Paul makes a good point about the US and the Arab nations colluding to put the screws to Russia, but in doing so, there's an enormous amount of collateral damage being inflicted to a lot of US and Arab allies. There are a number of large international banks that stand to take a pretty substantial hit, Finland is going to feel this for a bit, a number of the Balkan states I'm sure, the natural gas sector in the US is going to start having some serious profitability concerns if the price of oil continues to drop... it's not a short list.

Venezuela is gimped pretty hardcore also, but I don't think anyone cares too much about them since they sort of set themselves up for this to happen eventually.

 

But didn't the largest banks in the US get relief in the form of new taxpayer supports from potential damage as part of the $1.1 trillion dollar package that was passed last week? The timing is awfully fortuitous.

What I think I see is a game of chicken being played out on the international markets. Who swerves first loses. Whether it's Putin and the Russians who limp out of the Ukraine or the US and Europe, this seems like a fight that was going to occur one way or another.

 

I agree yet the Republicans think it necessary

You are right maybe I should have said energy independent of oil. Which is still probably a pipe dream, Especially when people can be manipulated by our government and foreign interests.

Maybe wolfpack get get more than 37% of people to vote. only then will it change. The Supreme court is owned just like any other branch of politics. You can deny it but it is still bought and paid for.
While I support the concept of Wolf Pac I have never heard of it. It is on my list of things to look at. Good luck (Not that luck has anything to do with it)

 

Not to appear totally selfish but, I had recently received the dividends from a structured note which paid out quite well as part of my portfolio and now have recently rolled the profits over into ......................... oil growth/stability within certain parameters it now looks like I've picked a 'bummer' but not only that the stock market is down the toilet also at present as well and there's nothing worth considering in cash investments as it yields about 1%. (bank rate = 0.5%) It all looks pretty grim worldwide with ongoing financial stagnation/decline at best. Since 2008 the financial market has been lean at best and there seems no relief in view inspite of the western hype 'look how well we are doing' from the crass UK political leaders. Here the French and their government seem to have buried their heads in the sand and accepting recession as a way of life whilst they continue to eat and drink their way into oblivion and still vote for their beloved 35 hour week without recognising the inevitable consequences of their slothfulness.

It sounds like you guys in the US are suffering from the same 'smoke and mirrors' with a 'walk up the garden path' similar to the UK and european governments. Bearing in mind there is a general election in the UK in 2015 and the parties are out vote catching with liberal truths (read lies) about the economy why am I so surprised. In all these years I should have learned about the value of a 'politicians promise' and any manifesto published is another guide to Walter Mitty fantasy land. Problem is, 90% of the populace in any country vote solely for their petty personal interests and not for the greater good. Whether it be the corporations, politicians or the general public it's money that controls all. The sad part is that many of the general public are oblivious and ignorant of the real political scene and where it's leading the world for the sake of a few national high flying individuals with big egos and the international Mexican standoff posturing against others, particularly old adversaries. The rest of us are just the tax paying pawns/mugs as always.

 

"Problem is, 90% of the populace in any country vote solely for their petty personal interests and not for the greater good."

I'd love to see statistics that bear out this assertion.

Is there no alignment among that 90% who are voting for their only interests? At what point does that alignment become something for the "greater good.?"

"Whether it be the corporations, politicians or the general public it's money that controls all. "

I'd say money has greater control today than it did forty years ago thanks to continual assaults on campaign finance reform. I know I'm only speaking to US citizens here but the fact is that over the last 120 years there was a steady move towards regulating the a manner in which a political campaign was funded. The first law on US books regulating campaign donations appeared in 1890. Sadly, since the end of the 1970's we have seen a rollback of many of the laws enacted to keep big money and large corporations out of elections.

For all practical purposes, Slabrat, McCain Feingold in 2002 was the last forward movement of campaign finance reform and it was attacked the very next year by the Senator from your great state of Kentucky, Mitch McConnell in the Supreme Court. McConnell vs. The Federal Election Commission eviscerated McCain Feingold and, in some ways, set the stage for the Supreme Court decision on Citizen's United. We now know that corporations are people, too. We also know that money is free speech.

