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The ascendancy of a criminal financial elite and its complicit, accommodating state has led to the breakdown of law and order, the degradation and discrediting of the entire regulatory network and judicial system. This has led to a national system of ‘unequal injustice’ where critical citizens are prosecuted for exercising their constitutional rights while criminal elites operate with impunity. The harshest enforcement of police state fiats are applied against hundreds of thousands of immigrants, Muslims and human rights activists, while financial swindlers are courted at Presidential campaign fund raisers.
It is not surprising today that many workers and middle class citizens consider themselves to be ‘conservative’ and ‘against change’. Indeed, the majority wants to ‘conserve’ Social Security, pubic education, pensions, job stability, and federal medical plans, such as MEDICARE and MEDICAID against ‘radical’ elite advocates of ‘change’ who want to privatize Social Security and education, end MEDICARE, and slash MEDICAID. Workers and the middle class demand stability of jobs and neighborhoods and stable prices against run-away inflation of medical care and education. Wage and salaried citizens support law and order, especially when it means the prosecution of billionaire tax evaders, criminal money-launderering bankers and swindlers, who, at most, pay a minor fine, issue an excuse or ‘apology’ and then proceed to repeat their swindles.
The radical ‘changes’ promoted by the elite, have devastated life for millions of Americans in every region, occupation and age group. They have destabilized family life by undermining job security while undermining neighborhoods by laundering drug profits. Above all they have totally perverted the entire system of justice where the ‘criminals are made respectable and the respectable treated as criminals’.
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| History shows that revolutions must have political movement and a socially compelling goal, with strategic and charismatic leadership that inspires majorities to challenge a perception of fundamental injustice and inequality. A necessary feature is the development of a political ideology rooted in a narrative that legitimates mass collective action, which is indispensable to forcing dominant groups to address social grievances – or to overturning those dominant groups altogether. Unresponsive rulers risk possible overthrow of their governments. For example, the vision and struggle of a multiracial South Africa was a guiding principle that put an end to the entrenched white-dominated apartheid system. The time has come in America where to be free necessarily means to resist status quo and Bankers usurpation and to actively change the course and philosophy being shoved down our throats. There really is no middle ground any more. This is not a matter of politics anymore. This is not a matter of Social Injustice. This is a matter of FREEDOM, as much so as were the matters of 1775 and 1776. It is staring you in the face, daring you to make a move. May we never be guilty of causing, whether by our apathy, indifference, laziness or comfort, this nation to lose the rights and freedoms that our founders attempted to secure with infinite pains and labors. We the people must once again reassert our Sovereignty over the 1% in this country and the States must recognize and act upon their God-ordained role as Freedom protectors and tyranny resisters.
OWS is fighting to strengthen democracy, and to end the domination of big money interests. Fracking is a clear example of how the power of money trumps common sense and controls our democracy. Fracking is incredibly destructive to the environment and human health. On Thursday, October 20th at five in the afternoon the residents of Liberty Square will march to the FERC hearing on the Spectra Pipeline at P.S. 41, located at 116 West 11th Street (between 6th and 7th avenues). Shortly before the hearings begin at seven in the evening we will stage a die-in to illustrate the likely results of this disasterous proposal by a disreputable corporation intent on infecting our drinking water with by-products from fracking. After the die-in members of #ows will enter the hearing and respectfully engage in participatory direct action against this catastrophic project. Do not let the destruction and death that occured due to corporate negligence in San Bruno, California last year happen in the West Village. Come and speak for #ows, come and speak for yourself. We will see you there. Submit comments to FERC online or by mail prior to Oct. 31st if you cannot attend the hearing 14 Comments Parents for Occupy Wall Street Family Sleepover Families Plan Sleepover on Friday, October 21, Growing Support for Occupy Wall Street Community http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/ Liberty Square, NY — A second try. The parent founded and run group, “Parents for Occupy Wall Street,” will be hosting a Family Sleepover, from 4 PM, Friday, October 21st until 11 AM the following Saturday morning—a second try after being forced to cancel their planned sleepover last weekend because of a threatened eviction. With the Family Sleepover rescheduled for this weekend, parents and families in the greater New York City area are excited to demonstrate their support for this growing movement creating real change for our children’s futures. Occupy Wall Street is a place for everyone, including families. At the Family Sleepover, families and children will find arts and crafts, a children’s music sing along, a pizza party, and a bed time story. With the help of various teacher and parent groups, such as the “School for the 99%,” and the Occupy Wall Street Outreach team, the Family Sleepover will have a sectioned off Child and Family Only area at Liberty Plaza. Safety is the first measure on everyone’s mind. Security and strict involvement rules will be taken at the event including a check in and check out system with parent’s ID with a Parents for Occupy Wall Street security person and an hourly headcount. All parents will be required to wear an identifying T-shirt while working shifts around the hour. The police are already aware of the group and will be checked in with hourly on the group’s size and location. The group’s goal is to raise awareness of the diversity of people supporting the movement. In the press, there is an assumption that the only people supporting the movement are solely homeless or unemployed when that couldn’t be further from the truth. With even a short visit to Liberty Plaza, you will see all walks of life supporting the movement, including middle class working families. With the Family Sleepover, Parents for Occupy Wall Street are Occupying to speak up for the ones without a voice and make real change, change for their children’s futures. 36 Comments America Supports #OWS Supplies and Support Pour into Occupy Wall Street from Every Corner of the US http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/ Liberty Square, NY — Today we want to spotlight the tens of thousands of people from across the United States and around the world who are supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement by contributing blankets, clothing, food, money, and other needed supplies. The support has truly been overwhelming. Over one month ago, hundreds, and then thousands, gathered in Liberty Square to protest unprecedented consolidation of wealth and power, plummeting household income, skyrocketing school debt, and a broken political system. In the weeks since, hundreds of thousands have rallied and occupied in cities and towns around the world. And people from every corner of the United States have sent donations of tarps, home baked pies, hand-knit mittens, and pizzas — with personal notes of solidarity and support. OWS has compiled notes from supporters on a Tumblr site called Occupy Wall St. Care Packages: http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/ This new site features only a tiny fraction of the thousands of packages and letters of support we have received. It includes messages like this one from Elora and Monte, supporters who live on a farm in West Virginia: "We stand ready to help #OWS in any way we can, from out here 'Just Off the One-Lane Road...' And we are so grateful for all of you involved in this defense of America. We firmly believe this is "it." If we can't grab this democracy this time, we'll sink and it will be a long time before we will have this opportunity again. Thank you for taking time from your busy life to be there and to email us. Whatever we can do, we are pleased to be a part of this incredible Movement." We know from history that social movements grow when they have a broad base of support. We are thankful that this movement has attained such a dramatic level of support in a short amount of time. We are hopeful that this people's movement will continue to grow. | Eventually, in one of the larger Cities, the mayor will announce that the demonstration has become a riot and the police will show up in riot gear and mean. Then, tough will happen and if the people persist then they will be arrested in even larger numbers. Heads will be cracked! If that does not send them home, then the State Militia will be called in larger numbers and mechanized will happen. Eventually, if none of these escalation ploys do the job, bayonets will be fixed, the troops will move forward in line abreast clearing the streets and people will be injured. Ultimately, shots will be fired. You will never know who fired the first shots but it will be obvious who fires the last shots and who gets killed. Someone will have to die. At the same time City, State and possibly Federal forces will be escalating the pressure in all of the other large cities, until the “riots” have been quelled and the Government will announce that a major “revolution” has just been put down
Taken down: A demonstrator with Occupy Wall Street is arrested during a march near the financial district in New York yesterday Credit Photo: Daily Mail
Anyone who can order a few thousand people killed to take down a few buildings will not hesitate to kill a dozen or so, even a few hundred if necessary. And, remember, the more people who they have had to kill, the more serious was the threat of “revolution.” There will be quotas.
Martial Law will be declared for the Nation, the Constitution and elections will be suspended, the Congress sent home “for the duration,” and a Military Tribunal will be appointed to replace the Cabinet, to manage Government affairs and to “advise and support” the President.” Many of the State Militia will not fire into the crowd, or will fire wildly into the air or off target… but it will take only a small handful of casualties to do the job and a few hired professional snipers can easily ensure that casualties will actually happen.
