"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Barack H. Obama, San Francisco Fundraiser, April 11, 2008 "The problem of the last three decades is not the 'vicissitudes of the marketplace,' but rather deliberate actions by the government to redistribute income from the rest of us to the one percent. This pattern of government action shows up in all areas of government policy." Dean Baker "If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time." Simon Johnson, The Quiet Coup
Today was a double-header of discouragement in how quickly the pampered plutocrats are dismissing any possible lessons they might have taken from the Brexit. The Three Stooges Amigos at the North American Leaders Summit, Barry, Pena, and Justin, were talking up free trade, globalization, and the benefits of corporatism for the ignorant masses. And on the other hand, the profound thinkers of modern finance returned to Aspen today to celebrate the Aspen Art museum, a monument to the nouveau riche with a 'broad base of community support of one million dollar donations from 28 individuals.' The interviews with the very serious people there were surreal, almost otherworldly and profoundly discouraging in their lack of understanding of what is happening all around them, and any sense of context and self-examination. Well, that is why people go to Aspen and all the other enclaves of unreality these days. I fear that this is going to get much uglier before it gets better. Have a pleasant evening.
