thereby kept us in a depression for another eight years. While I certainly wouldn't argue for no financial regulation, we've had an abundance of it, and that is precisely what has gotten us into our current mess.

The fact is, the federal and state governments, i.e. Tom Friedman's kind of people, are precisely who has run this country into the ground. Yet he wants more and more of this, and thinks people will be stupid or blind enough not to see that he and his kind have ruined the country.

Let’s have no limits on corporate campaign spending so oil and coal companies can more easily and anonymously strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its powers to limit pollution in the air our kids breathe.

Translation: businesses that actually produce something that people need - as opposed to the parasites in government - should be disarmed so that they cannot fight back.

Let’s pay for more tax cuts by uncovering waste I can’t identify, fraud I haven’t found and abuse that I’ll get back to you on later.

Translation: my friends in the government can spend your money better than you can. If he can't identify waste, let me help: start by abolishing the Departments of Education and Energy, ending all foreign aid, and stopping those two ridiculous wars he's so enamored of.

The elite have lost the right to run the country. From the housing bubble to the subsequent bust, from the debasement of the dollar to the decline of manufacturing, from the massive bailouts of the TBTF banks to our impossible debt to the invasion from the south, the elites have been responsible for it all. They've run the nation into the ground, and then call for the hair of the dog.

I'll end with an excerpt from a piece by Mike Krieger, The Tipping Point Has Arrived:

I believe we have finally breached the tipping point in the socio-political landscape of the United States of America. There will be no going back from here. Everyone on all levels of society including the elites must make a choice. Will you stand for real reform and an end of the feudalistic rule of the oligarchs and their paid-off puppets that line the streets of Washington D.C., or will you keep your mouth shut and play the old and dying game in the context of a completely different cultural environment?

While many will disagree with what I am about to say, I believe the oligarchs and the Federal Reserve have already lost.

This will not be clear to the vast majority at this time because the powerful institutions that dominate and rob us will continue to fight for survival but the wind is already blowing in a different direction and cannot be reversed. The smart elites are starting to see this and are hedging their bets. The dumb or stubborn ones may want to start looking at countries with non-extradition treaties or start blowing the whistle on someone above them and fast. The window of opportunity to make the choice is closely quickly. “I was just following orders” will not cut it when the dollar collapses and Disneyland shuts down. There have not been any major arrests and people have seemingly gotten away with all their frauds and crimes. This too will change and 2011 will represent a change in trend in this regard. We have entered the terminal phase of this ponzi scheme economy and those responsible for its creation and its continued support at the expense of the vast majority of the populace will see their foul deeds rise to the surface.