Americans have guts when it comes time to parade and protest, but they do not have the guts to stand unarmed and bleeding before a line of armed men, all of whom they believe will shoot to kill when ordered. They will go home. There will be talk, or threats, of prosecuting some, perhaps notables or celebrities, on charges of plotting or attempting violent overthrow of the Constitution or the government, which are pretty grave offenses. They will probably not follow through on that, because they will not actually want the entire anti-riot exercise they employed investigated in court under sworn testimony… too many cops and soldiers will testify if asked or “forced” to by law. But, it will be threatening enough to ensure peace for a few more years, while positions are consolidated, and better barriers are erected for crowd management and control, and the people are further impoverished and starved into compliance and docile acceptance. All of which overlooks and ignores the fact that, without exception, people who have been impoverished and starved to the point where they have lost all hope and now have nothing to lose, eventually lose all fear and respect for the bayonet and the armed line of riflemen…. and the real revolution begins! That’s when it really gets messy! And, it is exactly what the cabal wants!
Aha, today, we read AFL-CIO Calls on Members to Defend Occupy Wall Street Against Mayor Bloomberg’s Planned Attack. Read Full Article. If he attacks the movement with police, against the counsel of the Unions, he will never see public office in New York again. This might indicate the power of the influence the Cabal holds over him and other politicians. It may hurt his fat ego to lose his political stature, but it does not hurt the men who tell him to do the necessary thing and commit political hari kari for the “cause,” whatever it is. They have hundreds of men they can run for mayor and ensure a win, without him. If he complies and does as he is ordered he will be politically dead, but he will have a lifetime retirement plan ensured which will make his days comfortable down in Miami Beach with the rest of the boys. If he refuses, he will be literally dead, and his widow penniless. So, the cabal gets two for one. They sacrifice Bloomberg, but not only get the Movement bloodied and sent home, they take some of the stiff out of the Unions as well… becasue it too will not emerge unscathed. Some of it’s men are going to bleed before this is over, and that is not good for the union, either. Police accused of luring Occupy Wall Street protesters into trap before arresting 700 on Brooklyn Bridge
New York police are today facing fresh accusations they entrapped and intimidated demonstrators during the Brooklyn Bridge storm at the weekend. Today protesters allege police allowed them onto a road reserved for vehicles and were then able to round up as many as possible, arresting 700. Meanwhile major cities are bracing themselves for more protests against corporate America as the Occupy Wall Street campaign enters its third week. Protesters in the ever-growing movement are dressing as corporate zombies in New York and greeting Wall Street workers as they head into the office. A police brutality protest is planned after the 700 people were arrested this weekend for blocking Brooklyn Bridge traffic in the unauthorised protest.
Stars: Actor, producer and screenwriter Mark Ruffalo, left, and actor Penn Badgley, right, visit the Occupy Wall Street protests at Zuccoti Park in Manhattan this weekend
Shouting: Occupy Wall Street protestor Alexi Morris is arrested along with at several others in the financial district's Zucotti Park on Monday
Living dead: Demonstrators with fake money in their mouths and hands march with others dressed as 'corporate zombies' as they take part in a New York protest today
Sleepout: A participant in the Wall Street protests sits at an information desk at Zuccotti Park that hundreds of activists are occupying today
Elsewhere: The Occupy Boston movement grew in Dewey Square on Sunday, left, and a girl holds a sign at Occupy LA on Saturday - as both joined forces with New York
Songs: Participants in the Wall Street protests play music on Monday in New York City The demonstrations, which began in New York two weeks ago, have already spread to Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. The arrests of 700 people have only strengthened the resolve of protesters in New York, who have been camped out for the past fortnight and held mass gatherings. It’s all been sparked by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has seen thousands of protesters camped out in New York's Financial District for the past fortnight and mass gatherings started nationwide, with the unified purpose of voicing anger at the U.S. banking and political systems. More...Some protesters were left angry after the New York Times website reprotedly removed a line in a story inferring that the police tricked demonstrators into going onto the bridge. Famous actors such as Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley and Collateral's Mark Ruffalo were spotted at the Zuccoti Park camp. Many of the demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge thought they had been hemmed in deliberately by cops. But police denied this was the case. The NYPD claims it gave 'numerous warnings' to protesters to stay on the pavement and they were told they would be arrested if they went into the roadway. Demonstrators are today being urged to dress in business wear with white faces and blood, and will march while eating monopoly money, a spokesman said. The group, which is also speaking out against climate change, want financial workers to see them ‘reflecting the metaphor of their actions’.
Silence: Occupy Wall Street demonstrators occupy a park near Wall Street in New York on Monday as they protest in different ways
Linkup: Protesters shout slogans while holding banners after marching to the courthouse where the trial for Michael Jackson's doctor continues on Monday in L.A.
Demonstrations: A soldier is seen protesting in New York, left, and this photo, right, from the Occupy Wall Street website seems to be from inside a jail cell this weekend
California: A protester wears an eye-catching outfit this weekend as he demonstrates in Los Angeles as the protests gather pace across the U.S.
Illinois: Demonstrators hold signs across from the Federal Reserve bank of Chicago while trying to keep dry last Friday
Occupy LA: Los Angeles protesters marched from Pershing Square to City Hall to voice their discontent at the financial system on Saturday California uprising: Views of the Occupy LA protests taking place in Pershing Square on Saturday in Los Angeles, California
Uprising: Demonstrators, pictured on Sunday, are camping outside the Federal Reserve building, in Boston. The group is part of a nationwide grassroots movement in support of the ongoing Wall Street protests in New York 'Their slogans capture emotions but are too often unrelated to solutions': The best U.S. comment on Occupy Wall Street'They are earnest and know how to play for the cameras. They have internalized slogans that capture emotions but are too often unrelated to solutions. And that is a lost opportunity.' 'Up until now, the organizers have seemed to view the decentralized, inchoate nature of the protests as a strength for the nascent movement, not a weakness. The unifying idea has been drawing attention to "the 99," not offering a concrete policy agenda.' 'Much of the sloganeering at “Occupy Wall Street” is pretty silly — but so is the self-righteous sloganeering of Wall Street itself. And if a ragtag band of youthful protesters can help bring a dose of accountability and equity to our financial system, more power to them.' 'Economic inequality is a consistent undertone, but at times this occupation has the feel of a music festival; drifting through the square are young people who seem to have walked out of a wormhole from Woodstock.' 'I never imagined more than 700 people would be arrested. Nor did I imagine that I'd be kettled in an area where, ostensibly, protesters and witnesses were allowed to go'
Evocative: L.A. demonstrators are a range of ages, from 12-year-old Lula Rod, left, wearing haunting face paint, to an middle-aged woman, right, holding a straight-forward placard outside Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday
Star Spangled Banner: One protester in L.A. made use of the national flag to get his point across on Saturday Actor's admiration for protestersActor and screenwriter Mark Ruffalo has been following the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York over the last weekend. He praised them for standing up for 'purely American' values and 'democracy'. 'It is a thing of beauty to see so many people in love with the ideal of democracy, so alive with its promise, so committed to its continuity in the face of crony capitalism and corporate rule,' he wrote in a Guardian comment article. 'That should be celebrated. It should be respected and admired.' The anti-corporate protest in New York City entered its third week today, as the city's residents began to increasingly feel the effect of a mass gathering that began as little more than a dozen students. Yesterday members of the NYPD moved in and ordered some of those who had camped out to dismantle what police said were 'dwellings'. 'A dozen officers came walking toward us with NYPD video cameras pointed at us,' said John Dennehy, 29, who went straight back to Zuccotti Park after spending hours in police custody. He flashed a police desk appearance ticket charging him with disorderly conduct and prohibited use of a roadway. On Saturday the United Nations employee joined thousands of protesters who tried to cross the bridge after marching through the Financial District. Mr Dennehy and three others had built what they called their 'box castle' using cardboard mailing boxes to delineate their space on the plaza. But police told them to remove the structure and plastic tarps they were using to stay dry in a pouring rain also were not acceptable, they said.
