Monday, November 8, 2010

Two "Minor" Examples of Ruling Class Activity

For a few years I've written how various groups in the Ruling Classes have been gutting American - and World - economies and cultures with their relentless greed for more. And how their ruthless Educated Class enablers have bollixed up government and other institutions by making everything complex, in order to hide their personal grabs for more personal power & money.

Here are two small examples from past literature. This process has been occurring since WW II; maybe since WW I. Both are taken from the Spring 2010 issue of Lapham's Quarterly, which is an excellent quarterly journal of fine writings from the past on various topics. The referenced issue is titled, "Arts & Letters".

First Example
1946 - George Orwell on Bad Writing, excerpt from page 95:

*** quote begins***
I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well known verse from Ecclesiastes:

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Here it is in modern English:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

This is a parody, but not a very gross one.
***end of quote***

The educated cohorts of the Ruling Classes use this complex language "in a consciously dishonest way", to confuse and obfuscate the common man and to hide the true intentions of Ruling Class policies.

Second Example
1973 - by author Barbara Rose, page 164, about art.

***quotes begin***
The art world collapsed on the night of October 18, [1973] at Sotheby Parke Berner [in NYC] - and it ended not with a whimper, but with a bid.
...
People did not bid on paintings so much as they rooted for them. Cheers accompanied the record-setting prices
...
The real excitement obviously was generated not by art (you don't go to an auction to see art), but by the visible action of instant profit making - the only real main event [the author goes on to provide an example at art originally purchased for $750 being sold for $40,000]
...
The fascination with such excess profit taking is understandable in terms of the corporate mentality that now dominates the art world.
***end of quotes***

Thus meaning and beauty in art goes down the gutter, replaced by the hog trough of the Ruling Classes. The recent citation from the Financial Times of billionaires buying art in the manner of lottery tickets for more riches - simply to make money and gain fame as "smart buyers" - shows that Ruling Class philistines have ruled the art world for decades now.

Conclusions

The common man and woman need to throw off the Ruling Classes; to restore decency and fairness to the economy and government. The principles of Fraternal Libertarianism provide a sound and simple framework for doing this. Yes, it's an ideology. But an ideology is necessary to provide coordination for the common men and women to analyse and make decisions without suffering the traps, snares and pitfalls the ruthless Educated Classes set for keep their Ruling Class in power.

Word of the Day

"Chicanery" - noun [$10]
Chicanery means deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry: trickery.
Sentence: The ministers of the Ruling Classes use complexity and complex writings as chicanery to fool the common man. That's why government tax code and other laws and regulations are so impenetrable.

24 comments:

Bud said...

This time round, emerging market debt already looks absurdly expensive. Food prices are rising sharply. The Fed has decided it can bear the risk of asset price bubbles, and so the market will test its resolve. For the Fed, this is truly a watershed. For investors, there is money in bubbles, so it is best to go with the herd and buy anything that would benefit – gold, oil and emerging markets could all rise much more before the bubbles burst – and make sure to get out in time.

This is an extremely dangerous way to try to make money. But then the Fed’s way of stimulating the economy, while possibly necessary, is also extremely dangerous.






ft editorial today.........seems like they are reading this blog.............at least my posts

Bud said...

The Fed's decisions are "undermining the credibility of U.S. financial policy," Mr. Schäuble said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine published over the weekend, referring to the Fed's move, known as "quantitative easing" and designed to spur demand and keep interest rates low. "It doesn't add up when the Americans accuse the Chinese of currency manipulation and then, with the help of their central bank's printing presses, artificially lower the value of the dollar."

At an economics conference in Berlin Friday, Mr. Schäuble said the Fed's action shows U.S. policy makers are "at a loss about what to do."




hello...............dr bernanke............are you litening ?????

Bud said...

Mr Zoellick, a former US Treasury official, calls for a system that “is likely to need to involve the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound and a renminbi that moves towards internationalisation and then an open capital account”. He adds: “The system should also consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation and future currency values.”




and there you have it................the demise of the greenback as world's reserve currency has begun


thank you dr bernanke

Bunkerman said...

