America's Poverty Epidemic-- A Disease Of Global Banking, (Covid As Death Blow,) Media Won't Cover The Story—Obsessed With Race, Gender, Woke Blinders To Deflect From A Collapsing Society
I think everyone knows by now that the system isn't broken. It works as it was intended to work. We send money to Ukraine, but we cannot take care of the homeless or the veterans in our own country. Soon humans won't be needed in the work force, being replaced by AI and Robotics. Hollyweird is already getting that message loud and clear. Eugenicists are fast at work culling the human herd (and the bovine herd while they're at it) to reduce "climate change", which is looking like a crock each day that passes. Our borders are wide open. Make sense if you think about child trafficking, drug trafficking and thousands of frustrated illegals here in America when the SHTF and the planned Agenda comes to fruition. More bodies to join the chaos, illegal, undocumented and unleashed to fight back with weapons that kill when war emerges because the it's not right and it's not fair scale tips. Not to mention, more mouths to feed, cloth, shelter and find jobs for (not happening and I don't think letting illegals into the country was intended to nurture them or to be kind to them). I liked what George Carlin said before he passed. He said, "America is finished". I think that just about sums it up. Next up CBDC, social credit scores, digital id's and 15 minute cities all run by computation data collecting computers. Welcome to the Metaverse, The Great Reset, The New World Order or whatever the hell those powers that shouldn't be are calling it. I call it hell on earth cometh. "The world is a business Mr. Beale". So the ? is: how do we, the people who don't want what is being cooked up by the idiocracy and insane, do to stop all this madness?
Courage. Question everything. And speak up. I've moved on from so-called 'friends.' My family thinks I'm nuts. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my heros. It's lonely but, hey, It's the least we can do for all living beings?
men. that's a delicate subject these days! the world is upside down and inside out. I'd like to know where are the woman, who are mothers and grandmothers? We should all be outraged at what is happening. Even men, who are straight, are becoming feminized! But yes, a few good strong masculine men. We need more of them now! 100% agree!
I just had a vision of Mel Brooks' Men in Tights. "we're men, we're men in tights, we roam around the woods, looking for fights". Sorry. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but, without a sense of humor, it would be very difficult navigating Clown World.
see the late Aaron Russo's film, FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM regarding taxes. very eye opening. meanwhile, geo engineering the weather (watch Frankenskies film) while screaming climate change is responsible for the hottest July ever, is the spin all over MSM. where is truth when propagandized fear strikes again? Bronny James, LeBron's son, suffers heart attack while playing basketball. no mention of why a heart attack being so young? How will they spin the story? More UFO sightings on CBS news tonight, while still nothig to see regarding Hunter's laptop, or the Biden affiliation with Ukraine. And on and on it all goes and where it all stops, nobody knows!
Both B Carlson AND le_berger_des_photons are correct. Leaders perform a valuable role in directing the efforts of individuals---the danger is the temptation of corruption. If enough individuals can cooperate "selflessly" but with focus, then a leader may not be necessary
I don’t know what the answer is other than we must have red lines on things that we absolutely will not comply with, we also need to extract ourselves from the beast system as much as we possibly can
The founders included a couple things to "stop all this madness" ... nullification and secession.
The last "election" was valuable in that it proved beyond any doubt that there will be no voting our way out of this. There is no accountability at the federal level so our only shot is at the state level.
The banking cartel has been around for hundreds of years. They did things like bankroll both sides of WWII, a win win. They stay in the shadows and let people like Gates and Soros due their bidding, while they stay hidden in the shadows. These families are so rich they need nothing but want total control and power over the entire globe.
You are right they are not smart. They are inbred ugly idiots. Have you seen a Rothschild or a Rockefeller that is handsome or beautiful. No but they have the money to buy the Bert people to work at the higher levels of their cartel.
Let’s hope we can bring this bank down and rid the world of these satanic demons
Wow! Thank you Celia. What a powerful set of reflections. At age 71 now, I've found I have had to literally "rethink" just about every thought and opinion I've had about our world and our system. Although I would characterize myself as "far left" of the Democratic Party - what that means in my value system and definition of what is actually "left" - is simply that I believe everyone deserves a roof over their heads, everyone deserves enough food to eat, everyone deserves access to education and safe employment no matter where they reside on the planet. A society that cannot provide this is not a functional society.
This basic "value orientation" sometimes gets me labelled a "socialist" or "communist" - but I really hold no allegiance to any of the "isms" - "capitalism" included. During the covid madness I found that I had much more in common with my libertarian sisters and brothers regarding civil liberties, than with the "woke" masked mobs mindlessly supporting the unscientific mandates and vaccines. However, I continue to part ways with those same libertarians on issues of economics - because I don't think we need anymore evidence that unfettered unregulated neoliberal capitalism is simply destroying what is left of a livable life here in the U.S. for working class people (where I come from as a retired social worker - my dad a steelworker for 30 years). It sometimes feels to me that my libertarian sisters and brothers often defend this unfettered capitalism with the same evidence-free zeal that the woke ideologues defend all the current Critical Social Justice madness - rather than being able to engage in reasoned examination and discussion of where we are and where we are going as a society. We are all susceptible to our own ideological blinders, I like everyone else struggles to see my own blinders much of the time.