Screaming out loud: A man wearing a U.S. flag bandana across his face shows where Boston protesters drew their inspiration from on Friday, while a young woman shouts to make her message heard as hundreds of people converge on Boston Common
Thin blue line: Demonstrators from Occupy Boston stormed their way to the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston during the first night of their protest on Friday
Tired: A protester sleeps on a mattress on the ground in Liberty Plaza on Saturday. The 'Occupy Wall Street' movement has now entered its third week
The activists have even produced their own newspaper 'The Occupied Wall Street Journal'. It is paid for by funds gathered online via crowd-sourcing websites 'In the end, what we want to do is inspire working-class people to get involved in the political process,' Adam Liszkiewics, a 32-year-old USC graduate student, told the paper. 'In the end, what we want to do is inspire working-class people to get involved in the political process' Adam Liszkiewics The Occupy Boston movement appears the most well-developed of the off-shoot protests, with a sizeable camp, featuring tents, medical supplies and even wi-fi, setting up at Dewey Square, across from the Federal Reserve building. Tactical groups have been formed, covering legal affairs, food and media outreach, and a crowd in the spot had reached nearly 1,000 on Friday night on the first day of protest, the Boston Herald reported. Key organisers said they had been to New York to learn from the protests. Matthew Krawitz, an unemployed IT expert, told how he had been in Manhattan for the first day of the demonstrations there and wanted to replicate the scene in Boston. There were other protests in the city over the weekend, including one outside the Bank of America aimed at expressing people's anger at foreclosures and the announcement the bank will charge customers $5 a month to use debit cards to access their own money. It resulted in 24 arrests. President Obama's old stomping ground has been gripped by the 'Occupy' movement as well. A group of activists have gathered in front of the Federal Reserve Bank Chicago as part of a rally to protest against poverty and unemployment in the U.S.
Protestors at Occupy Wall Street's media area coordinate news updates in Manhattan's financial district's Zuccotti Park
The protest in New York has triggered similar occupations around the country by activists angry at the power held by the big financial institutions The Chicago sit-in began on September 23 with a march from Willis Tower to the bank, the Chicago Tribune reported, with some protesters calling it their Tahrir Square, in reference to the Egyptian capital Cairo. One demonstrator, Emilio Baez, told Press TV the protest is a 'direct call to working people worldwide’. ‘This is our Tahrir Square,' he said of the spot which led to a revolution in the African country. 'We'll stay here for months if we have to.' Meanwhile, more than 100 people turned out for Occupy Seattle on Saturday, with protesters waving signs and mingling peacefully with police. The demonstrators, however, are only beginning to coalesce and they acknowledge that they need to clarify their goals. Like their New York counterparts, the protesters are seeking for a place in Seattle's financial district to camp out for the winter. Denver had its first protest on Saturday, with demonstrators telling 9News that they are a leaderless resistance movement of people who will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of Wall Street. Further 'Occupy' protests are planned for San Francisco, Washington DC, Phoenix and Albuquerque. Meanwhile in New York, one couple apparently out to take photos after their wedding were pictured being caught up in the march over the Brooklyn Bridge, where more than 700 protesters were arrested.
Saturday: More than 700 people were arrested during the protest on Brooklyn Bridge and many were seen being led away in makeshift handcuffs
Photo-op gone wrong: A couple encounters a sea of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations It emerged as the New York Police Department said it warned the protesters they would be taken into custody before staging the mass arrest. The protesters who have been camping out in Manhattan's Financial District say their movement has grown and become more organised over the last couple of weeks and they have no intention of stopping. The Occupy Wall Street demonstration started out small, with less than a dozen college students, but has grown to include thousands of people in communities across the country. Now entering its third week in Manhattan, those spending their days and nights at Zuccotti Park say they're going to stay as long as they can. New York City public school teacher Denise Martinez joined the protest on Sunday. She says the financial industry isn't doing enough to solve the country's economic problems. The Brooklyn Bridge was shut down and more than 700 people arrested this weekend after protesters camping out near Wall Street spilled onto the New York landmark and blocked traffic. In a tense showdown, police took swift action - cuffing and dragging hundreds to the sidings - after many of the protesters risked being hit by cars by moving from the walkway on to the road. Day of 'Global Revolution' comes to London as thousands of demonstrators take over the CityProtesters inspired by the growing 'Occupy Wall Street' movement in the U.S have today taken over the City of London. Thousands have descended on the area known as the Square Mile - under the banner 'Occupy the Stock Exchange' - for a 'peaceful protest' against the global financial system. They had planned to take Paternoster Square, where the Stock Exchange is located, but police cordoned off the area prior to the protest. A notice was put up stating the square is private property and access would be restricted. Police sources said a High Court injunction had been taken out to prevent members of the public from accessing the square. Scroll down for video...
Unite! A woman holds a flag during a protest against the global financial system outside St Paul's Cathedral
Angry: Protesters hold placards as they stand on the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral
There is a heavy police presence throughout central London to help deal with the protest
Pitched battle? Some of the demonstrators outside the London Stock Exchange appeared to treat the event more like a camping holiday
Marching on the City: Police look on as protesters walk around the perimeter of the London Stock Exchange The event kicked off at midday outside St Paul's Cathedral and initial reports on Twitter talked of an 'amiable' atmosphere. Activists carried banners with slogans such as 'We are the 99%' and 'Bankers got a bailout, we got sold out'. Among them was Lorena Fuentes, 27, a charity worker originally from Vancouver, Canada. She said: 'I'm here today because I can't see why you wouldn't be and I feel that this is one of the few moments in history where it's not a protest, it's an actual movement that's taken root. More...'We're trying to challenge this myth that there are not enough resources to go around.' The protest was contained within the vicinity of St Paul's Cathedral, and some demonstrators started to put up tents - hopeful that they will be able to remain in the area for the future. At around 2pm, police reportedly 'kettled' protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral, where the demonstrators were forced to move because of the closure of Paternoster Square. Scotland Yard said two arrests were made for assaults on police officers.
Scuffle: Occupy London protesters alongside police at an entrance to Paternoster Square
Protest: Demonstrators hold placards as they stand on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
Laid-back approach: A demonstrator reads a book near tents belonging to other demonstrators during the London protest After protesters returned to St Paul's Churchyard, the square in front of the cathedral, police prevented more people trying to join the protest by cutting off access points. Several hundred protesters congregated behind the police lines and heckled officers for not allowing anyone through. Police at the scene denied that a "kettling" technique had been put in place to close protesters in and said they were free to leave the square. A bride, who was scheduled to get married in the Cathedral this afternoon, was ushered in by staff through a side entrance as the crowd swelled. An assembly of speakers then took place. Wikileaks' Julian Assange, who turned up at the protest wearing a mask, was asked to take it off by police. Human rights lawyer Jen Robinson, who came to his aid, tweeted: '#assange not under arrest. Says we can't wear masks and be anonymous but swiss banks accounts can be #occupylsx.'
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrived at the protest wearing a mask, which he was promptly told to remove bv police
Unmasked: After a talking to from police, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange removed his mask
Julian Assange then spoke to demonstrators from the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
Crowded: Protesters cheer as Julian Assange speaks outside St Paul's Cathedral THE V FOR VENDETTA MASK
The 2006 film V For Vendetta popularised the Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol of rebellion. The mask was worn by an anarchist named V in the film and has since become a revolutionary symbol for protesters. V wears the Guy Fawkes mask for almost the entire film and used Fawkes' story as a role model in his quest to end the Norsefire rule – a fictional fascist political party ruling the UK in the original comic book series. This was because V felt Guy Fawkes was right in trying to bring down what he felt was an oppressive government during his day. In the film V briefly explains the mask’s significance, saying: ‘This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi [voice of the people], no vacant, vanished.’ Over 100,000 of the masks are now sold worldwide per year, according to the Guardian. He broke through the police kettle enclosing St Paul's Cathedral at 2.30pm. He then fought his way through protesters, turned half-way up the steps and addressed those gathered below. The Guardian's Mark Townsend said: 'Assange began by lamenting the police tactics, noting hundreds more remained stranded outside the kettle. 'Then he began attacking a greedy and corrupt system that had united individuals from Cairo to London. People are being ordered to Guantanamo Bay to obey the rule of law, and money is being laundered through the Caymen Islands and London to obey the rule of law. 'This movement is not about the destruction of law, but the construction of law. With that he stopped, the crowd hollering as a list of other occupations throughout the world was read out.' Political campaigner Peter Tatchell also spoke to the crowds and proposed a one-off 20 per cent emergency tax on the net wealth of the richest 10 per cent of the UK population. He also wants the introduction of a 'Tobin Tax' on financial transactions. He said: 'The richest 10 per cent of the UK population have a combined personal wealth of £4 million, million. A one-off 20 per cent tax on those people would raise £800 billion. 'Those people can afford it, they'd feel no pain, they're so fabulously wealthy. With that sum of money you could pay off the entire government deficit. No need for any public spending cuts.' At the same time, he said a Tobin Tax would 'reduce speculation and be good for the economy, and raise at least £100 billion a year. Within two years this would enable us to clear the entire Government deficit.' 'Rich people who are not prepared to pay their way are traitors to this country, they're putting their own personal selfishness before the interests of the public,' he added.
