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The journal's Jason Zweig reports:





The Code of Hammurabi, more than 3,700 years ago, stipulated that any Mesopotamian who violated the terms of a financial contract – including the futures contracts that were commonly used in commodities trading in Babylon – “shall be put to death as a thief.” The severe penalty doesn’t seem to have eradicated such cheating, however.


In medieval Catalonia, a banker who went bust wasn’t merely humiliated by town criers who declaimed his failure in public squares throughout the land; he had to live on nothing but bread and water until he paid off his depositors in full. If, after a year, he was unable to repay, he would be executed – as in the case of banker Francesch Castello, who was beheaded in 1360. Bankers who lied about their books could also be subject to the death penalty.


In Florence during the Renaissance, the Arte del Cambio – the guild of mercantile money-changers who facilitated the city’s international trade – made the cheating of clients punishable by torture. Rule 70 of the guild’s statutes stipulated that any member caught in unethical conduct could be disciplined on the rack “or other corrective instruments” at the headquarters of the guild.


But financial crimes weren’t merely punished; they were stigmatized. Dante’s Inferno is populated largely with financial sinners, each category with its own distinctive punishment: misers who roll giant weights pointlessly back and forth with their chests, thieves festooned with snakes and lizards, usurers draped with purses they can’t reach, even forecasters whose heads are wrenched around backward to symbolize their inability to see what is in front of them.


Counterfeiting and forgery, as the historian Marvin Becker noted in 1976, “were much less prevalent in Florence during the second half of the fourteenth century than in Tuscany during the twentieth century” and “the bankruptcy rate stood at approximately one-half [the modern rate].”


In England, counterfeiting was punishable by death starting in the 14th century, and altering the coinage was declared a form of high treason by 1562.


In the 17th century, the British state cracked down ferociously on counterfeiters and “coin-clippers” (who snipped shards of metal off coins, yielding scraps they could later melt down or resell). The offenders were thrown into London’s notorious Newgate prison. The lucky ones, after being dragged on planks through sewage-filled streets, were hanged. Others were smeared with tar from head to toe, tied or shackled to a stake, and then burned to death.


The British government was so determined to stamp out these financial crimes that it put Sir Isaac Newton on the case. Appointed as warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, Newton promptly began uncovering those who violated the financial laws of the nation with the same passion he brought to discovering the physical laws of the universe.


The great scientist was tireless and merciless. Newton went undercover, donning disguises to prowl through prisons, taverns and other dens of iniquity in search of financial fraud. He had suspects brought to the Mint, often by force, and interrogated them himself. In a year and a half, says historian Carl Wennerlind, Newton grilled 200 suspects, “employing means that sometimes bordered on torture.”


When one counterfeiter begged Newton to save him from the gallows – “O dear Sr no body can save me but you O God my God I shall be murderd unless you save me O I hope God will move your heart with mercy and pitty to do this thing for me” – Newton coldly refused.


The counterfeiter was hanged two weeks later.


Until at least the early 19th century, it remained commonplace for counterfeiters and forgers to be put to death; between 1792 and 1829, for example, notes Wennerlind, 618 people were convicted of counterfeiting British paper currency, and most of them were hanged. Many were women.

Bloomberg provides details of one "peasant revolt" stemming from a Libor-like currency manipulation scheme:

During the “Good Parliament” of 1376, public discontent over [manipulation of currency exchange rates similar to the current Libor scandal] came to a head. The Commons, represented by the speaker, Peter de la Mare, accused leading members of the royal court of abusing their position to profit from public funds.

A particular target was the London financier Richard Lyons ....

Initially the government bowed to public pressure. Lyons was imprisoned in the Tower of London and his properties and wealth were confiscated. Other leading courtiers implicated in these abuses, such as Latimer and the king’s mistress, Alice Perrers, were banished from court.


Once parliament had dissolved and the public outcry had died down, however, the king’s eldest son, John of Gaunt, acted to reverse the verdicts of the Good Parliament. Latimer and Perrers soon reappeared at the king’s side and Lyons was released from the Tower and recovered his wealth, while the “whistleblower” de la Mare was thrown in jail. The government also sought to appease the wealthy knights and merchants that dominated parliament by imposing a new, regressive form of taxation, a poll tax paid by everyone rather than a tax levied on goods. This effectively passed the burden of royal finance down to the peasantry.


