Nebs Talks BIG
Sep. 6th, 2014 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nebris[addressing some Bagger on Facebook] you demonstrate the classic 'conservative' cluelessness about how modern economics works. But in your defense, that is true of most Americans of any political persuasion. At least you know who Karl Marx is, even if you're probably quite unclear as to his actual philosophies. I'll wager half the people you'd ask on the street would have never heard of him.
I'm not a commie btw. While Marx's critique of Capitalism is spot on, he really never gets around to explaining how the so-called Worker's Paradise was supposed to come into being, which is, in part, what led to abominations like the Soviet Union, etc.
But, I digress...
So, modern economics. I know this is tough because though it seems to be about The Maths, is in fact really about Existential Concepts. It is about what we humans decide is Valuable and what is not. Let's start with Gold. [bet yer a Goldbug, ain't ya lol] Gold, in and of itself, had no real intrinsic value until modern times when we discovered its great usefulness in the manufacture of electronics.
But before that it's 'value' was entirely subjective. Gold was valuable because it was pretty and, being mailable, it was easy to make pretty things with it. But as Midas found out, you can't eat it.
That is the nature of ALL forms of Money. We choose what it is worth by a more or less common Social Agreement. Take some of that colored paper out of your pocket. You bust you ass for that, but that's all it really is; colored paper that we all agree has a certain value. People will kill you for that paper....and you can't really eat that either. Well, actually you can, but its nutritional worth is near zero.
Our money here in the United States is what as known as a Fiat Currency, 'Fiat' being the Latin for 'make it so'. In essence, the US Govt simply prints what it needs and has done so ever since Richard Nixon shelved the Bretton Woods Agreement and took us off the Gold Standard. [bet that makes yer lil pink bunghole pucker]
Nixon many have been a seriously fucked up human being, but he was a brilliant political thinker. He was planing to institute a form of Basic Income called Negative Income Tax and also a National Health plan that was rather more 'socialist' than Obamacare, which is really just a watered down version of Nixon's plan.
Nixon was fully aware of Corporate American's plans to crush America's unions, outsource most of America's manufacturing – along with industry’s jobs – and generally roll back as much of the New Deal as was possible. [Goggle 'The Powell Memo'] He knew that would destroy the social fabric of The Republic, which it did – not to mention severely pollute the land – and he was a true patriot for all his terrible flaws.
So he tried to put those programs in place to keep his fellow citizens from being economically raped by The Corporations. But then Watergate came along...interesting that, eh?
But again, I digress....
So, Fiat Currency, printing what need. Such is the greatest Economic Truth that The Corporate State does not want you to know. If the American people ever really figure that out, the Govt would have to pony up to *everyone*. And The Corporate State wants a terrorized exhausted half starved work force to keep their Labor Costs down and their Profit Margins up. This is Stupidity driven by Greed of course. If we're all broke, who'll buy their shit? [there is however the possibility that they're trying to kill us off, but I'll save that paranoia for another time]
That is what all the screeching about the National Debt and Austerity and Social Security going broke and so on. But it is Debt that 'creates' money. Austerity strangles growth. [see the EU] And the Social Security Trust Fund would be just fine if all those who stole from it were forced to pay back the money. [The Corporate State, we're looking at you]
With a Basic Income Grant, the US Govt simply sets up bank accounts for every single American Citizen and electronically drops X number of dollars in said each month. [$800 to $1000 is the ballpark number right now] Those Citizens then go out and put that money back into the American economy. That is actually how all nearly all Govt payments work now anyway.
This would boost the economy, scrape just about every welfare program we have – which would be a cost saving right there and restore a lot of human dignity – and free up vast amounts of American creative energy because most people like to work. Sure, some will fuck off for the rest of their lives, but that gets boring after a while.
So, freed from the fear of homelessness and hunger, we could blossom as a people as we go off to Do What We Love instead of The Daily Grind of Survival.
The only caveat is Inflation and The Fed has all manner of tools to keep that in check. Of course, that would badly cut into the profits of The Investor Class...but fuck them. Those clowns brought us the Crash of 2008.
