gravenewworld said:
The mechanism isn't what's the most important thing to take away from that link, the most important thing to take away from that link is that we actually have written proof of firms like Goldman Sachs asking for exemptions from hedging rules AND the fact that they were able to hide it from most of the government for over 15 years! It's really not surprising that the CFTC routinely granted exemptions from hedging rules to firms over the past 20 years when you see who has been running it (ex-Goldman Sachs employees, former Chicago Mercantile Exchange head hanchos, and other friends of Wall St.). It's blatant corruption of our entire system, and it is costing us all dearly through higher prices for things ranging from oil to the very food we put on our tables. And when it back fires, we the tax payers are then forced to bail them out. It's a ridiculous system, and a fraud of a 'government' that is completely poisoned and infested with special interest groups.
The scariest part is the fact that Congress itself had no idea about all of the exemptions the CFTC was granting to these firms. The letters only came to light until Congress FINALLY investigated (in either 2008 or 2009 I forget) what was going on at the CFTC (too late, after the 2008 meltdown, after the dot.com bubble, and after record oil prices/crash).
If Congress has no idea what is going on within the government and just how much huge banking firms are able to rig our system by infiltrating almost every single important regulatory agency (that is supposed to be monitoring them) with their lapdogs, what does that make big banks? I'll tell you what...it makes them more powerful than our so called elected government. It's time to take it to the streets. If our government won't protect us, then who will? We the people will.
What you have said is important and I won't deny that.
However having said this, people should learn that they do have a level of power within themselves to effect change without having to protest.
First of all they can stop supporting the corporations by not buying their products and get other people to do so. If one person stops buying coca cola, it's an inconvenience. If a million people suddenly stop buying it, it's a clear message. The fact is corporations need people to buy their products and services. The good part about real capitalism is that it works both ways: people that make stuff that other people want get rich, and people that don't sell anything go out of business. Use that knowledge to your advantage.
Also I know that what is happening right now with banks and corporations is largely "anti-capitalist" since they are getting an unfair advantage from the government, but I will talk about that below. With this said I still encourage what I have said above as a supplementary part of the solution.
One idea I have heard form Max Keiser that seems very effective is to look at ways to attack a companies stock price through some kind of informational campaign.
The other way to stop supporting the current banking system is to minimize your debt. Cut up your credit cards, don't get a 300,000 or half a million dollar mortgage on a standard or low wage, and don't buy crap you don't need.
These banks function because of debt, and they are leveraged at mind boggling levels. If people stopped borrowing, then all of that leveraged money would not exist, and banks wouldn't have the kind of power they have now. You minimize your debt, you put the power back in your hands, and if/when it catches on, you send a message to the system that it is time to change. When you take out a loan, a lot of the stuff on the balance sheet is created out of thin air. If you reduce this activity, you severely cripple the system, since it depends on this ability, which is why it needs debt.
These banking institutions are leveraged so much, that it is easier nowadays to do a bank-run or to bring down these institutions in a much easier fashion.
Like other people have said in this thread we need a revolution, but we need it on more than one level. One level is what I've described in my post. Another level is what other posters have described.
It requires a level of social change that is unprecedented. For most people, we can not imagine living without credit cards, mortgages, car loans, and student loans. It also requires people to take an active interest in what their government is doing, and if it is acting in the interests of the people. It requires people to (more) responsible, and to take an interest in their fellow being. It also requires that many of the social structures that we have to organize society in many important areas need to be reviewed and changed.
Finally, this also is a time to realize that no one person, or selective group will be able to accomplish this. For something that is going to be effective especially in the long term, we need everyone's output in one form or another. The experiment of letting the few lead the masses has failed every time in history, and it has not surprisingly failed again. The whole idea of having many sovereign groups versus a global superstate makes sense from this point of view.
It's an exciting time in the history of human civilization, but it is important for us, especially in this age of technology, that we mature socially as well as in other ways.
