WHO WILL LEAD HUMANITY AND BY WHAT STAR?

In ancient times mariners found their way by observing the stars, the constellations at night. The north star was particularly useful since it always stayed in the same spot. What kind of star should humanity guide itself by?

Of course we humans like finding things that we can rely on, certain constants so to speak. We look for something that is solid and reliable. Hence we have various religious groups referring to their faith in geological terms, rock of ages and all that. Then there is the big meteorite in Mecca which is somehow regarded as holy because Muhammad did something there, was it ascend to heaven? That is the story anyway. Anyway the huge meteorite, towering above everyone in a beautiful and impressive tent must give believers a sense of solidity.

Unfortunately or not the world is constantly changing. We relied on cheap gasoline a year ago. Now we suspect that gasoline and other carbon fuels may never be cheap again.

For one thing we cannot ignore facts without potentially serious consequences. I wonder if some believers deny the meteoric origin of the huge stone at the Kabba? Of course that would probably not be a very dangerous belief! On the other hand we have those who are denying that global warming is a problem, they attack the science indicating this trend and they create pseudo-science and propaganda to oppose this science.

Why does the bourgeoisie oppose science and deny facts? Why do they lie to the public and buy politicians to do their bidding? They do it to make money, so profit apparently trumps reality, even if we all suffer beyond our imaginations later.

Frankly, the capitalist motto is "screw the other guy and all future generations". I think the "other guy" should neither be raped economically nor politically. As for future generations they deserve the best world we can deliver to them, not a hellish hothouse on a barren planet!

Seek the truth from facts. Science is a great source of understanding and if we have understanding we can guide ourselves much better than if we don't have a scientific understanding of ourselves, our society and the world.

Today the firm rock of the free market appears to be splintering into thousands of shards, not unlike Plymouth rock! Can all the bourgeoisie's economists and politicians put it back together again? What is needed is some economic super glue. Has anyone invented that? What would economic super glue look like? Is it hard core fascism? Will there be block formation and world war? Will capitalism develop international financial controls that work for the capitalists? Will the sailors of Petrograd storm the Winter Palace only to find no one is there?

Of course the "free market" rhetoric should stop! The federal government is nationalizing private corporations and financial institutions to guarantee the wealth of the super rich! All the fat cats are lining up for membership in the club of investors who cannot lose! These are the same clowns who say they are going to reduce taxes! Where will the first trillion dollars come from, Mr. Paulson, Mr. Bush, Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain? Not from the fortunes of the most fortunate! Now there is a CONSTANT as long as we are on the capitalist road.

Since WWII the involvement of the federal government in the economy has grown by leaps and bounds. The military budget is so vast and its operations so strategically located that the entire nation's political elite are beholding to military contractors and Pentagon spending. So there is a sort of military socialism because so much of the nation's so-called wealth is in terms of weaponry and military spending, things that are rarely useful without a war.

ASIDE: [It reminds me of Condoleeza, the human not the oil tanker, and how she noted something to the effect of "What do we have all these magnificent weapons for unless we use them." So if you have a gun, start a war! This is the way the national security people think. McCain is clearly eager for war!]

Then the Federal Reserve and other institutions have been designing and creating an economy and this is an institution that may even be above government, but they clearly have access to the powers of the Treasury and control money policy. Now, with so many investments being underwritten by the federal government during this economic meltdown it looks like the average American is going to be expected to pay a high price for casino capitalism. I suppose we could cynically put
a bumper sticker on our car, "Free Enterprise Isn't Free, Bail Out the Rich!"

Of course the current economic collapse is not entirely unprecedented. Its inevitability was guaranteed, if not by Marxist theory, then by a probability model, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, military realities, or naturalistic observation. Then there is common sense. Anyone could see that not every shack is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. At least it seemed like a bunch of crap to me. The very idea that these shacks could then be bundled into a security, called a derivative is absurd. Then, apparently, derivatives were bundled to create a derivative of a derivative. This apparently went another step and derivatives of derivatives of derivatives were also traded! I guess this is supposed to have something to do with derivatives in calculus but it looks like MATHEMATICS ABUSE to me, ie. the use of mathematics to misrepresent reality in order to manipulate consumers and citizens.

The mainstream economists and those they serve never predicted this catastrophe, nor did they prevent it. I guess they were too damn busy trying to help the rich make money and keep the capitalist contraption working as long as they could. The Federal Reserve is crucially responsible here. Frankly, I see these efforts to keep an unstable system from breaking down as having a long history. This may simply be as far as they could take the machine of the capitalist economy.

Whether or not the desperate measures taken in recent days will prevent a complete collapse of the financial system is yet to be scene. What is emerging is a policy of nationalizing enterprises that would otherwise go bankrupt. This bails out certain investors holding the bad securities, the first, second and third derivatives! (How transparently absurd!) We are underwriting idiocy, but I guess it is pretty sweet to invest in securities the government will insure against failure.

Of course we are likely to hear more drivel about the "free market" from libertarians. Whatever the validity of markets and the tools created to understand and control them there is more to life than the free market and what we need is a system that provides an opportunity for a wholesome life with fulfilling work and a humane social contract for all people in all nations, period!

So relentless criticism of all the bourgeois ideas and all the bourgeois exploitation that have led to this debacle is in order. Of course the workers of the United States and the world need to wake up to this opportunity to throw off their chains. Let's get rid of this cannibalistic capitalist system and create a world with a sustainable way of life, a high level of culture and real peace with real prosperity.