Call to arms: Political campaigner Peter Tatchell spoke to the crowds and proposed a one-off 20 per cent emergency tax on the net wealth of the richest 10 per cent of the UK population
Holy protest: A demonstrator dressed as Jesus Christ to take part in Occupy London
Long arm of the law: Police line up to confront protesters during the Occupy London demonstration The Occupy London Stock Exchange collective, which is supported by UK Uncut, said a Facebook page on the protest had attracted more than 13,000 followers, with more than 5,000 confirmed attendees. Laura Taylor, a supporter of the so-called OccupyLSX, said: 'Why are we paying for a crisis the banks caused? More than a million people have lost their jobs and tens of thousands of homes have been repossessed, while small businesses are struggling to survive. 'Yet bankers continue to make billions in profit and pay themselves enormous bonuses, even after we bailed them out with £850 billion.' Another supporter, Kai Wargalla, said: 'This is a people-powered movement protesting against the increasing social and economic injustice in the UK. 'We want to stand with the 99% - the overwhelming majority who value people over profit. 'We want to make our voices heard against greed, corruption and for a democratic, just society. We stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, protesters in Spain, Greece and the Middle East who started this movement.
Prepared: Protesters wait for the demonstration to begin outside St Paul's Cathedral
Protection: City of London Police guard an entrance to the London Stock Exchange during the Occupy London protest
Protesters inspired by the growing 'Occupy Wall Street' movement in the U.S are today demonstrating in the City of London 'They have inspired people all over the world to step forward and make their voices heard.' UK Uncut supporter Peter Hodgson added: 'The success of the square occupations across Spain in calling for democracy and an end to austerity, alongside the rapid growth of the Wall Street occupation, has shown that this is what is needed in London and the UK. 'The Government is ignoring its electorate as they impose these austerity measures.' OccupyLSX previously issued a statement which said: 'The words corporate greed ring through the speeches and banners of protests across the globe. 'After huge bailouts and in the face of unemployment, privatisation and austerity, we still see profits for the rich on the increase. But we are the 99%, and on October 15 our voice unites across gender and race, across borders and continents, as we call for equality and justice for all.
Popular: More than 13,000 signed up to Occupy London's Facebook page
Inspired: Occupy London has said it is taking its lead from the occupation movements across the world, including that in New York 'In London, we will occupy the Stock Exchange. Reclaiming space in the face of the financial system and using it to voice ideas for how we can work towards a better future. 'A future free from austerity, growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens, and work towards concrete demands to be met.' Occupy LSX was behind a protest that saw Westminster Bridge closed on Monday. According to its website occupations are also being planned in other areas of the country, including Worcester, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bristol. The London protests have been inspired by the U.S.'s Occupy Wall Street and Spain's Indignant movement. Thousands have also taken to the streets in Sydney, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rome, and Sydney. The organisers, relying heavily on Facebook and Twitter, say demonstrations will also be held in 951 cities across 82 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa. The 'indignant' protests first took hold in Spain, which has a jobless rate of 20.89 per cent rising to 46.1 per cent for 16-24 year olds. Activists lived in a ramshackle camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol for a month. The movement then spread to the U.S. and Europe. Day of 'Global Revolution' around the world:
City on fire: A car burns during a demonstration of the 'Indignant' group in Rome, Italy
Ongoing: Occupy New York is still gathering momentum
Movement: Occupy Wall Street moves to Cape Town, South Africa
Angry: Thousands of protesters are taking to the streets of Frankfurt, Germany
Indignants: Protesters practice yoga at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid before this afternoon's demonstrationi
Anger has also spread to Hong Kong
The capital of South Korea has also been taken over by protesters
Occupy Sydney holds signs in front of the Reserve Bank of Australia |
Occupy Wall Street Faces Evictions
The Occupy Wall Street movement is facing evictions in multiple cities after two months of demonstrations in city parks and squares. In the past two weeks, police have forcibly removed protesters from their encampments in Denver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Oakland, Zurich, and now New York City. Overnight, New York City police officers moved into Zucotti Park, handing out fliers telling protesters they had to leave or face arrest. (The Mayor's Office claimed it was only temporary, to allow for cleaning.) Currently some 150 protesters are gathered around Zucotti Park, preparing to re-occupy if a judge decides the city has not shown just cause for eviction. Collected here are images from several of the recent evictions, as Occupy Wall Street protesters face a turning point in their movement. Police move through a makeshift kitchen, known as the Thunderdome, at Occupy Denver, smashing as they walk. The clearing out of Civic Center Park began on November 12, 2011, six Saturdays after Occupy Denver began with hundreds of participants marching through the city's downtown. (AP Photo/Leah Millis - The Denver Post)
An Occupy Denver protester is searched after being tackled and arrested by Denver police, who began arresting people on the 16th Street Mall, on November 12, 2011, in Denver, to end their second march of the day. (AP Photo/Leah Millis - The Denver Post) # Smoke lingers after police put out a large fire in a grill before moving protesters out of Civic Center Park, on November 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Leah Millis - The Denver Post) # Police officers hold the line as they remove belongings left behind after they cleared Civic Center Park, on November 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Leah Millis - The Denver Post) # Riot police are engulfed in a mass of defiant protesters at the Occupy Portland camp, on November 13, 2011, in Portland, Oregon. In spite of an eviction notice for early Sunday morning, Portland police delayed closing two downtown parks early today as thousands of people converged to support the Occupy Portland movement. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images) # A protester pleads with police during a demonstration near the Occupy Portland encampment, on November 13, 2011, in Portland, Oregon. Portland police have reclaimed the two parks in which occupiers have been camping after a night of brinksmanship with protesting crowds of several thousands. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images) # Police officers arrests a protester in the Portland encampment, on November 13, 2011, in, Portland, Oregon. In a tense escalation of the Occupy Portland protest, police in riot gear Sunday surrounded demonstrators in a downtown park area after hundreds of people defied the mayor's order to leave the park by midnight. By early afternoon, officers had mostly surrounded the camp where the protesters were holding a "general assembly" meeting to discuss their next moves following the eviction order. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) # Debris is scattered on the grounds of a park where Occupy Portland demonstrators camped, on November 14, 2011, in, Portland, Oregon. Two downtown Portland parks where Occupy Portland demonstrators camped for weeks are clear Monday and police say crews will be removing debris and assessing damage. Mayor Sam Adams ordered the camps cleared over the weekend because of unhealthy conditions, drug use and other crime. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) # Police in riot gear are silhouetted against cyclone and barbed wire fencing surrounding Chapmen Square where the Occupy Portland camp used to be in Portland, Oregon, on November 13, 2011. Protesters were allowed back into the camp early Sunday morning but police in riot gear came in later in the day, moved the protesters out and started cleaning up and fencing the park blocks. (AP Photo/Don Ryan) # Police arrest an Occupy Wall Street protester in Portland, Oregon, early November 13, 2011. (Reuters/Steve Dipaola) # Protesters at the Occupy Portland camp chant slogans and hold up signs on November 13, 2011, in Portland, Oregon. In spite of an eviction notice for early Sunday morning, Portland police delayed closing two downtown parks early today as thousands of people converged to support the Occupy Portland movement.(Natalie Behring/Getty Images) # Members of the Occupy Paradeplatz movement look on as Zurich riot police officers stand guard during their removal from the Lindenhof in Zurich, on November 15, 2011. Police began to clear the Lindenhof in downtown Zurich on early Tuesday morning, where protesters from the movement have been camping since October. (Reuters/Christian Hartmann) # Zurich riot police officers carry a protester as they remove members of the Occupy Paradeplatz movement from the Lindenhof in Zurich, on November 15, 2011. (Reuters/Christian Hartmann) # Police officers arrest an Occupy Oakland demonstrator inside a tent at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California, on November 14, 2011. (Reuters/Stephen Lam) # An Occupy Oakland protester is handcuffed to be detained as police officers take down the Occupy Oakland encampment at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of the Oakland City Hall, on November 14, 2011, in Oakland, California. Hundreds of police in riot gear swept into the Occupy Oakland site at dawn on Monday, an officer said, ordering protesters to leave the camp, which has been a weeks-long source of tension for the California city. (Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images) # Police officers take down tents of the Occupy Oakland encampment to evict Occupy Oakland protesters, who are camping at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of the Oakland City Hall, on November 14, 2011, in Oakland, California. (Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images) # Police break up an encampment for an Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Oakland, California, on November 14, 2011. Police in Oakland began clearing out a weeks-old encampment early Monday after issuing several warnings to Occupy demonstrators. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) # A view shows the empty Occupy Oakland campsite following an eviction, in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California, on November 14, 2011. (Reuters/Beck Diefenbach) # Workers clear debris from Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California, on November 14, 2011. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) # Demonstrators re-enter the Frank H. Ogawa plaza after authorities moved in and evicted Occupy Oakland's encampment in Oakland, California, on November 14, 2011. Police moved in early on Monday and cleared out anti-Wall Street protesters from Oakland's City Hall plaza, arresting 33 people but avoiding the sort of clashes that marked a previous attempt to shut down the Occupy Oakland camp. (Reuters/Stephen Lam) # Pat Kanzler, of Eureka, California, stands outside the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka, California, Monday morning, November 14, 2011. Earlier Monday, authorities arrested 32 people and cleared out an Occupy encampment. Eureka police Sgt. Stephen Watson told the San Francisco Chronicle that the people arrested will be held until they post bail, and that the Humboldt County district attorney will file unlawful lodging and other charges. (AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Josh Jackson) # Police officers disperse Occupy Wall Street protesters near the encampment at Zuccotti Park in New York, early Tuesday, November 15, 2011. At about 1 a.m. Tuesday, police handed out notices from the park's owner, Brookfield Office Properties, and the city saying that the park had to be cleared because it had become unsanitary and hazardous. Protesters were told they could return, but without sleeping bags, tarps or tents. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) # People link arms a few blocks from Zuccotti Park as New York City officials clear the Occupy Wall Street protest from the park in the early morning hours of November 15, 2011, in New York. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) # A man confronts a New York Police Department officer a few blocks from Zuccotti Park as New York City officials clear the Occupy Wall Street protest from the park in the early morning hours of November 15, 2011, in New York. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) # New York City police officers scuffle with Occupy Wall Street protesters after they were evicted from Zuccotti Park, on November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images) # A New York City police officer scuffles with Occupy Wall Street protesters after they were evicted from Zuccotti Park, on November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images) # An Occupy Wall Street protester is arrested by New York City police officers after the protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park, on November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images) # An arrested Occupy Wall Street protester screams from a police van, on November 15, 2011, in New York. Police evicted the protesters from Zuccotti Park. Hundreds of police in riot gear dismantled the Occupy Oakland camp Monday, evicting and arresting protesters in the second such US move in as many days as authorities get tough against the two-month-old protest movement. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images) # A protester affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement pours milk over the eyes of another fellow protester to ease the pain from pepper spray during an unannounced raid by the New York City Police Department outside Zuccotti Park in New York, in the early hours of November 15, 2011. (Reuters/Andrew Burton) # A woman yells at New York Police Department officers as New York City officials clear the Occupy Wall Street protest from Zuccotti Park in the early morning hours of November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) # An Occupy Wall Street protester yells out at police after being ordered to leave Zuccotti Park, the Movement's longtime encampment in New York, early Tuesday, November 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) # Police officers order Occupy Wall Street protesters to leave Zuccotti Park, the Movement's longtime encampment in New York, early Tuesday, November 15, 2011. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) # Trash is piled high near Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street's longtime encampment in New York, during the cleanup effort early Tuesday, November 15, 2011. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) # Lieutenant Hayward of the New York Police Department prepares to strike Brent Schmidt (right) after members of the Occupy Wall Street movement were removed from Zuccotti Park in New York November 15, 2011. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # New York City sanitation workers clear the Occupy Wall Street protest from Zuccotti Park in the early morning hours of November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) # A member of the Department of Sanitation removes a drum, among other belongings of the Occupy Wall Street movement, from Zuccotti Park in New York, on November 15, 2011. Authorities declared that the continued occupation of Zuccotti Park -- which had become a sea of tents, tarps and protest signs with hundreds of demonstrators sleeping there -- posed a health and safety threat. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # Workers use pressure washers to clean Zuccotti Park after New York City police in riot gear removed Occupy Wall Street protesters early on November 15, 2011, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) # A man sits on the back of a New York Police Department squad car as he is surrounded by demonstrators affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, on November 15, 2011. Police wearing helmets and carrying shields evicted protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement early on Tuesday from the park in New York City's financial district where they have camped since September, dismantling their tent city and arresting about 70 people. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) # A pedestrian takes a picture of an empty and closed Zuccotti Park in New York, early on November 15, 2011. Police officers evicted Occupy Wall Street protesters from the park overnight. The National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing the protesters to return with their tents to the park, where they have camped for two months. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on the protesters. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) # A statue of a businessman sits behind a police barricade at the edge of a closed Zuccotti Park in New York, on November 15, 2011, after the Occupy Wall Street encampment was cleared form the park in the early morning hours after a nearly two month occupation. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) # | Financial Terrorism in America: Over 1 Million Deaths Annually, 62 Million People With Zero Net Worth, As the Economic Elite Make Off With $46 TrillionNovember 18, 2011 tags: BIS, Federal Reserve, Global Elite, Goldman Sachs, International Banksters, USA, Wall Street Shocking statistics proving the economic elite have launched a deliberate systemic financial terrorist attack against 99.9% of the population.
An all out campaign of corporate and government propagand has obscured the truth of the blatant reality that economic elite have raped and pillaged a generation of Americans. The veil of secrecy that keeps us blinded to our oppressors is disguised beneath obfuscated financial data and blatantly manipulated government statistics. The truth of the matter is every single American feels the stress and pain of increasingly burdensome economic hardships on a daily basis. While we have been fooled to believe our troubles are isolated the light of truth is revealed from the great dark beyond and the fog that clouds our thoughts begin to clear. What was once distorted now becomes obvious, thanks to a very lengthy compilation full of some of the most shocking economic statistics every American should be made aware of. Due to the length of the article, I fear many will shy away from it. To remedy the problem, I present here an abbreviated version containing the just the meat of the original along with a bit of my own spice here and there. However, I fully encourage you to read the full meat and potatoes version because while meat helps us build strong lean muscle it is the potatoes that give us the much needed energy to move those muscles. The article is based on excerpts from the book “The Road Through 2012: Revolution or World War III” written by David DeGraw’s book, the editor and founder of AmpedStatus which will be Released September 28th. I begin here with the abstract of the book followed by the stripped down version of the shocking statistics used to prove his case that the middle class is the victim of a deliberate systemic financial terrorist attack by the super elite who have raped and pillage a generation of Americans.
The Economic DevastationCensus Bureau data, from 2005 – 2009, average US household wealth declined by 28%. This represents a loss of $27,000 per household. Currently, at least 62 million Americans, 20% of US households, have zero or negative net worth. Based on government manipulated census data 43.6 million Americans, 14.3% of the population, lived in poverty in 2009.
Here is how the government manipulates the census data to mask our true economic nightmare.
A more accurate assessment of poverty data by National Academy of Science data shows that 52,765,000 Americans, 17.3% of the population, lived in poverty in 2009.