It seemed as though everything had returned to business as normal and Lyons appeared to have gotten away with it. In 1381, however, simmering discontent over continuing suspicions of government corruption and the poll tax contributed to a massive popular uprising, the Peasants’ Revolt, during which leading government ministers, including Simon of Sudbury (the chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury) and Robert Hales (the treasurer) were executed by the rebels. This time, Lyons did not escape; he was singled out, dragged from his house and beheaded in the street.

If the King had followed the rule of law - and kept Lyons and the boys in jail - everything would have calmed down. The monarchy - just like the present-day government - chose to ignore the rule of law, and protect the thieves and punish the whistleblowers.

We have argued for years that the best way to avoid violence is to reinstate the rule of law.

The Bloomberg article - written by a professor of the history of finance and a professor of finance at the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading - ends on a similar note:

The question now is whether public outrage at the Libor scandal and other financial misdeeds will lead to fundamental reforms of the financial sector -- such as the separation of retail and investment banking or legislation to regulate the “bonus culture” -- or just more cosmetic changes that fail to address the structural issues.


Will we have to wait for a 21st century peasants’ revolt before seeing any real change?


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Comment viewing options

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 08:59 | 2681296 Widowmaker
Widowmaker's picture

Washington, you're not fighting people, you're fighting incorporated ghosts -- no one ever sees a thing.

Perhaps they will see the James Holmes' of the world coming to redefine record bonuses.

"Goldman Sachs and College America ruin your life?  Mine too!"

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 08:26 | 2681236 Waterfallsparkles
Waterfallsparkles's picture

The only thing that will cause Revolt will be to stop issuing Welfare Checks.  That would be one of the biggest Revolts ever.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 07:10 | 2681120 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Powerful people, powerful plans....

The best plans by mice and men are often gone astray.

They are not invincible.

They require Participation.

When Indians were not permitted to have unofficial salt, Gandhi went to the sea and collected natural salt.

You retake your republic 1 step at a time.

Break from the Matrix; then awaken another Sleeper.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 01:21 | 2680935 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

Problem is that pitchforks and torches are ill suited to combat against militarized police equipped with tanks, predator drones and ever powerful surveillance.

Peasaants could - on rare occasions - prevail against the local nobility by strength of numbers.  But if the rest of the nobility felt threatened by a few local peasants revolting against a particularly egregious local lord, they'd band together and put the revolt down.      Now numbers alone don;t work.  A VERY few - can control far larger groups.   The technological advantage is hughe unless the masses are willing to endure being pounded back to medieval times (as in Iraq and Afghanistan).  Not sure Americans are willing to endure such deprivation.   As long as they're fed and distracted, the Blue pill is preferred.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 03:35 | 2681028 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

elites control police (force), politicians (power), and media (public opinion and education)


However, elites have only one heart and lives. you just have to expose the truth and people will take care of it.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 06:24 | 2681099 zyphryx
zyphryx's picture

Not when the people are more concerned with the Kardashians, X-Box, People Magazine, & Katire Couric. I don't believe the PTB need to marshal troops & police to quelch a riot of the masses; they just need to change a judge on American Idol & the rioteers will forget what they were rioting about.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 09:08 | 2681339 johnQpublic
johnQpublic's picture

as long as people can talk shit from behind the safety of the computer screen they will be satisfied with themselves that they have done their share and will not feel the need to do anything more


and none of you here can prove that wrong


or does one of you unibomber types care to step up and out yourself?



there will be no revolution 

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 00:13 | 2680897 ItsDanger
ItsDanger's picture

You'll see change when normal people are elected.  Not the career politicians, lawyers, keep it in the family types.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:48 | 2680784 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

The battle isn't against 'them', but our own - - that is the People's - - self awareness. 'They' can do nothing without our co-operation, because there are many more of us in the world than them.

We need to keep reaching out to those around us, starting with our family and friends. People are beginning to understand that 'something isn't right' in our country and around the world. As things degrade, perhaps they will begin to see what we've been warning people about.

