Bankers are the dictators of the West

Robert Fisk: Bankers are the dictators of the West - Robert Fisk - Commentators - The Independent

"The banks and the rating agencies have become the dictators of the West. Like the Mubaraks and Ben Alis, the banks believed – and still believe – they are owners of their countries. The elections which give them power have – through the gutlessness and collusion of governments – become as false as the polls to which the Arabs were forced to troop decade after decade to anoint their own national property owners. Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland became the Mubaraks and Ben Alis of the US and the UK, each gobbling up the people's wealth in bogus rewards and bonuses for their vicious bosses on a scale infinitely more rapacious than their greedy Arab dictator-brothers could imagine."

This quote presents an interesting analogy between Corporate owned MidEast and Corporate owned USA. What thinks thou?

Is this the dimension of OWS that the media is ignoring?

they are more akin to feudal lords.

The Rothschild family in the 1800's used their banks to hide their money and took advantage of wars, countries and world events to increase their wealth and position. The Rockefeller family controlled 70% of the world's refined oil before Standard Oil was broken up in 1911 to 34 companies due to the Sherman Antitrust Act. It's not a tightly controlled conspiracy but loosely organized groups with the common denominator of greed. Capitalism isn't immoral in it's design though its tenets of profit first are often used to justify unethical behavior.

When Alan Greenspan was asked, "couldn't you have prevented the credit boom and bust"? And he replied with a wry grin, "not really because it's human nature and will happen again".

grip said:

The Rothschild family in the 1800's used their banks to hide their money and took advantage of wars, countries and world events to increase their wealth and position. The Rockefeller family controlled 70% of the world's refined oil before Standard Oil was broken up in 1911 to 34 companies due to the Sherman Antitrust Act. It's not a tightly controlled conspiracy but loosely organized groups with the common denominator of greed. Capitalism isn't immoral in it's design though its tenets of profit first are often used to justify unethical behavior.

When Alan Greenspan was asked, "couldn't you have prevented the credit boom and bust"? And he replied with a wry grin, "not really because it's human nature and will happen again".

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This makes sense; post # 1 does not.
I suspect that post 1 wishes to discredit OWS.

earthworm said:

This makes sense; post # 1 does not.
I suspect that post 1 wishes to discredit OWS.

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Certainly no discredit of OWS intended or implied. The media does not like to talk about OWS because it's target is Wall Street. That would include what Wall Street owns and controls, like gov't and justice. That would be Corporatism working virally, not to be confused with Capitalism. Sounds like Egypt to me.

DaveFagan said:

Robert Fisk: Bankers are the dictators of the West - Robert Fisk - Commentators - The Independent

"The banks and the rating agencies have become the dictators of the West. Like the Mubaraks and Ben Alis, the banks believed – and still believe – they are owners of their countries. The elections which give them power have – through the gutlessness and collusion of governments – become as false as the polls to which the Arabs were forced to troop decade after decade to anoint their own national property owners. Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland became the Mubaraks and Ben Alis of the US and the UK, each gobbling up the people's wealth in bogus rewards and bonuses for their vicious bosses on a scale infinitely more rapacious than their greedy Arab dictator-brothers could imagine."

This quote presents an interesting analogy between Corporate owned MidEast and Corporate owned USA. What thinks thou?

Is this the dimension of OWS that the media is ignoring?

Click to expand...

Lololololololololol
This pretty much sums up the entire thread

DaveFagan said:

Certainly no discredit of OWS intended or implied. The media does not like to talk about OWS because it's target is Wall Street. That would include what Wall Street owns and controls, like gov't and justice. That would be Corporatism working virally, not to be confused with Capitalism. Sounds like Egypt to me.

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I'm going to agree that Corporatism has evolved into something beyond the definition of Capitalism. Capitalism was meant to be tempered by government regulations, agencies and antitrust laws, which have become overly influenced by corporate wealth and control. They've been able to convince the legislators in governments to change trade policies to increase globalization, which at first seems to improve economies but ultimately makes them more susceptible to systemic weakness. Because they're all connected if one falls they can potentially all fall.

From the OP link:

But, forgive me, who are these creatures whose ratings agencies now put more fear into the French than Rommel did in 1940?

Not sure I buy the whole polemic, but damn that's a good line.

