Milton Lost: Can We Regain Paradise? (Jason Miller)
by Jason Miller -- World News Trust
[I dedicate this essay to the untold millions who suffered as a result of Milton Friedman’s creation of an intellectual bulwark for economic brutality. On Nov. 16, Friedman died of heart failure, an ironic cause of death for a heartless individual.]
We have reached the deplorable circumstance where in large measure a very powerful few are in possession of the earth's resources, the land and its riches and all the franchises and other privileges that yield a return. These positions are maintained virtually without taxation; they are immune to the demands made on others. The very poor, who have nothing, are the object of compulsory charity. And the rest -- the workers, the middle-class, the backbone of the country -- are made to support the lot by their labor. --Agnes George de Mille (granddaughter of Henry George), New York, 1979
Nov. 20, 2006 -- Note that Ms. George de Mille penned her observations before the patron saint of the “have mores” established residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In less than three decades, a Friedman-inspired Reagan and his successors made astounding gains for the “very powerful” de Mille described.
The forces of the new era have not yet had time to make status hereditary, but we may clearly see that when the industrial organization compels a thousand workmen to take service under one master, the proportion of masters to men will be but as one to a thousand, though the one may come from the ranks of the thousand. "Master"! We don't like the word. It is not American! But what is the use of objecting to the word when we have the thing? The man who gives me employment, which I must have or suffer, that man is my master, let me call him what I will. --Henry George, 1883
1. Maintaining nearly monopolistic control of the means to disseminate information (excepting the Internet).2. Providing seductively alluring offers of “success” in the form of material wealth and trophy spouses.3. Dispensing immediate gratification with easy credit, pornography, and fast food.4.Devoting insane levels of financial and human resources to law enforcement and the military (creating a formidable means of employing physical force).5. Manufacturing sufficient mass hysteria (first the threat was Communism and now it is “Terrorism”) to virtually eliminate civil liberties with little more than a whimper of objection from the populace.6. Deflecting responsibility to scapegoats like Muslims, Gays, and illegal immigrants.7. Promulgating a militaristic, commercialized form of Christianity with the megachurches of the Religious Right.8. Allowing corporations to set our government policy, write our laws, and bribe Congress with impunity.9. Wantonly deregulating corporations.10. Implementing numerous free trade agreements.11. Virtually eliminating the existence of organized labor.12. Dumbing down many of our children by bombarding them with rote learning to prepare for barrages of standardized tests (which seriously limits their capacity to think critically and independently).13. Wal-Martizing the economy.14. Demanding higher productivity for lower wages and decreased benefits.15. Increasing the staggering number of people without health insurance.16. Widening the wealth and income chasms.17. Financially starving social programs.18. Creating incestuous relationships between the state and major corporations (as exemplified by the military-mass media complex) and in turn endowing their government with power approaching omnipotence.19. Waging perpetual wars.20. Indenturing the poor and working class to creditors by seriously weakening bankruptcy protection.21. Passing the Military Commissions Act and the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act.22. Creating and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.23. Accelerating privatization around the globe (which is placing people at the mercy of ruthless corporations that sell them health care, education, utilities, fuel for their vehicles, and even drinking water).24. Perpetuating an unjust mandatory income tax (enforced by a jack-booted IRS) on people who ultimately have no real say in how the money is used.25. Hijacking the vote in the United States for two consecutive presidential elections.
1. The system would collapse without our cooperation.2. We outnumber our “handlers” by a wide margin.
- CreatedSunday, November 19, 2006
- Last modifiedWednesday, November 06, 2013
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