BAD MOON RISING

I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin’.
I see bad times today.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising

 

“Human history seems logical in afterthought but a mystery in forethought.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe

The above statement by historians William Strauss and Neil Howe is very significant as we try to make sense of the events unfolding before our very eyes in today’s world. On September 17, a mere six weeks ago, a few hundred young people showed up in Zucatti Park in Lower Manhattan to protest our corrupt, broken and Wall Street manipulated economic and political system. That first night, approximately 100 protestors occupied the park and were outnumbered by the NYPD in full riot gear. The idea to Occupy Wall Street began circulating on the internet in late August. The Millennial Generation used their social networks and put their tech savvy talents to work. Before long, thousands of protestors showed up in cities across the U.S. The model for this movement was the successful demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia, earlier in the year.

 

The initial reaction among mainstream media and politicians across the land was bemusement. A bunch of young hippy throwbacks were going to make a meaningless statement and then fade away. The attention span of Americans is as long as the commercial break between contestants on Dancing With the Stars. Everyone knows the Millennials aren’t to be taken seriously. They are a bunch of spoiled, coddled, lazy college kids who need to get a job. But a funny thing happened during the commercial break. The kids held their ground. They didn’t leave. More young people arrived. More young people began protesting in cities across the country. Middle aged people began to get involved. Even some older people joined the cause. Before long there were thousands of people getting involved. It spread to Europe, with young people occupying London and Rome. Donations and supplies began to pour in from around the world. There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear.

The six weeks since September 17 have been chaotic, venomous, confusing, and verging on deadly. Wall Street gyrated wildly with stocks falling 8% by October 3 and rebounding by 15% by October 28 and plunging again this week. The Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) declared the country was headed back into recession on September 30:

“It’s important to understand that recession doesn’t mean a bad economy – we’ve had that for years now. It means an economy that keeps worsening, because it’s locked into a vicious cycle. It means that the jobless rate, already above 9%, will go much higher, and the federal budget deficit, already above a trillion dollars, will soar. Here’s what ECRI’s recession call really says: if you think this is a bad economy, you haven’t seen anything yet. And that has profound implications for both Main Street and Wall Street.”

The ECRI has called the last three recessions with no instances of false alarms. Last week, the Conference Board announced the Consumer Confidence Index plummeted to two and a half year low of 39.8, last seen in March of 2009. The Dow Jones was trading at 6,500 in March 2009, some 47% below today’s level. It is an interesting dichotomy between how the average American feels about the world and how the Wall Street elite feel about their Ben Bernanke sheltered world. The Consumer Confidence Index was 110 in 2007 and 140 in early 2001. We’ve come a long way baby.

During these past six weeks the European Union has teetered on the verge of disintegration. Non-stop negotiations, agreements, plans, declarations, special purpose vehicles, bailout funds, and lies have poured forth on a daily basis. Greece still lives – on a ventilator – as it has been brain dead for months. The sole purpose of all the public relations efforts, press conferences, summit meetings and lies has been to keep European banks, their stockholders and bondholders from accepting the consequences of their irresponsible lending to the PIIGS. Essentially, the German people have been put on the hook for losses that should have been born by the stockholders and bondholders of the biggest French, German, Belgian and English banks. The EU has put a tourniquet over a cancerous tumor. The entire world is awash in bad debt and until this debt is liquidated, we will stagger from crisis to crisis like a drunken sailor. John Hussman describes the master plan:

In effect, European leaders have announced “We have agreed to solve our debt problem, leveraging money we do not have, to create a fund, which will then borrow several times that amount, in order to buy enormous amounts of new debt that we will need to issue.”

As politicians and central bankers around the world desperately try to keep their debt drenched ponzi scheme going for awhile longer, the mood darkens among the populations of developed countries around the world. I came across a quote from, of all people, Vladimir Lenin that describes how the last six weeks seemed to me: 

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

It seems like history is accelerating. Momentous events have been occurring regularly since 2007. Our political and financial leaders are blindsided on a daily basis by each new crisis. The majority of the American public continues to be apathetic, willfully ignorant, and constantly absorbed by their array of electronic gadgets and mindless drivel spewed at them by media conglomerates. Rather than think critically, most Americans allow left wing and right wing mainstream media to formulate their opinions for them through their propaganda and misinformation operations. Linear thinkers, who make up the majority of the political, social, media and financial elite in this country, believe the world progresses and moves ever forward. In reality, the world operates in a cyclical fashion, with generations throughout history reacting to events in a predictable manner based upon their stage in life. The reason the world has turned so chaotic, angry and fraught with danger since 2007 is because we have entered another Fourth Turning. Strauss & Howe have been able to document a fourfold cycle of generational types and recurring mood eras in American history back 500 years. They have also documented the same phenomenon in other countries.

The housing collapse, near meltdown of our financial system, revolutions in the Middle East, economic turmoil in Europe, poisoned political atmosphere in Washington DC, and most recently the Occupy Wall Street movement are part of a larger cycle. The four living generations have each entered the phases of their lives that will lead to a convulsive upheaval and destruction of the existing social order. We’ve entered a twenty year period of Crisis as described by Strauss & Howe:

“A CRISIS arises in response to sudden threats that previously would have been ignored or deferred, but which are now perceived as dire. Great worldly perils boil off the clutter and complexity of life, leaving behind one simple imperative: The society must prevail. This requires a solid public consensus, aggressive institutions, and personal sacrifice. People support new efforts to wield public authority, whose perceived successes soon justify more of the same. Government governs, community obstacles are removed, and laws and customs that resisted change for decades are swiftly shunted aside. A grim preoccupation with civic peril causes spiritual curiosity to decline. Public order tightens, private risk-taking abates, and crime and substance abuse decline. Families strengthen, gender distinctions widen, and child-rearing reaches a smothering degree of protection and structure. The young focus their energy on worldly achievements, leaving values in the hands of the old. Wars are fought with fury and for maximum result.” – Strauss & Howe

History is Cyclical, not Linear

“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt  

  

I’ve been trying to decipher which direction this Fourth Turning will lead, and the last six weeks has started to crystallize my thinking. I’ve been fascinated by the intense reactions, opinions and arguments that have taken place across the airwaves and internet regarding the true nature of the Occupy movement. Some of the reaction is based upon pure ideological grounds, with media outlets like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, NY Post and CNBC, disparaging, ridiculing and demeaning the movement. The anti-rich tone of the protests may not sit well with the multi-billionaire owners (Rupert Murdoch, Mort Zuckerman, Roberts Family) of these mega-media corporations. The liberal media such as MSNBC, Huffington Post, and CNN have sometimes been fawning over the movement in an effort to co-opt it into liberal Tea Party for the benefit of Obama and the Democratic Party. The propaganda and misinformation coming from both these ideological camps is easy to discern for a critical thinking person. Sadly, the nation is filled with people that don’t want to think. Therefore, they let their opinions be formed by talking heads on a TV screen.

