How we educate our young is nothing short of a disaster. We don’t educate most kids – we ‘store’ them when parents are off working off debts.
from this article: http://khanneasuntzu.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/response/
The rest of the post is dead on too!
Showing posts with label capitalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label capitalism. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
What Type of Political structure Really Makes Up the large Corporations?
Found this on-line at http://laughingfish.blogspot.com/
Considering the largest corporations as analogous to a nation state reveals the following properties:
1. The right to vote does not exist except for share holders (analogous to land owners) and even there voting power is in proportion to ownership.
2. All power issues from a central committee.
3. There is no balancing division of power. There is no fourth estate. There are no juries and innocence is not presumed.
4. Failure to submit to any order may result in instant exile.
5. There is no freedom of speech.
6. There is no right of association. Even romance between men and women is often forbidden without approval.
7. The economy is centrally planned.
8. There is pervasive surveillance of movement and electronic communication.
9. The society is heavily regulated, to the degree many employees are told when, where and how many times a day they can go to the toilet.
10. There is little transparency and something like the Freedom of Information Act is unimaginable.
11. Internal opposition groups, such as unions, are blackbanned, surveilled and/or marginalized whenever and wherever possible.
Considering the largest corporations as analogous to a nation state reveals the following properties:
1. The right to vote does not exist except for share holders (analogous to land owners) and even there voting power is in proportion to ownership.
2. All power issues from a central committee.
3. There is no balancing division of power. There is no fourth estate. There are no juries and innocence is not presumed.
4. Failure to submit to any order may result in instant exile.
5. There is no freedom of speech.
6. There is no right of association. Even romance between men and women is often forbidden without approval.
7. The economy is centrally planned.
8. There is pervasive surveillance of movement and electronic communication.
9. The society is heavily regulated, to the degree many employees are told when, where and how many times a day they can go to the toilet.
10. There is little transparency and something like the Freedom of Information Act is unimaginable.
11. Internal opposition groups, such as unions, are blackbanned, surveilled and/or marginalized whenever and wherever possible.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
This Should not be Happening...
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
CancerGate and the Controversy of Medical Marijauna
I am normally not interested in a story relating to things such as cannabis rights, but the idea that our government, in collusion with the multinational pharmaceutical industry is suppressing life saving drugs is revolting to me. Rumors have been spreading amongst underground circles of the discovery in Madrid, Spain, that THC kills cancer cells.
In fact, a Canadian named Rick Simpson has been teaching people how to extract the oil from hemp to use as a medicine specifically for cancer treatment. What he advocates is not the wanton use of it to smoke and space out, but a controlled use in a manner in which the hallucinatory effects are mostly not present. Likewise, it has been found to have very little physical effects.
The only reason it seems for the government to deny this use to the general public is to force people to buy expensive and mostly counter-productive drugs from the big drug companies. However, I am no expert in this subject, so judge what you will at your own risk. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and that in fact, information has been suppressed from the public due to political posturing, fear, and capitalistic exploitation.
His story is posted here on Youtube. (Be warned, it is 58 minutes long).
Here is a link to a story of an older study about the possible positive effects of hemp on lung cancer.
Here is a re-print of the story that started CancerGate, many years ago.
In fact, a Canadian named Rick Simpson has been teaching people how to extract the oil from hemp to use as a medicine specifically for cancer treatment. What he advocates is not the wanton use of it to smoke and space out, but a controlled use in a manner in which the hallucinatory effects are mostly not present. Likewise, it has been found to have very little physical effects.
The only reason it seems for the government to deny this use to the general public is to force people to buy expensive and mostly counter-productive drugs from the big drug companies. However, I am no expert in this subject, so judge what you will at your own risk. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and that in fact, information has been suppressed from the public due to political posturing, fear, and capitalistic exploitation.
His story is posted here on Youtube. (Be warned, it is 58 minutes long).
Here is a link to a story of an older study about the possible positive effects of hemp on lung cancer.
Here is a re-print of the story that started CancerGate, many years ago.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Prescott Bush and The Plot to Overthrow FDR
Some little historical gems just don't want to stay hidden, as much as those in high places want them to. These same stories also have a tendency to be relevant to current events, even though they happened many, many years ago. This myth about the Bush family is one of them.
Here is how it goes...
The great Bush family, an icon in American politics, had a bit of a problem at one time. Back in the early 1930's, shortly after the Stock Market crash and resulting depression, Capitalist America was struggling to survive (in those days Capitalism was not a done deal for the US). Around the world, the Earth was witnessing the rise of Fascism, while it seemed that Capitalism was going broke.
