The factors that determine social class vary widely from one society to another with different people or groups within society having very different ideas about what makes one "higher" or "lower" in the social hierarchy. A complete discussion of social class is beyond the scope of this article, and I want to focus on the most basic class distinction: that is, between the powerful and the powerless, and how the conflict is waged on the political, social, economic, and spiritual fronts.
Perhaps Manfred Davidmann summarized the struggle between the
classes best...
"What we see all around us is conflict between
authoritarian minds wishing to dominate, control and exploit on the one hand
and, on the other hand, citizens wishing to maintain and improve the standard
of living and quality of life for the population as a whole by democratic
(grassroots level) decision-taking."
Throughout history, mankind has
witnessed authoritarians who only want to dominate, control and exploit the
population. Social classes with more power usually subordinate classes with
less power, while attempting to cement their own power positions in society.
The first such oppressor and mentor to those that have followed was Satan in
the Garden of Eden. Some notable followers would include the Pharaoh of Egypt,
numerous Roman Emperors, Louis XIV of France, Peter the Great, Joseph Stalin,
and Adolph Hitler.
Sometimes it's not the individual tyrant but the
system to which they are beholden to. In America, for example, there have been
a long string of wanna-be oppressors in the past 100 years all obliged to the
same corrupt system. Individual presidents
such as Richard Nixon,
Bill
Clinton, George Bush, and
Barack Obama stand out among those who wish to dominate,
control and exploit the citizens of America. While they have not yielded the
power individually like a Pharaoh or Hitler, they have each acted to forward
the cause of the ruling class to dominate, control and exploit.
Also not beyond the realm of possibility would be for the Establishment to trigger (or simply do nothing to prevent) the collapse of the monetary and banking systems in a full-blown depression, coupled with acts of aggression (so-called "preemptive strikes") by the General Government's armed forces overseas that ignite a world war. Properly managed, a depression and world war would result in massive redistribution of real wealth from common Americans to the Establishment and its clients, while the victims found themselves so severely regimented by the General Government's exercise of wartime "emergency" powers that they could not effectively complain. One need not be overly suspicious to suggest a sequence that history already partly bears out: World War I, the League of Nations, and the undermining of the international gold standard—followed by World War II, the United Nations, the adoption of Federal Reserve Notes as the world's reserve currency, and the "demonetization" of gold and silver as currencies—followed by World War III, a New World Order based on the tripartite division of the globe into European, American, and Asian blocs, and a supra-national world central bank emitting a world fiat currency. [Dr. Edwin Vieira, "Don't Count on Washington to Protect us from Looming Banking Crisis"]
Crony Capitalism
Over the past 100 years in
America, we have seen political cronyism spilling over into the business world
creating self-serving friendships and family ties between businessmen and the
government that have influenced the economy and society to the extent that it
has corrupted public-serving economic and political ideals.
Perhaps
the most dramatic example would be the alliance between
banking trusts and the
government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shifting economic power
from the government to private banks and creating new buracracies to transfer
the wealth of American citizens to the oligarchs through an
income tax.
Another well
known example in the United States would be the Interstate Commerce
Commission, which was established in 1887 to regulate the railroad "robber
barons;" instead, it quickly became controlled by the railroads, who set up a
permit system that was used to deny access to new entrants and functionally
legalized price fixing.
Today, success in business depends on those
close relationships between businessmen and government officials and can be
exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government
grants, special tax breaks, government guarantees, and so forth.
For
example, after the mad cow scare, Creekstone Farms decided to test all its cows
for mad cow disease. It built the proper facilities and hired the personnel to
make such a change only to have the U.S. Department of Agriculture issue an
injunction that refused to allow Creekstone to buy the kits necessary to test.
This allowed the larger beef producers to keep their costs low and effectively
block Creekstone from competing in the lucrative Japanese export market.
In yet another example of the unholy alliance between government and the
private sector was the use of telecommunications companies by the government to
spy on American citizens. The government eavesdropped on American phone and
computer lines for almost six years after the Sept. 11 attacks without
permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the special panel
established for that purpose under the 1978 law. After some 40
lawsuits were filed
against AT&T, Verizon Communications and other telecom firms by groups and
individuals who thought the Bush administration illegally monitored their phone
calls or e-mails, the U.S. Congress passed new surveillance laws that
effectively shielded telecommunications companies from lawsuits arising from
the government's terrorism-era warrantless eavesdropping on phone and computer
lines.
