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View Full Version : Plutocracy: The Rule of The Rich Minority



Commiechu
24th November 2009, 22:51
( I have also posted this on YFIS - http://discussion.newyouth.com/index.php/topic,2912.0.html )
Most people consider the USA to have a Capitalist economic system, yet this is changing. Rather than function like Adam Smith and David Ricardo spelled out many years ago Capitalism has become dark and twisted, which is hard to do when it comes to something which is already evil. Yet it has happened, rather than being made up of many small businesses the economy is instead made up of huge corporations who collaborate together to stomp out every grassroots company which tries to take a piece of the market. This of course has drastic consequences, The people of America were raised to believe that if they worked really hard that they too could be rich.. But this is now a complete falsehood.. Even more concerning is the political power that these corporations wield, The corporations to preserve their interests throw money at political candidates. This can clearly be seen by the disclosed donation statistics during the past election, Both Obama and McCain received huge corporate donations, far outweighing those small time private donations. And really it doesn't split on party lines, the Democratic and Republican parties are both equally under the power of the rich, the parties are nothing but slaves doing their masters bidding, Obama who was expected to bring so much change.. and made so many promised.. has kept only one promise.. this one promise.. was to the corporations.. The people cannot stand and allow this to continue, we must stand for our rights and form a worker's Democracy.. but until then we must in every way oppose this inequality.. and while I myself cannot classify this abomination that we now know as Capitalism as being the same Capitalism as explained by economists, all Capitalist economists favor a system in which many small companies compete to breed innovation and lower prices, but instead we have the large corporations who really have nothing to fear from competition, in fact they have slowed technological progress and raised prices which are targeted more at the rich than at the poor, this has given birth to (as the people at Citigroup would say) "Plutonomy" (n. An economy that is driven by or that disproportionately benefits wealthy people, or one where the creation of wealth is the principal goal. [Blend of pluto- (wealth) and economy.] ) This system bears as much resemblance to Capitalism as does Stalinism to Socialism, While they are perceived as the same, and share some of the same mechanics - they are mirror opposites of each other.
You can find the reports on "Plutonomy" as authored by the "good people" at Citigroup in a downloadable form
here - http://www.scribd.com/doc/6674229/Citigroup-Mar-5-2006-Plutonomy-Report-Part-2

Please express any thoughts on the matter that you may have..

Also for any comrades who have a facebook.. I have created a a group on facebook for discussion on how to combat Plutocracy.
the International Opposition to Plutocratic Oligarchy which can be found here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=179771249932

cyu
28th November 2009, 19:44
Also, excerpts from http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/01/08/plutonomics/

The nation’s top 1% of households own more than half the nation’s stocks, according to the Federal Reserve. They also control more than $16 trillion in wealth — more than the bottom 90%.

There is no “average” consumer in Plutonomies. There is only the rich “and everyone else.” The rich account for a disproportionate chunk of the economy, while the non-rich account for “surprisingly small bites of the national pie.” Kapur estimates that in 2005, the richest 20% may have been responsible for 60% of total spending.

The best way for companies and businesspeople to survive in Plutonomies, Kapur implies, is to disregard the “mass” consumer and focus on the increasingly rich market of the rich.

A tough message — but one worth considering.

Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures
18th December 2009, 10:54
Posted this on TWC in the PA as well, lol.

ZeroNowhere
18th December 2009, 14:05
So capital doesn't exist any more? Wage labour has ceased? Huh, that makes life a lot easier.