Virgil
09-06-2008, 10:09 AM
I used to say our serfdom was characterized by six slaveries- wage slavery, tax slavery, debt slavery, judicial slavery, thought slavery and resource slavery. I see that differently now as I split judicial slavery into the prohibition slavery which is "No you can't" and mandate slavery of "Yes you will." Medical slavery overlaps "No you can't" and "Yes you will" and of course thought slavery that runs through the other eight like a jailers ring would hold keys. To those I have now added penalty (penalty and prison) slavery which includes prison slavery, where prison slavery can be actual true to life slavery. I also see a chaos slavery, So now I am up to nine slaveries.
There is an overlap in those much the way real world chains overlap. For example tax slavery includes some debt slavery because twenty percent of federal revenue goes for interest on the national debt which of course is paid in more debt. Taxes have a way of increasing the interest people pay and also the penalties they pay for being late or disobeying the rules of taxation. But for someone to be turned into a real slave over substance use has to be a crime against humanity and the scale that we do it in the US should have people boiling instead of complaining about the reruns on television. "If you are not outraged, then you don't know what is going on" should have been popular even before the invasion of Iraq. It is articles like this that should serve to awaken people that "we are ruled by corporatism and militarism," which is only a more detailed presentation of "We are ruled by treason."
I thought this to be an excellent composition and that is why it is in the A&E forum.
=======================
http://counterpunch.org/gardner09062008.html
Weekend Edition
September 6 / 7, 2008
Pot and Palin
Joe Biden, Drug Warrior
By FRED GARDNER
An ominous thing happened off-stage immediately after Barack Obama delivered his eloquent acceptance speech to 83,000 admirers at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Steve Croft was waiting in the wings by pre-arrangement to interview him and Joe Biden for "60 Minutes."
Croft (to Obama): Did you ever doubt it was going to happen?
Obama: Of course.
Croft: When?
Obama: Well let's see, about a year ago we were down 30 in Iowa....
Biden (loud and long) Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Obama: But I never doubted that it could happen. I never doubted that if we were able to mobilize the energy that you saw in that stadium all across the country, it would...
Biden (cutting in): I knew it was going to happen before he did. I was running like the devil but I watched. I thought I was pretty good but I watched this guy just kind of grab the lightning. You know (snatching the air with his fist), just grabbed it.
In this instance Biden was stealing the thunder. Interrupting at that moment, in that context, was disrespectful and presumptuous (as if he and Obama were equals, when in fact it's a hierarchical relationship and Obama is the boss). I guarantee you that the district attorney of San Francisco -like most elected officials or CEOs, or Joe Biden himself, were the positions reversed- would not apprecige an interruption like that, especially with CBS News cameras rolling. The excitement of the moment is no excuse for what Biden did; every day in the White House is going to bring exciting moments calling for deference on his part. Croft had addressed his question to Obama, who is articulate and was answering with care. We can only wonder how he would have finished his thought.
If you want to hear this revealing episode, go here.
It's ominous because it presages an administration in which Vice-President Biden will have an unrestrained voice. He won't have the power of Dick Cheney, thank God, but he will have an unrestrained voice which, his record strongly suggests, will be raised to oppose reforms that threaten corporate interests.
Joe Biden, Drug Warrior
Kevin Zeese has been watching Joe Biden in action for more than two decades. Zeese is a Beltway-based political organizer with a law degree who, in the 1980s, co-founded the Drug Policy Foundation. A CounterPunch contributor, he doesn't wear single-issue blinders. "Corporate government and militarism are the major issues," said Zeese when asked for his take on the vice-presidential nominee, "and Biden is terrible on both.
As for the war on Drugs, Zeese says, Pick a drug law you don't like from the last 25 years and thank Sen. Joe Biden. He deserves a lot of the credit for the U.S., with 5% of the world's population, having 25% of the world's prisoners -and the racially disproportionate impact of the drug laws.
<snipped>
There is an overlap in those much the way real world chains overlap. For example tax slavery includes some debt slavery because twenty percent of federal revenue goes for interest on the national debt which of course is paid in more debt. Taxes have a way of increasing the interest people pay and also the penalties they pay for being late or disobeying the rules of taxation. But for someone to be turned into a real slave over substance use has to be a crime against humanity and the scale that we do it in the US should have people boiling instead of complaining about the reruns on television. "If you are not outraged, then you don't know what is going on" should have been popular even before the invasion of Iraq. It is articles like this that should serve to awaken people that "we are ruled by corporatism and militarism," which is only a more detailed presentation of "We are ruled by treason."
I thought this to be an excellent composition and that is why it is in the A&E forum.
=======================
http://counterpunch.org/gardner09062008.html
Weekend Edition
September 6 / 7, 2008
Pot and Palin
Joe Biden, Drug Warrior
By FRED GARDNER
An ominous thing happened off-stage immediately after Barack Obama delivered his eloquent acceptance speech to 83,000 admirers at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Steve Croft was waiting in the wings by pre-arrangement to interview him and Joe Biden for "60 Minutes."
Croft (to Obama): Did you ever doubt it was going to happen?
Obama: Of course.
Croft: When?
Obama: Well let's see, about a year ago we were down 30 in Iowa....
Biden (loud and long) Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Obama: But I never doubted that it could happen. I never doubted that if we were able to mobilize the energy that you saw in that stadium all across the country, it would...
Biden (cutting in): I knew it was going to happen before he did. I was running like the devil but I watched. I thought I was pretty good but I watched this guy just kind of grab the lightning. You know (snatching the air with his fist), just grabbed it.
In this instance Biden was stealing the thunder. Interrupting at that moment, in that context, was disrespectful and presumptuous (as if he and Obama were equals, when in fact it's a hierarchical relationship and Obama is the boss). I guarantee you that the district attorney of San Francisco -like most elected officials or CEOs, or Joe Biden himself, were the positions reversed- would not apprecige an interruption like that, especially with CBS News cameras rolling. The excitement of the moment is no excuse for what Biden did; every day in the White House is going to bring exciting moments calling for deference on his part. Croft had addressed his question to Obama, who is articulate and was answering with care. We can only wonder how he would have finished his thought.
If you want to hear this revealing episode, go here.
It's ominous because it presages an administration in which Vice-President Biden will have an unrestrained voice. He won't have the power of Dick Cheney, thank God, but he will have an unrestrained voice which, his record strongly suggests, will be raised to oppose reforms that threaten corporate interests.
Joe Biden, Drug Warrior
Kevin Zeese has been watching Joe Biden in action for more than two decades. Zeese is a Beltway-based political organizer with a law degree who, in the 1980s, co-founded the Drug Policy Foundation. A CounterPunch contributor, he doesn't wear single-issue blinders. "Corporate government and militarism are the major issues," said Zeese when asked for his take on the vice-presidential nominee, "and Biden is terrible on both.
As for the war on Drugs, Zeese says, Pick a drug law you don't like from the last 25 years and thank Sen. Joe Biden. He deserves a lot of the credit for the U.S., with 5% of the world's population, having 25% of the world's prisoners -and the racially disproportionate impact of the drug laws.
<snipped>