Bankers don't scare me like they scare other people.

Proud South Korean said:

Lololololololololol
This pretty much sums up the entire thread

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Ought to be in the nutty conspiracy section

There is no "yes" answer in your poll, so I cannot participate.

DaveFagan said:

Robert Fisk: Bankers are the dictators of the West - Robert Fisk - Commentators - The Independent

"The banks and the rating agencies have become the dictators of the West. Like the Mubaraks and Ben Alis, the banks believed – and still believe – they are owners of their countries. The elections which give them power have – through the gutlessness and collusion of governments – become as false as the polls to which the Arabs were forced to troop decade after decade to anoint their own national property owners. Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland became the Mubaraks and Ben Alis of the US and the UK, each gobbling up the people's wealth in bogus rewards and bonuses for their vicious bosses on a scale infinitely more rapacious than their greedy Arab dictator-brothers could imagine."

This quote presents an interesting analogy between Corporate owned MidEast and Corporate owned USA. What thinks thou?

Is this the dimension of OWS that the media is ignoring?

Click to expand...

I see a lot of hyperbole. Corporations certainly hold great influence, but it's not absolute and unavoidable as living under a dictatorship is.

radcen said:

I see a lot of hyperbole. Corporations certainly hold great influence, but it's not absolute and unavoidable as living under a dictatorship is.

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The article itself talks about banks controlling countries. The European Central Bank is trying to hold the European Union hostage over their debt problems saying "either give us control over your currencies or face bankruptcy." I would be very afraid of banks because they can hide their concentration of wealth and motives from even sophisticated countries. The US government representatives claim they still don't even understand the exotic investments that caused the recent Great Recession.

If the US Debt keeps climbing it will inevitably devalue the Dollar and there are plenty of countries that wouldn't mind that. The IMF has also been instrumental in promoting the idea of a new global currency. In a recent report entitled "Enhancing International Monetary Stability—A Role for the SDR", the IMF discussed the "problems" with having the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the world and it postulated that a larger role for SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) could potentially be an important step toward a true global currency. The founder of the Banking House of Rothschild stated "Give me the power to control the issue of a nation's currency and I care not who makes that nation's laws." You can talk all the politics and ideology you want in this country but want to see how to make everyone squeal and take notice, "get into their pockets".

ChuckBerry said:

From the OP link:

But, forgive me, who are these creatures whose ratings agencies now put more fear into the French than Rommel did in 1940?

Not sure I buy the whole polemic, but damn that's a good line.

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Yeah, that line induced a chuckle from me as well. Robert Frisk, the author of the OP link, can always be counted on for colorful historical revisionism and never passes an opportunity to bash the United States or the West.

I highly recommend reading this.

It explains a lot about the bank$ters.

Regards

Canell said:

I highly recommend reading this.

It explains a lot about the bank$ters.

Regards

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I followed your link and enjoyed that. Yes, it would account for the exaggerated flow of capital to the 1%. Try telling that to a Republican or a Conservative.

Canell said:

I highly recommend reading this.

It explains a lot about the bank$ters.

Regards

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And then I read this article. Deja vu.

FBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists

"The FBI makes clear that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is not about protecting public safety; it is about protecting corporate profits. Corporations and the politicians who represent them have repeatedly lied to the American public about the scope of this legislation, and claimed that the law only targets underground groups like the Animal Liberation Front. The truth is that this terrorism law has been slowly, methodically expanded to include the tactics of national organizations like the Humane Society of the United States."

Yepp, "The Law" explains a lot of what is going on in the world today. It's prophetic. eace

Read your history. banks have been on top since they were invented.

Banks are on top alright. Quote from Sen. Dick Durbin,

"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,"

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Below is a link to the asset values of the Top 50 banks and the Top 5 alone add up to almost $9 trillion. The old saying "follow the money" shows you where our wealth is being soaked up. The 5th on the list Goldman Sachs being primarily an investment bank, globally controls trillions of dollars in other investors assets with just under a trillion in the US alone.

Top 50 bank holding companies Summary Page

By the end of 2007, the outstanding Credit Default Swap market amount was valued at $62.2 trillion, falling to $26.3 trillion by mid-year 2010. Where did the $36 trillion go and how much fell into banks pockets?