As the story goes, the mega-capitalists of the era got together for a solution. Some of the names involved are familiar to Americans today; Maxwell House, Bird's Eye, Heinz, Goodtea, and George Bush's grandfather - Prescott Bush. Seeing the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, they imagined a partnership of their grand corporations and and government working together in a Fascist syndicate to secure their profits. They saw the resulting loss of freedoms and the American Way of Life as a nescessary evil to survive and prosper and as a way to end the Great Depression. It is said they were financed in this great venture by the same folks who put Hitler into power.
One thing stood in their way - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a firm believer that government should be taking care of it's people, and would never stand for the changes these corporations intended to usher in. With his ideas and policies (such as "the New Deal"), he had to be eliminated.
Retired Marine General Smedley Butler, was allegedly enlisted to stir-up veterans and the American Legion to influence them to rise up against Washington. This is not such a big deal nowadays, but in 1932 The American Legion was a much different organization. They had a history of being used to strong-arm strikers and various other groups which stood against the corporate power brokers of the time, and were prone to start riots. In 1932, that is exactly what they did. Douglas MacArthur used his calvary troops to quell the riot.
Butler's reward for these activities - he would lead the resulting Fascist dictatorship. The leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, James Van Zandt, was also asked to participate, but to his credit he declined.
Eventually, Congress caught wind of all these going's on, and Butler was called to testify. Everyone else involved seems to have escaped completely unscathed. Part of the myth says this is because Roosevelt, wishing for his New Deal to be passed, made a deal with Butler's corporate backers.
Did any of this really happen?
All we know for sure is that Butler had to testify in Congress about his activities. The American Legion was never the same again. Butler was discredited and dropped from public view. Prescott Bush has proven ties with the Nazis during this era, and there are records of him laundering their money. We can also see the results in our economic world, with the rise of the mega-corporations - entities with no limit to their actions in the name of profit with the backing of the Federal government. Maybe the Coup de Tat actually took place, but it occurred in the back rooms of Washington and the halls of Wall Street. We will never know.
The US Ambassador to Germany during this period, William Dodd, had this to say about the whole situation:
"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime.... A prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive policies. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there. Propagandists for fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare. We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to comply with the provisions."
Here is another, albeit, better written article on this subject...
And one more article, just for good reference...
Here is how it goes...
The great Bush family, an icon in American politics, had a bit of a problem at one time. Back in the early 1930's, shortly after the Stock Market crash and resulting depression, Capitalist America was struggling to survive (in those days Capitalism was not a done deal for the US). Around the world, the Earth was witnessing the rise of Fascism, while it seemed that Capitalism was going broke.
As the story goes, the mega-capitalists of the era got together for a solution. Some of the names involved are familiar to Americans today; Maxwell House, Bird's Eye, Heinz, Goodtea, and George Bush's grandfather - Prescott Bush. Seeing the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, they imagined a partnership of their grand corporations and and government working together in a Fascist syndicate to secure their profits. They saw the resulting loss of freedoms and the American Way of Life as a nescessary evil to survive and prosper and as a way to end the Great Depression. It is said they were financed in this great venture by the same folks who put Hitler into power.
One thing stood in their way - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was a firm believer that government should be taking care of it's people, and would never stand for the changes these corporations intended to usher in. With his ideas and policies (such as "the New Deal"), he had to be eliminated.
Retired Marine General Smedley Butler, was allegedly enlisted to stir-up veterans and the American Legion to influence them to rise up against Washington. This is not such a big deal nowadays, but in 1932 The American Legion was a much different organization. They had a history of being used to strong-arm strikers and various other groups which stood against the corporate power brokers of the time, and were prone to start riots. In 1932, that is exactly what they did. Douglas MacArthur used his calvary troops to quell the riot.
Butler's reward for these activities - he would lead the resulting Fascist dictatorship. The leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, James Van Zandt, was also asked to participate, but to his credit he declined.
Eventually, Congress caught wind of all these going's on, and Butler was called to testify. Everyone else involved seems to have escaped completely unscathed. Part of the myth says this is because Roosevelt, wishing for his New Deal to be passed, made a deal with Butler's corporate backers.
Did any of this really happen?
All we know for sure is that Butler had to testify in Congress about his activities. The American Legion was never the same again. Butler was discredited and dropped from public view. Prescott Bush has proven ties with the Nazis during this era, and there are records of him laundering their money. We can also see the results in our economic world, with the rise of the mega-corporations - entities with no limit to their actions in the name of profit with the backing of the Federal government. Maybe the Coup de Tat actually took place, but it occurred in the back rooms of Washington and the halls of Wall Street. We will never know.