These reactions were predictable. What caught my attention was the generational reaction to Occupy Wall Street. I know all the rugged individualists out there chafe at being lumped into a generational cohort, but the fact remains that groups of people born during the same time frame encounter key historical events and social trends while occupying the same phase of life. Because members of a generation are molded in lasting ways by the eras they encounter as children and young adults, they also tend to share certain common beliefs and behaviors. Aware of the experiences and traits that they share with their peers, members of a generation also tend to share a sense of common perceived membership in that generation. To deny the reality that large clusters of human beings tend to act with a herd mentality is contrary to all visible evidence. The herd mentality can be observed in the Dot-com bubble, Americans unquestioningly allowing passage of the Patriot Act, the housing bubble, the mass hysteria over the latest iSomething, Black Friday riots at retail stores to obtain the “hottest” toy or gadget, and the slaves to the latest fashions and trends as directed by the corporate media machine. The masses don’t realize they are being manipulated by the few who understand the power of propaganda:

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” – Edward Bernays – Propaganda – 1928

The Occupy movement is being driven by the Millennial Generation. They have used their superior technological and social networking skills to organize, educate, and inspire people to their cause while befuddling and confusing the authorities. They continue to rally more young people to their fight against Wall Street and K Street tyranny. The generational lines of battle are being drawn. The Baby Boom Generation, who is at the point of maximum power in society, fears this movement. They control Wall Street, corporate America, Congress, the courts, academia and the media. They have reached their peak of influence and power, which will rapidly wane over the next fifteen years. They see the Occupy movement as a threat to their supremacy and control of the system. The cynical, alienated, pragmatic Generation X is caught between the Boomers and the Millennials in this escalating conflict. It is likely the majority of this generation will side with the Millennials, realizing the future of the country depends on them and not the elderly Boomers. To clarify, not every Boomer, Gen Xer, or Millennial will act in concert with their generational cohort. But it doesn’t matter if a few cattle stray from the herd, when the herd is stampeding in one direction.

The chart below details the Strauss & Howe configuration of generations and turnings for the last two Saeculums in American history. They describe their generational theory in the following terms:

“Turnings last about 20 years and always arrive in the same order. Four of them make up the cycle of history, which is about the length of a long human life. The first turning is a High, a period of confident expansion as a new order becomes established after the old has been dismantled. Next comes an Awakening, a time of rebellion against the now-established order, when spiritual exploration becomes the norm. Then comes an Unraveling, an increasingly troubled era of strong individualism that surmounts increasingly fragmented institutions. Last comes the Fourth Turning, an era of upheaval, a Crisis in which society redefines its very nature and purpose.” Strauss & Howe

Each new generation is born approximately three years prior to the next turning. This results in Strauss & Howe having a slightly different generational grouping than government demographers.

Great Power Saeculum (82)
Missionary Generation Prophet (Idealist) 1860–1882 (22) High: Reconstruction/Gilded Age
Lost Generation Nomad (Reactive) 1883–1900 (17) Awakening: Missionary Awakening
G.I. Generation Hero (Civic) 1901–1924 (23) Unraveling: World War I/Prohibition
Silent Generation Artist (Adaptive) 1925–1942 (17) Crisis: Great Depression/World War II
Millennial Saeculum (67+)
(Baby) Boom Generation Prophet (Idealist) 1943–1960 (17) High: Superpower America
13th Generation Nomad (Reactive) 1961–1981 (20) Awakening: Consciousness Revolution
(a.k.a Generation X)
Millennial Generation(Generation Y) Hero (Civic) 1982–2004 (22) Unraveling: Culture Wars, Postmodernism, Digital Technology
New Silent Generation (Generation Z) Artist (Adaptive) 2004–present (6+) Crisis: Great Recession, War on Terror, Declining Superpower, and Globalization

There is nothing mystical about their theory. Strauss & Howe are historians who have created a framework for understanding why people act a certain way to events differently, depending on which stage of life they occupy. The theory is so logical because it is based upon the average 80 year life cycle of a human being. A human being goes through four stages during their life: childhood, young adulthood, midlife, and elderhood. During each of these stages, you will react to the same event in a very different manner. During an 80 year cycle, there will be four generations at different stages of their life. The interaction between the generations at each 20 year turning determines how history is steered through the events of that cycle. The life cycle stages can be seen in this chart:

  Prophet Nomad Hero Artist
High Childhood Elderhood Midlife Young Adult
Awakening Young Adult Childhood Elderhood Midlife
Unraveling Midlife Young Adult Childhood Elderhood
Crisis Elderhood Midlife Young Adult Childhood

Strauss and Howe compare the saecular rhythm to the seasons of the year, which inevitably occur in the same order, but with slightly varying timing. Just as winter may come sooner or later, and be more or less severe in any given year, the same is true of a Fourth Turning in any given Saeculum. The theory does not predict the events which drive history, but it does predict the generational reaction to events depending upon their age. We entered the Fourth Turning Crisis in 2007 with the housing collapse and the implosion of our financial system. The configuration of elder self righteous Boomers at 60 years old, midlife pessimistic Gen Xers at 40 years old, and coming of age Millennials at 20 years old is an explosive mixture that will provide the impetus and fury to this period of catharsis and pain. Winter has arrived. There is no way to avoid it. The bitter winds have begun to blow. The first harsh front arrived in 2008 with the near meltdown of the worldwide economic system. There has been a lull in the biting gale force winds of this Crisis through the shoveling of massive amounts of newly created debt into a system already drowning in debt. The Occupy movement and the impending collapse of the European Union charade will usher in the next blizzard of pain and suffering. We hurdle towards are rendezvous with destiny.

“The ‘spirit of America’ comes once a saeculum, only through what the ancients called ekpyrosis, nature’s fiery moment of death and discontinuity.  History’s periodic eras of Crisis combust the old social order and give birth to a new. A Fourth Turning is a solstice era of maximum darkness, in which the supply of social order is still falling—but the demand for order is now rising.  It is the saeculum’s hibernal, its time of trial. Nature exacts its fatal payment and pitilessly sorts out the survivors and the doomed.  Pleasures recede, tempests hurt, pretense is exposed, and toughness rewarded—all in a season.” Strauss & Howe

Millennials Rising

Over the last six weeks I’ve watched as the young protestors around the country have been called: filthy hippies, losers, lazy, coddled, socialists, communists, spoiled college kids, parasites, useful idiots, and tools of the left. Most of the wrath being heaped upon these young people for exercising their Constitutional right to free speech and freedom of assembly has been from the Baby Boom Generation, who are at the peak of their power in our society. Sixty percent of the Senate is made up of Baby Boomers, with the next closest generation being the Silent Generation with twenty five percent. Over 58% of the House of Representatives is made up of Baby Boomers, with the next closest generation being Gen Xers at 27%. They occupy the executive suites of the Wall Street banks (Blankfein, Dimon, Pandit, Monihan) and the Federal Reserve (Bernanke). They make up the majority of judges, local politicians and school boards. They run the Federal government agencies. And they dominate the airwaves as the high priced mouthpieces for their corporate bosses. This Prophet generation will lead the country through the trials and tribulations of this Fourth Turning.

