I’ve heard rumors of a growing movement overseas against the European Central Bank over recent alleged misuse of power and funds, with rising protests and calls for sweeping bank reform similar to what happened last year in Iceland.
Could that happen here? No, because the last time that started to happen in the USA (September/October 2011) several large banking coalitions called directly on the FBI and DHS to invoke procedural protocols (originally designed to combat violent terrorist organizations, no less) and coordinate local police forces to launch a full blown, violent assault on major Occupy groups and camps to sweep them off the map. Which they will do again if any grass roots protest movement arises to threaten the American corporate money machine.
Remember? I mean, THAT HAPPENED. Everybody knew it was happening when it happened, and most of the rank and file citizenry (those not directly involved in those protests) seemed heartily indifferent about it at the time. The guys with tear gas and batons crashed the barricades, but that only seemed to elicit a resigned national shrug.
I guess our bankers are WAY BETTER at manipulating and paying off our government than the ECB! GO USA!
Can people change our economic realities through protest?
Maybe. But in Ancient Egypt, the rich ruled. In Greece and Rome, the rich ruled. During the Dark and Middle Ages in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean basin and Asia, the rich ruled. In the American Colonies, the American rich decided to break off from the British rich and reformed the USA, where the rich ran things (and still do). In France, the starving poor finally rose up and killed all the rich people during the French Revolution, then set up a new government that was run by the newly rich. Which reverted to monarchy and then to dictatorship in less than 50 years, before finally going back to rule by the rich.
The fact that wealth equals power has been a constant since the concepts of “surplus” and “money” were invented during prehistoric times. If you want to beat the rich, you have to attack the money. But it takes money to attack money. And in our plutocratic world, those who control the most money will always have the last word.
Annoying… but there it is.
Sure, our digital age has engendered a lot of spring uprisings. Modern satellite communication is great at fermenting the type of unrest and providing the sort of tactical versatility that allows revolutions to happen. But that doesn’t alter who winds up at the top again when everything stops revolving. And if you are expecting a knight in shining armor to save the day, think again: it’s a historical fact that the real knights of old were almost invariably noblemen and entitled land owners. In short: rich dudes. Otherwise how could they afford the horse and armor required to safely keep the peasantry in their place?
Follow the money. It’s the only universal constant in human history. Pretending that modern fiscal wealth and feudal nobility are different things is essentially a big illusion, fostered by the monied elite to convince those less wealthy that everyone shares a level playing field for personal achievement. But that’s a lie, a shallow deception fostering the callous accumulation of dollars and cents at the expense of helpless consumers with little means of redress against those who unfairly benefit at their expense. Which is corporate excess at its most disturbing level.