THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST
Part XVII
Rise or Fall of American Empire?
Part 1
by
Doug Krieger
WELCOME TO THE MILLIONAIRES’ CLUB
The
title of this piece could just as well have been tagged: High Crimes and
Misdemeanors. The flamboyant
Rev. Jeremiah Wright could just as well have spoken (probably has) of the
financial machinations of this nation—hitting the core of all our conspiracies
dead center! The charade, the house of cards, the greed and avarice has reached
full putridity, full of abominations and violent defilement. Our house is left
desolate. But for nearly ten million Americans – old money and the
nouveau riche – who continue to “heap up riches unto themselves” life is
good, real good.
The wealthy hide their riches, especially the Americans. In 2004 we reported that 7.5 million Americans joined the millionaires’ club. In 2007 “they” said that there were 9.2 million; by 2008 9.3 American millionaires but by 2008 we reported that number of millionaires throughout the earth to be 10 million – and “one out of every three millionaires” lives in the USA. So, we’re either at 9.3 million American millionaires or as little as 1/3 of 10 million or 3.3 million (a slight discrepancy of some 6 million!). Think of it – these “sum totals” don’t count “housing” (just “liquid” items) – but isn’t one’s “net worth” connected to one’s “houses and lands?” But these “items” are conspicuously absented from the millionaire’s grand total—imagine, by adding in this country estate and that penthouse, you could be talking about some big bucks here!
That’s the fast and furious accounting going on among the wealthy of the earth – the Bible’s indiscriminate designation of these souls is somewhere between “the merchants of the earth” (Rev. 18:11) and “the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men” (Rev. 6:15), with everyone else classified as either the “kings of the earth” or “slave and . . . free man” (Revelation 6:15).
There are approximately 304 million Americans – so, at 9.3 million American millionaires, that’s roughly 3% of the population or at 3.3 million American millionaires, that’s roughly a little more than 1% of the population. Now chew on this statistic:
“Five percent of Americans own 59 percent of all wealth (in America); the top 20 percent own 83 percent of all wealth. The bottom 20 percent have zero wealth. Excluding owner-occupied housing, the inequality is worse: 1 percent of families hold half of all non-home wealth.” (The Numbers beyond Bling, Ward Harkavy, Village Voice, Dec. 28, 2004)
I’M TIRED OF THE VIOLENT RICH
The disparity of wealth both in America and throughout the world staggers the imagination – indeed, “the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men” – MONEY & POWER walk hand in hand. But here’s what God thinks about those who currently flee from the FBI’s OPERATION MALICIOUS MORTGAGE and the others whose financial manipulations inflate the commodities markets for sordid gain:
Attention! God calls out to the
city!
If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen.
So listen, all of you!
This is serious business.
“Do you expect me to overlook
obscene wealth
you’ve piled up by cheating and fraud?
Do you think I’ll tolerate shady deals
and shifty scheming?
I’m tired of the violent rich
bullying their way with bluffs and lies.
I’m fed up. Beginning now, you’re finished.
You’ll pay for your sins down to your last cent.
No matter how much you get, it will never be enough—
hollow stomachs, empty hearts.
No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it—
bankrupt lives, wasted souls.
You’ll plant grass
but never get a lawn.
You’ll make jelly
but never spread it on your bread.
You’ll press apples
but never drink the cider.
You have lived by the standards of your king, Omri,
the decadent lifestyle of the family of Ahab.
Because you’ve slavishly followed their fashions,
I’m forcing you into bankruptcy.
Your way of life will be laughed at, a tasteless joke.
Your lives will be derided as futile and fake.”
Stick Around to See What God Will Do
I’m overwhelmed with sorrow! Sunk
in a swamp of despair!
I’m like someone who goes to the garden
to pick cabbages and carrots and corn
and returns empty-handed,
finds nothing for soup or sandwich or salad.
There’s not a decent person in sight.
Right-living humans are extinct.
