It's the 1% Doctrine, Stupid

The Failure of the “I Got Mine – and Yours, Too” Theory of Governance, And What’s Next
Published on Monday, October 31, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
by John Atcheson

As week seven of Occupy Wall Street dawns, much of the media and the establishment continue to act as if everything about the protests were an ineffable mystery.

Well, it’s really not that mysterious. To paraphrase James Carville yet again, it’s the 1% Doctrine, Stupid.

When 75% of the people support raising taxes on the rich, but their elected “representatives” won’t represent them, what else can people do, but take their grievances to the streets? And this is no isolated case: on issue after issue, elected "representatives" are ignoring the people’s wishes, choosing to represent the ultra-rich and corporations instead.

When government gives banks and Wall Street some $12.8 trillion of the taxpayer’s hard-earned money in direct funds, guarantees and near zero interest loans, and the fat cats turn around and spend it on bonuses and high-risk investments rather than fixing the real economy for the 99% who have been affected, don’t ask why people are angry. Especially when not a single bankster or speculator has been busted for a plethora of real crimes, while people lose their homes to improperly documented foreclosures.

When the one-percenters and their bought-and-paid-for government pass a faux financial reform bill that doesn't actually change the way things are done in the Banks’ boardrooms or on Wall Street and people take to the streets, how can that be a mystery?

And yes, that means you, too, Clinton, Obama and the Democratic Party. Your abject collusion with the one-percenters, while spouting populist rhetoric every four years, is in some ways more worthy of disdain than the Republicans’ outright embrace of the 1% Doctrine.

When the Supreme Court is dominated by corporatists and makes corporate- friendly rulings like Citizens’ United, assuring that government can be bought by the highest bidder, it should come as no great mystery when people take to the streets.

When the press becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America, replacing truth, facts, and accuracy with “balance” and leaving reality on the cutting room floor, don’t act mystified when the people stop swallowing corporate propaganda, and seek truth on their own.

And when, since Reagan, one-percenters have been taking all of the wealth gained from increased productivity and stuffing it into their own pockets, while stiffing workers, it should come as no great mystery when the people catch on and take to the streets.

Without a sense that government can do anything to right these gross crimes against the citizenry – indeed, when government is saddled with policies, laws, budgets and elected corporate lackeys guaranteeing it can’t address them – where else could the people turn but to the streets?

And to those who knock government as intrinsically incompetent and inept, remember, it has been made so by design since the 80’s. For more than three decades prior to that, we had sustained and widely shared prosperity thanks to regulations and programs passed in the New Deal. For five decades prior, we paid higher taxes and got great value for it. Since Reagan, we’ve been cutting taxes and all we’re getting are wars, debt, inequality and plutocratic pork.

But what do they want, the establishment whines.

The mainstream media, politicians and assorted other pundits are perplexed because the Occupy Movement has not issued a series of demands in bulletized, media-friendly sound bites.

But if you want to understand what’s going on, Mr. Jones, simply look at what they do, and how they operate.

Within the various Occupy camps, they have set up a society that emphasizes inclusion, not exclusion. They pursue the positive and affirmative issues that unite us, rather than the fear and hate-based issues that divide us. They advocate a society in which corporations serve the interests of the people, rather than people serving and being subservient to the interests of corporations.

They are rejecting the politics of us vs. them, and embracing the politics of creating a greater us. They are advocating an economic system that respects environmental realities as well as meeting the rights and welfare of the people.

The Occupy movement recognizes that a society, economy or country is neither great nor successful simply because it amasses the most wealth conceivable. No matter how high the GDP, a system that serves the interests of a scarce few at the expense of the many is a failure. A society that exploits unborn generations and the natural world on behalf of the 1%, is profoundly immoral.

Here’s the deal: for thirty years, under the 1% Doctrine, fat-cats and plutocrats have systematically destroyed peoples' faith in government so they could take over. They’ve succeeded. The result? The US economy now has the same level of income inequality as such third world countries as Uganda and Cameroon, and persistent real unemployment hovering above 20%, and we are stealing any hope of a sustainable future from our children in order to give fat cats yet another bloated bonus.

We – the people, the 99% -- are sick to death, literally, of the failed policies of the 1% Doctrine.

The future – if we are to have one worth living – belongs to us. Step aside, one percenters. The tide of history is rolling in.

