The (Not So) Brave New World

The share market is a strange, enigmatic indicator. Despite what many people believe, it does not indicate the health of an economy as much as it indicates peoples' perceptions of the economy. But still, as an indicator we should see what it tells us. There are primarily three types of investors: those who gamble (mostly other people's money) based on their limited understanding of the economy and how it will impact company share prices; those who blindly follow what the share market is doing and; those who know what is going to happen and make money on the share market (the Rothschilds, George Soros and other Elite). The first type, the Gamblers, are mostly young capitalists working for large investment firms that use superannuation funds and other sources of other people's money to try and make profits so they will get a huge bonus. Many don't take major risks which is why all super funds deliver the same as each other and about the same as if yo...

In a world driven to make more profits, regardless of the moral or human cost, is it feasible that people would create and maintain wars just to make money? Isn't there a safety switch to ensure that the line is never crossed? The safety switch, which would normally be a government acting on the will of the people, seems to have been bought out by the very corporations that stand to make massive amounts of money if the wars continue. War is good business for some and any conscientious voice from the population that dares to stand against one or all of the multitude of wars in progress at this moment, is ignored or silenced. The media that we rely on to keep us informed either disregards the truth or spins it to suit their corporate sponsors. Defense companies are all doing well it seems. At a human cost too horrific to contemplate, the marćh to bigger profits continues unabated. Despite the fact that there is a growing inequity in most of the western countries, the lure of b...

Corporatization - Why we forgive and forget I still remember when gold was worth something. These days though the focus is on shares, not gold or silver. The value of silver, once a major asset, is now set at little more than a junk material. An ounce of silver is today worth a little over $20. Silver hit its peak in March 2011 with a price over $46 an ounce but since then the fall has been relatively steady. Gold prices in 2011 were at $1,800 an ounce for a period in July. Since then the value has been in steady decline and today an ounce of gold is worth around $1,300. The prices in 2011 represented investors wariness of investing in anything other than tangible, real assets. So where is the money going now if not to the normally solid investment of gold and silver? Back into shares of course. The performance of shares since the depths of the so called Global Financial Crisis, is easily highlighted using the Dow Jones Index. The Dow, as it is called, is a price-weighted aver...

If current events are a guide, next year's Presidential Election is likely to revolve around two main issues: Foreign Policy - the escalating situations in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, caused by heavy handed mismanagement by the US War Machine, have highlighted the failure of the Government to maintain control over their expanding empire. The surveillance of both the enemies and allies of the US, required to maintain a dominant position in world affairs and ensure US safety is now both infringing on the people's privacy and draining the economy. The Economy - the ever widening gap between the rich and poor and the slow disappearance of an American Middle Class is becoming a very clear reality to many and the cost of maintaining the largest force in the world is becoming prohibitive. Money spent on the US War Machine in their quest for global control and the extensive spying and surveillance apparatus is now biting into welfare and pension payments. Something had to give ...

Monopoly is the game of Capitalism and we are taught at a young age how to play. The rules are simple, take everything, own everything, laugh with delight as a player goes bankrupt and the last person with all the money is the winner. But Monopoly has no social conscience. When Chance says you must pay a Poor Tax you groan and you win only at the expense of the other players. You have all the money, the opposition have been forced out of the game and you own EVERYTHING - you win! That is Capitalism at its core - a small group of winners and a very large group of losers. Capitalism, by it's very nature, forces one to think only of themselves as the single player. It directs the human populace to shy away from thinking about collectives, communities and societies unless it is a short term collusion to increase ones own wealth. It creates a competitive nature that requires lots of losers. It stifles, if not removes, thoughts of social justice and community spirit and we p...