They’re all out for one another’s blood,
animals preying on each other.
They’ve all become experts in evil.
Corrupt leaders demand bribes.
The powerful rich
make sure they get what they want.
The best and brightest are thistles.
The top of the line is crabgrass.
But no longer: It’s exam time.
Look at them slinking away in disgrace!
Don’t trust your neighbor,
don't confide in your friend.
Watch your words,
even with your spouse.
Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.
The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws—
The worse they can be.
Your own family is the enemy.
But me, I’m not giving up.
I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
I’m counting on God to listen to me.
Let’s
face it – few of us have ever read anything like this before. Obscure text?
Indeed, few want to contend with its no-holds-bar approach to a monetary system
gone terribly wrong. Come now – shady deals, shifty scheming – the “violent
rich bullying their way with bluffs and lies.” It’s here I reminisce over
statements like this from the movie Wall Street:
“Gordon Gekko: The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of it’s forms - greed for life, for money, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed - you mark my words - will not only save Teldar Paper but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you.”
That was then (1987) this is now some 21 years later – can you imagine just how bad things have gotten since that candid parody of Wall Street fabrication produced by Hollywood—for if anyone knows how to play the greed game it’s the epitome of glitz and glamour where more millionaires per square inch abide than in any other place on the planet. (Source: California Boasts More Millionaires, Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008)
It’s a little difficult to fathom the actual fulfillment of the Apocalypse in terms of the impact of inflation upon the poor, while, at the same time comprehending its flagrant superlatives on behalf of the rich . . . “A quart of wheat for a denarius (i.e., about 1 day’s wage for a worker just to buy a day’s meal of bread), and three quarts of barley for a denarius (Why? Because barley’s cheaper than wheat and goes further – you can also mix it with wheat to make your wheat meal go further – great news for the impoverished of the earth – kind of like a “hamburger helper”); and do not harm the oil and the wine (of course not—the wealthy never get hurt in times like these) . . . now for some more bogus camouflage for the rich and famous among the Americans – talk about rank propaganda to conceal!
“Last year the number of people around the world with at least $1 million in assets passed 10 million, the first time that level has been reached, according to a new report. And their bank accounts are growing even faster.
“The combined wealth of the globe’s millionaires grew to nearly $41 trillion last year, an increase of 9 percent from a year before, Merrill Lynch & Co. and consulting firm Capgemini Group said Tuesday. That means their average wealth was more than $4 million, the highest it has ever been. Home values were not included in asset totals.
“‘The growth of their wealth is outpacing the growth of their population (Note: Whose population – the wealthy?), and that’s a trend that’s going to continue in coming years,’ said Ileana Van Der Linde, a principal with Capgemini. The ranks of the wealthy are growing fastest in the developing economies of India, China and Brazil. The number of millionaires in India grew by about 23 percent.
“The United States still reigns supreme when it comes to fat wallets, though: One in every three millionaires in the world lives in America. Combined, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America account for just one in 10. All told, there were about 600,000 more millionaires in the world in 2007 than in 2006, for a total of about 10.1 million. That’s a 6 percent increase from the previous year.
“Ten million may seem like a big number for such an elite club, but it still represents less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the world's 6.7 billion people.
“The rarefied group of the super-rich - those with at least $30 million in assets - got richer, too. There were 103,000 of them around the world last year, 9 percent more than the year before, and their wealth grew by nearly 15 percent.
“The 600,000 new millionaires was unsurprising to Brian Bethune, an economist with Global Insight, who credited inflation and the expansion of the world economy for the growth.