One source of optimism for me is that 'perfect plans' usually never work out that way. 'Shit happens'.  It wasn't all that long ago that the USSR was one of the two world's Super Powers. They had a vast Army with tanks that could over run all of Europe. They had a large Navy. They were a nuclear power with multiple warhead missiles aimed at the west.

Then - - - in a relatively short time, and seemingly at the surprise of everyone - - they were no more.


Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:01 | 2680736 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

How about taking away all their ill gotten gains - - - including the loot held by any and all their family members who benefited from it ?   More effective, I would think, than some kind of physical vengence on such criminal psychopaths.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 17:14 | 2680167 dannynewmexico
dannynewmexico's picture

the system (finacial, governments etc all) is about to collapse!!



stand back and watch and enjoy.... its going to happen whether or not you enjoy it or not......

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 16:45 | 2680122 Overdrawn
Overdrawn's picture

Just been reading this as well:


Individualized Medicine: FDA Approved Ingestible Microchip Tracking Device

The Food and Drug Administration has approved an ingestible digital senor that can track physical health with the assertion that patients are not taking their medication regularly and need a tracking device inside their body to assist them in their medical care. The mainstream medical industry has a term for this new type of spying: individualized medicine. individualized-medicine-fda-app roved-ingestible-microchip-tra cking-device/






Short 30 second video showing how it works inside you:

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 01:23 | 2680936 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

so...... you get zapped if you don't take your SOMA?

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 16:33 | 2680077 OneTinSoldier66
OneTinSoldier66's picture





Just want to say that there is no need to use Government force or coercion to regulate banks and bankers. To me, a good part of the problem is this thinking/believing that Banks need rules, regulation, and regulators. That's what the Banks' lobbyists and their representatives in Government want you to believe!


If the Banks have to stand on their own two feet and have to make an honest profit(no place to turn for a bailout), what would they do? They would either make an honest profit, or go out of business. It's that simple.


How would they go about making honest money? What form a Bank takes in order to make honest money is not the issue. The issue is whether or not it's done honestly. You would know if the Bank is making money honestly if it has to stand all by itself on it's own two feet.


A question that might be tough for some is... should anyone ever lose a deposit they placed in a Bank? Personally, I believe everyone should be responsible for their own money. If you decide to place your money in a Bank that, unbeknownst to you was doing business fraudulently, that's not my fault or responsibility. While I do believe you should be able to do what you can to recover as much as you can and have the fraudster held accountable, I am not responsible for bailing you or the fraudster out!


If Banks are so fraudulent, so criminal, and the behavior is so prevalent in the financial industry that almost none can be trusted, then to me, the solution is simple. Everyone should unplug from the Establishment and be their own Central Bank.


Of course, if everyone were smart enough to do this then we'd be having Ron Paul for President. :-D

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 17:17 | 2680128 spooz
spooz's picture

How do you know which bank to trust when you have an ongoing control fraud and all checks and balances have been compromised? So in this libertarian utopia, for which there is no historical example, would some mafioso types be running the money business in true bankster style?

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 19:08 | 2680336 OneTinSoldier66
OneTinSoldier66's picture

Hello Spooz,


I don't have all the answers, even though sometimes I might like to think I do. Although I am libertarian, I know there is no such thing as utopia.


How do you  know which Banks to trust? Well, that would be a question of mine as well. As I said, I think everyone should be their own Central Bank right now. That means buy Gold and Silver.


Anyway, I'll take the liberty to ask you what you think. :-) If, for money, we had something that was commodity-based, with weights and measures used to qualify and quantify it, so that money could be considered a real actual 'unit of account' for, let's say, accounting purposes... and there was no FDIC, nor any Federal Reserve money out of thin air System, or any other socialize the losses onto the masses(through force, coercion, propaganda) bailout type of system in place, what do you think would happen?


I believe that money shouldn't be controlled in any way by the Government. There certainly shouldn't be any government agency that issues money 'out of thin air', 'monetize' the public debt into the money itself. That's what we have as a unit of account. A debt instrument. And the Banking Cartel lobbies the Government for more of it. I believe they wrote Dodd-Frank. That's the answer I get back anyway to the question 'who wrote it?', since I know our elected officials don't write the multi-thousand page laws they pass.