The US Ambassador to Germany during this period, William Dodd, had this to say about the whole situation:
"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime.... A prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive policies. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there. Propagandists for fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare. We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to comply with the provisions."
Here is another, albeit, better written article on this subject...
And one more article, just for good reference...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
My Favorite Speech, or Whatever You Want to Call It...
"Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice ... you don’t.
You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own, and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls.
They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying ... lobbying, to get what they want ... Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want ... they don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that ... that doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting **** by a system that threw them overboard 30 fuckin' years ago. They don’t want that.
You know what they want? They want obedient workers ... Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your fuckin' retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it ... they’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fuckin' place.
It’s a big club and you ain't in it. You and I are not in The big club. By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy.
The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people ... white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard-working people continue, these are people of modest means ... continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a **** about you. They don’t give a **** about you ... they don’t give a **** about you. They don’t care about you at all ... at all ... at all, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care.
That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their **** everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it..."
— George Carlin
You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own, and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls.
They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying ... lobbying, to get what they want ... Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want ... they don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that ... that doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting **** by a system that threw them overboard 30 fuckin' years ago. They don’t want that.
You know what they want? They want obedient workers ... Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your fuckin' retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it ... they’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fuckin' place.
It’s a big club and you ain't in it. You and I are not in The big club. By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy.
The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people ... white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard-working people continue, these are people of modest means ... continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a **** about you. They don’t give a **** about you ... they don’t give a **** about you. They don’t care about you at all ... at all ... at all, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care.
That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their **** everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it..."
— George Carlin
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Forgotten Cure for Cancer?
The quest for a Cancer cure appears to be never-ending. Sometimes, it almost appears that the profit driven drug market does not really want a cure. For instance, take the case of Dichloroacetic Acid. This is a drug that was developed to fight Lactic Intolerance in children, but did not fare well with the kids it was intended for. It proved too toxic for the medical benefits obtained.
The very properties that kept it from being used to treat Lactic Intolerance, appears to give it some darn good Cancer fighting qualities. Cancer cells, being mutations, do not derive their cellular power from respiration. These cells derive their energy to stay alive from a process of glycolysis, or the synthesis of simple sugars, due to the hypoxia related to being a tumorous mass. Normal cells have a self destruct mechanism that will kill them off if they become damaged, but Cancer cells do not have this. As a result, they keep growing unchecked, eventually consuming the host body.
Dichloroacetic acid has been shown to restored this self-destruct function to Cancer cells. This has not been scientifically tested on humans, but has been verified through animal testing. It appears to show great promise. However, there is one problem...
Dichloroacetic acid is a non-patentable compound, making it less-profitable for a drug company to produce. Herein lies the issue; To this date, all testing of this drug has recieved ZERO support from the drug industry. All testing has been done by physicians who have used donated funding. The drug manufactures seeming quite content, are letting this possible cure slip out of grasp.
The very properties that kept it from being used to treat Lactic Intolerance, appears to give it some darn good Cancer fighting qualities. Cancer cells, being mutations, do not derive their cellular power from respiration. These cells derive their energy to stay alive from a process of glycolysis, or the synthesis of simple sugars, due to the hypoxia related to being a tumorous mass. Normal cells have a self destruct mechanism that will kill them off if they become damaged, but Cancer cells do not have this. As a result, they keep growing unchecked, eventually consuming the host body.
Dichloroacetic acid has been shown to restored this self-destruct function to Cancer cells. This has not been scientifically tested on humans, but has been verified through animal testing. It appears to show great promise. However, there is one problem...
Dichloroacetic acid is a non-patentable compound, making it less-profitable for a drug company to produce. Herein lies the issue; To this date, all testing of this drug has recieved ZERO support from the drug industry. All testing has been done by physicians who have used donated funding. The drug manufactures seeming quite content, are letting this possible cure slip out of grasp.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Final Death of Punk Rock
I am an old guy, let me get that out of the way.
I was around for, and part of what has now become the earlier years of Punk Rock. I still sort of keep up with what passes for Punk these days, but what passes for it is not always what it really is. There are some great, truly underground bands out there, but by and large, Punk has become another marketing term. It has been reduced to a catch phrase to hang on the Jonas Brothers, or to silk screen on Mrs. Montana's shirt.