My wife an I plan to leave Southern California the end of August to return to live in a small village in rural France after spending 6 years here helping care for two of our young grandsons. We are leaving because on a retirement income of Social Security and a small pension we cannot afford to live here anymore (truth be told we NEVER could afford to live here) but we raided retirement savings year after year to make it work so we could help care for our grandsons. We can by contrast live a very decent humane life in rural France on our monthly income - something we simply can't do here in Southern California - where we watch the homeless population and homeless encampments seemingly grow daily. Where the sense that the term "social fabric" is completely meaningless - as shopping and consumption - by those who can afford to do so - seems the only commonality in Southern California communities.
I won't pretend to know the answer or the solution, to our collective dilemma. However, it is clear that allowing more and more wealth to accumulate in the hands of fewer people, and in the hands of corporate finance entities - has rotted the very fabric of our society - perhaps beyond repair. The political class is literally "owned" by monied interests, as is the MSM, as are the social media companies, as are the regulatory agencies like the FDA, CDC & EPA. When such concentrations of money control the narratives and set the agenda of the nation - it is farcical to speak of "freedom" or "democracy" as anything but "advertising slogans" for those wealthy interests.
I guess I just keep coming back to that question of "values." I don't care if one claims to adhere to a belief in capitalism, socialism or communism - I care about whether you are ok with your fellow human beings living in cardboard boxes under freeway overpasses, and dumpster diving for food. Whether you can sleep at night knowing children are sharing this life - in the richest country the world has ever known. Perhaps its time we all find a way to step beyond all our past loyalty to the various "isms" and stand instead for the basic set of human values that we all need simply to survive - with our "freedom of thought and expression" - remaining central to whatever might evolve from our clearly disintegrating systems and society. Thank you Celia for such an honest and thought provoking article. You've given me much to ponder and reflect on today.
I agree with much of your commentary, but I will say this. Both my husband & I grew up in blue-collar “working class” families. By today’s standards, we would have been considered “poor” or certainly “low income.” But we were oblivious. We considered ourselves middle class. (Part of the psy-op? Probably.)
We do not have college degrees. Most people’s reaction to that information is that it must have been a detriment or handicap in our ability to “earn.” (We would be destined to flip burgers for minimum wage our entire lives!) Neither of our parents could afford to pay for our college. They made just enough so we were not eligible for grants. We were not star students or minorities or athletes, so no scholarships were available. And we were both raised to believe that debt was a bad thing.
But we don’t see our lack of “higher education” (cringe) as a detriment. First, we were never saddled (or yoked) with enormous student debt. And we were never subjected to academia brainwashing.
My husband learned a trade at 15. He worked his way up in the small business to Vice President. By 30 years old, he opened his own business (by selling a car & converting his garage into an office with a 1-800 number.) Fast forward 35 years, and we still own that business today. It’s still considered a small business but has grown tremendously. We have a handful of employees that have all been with us for decades. We have a brick & mortar locaton on main street, literally. We only work four days a week. We all live very comfortable lives. We all take vacations every year, even to Europe a few times.
The point is….when my husband decided he wanted to open a business, well, he did. He just did it. He figured it out. And he succeeded. He knew he had no connections. He could not expect any freebies from anyone. He just had a very strong work ethic & a will to succeed.
He was not held back by the government, a class system, or a professor.
So my question-- is that “can do” attitude an effect of the psy-op? If yes, then is that a bad thing?
The “American Dream” (Psy-Op although it might be) says that a story such as ours is not possible in socialist or communist countries.
Is it?
I’m legitimately asking. Are the blue-collar workers in Sweden or Spain able to move “upwards” financially? Can they start businesses so easily?
The "can do" attitude is not an effect of the psy-op. At one time, there was a great deal of opportunity in America for the determined and talented people. The problem is that a lot of that opportunity has now been displaced because we no longer have anything even remotely resembling a free market. We have economic fascism, which is dangerous and frustrating.
Maybe. My child just graduated from college. Had a job secured before graduation day. She also has a side hussle business she’s been cultivating since high school. I believe there are still opportunities out there. It requires a work ethic but also the ability to recognize those opportunities.
Having run a small business for 3+ decades, I can assure you there is still a free market out there, at least on Main Street. The Covid era & the new administration created more obstacles for us, but again, we figure it out.
Although my comment may seem simplistic and superficial, I think it touches the essence of the problem in America: too much government. Too much in the way of real estate taxes (for the home one SUPPOSEDLY owns, except that if you don't pay your local real estate taxes, the town/city in which you reside can TAKE IT), too much in the way of business taxes and mandates such as workers' compensation insurance, state unemployment insurance, FICA, corporate income taxes, local business property taxes - so that small businesses owners cannot make a decent living because they have to UPCHARGE THE COST OF THEIR SERVICES SO MUCH TO COMPENSATE FOR THE COST OF BIG GOVERNMENT that they cannot compete with LARGER COMPANIES who have economies of scale to offset the cost and who get big jobs to make much more gross revenue. The consumers end up paying so much more for a good or service because of TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT. Everything we touch is riddled with LAYER UPON LAYER of government taxes/fees/cost of mandates, so that NOTHING we purchase is its true labor/materials cost. It reminds me of Turtles All the Way Down, in a way.
