Tom Tomorrow (quoted and added to by Mark Shea) has this right!

Capitalism is Not Sacred Tradition

"…and original sin affects all the works of man, including his invention, the giant corporation:"

---

Well...

NKY evangelist's trial exposes lavish lifestyle: Man accused of keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars


An INTERNET evangelist?!? We're all in the wrong business...

Mind you, it wouldn't be surprising for anyone claiming that the economic structure of the world will soon collapse to be carrying gold and jewels. That's assuming that gold and jewels will be worth anything then. Much better to stockpile canned goods and clean water. And guns to protect it all. And... oops! I'm beginning to sound like a survivalist. No, don't stockpile anything! If we're going down the tube lets make Mama Earth happy and all go together. Give her a chance to get over us, recover, and start afresh...

---

Great Youtube for today

Annie Leonard and her fantastic animators do it again with Bottled Water

---

Lots of other

levels of governments and boards of museums and galleries should be paying attention to this:

Free museums: Visits more than double

We have an independent board-run, civic government funded, art museum in my city. It's been free from the day it opened, but every year they seem to have an argument about charging an entrance fee to it. We've been spoiled for too long. If a fee were charged, I fear the numbers would drop to next to nothing. Perhaps then they could re-institute the free admission policy and the numbers would grow again. I don't know...

---

Yes!

Along with making life easier for those who just can't get their Christmas shopping done (a secondary effect) this would go so far in showing the world what a consumer culture we are, allow us to put the real meaning back into Christmas, and show how the consumer system of economy is so fragile...

Occupy Christmas: Adbusters, Instigator Of Protests, Urges Anti-Consumerist Holiday

So, I'm in favour...

---

One would think

that something so mundane, so much a part of a family's (read 'kid's') life, such a staple for those living in below the poverty line, would be victim to such an event:

Peanut butter sticker shock coming

This is really sad.

---

Now,

like the U.S., Europe's debt will be owned by China.

Eurozone seeks bailout funds from China

"The head of the eurozone's bailout fund is beginning attempts to persuade China to invest in a scheme to help rescue member countries facing debt crises."

I really think that it's about time the world looks at a different form of 'finance', one that doesn't put one group or country in a position of power over another...

---

This is U.S., of course,

but even though Canada has their own banking laws set by our Government, with the Conservatives in power things will likely change here as well.

Banks to Make Customers Pay Fee for Using Debit Cards

Why not? Why shouldn't we pay a fee to use our own money? That's what business tells us.

People seem to be ignoring the most obvious point is that yes, the profits for the banks will go down, but they're still making record profits each year! This would make a smaller record profit. Poor babies!

Then they trot out the 'we owe it to our shareholders to make as much as we can' shtick. People wonder what's wrong with Capitalism?

(The only way to save money these days is to keep it at home in a sock. After you change it to gold or silver, that is. At least that generally doesn't devalue horribly. Banks eat up more in service charges than they give you in interest on savings, so banks are the last places to keep money. It's criminal, really.)

---

The system HAS failed

Labour conference: Miliband war on 'fast buck' society

But that's really just because the system is designed to fail.

It can't work when all the power is invested in the people who have all the money, want all the money, will do anything to get the money, and their supporters are governments and justice systems that benefit from this faulty system. I firmly believe that as long as we have human beings involved in any system, it won't work. It can't. If every person were altruistic then fine, but only a few are, and the rest are out to get everything they can.

And there's the flaw...

---

I was listening

to an extreme right-wing 'money over everything' entrepeneur on the radio on Monday until I could no longer stand it...
 
 

---

People want money. Always.

Trust Issues

They don't care who gives it to them, and they'll fight to get it. Always a boon to lawyers. But if it is suggested that it may ruin the economy of the world, what then?

---

While I never want anything bad to happen to any country

just what happens when a country defaults on their debts?

Greece Nears the Precipice, Raising Fear

So many countries are having economic problems so serious that there is a risk that the countries themselves will have to declare bankruptcy. What can actually happen when a country declares bankrupty? There's a few things that intrigue me about this.

First, the countries are in the situation their in due to the financial system, which is tied to the political system. In the words of so many people, 'Hello?'.

Next is the problem of personal debt. Greece has tried to institute austerity measures only to be greeted with protests from people who want all the luxuries they're used to. Of course. So would we, probably. Besides, governments always 'talk the talk' but they never get serious themselves about austerity. Take a look to see if any member of a government in any country is doing without. And to see how much of the people's tax money they're wasting for their own gratification. I can't blame the people for protesting.

Third, I'd really like to see what would happen if China called in the U.S. debt that they carry for them. Now THAT would be interesting!  (Sorry. I guess that's just mean-spiritedness on my part. But I'd still like to see what would happen and how it would play out.)

---

Holod the presses!

Canada's economy shrinks for 1st time in 2 years: GDP declined by annualized 0.4% in 2nd quarter

You know, I hate being cynical, particularly about the CBC whose work I generally enjoy, but this headline is a weird attempt to grab notice, in my mind. 'for 1st time in 2 years'? Isn't change that gets a headline like that measured in greater numbers? Somehow the '1st time in 2 years' doesn't mean a lot...

---

It may be

a spiritual word...

“Debt” is a Spiritual Word: On debt, on ceilings, and on blessings of all kinds

...but if we believe it belongs to the Lord's Prayer, why don't we follow it (the Lord's Prayer), and the word in all it's varied shades of meaning? Just askin'...

---

Consumerism is responsible

according to the Vatican...

Economics of survival: The roots of the crisis and the difficulties of politics

...and I think they're right. They have the advantage of looking at it from somewhat of a distance, with a different pair of lenses...

---

This is the sort of thing

that defines sleazy and self-serving...

Why Soldiers Won't Get Paid During a Shutdown but Congress Will

Nice, eh? Not to point them out specifically, though. Most levels of government the world over have likely got similar situations in place. Wouldn't want a politicians to miss a paycheque, would you? The world would stop rotating...

---

Our neighbours to the South...

...and we're no different...

Class War? What Class War?

"Here is something scandalous, a nation of unrivaled wealth in so many ways with its income now distributed in the manner of a developing country…."

It is a scandal...

---

It's true, really.


Justice in Economics is Not Socialism: The Catholic Worker and Workers

We seem to have gotten, in our culture, to a point where anytime the words 'justice' and 'fairness' are used in the context of economics, that the general response is 'Socialism' or even stronger 'Communism'. Our culture of conservative politics, greed and self-interest seems to have brought us there.

(Yes, yes, I know, it's a generalization in ways. All definite comments are. Even this one...)

---

It's going to keep going up

with or without government intervention (and government intervention isn't something that Canadians should ever expect anyway).

Paying way more for gas sounds out of this world

Sometimes the most radical ideas are the best solutions. If people were to pay way more for gas we might look for ways to spend less...

---

I had only

heard of all this in passing. Just a brief mention. Here's more.

‘Christian Economics’ Meets the Antiunion Movement

Terrifying!

---