I can say something for sure. As for The Fed, it was created to debase, debauch, and devalue Federal Reserve Notes, which are now worth 1/1600 oz. of Gold.  I never swore allegiance or agreed to such a system myself. I never condoned my coinage to be debased by elitists in 1965. And then to find out they have even more devious, subtle and surreptitious ways to debase and devalue the fiat paper once removed completely from gold backing. It's supposed to be our money. We're not supposed to be working for the Government, the Government is supposed to work for us... and where is Jon Corzine?

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 18:30 | 2680288 honestann
honestann's picture

No.  You would have your own savings hidden somewhere obscure, or burried far out in the desert or forest, and would not let anyone wearing a nice expensive suit anywhere near your savings.  You would be smart enough to know there is NO honest way to earn expensive suits and huge marble buildings by holding onto the wealth of others.  You would therefore conclude you would be insane to deal with scumbags who are obviously running predatory criminal scams.

As for "money", that's a totally bogus concept if it means anything other than "pieces of real, physical valuable material" that you haven't traded for something else yet.  There is no legitimate "money business".  So-called "money" is nothing more than "your property".  Period.  Why on earth you'd give your life savings to some smooth talking slimeball who is obvious involved in predatory criminal activity is unknown to me or any other rational individual.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:12 | 2680745 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

How to get it done ?

End the fraud of fractional reserve banking where banks can 'lend' more than in their vaults.

Of course this would produce screams of outrage from bankers, those who they pay, and all those who have been conned by them for centuries. "Not enough 'flexibility' in the financial system" - - meaning not enough of an opportunity for them to profit from fraud.

P.S. - - for those who aren't already familiar with this, the intentionally ignored genius, economist, and historian Murray Rothbard is a terrific source of enlightenment. He wrote about banking, Liberty, and many other subjects very relevant for today.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 02:44 | 2681000 honestann
honestann's picture

How to get it done?  Simple.  Make sure 100% of your "savings" are real, physical, valuable goods - entirely under your own control.  Hold 0% of your "savings" in "paper" of any form (fiat, bonds, stocks, etc).  Refuse to exchange the goods you produce for paper.  The rest will take care of itself as the predators consume everything the rest of the cooperative population thinks they "own", and both predators and prey find themselves unable to con producers out of the goods they need to survive and prosper.

You cannot "get it done" by "overthowing them" --- not at this point in history.  Their prey will help defend them, and their prey are too many to deal with.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 16:04 | 2680045 Joe A
Joe A's picture

It is not going to happen. Lone avengers, perhaps. Or Baader-Meinhof kind of groups.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:13 | 2680755 brettd
brettd's picture


Yep.  If you're going to have a revolt, you must know who you're revolting against....who's head goes on a pike.

Everyone has a list, and it's usually three deep.  Never gonna happen.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 01:57 | 2680958 Joe A
Joe A's picture

What surprises me that in the US people shoot other people in cinemas or in Sikh temples but I never heard of someone shooting up a banker's firm or a financial institution. I mean, if you lost everything due to banker's manipulation I can imagine that you are pissed off.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:11 | 2680754 Bringin It
Bringin It's picture

In the end, it all comes down to food.  Every sofa surfer will get up and move when they haven't eaten in a day.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 08:17 | 2681218 Help Is Not Coming
Help Is Not Coming's picture

They might get up and move when they get hungry but they already riot over towels!


Mon, 08/06/2012 - 02:34 | 2680960 Joe A
Joe A's picture

A lot of sofa surfers are too fat to get up. And when it comes to food, people with fight eachother over crumbs instead of them whom actually control the food supply.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 22:01 | 2680739 brettd
brettd's picture




Sun, 08/05/2012 - 15:51 | 2680016 Overdrawn
Overdrawn's picture

Was just reading this:

Government Silently Positions for Martial Law as Financial Collapse Arrives in America




Sun, 08/05/2012 - 19:49 | 2680451 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

meanwhile, silly troll children play mindlessly simple troll games at sophisticated communication hubs in a certain to fail attempt at staging an absolute coup over the American and by extension, global system of governance.