Indeed, the impacts from taxes, licensing, regulations, not to mention the banking cartel, have terrible impacts on business, especially small business, and consumers. And none of the above should be considered integral parts of capitalism. In fact, just look at Marx' list of 10 ways of destroying market economies and you will see them.
I pretty much made the American dream happen. From a poor family in Wyoming after a few years working on drilling rigs I finally put myself through college as a petroleum engineer. My career paid well and if I wasn’t an alcoholic and losing a wife that cost me a million I would be in ok shape, though I own my own beautiful home in Chile and can pay for all living expenses raising two children I’m not rich. I buy what is necessary not what I want.
But I have traveled the world and have really seen poor. In Chad you are lucky if you have a mud home and can feed your family. I’ve seen children with one set of clothes eating insects. Now this is poor and in comparison to Americans living in a car are rich. There are no old people in Chad, they die.
Keep writing beautiful stories and Substack will give you a decent living Celia.
Turn your will and life over to the care of God and stay in constant contact Him. Prayer is powerful.
Great article. I was short on time and was going to skip it, but I started reading and had to read to the end.
Capitalism vs Communism is a false dichotomy. Even those two words have multiple meanings depending on who is wielding them.
The history of the Soviet Union, and the massive amounts of western funding that made it possible shatter the illusion of two competing systems. When Karl Marx spoke about "Capital", he was largely correct in what he said, but Marxism is a mess too, and it was certainly at least infiltrated by "Capital", if not invented by it.
The struggles of people on low incomes are real, but what is also real is the tendency for people to live beyond their means and (especially young people) to fail to prepare for future difficulties. Start looking into where people spend their money and how much money it actually takes to live.
-- By the way Celia, you should check out western PA and northern WV for places to go and live fairly cheap and in a pretty nice environment. It's rural though, so maybe not what a city slicker is looking for! :) --
This system is corrupt and it always has been, but (mostly) we are not powerless to protect ourselves from it in this country. (The financial, and other, wars currently being waged look to me like Europe is going to be taking a big hit soon.) The destruction of families and communities makes it much more difficult for us to push back against "the owners". When people start putting their families and communities back together and rejecting the false promises of "the new way" then they will regain some footing. This does not start from the poorest and work it's way up, but rather from a sensible middle class (if we can manage to produce one) and works it's way down. Control of the political machines will have to be wrested back from "the owners" and their agents who have had a large amount of control for over 100 years. The lower classes keep falling for the lies of "the owners" and their agents. (The welfare and health care systems in place today do not serve the interests of the lower classes. The middle classes spend money they don't have and disempower themselves chasing an unnecessary and fleeting lifestyle.)
Such a beautiful article, Celia. I am lucky to read it. This is an elegantly written, in-depth article that rightfully belongs in the New Yorker or the Atlantic or serialized in the Washington Post if they weren't, such hypnotized, corporatized dim-wits!
In the early 1960's, a working man who labored in a good factory in the city of Philadelphia made about $9,000 dollars a year. On this salary, he owned a small house or twin house in the city that sheltered his wife, who didn't work, and 2 kids. He also owned one car and in a few years put a down payment on a small cottage at the Jersey shore--a vacation home. He did this on a high school education, daily discipline and the love of his family. This is the excellent quality of life that 9,000 and a good public high school education bought in say, 1962! ---This was the highest standard of living in the world, and before toxins and vaccines, the healthiest.
Today, in 2023, that same man, 18 and graduating from high school cannot find a decent factory job in Philly, they are few. Doing manual labor he will make about 18, 000- 20,000 a year and for this his nice one bedroom apartment rental on a relatively safe city street will cost him $1,400 a month--$16,800 dollars a year leaving him about 1,200 dollars a year to eat, dress and get on subsidized public transportation and rent a wreck, yikes!
Once upon a time in the early 60's the American Dream existed. Then they, the powers-that-be, shot President Kennedy, who, among other things, apparently wanted to put the US dollar on some kind of standard again, like silver. Imagine--reality finance.
Perhaps the American Dream was shot, the money stolen with it, and as you say, a psy-op put in its place to trance us into believing if we only work harder that $10-12 an hour will buy us the house, car and vacation home at the shore.
I bet you didn't get the news of the Great American Heist in Sweden--we didn't really get the news here either, pretty hidden under all that slick Madison Ave./CIA advertising.
Ah, Barry Farber. I did not realize that he was THE Barry Farber of the Radio Show. When we were kids, we had no T.V. as my parents were quite sure it made you stupid, so we'd all sit on the bed listening to Barry Farber and his deep silky voice. Then, we would listen to Jean Shepard (I admit I liked Jean better) and Mystery Theater. The old radio shows. Very nostalgic. I hadn't thought of the old shows for some time. Thanks!
I too have been a HUGE proponent of #EndTheFed for a long time.
Had we been able to do that fifty years ago, things *might* be different. But now, it's just too far gone. This corrupt babylonian magic has full control now. I am convinced that it will just have to rot in on itself before it can fall. The best we can hope for, work for, is to have something built to replace it when that happens.
