[lit-ideas] Re: The SCUD in a Box Scenario

 
In a message dated 2/28/2006 1:43:50 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

All  those NeoCon books never told you this, did they? All those books that 
talk  stirringly 
about the upcoming Clash of Nations; they don't quite mention  this, do they?


Hi,
Actually, they do and they think it is simply great. 
 
They also do not worry about the deficit--the belief is that no one needs  to 
worry about it because China, etc, would not be willing to let our economy  
completely die. The world is too intertwined, I believe is the belief. (I  
believe it was the Neo-Con Bible--which has essays by most of them--which 
talked  
about the financial end of their philosophy.)
 
In regards to those of us who are NOT part of this global economy (ie will  
probably not have anywhere close to 200,000 to 500,000 million or even 
thousand) 
 
Your comment about how the WTO protects all of us from any state's  
mismanagement kind of speaks to a more libertarian (or slightly Republican)  
viewpoint--that is, there is no point in government--because government will  
just muck 
things up. No point in having safety guidelines, pollution standards,  etc.  
 
Always interesting to think about when I look at how various systems DO try  
to put the safeguards on the selfishness of the global capitalists--who are,  
after all, the main ones who have profited from the Iraqi War (think, again, 
of  Cheney's slave ships scooping up uniformed workers in the Philippines and 
taking  them to Iraq to work on their reconstruction projects--it IS, truly, a 
global  world--but, still--that unwillingness to forego a little bit of $$ for 
the  sake of a people whose infrastructure one destroyed for the sake of 
being able  to control a nation--is kind of sad. 
 
I realize that for a lot of people, it does not matter/bother them to walk  
by the poor--to sneer at those who are bewildered (whether in the heart of Iraq 
 and unable to find a job because of the foreigners who have taken them 
all--or  the Midwestern families whose values are more towards cozy families 
living 
close  to each other and knowing how to play with their kids, knowing the 
value of  'roots' as they hold the fabric of the Universe  together--)   Most 
of 
them do NOT begrudge people making lots of  money--but they'd like to 
opportunity to not have that gap between their wages  and that of those in 
charge...
 
The gap between the wealthy (global capitalist types) (ie the thread in the  
quilted blanket who weave the quilt blocks to each other as the thread goes  
across the blanket) and the middle class (the underemployed and even ones  who 
work in the donut shop or as a waitress in a restaurant) who are the quilt  
blocks which provide the warmth when tied all together--the gap is growing so  
big that it will be interesting to see what happens when it breaks and is not  
able to tie the blocks together any longer. 
 
Because when the blocks can become their own little feudal  communities--they 
*won't* need the thread any longer--and there will be those  who will create 
holes in the block quilt when it was once becoming a lovely warm  blanket.
 
I think you might be seeing what IS and what IS will be for a while--but in  
terms of tracking the trends--I would tend to look even further down that  
road--and thus think that Eric's point is one that should be heeded.  (I'm  an 
awfully 'big picture' person--granted--and most global capitalist types are  
bigger than the quilt squares--but some of us, some few of us, have as our 
tasks  
to be the binding threads that hold the squares together in the one big  
square--and when we see the thread tying the different squares together in a  
very 
haphazard manner, it's  a matter of concern.
 
Whether or not it is the oil situation, that I don't know. I do think that  
in MY area, we can see this in regards to towns refusing to pay taxes--trying  
hard to become independent of the global economy in different ways.  The  
'how' is not so much of an issue as the turning of the direction -- and with 
the  
thread no longer willing to bind and care for the blocks, they will end up  
taking care of themselves...
 
but the world will be less because of it...the world which COULD be one of  
sweetness...but unless there are more global capitalists who are truly going to 
 see themselves as stewards of the Big Picture, of the Quilt Blocks in their 
care  (ie to me, the global capitalsts making the deals in Bombay, Berlin, 
China,  London and the USA EACH has a responsibility to be caretakers of their 
own  places of abode--the 'to him much has been given, much is required'.    
The 
responsibility of a caretaker grows in that sort of a situation--and that is  
what concerns ME and, I think, those who see the selfishness of the slave  
traders -- for it is just on a larger scale, sometimes, as those who you state  
are not caring who guards ports or invades countries--the question is--would  
they be as selfish in their money-making operations as well as in their 
personal  lives as those who run the current global corporate USA (and other)  
governments?  
 
I see, sometimes,  that they are the same 'types'--not all--for there  are 
the ones who create the Open Societies and who take their global minds and  
pocketbooks quite seriously and responsibly.  
 
But, I remember the conversation that I had with the one who ran the  
Overland Park, KS Chamber of Commerce a few years ago when the big boom in the  
computer industry was going on--the different Chambers in the world were 
talking  
about how the ones who now had $$ were very selfish with it--that they were not 
 willing to invest in where they lived [either with time or money]--that the  
sense of social responsibility simply was not there.
 
That was several years ago--I think we're seeing a lot of that mentality  not 
just continuing amongst those who are the "haves"--but it's growing...
 
Like Eric, it troubles me. The 'globalization' is not so much a 'bad' or  
'good' thing--but it is, like much, a tool--and could be used for 'good' as 
well  
as for 'meanness'.  I see the meanness...and few of the 'haves' who care  
enough to be the ones who will say 'stop' -- be a steward. Be a caretaker.  
 
I'm thinking that Eric has the Gift of Prophecy (ie to see what will happen  
if the Path does not get changed...)
 
Marlena in Missouri
not even able to be a voice in the wilderness as the wilderness is being  
taken away. . .

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