According to the manipulated government census figures, 20% or 15.5 million American children lived in poverty in 2009, which is 20% of all children in the U.S. The number of children in poverty increased 28% since 2000, and jumped 10% from 2008 to 2009. The more accurate National Academy of Science data showed 18.8 million American children living in poverty in 2009, which is 24%, or nearly one in four. “Every day in America 2,573 babies are born into poverty.” Even with the lower Census numbers, Nine major American cities have a poverty rate over 25%. Based on many key indicators poverty totals have continued to increase since 2009. Current deficit reduction plans will cut “anti-poverty” programs that currently assist tens of millions of Americans. Based on Census data estimates is predicted that the new deficit deal will cut the funding for these programs in half The “the poverty rate will double without these programs.” The total number of Americans living in poverty will increase to 80 million using census data estimates. The total number of Americans living in poverty will increase to 105 million using the National Academy of Science data. Record Breaking Food InsecurityIn 2005, 25.7 million Americans needed food stamps. Today nearly 46 million Americans rely on food stamps.
Tent city homeless camps are popping up all over the United States. Congress has responded the additional need for food stamps by saying fuck you to the public and cutting the funding for the food stamp program. The cuts come as 22.5 million additional Americans need food stamps The brings the total number of Americans in need of food assistance to a stunning 68.3 million people. Our politicians have more important priorities $16 trillion for secret banker bailouts and trillions more to fund the illegal perpetual wars. Record Breaking Unemployment“Official” unemployment is at 9%, but only because the government refused to count millions of unemployed as being unemployed. Go figure.
The real number of unemployed is at an all-time record total of 34 million people which puts the unemployment rate is 22.5%.
The labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of the total population currently working, has fallen to a 27-year low of 63.9%.
Currently, an all-time record 6.3 million people have been unemployed for over six months. The average time it takes for a person to find a job has also just hit an all-time high of 40.4 weeks.
Private-sector job cuts in July surged 60% to a 16-month high. From December 2007 to present, we have lost 10.6 million jobs. Since August 2008, state and local governments have cut 577,000 jobs. The new deficit deal will lead to an additional 1.8 million job losses. 60% of the jobs created by the $2 trillion stimulus are in low-wage fields. Since December 2007 2.8 million of the news jobs created have been part-time jobs. Over 12 months, the National Employment Law Project found that well-paying jobs are rapidly decreasing, while low-paying jobs are helping to mask an increasingly dire employment crisis:
Declining IncomeWhile the cost of living from 1990 – 2010 increased by 67%, worker income has declined. IRS data showed in 2009 average income fell 6.1%, a loss of $3,516 per worker, that year alone. Average income has declined 13.7% from 2007 – 2009, representing a $8,588 loss per worker. Worker income decline is due to the dramatic increase in CEO pay that has consistently increased year-over-year since the mid-1970s. From 1975 – 2010, worker productivity increased 80%. Over this time frame, CEO pay and the income of the economic top 0.1% (one-tenth of one percent) of the population quadrupled. The income of the top 0.01% (one-hundredth of one percent) quintupled. After analyzing 2008 tax data, leading tax reporter David Cay Johnston summed up the situation pointing out that middle class wages should have been 68% higher which equates to a robbery of $406 each week. As shocking as that is, over the last two years, workers have lost an even higher share of income to CEOs. In the last year alone, CEO pay skyrocketed by 28%. Looking at 2009, according to a recent Dollars & Sense report, workers lost nearly $2 trillion in wages that year alone:
As bad as these numbers are, consider that the attack on American workers has increased significantly since 2009. From 2009 to the fourth-quarter of 2010, 88% of income growth went to corporate profits (i.e. CEOs), while just 1% went to workers. As the NY Times reported in an article entitled, “Our Banana Republic,” from 1980 – 2005, “more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.” It has gotten even worse, as Zero Hedge recently reported, labor’s current “share of national income has fallen to its lowest level in modern history.” This chart shows how workers’ percentage of income has been rapidly declining:
The bottom line, as statistics clearly demonstrate, these trends are getting worse and the attacks against us, as severe as they have been over the past four years, are dramatically escalating. Part Two :: The Economic Elite
How Much Wealth Do The Economic Elite Have?
US millionaire households now have $38.6 trillion in wealth. They also have an additional $6.3 trillion hidden in offshore accounts. In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth The majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one percent of the population.
Accounting for wealth hidden in offshore accounts, they are projected to have over $100 trillion in total within the next decade. Most people cannot even comprehend how much $1 trillion is, let alone $46 trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, or $1,000,000,000,000. To put it in perspective, last year the entire cost of feeding all 40 million Americans on food stamps was $65 billion. Now consider, according to the latest IRS data, only 0.076% of the population, less than one-tenth of one percent, earned over $1 million in 2009. The graph below, based on data from the Tax Policy Center, shows how much income is earned by a household at any given percentile in income distribution:
The average income within this category was $91.2 million in 2008. As astonishing as that is, in 2009 they averaged $518.8 million each, or about $10 million per week. This means, in the depths of the recession, the richest 74 Americans increased their income by more than 5 times within this one year. These 74 people made more money than 19 million workers combined. In context, overall, the richest 400 people in the US have as much wealth as 154 million Americans combined, that’s 50% of the entire country. The top economic 1% of the US population now has a record 40% of all wealth, and have more wealth than 90% of the population combined. Who Rules America? Revealing The Economic Top 0.1%Here is an analysis from an investment manager with mega-wealthy clients breaking down the economic top 0.5% of the population, recently published by William Domhoff, sociology professor and author of Who Rules America?:
To get into the top economic 0.01% (one-hundredth of one percent) of the population, you have to have a household income of over $27 million per year. If you look at some of the central players who caused this economic crisis, you will see that they are among this Economic Elite group.
Current Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and a few other top executives at Goldman Sachs just received $111.3 million in bonuses. Blankfein just took home $24.3 million, as part of a $67.9 million bonus he was awarded. Goldman’s President Gary Cohn took home $24 million, as part of a $66.9 million bonus he was awarded. Goldman’s CFO David Viniar and former co-president Jon Winkelried both took home over $20 million in bonuses. Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit just took home $80 million, in what may eventually total more than $200 million in compensation and bonuses. Coming in at the top of the list is JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who just took home $90 million.
If you think people in this income level don’t control the US political process, you are not paying attention. After they caused this economic crisis, they got the government to give them trillions of dollars in taxpayer support, and then, after taking our tax dollars, they gave themselves all-time record-breaking bonuses. 2009 was an all-time record-breaking year for Wall Street executives bringing in a total of $145 billion. In 2010, they broke the all-time record set the year before by pulling in another $149 billion. The audacity of it all is stunning. Finding people more grotesquely greedy than Wall Street executives would seem to be impossible. However, health insurance CEOs are giving them a run for their money. As the LA Times reported:
Aetna CEO Ron Williams has recovered from his down year in 2009 by making $72 million in 2010.
