But think of the fallout for the average working stiff with NO safety net - we need to keep the good and change the bad. Just because it's gotten MUCH worse under Bush doesn't mean we can't repair it.
Look at Roosevelt's programs - that was a wholesale change without a total collapse and failure - sure the Depression spurred it, but the country as a whole did not fail. I've spent enough time in Africa to know societal collapse is not the answer... Jason & Katie wrote: >i say LET IT FAIL. let it fail like a drunk acrobat with no net. if anything >we should try to accelerate the process. the faster we hit bottom, the >faster we can re-establish something decent. there are very few ways to >repair this mess without a total demolition and refurbishment. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> >Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 2:17 AM >Subject: [Biofuel] The Predator State = Enron, Tyco, WorldCom... and the >U.S. government? > > > > >>http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12880.htm >> >>The Predator State >> >>Enron, Tyco, WorldCom... and the U.S. government? >> >>By James K. Galbraith >> >>04/29/06 "Mother Jones" -- -- WHAT IS THE REAL NATURE of American >>capitalism today? Is it a grand national adventure, as politicians >>and textbooks aver, in which markets provide the framework for benign >>competition, from which emerges the greatest good for the greatest >>number? Or is it the domain of class struggle, even a "global class >>war," as the title of Jeff Faux's new book would have it, in which >>the "party of Davos" outmaneuvers the remnants of the organized >>working class? >> >>The doctrines of the "law and economics" movement, now ascendant in >>our courts, hold that if people are rational, if markets can be >>"contested," if memory is good and information adequate, then firms >>will adhere on their own to norms of honorable conduct. Any public >>presence in the economy undermines this. Even insurance-whether >>deposit insurance or Social Security-is perverse, for it encourages >>irresponsible risktaking. Banks will lend to bad clients, workers >>will "live for today," companies will speculate with their pension >>funds; the movement has even argued that seat belts foster reckless >>driving. Insurance, in other words, creates a "moral hazard" for >>which "market discipline" is the cure; all works for the best when >>thought and planning do not interfere. It's a strange vision, and if >>we weren't governed by people like John Roberts and Sam Alito, who >>pretend to believe it, it would scarcely be worth our attention. >> >>The idea of class struggle goes back a long way; perhaps it really is >>"the history of all hitherto existing society," as Marx and Engels >>famously declared. But if the world is ruled by a monied elite, then >>to what extent do middle-class working Americans compose part of the >>global proletariat? The honest answer can only be: not much. The >>political decline of the left surely flows in part from rhetoric that >>no longer matches experience; for the most part, American voters do >>not live on the Malthusian margin. Dollars command the world's goods, >>rupees do not; membership in the dollar economy makes every working >>American, to some degree, complicit in the capitalist class. >> >>In the mixed-economy America I grew up in, there existed a >>post-capitalist, post-Marxian vision of middle-class identity. It >>consisted of shared assets and entitlements, of which the bedrock was >>public education, access to college, good housing, full employment at >>living wages, Medicare, and Social Security. These programs, publicly >>provided, financed, or guaranteed, had softened the rough edges of >>Great Depression capitalism, rewarding the sacrifices that won the >>Second World War. They also showcased America, demonstrating to those >>behind the Iron Curtain that regulated capitalism could yield >>prosperity far beyond the capacities of state planning. (This, and >>not the arms race, ultimately brought down the Soviet empire.) These >>middle-class institutions survive in America today, but they are >>frayed and tattered from constant attack. And the division between >>those included and those excluded is large and obvious to all. >> >>Today, the signature of modern American capitalism is neither benign >>competition, nor class struggle, nor an inclusive middle-class >>utopia. Instead, predation has become the dominant feature-a system >>wherein the rich have come to feast on decaying systems built for the >>middle class. The predatory class is not the whole of the wealthy; it >>may be opposed by many others of similar wealth. But it is the >>defining feature, the leading force. And its agents are in full >>control of the government under which we live. >> >>Our rulers deliver favors to their clients. These range from Native >>American casino operators, to Appalachian coal companies, to Saipan >>sweatshop operators, to the would-be oil field operators of Iraq. >>They include the misanthropes who led the campaign to abolish the >>estate tax; Charles Schwab, who suggested the dividend tax cut of >>2003; the "Benedict Arnold" companies who move their taxable income >>offshore; and the financial institutions behind last year's >>bankruptcy bill. Everywhere you look, public decisions yield gains to >>specific private entities. >> >>For in a predatory regime, nothing is done for public reasons. >>Indeed, the men in charge do not recognize that "public purposes" >>exist. They have friends, and enemies, and as for the rest-we're the >>prey. Hurricane Katrina illustrated this perfectly, as Halliburton >>scooped up contracts