The disdain and contempt for these Millennial protestors flies in the face of the facts about this generation. They use drugs at a lower rate than their parents did at the same age. Teen crime rates and teen pregnancies have declined. They will have the highest level of college education in U.S. history. They were protected during their youth as organized sports taught them teamwork. They are the most technologically savvy generation in history. They volunteer at a higher level than previous generations. They have been more upbeat and engaged than their predecessors (Gen X). And they are much closer to their parents than Boomers were at the same age. They reject the negativism and cynicism of their parents and believe positive change is possible in our society. They have shown respect for authority up until the last six weeks. They were primed to be led by Boomers that could articulate a positive vision of the future based on reality and a better tomorrow. They were ready to make sacrifices in order to create a brighter future. But a funny thing happened. The Boomer generation failed to deliver on their part of the bargain.

Prior Hero Generation Americans had braved the winter at Valley Forge and stormed the beaches of Normandy as Prophet leaders like Ben Franklin and Franklin Roosevelt provided inspirational guidance and the vision of a better tomorrow. Strauss & Howe accurately assessed the Millennial Generation in their book Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, published in 2000 when the 1st Millennials were graduating high school:

“As a group, Millennials are unlike any other youth generation in living memory. They are more numerous, more affluent, better educated, and more ethnically diverse. More important, they are beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans no longer associate with youth, including a new focus on teamwork, achievement, modesty and good conduct. Only a few years from now, this can-do youth revolution will overwhelm the cynics and pessimists … will entirely recast the image of youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged — with potentially seismic consequences for America.” – Strauss & Howe

The youth of America listened to their parents and stayed in school. They’ve racked up over $1 trillion in student loan debt getting college educations. Meanwhile, our Baby Boomer leadership had an opportunity to address the country’s unsustainable fiscal path by accepting the consequences of a thirty year debt binge and liquidating the banks that took extreme risks with extreme leverage. An orderly liquidation (aka Washington Mutual) would have punished the stockholders, bondholders and management of the Wall Street banks, while leaving the depositors whole and purging the system of debt that can never be paid off. Our politicians could have ended our wars of choice in the Middle East and cut our war spending by hundreds of billions without sacrificing one iota of safety for the American people. The political leadership could have put the country on a deficit reduction path that would have insured the long-term viability of our republic.

Instead of doing the right thing, our Baby Boomer leaders did the exact opposite of the right thing. They held the American taxpayer hostage and absconded with trillions of their tax dollars and handed it over to the same Wall Street banks that had run the largest fraud scheme in world history and blew up the worldwide financial system. The Boomer Chairman of the Federal Reserve decided to not only save the Wall Street banks but to purposefully try to pump up the stock market, while destroying the lives of savers and senior citizens with his zero interest rate policy. His policies have led to a surge in energy and food prices and contributed to revolutions in the Middle East. The Wall Street banks have used the accounting gimmick of relieving loan loss reserves to create fake profits over the last two years. Wall Street celebrated by paying themselves $60 billion in bonuses between 2008 and 2010. The poster boys for the .1% Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein “earned” $23 million and $19 million respectively in 2010.

The politicians borrowed trillions from future unborn generations to inflict a Keynesian nightmare of solutions on the American economy that included: an $800 billion porkulus program, $22 billion pissed down the toilet on a homebuyer tax credit as home prices are now lower, $3 billion for Cash for Clunkers that cost $24,000 per car sold, loan modification schemes, tax credits for windows, doors and appliances, and payroll tax cuts. The result of all the Federal Reserve and politician “solutions” has been to increase the National Debt by $5.3 trillion in three years, a 55% increase. It took the country over 200 years to accumulate the first $5.3 trillion in debt. Everything done thus far has benefitted only the top 1%. The real unemployment rate is 23%. The real inflation rate is between 5% and 10%. The economy is headed back into recession. But at least the top 1% are doing well, as the stock market has risen 84% from its 2009 lows. Somehow, the oligarchy that runs this country is taken aback by the protests growing increasingly contentious across the country. It is not a surprise to those who understand the cyclical nature of history and the darkening mood in this country, which has been deepening since the Tea Party protests of 2009.

Hope You Are Quite Prepared To Die

Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we’re in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising

  

It seems the young people in this country have realized they have no future when the system is run for the benefit of an oligarchy consisting of Wall Street banks, mega-corporations, media conglomerates, and puppet politicians in Washington D.C. These people will stop at nothing to retain their wealth and power. Not only do they want to retain it, they are actively trying to increase it. They have achieved their goal beyond all expectations, and are still able to convince a large portion of the population through their propaganda machine they deserve every penny. The chasm between the “Haves” and “Have Nots” has never been greater in U.S. history. The truth is that Americans have always admired entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates who created businesses, created jobs, and ended up with vast wealth. But, that is not the wealth protestors on Wall Street and across the country are angry about. They are angry at the hyper-concentration of wealth in the hands of men that have rigged the system in their favor through bribery (lobbying & contributions), fraud (no-doc loans & AAA rated toxic derivatives), accounting schemes (special purpose vehicles & suspending mark to market) and holding the American middle class hostage (TARP & zero interest rates). When the 400 wealthiest Americans own more than the “lower” 150 million Americans put together, you have a system that is badly broken.

Do the Millennials have a right to be angry? The table below shows how the economic solutions of the oligarchy have worked out for the youth of our country. There are 19 million young people between the ages of 18 and 29 that are not working. Some are still in college, but most are not. That is a lot of potential Occupiers.

Age Group %  not employed
18 to 19 65%
20 to 24 40%
25 to 29 27%

After observing the reactions to the OWS movement over the last few weeks, I’m more convinced than ever that different generations view the same event through the prism of their own life experiences, beliefs, prejudices, and biases. I’ve found the Baby Boomers have generally been doubtful of the protestors’ motives, condescending towards their intelligence, scornful about their appearance, and derogatory regarding their flaunting of authority. This is fascinating considering that Boomers love to reminisce about their glory days protesting the Vietnam War. The Boomer generation was at this same age configuration in 1970. Their GI Generation parents probably had the same opinions about the long haired, drug using, sex crazed youthful Boomers in 1970. Now the Boomers are the establishment and they don’t like seeing their authority challenged by these naïve troublemakers. Strauss & Howe saw the likelihood of this conflict back in 1997 when the oldest Millennials were only 15 years old:

“When young adults encounter leaders who cling to the old regime (and who keep propping up senior benefit programs that will by then be busting the budget), they will not tune out, 13er-style. Instead they will get busy working to defeat or overcome their adversaries. Their success will lead some older critics to perceive real danger in a rising generation perceived as capable but naïve.” –  Strauss & Howe

The Millennials spearheading these protests are most certainly capable. In a matter of six weeks they have created a worldwide movement occupying every major city in the world. The biggest complaints coming from the Boomers is they are naïve, misguided, immature, and don’t understand the real problem. The bitter condemnation of the protestors for breaking a myriad of minor administrative laws, regulations, ordinances, and curfews is beyond laughable. Fox News, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, NY Post and the other mouthpieces of the ruling oligarchy are apoplectic about the young protestors camping out in public parks, but they were not too concerned by the Wall Street banks systematically defrauding millions of people by creating mortgage products designed to deceive.