Americans are actually forced to pay twice as much as most nations, and get lower quality care in return. Health insurances companies openly admit reaping windfall profits because people with health insurance plans still cannot afford to go to the doctors and have stopped going unless it is an absolute emergency. With well over 50 million people unable to afford health insurance and the skyrocketing costs. Over 60% of all personal bankruptcies are the result of medical bills. In fact, 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have health insurance. Within this Economic Elite group, you also have the war profiteering oil companies, which themselves are in large part owned by the big Wall Street banks. While gas, oil and energy prices skyrocket for the middle class the biggest five oil companies reaped $36 billion in profit last quarter along. These companies also receive an average of $6 billion per year in government subsidies paid for by none other than the U.S. taxpayer the same poor and middle class they rape. Tax Breaks For The Rich, Budget Cuts For The Rest Of UsTo further demonstrate how the mega-wealthy have seized control our political process, consider that the richest 400 Americans paid 30% of their income in taxes in 1995. They now pay only 18%. In fact, 1,470 Americans earned over $1 million in 2009 and didn’t pay any taxes. The average tax rate for millionaires was 22.4% in 2009, down from 30.4% in 1995. The average millionaire saves $136,000 a year due to reduced tax rates. Corporate tax accounted for 27.3% of federal revenue in 1955. In 2010, corporate tax accounted for only 8.9% of federal revenue. Corporate taxes accounted for 4.3% of overall GDP in 1955, in 2010 they accounted for only 1.3%. Part Three :: The Perfect Storm Overhead:(Inequality = Debt = Austerity = Civil Unrest = Inflation + Deflation = Stagflation) The cuts in taxes for the mega-wealthy have led to record wealth inequality and resulted in a record national deficit. Meanwhile, to make up for the deficit that the richest one-tenth of one percent of the population has created, Democrats and Republicans are committed to making draconian budget cuts to vital social services, which target the poor, middle class, elderly and sick, while handing out billions more in corporate welfare annually. (Inequality = Debt = Austerity) Just as the government has done, to make up for tax revenue lost to the mega-wealthy, Americans have made up for the decline in income by taking on large amounts of debt as well. (Inequality = Debt) In a severely unequal society, massive debt will always be created, thus forming a vicious cycle of increasing inequality and increasing debt, until the fragmentation of society reaches a breaking point when those in debt cannot afford to pay back their debts without starving to death. We are now reaching that breaking point. (Inequality = Debt = Austerity = Civil Unrest) Debt SlaveryThe Indentured Servant Has Become The Indebted Citizen
As mentioned before, from 1990 – 2010 costs of living have increased 67%, while wages have stagnated and declined. As the national debt has reached a record $14.6 trillion, total personal debt is now over $16 trillion by official government estimates. Independent economists put the real national debt at $211 trillion. Consumer debt is $2.5 trillion. Credit card debt is $805 billion. Student debt now exceeds $1 trillion. Obviously, the more severe your debts are, the more you have to cut back in spending and the less money you have to buy new items. (Debt = Austerity) Meanwhile, a perfect storm circles overhead as society breaks down and falls into an economic death spiral – health care, food and gas costs are skyrocketing, while income and home values are plummeting. (Inflation + Deflation = Stagflation) Given these conditions, it is not surprising that over 250 million Americans, another record-breaking number, are currently living paycheck-to-paycheck struggling to make ends meet. InflationThe following charts, from Advisor Perspectives, show the increase in costs of living since 2000:
As you can see, the price of basic necessities are consistently increasing, only clothing (apparel) has declined. The second chart highlights the crucial skyrocketing cost of energy:
The third chart highlights the pernicious skyrocketing cost of education:
The cost of education essentially buries a young person in a debt that they will spend a significant portion of their life attempting to get out of. Given the increasing costs of living, and the decreasing ability to make an expected income from such an expensive level of education, this young demographic will most likely live an entire life locked into spiraling levels of debt that they will never be able to get out of. Propaganda Inflation The Bureau of Labor Statistics has twice, since 1980, revised the method to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation. Their methodology now masks the severity of inflation, similar to how they mask the severity of unemployment, by heavily discounting the measurement weight of energy, food and education – three of the most significant costs for most American households. Tcurrent “official” CPI is at a 3.6% annual rate. Calculated the way it was before Greenspan altered it in 1980, it would be 11.1%, three times worse than officially stated. So while the government and the Federal Reserve claim that inflation is low, at 3.6% over the past year inflation for the middle class has skyrocketed. Food prices increased 39% over the past year. U.S. gas prices increased 34% over the same time frame. The increase in gas cost over the past one-year masks the severity of total gas price inflation at the pump. Gas is currently 125% more expensive since December 2008, increasing from $1.67 per gallon to $3.75. The Hidden Tax The Federal Reserve’s strategic policy known as Quantitative Easing (QE) has been a significant factor in the rising cost of basic necessities by deliberately stimulating inflation, while decreasing the value of the dollar. Because ofQE2 program, the dollar lost 7.5% of its value from January 2010 through March 2010. From August 2010 through March 2011, the dollar lost 17% of its value. To understand how this acts as a hidden tax, consider if you had $10,000 in the bank, over this time frame you would have lost $1700 in purchasing power. $10,000 in August 2010 would be worth $8300 March 2011. At the same time, the cost of gas and food drastically increased. The Phantom Recovery By decreasing the value of the dollar, the Federal Reserve is also inflating the stock market by creating the impression that stock prices are rising, which, when measured in dollars, they have. In real terms the value of the stock market has decreased. To understand how deceptive this strategy has been in giving the appearance of a rising market, instead of measuring overall stock value in dollars, let’s look at their overall value when measured in terms of gold: Dow/Gold Chart from January 1, 2003 – August 8, 2011
As investor Michael Krieger explains:
Dollar Vs. Gold When comparing the value of the dollar to the value of gold, the dollar has lost a stunning 84% of its value since 2000. In 2000, gold was worth $279 per ounce, as of August 8, 2011, gold is $1,725 per ounce. In fact, the dollar continues to fall in value while gold continues to rise. Stagflation All these factors together create a perfect storm of stagflation. 90% of Americans are experiencing declining incomes. The value of the dollar continues declines. Tthe price of necessities continue to rise. The value of the one major asset many Americans have, a house, continues to decline. Declining home values have left 28% of US homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their home is currently worth. 10.4 million American families having lost their homes to foreclosure since 2007, Another 10.8 million homes are at risk of default over the next six years. This will obviously continue downward pressure on home values. The Beaten MassesConfronted With Severe Financial Hardship, Why Do Americans Remain Passive? With an unprecedented sum of wealth, tens of trillions of dollars, held within the top one-tenth of one percent of the US population, we now have the highest and most severe inequality of wealth in US history. Not even the Robber Barons of the Gilded Age were as greedy as the modern day Economic Elite. As famed American philosopher John Dewey once said, “There is no such thing as the liberty or effective power of an individual, group, or class, except in relation to the liberties, the effective powers, of other individuals, groups or classes.” The elite have strategically withheld wealth from 99% of the US population over the past generation Since the mid-1970s, worker production and wealth creation has exploded. The dramatic increase in wealth has been almost entirely absorbed by the economic top one-tenth of one percent of the population, with most of it going to the top one-hundredth of one percent. People struggling to make ends meet are still not fighting back with overwhelming force and running the mega-wealthy aristocrats out of town because of two significant factors:
Considering the first factor, it is obvious that people have become beaten down psychologically and financially. A report in the Guardian entitled, “Anxiety keeps the super-rich safe from middle-class rage,” suggests that people are so desperate to hold on to what they have that they are too busy looking down to look up: “As psychologists will tell you, fear of loss is more powerful than the prospect of gain. The struggling middle classes look down more anxiously than they look up, particularly in recession and sluggish recovery.” Considering the second factor, people do not understand how much wealth has been withheld from them. The average person has never personally experienced or seen the excessive wealth and luxury that the mega-rich live in. Wealth inequality has grown so extreme and the wealthy have become so far removed from average society, it is as if the rich exist in some outer stratosphere beyond the comprehension of the average person. As the Guardian report mentioned above also states:
The average American vastly underestimates the severe wealth disparity. Americans are brainwashed into believing our society is far more equal than it actually is:
The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of US population is unaware of the vast wealth at hand. An entire generation of unprecedented wealth creation has been concealed from 99% of the population for over 35 years. Having never personally experienced or known of this wealth, the average American cannot comprehend what is possible if even a fraction of it was used for the betterment of society as a whole. In fact, given modern technology and wealth, not a single American citizen should live in poverty. The statistics clearly demonstrate that we now live in a Neo-Feudal society. In comparison to the wealthiest one-tenth of one percent of the population, who are sitting on top of tens of trillions of dollars in wealth, we are modern day serfs, essentially propagandized peasants. The fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are struggling to get by, while tens of trillions of dollars are consolidated within a small fraction of the population, is a crime against humanity. The day the average American fully comprehends how much wealth is consolidated within just the top one-tenth of one percent of the population, there will be a massive uprising and all the paid off politicians will be run out of town.