and Bush hamstrung Kathleen Blanco, the >>Democratic governor of Louisiana. The population of New Orleans was, >>at best, an afterthought; once dispersed, it was quickly forgotten. >> >>The predator-prey model explains some things that other models >>cannot: in particular, cycles of prosperity and depression. Growth >>among the prey stimulates predation. The two populations grow >>together at first, but when the balance of power shifts toward the >>predators (through rising interest rates, utility rates, oil prices, >>or embezzlement), both can crash abruptly. When they do, it takes a >>long time for either to recover. >> >>The predatory model can also help us understand why many rich people >>have come to hate the Bush administration. For predation is the enemy >>of honest business. In a world where the winners are all connected, >>it's not only the prey who lose out. It's everyone who hasn't licked >>the appropriate boots. Predatory regimes are like protection rackets: >>powerful and feared, but neither loved nor respected. They do not >>enjoy a broad political base. >> >>In a predatory economy, the rules imagined by the law and economics >>crowd don't apply. There's no market discipline. Predators compete >>not by following the rules but by breaking them. They take the >>business-school view of law: Rules are not designed to guide behavior >>but laid down to define the limits of unpunished conduct. Once one >>gets close to the line, stepping over it is easy. A predatory economy >>is criminogenic: It fosters and rewards criminal behavior. >> >>Why don't markets provide the discipline? Why don't "reputation >>effects" secure good behavior? Economists have been slow to answer >>these questions, but now we have a full-blown theory in a book by my >>colleague William K. Black, The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One. >>Black was the lawyer/whistle-blower in the Savings and Loan and >>Keating Five scandals; he later took a degree in criminology. His >>theory of "control fraud" addresses the situation in which the leader >>of an organization uses his company as a "weapon" of fraud and a >>"shield" against prosecution-a situation with which law and economics >>cannot cope. >> >>For instance, law and economics argues that top accounting firms will >>protect their own reputations by ferreting out fraud in their >>clients. But, as with Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom, at every major S&L >>control fraud was protected by clean audits from top accountants: You >>hire the top firm to get the clean opinion. Moral hazard theory >>shifts the blame for financial collapse to the incentives implicit in >>insurance, but Black shows that the large frauds were nearly all >>committed in institutions taken over for that purpose by criminal >>networks, often by big players like Charles Keating, Michael Milken, >>and Don Dixon. And there's another thing about predatory >>institutions. They invariably fail in the end. They fail because they >>are meant to fail. Predators suck the life from the businesses they >>command, concealing the fact for as long as possible behind >>fraudulent accounting and hugely complex transactions; that's the >>looter's point. >> >>That a government run by people rooted in this culture should also be >>predatory isn't surprising-and the link between George H.W. Bush, who >>led the deregulation of the S&Ls, his son Neil, who ran a corrupt >>S&L, and Neil's brother George, for whom Ken Lay sent thugs to >>Florida in 2000 on the Enron plane, could hardly be any closer. But >>aside from occasional references to "kleptocracy" in other countries, >>economic opinion has been slow to recognize this. Thinking wistfully, >>we assume that government wants to do good, and its failure to do so >>is a matter of incompetence. >> >>But if the government is a predator, then it will fail: not merely >>politically, but in every substantial way. Government will not cope >>with global warming, or Hurricane Katrina, or Iraq-not because it is >>incompetent but because it is willfully indifferent to the problem of >>competence. The questions are, in what ways will the failure hit the >>population? And what mechanisms survive for calling the predators to >>account? Unfortunately, at the highest levels, one cannot rely on the >>justice system, thanks to the power of the pardon. It's politics or >>nothing, recognizing that in a world of predators, all established >>parties are corrupted in part. >> >>So, how can the political system reform itself? How can we >>reestablish checks, balances, countervailing power, and a sense of >>public purpose? How can we get modern economic predation back under >>control, restoring the possibilities not only for progressive social >>action but also-just as important-for honest private economic >>activity? Until we can answer those questions, the predators will run >>wild. >> >>James K. Galbraith teaches economics at the Lyndon B. Johnson School >>of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. He previously >>served in several positions on the staff of the U.S. Congress, >>including executive director of the Joint Economic Committee. >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Biofuel mailing list >>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >> >>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 >>messages): >>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >> >> >>-- >>No virus found in this incoming message. >>Checked by AVG Free Edition. >>Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.2/329 - Release Date: 5/2/2006 >> >> >> >> > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
