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Saturday, April 14, 2012

Moloch.

The savage, like ourselves, feels the oppression of his impotence before the powers of Nature; but having in himself nothing that he respects more than Power, he is willing to prostrate himself before his gods, without inquiring whether they are worthy of his worship.--Bertrand Russell, "A Free man's Worship"

It is a common refrain ,that "we don't make anything here, anymore"..and that "all the Jobs were sent overseas"....
It is a cliche, that Manufacturing, once the powerhouse of our Economy, has been "Outsourced"....which is a cruel euphemism for "Exported".
This is explained by lots of Eco-Babble...like "Efficiency", and "Return on investment"...and even such almost Truths as "They do it for Cheaper"...
Attendant on this last assertion is the corollary, "American Workers are prohibitively expensive". That they are "Greedy", and want "Something for Nothing"....

This is where all this stops making sense, to me.
My Kindergartener just came in and informed me that his Crayons are "Made in China".
This is new to him...and largely meaningless.
I look at the news, and read various and sundry economic reports and missives....and the largest economic worry, out there in America, at the moment, is Lack of Jobs.
Unemployment is at record highs, even if one only considers the Official Numbers....which, I think most are aware, are largely Fiction. The actual numbers are much higher...and when one weeds through the Jargon and Gobbltey-Gook that accompanies such things, one finds things like U-25...."Birth/Death Model",and many other things that have as their sole purpose the Hiding of Truth
The Proverbial PHD Flipping Burgers.
We are told that "we" are doing everything possible to remedy the situation....but I have determined that this is a lie, as well.

The reason I can say this so blithely, is that there is a very simple remedy that has not been tried, or even suggested, save by unofficial folks like me: Start Making Things Here, Again.
Why is this so difficult to understand?
Sift through the "reasons" given for why this simple plan is unconscionable, and one gets down to the root of things: the Ceo's and "shareholders"....which are merely further euphemisms for "Elite"...don't want to. They make more money,and maintain their Power, by engaging in Labor Arbitrage.

Take a peasant out of his rice paddy, give him a TV and 3 square meals per day...perhaps heat, in the winter... and he'll think he's on cloud nine....he'll work for very little...as opposed to an American Worker,who is used to all those things, and much more...he(or she) has seen, and lived in the Promised Land, and is reluctant to either give it up..or to take a whole lot of undue crap from the Boss.
Boss would rather have the former.

This "discontinuity"...this Criminality(for that's what it is)...benefits the Few, at the Expense of the Many. It is Codified, into Law, Regulation and Treaty...it is exacerbated by Tax Policy, and by Monetary Policy.

It is all around us.

It is for the continuance of this Criminality, and the necessary continuance of our Failure to See it, that Economics is just barely taught in High School...and that we are taught to Hate and Fear all things Marx, from the very cradle.
It is why Unions are vilified...and everything Public.

...because those Elites, those Criminals, who benefit from this system, know that if We Knew...if We the People were aware of the extent of their Crimes, their reign would be Over.
So these Creations of Men...Markets, Economics....are believed to be Natural Laws...Immutable...Unchanging....like the Thunderstorm or the Earthquake....the Forces behind such things must not be Challenged by such mundane pleasantries as "Bring Home the Jobs".

The Priests intone: "We cannot, for the Market will be Angry with us".

It occurs to me that this is not very different from Sacrificing Humans to appease some other Imaginary Spirit.
Let us not let any more of our children "Pass through the Fire, unto Moloch."(
Leviticus 18:21–23)
The Courts have determined that Money is Speech.
So be it.
Let your Speech be for the Relocalisation of America.

Let it be for the Democritisation of the Means of Production, as Adam Smith intended
Let it be for Repatriation of Manufacturing, and the Jobs that left with it....and let the Economists figure it out how to enter it into their ledgers

...and in the mean time, let your Speech be for looking out for one another, whether the Market likes it, or not.

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