You are almost there buddy. As has been the case forever.....Almost there.

What a fucking hamster.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 14:22 | 2679795 honestann
honestann's picture

Stop trying to make yourself feel better.  Stop trying to pretend these historical events are likely to repeat.  Humans don't seem to understand.  At this point in history, the predators ARE (and control) every government on earth, every police-force on earth, every military on earth, every court on earth.

Game over.  The producers simply "gave it all away" to the predators.  All the large corporations are also now controlled by predators.  This is a particularly sick joke, "corporations" supposedly being places where "production happens".  And indeed, some production still does happen in some "corporations".  However, all large corporations are now run by the executives entirely to benefit the executives.  The shareholders hold nothing but empty bags at this point in history.

The predators have taken control of everything.  They are still a tiny minority, probably much less even than the so-called 1% that people talk about.  However, somehow they convinced producers the only way the producers can deal with predators is to "reason with them" or "vote in better predators" or some other completely insane notion.  It is difficult to understand why producers... some of whom are fairly intelligent... actually imagine that utterly craven drooling beasts can be dealt with by "reason" or "voting" (when the predators pre-arrange that everyone running is a predator).

I mean, really!  What producers and liberty advocates and all sorts of basically honorable people are trying to do is exactly the functional equivalent of trying to hold a rational conversation with a huge, hungry wild lion intent upon consuming him.  This is literally what the world has come to --- the notion that utterly unscrupulous predator-beasts can be dealt with in the same way we might deal with a meek, ethical, spectacle-wearing scientist.  This is literally what is happening on planet earth at this point in history!  That anyone believes they can deal with utterly unconstrained beasts who operate consistently on their current modus-operandi, which is "get away with whatever you can", no holds barred.

Humans have passed so far beyond the point of infinite psycho-stupido, that mankind is clearly finished.  The methods practiced by the predators are not even subtle or obscure much less "hidden" any more, not beyond uttering completely lame nonsense like "we have to rape you at the airports to keep you safe from distasteful people" or equivalent tripe.  When the predators violate everyone, what passes as "intellectuals" and "commentators" don't even mention that the predators own rules clearly state that the only way to overturn any part of the constitution (the predators own rules) is to pass an ammendment to the constitution.

In other words, even the supposed commentators and protectors of the predator rulebook totally ignore the predator rulebook when it contradicts whatever a predator just happens to want to do at the moment.  This happens EVERY SINGLE DAY in virtually every large, medium and small information outlet.  Even so-called liberty and freedom oriented spokespeople tend to say things like "the law gives the TSA the right to rape everyone at the airports", totally ignoring that is NOT what the predators own laws say at all.  They may mention the contradiction now and then, but then adopt the BLATANT LIE that the predator spokesmen adopt, which is "it is the law", "you must be radiated and/or raped at the airport", and so forth.

Let me make this clear.  To begin with, when a bunch of predators write BS down on a piece of paper, and collect together and raise their hands now and then, that has ZERO to do with me.  It certainly has ZERO legitimate relationship to me.  And, in fact, it cannot have anything real to do with me.  At most you might be able to designate their actions as a "generalized threat" that they intend to hire thugs to abuse everyone at airports (or whatever the issue is).  However, it has ZERO BASIS whatsoever, both "in reality" AND on the basis of their own bogus, irrelevant "laws".

And that's the end of it.  There is no other legitimate conversation to have, except #1, they don't own me, and #2, even by their own rules/laws/documents, even their claims are violations of their own rules/laws, and in fact are clearly treason and direct violations of the oath they must take to hold their fictional "position".

That people are willing to even HAVE other conversations (about the details or implementation or otherwise) is simply pure insanity.  It is inherently insulting to any honest human being to hold discussions that refer to LAW while discussing so-called laws and law-makers and law-enforcers who blatantly and grossly violate their own laws every day in the most egregious ways.  In such a situation, what exactly do people think they are doing when they supposedly "discuss" these topics?  When a wild beast is biting its huge teeth down into your throat, what exactly do you think you're doing when you attempt to utter a comment about the angle his teeth are moving in the fraction of a second before you die?  How insane do human beings intend to get, exactly?

