Stubbornness of the Drunk. You can show him highly elevated LDH and Ferritin but his "world view" won't change. This behavior response is common in other areas of life like Central Bankers.
We know the typical human cannot keep a secret; he loves to gossip. Given this how can no significant members of The Deep State come forward to reveal its operation? I think the problem is more likely the human is not that smart and is primarily driven by deep emotion. Given this thinking it is easy to see that systems would develop over time that would become destructive like Central Banking and modern pro sports.
Aloha! Corruption is about money. There is nothing "deep" about any of what is going on today. There is not anything unknown or sinister that we have not seen a thousand times in history books. What is new is that this time America is the Empire and not Britain or Rome.
Two quotes to contemplate from two very different eras of human history …
"Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung. That was their return cargo."
— The Martyrdom of Man by Winwood Reade (1871)
The other quote is from the movie Syrianna …
"What we are looking for is the illusion of due diligence Mr Pope. Corruption is how we win!" - Syrianna 2005
The quote from 1871 explains Empire. The only difference between Rome's "dung" and the main export of the US Empire is that our "dung" is political promises to the world that we will pay our debts. We export "debt" denominated in politically decreed US dollars, which makes Rome's "dung" look valuable!
The corruption is where our Caesar and our Senate somehow have convinced the world that the way to end excessive debt problems is to issue more debt. It does not take a "village" as Hillary would say, but instead,"It takes a central bank"! This is a crime since our political liars and the Liar In Chief will be long dead before their debt is ever repaid by the children and the children of their children! To issue debt that has a 30 year term is the equivalent to "taxation without representation" and that has been the basis of revolutions in the past.
I want to personalize this for a moment. Close your eyes and pretend your are the President of the USA or you are head of the Senate. These are positions whereby billions and billions of dollars pass through those offices on a daily basis. Would you be so honest that you would not hire your cousin or appoint a friend you owed money to? A contributor? Your former business partners or clients? Would you not use that status to improve your own son and daughters lives? Now imagine you have held that position for 20 years and some have been in the Senate longer. That's 20 years of constant billions and constant deals being thrown your way and constant wining and dining and "contributions". If you think you would be Mother Theresa for those 20 years then you fall in the elite .000000000012% of all humans ever born on Earth! Power corrupts and what does absolute power do?
Less corruption can only come from less government. All other plans, all other "reforms" other that will only fail bigger and faster! Nothing is deep or unknown … read the title!
And I really liked the post after yours, “it’s the corruption”.
However, I would like to note the title of the forum you posted this note, “John Perkins"…
He’s one. You may say, “well that’s only one, where’s the systemic evidence”. But when we come up with the systemic evidence, you’ll be back to “well name one person who’s stepped forward.”
I’ve learned that sometimes evidence is irrelevant, both for the mainstream and the nonmainstream.
So maybe I’ll get nowhere with you.
But maybe I will get somewhere. I’ll name one person to come forward, just as you asked.
John Perkins disproves your theorem. It only takes one.
It takes more than one in this case because one could be crazy.
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2016/03/they-thought-they-were-free.html
"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.
"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, ‘everyone’ is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’
"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.
"But your friends are fewer now. Some have drifted off somewhere or submerged themselves in their work. You no longer see as many as you did at meetings or gatherings. Informal groups become smaller; attendance drops off in little organizations, and the organizations themselves wither. Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to—to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.
"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
"And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.
"You have gone almost all the way yourself. Life is a continuing process, a flow, not a succession of acts and events at all. It has flowed to a new level, carrying you with it, without any effort on your part. On this new level you live, you have been living more comfortably every day, with new morals, new principles. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined.
"Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing). You remember those early meetings of your department in the university when, if one had stood, others would have stood, perhaps, but no one stood. A small matter, a matter of hiring this man or that, and you hired this one rather than that. You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair.
"What then? You must then shoot yourself. A few did. Or ‘adjust’ your principles. Many tried, and some, I suppose, succeeded; not I, however. Or learn to live the rest of your life with your shame. This last is the nearest there is, under the circumstances, to heroism: shame. Many Germans became this poor kind of hero, many more, I think, than the world knows or cares to know."
Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45
In the story you described, Thc0655, there never was a point that was open to any other path.That was an illusion. There are a few people who are empowered; the rest only have power over themselves at best, and often not even that.
That is the great shame of the slavery of the Holy Roman Empire known as Western oivilization.
Fortunately, from the great donation of Peppin ii, the HRE has now lasted 1260 years – times, a time, and half a time. Mayhap its time is at an end.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/obama-says-cannot-legal-case-apple-inc-223034884--finance.html
Obama makes the case for the government getting all the keys, not just Apple.
What can I do about that? I can’t even post a comment to the news site: it’s a ONE WAY street.
Yes, I know that Democide historically outnumbers death in battle, 6:1, and our government isn’t squeamish about killing our youth in battle, they won’t hesitate to use democide either.
Yes, I know that the limit on Democide is the limit on government total power.
But not only that, am I worked as a slave, and ALL the fruit of my labor taken by the politicians.
I object, but the voice of my objection has no power. I have voted, but have never voted for a winner… because the choice of voting is an illusion to. Red apple or Red Delicious (we’ll call the rotten peelings we give you by one name or the other).
Yes, I object.
I would echo Treebeard and DaveF's sentiments, but I would also like to add that if you are feeling angry or sad about the situation of the world, get involved! Much of the anger and sadness for me came from feelings of hopelessness, i.e. feeling like I had no say in what was happening. I spent a lot of time writing on this site a few years ago, and I learned so much, for which I will always be grateful, but at some point I decided what I was learning was of no use if I didn't put it to use - directly in my community. The more I began to participate, the less anger and hopelessness I felt. Am I still frustrated and angry at times? Sure, but at least I have a meaningful place to direct it and make a meaningful difference in my life and community. I have found many people working tirelessly for the good of our communities and are trying to stand up to the "moneyed interest" part of our system. Many of these people are awake and informed! So please, if you think this site is the only place to find "awake and informed" people, I would encourage you to get involved and participate more. Run for a local public office, participate on a public committee, help out with a community organization. As bad as that may sound to you, the nature of that office or committee or organization will change with your voice in the room.
The presidential election this year does represents a shift in my opinion. Hopefully when all the craziness settles down, those that are beginning to make the first steps into participating (or stepping in again) will continue to do so past the election.
The candidates we have now, as bad as they are, seem much less important to me than the leaders we might be able to have in the future, but only if more of the people who have given up become involved. As schizophrenic and illogical as these campaigns are, we are beginning to shed some light on the deep-seated emotions that have been building over decades. These emotions if channeled correctly might bring about meaningful change. Do I think any of the current candidates can bring about that change? No, not really, because their power exists in the way things were and they are trying to use the same tools we used in the past. These tools, as CHS has pointed out in his most current article, are becoming ineffectual…so those in these "power" positions are losing power daily, and are likely the people who are the most scared out of all of us. Their tendency to seek and hord more control and wealth is a sign of weakness, not strenght. I think what scares all of us is not the people in charge (they are a part of the symptom), but that the system we've created has it's own inertia that is taking us somewhere we know will end badly. Hasn't this been PP's message all along?
Meaningful change will come with more participation.
Good luck and get involved!
Great comments, gillbilly, but we mustn't delude ourselves to the tendency that "everything will work out for the best if we stay positive". It requires persistence,awareness, determination and, above all, clear thinking if we are to keep the hounds at bay.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test?language=en
Okay, my part: over on MishTalk, I advocated: it is time to start using the T (Treason) word.
My advice is just start publishing and spreading the word, on signs or ads.
Don’t stick any names on it; don’t explain. Just the word. Maybe it’ll be enough.
Don’t let it be trump rage. Even Trump favors giving the president keys to everyone’s devices. So does Cruz.
Let it simply be one word that gets repeated, until it echoes in EVERY government agent’s mind, until he cannot forget it.
TREASON
I have missed seeing you on this site! But I understand, for like you, I have backed away also, to try to talk less and act more on that which we all know needs to be done in our own lives and communities.
The candidates we have now, as bad as they are, seem much less important to me than the leaders we might be able to have in the future, but only if more of the people who have given up become involved.