Now, Slabrat you can say that the Supreme Court has been bought and paid for and I won't argue the point. It's really irrelevant. The question is, who bought it and how did they do so? It's my contention that we, as citizens are to blame. We have sat by, watching our televisions, absorbed in our obsessions and as a result, not only have we allowed the country to be taken out from under us, we've willingly abetted the thieves who perpetrated the crime.

This gets me back to the act of voting. Everyone of us who fails to exercise our right to vote, at every turn, is complicit in the sell out of America. Everyone of us who thinks it's more important to watch a ball game instead of educating oneself about a particular issue facing us locally, nationally or internationally has welcomed the ruin of our democracy. In the aftermath of 9/11 we were encouraged to shop or go to Disney World, to consume. We weren't encouraged to learn something factual about Islam, the Arab world or our own dodgy history in that part of the globe.

I'm sorry but the despicable state of affairs we find ourselves in are of our own doing. The saddest part of it all is that is really doesn't take a lot, in this day of the internet, to reach out and learn about events affecting us locally and internationally. Nevertheless, it's clearly too much for the vast majority who are happy on the sidelines, bitching and moaning about how you can't do anything to fight the system. I wonder how Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and the handful of other people who chose to act up instead of opting out would think of the state of affairs in a country as advanced as the US.

We should be ashamed that only 37% of the registered population turned out to vote in our democratic election in 2014. In India, the largest democracy in the world, the turnout for their last national election was over 66% which meant over 550,000,000 people voted!!! Some states had turnout as high as 88%. Interestingly, the Indian government enforces strict spending limits on its candidates.

I'm tired of hearing the excuses, the justifications, the rationalizations and all the rest of the BS. We, as a country don't seem to really give a damn about what happens. Keep us amused with our toys and we are happy. Keep us anesthetized with our pharmaceuticals and we'll dance the dance. Give us the freedom to arm ourselves to the teeth in anticipation of armageddon, the rapture or whatever else we think might be coming and we'll spout the jingoism handed to us by the corpro-religious powers that tickle our fancy.

But, god forbid we act as adults, accept responsibility, educate ourselves and learn to act in our community's, state's, nation's, world's best interest. That would require more that we can bear. Selfish is the word of the day, not selfless. Ayn Rand's Objectivism reigns as supreme intellectual thought in some political and social quarters when, in fact, it's little more than dime store Nietzscheism.

I love quoting Margaret Mead when she said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Sadly, with apathy the rule here in the US, I'm fearful that a small group of committed citizens (namely the 1%) have already changed the world. The question is, are we going to let them get away with it?

 

I can't believe it but I was behind one of those silly Jag stationwagons (estates) a short while ago and, lo and behold, the rear license plate frame asked "Who is John Galt." Really? Really?? REALLY??????

 

"Problem is, 90% of the populace in any country vote solely for their petty personal interests and not for the greater good."

I'd love to see statistics that bear out this assertion.

Is there no alignment among that 90% who are voting for their only interests? At what point does that alignment become something for the "greater good.?"

Hi Paul, it's not a statistic more of a platitude. When many of the voters are asked who and why they voted for the replies seem to be related often to self interest rather than a considered reasoned opinion, typically, they are increasing the price of tobacco or alcohol, they are reducing my benefits, my dad and my granddad voted for them so I am or I've always voted this or that party and so I always will because they are for the working man. Many never give a reasoned answer who or why they are voting. It appears from where I'm sitting very few actually consider the future and where the politicians are taking them and more importantly, why. IMO there is often little to choose between political parties particularly in the UK as they have merged into the middle ground and try to be all things to all people pre election, different story as usual afterwards. In truth, there probably is no 'greater good' as the political arena is besmirched by mismanagement and political self aggrandizement often for financial or power reasons.

Do I vote, no not these days as I have lost all faith in all parties and cannot be bothered now. Should I vote, probably but I'm suffering from a large dose of apathy in this regard. Do I actually care anymore, not really, I've done my bit, paid my taxes and now defer to others who want to sort out the world and its politics and finance. Will anyone ever take financial inducements or financial interests out of electioneering or politics, no never. Would I pursue a polical cause more avidly, yes maybe if I were 20-25 years younger. These days I'm more interested in helping those around me on a small scale not national interest on a grand scale. I'm certainly no crusader for others these days and would never be another Ghandi, Mandela or Luther King.