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 17:36 | 2680198 gmj
gmj's picture

But we are all predators.  The middle class with its insatiable appetite for big houses and shiny things.  The "professional poor" who spend their time finding new ways to get money from the gov't.  The only difference between the rich and the rest of us is money.  Take some schmoe off the street and make him CEO of JP Morgan, and watch what happens to him.  The seed of evil lies within each of us.  Do you think the rich are responsible for the devastation of this planet that is happening all around us right now?  No, it is driven by the crazed materialism of the US middle class, who believe that they should live like gods, and who have no higher goal in life than to consume as much as possible.

The greed and aggression of Homo sapiens helped to make us the masters of our world.  Now that our world is nearly exhausted, those same qualities are turning us against each other.  It will not be justice that has us at each other's throats; it will be competition for the last stainless steel refrigerator.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 02:25 | 2680976 AnAnonymous
AnAnonymous's picture



In US citizen societies, the poor's needs are only satisfied because it gives more to the US citizen middle class.

The US citizen middle class is the king class in US citizenism. Everything is organized to favour the middle class's welfare.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 13:30 | 2682096 akak
akak's picture



Yes.  That is why the US middle class is shrinking, has been shrinking for 40 years, and is actively being destroyed by the policies of the top 0.1% ruling elite.

Your incessant babbled gibberish, your simplistic and collectivistic inanities, and your virulent anti-American bigotry are always good for a laugh, though.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 18:34 | 2680248 honestann
honestann's picture

No, we are not all predators, and there is a very real difference between "producer" and "predator".

I do not doubt that a great many human beings are primarily predator and/or parasite, yet have produced a little bit along the way (probably not by choice).

To "produce" is to take actions that cause things to exist that would not have existed without your actions.  The fact is, "actions have consequences".  Most actions have destructive consequences, but some actions have productive consequences.  To plant seeds, water the field, tend the crops, build fences around them to bar predators and parasites, and then harvest the crops --- is production.  To come onto your property and grab nuts, fruits and veggies from the plants you grew is predatory.

When predators who call themselves "government" steal your food (or money you traded your food for), they are predators and their actions are destructive and predatory.  When those predators send a little of the money/food they stole from you to tens of millions of lazy bums to bribe votes out of them, those lazy bums are parasites who consume left-overs the predators allow them to have.

Your history is blatantly wrong, even as every element contains a grain of reality.  The FACT is, the natural processes of planet earth are sufficient to support less than 1% of the human population.  It was HUMAN PRODUCTION that allowed the human population of earth to explode, and ONLY human production.  Therefore, it was NOT "aggression" and "insatiable appetite for bling bling" that made humans what they are, it was production.

And now that production is being destroyed, humans shall spiral down the tubes of history.  You and the rest of human beings will find out what production meant --- when you no longer have any to support you.

Our world is NOT exhausted.  The earth is a ball of molten hot rock with an average temperature of many hundred if not a couple thousand degrees.  There is plenty of geothermal energy to power a modern existence for billions of humans for millions of years, and plenty of material too.  If converted into an open-core foam structure, earth could support untold population --- not that I'd want to live there with such an insane hoard of chimps!!!!!

Or to put it your way, if humans were willing to exterminate human predators, and also willing to spend 30 hours per week being productive, ALL of mankind could live a high quality life indefinitely.  However, the insistence of mankind to sanction and support the human predators will assure mankind exterminates himself within the next 100 years.

Good riddens to the vast majority who support such insanity.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 23:30 | 2680859 monad
monad's picture
























Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, 1957

Yeah, baby!