They weren’t irate when Wall Street held Congress hostage for a $700 billion ransom. They weren’t enraged when Ben Bernanke bought a trillion dollars of toxic mortgage debt from the Wall Street banks at 100 cents on the dollar. They weren’t furious when the government officials forced the FASB to abandon mark to market rules, allowing the Wall Street banks to falsely report their financial statements. But, they are outraged by young people exercising their right to free speech and right to assembly. When their paid armies of thugs attack the protestors with tear gas and billy clubs, they declare the protestors had it coming. It seems the 150 year old American tradition of civil disobedience to protest unjust laws, defined by Henry David Thoreau, is not too popular among Boomers or the corporate mainstream media.

“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” –  Henry David Thoreau 

Many of the protestors are naïve, misinformed about the true causes of the financial crisis, impulsive, and seeking solutions that would result in more government control. Their critics say they should be in Washington DC, not on Wall Street. The Boomers don’t like their flaunting of rules and regulations imposed by local authorities. Again, the older generations have conveniently forgotten how naïve, impulsive and rebellious they were at the age of 20. The amazing thing to me is this generation never showed this side during their younger years. Their slogans like “Tax the Rich” are misguided. They need assistance from older generations, but instead they are getting beaten and arrested by the older generation. Some Boomers, like William Black, have opened a dialogue with the protestors, but the majority of Boomers are resistant to the movement. In prior Fourth Turnings, the Hero archetype followed the orders of the Prophet archetype. I fear the Boomer Generation, through their intransigence and refusal to proactively address our structural problems, have set in motion a revolutionary chain of events that will lead to class warfare and possibly civil war in this country. The real danger, as experienced in other countries (France, Russia, China), is that a demagogue could gain control. Strauss & Howe envisioned that possibility in 1997:

“This youthful hunger for social discipline and centralized authority could lead Millenial youth brigades to lend mass to dangerous demagogues. The risk of class warfare will be especially grave if the 20% of Millenials who were poor as children (50% in the inner cities) come of age seeing their peer-bonded paths to generational progress blocked by elder inertia. Unraveling era adults who are today chilled by school uniforms will be truly frightened by the Millennials’ Crisis-era collectivism.” –  Strauss & Howe

The most outrageous accusation made against the protestors is they are somehow responsible for their current plight. The Boomers declare they are spoiled kids who need to get a job. A critical thinking analysis of the Millennial Generation demographics reveals how ridiculous it is for Boomers to blame Millennials in any way for our current economic debacle. There are 97 million Millennials and 54 million of them are under the age of 20. Another 21 million are between the ages of 20 and 24, barely getting started in the real world. Only 39 million of them were eligible to even vote in the last Presidential election. It should be clear to even the most dense CNBC anchor that the young people protesting in the streets are not to blame for the raping and pillaging of the U.S. economic system by the barbarians on Wall Street over the last thirty years, with the consent and encouragement of the bought off politicians in Washington D.C.

Generation Age Total Pop.(mil)
G.I. 86–109 6
Silent 69–85 22
Boomer 51–68 73
Gen-X 30–50 83
Millennial 7–29 97
Homeland – 6 29

After placing the living generations in their assigned age buckets, I was shocked to see the Millennials being, by far, the largest generation. I had assumed it was the Baby Boom Generation. At their peak in 1970 they totaled 76 million and made up 37% of the U.S. population. But, time has not treated them well. Approximately 3 million have left this earth and they only make up 24% of the population. Both Gen X and the Millennials now outnumber the Baby Boomers. They will continue to see their power wane as the years roll by. The Millennial power will grow as the Fourth Turning progresses, since they make up 31% of the population today and will see that ratio grow as the G.I. and Silent generations die off. There are very few people remaining that lived through the last Fourth Turning. The initial phase of this Crisis has revolved around the Wall Street induced housing collapse with the consequences of not enforcing the rule of law by liquidating insolvent banks and prosecuting the white collar criminals that reaped ungodly profits by committing fraud on an epic scale. This has left the country with an unsustainable level of debt, a hollowed out economy, and unemployment at Great Depression era levels, while Wall Street bankers, media titans, and career politicians reap compensation packages fit for kings. Jesse from Jesse’s Café Americain describes our political system perfectly: 

Kleptocracy:“rule by thieves” is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest service.No outside oversight is possible, due to the ability of the kleptocrats to personally control both the supply of public funds and the means of determining their disbursal. 

The Millennials were raised by parents who believed government could solve all our problems. The welfare-warfare state became monolithic during the Boomer reign of error. Therefore, it is understandable these young naïve revolutionaries still cling to the belief the government can solve our problems through more taxes or new programs. The point being missed by all the doubters and detractors of the OWS movement is these young people have zeroed in on the right culprits. They are not stupid. They understand these basic facts:

  • The $15 trillion National Debt, headed to $20 trillion by 2015, is the gift we are leaving to the Millennials.
  • The $100 trillion of unfunded entitlement liabilities will never be honored by the time the Millennials retire.
  • The Millennials know the $1 trillion per year spent maintaining our military empire is more than the next 18 countries’ spending combined, and it benefits only the corporations peddling armaments, while making us less safe.
  • The soldiers getting killed and wounded in our wars of choice in the Middle East are predominantly Millennials.
  • There are 14,000 professional lobbyists in Washington D.C. representing mega-corporations, unions, trade groups and other special interests, which have doled out $30 billion over the last decade influencing (bribing) politicians to write the laws in their favor, and not one lobbyist was working for the Millennials.
  • Millennials know Wall Street has spent $154 million on political contributions and $383 million on lobbying in the last decade. The buying of political influence by our bastions of crony capitalism was as follows: Goldman Sachs – $46 million; Merrill Lynch – $68 million; Citigroup – $108 million; J.P. Morgan Chase – $65 million; Bank of America – $39 million.
  • The Millennials know the 71,000 page Federal tax code and 140,000 pages of Federal regulations are written to protect the interests of the few, not the many.
  • Millennials know the financial industry consciously created products designed to induce mortgage fraud, knowingly packaged toxic mortgages into derivatives, bribed the rating agencies to rate them AAA, sold these worthless instruments to their customers, shorted these same derivatives, and pocketed billions in fees and ill gotten gains. After blowing up the financial system and costing taxpayers trillions, not one person has gone to jail.
  • Millennials know how to read a chart:

  • Millennials know that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are the same face of a never changing oligarchy. Change brought about through opposing political parties and elections has been rendered obsolete as the oligarchy chooses the candidates, uses their wealth to create policies and programs, and is able to control the masses with their propaganda message machines.

