patrick.net

If you just replace "capitalism" with "crony capitalism" this image is a pretty accurate description of what we have now.

I like capitalism when it works, but once corporations take over the government and start making our laws, corporations don't have to compete to win. They just prevent competition by law.

Some real examples:

• Drug manufacturers making it illegal for the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices
• Health Insurers making themselves exempt from anti-trust laws
• Big banks making risky bets on housing, then forcing taxpayers to take the losses on their losing bets
• Telecom carriers making municipal broadband illegal

This is why I order my meds from overseas. Because somewhere along the way, the system broke and I am expected to pay 5X as much for my medicine as people who live somewhere else. Huh?

I pay for my own health insurance and have no problem paying money for health services. I just don't like being taken advantage of.

The "We work for all" and "We feed all" on this picture actually informed my thinking a bit when I first saw it.

We see the top 0.1% taking 8% of the national income now, but are they doing 8% of the labor?

Fuck no.

So when I break major societal costs up like the Iraq War -- something like $1T -- it makes sense to break that down not by tax burden by but households, since households are the ones actually working for money, not the top 0.1 to 1% who pay the most in taxes.

($1T per household is ~$8000, btw -- thanks, Ralph)

Patrick, I'm not sure, but for some reason the "Capitalist Pyramid" image is missing... I'm sure it could generate too much heat... Also, is there any issues with copyrights when uploading images?

I saw it earlier in the day on your site. I like this picture - it speaks volumes.

Update: OH I see it's back - so perhaps these comments will make more sense..

It was originally produced in 1911 as the footnote at the bottom shows. Since then, however, I think if we were to have a more accurate representation of our times I would add a few levels or sub-levels:

1) The MEDIA should be included in the "We Fool You" level, if not on another level entirely called "We Distract You". Various types of news and entertainment would be included here too. At the time (1911), there was ONLY print media: newspapers, periodicals & such. Not even radio was around yet. So the notion of fooling/distracting people from an obfuscating and extremely inequitable social order has been AMPED UP quite a bit since then, almost entirely due to technology. In fact you could probably insert a technocrat class in there somewhere - all of course aimed at creating illusion & mystification. Again, in our current day the prevailing ideology of our times seems to indicate that illusion only is sacred - truth is PROFANE and discredited as such. Ergo, this graphic itself would be considered profane...

2) I think I would also include in the "We Eat For You", petty bourgeois class, PUBLIC SECTOR unions since such unions have done nothing but divide/stratify the working class and formed a sort of "Airistocracy of Labor" - all at taxpaers expense (and we KNOW what class pays the lions share of taxes). Total buyout concession meant to inhibit ANY form of solidarity among the working middle class..

I don't mean to suggest that ALL forms of news, entertainment and technology (or PRIVATE SECTOR "trade" unions for that matter) are bad - it is just how these things are used...

Anyone else have any ideas on how this image could be brought up to more accurately reflect our current times?