Tue, 08/07/2012 - 12:45 | 2685071 shuckster
shuckster's picture

The conviction in this speech is strong, but the credibility weak. Industrialism is a tool of destruction and exploitation. Industrialism should not be the end but the means. Ayn Rand could not see past that point. She saw only industrialism, not it's purpose. I take advice only from those who I admire. Rand was a weird and bitter old lady. She may have provided fodder for the exploiters, like Friedman. It is so easy for a job creator to call everyone else a free loader. Little does he know that he is the freeloader - loading up on cheap labor. Creating junk. Destroying the precious resources of the planet for the sake of his own mental masturbation. Job creators have no credibility. As a class, they sold themselves out - they turned in their chips a long time ago. America needed to be industrialized, to move the piece a block closer to the goal on the board - just like Russia needed to be industrialized. That is why the capitalist system was established, that is why the communist system was established - to industrialize the east and western parts of the globe which until that point had remained in the middle ages. For all her insight - Rand could not see the bigger picture and the ultimate truth - that we are all slaves - slaves to the Zionist kabal that has planned our life from cradle to grave, for the satisfaction of their own ferocious apetite. For blood, for souls, for the insatiable hunger for power. They are the bain of our existence - they are the ones for whom you work and toil, and they are the ones that will forever feed off your labor. Rand was a blissfully ignorant propogandist - she was not inside the loop, and wanting to get into it, she chose to lick the feet of the zionist kabal. Of course she died lonely and weird, just like she was born, and never received her 40 pieces of silver. Just like every dumb Christian (or atheist in her case) slave who chooses to serve the kabal, she sold her soul for a cheap price and never received her payment. It's the oldest trick in the Talmud - offer nothing to a gentile in exchange for his everything. Believe her words at your own peril

PS her love of money is love of the Jew who issues that money - money is evil when the issuer is evil

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 00:34 | 2680908 LithiumWarsWAKEUP
LithiumWarsWAKEUP's picture

Ahhh,,,,Frankie, it's the 'love' of money...    so sayeth.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 03:38 | 2681029 Vaiman
Vaiman's picture

Exactly what I was gonna say!  The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.  Money in itself is neutral.  It can be used for good or evil.  It's the intentions of the heart of the one who possesses it that is the real issue.  The bible says you can't love God and money both.  You will love one and hate the other.  It is possible to Love God and have money though.  As long as the money doesn't have you.  If the Lord instructs someone to give money to a need then that person will do so without hesitation if they Love God and want to do his will.

Tue, 08/07/2012 - 01:19 | 2683892 monad
monad's picture


Sun, 08/05/2012 - 19:12 | 2680373 gmj
gmj's picture

We do not have an instinct to produce; we have an instinct to take.  We started out as hunter-gatherers; we took.  We killed those who competed with us for resources.  We learned agriculture when there was nothing left to take.  Now we have a class of hunter-gatherers in the world's banks, corporations and legislatures.  They will not stop until there is nothing left to take.  They are enabled by a population of uninformed, uninterested, lazy citizens who are anaesthetized by popular culture and materialism.  There is no higher purpose in life for most people beyond the pursuit of pleasure and possessions.  This is why revolutions never come from the masses.  They always come from a few disenchanted idealists from the middle or upper classes.  The masses don't have the understanding or vocabulary for revolution.  When they get upset, they prey on each other.  The ancient Greeks and Romans tried democracy, but they knew that the mob could not handle power.  So the mob was represented by the educated gentry.  Ultimately, power was wielded at various times by the army, the nobility, and the clergy.  The masses just don't have the attention span for governing.

We do not need angels or devils.  We are the angels.  We are the devils.  Every one of us has all these facets.  Circumstances decide which facet is visible.  Democracy is probably the best system for restraining our vices.  But it only works if the electorate is conscious and informed. 

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 18:40 | 2680299 CH1
CH1's picture


Well said, my friend. + 100.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 17:28 | 2680174 shuckster
shuckster's picture

People will forever deny the nature of the beast so long as he is not standing in front of them. And when he does, they will say "no, that's not a beast". They are foolish and they will be punished in short order. Nature punishes the foolish people mercilously. I have no sympathy for them. Let them take their punishment. "Let those who will die, die and those who will live live". This is far beyond the point of reasoning. We are in the jaws of the beast. 