So here we stand, about five years into this Fourth Turning, with protests in the U.S. growing increasingly violent and intense. The calls for civility after the Gabrielle Giffords assassination attempt in January of this year went unheeded as the political vitriol has grown increasingly nasty. January seems like a lifetime ago. Revolutions have overthrown rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Unrest and bloodshed continues in Syria, Gaza, Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The European Union is disintegrating before our very eyes and violent protests against austerity measures flare up on a daily basis in Greece, Italy and Spain. There is no doubt we have entered the 2nd stage of this Crisis – the more violent and dangerous stage. I can sense fear and uneasiness among the more connected members of society. The drones, which constitute a large portion of America, are highly focused on Kim Kardashian’s divorce after 72 days and a $10 million wedding. The Millennials leading the protest movement are connected. They understand what is at stake. Strauss and Howe had it figured out 14 years ago:

“Of all today’s generations, the Millenials probably have the most at stake in the coming Crisis. If it ends badly, they would bear the full burden of its consequences throughout their adult lives. Yet if the Crisis ends well, Millenials will gain a triumphant reputation for virtue, valor and competence.” – Strauss & Howe

So what happens next? The truth is that no one knows what will happen next. We can only try to connect the dots and peer into a foggy future. We know that our leaders have not solved any of the financial imbalances that existed in 2007. They have made them worse, as have leaders across the world from China to Japan to Europe. We await the next Lehman moment, except this time it will be a sovereign nation and the contagion will be ten times greater than the 2008 meltdown. Our already fragile economy will be brought to its knees in a replay of the 1930s. As nations plunge into economic chaos, civil strife will likely lead to authoritarian figures rising from the ashes of the turmoil. Could Russia and China take advantage of this turmoil to acquire new resources through military means? Possibly. When the American middle class sees their remaining wealth dwindle to nothing, will they take to the streets? Revolution seems too remote to fathom, but it seemed remote in 1764 and 1855 too. When people have nothing left to lose, anything is possible. The collapse of our economic system is baked in the cake. Our current fiscal path is destined to end in fatality. Strauss & Howe knew the outcome of this Fourth Turning would depend upon the wisdom, strength and fortitude of the American people:

 “The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. Thus might the next Fourth Turning end in apocalypse – or glory. The nation could be ruined, its democracy destroyed, and millions of people scattered or killed. Or America could enter a new golden age, triumphantly applying shared values to improve the human condition. The rhythms of history do not reveal the outcome of the coming Crisis; all they suggest is the timing and dimension.” – Strauss & Howe

Winter has arrived. There will be difficult hurdles with many trials and tribulations in front of us. You may have to choose sides in a generational war. No one wants to face bitter choices. No one wants bloodshed and war. But it really doesn’t matter what we want. There is no real justice in a country that attacks and incarcerates young people for exercising their right to free speech and dissent, while allowing a psychopathic Wall Street banking cartel to wreak havoc upon our nation. The generational alignment is such that the existing social order will be swept away in a violent manner. What replaces the existing order will be up to the American people. You may lose your wealth, security, freedom, or life during the coming struggle. The years ahead will require steely determination and courage like our forefathers exhibited on the frigid barren fields at Valley Forge, the undulating wheat fields at Gettysburg, and the bloody beaches of Normandy. I have three teenage sons at home. My choices will be dictated by what I feel will be best for their futures. I will do WHATEVER it takes to secure a better tomorrow for my boys. If that means standing beside them in battle, so be it. Lines are being drawn. You will not be able to avoid choosing sides, just as you cannot avoid Winter if you ever want to see the dawn of another Spring.

 

“History offers no guarantees. We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin. Since Vietnam, many Americans suppose they know what it means to lose a war. Losing in the next Fourth Turning, however, could mean something incomparably worse. It could mean a lasting defeat from which our national innocence – perhaps even our nation – might never recover.” – Strauss & Howe

 

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Colma Rising
Colma Rising

Pirate Jo: The Mises Institute classified me as a C+ Austrian. Good… because if I honestly answered the questions and toed a party line, I’d be an idealogue.

Another thing to note: Every welfare case on the top rung are behaving like jackasses. They got bailed out. Nothing will change that. It’s a bailout world right now. To expect those debt loads to remain on citizens through any deflationary spiral is a slap in the face. Caveat Emptors won’t change that.

Some ass crated that money to lend out of thin air and it’s compounding at an alarming pace. Thin air. Having a libertarian reaction in a crony world is financially suicidal.

As for millennials, bless them: Like all people, the awesome ones stand out if you choose to surround yourself with driven people, no matter their walk in life. This being the pre-requisite, I find these kids amazing.

One more thing about libertarianism: Unless you’re talking anarchy, corrupt people must be routed out. Out of government, out of business. It must be engrained in the psyche of the nation that corruption is for losers and dick heads. Plain and simple. Rewarding this behavior is the biggest shame. Like Singapore, these people should be caned in a public square for even a hint of it… with due process, of course… but maybe that’s just my statist side talking.

Richard
Richard

Jim,

My biggest fear is that the Occupy Movement will be co-opted. I, as an individualist (sometimes called a “libertarian”), believe that our (other individualists) biggest weakness is our fundamental belief. We want to be left alone, especially from government intrusion. So, how do we compete with the socialist and fascist collectivists in organizing. Collectivism, in and of itself, organizes and controls. Our beliefs contradict organizing and controlling. How do we overcome this great obstacle?

llpoh
llpoh

Colma – I love the idea of caning. Swift justice. Low cost. High deterrent value for a lot of crimes (people swatted with 6 foot long canes tend to remember the experience (scarred for life)) and are somewhat loathe to want it repeated. I think it should be used for graffitti crimes, low-level drug crimes, theft crimes, etc. My son goes to school with a kid from Singapore. He said that there are virtually no petty crimes in Singapore – everyone is shit scared of that cane.

howard in nyc

llpoh~

i have not read your article yet.

the shift from agriculture to manufacturing had a huge impact on distribution of wealth. absolutely agree.

i say ‘i don’t agree’ because there are lots of other factors i think are more important. maybe even predominate over the industrialization of england, then the us and europe, then other world regions.

i anticipate after reading your piece, we will have tons of agreement and common ground. and a vigorous battle over any difference in views.

the smaller the differences, the bigger the battle. and greater the fun. when i make you cry like a little smokey.

llpoh
llpoh

Howard – you know how I love it when you talk dirty like that.

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Colma Rising
Colma Rising

llpoh: I can’t help it… it sounds so RIGHT to cane dipshits.

I’m going to give a millennial a hug and a big kiss and tell her she’s awesome, get a burrito and go to class where I’m going to high-five more millennials over a discussion on how full of shit professors and european economic theories are… Really. I can’t believe some ass creates money and charges interest on it. The biggest joke in history and we’re the fucking punchline. Free my ass.

I want to start a club and a blog (help admin! Email me!) like a good Nomad and get these kids talking about the real world.

Pirate Jo
Pirate Jo

“Having a libertarian reaction in a crony world is financially suicidal.”

Is there anyone with any money at all who isn’t going to see it reduced to nothing? It doesn’t matter WHAT reaction you have, silly, our finances are all going to commit suicide.

There is this thing called reality.

matt
matt

Colma,
what were you doing in Oak-town today?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45134339/ns/us_news-life/

Lonejack
Lonejack

@ Uncle Ben

Any movement that ignores the issue of illusory money conjured into existence as usurious, arithmetically un-defrayable debt, collateralized by unwitting tax peons, and controlled by an unaccountable international central banking cabal will do nothing to advance the cause of freedom. If it does address this issue, but ignores the tribal priorities of those supremacist bloodlines who developed and dominate this cabal, it will still fail.