“Besides, $1 million isn’t what it used to be (Note: It’s sure a pot load more than nearly all of us will ever see!). One million dollars in 1996, the first year the report was issued, would have been worth about $1.3 million last year, Van Der Linde said. (Number of millionaires topples 10 million mark, Candice Choi, AP, The Plain Dealer, June 25, 2008)
“It’ll never be enough” – yes, hollow stomachs, empty hearts, bankrupt lives, wasted souls, a tasteless joke, a life derided as futile and fake; they’re all out for one another’s blood; animals preying on each other; experts in evil; corrupted leaders demanding bribes – yes, the “powerful rich make sure they get what they want” but as far as the Almighty concerns, “the best and brightest amongst them are as thistles; the ‘top of the line’” is counted as crabgrass. You bet it is: IT’S EXAM TIME . . . as the investment bankers and their hedge fund managers “slink away in disgrace.” Indeed, who can be trusted with neighborhoods and family falling apart and intimacy contaminated . . . “but me, I’m not giving up . . . I’m sticking around to see what God will do . . . I’m waiting for God to make things right . . . counting on the Almighty to hear my cry! Yeah, hedge fund mangers – the financially obscene!
LISTEN – ALL OF YOU – THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS! If you’ve despaired – “overwhelmed with sorrow – sunk in a swamp of despair like someone who goes to the garden to pick cabbages and carrots and corn and returns empty-handed, finding nothing for soup or sandwich or salad” (because some hedge manager plucked it out before you got there) . . . if you’ve gotten to the point where you cry out . . . “there’s not a descent person in sight . . . right-living humans are extinct” – then you’ve joined in with Micah’s despair and declared the lot of them have “become experts in evil!” BUT, stick around – we’re going to see what God will do and how He’s going to make things right!
First of all, it’s EXAM TIME for the “violent rich” – yep, God Almighty has declared: I’M TIRED OF THE VIOLENT RICH BULLYING THEIR WAY WITH BLUFFS AND LIES—I’M FED UP…BEGINNING NOW, YOU’RE FINISHED! Man, that’s big time in your face talk by God. God’s tolerance is over the top when it comes to these “shady deals and shifty schemes!” If you think the FBI’s on the prowl—wait until God gets a hold of these guys!
However,
before we excoriate (the political elites - as if they’re somehow
distinguished from the purely mercantile elites) let’s take a gander at the
crabgrass growing in our lawns – you know, those guys knitting their golden
parachutes in blessed anticipation of their ultimate bailouts by the
FEDS when their banks are nationalized.
In plain English – the banks (e.g., Bank of America, Wachovia, Wells Fargo,
Chase Manhattan, Citicorp, WaMu, Capitol One – along with their cronies amongst
the
Malicious Mortgage moguls operating the
likes of Country Wide (now undergoing multiple
State instigated lawsuits by sundry Attorneys General—notwithstanding BofA’s
takeover)) are about to default on their short-term loans made to them by the
FEDs and designed to prevent the subprime fiasco from ripping the American dream
of homeownership out from one in ten Americans (and counting).
So, when these banks in the next sixty days (the FED program was for six months beginning in March, 2008 – continuing through to the late summer/early fall of 2008) can’t repay the FED, they’ll default (plain English: BANKRUPT) and the FEDS will repo what’s left of their assets because the collateral, posted by these banks to save them from the subprime disaster they caused in the first place, is the same bogus subprime bundles of junk bonds which were worthless when they used them as collateral to get the emergency bailout loans. And, as I have said before, worse yet, these same insatiable weasels took their new-found resources from the FED and instead of providing emergency funding to relieve thousands of foreclosures; they’ve gone out into the commodities futures and played havoc, driving the cost of all commodities off the chart in the process—seeking to recover their bogus, abysmal subprime efforts, once again, off the backs of the unsuspecting masses who just can’t wait for these thieves to rip them off again! (See: How Much Did the FED Really Know? By Mike Whitney – a superlative analysis on our pending train wreck!)
By the way, the FEDS will have to repo the banks to forestall the inevitable run on these same banks and mortgage houses lest their little derivative game is exposed for its trillions of dollar gambling; wholly unregulated by these high rollers who’ve had a field day with your money . . . but why concern ourselves with this deplorable catastrophic black hole of the greedy, when we can consider the dance of the elites going on amongst the presidential aspirants?