In the early 90's, Grunge brought a breath of fresh air into the Punk/Hardcore scene, but it too was doomed to die. This was a great period in music history, however by the latter part of the decade, it was clear that music was becoming a vast desert of identical sounding musicians driven by corporate marketing. Most of the real "punks" drifted off into things like Rockabilly and swing, which many have always considered to be closer to their roots anyway, or just dropped out.
These days, myself, and others like me are well into our middle age. The subcultural impulse remains to be part of a group, and many have transitioned into things like Hot Rod culture, and other pseudo-grown up endeavors. There are still some vestiges of true underground left, but most of this is related to the Rockabilly, Darkwave or Gothic/Industrial subculture, which most of the youth don't seem to care for as a whole. It seems like only the old farts and more Avant Garde are interested in it. The old Punk network is dead for all intent and purposes. In the old days, It was possible to go to ANY city, and find a place to crash with the local punks. Not so any longer. They are just as likely to be looking for a place to crash themselves, if you can find them.
In the beginning, we were what we were because we simply were not like everyone else. It did not matter what you wore, because you were just "different" fundamentally. The best analogy is to compare the Hell's Angels to the current crop of chopper wannabes. Growing up, I knew people who were literally so different from regular people they had no category for them. The catch all category was "punk". The world had literally never seen anything like us. We had no support, and did it all by ourselves.
In the early 21st century, we are finding ourselves in the midst of a youth culture that does not seem to care about the things that got us so steamed up back in the early days. Normally, you have to pass the torch in a relay, but in this case, the torch appears to have been dropped. When a 'tween star like Avril Lavigne can pass for a punk, there really is no purpose any longer. For the price of short drive and some green from Mom, you can go to the nearest "punk rock" retail store and buy whatever you need to fit in. I find it both disturbing and slightly entertaining that they still market this word "Punk" in the 21st century.
Gone are the days of the Punk Squat, the deparavity and taboo busting. The breaking of rules for the sheer joy of rule breaking. Style seems to have won over substance.
Alas, it seems my generation is destined to go the way of the Hippy.
I found an interesting article about this and the development of retail "punk" stores like Hot Topic. These stores have helped accelerate the demise of this culture, unbeknown to many who patronize them.
You can read it here...
I am done griping like an old man. You can move along now...
I was around for, and part of what has now become the earlier years of Punk Rock. I still sort of keep up with what passes for Punk these days, but what passes for it is not always what it really is. There are some great, truly underground bands out there, but by and large, Punk has become another marketing term. It has been reduced to a catch phrase to hang on the Jonas Brothers, or to silk screen on Mrs. Montana's shirt.
In the early 90's, Grunge brought a breath of fresh air into the Punk/Hardcore scene, but it too was doomed to die. This was a great period in music history, however by the latter part of the decade, it was clear that music was becoming a vast desert of identical sounding musicians driven by corporate marketing. Most of the real "punks" drifted off into things like Rockabilly and swing, which many have always considered to be closer to their roots anyway, or just dropped out.
These days, myself, and others like me are well into our middle age. The subcultural impulse remains to be part of a group, and many have transitioned into things like Hot Rod culture, and other pseudo-grown up endeavors. There are still some vestiges of true underground left, but most of this is related to the Rockabilly, Darkwave or Gothic/Industrial subculture, which most of the youth don't seem to care for as a whole. It seems like only the old farts and more Avant Garde are interested in it. The old Punk network is dead for all intent and purposes. In the old days, It was possible to go to ANY city, and find a place to crash with the local punks. Not so any longer. They are just as likely to be looking for a place to crash themselves, if you can find them.
In the beginning, we were what we were because we simply were not like everyone else. It did not matter what you wore, because you were just "different" fundamentally. The best analogy is to compare the Hell's Angels to the current crop of chopper wannabes. Growing up, I knew people who were literally so different from regular people they had no category for them. The catch all category was "punk". The world had literally never seen anything like us. We had no support, and did it all by ourselves.
In the early 21st century, we are finding ourselves in the midst of a youth culture that does not seem to care about the things that got us so steamed up back in the early days. Normally, you have to pass the torch in a relay, but in this case, the torch appears to have been dropped. When a 'tween star like Avril Lavigne can pass for a punk, there really is no purpose any longer. For the price of short drive and some green from Mom, you can go to the nearest "punk rock" retail store and buy whatever you need to fit in. I find it both disturbing and slightly entertaining that they still market this word "Punk" in the 21st century.
Gone are the days of the Punk Squat, the deparavity and taboo busting. The breaking of rules for the sheer joy of rule breaking. Style seems to have won over substance.
Alas, it seems my generation is destined to go the way of the Hippy.
