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KoKo

(84,711 posts)
37. Chris Hedges addressed this in "Our Invisible Revolution"
Wed Oct 30, 2013, 12:05 PM
Oct 2013

When they don't listen to the people. I just read it last night and then I see this post today with what Congress is doing and watched GE/CEO Jeff Immelt on Bloomberg Business not having a second thought about what went on when his GE Capital had to be bailed out.

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Chris Hedges
Our Invisible Revolution

Corporations, freed from all laws, government regulations and internal constraints, are stealing as much as they can, as fast as they can, on the way down. The managers of corporations no longer care about the effects of their pillage. Many expect the systems they are looting to fall apart. They are blinded by personal greed and hubris. They believe their obscene wealth can buy them security and protection. They should have spent a little less time studying management in business school and a little more time studying human nature and human history. They are digging their own graves.

Our shift to corporate totalitarianism, like the shift to all forms of totalitarianism, is incremental. Totalitarian systems ebb and flow, sometimes taking one step back before taking two steps forward, as they erode democratic liberalism. This process is now complete. The “consent of the governed” is a cruel joke. Barack Obama cannot defy corporate power any more than George W. Bush or Bill Clinton could. Unlike his two immediate predecessors, Bush, who is intellectually and probably emotionally impaired, did not understand the totalitarian process abetted by the presidency. Because Clinton and Obama, and their Democratic Party, understand the destructive roles they played and are playing, they must be seen as far more cynical and far more complicit in the ruination of the country. Democratic politicians speak in the familiar “I-feel-your-pain” language of the liberal class while allowing corporations to strip us of personal wealth and power. They are effective masks for corporate power.

The corporate state seeks to maintain the fiction of our personal agency in the political and economic process. As long as we believe we are participants, a lie sustained through massive propaganda campaigns, endless and absurd election cycles and the pageantry of empty political theater, our corporate oligarchs rest easy in their private jets, boardrooms, penthouses and mansions. As the bankruptcy of corporate capitalism and globalization is exposed, the ruling elite are increasingly nervous. They know that if the ideas that justify their power die, they are finished. This is why voices of dissent—as well as spontaneous uprisings such as the Occupy movement—are ruthlessly crushed by the corporate state.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/our_invisible_revolution_20131028