Like so many who care little for teh common man in the US, ft editorial board has bubblitis.

I wonder why all those $ are not increasing inflation in the homeland of the $ ?

That contradiction destroys that entire claim - vaporizes it.

As for $ flowing to emerging markets - they are going their via China, Germany and all those places. Thus, it is THEY who are causing that "bubble".

As for food, for decades, the farmers have gotten poor prices. Now once, the demand in China & India caused by increasing incomes THERE, gives the farmers worldwide a better profit. And the Ruling Classes bitch about it. They want to keep all proftis for themselves on Wall Street, etc. Typical Ruling Class sophistry.

Bunkerman said...

"It doesn't add up when the Americans accuse the Chinese of currency manipulation and then, with the help of their central bank's printing presses, artificially lower'

What BS - it adds up perfectly. US QE2 is making it very hard for all those Asian currency parasites to keep their currencies artifically low.

As for Germany, why don't they just use those now more valuable Euros to buy some cheap US stuff?

Bud said...

inflation check :


once again........Publix yesterday.......boneless skinless chicken breasts.........4.99 /lb..........


Bman are you sure that was 'chicken' for 1.29/lb ?? it was prolly some rodent that tastes like chicken..............that's ok........it's the taste that ultimate matters.............all goin out the same hole eventually





PS.............i guess the common man won't be eating boneless skinless chicken breasts anytime soon

Spin-em said...

Bunk...Is Ron Paul a nutjob??

Spin-em said...

Tuesday Nov 2

i bought skinless-bonless-chicken breasts last night for 5.69/lb from Publix.............

today

once again........Publix yesterday.......boneless skinless chicken breasts.........4.99 /lb..........

DEFLATION HAS COME TO THE SHORES OF AZZLANDIA !!!!!

Spin-em said...

WE'VE LANDED ON THE MOOOON!!!

Bunkerman said...

Bud, the common man buys the whole chicken for $1.29/lb and carves it. Using his own hands and knife.

Bunkerman said...

I'm going to have to listen to Rand Paul - I know some of his ideas are wrong. The rest ?

Bunkerman said...

I know he's a libertarian and all readers know I think they are fundamentaly wrong on many important issues and principles.

Spin-em said...

yes..Bud,frosty,Lee,mike,n mike and Spinyy know that

Bunkerman said...

lolol and all my hometown readers and then there's Ben, Hank, etc.

Bunkerman said...

and my thousands of beefer manager readers, too.

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman if you had to pick one current politician whose beliefs are most aligned with yours, who would it be? Jon Tester of Montana?

Bunkerman said...

I don't follow politicians nowadays enough to know.

I read Tester's bio - interesting, but can't tell.

I think 60% of Americans would agree with me IF the ideas were explained properly ...

But very few politicans believe in regulating the rich & powerful, helping the poor & unfortunate, and giving the rest of the people near complete freedom. I think the requisites of fundraising make this philosophy hard for them to adopt openly.

Spin-em said...

to the hometown readers...total muuush....pfftttt

Arnold Epstein:..... You're a witness. You're always standing around watching what's happening, scribbling in your book what other people do. You have to get in the middle of it. You have to take sides. Make a contribution to the fight. Any fight. The one you believe in.

will they ever step up???

a great man once said....If not now....when??

Bunkerman said...

hometown raders, etc. have real jobs. Making comments while at work just not doable.

Spin-em said...

where do I begin with that one..looool

Spin-em said...

Tuesday Nov 2

i bought skinless-bonless-chicken breasts last night for 5.69/lb from Publix.............

today

once again........Publix yesterday.......boneless skinless chicken breasts.........4.99 /lb..........



BULLSHIT O METER OFF THE CHARTS!!!

oooouuuuuuweeeeeeeuuuuuuooooooweeeerrr!!

Spin-em said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Spin-em said...

Handshake bunk..tryin to fire up the Ohio ranks..lol

Bunkerman said...

np.

I need to get them to comment some. Will sharpen my wit on next visit.