I found an interesting article about this and the development of retail "punk" stores like Hot Topic. These stores have helped accelerate the demise of this culture, unbeknown to many who patronize them.
You can read it here...
I am done griping like an old man. You can move along now...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Save Money, Shop Where Wal-Mart Shops...
The following article was originally posted on Huffington Post:
While many American retailers are just one lackluster back-to-school season away from disaster, the malingering recession has been very good to some retail manufacturers—especially in China.
American shoppers at Wal-Mart have made investors in Hong Kong very wealthy. By one estimate, in 2006 every Wal-Mart store in the United States caused the loss of about 77 American jobs due to Wal-Mart’s trade deficit with China. Without knowing it, millions of American consumers have been shopping at Fung-Mart.
A Chinese global conglomerate little known in this county has been ‘living better’ off of Wal-Mart’s sales. Li & Fung is not a household word in Kansas or Arizona—but it’s one of the main beneficiaries behind the Wal-Mart sales numbers. Described as the biggest supplier of clothes and toys to companies like Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s, Li & Fung has been one of the fireworks of the Hang Seng Index, and its stock has more than doubled this year.
Li & Fung describes itself as “one of the premier global consumer products export trading companies managing the supply chain for high-volume, time-sensitive consumer goods including garments, fashion accessories, toys, sporting goods, promotional merchandise, handicrafts, shoes, travel goods and household items.” Its products are sourced through a network of offices in nearly 40 countries for customers in the US, Europe, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere.”
Read the rest of this story ...
While many American retailers are just one lackluster back-to-school season away from disaster, the malingering recession has been very good to some retail manufacturers—especially in China.
American shoppers at Wal-Mart have made investors in Hong Kong very wealthy. By one estimate, in 2006 every Wal-Mart store in the United States caused the loss of about 77 American jobs due to Wal-Mart’s trade deficit with China. Without knowing it, millions of American consumers have been shopping at Fung-Mart.
A Chinese global conglomerate little known in this county has been ‘living better’ off of Wal-Mart’s sales. Li & Fung is not a household word in Kansas or Arizona—but it’s one of the main beneficiaries behind the Wal-Mart sales numbers. Described as the biggest supplier of clothes and toys to companies like Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s, Li & Fung has been one of the fireworks of the Hang Seng Index, and its stock has more than doubled this year.
Li & Fung describes itself as “one of the premier global consumer products export trading companies managing the supply chain for high-volume, time-sensitive consumer goods including garments, fashion accessories, toys, sporting goods, promotional merchandise, handicrafts, shoes, travel goods and household items.” Its products are sourced through a network of offices in nearly 40 countries for customers in the US, Europe, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere.”
Read the rest of this story ...
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Consumerism as a Religion
I found this interesting little blurb on Axis of Logic...
Consumerism as a Religion
In the United States, materialism is the religion and shopping malls are the churches - all 46,000 of them. Consumerism is the liturgy and the prayer is the longing for more things. The worshippers earn the money and pay the bills when they come due. Finance capital makes the whole enterprise possible.
As a religion, consumerism teaches the gospel of material value, individual freedom and personal anonymity in our cities and towns. In the countryside, the holy writ teaches us that agrarian traditions, customs and cultural norms are heresy. Everywhere, it discourages intra-familial relationships, social cohesion, support systems and community. It teaches the righteousness of competition with one another and that working together, dependence on others, meeting one another's needs, and sharing our possessions are sins to be overcome. Skeptics are shunned and their heresies condemned. Marketing strategies and advertising techniques are employed to bring unbelievers into the fold - even the little ones.
Marketing Strategies: Consumerism lies at the heart of capitalism, both for its own survival and also as an instrument that targets traditional values in any culture. The capitalist system depends upon an ever expanding market for an increasing number of products in the global corporate empire. It relies on production of new products, no matter how trivial and on sophisticated marketing machinery necessary to penetrate new markets.
The capitalist machine develops methods to sell people what they do not need and often do not really want. An old fashioned maxim in invention, production and sales marketing was once "meet a need, don't create one". Over the years, marketing techniques have been developed to convert "wants" into "must have" and desires into essentials. Cellular telephones serve as an example. Everyone in the family, including children "need" a cellular telephone and if parents object the phone is sold as a security item for keeping contact with the child who may have an emergency. A cheap cell phone gave way to one with a camera and an MP3 player which now gives way to a "Blackberry" with enhanced computer capabilities. A myriad of other products come to mind, burdening family incomes, creating family conflicts and undermining cultural norms and values. If it were not for this power to corrupt, strong non-material values would reverse an expanding market.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