So, wasn't that fun? Bet you hated every minute of it and believe not a single word. And that's okay. I enjoyed myself and will post this elsewhere to more receptive audiences. You can sit home, fume about Obama et al [he's not a Socialist btw...he's at best a Moderate Republican] and become more and more irrelevant as the Hispanic population grows and grows and grows....bet they'll love Basic Income. *smirk*
I'm not a commie btw. While Marx's critique of Capitalism is spot on, he really never gets around to explaining how the so-called Worker's Paradise was supposed to come into being, which is, in part, what led to abominations like the Soviet Union, etc.
But, I digress...
So, modern economics. I know this is tough because though it seems to be about The Maths, is in fact really about Existential Concepts. It is about what we humans decide is Valuable and what is not. Let's start with Gold. [bet yer a Goldbug, ain't ya lol] Gold, in and of itself, had no real intrinsic value until modern times when we discovered its great usefulness in the manufacture of electronics.
But before that it's 'value' was entirely subjective. Gold was valuable because it was pretty and, being mailable, it was easy to make pretty things with it. But as Midas found out, you can't eat it.
That is the nature of ALL forms of Money. We choose what it is worth by a more or less common Social Agreement. Take some of that colored paper out of your pocket. You bust you ass for that, but that's all it really is; colored paper that we all agree has a certain value. People will kill you for that paper....and you can't really eat that either. Well, actually you can, but its nutritional worth is near zero.
Our money here in the United States is what as known as a Fiat Currency, 'Fiat' being the Latin for 'make it so'. In essence, the US Govt simply prints what it needs and has done so ever since Richard Nixon shelved the Bretton Woods Agreement and took us off the Gold Standard. [bet that makes yer lil pink bunghole pucker]
Nixon many have been a seriously fucked up human being, but he was a brilliant political thinker. He was planing to institute a form of Basic Income called Negative Income Tax and also a National Health plan that was rather more 'socialist' than Obamacare, which is really just a watered down version of Nixon's plan.
Nixon was fully aware of Corporate American's plans to crush America's unions, outsource most of America's manufacturing – along with industry’s jobs – and generally roll back as much of the New Deal as was possible. [Goggle 'The Powell Memo'] He knew that would destroy the social fabric of The Republic, which it did – not to mention severely pollute the land – and he was a true patriot for all his terrible flaws.
So he tried to put those programs in place to keep his fellow citizens from being economically raped by The Corporations. But then Watergate came along...interesting that, eh?
But again, I digress....
So, Fiat Currency, printing what need. Such is the greatest Economic Truth that The Corporate State does not want you to know. If the American people ever really figure that out, the Govt would have to pony up to *everyone*. And The Corporate State wants a terrorized exhausted half starved work force to keep their Labor Costs down and their Profit Margins up. This is Stupidity driven by Greed of course. If we're all broke, who'll buy their shit? [there is however the possibility that they're trying to kill us off, but I'll save that paranoia for another time]
That is what all the screeching about the National Debt and Austerity and Social Security going broke and so on. But it is Debt that 'creates' money. Austerity strangles growth. [see the EU] And the Social Security Trust Fund would be just fine if all those who stole from it were forced to pay back the money. [The Corporate State, we're looking at you]
With a Basic Income Grant, the US Govt simply sets up bank accounts for every single American Citizen and electronically drops X number of dollars in said each month. [$800 to $1000 is the ballpark number right now] Those Citizens then go out and put that money back into the American economy. That is actually how all nearly all Govt payments work now anyway.
This would boost the economy, scrape just about every welfare program we have – which would be a cost saving right there and restore a lot of human dignity – and free up vast amounts of American creative energy because most people like to work. Sure, some will fuck off for the rest of their lives, but that gets boring after a while.
So, freed from the fear of homelessness and hunger, we could blossom as a people as we go off to Do What We Love instead of The Daily Grind of Survival.
The only caveat is Inflation and The Fed has all manner of tools to keep that in check. Of course, that would badly cut into the profits of The Investor Class...but fuck them. Those clowns brought us the Crash of 2008.
So, wasn't that fun? Bet you hated every minute of it and believe not a single word. And that's okay. I enjoyed myself and will post this elsewhere to more receptive audiences. You can sit home, fume about Obama et al [he's not a Socialist btw...he's at best a Moderate Republican] and become more and more irrelevant as the Hispanic population grows and grows and grows....bet they'll love Basic Income. *smirk*