#ParallelEconomy
#FinancialRebellion
Get out of the cities. Now. There's still time. Network. Pray.
thank you for this. Truly inspiring. Hence the following:
When I went to college, in NYC in the 1960s (because my father was a public school teacher I lived there with him - his turn, my single mother said), there WAS NO TUITION. City College. I also got a regent's college scholarship to pay for books. I also lived in a clean, rent-controlled, 6 flight walk-up near my classes, and worked for other expenses - lots of jobs! Sadly there is tuition there now and the highest paid are are not the teachers but the administrators, who create the budgets, and have what' David Graeber call bs jobs. I'm not a socialist but I do believe in free public education on all levels for the common wealth. But as the corruption is now so massive and everywhere, perhaps it is no longer a good idea?
I also believe billionaires are obscene;, wars are evil, driven by greed and psychopathy; and I worry that the nut jobs in DC will start a nuclear war that will kill ALL living beings... (coming soon I think)...
I too support RFKjr at the moment but I worry for his safety. (the nut jobs in DC are desperate at this point).
I used to actively support medicare for all but not with the sick care, totally corrupt, profit driven, pill pushing system that we have now. I avoided Medicare (DIS)advantage but many I know did not. Totally corrupt/profit driven.
As you see I am not optimistic. As so many say this is all working according to plan. The fewer the people the better the planet for those special very rich elites. Assuming we can survive a 'limited' nuclear war.
What you didn't say--but perhaps is implicit--is that you realize long after the fact that everything you have been fed in this country is a whitewashed lie you bought into until you woke up to the sleight-of-hand performed by it's evil magicians. I had an inkling around 6th grade or so that terrified me: it was nothing I learned in school or from my parents or peers, but an intuition that I would be forced eventually to get a mundane, underpaid job working for callous, unappreciative people for the rest of my miserable life. It was as if in that moment I got a glimpse into the dark secret of the system--wage slavery--for which I would not have a sufficient vocabulary nor the understanding of its profound ramifications for decades. One might reasonably argue that I was bright and talented and if I'd had more ambition and confidence I might have succeeded in escaping this noose.
What is rarely mentioned is the Depression mentality that parents hand down to their children, inculcating in them the belief that there will never be enough and that they should not aspire to anything too lofty. That, and alcoholism, are guaranteed to torpedo any attempt at success. This deprivation/scarcity mentality is an insidious saboteur unless one sees through it and works diligently to cast off this albatross. The other aspect about "making a living" that's rarely discussed is the willingness to prostitute yourself in order to climb the ladder--working ridiculously long hours, suffering the abuse of supervisors, compromising your ethics and morals--going along to get along--not being given sufficient autonomy, lack of financial reward for going beyond the call of duty.
Many people are willing to compromise themselves in order to get ahead because that's what has been drilled into them. I never subscribed and survived without being homeless or having to live in my car. However, while I always had just enough, I still lived with a scarcity mentality. Unlike many others, I was not willing to do "whatever it took" to get ahead. The sad part is that there are others willing to do whatever it takes who *still* do not get ahead. I think the most we can do is to forgive ourselves for past mistakes and things we could not change for whatever reason, admitting what our part was and recognizing the part of the intentional architects of this corrupt, rigged system. And then writing about it to expose it and to warn others.
Thanks for another insightful article. As to what system will work best, I don't know. What is clear is that if evil people are in charge of whatever the social/economic system is, it will result in misery.
Thank you, Celia, for sharing part of your personal journey with us. I found it very moving and know so many who are struggling. FB friends suddenly homeless, and more barely hanging on, having to move out of California to find lower rent -- only to have the rent go up in AZ, ID, MT, FL.
Working for Bernie in 2016 is what opened my eyes to how fraudulent much of MSM is. There was what the media said about Bernie -- and then there was what he really said when you went to the source and listened to his words. There was little commonality between the two. And the headlines that trumpeted Buttigieg first and Klobuchar 3rd, completely leaving out Bernie in 2nd place (and sometimes first place) in the caucus/primary.
Even with that preparation, the deceit around Covid was/is still somewhat shocking.
Jimmy Dore does a pretty good job outing the lies, as a comedian. He is on YouTube and often makes fun of the censorship and what he is NOT allowed to say. He is outraged, but is wisely careful with how he and his team expresses their angst. Pretty good show… not a George Carlin, but pretty close!
I think everyone knows by now that the system isn't broken. It works as it was intended to work. We send money to Ukraine, but we cannot take care of the homeless or the veterans in our own country. Soon humans won't be needed in the work force, being replaced by AI and Robotics. Hollyweird is already getting that message loud and clear. Eugenicists are fast at work culling the human herd (and the bovine herd while they're at it) to reduce "climate change", which is looking like a crock each day that passes. Our borders are wide open. Make sense if you think about child trafficking, drug trafficking and thousands of frustrated illegals here in America when the SHTF and the planned Agenda comes to fruition. More bodies to join the chaos, illegal, undocumented and unleashed to fight back with weapons that kill when war emerges because the it's not right and it's not fair scale tips. Not to mention, more mouths to feed, cloth, shelter and find jobs for (not happening and I don't think letting illegals into the country was intended to nurture them or to be kind to them). I liked what George Carlin said before he passed. He said, "America is finished". I think that just about sums it up. Next up CBDC, social credit scores, digital id's and 15 minute cities all run by computation data collecting computers. Welcome to the Metaverse, The Great Reset, The New World Order or whatever the hell those powers that shouldn't be are calling it. I call it hell on earth cometh. "The world is a business Mr. Beale". So the ? is: how do we, the people who don't want what is being cooked up by the idiocracy and insane, do to stop all this madness?