It reminds me of a conversation I had with my parents recently. A commercial came on TV and I scoffed at the Navy add which showed an aircraft carrier. They said "that's so cool that we have those" (referring to the aircraft carrier). I couldn't help but say "what are you joking? Those things are a joke! They can be shot out of the ocean with a single missile. They are a complete waste of (our taxpayer) money!" But still, I was alone in my outrage. The world is too ugly a place for some people to look at. They cannot look into the eyes of the beast, because they are too terrified. They'd rather fall into the fetal position than run. They'd rather take the cyanide pill than be conscious when their life is ripped away from them. Ignore them. They are too far gone. Save yourself first

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 18:37 | 2680219 honestann
honestann's picture

Indeed.  I must admit my disappointment that those of us who "get it", and who decided to "save ourselves", can't seem to collaborate.  I suppose that's because apparent collaborators so often turn out to be predators in disguise, which makes collaboration a risky gamble.  However, we all know the impressive efficiency gains possible when several people focus on their strengths.  What's that called?  Is it "comparative advantage"?  You know what I mean.

Of course we can never tell how bad it will get in advance, but my latest estimate is... life will get very, extremely bad in the next few years.  Much worse than most pessimists imagine.  Well beyond "inconvenient", and quite far into EXTREMELY BAD.

And frankly, I'm almost certain it is a one-way trip down the tubes for human beings.  Unless a few of us get our butts off this planet, I suspect mankind is finished --- literally.  But I do expect a huge quantity of suffering will occur before the final human lights expire.

The grave of mankind should state: the stupidest lifeform on planet earth - who convinced themselves they were smartest.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 18:42 | 2680302 CH1
CH1's picture

I must admit my disappointment that those of us who "get it"...

My disappointment is that they talk forever, but NEVER ACT.

They are forever waiting for other people to do it, or for someone to grant them permission to do it. But they never grow stones and do it themselves.

NOTHING will change until people ACT. Ever.

Mon, 08/06/2012 - 15:28 | 2680968 honestann
honestann's picture

Oh, I am - and have been - taking real actions, no doubt about that!  However, they are rather isolated from and uncoordinated with other actions that other individualists might take, which is my disappointment.

I moved out of dodge a few years ago, I acquired a travel vehicle that can take me 4000km (across fictional borders and open ocean) without refueling (not as good as a wind-powered yacht in many ways, but it has other advantages), I am setting up more and more self-sufficiency in what most people would call "extreme boonies" (with no road access), and so forth.

I am preparing to avoid, not sanction or assist predators (civilian or otherwise).  I will not fight anyone unless directly attacked, which is unlikely in extreme boonies.  For "fighting" to be effective, collaboration would be necessary, and as you say, nobody ever acts in those sort of ways today, except rarely to "sacrifice themself" in some small way to make a protest statement.  I guess that might help a tiny bit on the margins, but any movement needs health and vigor to succeed, not fines and time in cages.

So yes, people are curiously unwilling to act in any coordinated way.  So all that remains are individual actions to implement individual plans.  Well, then.  For all the talk, no coordinated action.  I get it.  So be it.  Individual plans and actions it is.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 15:48 | 2679989 headless blogger
headless blogger's picture

Yep, it's being done right in front of everyone's face. Nobody can say we didn't warn 'em.

Domestically, the drone program and other high tech surveillance (much of which is being developed at "prestigious" colleges and institutions) is what has my feathers ruffled lately. Besides the ability of these psychopathic "drone operators" being able to see into our daughter's bedroom, etc, they also have the radar systems that see through walls:

I've been trying to talk to people about this but you hit the nail in your comment, in the affect that people just don't care.

People used to oooh and aaaaaah Orwell's 1984, but what we got coming down the pipe now is making that look like child's play.

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 12:27 | 2679516 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

"Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." - Frederick Douglass

In that case, America is Fucked...

Gore Vidal For President - even dead he would be better than what we have or will have....

Sun, 08/05/2012 - 11:46 | 2679432 kilroy
kilroy's picture


Sun, 08/05/2012 - 15:03 | 2679899 monad
monad's picture






(John) Rockefeller got busy. Writers were hired to write pamphlets which were sent broadcast to every editor in the country, bulletins. In these leaflets, it was shown how perfectly happy was the life of the miner until the agitators came; how joyous he was with the company's saloon,. the company's pigstys for homes, the cornpany's teachers and preachers and coroners. How the miners hated the state law of an eight-hour working day, begging to be allowed to work ten, twelve. How they hated the state law that they should have their own check weigh-man to see that they were not cheated at the tipple.


Mother Jones