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

And Congress continues to give away the store . . n/t annabanana Oct 2013 #1
The House but not the Senate. n/t pnwmom Oct 2013 #67
k&r... spanone Oct 2013 #2
"These bills have been roundly criticized by the Treasury Department, consumer groups, and pampango Oct 2013 #3
Yet again Grayson is front and center shouting out what is wrong with our political system! Miranda4peace Oct 2013 #22
Yes absolutely! mrsadm Oct 2013 #71
Rep Alan Grayson.... ReRe Oct 2013 #73
GE CEO & Spokesperson for Obama's Jobs Initiative was on Bloomberg KoKo Oct 2013 #4
GE plays an important role in bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US Chico Man Oct 2013 #23
Does this mean GE will be paying sulphurdunn Oct 2013 #26
It must be great working for GE Chico Man Oct 2013 #40
I'm not at all sure sulphurdunn Oct 2013 #60
How does a GE employee's income tax have anything to do with GE paying taxes as a corporation? cui bono Oct 2013 #82
GE actually did pay taxes in 2010 Ms. Toad Nov 2013 #92
GE paid taxes sulphurdunn Nov 2013 #93
It isn't unknown because it is complicated - Ms. Toad Nov 2013 #94
In the whole interview Immelt didn't mention USA Manufacturing KoKo Oct 2013 #34
GE has about 17,000 wind turbines deployed globally Chico Man Oct 2013 #41
I'm not saying that they don't provide some necessary functions.... KoKo Oct 2013 #44
BS, sorry. lark Oct 2013 #47
Well. that's a stick in the eye Chico Man Oct 2013 #49
140,000 domestic employees? JDPriestly Oct 2013 #58
You obviously don't know anyone that works for GE Chico Man Oct 2013 #63
I would gladly stand in front of any GE employee and say those things. JDPriestly Oct 2013 #76
They are hiring - plenty of open positions here in the US Chico Man Nov 2013 #88
Are YOU a GE employee? nt tblue37 Oct 2013 #79
Stockholder, more likely. n/t cui bono Oct 2013 #83
Unlikely scenario. sulphurdunn Oct 2013 #61
We should revert to before the industrial revolution Chico Man Oct 2013 #64
Technically, we can quakerboy Oct 2013 #72
Simplistic viewpoint Chico Man Nov 2013 #89
Some things are actually fairly simple quakerboy Nov 2013 #91
The ramifications of technical progress Chico Man Nov 2013 #95
It seems more accurate quakerboy Nov 2013 #96
And how may jobs would be lost DocMac Oct 2013 #74
"Much of the manufacturing, however, will be done by robots."--- tblue37 Oct 2013 #78
Unless we use robots to build and maintain the robots Chico Man Nov 2013 #90
They are simply doing the job they are paid to do. Bonhomme Richard Oct 2013 #5
THE LOOTING CONTINUES. woo me with science Oct 2013 #6
Chris Hedges addressed this in "Our Invisible Revolution" KoKo Oct 2013 #37
Republicans control the House. Laelth Oct 2013 #7
Are you shocked at the Democrats supporting this? n/t n2doc Oct 2013 #8
Some Democrats are supporting this. Laelth Oct 2013 #13
the bill is currently enjoying “broad bipartisan support” in the House Bluenorthwest Oct 2013 #9
That is disappointing, to be sure. n/t Laelth Oct 2013 #14
Derivative trading should be against the law in the first place. RC Oct 2013 #10
I agree. LuvNewcastle Oct 2013 #12
Well put... IthinkThereforeIAM Oct 2013 #39
+1 leftstreet Oct 2013 #43
+1 cut to the core grahamhgreen Oct 2013 #81
They won't be satisfied until this country is a living hell. LuvNewcastle Oct 2013 #11
Me too... EnviroBat Oct 2013 #25
There really is no where to go sulphurdunn Oct 2013 #29
Ok, this has to stop.. and it will, in the Senate! mountain grammy Oct 2013 #15
Love the OP title - it is always accurate, any time of the day or night when the GOP NRaleighLiberal Oct 2013 #16
Title of the Bill? diva77 Oct 2013 #17
I couldn't find the name/# after going through Ilsa Oct 2013 #18
One is H.R. 992 or the “Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act” muriel_volestrangler Oct 2013 #20
Thanks!! diva77 Oct 2013 #24
Damn, I might need a break from politics tavalon Oct 2013 #19
Money whores, simply money whores. JimboBillyBubbaBob Oct 2013 #21
Oh dear! I keep forgetting I'm not in Kansas! Southside Oct 2013 #27
I'm definitely in the wrong business Pretzel_Warrior Oct 2013 #28
Business as usual, huh? Jackpine Radical Oct 2013 #30
the word is corrupt, not insane. unblock Oct 2013 #31
“broad bipartisan support” Enthusiast Oct 2013 #32
Sometimes I just want to give up! Brain overload. n/t Paper Roses Oct 2013 #33
Which is the intent. It's called The Shock Doctrine. n/t Oilwellian Oct 2013 #36
This is the stealth bullshit these incumbents must be made to pay for at the ballot box. ancianita Oct 2013 #35
The next bail out will be to confiscate deposits from customers instead of the Fed; like what DhhD Oct 2013 #38
What's new? Comrade Grumpy Oct 2013 #42
Industry lobbyists writing legislation? Glaisne Oct 2013 #45
The Root of all Evil packman Oct 2013 #46
They start messing with derivatives blue-wave Oct 2013 #48
When it comes to banking, they're all sockpuppets. dorkulon Oct 2013 #50
I get to grade some papers of high school seniors Plucketeer Oct 2013 #51
fucking republican business whores gopiscrap Oct 2013 #52
to understand it, follow the money. nt arthritisR_US Oct 2013 #53
There are differences between Democrats and Rethuglicans but ... Swede Atlanta Oct 2013 #54
The corruption is complete. DeSwiss Oct 2013 #55
I want to know the NAMES of the Democrats backing this bill, and I want to know precisely JDPriestly Oct 2013 #56
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Oct 2013 #57
When it comes to screwing us obxhead Oct 2013 #59
+1. jsr Oct 2013 #66
I think they are coordinated with the Alan Greenspan book rollout and rollback. SleeplessinSoCal Oct 2013 #62
Let these guys explain how derivative trading works ThoughtCriminal Oct 2013 #65
Campaign finance reform neffernin Oct 2013 #68
Thanks, Citizens United DallasNE Oct 2013 #69
The anxiety of just thinking polynomial Oct 2013 #70
CONTACT the Crazy DEMS Tigress DEM Oct 2013 #75
Savvy! blkmusclmachine Oct 2013 #77
No No No. The people DEMAND Collateralized Debt Obligations! Warren DeMontague Oct 2013 #80
Shame on Democrats.... bobGandolf Oct 2013 #84
and they wonder why they have low approval ratings. . B Calm Oct 2013 #85
'broad bipartisan support' -has a nice ring to it, don't cha think? KG Oct 2013 #86
Thank an investor. You get what you pay for. Too bad we all have to live in their mess. nt raouldukelives Oct 2013 #87
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