Carlin also said something to the effect of, "It's called the American Dream- because you have to be asleep to believe it..."
🎯
Carlin... underappreciated in his time.
Courage. Question everything. And speak up. I've moved on from so-called 'friends.' My family thinks I'm nuts. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my heros. It's lonely but, hey, It's the least we can do for all living beings?
Ditto.
It’s so scary what is happening and only a few of us see it. We need a few strong men to lead a revolution and restore morality
men. that's a delicate subject these days! the world is upside down and inside out. I'd like to know where are the woman, who are mothers and grandmothers? We should all be outraged at what is happening. Even men, who are straight, are becoming feminized! But yes, a few good strong masculine men. We need more of them now! 100% agree!
Yes we need women too. But men to the front lines with guns and rope
I just had a vision of Mel Brooks' Men in Tights. "we're men, we're men in tights, we roam around the woods, looking for fights". Sorry. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but, without a sense of humor, it would be very difficult navigating Clown World.
I would argue that this mindset is part of the problem.
"We need a few strong men"
Nope. What we need is enough "regular" people (ie. YOU) to have faith in their own ability to have an impact.
Full stop.
Tax revolt, anyone?
see the late Aaron Russo's film, FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM regarding taxes. very eye opening. meanwhile, geo engineering the weather (watch Frankenskies film) while screaming climate change is responsible for the hottest July ever, is the spin all over MSM. where is truth when propagandized fear strikes again? Bronny James, LeBron's son, suffers heart attack while playing basketball. no mention of why a heart attack being so young? How will they spin the story? More UFO sightings on CBS news tonight, while still nothig to see regarding Hunter's laptop, or the Biden affiliation with Ukraine. And on and on it all goes and where it all stops, nobody knows!
((())) But hey, Rothbard, Friedman and Hayek, amongst others, were pretty cool.
It takes a strong man or woman to have the intestinal fortitude to stop paying taxes. Ie tax revolt
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
If enough people begin to stand up against the tyranny that is growing in the nation the meek will follow.
I agree we need an alternative economy and no consent to the Big government controls.
And women.
Uh...
Create local currencies.(Bernard Lietaer)
Both B Carlson AND le_berger_des_photons are correct. Leaders perform a valuable role in directing the efforts of individuals---the danger is the temptation of corruption. If enough individuals can cooperate "selflessly" but with focus, then a leader may not be necessary
"We send money to Ukraine"
Cui bono, indeed?
The American military-industrial complex.
I don’t know what the answer is other than we must have red lines on things that we absolutely will not comply with, we also need to extract ourselves from the beast system as much as we possibly can
The founders included a couple things to "stop all this madness" ... nullification and secession.
The last "election" was valuable in that it proved beyond any doubt that there will be no voting our way out of this. There is no accountability at the federal level so our only shot is at the state level.
When your back is to the wall ...
https://open.substack.com/pub/doc115/p/when-your-back-is-to-the-wall?r=18tk5o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
~~ j ~~
Wish I could post attachments here.
Check out "Political Ponerology" by Andrew M. !obaczewski.
https://www.survivorshandbook.com/wp-content/articles/political-ponerology.pdf
Huge eye opener (for me at any rate) regarding the intersection of psychopaths and power structures.
I read it some time ago, happy to be reunited with it.
The banking cartel has been around for hundreds of years. They did things like bankroll both sides of WWII, a win win. They stay in the shadows and let people like Gates and Soros due their bidding, while they stay hidden in the shadows. These families are so rich they need nothing but want total control and power over the entire globe.
You are right they are not smart. They are inbred ugly idiots. Have you seen a Rothschild or a Rockefeller that is handsome or beautiful. No but they have the money to buy the Bert people to work at the higher levels of their cartel.
Let’s hope we can bring this bank down and rid the world of these satanic demons
Wow! Thank you Celia. What a powerful set of reflections. At age 71 now, I've found I have had to literally "rethink" just about every thought and opinion I've had about our world and our system. Although I would characterize myself as "far left" of the Democratic Party - what that means in my value system and definition of what is actually "left" - is simply that I believe everyone deserves a roof over their heads, everyone deserves enough food to eat, everyone deserves access to education and safe employment no matter where they reside on the planet. A society that cannot provide this is not a functional society.
This basic "value orientation" sometimes gets me labelled a "socialist" or "communist" - but I really hold no allegiance to any of the "isms" - "capitalism" included. During the covid madness I found that I had much more in common with my libertarian sisters and brothers regarding civil liberties, than with the "woke" masked mobs mindlessly supporting the unscientific mandates and vaccines. However, I continue to part ways with those same libertarians on issues of economics - because I don't think we need anymore evidence that unfettered unregulated neoliberal capitalism is simply destroying what is left of a livable life here in the U.S. for working class people (where I come from as a retired social worker - my dad a steelworker for 30 years). It sometimes feels to me that my libertarian sisters and brothers often defend this unfettered capitalism with the same evidence-free zeal that the woke ideologues defend all the current Critical Social Justice madness - rather than being able to engage in reasoned examination and discussion of where we are and where we are going as a society. We are all susceptible to our own ideological blinders, I like everyone else struggles to see my own blinders much of the time.