Source: CommonDreams.org 10/31/11

John Atcheson's writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the San Jose Mercury News, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, as well as in several wonk journals. He is currently at work on a fictional Trilogy that centers on climate change. Atcheson's book reviews are featured on Climateprogress.org. Email to: jbatcheson@gmail.com

Steve Jobs, the Rock Star immortalized

One of the best commencement speeches I've ever heard was this video below. It is aw-inspiring. When ordinary people do extraordinary things, on their own terms. They appear to become Rock Stars. He was that Rock Star. Check out his advice to Stanford students.

This video inspired me, and in spite of my regrets, this video gave me justification for the many decisions I've made; even those that didn't work out. There is hope that the lessons learned will be of great value. Hence, Steve Jobs achieved iconic Rock Star status as an innovator of the 21st century. The man who became a 21st change agent has passed away today. His charming ability to connect the dots and communicate the value of an idea was his most astounding and revered skill. Steve Jobs will be forever immortalized as a transformative figure of the 21st century. His talents and presence will be missed.

OccupyWall Street - Civil Disobedience Gone Wild?

The power of messaging, riding on the back of a propaganda machine can turn a movement into a circus. The OccupyWallstreet movement was originally a protest against the financial industry, it's lobby, the US congressmen and senators who support legislation that facilitated fraud, mortgage servicer fraud, pension raiding, high risk investments, that created the credit crunch with the too big to fail approach. The movement is suppose to be the "we are not going to take it anymore and we are going to vote out congressional members that support corporations at the expense of the people". A teaparty sort; more like the french revolution, from the Marie Atwonette protester's point of view. A referendum, to illicit job creating legislation, and retribution.

Instead, the protest has become a melodramatic circus, with people jumping on the bandwagon all over the country for the sake of expressing their anger and disdain in a bubble. Without a centralized messaging strategy it has morphed into an unorganized circus of testifier's and holy ghost enactments against banks. That was displayed with this George Washington Law student who screamed and yelled like "big mama at a sad funeral", while begging to be arrested. The spectacle diminished the objective, and the message was lost in translation. That was not effective Civil disobedience.

The movement is suppose to send a message to elected officials. Those officials must comprehend the repercussions of the "people's anger". That anger will turn into votes against politicians that erode governmental protections. Oust politicians that push financial deregulation which facilitates the fraud and thievery that has destabilized the economy. Most importantly, preserve the equity of American working class by voting out politicians that push risky convoluted investment instruments, tax loopholes which give corporations moving off shore to evade taxation and exporting jobs. Or politicians that protect only wealthy Americans that legally evade taxes, while their corporations receive outlandish tax subsidies paid for by the American people.

The video below shows a George Washington law student screaming about the bank that foreclosed on his parents house. It is incredibly tragic. However, he should have articulated the actual injustices; the mortgage servicer fraud, predatory lending practices and aggressive illegal foreclosures violating mortgage regulatory laws that the government ignored.



In addition, the financial industry driven globalization has exported jobs to cheap labor countries. The loss of American jobs has driven down demand for products due to lack of consumer income from joblessness. Buffoonery does little for making change. It appears 21st century Liberals have shut Jessie Jackson out of this administration. Jessie Jackson has 50 years of human rights, equal rights, civil disobedience, social justice, logistical protests and communications. Without his participation, it appears the voice of the voiceless has been silenced. The Obama administration has had the tables turned on them by the Teaparty.

To hedge off the OccupyWallSt movement from becoming a mockery, operatives of this movement should enlist Jessie Jackson's consultation; before all this screaming and yelling falls on deaf ears. This movement needs management leadership and clear communications to be heard. Change can't happen if no one is listening. OccupyWallST has spread to Los Angeles, Austin, Portland, and Washington DC. The message must be passionately articulated in a measured disposition with a smooth delivery.

6X6 - The Art version of a NYC Music Festival

What If There Were No More Art Galleries? 6x6 is the answer to that question.

6X6 is the Art Version of the Music Festival.
www.6X6NYC.com
Sept 11, 2011 thru Oct 8, 2011
547 W. 27th Street NYC &
548 W. 28th Steet NYC





Baang and Burne Contemporary was founded in 2009 by two artists: Kesha Bruce (aka Mr. Burne) and Charlie Grosso (aka Mr. Baang).