"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark of his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark..." - Revelation 13:16-17
Banks and Financial Institutions
Banks such as the Bank of America and CitiBank are relatively recent
inventions. There were no lending institutions or banks in the modern sense to
be found in ancient Israel. Commercial transactions and the lending of credit
were entirely in the hands of private individuals, landowners, and merchants.
Contemporary cultures in Mesopotamia lent money or produced at interest (in
some cases as much as 3313 percent per annum). The temptation among the
Israelites to do this was suppressed by laws forbidding the charging of
interest on loans (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36-37; Ezek. 18:8). According to these
statutes, only foreigners could be charged interest on a debt (Deut. 23:20).
Pledges were sometimes required to guarantee a loan (Gen. 38:17), but
essential items, like a cloak, could not be kept past nightfall (Deut. 24:12;
Amos 2:8). In periods of famine or high taxation a man might mortgage his home
and fields, pledging his labor as a debt-slave or the labor of his family to
satisfy the loan (Neh. 5:1-5; Ps. 119:11). Abuse of this system occurred often
enough that the prophets condemned it (Neh. 5:6-13; Ezek. 22:12), Proverbs
called it folly (17:18; 22:26).
The widespread introduction of coined
money after 500 B.C. and the expansion of travel and commerce in the Roman
empire aided the establishment of banking institutions in the New Testament
period. Money lending was a common and acceptable activity in the cities.
Jesus’ parables of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) and the pounds (Luke
19:11-27) lend credence to the practice of giving sums to the bankers to invest
or to draw interest. The older custom of burying one’s money for safe
keeping (Josh. 7:21) Jesus condemned as “wicked and slothful” (Matt.
25:25-27).
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is
servant to the lender.
[Proverbs 22:7]
The banker, called a lender in Proverbs 22:7, suffered a poor
reputation among the Jews. Their religious law forbade the lending of money for
interest.
In the New Testament, these bankers were the “money
changers” of the Temple.
Some of these money changers, taking
advantage of the large number of currencies in circulation in Palestine, set up
some of the early banks. Farmers and merchants came to them to weigh coinage
and exchange it for the Tyrian drachma favored in the city. The regulations
regarding the Temple tax in Jerusalem also worked in the financiers’
favor. The “moneychangers” charged a fee of 12 grains of silver and
set up their tables in the Court of the Gentiles. They exchanged foreign
currency for the silver didrachma required by the law (Matt. 17:24).
Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple may have been in part a response to the
unfair practices of these money-changers (Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; John
2:14-16).
With sums coming into the Temple from Jews throughout the empire, the Temple itself became a bank, lending money to finance business, construction, and other programs. Pilate raised a storm of protest when he tapped one of the Temple funds, which was to be used exclusively for religious purposes, to build an aqueduct. After the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, the Roman emperor Vespasian ordered the continued payment of the tax and its deposit in the Temple of Jupiter.
The “harsh” master who expects interest and reaps what he
did not sow (Matt. 25:24, 26-27; Luke 19:21-23) is hardly to be taken as a
model for Christian business practice. Luke’s parable in particular
contains reminiscences of the hated Archelaus (Luke 19:12, 14; compare Matt.
2:22). Jesus stood firmly in the Old Testament tradition when He commanded His
disciples to give freely to the needy who asked (Matt. 5:42; 10:8).
Some people feel compelled to defend the common, contemporary practice of
charging interest. Any moral decision on the matter must carefully weigh rival
claims: (1) that capital loaned at interest provides an opportunity for persons
to escape poverty and (2) that the inability of both individuals and nations to
pay interest on borrowed capital contributes to continued poverty.
"Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes it's laws." - Mayer Anselm Rothschild
With the U.S. federal government now bought and paid for by an
international banking cartel, we have witnessed some of the largest transfers
of wealth from the middle class to the elite ruling upper class. Banks are
institutions of theft, as they practice "fractional reserve
lending". Paper money is theft; inflation is theft, and the income tax is
theft. Paper money prevents people from saving property (money) since it is
constantly losing value due to the theft of inflation. It is the primary
mechanism whereby wealth is stolen from poor people and given to the wealthiest
people of all: the ones who have the power to create money out of thin air, and
loan it back to the U.S. government (at interest), to enslave everyone
else.
The motive in loaning without interest to fellow Israelites was
to prevent the formation of a permanent underclass in Israel. Ezekiel regarded
the charging of interest as a watershed act separating the righteous from those
practicing abominations (Ezek. 18:8, 13, 17; 22:12). Nehemiah challenged
neglect of the Mosaic prohibition which had resulted in dire poverty for some
of the returned exiles (Neh. 5:6-13). Today, because of the unjust banking
system, we have a massive underclass of citizens enslaved to the money masters.
They own no real property... only debt in the form of paper money and promises
to pay. Their gold and silver have been taken from them and given to the
international banksters.
Big money lobbyists control most political
leaders and stops the government from regulating usurious interest rates or
stopping the rape of poor neighborhoods in which thousands of families are
losing their homes through predatory mortgage, home-improvement and foreclosure
scams.
Take, for example, the "behind the scenes" negotiations that
took place between corrupted government officials and crony banks in creating
new bankruptcy laws making it harder for Americans to get a second chance and
disqualfying Hurrican Katrina victims from filing for relief. Critics note that
the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act did nothing to
curtail the predatory practices of credit card companies, such as exorbitant
interest rates, rising and often hidden fees, and targeting minors and the
recently bankrupt for new cards. The bill's critics pointed out that these
practices are themselves significant contributors to the growth of consumer
bankruptcies. To his credit, Barack Obama voted against this measure.
Subprime Mortgage Crisis
In a subprime mortgage crisis beginning in
late 2006 and still reverberating through the world economic systems today, the
international banking cartel has looted national treasuries and confiscated
vast amounts of wealth of the lower and middle classes. The crisis began with
the bursting of the US housing bubble and high default rates on "subprime" and
adjustable rate mortgages (ARM). Once home prices failed to go up as
anticipated, refinancing became more difficult and defaults and foreclosure
activity increased dramatically as easy initial terms expired and ARM interest
rates reset higher.
Too Big to Fail
A new
Orwellian phrase came on the scene that said these institutions are "too big to
fail." While there may be some economic truth behind that statement, the behind
the scenes dimension that is not newsworthy enough for the corporate bought
mainstream media is how corrupt politicians were protecting their crony buddies
in these institutions. Clinton cronies, James Johnson and Franklin Raines, ran
Fannie Mae leading up to the current crisis.
- Franklin Raines is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae who served as White House budget director under President Bill Clinton. He is currently employed by Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign as an economic adviser. In 2003 alone, Raines's compensation was over $20 million.
- From 1991 to 1998, James Johnson served as chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae, and was previously vice chairman of Fannie Mae (1990-1991) and a managing director with Lehman Brothers (1985-1990). He was the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's failed 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. He was involved in the vice-presidential selection process for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, and is currently an economic adviser to Obama's campaign. Johnson is also a member of the the American Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission.
Fannie and Freddie is the number one contributor to Senator Chris
Dodd between 1989 and 2008. The number two recipient of campaign funds from
Fannie and Freddie is Barack Obama. Further down the list of contributions from
Fannie and Freddie, John McCain received about $21,000.
President
Obama and the federal government doesn't talk about what is really going on and
don't seem interested in protecting the real victims in this scandal - the
people losing their homes in foreclosure and bankruptcy. Rather, they are
protecting their crony CEO's of these financial institutions while transferring
the wealth of the middle class to the ruling international banksters. And, as
if to rub salt into the gaping American wound, the American taxpayer is
expected to pay for the bailouts of these criminal enterprises.
Why is it so hard to figure out what's going on in
commodities markets -- oil specifically?