Novista

Shit, where do I start? Oh yeah …

Admin, great essay. the devil’s in the details, and you covered them all.

howard,

a slight tangent on your dialogue … but you surely know the New Deal was not kind to black workers — with the administration pushing unionism, and unions being racist, about 100,000 black men lost their livelihoods. Just a data point.


re the vixen with the nails, all the discussion, aside from whose camera and what cost, seems to accept her at face value. WTF? Has anyone nailed the ownership of that website? I haven’t looked but is that any different from the Steven J. Baum snark? Just sayin’

In other areas of Millenial bashing, well, I’m half a world away and I have watched the social attitudes shift from afar. As a Silent in an era of ‘it’s for the chillun’, I can relate to the how and why. And the end result would be exactly ‘intended consequences’. Boomers by and large didn’t give a fuck about GenX but suddenly thought again “it for the chillun’ and the Millennials are the result.

Add in the immersion of government schooling and it is no wonder some/many of their beliefs and attitudes are muddled. But, y’know, OWS stood up to be counted, sort of aiming in the right direction. Can you blame Millenials, almost raised from the womb with ‘good intentions’ to make a better generation for believing shit? That’s what the system has done. For every bad example someone here can cite, I would expect some percentage to be good. I’ve seen it here. But people see what they want, driven by their biases.

It’s early days yet for the whole Millennial generation, write them off now and you could end up facing them as adversaries. Enough people are playing the divide and conquer game.

ssgconway

Five of the Millenial Generation are my children. i know them. they are good kids – in some yeas, easier to raise that this Xer was. Their greivances are legit. They will triumph, and let us work to make sure that their victory isn’t Phyrric. Yippie-turned-Yuppie stockbrokers who are caricatures of what they protested shouldn’t call these kids names, especially as so many have served in combat – as so many of their elders did not.

L0g05
L0g05

GenX standing and ready to serve! bearraid – our job includes at least one excruciatingly important thing: to figure out what the right answer is. We know that its not more government regulation. But what *is* it? The Boomers can’t get it – they are too tied to ideologies that predate television, much less the Internet. The millienials will know it when they see it, but don’t have enough know-how to actually figure it out. That leaves us – we have the know-how, the savvy, the right mix of vision and pragmatism (our intensely entrepreneurial streak), and the commitment (at least those of us with kids do). At the same time, we haven’t had deep connection to existing institutions . . . ever. So tearing down what needs to be torn down won’t make us bat an eye.

Here is a first cut:

* There is a global institutional order, largely initiated as the aftermath of WWII and growing organically through to the fall of the Eastern Bloc, at which point it substantially accelerated.  This order includes both active and passive interconnections that span economic, technological, social, cultural, political and military dimensions.  By “institutional order” is meant the organizational and conceptual mechanisms by which human activities are focused and directed.  This includes governmental organizations (the US Military, the EU ministry of agriculture, medicare), meta governmental organizations (the UN, the WTO, the IMF), NGOs, corporations, etc.  

* This global institutional order was largely formulated based on the technical and conceptual state of the art existing WWII.  Although it has consistently been complexified and updated (“patched”) in the intervening 60 years, it is still fundamentally organized around hows, whats and whys that originate in that era.  

* The foundation on which this order was built and by which it made sense has been undergoing profound transformation – particularly in the past two decades.  Largely, this is the result of the unprecedented *success* of the present order: advances in information technology, increases in population, depletion of global natural resources, etc.

* Whenever an institutional order is faced with this kind of transformation of its fundament, it can choose two paths:
 – Deconstruct and reorganize functions around emerging capabilities
 – Attempt to conserve the existing order 

The former choice involves significant pain as existing means (and even ends) will be disrupted and this kind of disruption is contra human psychological tendencies.  As a consequence, it requires tremendous foresight and political will.  It is not guaranteed to be successful as many things can happen when long-bound energies are released in an institutional reconstruction.

The latter choice ultimately involves the death of the society as it requires an intensification of “delusional” mechanisms that distance society from reality and eventually deplete its ability to operate – the society moves from productive to conservative to moribund.  Depending on the political will and political power of the institutions driving the transition from productive to conservative, this death can be very quick and destructive (see French Revolution) or can potentially be delayed for a very long time (“zombieification”).  Indeed, the period just following the transition from productive to conservative (open to closed) can be experienced as highly positive.  However, once a society moves to full closure -like any entropic environment – its fate is (largely, although never absolutely) sealed.  
  
* The decision to deconstruct and reorganize can rarely (never?) be made by existing institutions (the past), it must, instead, be made by “institutions from the future” – which can provide solutions and vision that is simply outside of the means of existing institutions.

* It is possible to interpolate the shape of future institutional orders based on the present circumstances.

* Uniquely in history, our future institutional order must be self-assembling, self-organizing and meta-stable.  There can be no central organizing structure that is adequate to their construction – instead they must be architected to “unfold” dynamically yet effectively.

* Nonetheless, we can assert several rules that are quite likely to be part of their basic operations:
– Data aware: in principle all possible transactions are stored and searchable 
– Transparent: in principle all transactions can be viewed by all participants
– Distributed: in principle no levels of hierarchy 
– Resilient:  designed to maximize and benefit from “black swan” events rather than minimize and suffer from them.
– Segmented. Kind of a separation of powers clause that keeps core platform functions from being combined into a coercive whole. It also allow rapid improvement/replacement of core services to respond to new conditions.
– Transient. Beyond the basic resilient holon and stored data, every function or organization is built with the time or conditions that warrant its death built into the design/plan.

Some other assumptions that differentiate this from other forms of historical change:

The new system must run concurrently with the old in order to avoid inducing general collapse. To achieve this end:
1) It displaces due to choice and not force. Bit by bit and not all at once.
2) It can leverage mature services of the old system to gain capabilities rapidly and supplement deficits.
3) It must be able to defend itself against predation by the old system.
4) It replaces old system functions when able.

Connection to the new system is a function of desire/membership and a willingness to live by a set of rules, both at the individual level and at the level of the resilient community. Membership is not based on geography or accident of birth. It’s earned through behavior.

Smokey
Smokey

Keep talking you cowards. I get more ass than Herman Cain at a restaurant lobbyist convention. I am preoccupied servicing Stucky’s mother, but will be back on the point in no time.

llpoh
llpoh

Admin – Germany is a different culture. One of the reasons that Germany has done better is that they have a largely captive mmarket re the Easttern Europeam nations which but a lot of capital goods from Germany. Germany also finances a lot of.the purchases so their nuts are pretty exposed there.

