STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 24 July 2012

[Ghost Dog]

14. Of the many apposite comments at the link, I'll just quote this:

richardbunning

14 July 2012 5:58PM

There is a common misconception about the Mafia.

It is not a monumental organisation with a central chain of command. Its controlling families in each country are few, they often know each other and may even intermarry, but a mafiosi in Bologna probably has no connection or even knownledge of another in Brindisi - and none whatsover of a mafia family in Chicago.

"Our Cause" - the Causa Nostra - is therefore a loose affiliation of cooperating or vying groups of criminals who have only one thing in common - their use of criminal rackets to make money.

In the UK "Our Cause" is the common cause of bankers, financial services and big business to make as much money as they can - and they do this through ensuring that there is a little regulation and as much public money spent in the private sector as possible.

Bank deregulation allowed UK banks to engage in massive financial gambles, but knowing because there are so big, if things went badly they could effectively blackmail the government to bail them out - and have now had over a trillion pounds in state aid of one sort or another - equal to the national debt.

The revolving door between the Tory Party and the City, where 75% of Tory MPs have direct personal links and interests in the banks speaks for itself. There are a few hundred families who hugely benefit from "Our Cause" and they are the British end of the 1% richest, who have benfited from "Our Cause".

Therefore we live in a Mafia State - one where the people are milked relentlessly to take even more money to keep the 1% incredinly wealthy.

There is no difference between a protection racket in a city run by hoods who threaten to destroy the economy unless the local businesses pay them off and a bunch of City bankers who threaten to destroy the nation's financial system unless we give them a trillion pounds.

The mafia buy politicians and subvert law enforcement - they seek to control the media and cooperate to keep the lid on their conspiracy to manipulate the financial system for their own greed.

Mafia - pure and simple - dressed up as neoliberal supply side economics - the justification for a system where the cards are completely stacked against ordinary consumers and small businesses.

We need to rip its heart out - nationalise the zombie banks and create a dozen new regional mutual cedit banks which are owned and accountable to their customers - no sdhareholders, no bonuses, no casino capitalism anymore.

The British class system used to dominate society because only the ruling class could rule - today it is a narrow strate of society exemplified by the sort of families who sons join the Bullingdon Club, went to Oxford, Eton and move in the sort of circles of the megarich - media tycoons, city bankers and entrepreneurs - i.e. Daviod Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson to mention but three of the leaders of "Our Cause" in the disunited kingdom.

The globalised structure of the banks and the availability of rapid communications has removed the geographical barriers to the criminal activities of "Our Cause" - and unless we dismantle them and remove their power over our economies, we face our societies being eaten away from within.