Trey Smith
When society is orderly, the common people are upright and cannot be seduced by profit. When society is disorderly, the elite are villainous and cannot be stopped by the law.I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm simply amazed that this book written thousands of years ago in a culture thousands of miles away so neatly dovetails with what is going on in the US (and other locales across the globe) right now. While one can certainly glean insights on current events from the Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi and other classic Taoist writings, it almost seems as if the Chinese Masters are speaking directly toward the conditions that have led to the Occupy Movement!!
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~
Why are people in the streets? It is because they can't generate enough profit to maintain a subsistence lifestyle. Many have lost their homes; some illegally. They can't afford medical care. They can't find jobs. They've run through their life savings and they've maxed out their meager unemployment benefits.
And while a good portion of the 99 percent struggles just to tread water, the titans of capital who have led us to this precipice are living it up. Not one a of them who engaged in the fraudulent and illegal manipulation and theft of the world's financial wealth has been jailed, let alone charged with a crime!
While the law often is a burden to the common people, the elite are untouched by it. About the ONLY time a member of the elite is brought to justice is when other elites are injured or taken advantage of. Swindle the poor and you get off scot free; swindle the rich and there will be hell to pay.
To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.
It is because they can't generate enough profit to maintain a subsistence lifestyle
ReplyDeleteare you sure? I mean, subsistence doesn't include owning a car, home, TV, cell phone, and so forth, yet I'm sure most of the occupiers, and by far most of the 99% have most or all of those things, among much else.
I support the Occupy movement, but let's not get carried away. It's not about serfs trying to stay alive, it's about the urge to live the American Dream.
It's a wonder that no one is questioning the content of that Dream. A wonder, or maybe just a damn shame.
A significant portion of the Occupiers are HOMELESS. They don't own a home, car, TV and so forth. For them, this IS about subsistence living.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I've read an article or two about a fracture going on in the Occupy Movement between the Middle Class activists (those who drive home each night to their residences) and the homeless people who are participating because they are fighting for their own well-being.