My wife an I plan to leave Southern California the end of August to return to live in a small village in rural France after spending 6 years here helping care for two of our young grandsons. We are leaving because on a retirement income of Social Security and a small pension we cannot afford to live here anymore (truth be told we NEVER could afford to live here) but we raided retirement savings year after year to make it work so we could help care for our grandsons. We can by contrast live a very decent humane life in rural France on our monthly income - something we simply can't do here in Southern California - where we watch the homeless population and homeless encampments seemingly grow daily. Where the sense that the term "social fabric" is completely meaningless - as shopping and consumption - by those who can afford to do so - seems the only commonality in Southern California communities.
I won't pretend to know the answer or the solution, to our collective dilemma. However, it is clear that allowing more and more wealth to accumulate in the hands of fewer people, and in the hands of corporate finance entities - has rotted the very fabric of our society - perhaps beyond repair. The political class is literally "owned" by monied interests, as is the MSM, as are the social media companies, as are the regulatory agencies like the FDA, CDC & EPA. When such concentrations of money control the narratives and set the agenda of the nation - it is farcical to speak of "freedom" or "democracy" as anything but "advertising slogans" for those wealthy interests.
I guess I just keep coming back to that question of "values." I don't care if one claims to adhere to a belief in capitalism, socialism or communism - I care about whether you are ok with your fellow human beings living in cardboard boxes under freeway overpasses, and dumpster diving for food. Whether you can sleep at night knowing children are sharing this life - in the richest country the world has ever known. Perhaps its time we all find a way to step beyond all our past loyalty to the various "isms" and stand instead for the basic set of human values that we all need simply to survive - with our "freedom of thought and expression" - remaining central to whatever might evolve from our clearly disintegrating systems and society. Thank you Celia for such an honest and thought provoking article. You've given me much to ponder and reflect on today.
This is the thinking of the old school democrats I grew up with. Boi how far we have sunk in today’s cesspool of greed and control.
I agree with much of your commentary, but I will say this. Both my husband & I grew up in blue-collar “working class” families. By today’s standards, we would have been considered “poor” or certainly “low income.” But we were oblivious. We considered ourselves middle class. (Part of the psy-op? Probably.)
We do not have college degrees. Most people’s reaction to that information is that it must have been a detriment or handicap in our ability to “earn.” (We would be destined to flip burgers for minimum wage our entire lives!) Neither of our parents could afford to pay for our college. They made just enough so we were not eligible for grants. We were not star students or minorities or athletes, so no scholarships were available. And we were both raised to believe that debt was a bad thing.
But we don’t see our lack of “higher education” (cringe) as a detriment. First, we were never saddled (or yoked) with enormous student debt. And we were never subjected to academia brainwashing.
My husband learned a trade at 15. He worked his way up in the small business to Vice President. By 30 years old, he opened his own business (by selling a car & converting his garage into an office with a 1-800 number.) Fast forward 35 years, and we still own that business today. It’s still considered a small business but has grown tremendously. We have a handful of employees that have all been with us for decades. We have a brick & mortar locaton on main street, literally. We only work four days a week. We all live very comfortable lives. We all take vacations every year, even to Europe a few times.
The point is….when my husband decided he wanted to open a business, well, he did. He just did it. He figured it out. And he succeeded. He knew he had no connections. He could not expect any freebies from anyone. He just had a very strong work ethic & a will to succeed.
He was not held back by the government, a class system, or a professor.
So my question-- is that “can do” attitude an effect of the psy-op? If yes, then is that a bad thing?
The “American Dream” (Psy-Op although it might be) says that a story such as ours is not possible in socialist or communist countries.
Is it?
I’m legitimately asking. Are the blue-collar workers in Sweden or Spain able to move “upwards” financially? Can they start businesses so easily?
The "can do" attitude is not an effect of the psy-op. At one time, there was a great deal of opportunity in America for the determined and talented people. The problem is that a lot of that opportunity has now been displaced because we no longer have anything even remotely resembling a free market. We have economic fascism, which is dangerous and frustrating.
Maybe. My child just graduated from college. Had a job secured before graduation day. She also has a side hussle business she’s been cultivating since high school. I believe there are still opportunities out there. It requires a work ethic but also the ability to recognize those opportunities.
Having run a small business for 3+ decades, I can assure you there is still a free market out there, at least on Main Street. The Covid era & the new administration created more obstacles for us, but again, we figure it out.
My husband and I share a 40-year history much like yours. Thank you for sharing your encouraging story :)
Although my comment may seem simplistic and superficial, I think it touches the essence of the problem in America: too much government. Too much in the way of real estate taxes (for the home one SUPPOSEDLY owns, except that if you don't pay your local real estate taxes, the town/city in which you reside can TAKE IT), too much in the way of business taxes and mandates such as workers' compensation insurance, state unemployment insurance, FICA, corporate income taxes, local business property taxes - so that small businesses owners cannot make a decent living because they have to UPCHARGE THE COST OF THEIR SERVICES SO MUCH TO COMPENSATE FOR THE COST OF BIG GOVERNMENT that they cannot compete with LARGER COMPANIES who have economies of scale to offset the cost and who get big jobs to make much more gross revenue. The consumers end up paying so much more for a good or service because of TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT. Everything we touch is riddled with LAYER UPON LAYER of government taxes/fees/cost of mandates, so that NOTHING we purchase is its true labor/materials cost. It reminds me of Turtles All the Way Down, in a way.