Meaningful change will come with more participation.Here is a great story about someone becoming involved and actively participating:
This guy is amazing and doing great things! So are others in this small city that is in so many ways ahead of the pack with awareness, and now has a mayor and council actively working on and implementing solutions. While I lost faith in what we all call democracy a long time ago, on the micro level, votes still do count. Our last civic election saw our new Mayor, a super supportive eco activist beat out the two-term, old boys club incumbent by just 100 or so votes. That was when I finally felt that my individual vote counted for something! While I cannot say the same on the larger Provincial or Federal scale, I do subscribe to your belief that we can make change happen on the more micro level. And if we really believe, the micro can morph into macro - the proverbial change that we all seek. To tie this comment in with the article, yes, society is being subverted and manipulated by economic hit men in ways that none of us can control. And in ways that, when one is cognizant, are deeply distressing, and depressing. But we must resist at all costs letting that drag us into the spiral of hopeless apathy.
I want to tell all of you about what I have done in the last couple of years, since joining this site, to help myself become more resilient and prosperous. My story shows how resilience can happen on a level that does not require owning a large property or homestead - I know there are many people on this site for whom that is not attainable. But if you believe, you can still make things happen! Here is what I have done to create a more resilient life for myself on a more micro scale, one that is adaptive to my age, my abilities & health status, and my income:
- After renting for many years, building gardens and a nice lifestyle, my landlord abruptly took away my gardens from me. Having scrimped and saved, 1.5 years ago found & bought a ground level condo that includes as my own property two separate decks on which I can do a great deal of gardening. It is a work in progress, and with season one under my belt, I am making my plans for adjustments for season two now that I know how much sun I get. I start many of my own plants indoors under grow lights.
- I chose a location that is within walking distance to my office - I am close enough to walk home for lunch - a rarity in this day and age. Everything I could possibly need is within easy walking distance. While I own a vehicle, which I inherited from my dad, it is parked most of the time, even getting cob webs on it in between use LOL. It is primarily used for my recreational pursuits, like fishing on local lakes, and getting materials home for garden and renovation projects. It would not be an issue whatsoever to live without a car, if that became a necessity for whatever reason.
- I live in the west coast temperate zone, with year round gardening for some things very doable and helpful in supplementing the higher cost winter veggies - especially this year when the C$ tanked and we also felt the impact of less supply due to droughts. I do not have to worry about my pipes freezing - ever - and theoretically I could live without heat if I had to as the average winter temperature here is +1-2 degrees Celcius. Big sweaters and down comforters would do it nicely if there was no heat. I have a wood burning fireplace which I plan to put an insert in to heat the place in the winter when I feel the need for more heat. No shortage of firewood in this logging territory, although considerable elbow grease is needed to obtain it - all part of the lifestyle, and chopping wood is a fav. stress busting task!
- Using a combination of vertical gardening, built in raised beds and more container gardening that I am planning on building, here is a summary of what I have growing:
- fruit: dwarf peach tree, espalier apple ( 3 varieties one one tree), fig, kiwi, gooseberry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry
- veggies: garlic, chard, kale, carrots, beets, lettuce, bok choi, cherry tomatoes, peppers, pole beans and a nice herb garden.
- Plans for this year is to tap into the condo eavestrough to divert rainwater to a drip irrigation system using sections of PVC.
- I have made a deep pantry enabling myself a good six months supply of good and healthy food, in a mix of dried, canned and packaged goods. I have water filters and a month supply of water on hand, with plan B maps of all the nearby local water sources for which my filter will come in handy.
- For a profoundly deaf woman who lives alone, I am as secure as I can be in a small building with neighbours who look out for me and with 911 and earthquake/tsunami text messages enabled to my cell phone. I live my life as well as I can, enjoying the great outdoors, hiking, camping, fishing, doing things with friends when I can but feeling secure with a GPS satellite enabled emergency signaling device when I am on my own. Life is fer' livin' and I cannot always wait around for people to do things with!
DO WHAT YOU CAN, NOW, WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT. IT'S ALL WE CAN DO. And as much as we all like to discuss and talk about economic stuff, PM going up and down, 9/11 stuff and whether the Jews are still being blamed for everything, or not, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Not one iota. What matters is that today I did something meaningful to enrich my life. I was a good and decent person as I went about my business. I was a positive influence, not a negative one, no matter how small it was.
Just imagine what the world would look like if every person on the face of this planet could say that. IMAGINE!
Jan [and Gillbilly thanks for letting us know you are still out there! 
miss you bud! ]
Live authentically, and the evidence the power of our own being brings against them will transform the world. I agree with Gillbilly, be active, but don't define our activity in a narrow preconceived way. The stone rejected, or more likely stone placed without much thought will in hind sight will be understood to be the cornerstone. Much is about to be asked of us, now is the time to practice and bring forth the power and truth of our own authentic selves. I don't think we will be able to sustain doing what we think we should be doing. Do not look to your neighbor to understand your own self, bring your own gift to the table and encourage those around you to bring forth their own. To the powers that be, resistance is futile…
It is the friction and resistance of the newly emerging paradigm that will generate the light by which well will all see.
DO WHAT YOU CAN, NOW, WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT. IT'S ALL WE CAN DO.Well said Jan! Thanks for the article...there are some very creative people doing some very creative things, and the article speaks volumes as to how some of the millennials are creating a new world.
Wow, you have been busy. I can't believe the amount of changes you've made in your life in such a short amount of time. I would bet these changes have probably also opened unexpected doors in your life, giving you new and exciting paths to explore. Just awesome!
I have been busy as well. We had solar installed on our house last year, and now I'm wondering why we didn't have it done years ago. We had a few trees taken down for more solar capture, and those trees have been cut and split into firewood to help sustain us with heat for the next several winters. With the added sun, we can now have a useable garden.
Two years ago I ran for a local public office and won. It's not a paid position (well other than a small stipend) so it's not something you do unless you are prepared to give your time. I've been very busy with the responsibilities of that office and also sit on three other town committees. I've learned a lot about local politics.
Some might ask why the hell would you join "the (broken) system"? What I realized before I decided to take the leap was that it's easy to take the position that those in political office are "them" and not "us." It's easy to blame "them" for not representing "us". It immediately sets up a relationship based on division. It appropriates the power of "them" over "us". What I realized is that there really is no division, there is only the perceived division if you choose to accept it. It's impossible to remove yourself from the system, as Treebeard points out. We are all in this together. So I began to replace the notion of "them" and "us" with a single "we." It may seem a little naive to some, but if they go back and read my posts from past years, they'll understand that I am not deluded in regard to the dire realities we face. I do understand there are some very nasty and psychotic people in this world and there are some huge obstacles, and yes, predicaments that won't be solved. But, to not participate and get involved in creating change is to allow those that are participating to have power over you.
In the past two years, I have helped our little town move in the direction of resilience (which was already happening… I'm lucky to have many forward-thinking people in our town, but if I had to guess, we're not the exception). We have found ways to cut our energy costs dramatically through efficiency updates on municipal buildings and infrastructure. We run public workshops in how to help residents increase efficiency in their own homes, how to compost, implement sustainable and/or micro farming, and on many other community benefits. Once I got involved, I was grateful to see how many people in my community are already working tirelessly to create a new system that sheds so many of the negative externalities. It's very rewarding to help my neighbors, and I believe it's helping to build a more connected and supportive community.
Again, I'm not deluded or thinking my positive attitude will solve all problems. But change is inevitable and the old system is dying by a thousand little cuts, and I'm just one of those cuts. So yes, the problems of humanity will continue on long after I'm dead, but…
I can do, now, all I can with what I've got. And so can you!
I believe that's what Perkins is asking us to do. I believe that's the message of PP.
Be well everyone!
They've got more tricks up their sleeves than "just" economic hitmen. In a brilliant move they're beginning to manipulate the groups who are fed up with the status quo into battling each other instead of the oligarchs. Sun Tzu would be impressed and so would President Snow (he of the Hunger Games).
http://www.firstrebuttal.com/the-brutes-against-the-brutes-brilliant/
Kids these days….. So the Trump rally in Chicago was successfully disrupted by mostly young and socio-economic despondent protestors who have, unknowingly, been turned into pre-programmed anti-Trump warriors by the Oligarchs they claim to hate (yes MoveOn.org is fully funded by the Oligarchs, look it up). The very same mentality that naively fell hook-line-and-sinker into Obama’s message of “Change, Yes We Can”. Now many of these protestors today are simply too young to remember the 2008 Obama campaign for what it really was; the greatest fraud in the history of American politics (and wow is that saying something).
However, this time around there are millions of Americans who do have the benefit of recent history still burned into their hearts. Millions of previously naive, young voters devastated by the deceit of politics, leaving them scorned are now ready to fight the Oligarchs and the bought and paid for Executive and Legislative branches of government. Citizen soldiers are a key component of any revolution.
Remember, Trump supporters are not die hard fans of Trump per se, they are themselves warriors ready take back their nation. And I expect if push comes to shove, which apparently MoveOn.org is dead set on making happen, Trump supporters will respond in kind. And so perhaps the violent revolution begins. The unwavering wave of support against the establishment is not a light hearted movement.
And while a group of young, angry protestors, organized by those who will discard them without so much as a deep breath beforehand, appear steadfast they will soon find out what it means to be on the wrong side of right. While they are rightly ready to fight, they are wrongly allowing themselves to be manipulated in believing their fight is with Trump. For Trump and Sanders are the same movement anthropomorphized in different bodies. And through Trump and Sanders the bloodshed need be directed at the oligarchs...
Recognizing the standard program of propaganda via main stream media attacks failed to sunder the sound of revolt it was time to ratchet up the defense of the oligarchs. And so through MoveOn.org Soros et. al will corral those that depend on the state for survival and physically deploy them to disrupt the developing inertia of a larger movement. From their perspective it is fighting (the) unrefined with (the) unrefined; that is, Sanders’ disciples against Trump’s disciples with the hope that they will destroy each other in grand revolution super nova, not soon to be forgotten by more moderate cattle. Now where this will lead, who knows. But certainly the early indications are not dissimilar to the early indications of some of the great epiphanic moments of human history.
"Welcome to the Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."
- Drive as little as possible
- Spend as little $ as possible on corporations
Guess I would add these are two things that have to happen on a widespread scale if we are to have any chance of obtaining a life economy.
Another way to say what you said in one word ; Relocalize. 
I enjoyed the podcast and agree with much of it. I'd just like to point out that the oft-repeated claim that '90% of the world's fish stocks are gone', or some variant of this assertion, is simply not the case. In fact, many, if not most, of the world's major fish stocks are being sustainably harvested at present. I would direct those interested to go to CFOOD, a website (quite new) that debunks this and other myths about the oceans, and provides links to the primary literature. Regards, Dave Boyes
Yeah, I'll take the other side of that. The CFOOD website is not terribly full of data or convincing.
The largest study to date, came to this conclusion recently:
Ocean Fish Populations Cut In Half Since The 1970sThat's the biggest study to date, so unless it was done horribly badly it's the best we've got.Sept 16, 2016
A disturbing new report published by the World Wildlife Fund found that the world marine vertebrate population declined by 49 percent between 1970 and 2012.
The Living Blue Planet Report — analyzed by the Zoological Society of London and issued as an update on our oceans’ health — also found that local and commercial fish populations have been cut in half, tropical reefs have lost nearly half of their reef-building coral, and there are 250,000 metric tons of plastic in our oceans.
Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75 percent, according to the study.
The analysis said it tracked 5,829 populations of 1,234 species, such as seals, turtles and dolphins and sharks. It said the ZSL data sets were almost twice as large as past studies.
“This report suggests that billions of animals have been lost from the world’s oceans in my lifetime alone,” Ken Norris, director of science at the ZSL, said in a statement. “This is a terrible and dangerous legacy to leave to our grandchildren.”
I agree that some local and coastal (non-pelagic) fisheries in domestic waters have a few successful management efforts under their belts. Kudos for these.
And many do not.
But the pelagic (tragedy of the commons) fish are another matter. Tuna, mackerel, swordfish, etc. Those are in bad shape and there’s not a lot of controversy about that.
It appears to me that the trend tilts towards declining oceanic fish biomass and that trend has been in place for a long time. The only thing that could reverse it would be sub-replacement harvests to total and outright bans on harvests of some critical species.
So I guess the more correct statement would be; "in general, fish stocks have lost between half and three quarters of their mass with a few key species now down ninety percent or more."