However, I still cling to the hope that once enough people become aware of this hidden and obscured fact, we can have the non-violent revolution we so urgently need. Until then, the rich get richer as a critical mass with increasingly dire economic prospects desperately struggles to make ends meet. Fascism in AmericaOther than driving large segments of the American population into poverty, and pushing the majority into massive debt and a state of financial desperation, there is an ever darker side to what is unfolding today. The Economic Elite have turned America into a modern day fascist state. Fascism is a very powerful word which evokes many strong feelings. People may think that the term cannot be applied to modern day America. However, as Benito Mussolini once summed it up: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.” In the early 1900s, the Italians who invented the term fascism also described it as “estato corporativo,” meaning: the corporate state. Very few Americans would argue the fact that corporations now control our government and have the dominant role in our society. Through a system of legalized bribery – campaign finance, lobbying and the revolving door between Washington and corporations – the most power global corporations dominant the legislative and political process like never before. Senator Huey Long had it right when he warned: “When fascism comes to America, it will come in the form of democracy.” As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once described fascism: “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes strong than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.” The most blatant modern example of this was the bailout of Wall Street, when the “too big to fail” banks got politicians to promptly hand out trillions of tax dollars in support and subsidies to the very people who caused the crisis, without any of them being held accountable. Modern Day SlaveryAnother shocking example of how far we have descended into fascism is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is a group of corporate executives who literally write government legislation. They have gone as far as setting up a system that imprisons the poor and then puts them to work, instead of paying living wages to non-imprisoned workers. Make no mistake, this is a modern day system of slavery unfolding before our eyes. At the leadership of ALEC and various other Economic Elite organizations, poverty has essentially become a crime. To demonstrate these attacks against the poor, there was $17 billion cut from public housing programs, while there was an increase of $19 billion in programs for building prisons, “effectively making the construction of prisons the nation’s main housing program for the poor.” Before laws began to be rewritten in 1980, with direct input from ALEC, we had a prison population of 500,000 citizens. After laws were rewritten to target poor inner city citizens with much more severe penalties, the US prison population skyrocketed to 2.4 million people.
We now have the largest prison population in the world. With only 4% of the world’s population, we have 25% of the world’s prison population. As I reported previously, in a report entitled, “American Gulag: World’s Largest Prison Complex“:
The Death TollThe dramatic increase in poverty has obviously torn many families apart and caused a devastating psychological toll, but consider the increase in deaths as a result of poverty and severe wealth inequalities. This is a very difficult statistic to accurately measure, but Columbia University’s School of Public Health conducted an intensive examination of mortality and medical data and estimated that “875,000 deaths in the US in 2000 could be attributed to a cluster of social factors bound up with poverty and income inequality.” As a report by Debra Watson sums up the study, “There is no reason to believe, after a decade that has seen sustained attacks on social programs and consistently high unemployment rates, that the social mortality rate has declined. On the contrary, it has likely risen.” Indeed, poverty and income inequality have skyrocketed since 2000.
Deliberate Systemic Attacks
As shocking as that is to realize, consider that this is happening throughout the world. While the US poverty death rate is probably higher than in most European countries, the Federal Reserve’s economic policies — along with policies from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Bank of International Settlements — have caused rioting and uprisings over skyrocketing food prices and costs of living throughout the world. The fact of the matter, and very harsh and unfortunate reality of this crisis, is that the global economic central planners are deliberately carrying out genocidal economic policies. As Che Guevara, a man who took on the global financial elite, once said, “The amount of poverty and suffering required for the emergence of a Rockefeller, and the amount of depravity that the accumulation of a fortune of such magnitude entails, are left out of the picture, and it is not always possible to make the people in general see this.” When tens of trillions of dollars deliberately flow to the top economic one-tenth of one percent of the global population, while large percentages live in poverty, you have to conclude, in technical terms, that a Neo-Feudal-Fascist state is upon us. The rich have never been richer, while their paid off politicians make budget cuts for the poor and middle class, and cause the cost of basic necessities to skyrocket. You can call me extreme, but the reality of this is extreme, these people, the global economic top one-tenth of one percent, are genocidal fascists carrying out a holocaust. Fascism has evolved. There is no need to get blood on your hands while rounding up people and putting them into concentration camps when you can do it through economic policy while sitting in a jacuzzi on a corporate jet, or in a three-piece custom-made Armani, completely detached and insulated from the world in which you plunder. However, as what happens with all empires, greed and arrogance makes them overreach. The beaten down masses get to a point where they literally can’t live under these conditions. This desperation spreads throughout the population until it reaches a critical mass, then, suddenly, they rise up and the empire begins to collapse… Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, (Northern Africa, the Middle East), Albania, Greece, Spain, Britain (Europe), Wisconsin… The Economic Elite are overreaching and their empire is collapsing. The decentralized global rebellion has begun… Welcome to World War III. Which side of history do you want to be on? As a wise old friend once said, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.”
Related: The coming derivatives crisis that could destroy the entire global financial system People Of Earth: Prepare For Economic Disaster Deliberate Impoverishment of the Western World VIDEO – Deliberate Economic Collapse DOCUMENTARY – Inside Job (2010) The Federal Reserve Cartel: The Eight Families 19 Reasons Why The Federal Reserve Is At The Heart Of Our Economic Problems Crisis as a Means to Building a Global Totalitarian State VIDEO – Economic Armageddon and You VIDEO – David Icke – World Financial System DOCUMENTARY – The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America Auditing The Federal Reserve: What Are The Banksters So Afraid Of…? (With Videos) The Political Economy of Global Government A Rothschild Plan for World Government VIDEO – Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis 20 reasons America has lost its soul and collapse is inevitable (With Video) The Planned Global Economic Crisis The Aim of the Financiers: A One-World Government With a One-World Currency Are You Ready for the Next Crisis? |
by Alexander Higgins
The American public has sustained intensive economic attacks across broad segments of the population. While the attacks have been increasingly severe in scale over the past four years, they have been implemented with technocratic precision. They have been incrementally applied thus far, successfully keeping the population passive and avoiding any large-scale civilian unrest, while effectively reducing living standards for the majority of the population. As you will see in this report, the 55 million Americans that have been hit the hardest have thus far acquiesced due to temporary financial assistance, such as food stamps and extended unemployment benefits.
While 68.3 million Americans struggle to get enough food to eat and wages are declining for 90% of the population, US millionaire household wealth has reached an unprecedented level.
US millionaire households will see a 225% increase in wealth to $87.1 trillion by 2020.
Only 74 Americans are in this elite group are in the highest bracket for annual income is $50 million or more.
Former Goldman Sachs CEO and Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had already amassed at least $700 million prior to moving to the US Treasury in 2006.
Given this level of obscene profiteering within the health care industry Americans pay more for medical care than any other nation in the world.
As for statistics on Americans being buried in financial debt, the indentured servant has evolved into the indebted citizen.
(NY Times)“In a recent survey of Americans, my colleague Dan Ariely and I found that Americans drastically underestimated the level of wealth inequality in the United States. While recent data indicates that the richest 20 percent of Americans own 84 percent of all wealth, people estimated that this group owned just 59 percent – believing that total wealth in this country is far more evenly divided among poorer Americans.
The next time you are stressed out, struggling to make ends meet and pay off your debts, just think about the trillions of dollars sitting in the obscenely bloated pockets of one-tenth of one percent of the population. The first step in overcoming your peasant status is to understand that you are indeed a peasant. This is a bitter pill to swallow and most will prefer to, as they have been conditioned to do, continue on their path of media-induced delusion, denial, apathy and ignorance.
Now, let’s consider the fact that, according to the Census Bureau, 
The dramatic increase in economic inequality and poverty, along with the unprecedented rise in wealth within the top one-tenth of one percent of the population has not happened by mistake. It is the designed result of deliberate governmental and economic policy. It is the result of the richest people in the world, and the “too big to fail” banks, using the campaign finance and lobbying system to buy off politicians who implement policies designed to exploit 99.9% of the population for their financial gain. To call what is happening a “financial terrorist attack” on the United States, is not using hyperbole, it is the technical term for what is currently occurring.
Compare the million people who die annually as a result of these economic attacks, to the 2,977 that died on 9/11. As someone who lived three blocks from the World Trade Center, as tragic as 9/11 was, these economic attacks are much more severe and damaging to us as a nation, albeit a much slower and unseen death toll. Nonetheless, the result is of genocidal proportions. One can statistically compare the economic attacks on the US to the invasion of Iraq, which some estimate as leading to one million deaths. Once again, many of those deaths came in brutal and spectacular fashion in bombing campaigns known as “shock and awe.” However, the death toll compares to the hidden brutality of a four-year campaign of economic “shock and awe.” Just as Iraq was invaded, the US has been invaded by a global banking cartel.
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