I suspect they have a generally better educated population, whhich also helps. They are also a much tighter culture and are far less multicultural. And given Germany’s advantages in the region (surrounded by those high performing PIIGSrance/Eastern Europe nations) they unsurprisingly lead the pack. For instance – every Italian auto employee build thirty cars per year. That is laughable – in Poland it is one hundred. Not too surprising they are successful given the local competition.
You can always point to one sucess story. That does not change the fact that there is a finite number of manufacturing jobs required world-wide. If populations do not increase, manufacturing positions will drop steadily as manufacturing becomes more productive. The proportion of persons required to do manufacturing will drop steadily. One country will always do better than others. Germany is doing reasonably well – but it isn’t gold-plated.

llpoh
llpoh

Things have aided German manufacturing greatly. German manufacturing was slumping much as all western nations until approx 1995. Four things have helped them greatly. I the euro, the fall of the USR and the opening of the eastern blocs, reunification, and a defense bill of only 1.4 percent of gdp. These were all godsends.

Novista

L0g05

Fascinating commentary. Have you been here before, lurking, or passing through? I reckon we could use your input.

Matt

Interesting article, I am not an American but got directed to here by one as well as constantly finding Americans starting to question politics that before were quite happy to ignore.

If anything about the financial crisis has happened is people waking up to the responsibility of needing to get into politics. I am unfortuntely amongst a lot of boomers in the Philippines who have retired here. Its funny how their minds think with as well as other issues I find with younger generation problems in the world with things like racism the boomers here all seem to be racist beyond belief.

Be glad to see their exit and hopefully those currently protesting can and will make a change for the better.

L0g05
L0g05

@novista – I was on the “old’ Burning Platform and have periodically dropped by. There are many groups (coming from all over the old political spectrum) that are beginning to crystallize. Unfortunately, many of the links that I’m part of are not (yet?) public. However, John Robb’s efforts over at http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/ are public and are a great link to this groups apparent zeitgeist.

Happy to help. Things are moving fast.

Punk in Drublic

That was a hell of read, Admin.

Great Stuff. I loves me that 4rth Turning shit.

“The truth is that Americans have always admired entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates who created businesses, created jobs, and ended up with vast wealth. But, that is not the wealth protestors on Wall Street and across the country are angry about. They are angry at the hyper-concentration of wealth in the hands of men that have rigged the system in their favor through bribery (lobbying & contributions), fraud (no-doc loans & AAA rated toxic derivatives), accounting schemes (special purpose vehicles & suspending mark to market) and holding the American middle class hostage (TARP & zero interest rates). When the 400 wealthiest Americans own more than the “lower” 150 million Americans put together, you have a system that is badly broken.”

Fuckin A!! You raised my blood pressure ten points with that short list. And I bet you weren’t even trying.

To all you dirty pot smoking hippy protestors… Remember the Tea Party? When did they start their protests? That’s right, in fucking April. They had all goddamn summer to stand outside waving signs and getting attention.

You dumb stoned pricks are going to freeze your dreadlocks off…

llpoh
llpoh

Punk – OWS is the current equivalent of Napoleon marchin on Russia during the winter.

Punk in Drublic

LLPOH

I personally think it shows their commitment to the cause. The implied message behind my post was that the tea party is a bunch of sissies. Rage will keep those hippies warm.
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Novista

L0g05

Thanks for the reply and the link.

Indeed, “moving fast”, change, not hopium nor unobtainium. I think a lof of people will be surprised, if not shocked, shocked … at what happens to the Janus-faced one-party system.

llpoh
llpoh

Punk – I think that OWS is turning into a big orgy since the weather turned. They won’t ave time to protest as they will be spending their time going at it like rabbits and untangling their dreadlocks.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I am a pre-boomer and grandfather. I have seen a lot of politics and thirteen different administrations come and go over the course of my lifetime, but the most prophetic words pertaining to where we are today were spoken by probably the bravest president to serve this country (other than Truman) , Dwight David Eisenhower. Upon leaving his presidency he made a speech warning future generations to “…beware the military/industrial complex (in the U.S.” or words to that effect. At this point, he probably would have thrown in “Congress” as well – given the fact that they are bought and owned, and this from a man who owed his success to the power of the military and industrial corporations.

So today, overwhelming power is concentrated in the hands of the military, industry, and government. If domestic violence comes, those powers have forces at their command that will overwhelm any amateurs, as well as a powerful yen to retain their power. We are still a country of laws, and political change can come suddenly with enough concerted effort. Younger generations raising consciousness about what is really going on in current leadership and voting in their candidates will remain the most potent way to effect change. It happened in the 60’s with civil rights (quickly) and it can happen again before we slip into total darkness. Thank god for the internet!

jMusing
jMusing

Quite an essay!

Reminds me of an old book…

“Christianity and Anti-Christianity in its final conflict” by Samuel Andrews

http://books.google.com/books?id=E8QrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR3&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

windhorse2000

Savings and Loan debaucle: 89′ – 93″ 10,000 criminal referals, 1,000 elite bankers jailed – all were in the top100 banks, 1000 FBI agents investigated and had a conviction rate of around 91%. There were 10,000 criminal referals. Extreme Fraud was the main offense along with others violations. 743 out of 3234 banks involved. Taxpayer made most of this whole again. Something like 150 billion.

The housing bubble 2006 – 08 and the resulting finanical crises we’re presently in. It is 70 times greater than the S&L crisis mentioned above. All driven by Fraud again. The bad liar loans in 2006 where 1 in 3, resulting in 2 million bad loans and it was the bankers and real estate brokers that lied with minor participation from the public encouraged by government. This debaucle resulted in the loss of 10 million jobs and a loss of 11 trillion dollars. Again, the taxpayer is making most of this whole

By the time it was over 120 FBI agents where supposed to investigating 4 million fraud cases. The number of CRIMINAL REFERALS – ZERO, the numbers of CONVICTIONS – ZERO. COMPARE THESE NUMBERS, WITH S&L ABOVE.

I have proof that Goldman Sachs manupilated the price of gas in 08′ to over $4/gal for profits only. They bundle bad mortages and with a bit of ” good stuff” sold it as a “good investment” than knowing it would fail – shorted it. Faud again

Recently, BofA transfered the derivative risk of MLynch (the investment arm of BofA) to the retail side of BofA. BofA had a collateral call on there 60 trillion of derivative exposure. By moving the “risk” to the retail side of the bank they are now “protected” by the 1.2 trillion in deposits (made by you and me) and the FDIC. Now the depsitors are “Second” inline in case of a default on 60 trillion dollars of contracts. Depositors don’t even know they’re at risk. I can give you 100 more examples just this year.

How would Jamie Dimon like it if I wrote off my business loses this year to him? Further, he didn’t know that I was going to do it,……I just went in and took the money out of his account to make myself whole. Not to nice is it.

Consider also: regulators are examining whether MF Global diverted some customer money to support its own trades as the firm teetered on the brink of collapse. If that was the case, it could violate a fundamental tenet of Wall Street regulation: Customers’ money must be kept separate from company money. It looks like MF massively inflated margin requirements so that Corzine could tap the overage between the Exchange’s SPAN requirement and the MF Global requirement, and use that difference to prop up his proprietary trades. This is very illegal. There are other Primary Dealers that will fall in the weeks ahead.

I find it very comical that people ask why the OWS people are there. If you have to ask that question your either brain dead or totally unconscious in view of the above.