Indeed, the impacts from taxes, licensing, regulations, not to mention the banking cartel, have terrible impacts on business, especially small business, and consumers. And none of the above should be considered integral parts of capitalism. In fact, just look at Marx' list of 10 ways of destroying market economies and you will see them.
Thesis:
Government ruins everything that it touches.
The scariest words you will ever hear in your life.
"Hi. We're from the government, and we're here to help."
I really believe that. The evidence is everywhere.
Couldn’t agree more - thank you!
I pretty much made the American dream happen. From a poor family in Wyoming after a few years working on drilling rigs I finally put myself through college as a petroleum engineer. My career paid well and if I wasn’t an alcoholic and losing a wife that cost me a million I would be in ok shape, though I own my own beautiful home in Chile and can pay for all living expenses raising two children I’m not rich. I buy what is necessary not what I want.
But I have traveled the world and have really seen poor. In Chad you are lucky if you have a mud home and can feed your family. I’ve seen children with one set of clothes eating insects. Now this is poor and in comparison to Americans living in a car are rich. There are no old people in Chad, they die.
Keep writing beautiful stories and Substack will give you a decent living Celia.
Turn your will and life over to the care of God and stay in constant contact Him. Prayer is powerful.
Capitalism works best in a moral society.
As does a government.
Maybe morality is the issue , not the availability or stability of energy exchange symbols .
Great article. I was short on time and was going to skip it, but I started reading and had to read to the end.
Capitalism vs Communism is a false dichotomy. Even those two words have multiple meanings depending on who is wielding them.
The history of the Soviet Union, and the massive amounts of western funding that made it possible shatter the illusion of two competing systems. When Karl Marx spoke about "Capital", he was largely correct in what he said, but Marxism is a mess too, and it was certainly at least infiltrated by "Capital", if not invented by it.
The struggles of people on low incomes are real, but what is also real is the tendency for people to live beyond their means and (especially young people) to fail to prepare for future difficulties. Start looking into where people spend their money and how much money it actually takes to live.
-- By the way Celia, you should check out western PA and northern WV for places to go and live fairly cheap and in a pretty nice environment. It's rural though, so maybe not what a city slicker is looking for! :) --
This system is corrupt and it always has been, but (mostly) we are not powerless to protect ourselves from it in this country. (The financial, and other, wars currently being waged look to me like Europe is going to be taking a big hit soon.) The destruction of families and communities makes it much more difficult for us to push back against "the owners". When people start putting their families and communities back together and rejecting the false promises of "the new way" then they will regain some footing. This does not start from the poorest and work it's way up, but rather from a sensible middle class (if we can manage to produce one) and works it's way down. Control of the political machines will have to be wrested back from "the owners" and their agents who have had a large amount of control for over 100 years. The lower classes keep falling for the lies of "the owners" and their agents. (The welfare and health care systems in place today do not serve the interests of the lower classes. The middle classes spend money they don't have and disempower themselves chasing an unnecessary and fleeting lifestyle.)
"The history of the Soviet Union, and the massive amounts of western funding that made it possible shatter the illusion of two competing systems"
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Such a beautiful article, Celia. I am lucky to read it. This is an elegantly written, in-depth article that rightfully belongs in the New Yorker or the Atlantic or serialized in the Washington Post if they weren't, such hypnotized, corporatized dim-wits!
In the early 1960's, a working man who labored in a good factory in the city of Philadelphia made about $9,000 dollars a year. On this salary, he owned a small house or twin house in the city that sheltered his wife, who didn't work, and 2 kids. He also owned one car and in a few years put a down payment on a small cottage at the Jersey shore--a vacation home. He did this on a high school education, daily discipline and the love of his family. This is the excellent quality of life that 9,000 and a good public high school education bought in say, 1962! ---This was the highest standard of living in the world, and before toxins and vaccines, the healthiest.
Today, in 2023, that same man, 18 and graduating from high school cannot find a decent factory job in Philly, they are few. Doing manual labor he will make about 18, 000- 20,000 a year and for this his nice one bedroom apartment rental on a relatively safe city street will cost him $1,400 a month--$16,800 dollars a year leaving him about 1,200 dollars a year to eat, dress and get on subsidized public transportation and rent a wreck, yikes!
Once upon a time in the early 60's the American Dream existed. Then they, the powers-that-be, shot President Kennedy, who, among other things, apparently wanted to put the US dollar on some kind of standard again, like silver. Imagine--reality finance.
Perhaps the American Dream was shot, the money stolen with it, and as you say, a psy-op put in its place to trance us into believing if we only work harder that $10-12 an hour will buy us the house, car and vacation home at the shore.
I bet you didn't get the news of the Great American Heist in Sweden--we didn't really get the news here either, pretty hidden under all that slick Madison Ave./CIA advertising.
Blessings on your purse and person. Keep writing!
