Eric Cordian wrote... "Apply this algorithm to macroeconomic variables, during a loud propaganda campaign promoting "productivity," and you have essentially what was done to the US economy starting with the ascension of the Conservatives to power in 1980." Ah yes. Someone else remembers when all those scary Japanese and Germans were going to eat all our jobs. So we gave up everything because they had us so fucking terrorized. Now we have far fewer vacation hours than either one of those countries. Coincidentally, it's around the same time that it became fashionable to bitch about how evil the unions are. Question one of the 'sheeple' on why the unions are so bad and they'll give you little anecdotes and incomprehensible arguments ("the unions are bad because they force employers to pay overtime"). (And let's remember that I'm not attempting to make a pro-union point here. I'm pointing to media and other manipulation of the American psyche into accepting the ratwheel we're all on now.) "The US spent the Soviet Union into bankrupcy, and rebuilt a military force that can threaten any nation in the world, not because of Manifest Destiny, but by working its citizens harder than any other decent nation was willing to do. Citizens too dumb to understand that economic control of a population is not morally superior to control at the point of a gun." Damn straight. "Too dumb"...I might agree with that but I think there's a lot more to it. Too terrorized, too successfully propagandized, too willing to live vicariously through the ostenisbly functional relationships on TV, and don't forget just too damned tired to give a crap about anything but trying to get a decent night's sleep when possible, and make it safely to the grave without becomming homeless in the process... -TD

From: Eric Cordian <emc@artifact.psychedelic.net> To: cypherpunks@minder.net Subject: Re: Dead Body Theatre Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 10:44:10 -0700 (PDT)

Tim May wrote:

...

This is a silly, naive view of things. First, the concept of "privilege" is one of those lefty, cockeyed notions the liberals use to vaguely imply that success in life is due to "privilege."

Much as conservatives refer to everyone who can see through their propaganda better than Joe Sixpack as "The Elite." Variations include "The Hollywood Elite", "The University Elite", etc.

Conservatives fear anyone with a longer memory and better critical thinking skills than your average dumbass American hayseed, programmed in the Guv'ment School, with his 9th grade reading and his 4th grade math.

...

Second, though I strongly disagree with the Second Iraq War, nothing that happens there has anything substantive to do with economic success and "money, power" for anyone I know. Our "money, power" comes from work, investments, high tech, etc.

It comes from work. Back when I was but a tiny Thaumaturge, home ownership was within the reach of virtually everyone in AmeriKKKa. An entire household full of people could be supported on the income of a single adult working virtually any full time job. Leasure time and recreation were abundant. The Sheeple were happy sheep.

Fast forward to today, where a barely comfortable living requires every adult member of a household to work somewhere over full time at some sort of skilled occupation, one paycheck away from the street.

It's the time-honored algorithm for optimizing the speed of an assembly line. You speed up the line until the error rate becomes unacceptable, and then back off by epsilon. If the workers are wheezing, with their tongues hanging dangerously close to the gears, who cares. There are hungry people standing in line to replace anyone who can't take it.

Apply this algorithm to macroeconomic variables, during a loud propaganda campaign promoting "productivity," and you have essentially what was done to the US economy starting with the ascension of the Conservatives to power in 1980.

The US spent the Soviet Union into bankrupcy, and rebuilt a military force that can threaten any nation in the world, not because of Manifest Destiny, but by working its citizens harder than any other decent nation was willing to do. Citizens too dumb to understand that economic control of a population is not morally superior to control at the point of a gun.

And through the miracle of Fractional Reserve Banking, while the Proles toiled, a small privileged segment of the population became fabulously wealthy during the same period, for doing, as Anne Robinson would say, "Absolutely Nothing."

-- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

_________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail