2010-03-07

get lost! (neoliberal policies punishing us, we the sheople)


.. actually ...

  .. money never gets lost ...

    .. it always end up in *somebody's* pocket

Q: Exactly who are the crooks here?

-=*=-

Trigger article:

Iceland votes against deal to repay debt
Updated March 7, 2010 13:34:00
  «While polls show Icelandic people believe the debts should be repaid, residents bitterly resent being stuck with a bill for the mistakes of a handful of bankers under the watch of foreign governments.
...
What makes the impasse all the more problematic is that the International Monetary Fund is waiting for the affair to be resolved before resuming financial aid, money which is crucial if Reykjavik is to rebuild a shattered economy.»
 
[AusBC/justin]

Q: IF $s don't just 'get lost' THEN where have they gone?

Q: Why can't they simply reverse the process and recover the dough?

Q: OR, IF the bankers are sooo bloody stupid THEN why not (a) close the banks and (b) put the bankers in gaol?

-=*=-

Driving governments broke is happening all over the world; the filthy neoliberal policies of tax cuts and privatisation (Cui bono?) - followed by layoffs and service cuts mean increasing unemployment and necessary services getting scarcer and/or dearer - if not outright disappearing, then forcing governments into debt - this last forcing the next round of 'more of the same.'

Take the example of Sweden; electricity was privatised then rose in price by about 600% (heard on the radio). The spokesperson said "Much dearer? Well yes, but the consumers have more choice.") Really? Now the sheople can choose which electricity supplier can cut off their "arm and a leg?" One result: some sheople cannot afford to heat their houses properly. Parts of Sweden are in the Arctic. Cui bono?

Add that to out-sourcing and off-shoring etc. and sheople in the attacked countries are forced into ever deeper misery.

Then the IMF comes along forcing Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) to add the next round of 'more of the same' and the spiral goes ever lower. This has been going on around the world since the early 1950s... Why? Is this progress? Cui bono?

Supporting article:

International Monetary Fund
  «Argentina, which had been considered by the IMF to be a model country in its compliance to policy proposals by the Bretton Woods institutions, experienced a catastrophic economic crisis in 2001,[26] which some believe to have been caused by IMF-induced budget restrictions — which undercut the government's ability to sustain national infrastructure even in crucial areas such as health, education, and security — and privatization of strategically vital national resources.» 
[wiki]

A similar thing is happening to Greece (add Portugal, Ireland and Spain = PIGS), and most of the 'newly liberated' East-Bloc countries. The NSW and QLD governments - both Labor (supposedly the sheople's friends) - are continuing with utterly stupid privatisations. NSW Lotteries to be sold for about $1bio - but allegedly throwing away about $400mio revenue a year. Why? Worse, AusBC adds insult to injury with its headline: "NSW set for $1b lotteries sale windfall." Windfall? How is impoverishing the state a windfall? AusBC video: "NSW hits jackpot in lottery sale" - sheer idiocy, from the government and AusBC alike.

Who allows this sort of shit?

In whose interest?

i.e. Cui bono?
 

1 comment:

  1. neoliberal s**t almost everywhere one looks

    .. "shit happens" - Abbott ...

      .. but does it have to happen ...

        .. all over us, we the hapless sheople?

    -=*=-

    It's not just the countries mentioned in the headline article which are suffering under neoliberalism.

    An aside on the insult inbuilt into the name; lots of things described as 'liberal' are actually more the inverse, take the 'liberal press' construct. Almost everywhere the press is in the hands of rabid right-wingers, Murdoch springs to mind as archetypical. Then there's the Liberal party in Aus, and the FDP in Germany whose sub-title is "Die Liberalen." Both parties are rabid tax-cutters, cutting tax for anyone they estimate may change their vote to them, but at the same time always tending to reduce the top tax rate - aimed at who else but the rich?

    But tax cuts (if real) impoverish the government, and it's the poor who always bear the brunt from reduced government services. At the same time as cutting (income) taxes, they propose increasing consumption taxes (GST, MWST) - flat (regressive!) taxes which again primarily attack the lower income groups. (Do the rich really care if their Ferraris cost a comparative pittance more?)

    The US is, of course, the leader in all this - with one *HUGE* exception; the US$ is so constructed that the US may 'print' as much money as they think they can get away with (and they print, print, print ...), and so far have not had to face the IMF because of their truly, *obscenely* massive deficits.

    The US 'health' system, almost entirely based on 'private insurance,' is by far and away the most expensive in the world - but ranked a dreadful 37th on results. Yet neoliberal policy advocates around the world just can't wait to emulate the US system; even tiny Switzerland has already fallen for this 'trap.' Why?

    The privatisation of the German railways (not yet accomplished) was set in motion by the SDP, the German equivalent of Aus Labor. The sale-preparations have already reduced services & reliability whilst increasing ticket costs.

    How stupid are they - the neoliberal policy implementers?

    How stupid are they - the sheople who tolerate neoliberal policies?

    Note, however, that privatisations are being done (in Aus, say) by both Lib and Lab - this means 'bipartisanship,' meaning the sheople are offered *NO CHOICE!* Screech after me: "Undemocratic! Boo! Hiss!"

    How can I point all this out, while the AusBC doesn't?

    IF the AusBC doesn't properly inform us (THEY DON'T!) THEN how can the sheople be expected to make informed votes? (THEY CAN'T!)

    Screech after me: "Undemocratic! Boo! Hiss!"

    Once more: Cui bono?
     

    ReplyDelete