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Ah, Barry Farber. I did not realize that he was THE Barry Farber of the Radio Show. When we were kids, we had no T.V. as my parents were quite sure it made you stupid, so we'd all sit on the bed listening to Barry Farber and his deep silky voice. Then, we would listen to Jean Shepard (I admit I liked Jean better) and Mystery Theater. The old radio shows. Very nostalgic. I hadn't thought of the old shows for some time. Thanks!
The robot gutting of manufacturing in the US has much to do with the poverty. As does the excessive government spending. End the FED.
I too have been a HUGE proponent of #EndTheFed for a long time.
Had we been able to do that fifty years ago, things *might* be different. But now, it's just too far gone. This corrupt babylonian magic has full control now. I am convinced that it will just have to rot in on itself before it can fall. The best we can hope for, work for, is to have something built to replace it when that happens.
#ParallelEconomy
#FinancialRebellion
Get out of the cities. Now. There's still time. Network. Pray.
"Get out of the cities. Now. There's still time. Network. Pray."
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thank you for this. Truly inspiring. Hence the following:
When I went to college, in NYC in the 1960s (because my father was a public school teacher I lived there with him - his turn, my single mother said), there WAS NO TUITION. City College. I also got a regent's college scholarship to pay for books. I also lived in a clean, rent-controlled, 6 flight walk-up near my classes, and worked for other expenses - lots of jobs! Sadly there is tuition there now and the highest paid are are not the teachers but the administrators, who create the budgets, and have what' David Graeber call bs jobs. I'm not a socialist but I do believe in free public education on all levels for the common wealth. But as the corruption is now so massive and everywhere, perhaps it is no longer a good idea?
I also believe billionaires are obscene;, wars are evil, driven by greed and psychopathy; and I worry that the nut jobs in DC will start a nuclear war that will kill ALL living beings... (coming soon I think)...
I too support RFKjr at the moment but I worry for his safety. (the nut jobs in DC are desperate at this point).
I used to actively support medicare for all but not with the sick care, totally corrupt, profit driven, pill pushing system that we have now. I avoided Medicare (DIS)advantage but many I know did not. Totally corrupt/profit driven.
As you see I am not optimistic. As so many say this is all working according to plan. The fewer the people the better the planet for those special very rich elites. Assuming we can survive a 'limited' nuclear war.
thank you as always for all you write.
What you didn't say--but perhaps is implicit--is that you realize long after the fact that everything you have been fed in this country is a whitewashed lie you bought into until you woke up to the sleight-of-hand performed by it's evil magicians. I had an inkling around 6th grade or so that terrified me: it was nothing I learned in school or from my parents or peers, but an intuition that I would be forced eventually to get a mundane, underpaid job working for callous, unappreciative people for the rest of my miserable life. It was as if in that moment I got a glimpse into the dark secret of the system--wage slavery--for which I would not have a sufficient vocabulary nor the understanding of its profound ramifications for decades. One might reasonably argue that I was bright and talented and if I'd had more ambition and confidence I might have succeeded in escaping this noose.
What is rarely mentioned is the Depression mentality that parents hand down to their children, inculcating in them the belief that there will never be enough and that they should not aspire to anything too lofty. That, and alcoholism, are guaranteed to torpedo any attempt at success. This deprivation/scarcity mentality is an insidious saboteur unless one sees through it and works diligently to cast off this albatross. The other aspect about "making a living" that's rarely discussed is the willingness to prostitute yourself in order to climb the ladder--working ridiculously long hours, suffering the abuse of supervisors, compromising your ethics and morals--going along to get along--not being given sufficient autonomy, lack of financial reward for going beyond the call of duty.
Many people are willing to compromise themselves in order to get ahead because that's what has been drilled into them. I never subscribed and survived without being homeless or having to live in my car. However, while I always had just enough, I still lived with a scarcity mentality. Unlike many others, I was not willing to do "whatever it took" to get ahead. The sad part is that there are others willing to do whatever it takes who *still* do not get ahead. I think the most we can do is to forgive ourselves for past mistakes and things we could not change for whatever reason, admitting what our part was and recognizing the part of the intentional architects of this corrupt, rigged system. And then writing about it to expose it and to warn others.
Thanks for another insightful article. As to what system will work best, I don't know. What is clear is that if evil people are in charge of whatever the social/economic system is, it will result in misery.
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Thank you, Celia, for sharing part of your personal journey with us. I found it very moving and know so many who are struggling. FB friends suddenly homeless, and more barely hanging on, having to move out of California to find lower rent -- only to have the rent go up in AZ, ID, MT, FL.
Working for Bernie in 2016 is what opened my eyes to how fraudulent much of MSM is. There was what the media said about Bernie -- and then there was what he really said when you went to the source and listened to his words. There was little commonality between the two. And the headlines that trumpeted Buttigieg first and Klobuchar 3rd, completely leaving out Bernie in 2nd place (and sometimes first place) in the caucus/primary.
Even with that preparation, the deceit around Covid was/is still somewhat shocking.
The American Dream... because you have to be asleep to believe in it.
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Where is the modern day George Carlin?
Jimmy Dore does a pretty good job outing the lies, as a comedian. He is on YouTube and often makes fun of the censorship and what he is NOT allowed to say. He is outraged, but is wisely careful with how he and his team expresses their angst. Pretty good show… not a George Carlin, but pretty close!
I love your stories, Celia. A heart on a growth curve. Always. Thank you.