I often ask myself about western governments just one question "WTF are they all doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria" particularly when they cannot sort out their own domestic problems and repress poverty, drugs, crime and fraud in the west. Do I actually care anymore, hmmm, decreasingly so, selfish, yep, probably. It's the way one becomes after being shafted by politicians for half a century.

 

Look, I was ready to get into it over your confessed apathy. It’s not worth it. You’re going to do what you’re going to do and I’m no more likely to change your mind that I am that of some Tea Party character here in the States. I will say that it’s a shame that you feel so disenfranchised by your country and its government. It’s also a shame that you live in yet another country where you seem even more disgusted by that government.

I’ve said it before in other posts and I’ll say it again here. I take the long view of things.

A case in point is the thread you started about how badly veterans are treated today. My response was, they’re treated far better than they were fifty years ago, one hundred years ago, at any time in history. Yes, there’s plenty of room for improvement and we have so much we could do better and we will.

As far as politics are concerned, you may not believe it but we have been holding elected officials to a higher standard in the last 100 or so years. As I pointed out, here in the States, we have enacted a number of important laws to insure that money is more closely watched. It’s only been in the last thirty years that we’ve seen some retrenchment. It happens. As that crusader MLK beautifully said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” I believe that and have witnessed it every day of my life. Yes, there will always be setbacks, but when you take the long view, the trajectory is, unquestionably, positive.

While I'll admit to being frustrated and angry with the general state of apathy, I do have faith in people, not some spirit, to ultimately do the right thing. They have, over and over again. Frankly, I can’t imagine living so disillusioned a life as what you’ve posited.

 

Hi Paul, I hear what you say but you appear to have more faith in human nature than I do. Observing many politicians and their quirks and mannerisms they rarely live up to the hype they expound or portray to the rank and file. I'm sure there are many dedicated politicians who aren't in the business merely for their own ends but having said that there are many who are.

My disinterest in politics and the governments isn't unique to the UK or France, it's only I know more intimately about those governments and countries and the way they operate. Having plodded the well trodden path of life it is not an apathy of life I hold it's more an apathy towards those that are elected to govern. I have reached the limits of my interests in politics and world affairs and more focussed on my own pursuits albeit less engaging and somewhat trivial by comparison to my working life. I am a great observer of people and their traits and foibles and some are selfish and disgust me whereas others are totally the reverse. I am not and never have been a 'people' person as inevitably they disappoint sooner or later at whatever level they stand. Unfortunately one of my shortcomings, amongst many, is that I believe one should do what they say and say what they are thinking, naive, possibly, but I find it difficult, no impossible, to live a lie and succumb to being a 'yes' person to satisfy anothers agenda. Often I am too outspoken for my own good which has in the past landed me in hot water but it's the way I am and the way I can live with myself. Many find my approach too brusque for their fragile nature.

It's interesting to correspond or talk with people who 'think' and have another opinion as contraversial as it may be it widens ones horizons without necessarily changing ones opinions or views. I have always approached life as 'this is it' and not a 'dress rehearsal' for something better later and as you know, and I believe we agree, there is no later, this is it, 'c'est tout'.

What I cannot abide is people who interfere unnecessarily in mine or others lives to the detriment of their personal space or privacy and enjoyment of their existence be it a neighbour or politician.

I believe you have misread me in that I'm not negative at all I'm more 'tired' of listening to hollow rhetoric, BS and crass speeches written by others for those who think it's what needs to be said and what the rank and file want to hear. I look at our 'esteemed' leaders very cynically in the belief you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. It's what keeps me sane.

 

I read an article over the weekend that attempted to put the 2014 elections and their miserable turnout into a more detailed perspective. For example, turnout in NY was lower as a percentage of registered voters than at any time since 1790. Keep in mind that back then if you didn't own land, you couldn't vote. Over 40% of the male population was disenfranchised based on that law alone and yet, turnout was similar! The NJ voter turnout mirrored that of 1820's. California, Nevada and several other western states posted the lowest numbers since they gained statehood.

We're at a critical point in our nation's history and if we fail to revisit recent Supreme Court decisions, things will only get worse.