AND SO THE SAYING: THE PEOPLE DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THEY GET!

This is a very feisty web site: Non-Violent way to stop all this looting, NO ONE PAYS THERE TAXES!!!! 300 MILLION CAN’T GO TO JAIL!

jim
jim

very enlightening

windhorse2000

The next revolution will not be carried out by mobs of angry people, guerrillas, terrorists or, god forbid, politicians. It will be accomplished by a small (10%) militant minority that will simply unplug the matrix. Disengagement and non-participation.
MUST READ BELOW:

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/301-want-to-defeat-the-banks-stop-participating-in-the-system

http://www.thecactusland.com/2011/10/revolution-or-disengagement.html#more

Gold Werewolf

Admin

It is well known that all rights that humans have ever gained against the governments have been won on the battlefield. At some point in the not so near future, I see armed resistance against this central banking cartel. This group of power hungry nation-rapist will stop at NOTHING to maintain power.

G W

Kill Bill
Kill Bill

FYI
Heres the OWS General Assembly minutes
http://www.nycga.net/category/assemblies/minutes-ga/

craig hill
craig hill

AS a boomer, in my 62nd circumnavigation of the Sun in my current form (tolja i was a boomer), i have long wondered what happened to the rest of my fellow boomheads who made the ’60s the ’60s, got Vietnam ended (by politically de-funding it) and then fucking disappeared as an active social force defending the rights and morality we once marched to re-establish into what i thought was a permanent given. I’ve watched everything disintegrate and the whackadoo Reicht take over both parties, institute globalization, more sweatshops and literal enslavement than has ever existed on the planet, and seized control over the commodification of everything, plus the lie of 9/11, the truth of global heating and the 6th Great Extinction gathering momentum toward the destruction of entire planetary ecosystems. I’ve given up on my generation, and saw NOTHING in the militarized generations following worth writing home about, until the Occupy movement.

I HOPE what is happening now is indicative of the massive change we all need to counteract the control-freakery issuing originally from the shrinks in the Pentagon who figured out how to institute German corporatism in the US government and got everyone to flag-wave it on to our eventual loss of freedom on many levels, which has more than begun, it’s been gestating since the Department of War was rechristened Defense (1947).

I don’t see as part of the Occupy movement a recognition that in order to put the Reicht in the crematorium, for a change, we need people inside the building where the laws are written who are now outside the building on the street. When CEOs meet to plan their next stage of taking over government to serve them and screw the 99%, they don’t meet in a park holding signs; the 1970s paradigm of protest is not applicable any more to a government that doesn’t have to listen to its people because of how easy it is to rig electronic voting machines. That is part of the equation that is what needs be changed in order to democratically reorder the government that is one order away from martial law. We need to recruit good people who are now on the streets fighting the good nonviolent war to run for Congress as independents not of either corrupt corporate party, who pledge to support every iota of change necessary to righting and stop blighting the world, and fund them munificently to victory, along with continuing the pressure on the streets to act as the impetus to and the organization for those candidates’ success.

Without that successful political component, the whole thing may as well be a love-in resulting in the next generation, where hope must again be invested from scratch or we are doomed.

Novista

craig hill

I note your mention of ‘morality’, something I’ve been thinking on recently. Perfect example just turned up: Mississippi perhood amendment voted down. Isn’t that an example of mob morality where one side wins, the other loses?

Where is the notion of ethical behavior and 9personal responsibility? What is the justification of Roe vs. Wade, a decision by old people in black robes imposed on the entire country?

Putting it another way, morality is often just the triumph of control freaks.

In the colonial days, it was ~moral~ some places to kill Quakers. Prohibition was the morality of telling other peoople what they could not drink. Repealing prohibition was claimed a moral response but it was only the figleaf of morality of a different kind to hide FDR’s need for tax revenue.

I would quibble about your lies and your truths, too. “The science is fixed” has two interpretations, you know. And we could have had an extinction event yesterday.

You have more faith in the political process than I do — or most people these days. No matter how many independent angels of integrity you might shovel into the swamp of D.C., it will still be a swamp and the real power and control is elsewhere. Always has been.

CompassionateFascist

Generational theories of history are always interesting. But generations are viciously cross-cut by Class (barely touched on by Strauss and Howe) and and – no surprise, unmentioned by Strauss and Howe – Race. Which is why generational analysis has no predictive value as to outcomes. In addition, while history does tend to be cyclic, the increasing velocity of information due to technological change is linearly accelerating the entire process beyond mere generational change. Putting all this together, I’ll give you my prediction for the next year or so. If RINO Romney gets the Republicrat nomination, as appears increasingly likely, there will be a right wing/White revolt that will result in a strong 3rd party candidacy – maybe Ron Paul as the vehicle. Obama then wins a 3-way race in the Electoral College with no more than 40-45% of the popular vote. Meanwhile, in order to get the Zionist $$$ he must have to run for re-election, Obama has already attacked Iran…thus cutting off 40% of the world (esp. Japan and China’s) oil supply and so precipitating DollarCollapse. Result: Perfect Storm, combining existential political and economic crisis. First Tuesday in November, 2012. Then: 60 days to Fort Sumter. Outcome of Civil War II? Only the Devil knows but, fought along class, racial, states vs. center, and rural vs urban lines, it is going to be extremely bloody. Something like the Spanish Civil War combined with the Tai’ping Uprising.

howard in nyc

more white boy revolt against the darkies fantasies. ’cause it is the non-whites destroying the financial system and keeping the white boy down.

should stick to hobbits and wizards.

Buddy Rojek
Buddy Rojek

I forwarded this article to my Prime Minister. I feel Australia is running a Kleptocracy too. An example: Public Sector Jobs.

Unless you went to the best schools and can write verbose policy documents there is no position for you. Maybe digging holes at the Local Council. If you are lucky!

Public sector jobs are the last line of job security. Australia is becoming like Greece. You either have job security in the public sector, or the biggest mining companies, or you have no job security.

Socialist Keynesian Kleptocracy has to stop.

Buddy Rojek
Buddy Rojek

After reading all these posts, I conclude that Fascism is the only answer. A party will be elected by 40% of the population and will force a new set of rules on the remaining.

How else can we herd the “Political Cats” into a unfied force to solve problems?

Now I see why Hitler and the Nazi party came to power.

Arizona
Arizona

Nibiru anyone? its time to wake up now and join the real world .theres a big bad moon on the rise and soon everyone will understand what they were’nt told.this thing will arrive soon,and when it does all will become clear.check it out before it gets here the government has been watching it for a long time now and they know whats about to happen.the real show is about to get under way,and everyone thats asleep will Die????

Last Intelligent human being.
Last Intelligent human being.

The one group left out in this article is the 3D thinkers of the world. i.e. Those that reflect on all the possibilities. Not only what has happened, or what can happen, but what could of happened if things had gone differently! In order to keep all things in perspective you can’t leave out alternate possibilities. In order to change our future, to make it a better place, you have to learn to break the cycle and take the world to the next level. It is only on the precipice of absolute destruction that we accept in no absolute terms that it is time to evolve!

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