Well, the reason it's
hard to figure out is about 30 percent of our crude oil energy futures are
traded in what is called a dark market -- that is a market that was deregulated
in December of 2000 at the behest of Enron. Prior to that legislation being
passed, all energy futures traded in the United States or affecting the United
States in a significant fashion were regulated by United States regulators
under a very careful regime that had been perfected over about 78 years and
many observers believe that because those markets are not being policed,
malpractices are being committed and traders are able to boost the price
virtually at their will.
Listen to Michael Greenberger as he discusses
Deflating the oil bubble
Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt has soared in recent years, particularly among young people. In 2004, the average credit-card debt of US households was $9,300, up from $2,966 in 1990, according to research firm CardWeb.com - - that's 214% more debt. The major credit card companies target a younger audience, in particular college students, many of whom are already in debt with college tuition fees and college loans and who typically are less experienced at managing their own finances. A recent study by United College Marketing Services has shown that student credit lines have increased to over $6,000. Credit card usage has tripled since 2001 amongst teenagers as well. The 2006 documentary film titled Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders chronicles the abusive practices in the credit card industry while showing how banks and other creditors deliberately market to people who are more likely to have problems paying.
Because the fees banks charge it's credit card customers make up
such a huge part of their profits, Providian, Bank One, Chase, and Citibank
have all been found to "roll back" posting times to extract more late fees. The
due dates were "rolled back" from 1pm to 10am because mail was delivered in the
afternoon so due dates were actually rolled back to charge more late fees.
Universal default is another corrupt feature of many North American credit
card contracts. When a cardholder is late paying a particular credit card
issuer, not only can that card's interest rate can be raised, but universal
default allows other card issuers to increase rates on their cards as well.
Being late on one credit card will potentially affect all your credit cards.
(Citibank voluntarily stopped this practice in March 2007 and Chase stopped the
practice in November 2007.) Some of the nation's influential top credit card
issuers, who are among the top fifty corporate contributors to political
campaigns, have successfully opposed Congressional regulations outlawing the
practice.
Secret History of the Credit Card
"What's in Your
Wallet?"
In 1958, Bank of
America launched its BankAmericard credit card and in 1965 began subscribing
licensing agreements with other banks. In 1967, Master Charge was licensed by
United California Bank (subsequently merged into Wells Fargo), and the Bank of
California (subsequently merged into the Union Bank of California) as a
competitor to the BankAmericard. With the help of New York's Marine Midland
Bank, now HSBC Bank USA, these banks joined with the Interbank Card Association
(ICA) to create "Master Charge: The Interbank Card".
Bank of America
gave up control of the BankAmericard program in 1970 when various BankAmericard
issuer banks took control of the program, creating National BankAmericard Inc.
(NBI), an independent non-stock corporation which would be in charge of
managing, promoting and developing the BankAmericard system within the United
States.
By 1972, BankAmericard had spread to 15 countries, and
in1974, IBANCO, a multinational member corporation, was founded to manage the
international BankAmericard program. In 1976, the directors of IBANCO
determined that bringing the various international networks together into a
single network with a single name internationally would be in the best
interests of the corporation; however in many countries, there was still
reluctance to issue a card associated with Bank of America. For this reason, in
1977 BankAmericard, Chargex, Barclaycard, Carte Bleue, and all other licensees
united under the new name, "Visa", which retained the distinctive blue, white
and gold flag. NBI became Visa U.S.A., and IBANCO became Visa International. In
1979, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" was renamed simply "MasterCard".
Credit cards are very profitable for banks. Critical to the success of
these charge cards has been universal acceptance by merchants and influential
advertising to consumers to use them instead of cash. MasterCard's current
"Priceless" advertising campaign, furst run in 1997, is "There are some things
money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard."
Corrupt Banking
System
This highly informative and easy to understand film covers
just about everything that isn't taught in school regarding the corrupt banking
system. It explains how these institutions get away with robbing the
unsuspecting public by creating monetary policies designed to enslave society,
while keeping the system in a perpetual state of rising debt.
- Cartels Robbing the Public
- How "Money" is Created
- Money is Debt
- Monetary Reform
- Warning About the NWO
- Money as Debt website
Declaration of
Independence
The Preamble of the United States Declaration of
Independence says,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath
shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security.