The partners named their roaming gallery after a cold-war era spy term for “covert sabotage and demolition operations" because it perfectly describes our philosophy about tearing down the barriers that are part of the old-school art buying experience and creating a new innovative art experience.

Also, the two say they love spy movies.

Simply put, Baang and Burne events are where people who love art and people who make art come together.


For details on donating to 6X6!
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Source: baangandburne.com

TrustLaw Women reports World's Most Dangerous Countries for Women

Targeted violence against females, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country in which to be born a woman, with Congo a close second due to horrific levels of rape. Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination, genital mutilation and acid attack. A survey compiled by the Thomson Reuters Foundation to mark the launch of TrustLaw Woman*, puts Afghanistan at the top of the list of the most dangerous places in the world for women. TrustLaw asked 213 gender experts from five contents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six categories of risk. The risks consisted of health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking. The collection of images that follow were provided by Reuters to illustrate the dangers women face in those 5 countries. -- Paula Nelson (*TrustLaw Woman is a website aimed at providing free legal advice for women’s' groups around the world.)
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Source: www.trust.org 6/15/2011 Fact Sheet Worlds Most Dangerous Countries for Women

The Naked Protest in Canada

Skinny Girl entrepreneur, Bethanny Frankly brought the Naked Protest movement to my attention in her twitter pics. Bethanny Frankel tweeted on 6/18/11 at Vancourver's 2011 naked Bike Ride. She said; "I think I just peed my pants. WHY is there a naked bike ride in vancouver?" Too Funny! Absolutely classic pick. Very Fire Island on the fourth of July.

Talk about making a statement. There are those who believe that removing their clothes brings attention to an issue. Well, it definately got my attention. But is this really a protest? It seems more like a statement than a protest.

Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider, Vancouver Sun

In 2009 hundreds of Vancouverites stripped down to the buff in a protest against oil dependency and car culture as they headed around the seawall from Sunset beach on their downtown Vancouver tour. Now that was an effective protest....I think it made a clear statement.

After reading about the Naked Protests, I learned it has become trending. It appears for some it may not be a protest at all. Could you imagine the Tea Party protesters butt naked screaming about taxes and healthcare. Now that would be a powerful statement. lol...

Read more about Vancouver's Canda's Naked Protests: Vancourversun.com

World Economic Collapse Explained in 3 Minutes : Are You Prepared For Financial Armageddon?

What is there to say? No jobs in Greece = no income to pay backs EU loan. Period! If European Union invested in manufacturing in Greece, the Euro would not be in jeopardy.

Coca-Cola Style!

When did Coca Cola get so stylish? The Atlanta company is showing it's true style. I like Pesi, but I love Diet Coke. The new packaging make me want to drink Coca Cola.

In 2009 Coca Cola light made a tribute to Fashion. Eight Italian fashion designers (only women) Donatella Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Anna Molinari for Blumarine, Veronica Etro, Silvia Venturini for Fendi, Consuelo Castiglioni for Marni, Angela Missoni and Rossella Jardini for Moschino, have teamed with Coca Cola for fund raising campaign in support of the victims of the earthquake in Abruzzo, Italy. The Coca-Cola light’s bottle and have sold them at auction during the “Tribute to Fashion” show in Milan.



Eight Italian fashion designers (only women) Donatella Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Anna Molinari for Blumarine, Veronica Etro, Silvia Venturini for Fendi, Consuelo Castiglioni for Marni, Angela Missoni and Rossella Jardini for Moschino, have teamed with Coca Cola for fund raising campaign in support of the victims of the earthquake in Abruzzo, Italy. The Coca-Cola light’s bottle and have sold them at auction during the “Tribute to Fashion” show in Milan.

By, 2013, Coca-cola will have an eco friendly bottles.

The industrial designer Andrew Kim has created a new Coke bottle concept that could significantly change the sodamaker's footprint. For every 4 bottles currently shipped, the square bottle design could ship 6. This means every shipping container could hold 4,000 more bottles of Coke. Kim also considered that Americans use 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes, so he made the bottle itself green. It is 100% plant based, made entirely from sugar cane byproducts. But, Pepsi beat Coke by launching a plant based bottle this year. However, this new eco-friendly Coke is quite entising.