The neoliberal era with it’s neoclassical economics has created this fantasy world where money is created without regard to for energy, real resources or productive capacity. Financiers are treated like Gods and speculation in “efficient” markets is the name of the game. At the heart of this has been US $ hegemony which has allowed it to dominate markets, print money for its war machine without fear.
However monetary systems rely on trust and Trump is destroying that. The fear of course is that just like the GFC we all waste the opportunity and don’t reform monetary systems. In that regard BRICs may just be more of the same, just with different power brokers.
When it's more profitable to kill and destroy than to nurture and create, there's a big problem with the economic system we live under.
"War is big business. This is no surprise. The enormous US budget expenditure on the military ensures that there is a perpetual supply of money—and investment opportunities—in the military-industrial complex. In 2024 the top ten US contractors were in the defense industry. Horrifically, international global conflicts provide huge profits for weapons manufacturers. The more savage the better. In calls with investors and statements after the October 2023 attacks by Hamas which began the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestine, executives of weapons manufacturers made clear their enthusiasm for the increased opportunity for profits afforded by increased demand for weapons and government contracts. Weapons manufacturers further increase their profits by price-gouging the government."
"While ostensibly about removing state interference from the free market, neoliberal policy in reality harnesses the power of the state to protect corporate interests."
Exactly. Queue the Reg Standards, Treaty Principles, "review" of treaty clauses malarkey. Just your regular neoliberal shite, Aotearoa style 😭
Lenin was really on to it (and that was before he formed the Beatles) - he must be spinning in his tomb! Rocket Lab is our own domestic example of technology turning to military purposes…
I wonder, identifying where power lays in autocratic systems is straight forward, so those that would corrupt or dilute power have little complexity in their plans. When they do, it is really easy to see. Russia under Putin is a clear example, everyone knows it's not a real democracy, but what can be done?
But where power lays in more democratic societies can be difficult to work out, especially in places like the USA whose founders tried to avoid absolute power in any person's hands.
Because of the complexity of plans, identifying where corruption has usurped power is difficult and fixing it even more difficult.
Our current govt clearly have motives more inline with creating an oligarchy than fixing democracy, but have created an environment where addressing it is impossible. Any efforts are brushed off with a preemptive attack of looney left or woke.
We need a leader strong enough and smart enough to put an end to the neoliberal experiment currently eroding democracy.
I think that a large part of the "transparency" of other regimes has to do with the Western imperialist propaganda machine. At the end of the day, is a dictator who is in large part controlled by financial interests more corrupt than a so-called democracy that is controlled by corporations. I would argue no, and the perception that the US is a democracy has been inflated from the beginning. The founders set up the system to dilute the role of democracy because they were worried that too much participation would infringe on the rights of the property-holders. I agree that we need a party with the political will to make substantial changes. The coalition government has had that kind of will even without a popular mandate. It would be great if a left party actually did something to change the system for the better. We shall see.
Ryan I’m starting to think it’s not the system - it’s human nature that is the issue. Without a change in values, and checks and balances, even the best systems can fail.
The neoliberal era with it’s neoclassical economics has created this fantasy world where money is created without regard to for energy, real resources or productive capacity. Financiers are treated like Gods and speculation in “efficient” markets is the name of the game. At the heart of this has been US $ hegemony which has allowed it to dominate markets, print money for its war machine without fear.
However monetary systems rely on trust and Trump is destroying that. The fear of course is that just like the GFC we all waste the opportunity and don’t reform monetary systems. In that regard BRICs may just be more of the same, just with different power brokers.
When it's more profitable to kill and destroy than to nurture and create, there's a big problem with the economic system we live under.
"War is big business. This is no surprise. The enormous US budget expenditure on the military ensures that there is a perpetual supply of money—and investment opportunities—in the military-industrial complex. In 2024 the top ten US contractors were in the defense industry. Horrifically, international global conflicts provide huge profits for weapons manufacturers. The more savage the better. In calls with investors and statements after the October 2023 attacks by Hamas which began the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestine, executives of weapons manufacturers made clear their enthusiasm for the increased opportunity for profits afforded by increased demand for weapons and government contracts. Weapons manufacturers further increase their profits by price-gouging the government."
"While ostensibly about removing state interference from the free market, neoliberal policy in reality harnesses the power of the state to protect corporate interests."
Exactly. Queue the Reg Standards, Treaty Principles, "review" of treaty clauses malarkey. Just your regular neoliberal shite, Aotearoa style 😭
Lenin was really on to it (and that was before he formed the Beatles) - he must be spinning in his tomb! Rocket Lab is our own domestic example of technology turning to military purposes…
Kind of an incredible analysis for being over 100 years old. And some killer songs to boot.
President Eisenhower said it best, Beware of the Industrial military complex. He was right on point and now some 75 years later he’s still on point.
I wonder, identifying where power lays in autocratic systems is straight forward, so those that would corrupt or dilute power have little complexity in their plans. When they do, it is really easy to see. Russia under Putin is a clear example, everyone knows it's not a real democracy, but what can be done?
But where power lays in more democratic societies can be difficult to work out, especially in places like the USA whose founders tried to avoid absolute power in any person's hands.
Because of the complexity of plans, identifying where corruption has usurped power is difficult and fixing it even more difficult.
Our current govt clearly have motives more inline with creating an oligarchy than fixing democracy, but have created an environment where addressing it is impossible. Any efforts are brushed off with a preemptive attack of looney left or woke.
We need a leader strong enough and smart enough to put an end to the neoliberal experiment currently eroding democracy.
I think that a large part of the "transparency" of other regimes has to do with the Western imperialist propaganda machine. At the end of the day, is a dictator who is in large part controlled by financial interests more corrupt than a so-called democracy that is controlled by corporations. I would argue no, and the perception that the US is a democracy has been inflated from the beginning. The founders set up the system to dilute the role of democracy because they were worried that too much participation would infringe on the rights of the property-holders. I agree that we need a party with the political will to make substantial changes. The coalition government has had that kind of will even without a popular mandate. It would be great if a left party actually did something to change the system for the better. We shall see.
Ryan I’m starting to think it’s not the system - it’s human nature that is the issue. Without a change in values, and checks and balances, even the best systems can fail.